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Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 5:10 am
At Mulberry's blunt, annoyed comments Fiachra held in a small laugh, finding it all rather cute. People shouldn't get angry too easily, he noted to himself, because anger doesn't help anyone. But then again... cleaning off his feathers as he realized Mulberry was doing, he gave a small smirk at her comment. Didn't think he could talk, eh? That was alright, he supposed. He didn't need someone else to tell him that he actually could talk. He just didn't like it.
Looking outside, the storm raged on, and imagining what Fletcher had to go through sent shivers up his body. If and when he grew up he wouldn't do things like that, although she was here now, and protecting them. That made him feel considerably better. Tilting his head at Fletcher's gesture, he stayed put against the wall, only shuffled a few steps closer, finding her request hard to listen too. He had been alone all this time, what made her any different? But there was something...
Taking another step, he gave an adamant sigh not to get any closer. He would be alright on his own. He was going to be strong, one day.
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Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 6:37 am
"Fetcher?" Mulberry tilted her head to the side, but didn't consider the strange adult's request for long. The nest was freezing cold and to be honest, her body was yearning to huddle up close to someone big and protective - not only because of the warmth they would provide, but also for the comfort she so dearly needed after the ordeal she had just been through.
The little fledgling obediently crept in under Fletcher's wings and fluffed herself contentedly, pressing up close against the russet feathers. This was good. Here was safety, here was warmth and comfort. She heaved a little sigh of happiness and preened herself, and, like an afterthought, preened Fletcher's side a little bit as well.
"Fetcher of what?" she asked curiously. "That's a funny name. I only have one name, how come you have many? And why aren't they good for my beak? Would it break and fall off if I tried to say them? Why do you look so funny? I've never seen feathers like yours. What type are you? I'm a Wildtype, and so is my mommy and my daddy, but they're on a hunting trip right now so they might not be back for days."
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Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:44 am
"Fletcher, the fletcher! Not Fetcher, the fetcher. Not Catcher either, he's my mus. My main mus," the aberrant cackles, "Fletcher of feathers, feather-fletcher, I imp... yes, yes, I imp, or used to, back when staying in tip-top flying condition was important. See? See?" Impatiently, eagerly, she roots around in the detritus on the ground to find couple of broken flight feathers. With a few quick strokes of her Will she removes the barbs from one feather, leaving only the vane and quill, which she slides inside the other broken feather. A few more twists and tweaks and she's left with one mostly-intact feather, which she waves in the air before the snuggled-up fledgling. "Good as new!" Fletcher cackles, casting a surreptitious little glance over at the stand-offish male and the quiet female to see if her activities had caught their interest at all.
"Names, names, what's in a name? So old now that my name's been lost, little Mulberry, but you'll find that names are earned and lost over time. So many questions, so fast, you talk more than enough for yourself and your silent friend over there, yes yes." Her pale eyes widen a little in confused semi-alarm, as the aberrant isn't really used to this much attention. She likes it, although Fletcher hasn't been able to enjoy the particular eagerness of a fledgling in ages. The Minders don't like it when she lurks nearby, after all, even if it is her duty to watch.
"Bad names hurt fledgling beaks, yes, when their Minders or their parents give them a smack for saying foul things. Best not to learn them at all, little bit! And best to mind who you call funny, hmm? Some aberrants don't much like it, and I.. I, well I'm far bigger than you are, yesss? My type's name has been lost for as long as my own has, long gone, only me, all alone. No-type! Fletcher No-Type, that's another good name. I like it!" And she gives Mulberry a quick preen, pleased with the little fledge.
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Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 1:41 pm
All the while when Fletcher was talking, Fig stood with her little beak open. She had never heard such speech before. It was almost as if she spoke in riddles. Perhaps, Fig thought, this is what older Sentinels talked like. Then again, she had never heard another adult talk in such a way. Most of the time, Fletcher seemed to be repeating herself over and over. Some of what she said was even hard for the fledgling to understand.
Either way, the fledgling figured that she should introduce herself to Fletcher. So she followed Mulberry's lead, as she now new the other female fledgling's name. "I'm Fig and Imma Wildtype like Mulberry," she chirped loudly and scooted closer to Fletcher. Then she brought her mus into her brown wings, "And this is my mus, Pika."
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Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 2:09 pm
Fiachra might try to tell himself otherwise, but he is getting really cold and has started to shiver uncontrollably. His small body is not built for sitting in alone in a drafty nest, and the slight moisture in the air is not helping. He might catch his death in this cold if he isn’t careful. Bang! That was close, with both thunder and lightning at the same time. Lightning must have struck somewhere close. Crash! Another crack of lightning. The nest is illuminated as if it was day outside When the mayhem finally stops the storm seems to have spent most of its energy. It doesn't rain quite as much anymore. Is it over? No... Not quite. An even louder noise fills the air.
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Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 6:27 pm
Sighing into the silence, Fiachra shivers into his feathers, watching the three converse with a half-jealousy, half-contentment just sitting there. He was a wildtype too, but he that was obvious, was it not? What bothered him more was the cold draft that snaked into the room and seemed to shake it as if it was angry with the world. Opening his beak hesitantly, he wondered what he could possibly say, finding the prescence of the larger, ruffled looking Sentinel more than a little comforting.
A small sound came from his throat until they heard the crack, at which point he winced, looking out the side of the hollow. Had something-
Ah. The wind was cold, indeed. Letting out a small breath, he looked down stubbornly, shuffling closer towards the adult and the other females, close enough to feel the emanating heat of them, but still quite a ways off. Risking a small glance, he managed a small smile, his voice equally small and soft, fragile-sounding to the point that he sounded a lot younger than his years.
"Fiachra's my name. What was that sound, Fletcher?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 8:34 am
Mulberry tilts her head to the side and frowns at Fletcher. The adult is speaking really strangely and she can't quite follow all the turns - let alone understand the words - of this conversation, but she perks up in awe as the russet aberrant brandishes the fletched feather. "Wow! how did you do that? Can I see?" Even the other little girl and her neat painted mus is ignored in favour of the awesome broken-feather-made-whole.
But not even that can hold her attention for too long, and the weird but comfortably warm adult recieves another curious glance. "What's a 'berrant?' It that like a Berry? I'm called Berry, sometimes. Why has-" She doesn't get to finish that sentence, as suddenly the sky is rent asunder by bright, thunderous lightning strikes. Mulberry gives a terrified peep and burrows deeper in under Fletcher's wing.
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Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:40 am
When the Thunderbird's fury is unleashed upon the forest of Noctua, Fletcher fluffs herself up into a huge threat display and snugs Mulberry closer to her side. She reaches out a wing for Fig, and even Fiachra would feel a pull from the aberrant's Will to try to urge him closer. Then quiet falls, and her feathers begin to return to a more restful position, only be slicked back entirely when she shrinks down in response to the thunderous crashing. "Nononooo," she keens under her breath, lurching forward as if she would take off into the night right then to investigate the source of the noise. But the presence of the fledglings anchors her here, as much as she yearns to leave.
"I don't know what that was," is her quiet and oddly-subdued reply, her eartufts flattened against her skull even as she tries to force herself to settle into a more natural position. Again, Fletcher gestures for the trio to come nearer, and she preens Mulberry gently as if to show the others what they could have if they snuggled up. "Three little wildtype bits, Fig, Fiachra, and Mulberry. Closer, closer, it's safe here for all types. Types.. types. Aberrants aren't berries, no, no, they're just not any of the types. Not-ghost, Not-shadow, Not-anything. Some aberrants are mixes, those are most common. Some are like me, like a smaller kind of type. And some.. some are just mistakes."
"Nice Pika-mus! Makes me sad for my Catcher-mus, all alone.. I wish he was here," and she looks a bit anxious as she admits that, as if the absence of her Catcher upsets her on some base level. She'd dropped un-broken feather Mulberry had admired when Fletcher reached out for Fiachra, but now she lifts it with her Will once again - this time it shakes, as if she's having more trouble controlling it - and drifts it over to the curious fledgling.
"Thunderbird's passing, hear him leave?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 1:02 pm
Fig was glad when Fletcher pulled her closer. The noises from outside were becoming too much. Along with the loud sounds came a bright and blinding light. It was almost as if it had become daytime in an instant. But this quickly faded away. The fledgling was glad to see that the storm seemed to be dying down. At least, it wasn't raining as hard anymore. Then, without warning, the storm outside became brighter and louder than ever before. Needless to say this scared Fig witless. If Fletcher hadn't been their to offer her comfort, Fig wasn't sure what she would have done during this violent outburst.
"Thunderbird?" she repeated in a small, still-scared voice.
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Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 8:40 am
He closes his eyes and listens to him talk, finding that just doing that is enough to make him happier than he ever thought he'd be. It was almost like the family he yearned for with every particle of his being, the strangely-expressed-but-amazing Fletcher, the talkative and sorta-scary Mulberry, and the quiet but pleasant Fig and her colourful mus. Tilting his head to listen, he caught the roiling sounds of chaos not far out, shivering into his feathers.
He wanted to say something. But what? What was there to say when you could just... be? In the corner of his eye, he caught Fletcher's almost-akward movements, frowning. Could it be that she was forced to be here, or at least... did she want to leave? Shivering at the very thought, he edged a little closer, not wanting to let go of any of it, not the others, not the night, and mostly, not the feeling that was spreading up his heart and warming him up, from the inside out.
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Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 10:45 am
Heart still pounding inside her little chest, Mulberry is very happy for Fletcher's careful preening and presses up a little closer against her, hiding her face in the russet feathers and staying uncharacteristically quiet for a while. Then a small insight strikes her, and she peers curiously out at Fiachra - he had talked, hadn't he?
"Hey! Did you-" Her attention is interrupted by the reappearance of the not-broken feather, and she lets out a little gasp of delight. She wants to hold it. She wants to look closer at it. She squints her eyes and focuses really hard on the slightly trembling, floating feather, everything else completely forgotten. When she feels herself reach out, and even more, actually give the feather a slight tug, she is so surprised and happy that she loses her concentration and her grip right away - but that doesn't bother her at all.
"Fletcher! Fletcher! Did you see that? Did you see what I did?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 11:04 am
Finally settled, she look back at Fiachra to see if he'll come near enough to join the females --not yet, it would seem, but at least he's near enough that the cold won't seem as harsh and unforgiving. It is an awkward situation, as she'd like nothing more than to rush to the source of the noise.. But no. Later later, there's time to go see later. Nothing she can do anyways, nothing but be chased away by the Elites while they do their duty. She sighs quietly, resigned to doing the right thing and being patient, even if it is so so very hard at times. The tug at the feather she was still holding with her Will jerks her back to attention, her eyes pinning in surprise. "Ah! Nice, nice, nicely done little 'berry bit. Here, here, take it," she urges, twirling the repaired feather before Mulberry's face.
While she sits there, with a fledgling under each wing and another nearby, the aberrant gazes out at the dying storm. An almost wistful look sneaks into her eyes... but only for the briefest of moments, and then it is gone.
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