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Berry picking might not be the most exciting task a gatherer had to perform, but there were several very good reasons gathering was considered a combatant task. Sure, the berries, nuts and moss rarely fought back, but there were other things down there that did. As any fledglings should know the ground itself was a dangerous place and if you decided to spend too much time there you'd end up as a pile of feathers, just like the naughty fledgling Mudbeak in the stories.

Ashton's struggle with the berries was suddenly and rudely interrupted by something dashing through the bushes behind him. Uh-oh...

OOC: The creature behind Ashton is a young hare, and it's probably just as frightened as he is. It didn't realize that there was a predator in the clearing because of Ashton's "perfume". The question is... Did something bigger and meaner scare the hare or why did it run into the clearing like that?

Certainly, the noise was as sudden and unexpected for Ashton and Runewing. He adopted the same behaviour, and feathers were puffed as he stepped back. Fast as lightning, he turned in its direction, quite frightened inside, but as scary as possible outside.
The source of the disturbance appeared indeed very shocked, but not so shocking. So, that was a hare? It was large in comparison with him, but had nothing in common with almost legendary bears and badgers. Only, well, fur.

Excited, Ash spread his wings menacingly, and hooted with a deep voice. The mammal didn’t want to deal anymore with such a threat, and started running away. “Hah!”, cheered the boy, “come back, you coward!”
Rune’s voice threw him back into reality. Oh, right, the Ground. No more intimidation; he preened real fast, noticed his berries fell all down, and only picked a couple before hopping back into safety. “Yes, ma’am” he replied to Rune, pretty sure nonetheless he wouldn’t need any more protection as a grown-up.

Ashton listened to Runewing, but didn’t even get a chance to hear the end of her sentence. Confused, he copied her moves once again and tried to spot the new noise. Although he heard the same rustling as her, Ash didn’t quite understand the problem. As soon as the Mystic opened her beak again, he did the same: “What kinda situa-“
Oops. The damn berries he was holding with his beak by the stem fell down, again. As they hit the brown ground, the boy let out an annoyed “Stupids! Stupid berries!” and stomped his branch. Fruits are never supposed to run away!
He turned back to Rune. “My mom’s living in the maple tree. A large one, near. I mean, close to where you found me.” Ashton shook his head, disappointed. “But we’ll have to fly again, and if I open my wings, what’s left will fall too, and there will be nuthin’ left! Are you sure you wanna go home yet?”
And, after all, there was something big coming. Maybe a bear. He wanted to see whatever it could be. Excited, he asked: “Are you sure we can’t see what’s coming?” Ashton still needed a real sense of danger.

Couldn’t she have told him earlier? If they notified Amberglow and everyone else… Ashton would be a hero, especially if the beast was big! And dangerous!
That would be so cool.
The fledgling made up his mind, and let the last wild berries fall and break their fragile surface as they hit the earth, causing miniature juice bursts. “I’m sorry, ma’am, you’re right”, he said excitedly, “let’s hurry and get back home!”
Part of him wanted to stay here all the same and see the animal, but he desired most to be known as the Sentinel who warned everyone of such a threat, and saved the day. This last part made him turn to the vague direction of the location he was found, ready to fly. From the berry bush, he had no idea where the maple tree he calls home actually was.

Knowledge of animals mostly consisted, with Ashton, of the existence of the (almost legendary) bears and badgers, both carnivorous, wild cousins of well-known Companions, and hints about more common meat eaters. Foxes were in this last category. He hadn't believed, however, such small predators (that were however much larger than him!) could impress him.
He was wrong.
“Wow”, he hooted, “they’re hunting together!” If he could have, he would have gotten closer to watch them a bit more. His instincts, Rune’s command and his future role had a stronger influence, fortunately. He obeyed the older Sentinel, and looked one last time at the foxes before taking off for a higher branch. “Yes, ma’am!”
Oh had forgotten his feathers were still messy… he shrugged it off, pretty sure he could fly just fine.

If accidents always resulted in such exciting nights, Ashton would cause more of them. Thinking about the foxes, he did his best to follow closely Rune. His wings brought him a bit farther at each flap than usual, thanks to the adrenaline. When he arrived at his previous location, he looked around carefully, searching familiar spots. The boy made up his mind, and left his branch, still sticky with saliva and organic products, to reach a young tree. “I think my home is in this direction! It’s a maple tree”, he reminded the Mystic, then added “It must smell a bit today…”
He couldn’t quite tell; he still had a fruity fragrance covering his whole body right now. Also, since he grew up there, a faint permanent scent was part of everyday’s life and went unnoticed. Until tonight, where he was made aware of smells’ actual presence, anyway.

The hunt had been successful. Amberglow had a limp squirrel in her talons and a few clumps of cherries in her pack. The cherries had put up a particularly rough fight, but she'd shown them who was boss, and they would soon meet their doom at the beaks of Amber's two fledgling boys.

She hadn't even gotten within sight of her family's home tree when a stench filled her nostrils. Though her line of work had desensitized her to strong smells, she knew this one was a doozy. Her faithful mus would have moved her children to a safer and less stinky tree until it was cleaned up, so she wasn't worried about them. She was more worried about her glassware, which, as an immensely rare commodity, could not be replaced. If any of it was broken, she'd have to come up with some very creative punishment for those involved.

Leaving the squirrel in the crook of a branch a safe distance away from the blast area, Amber flew to the big maple and poked her head in to assess the damage. Powders everywhere. One leather flask leaking a sticky substance. A wooden bowl that had been filled with another liquid, spilled. No shattered or cracked glass in sight. Relief.

The young mother retrieved the squirrel and stood on that branch for a few seconds while she called out to her brood and her companions. She heard a pair of answering squeaks and took off in that direction.

The squeaks belonged to Mor and Gan, the brown and black mus, who had indeed escorted the boys to a safe haven. She landed on a branch next to her son, Dustwing, and offered him the food she'd brought. She glanced around for her other baby, but he appeared to be missing.

Two mus were shortly thereafter pinned beneath her sharp talons, their beady eyes bulging with fear and her much greater weight. She leaned down, putting her beak right up to their noses, and spoke in a quiet, dangerous tone.

"Where. Is. Ashton?"

Following Ashton, Runewing perched a distance from the maple, not wanting to appear too intrusive. Ashton went ahead approaching his mother with the news before Rune could move a few branches closer, "Excuse me," Runewing began, dipping her head politely, "What Ashton says is true. Only a short distance from here there are a pair of foxes hunting together."

She decided to ignore the disaster-site of the hollow, knowing full well that Amber didn't need her to point out the culprit. Any Sentinel not in their own territory would do well to mind their manners, no matter what position they held. The Mystic shuffled her feathers before continuing, "They're using an ambush technique, the first flushing out prey to create a diversion for the other. It could be very dangerous for Gathers to be on the Ground in that area until something can be done to drive them away." The Sentinels would have to organize a patrol to chase the intruders out, but until then it was best that all those in the area were aware of the threat.

Since Syz had left to announce her late arrival at the Enclave, Runewing was less edgy in regards to the position of the moon. She noted with an edge of annoyance that while Syz had gotten her into this mess, he had been excused, leaving her to explain the situation. No matter, the point was the evening had gained new purpose aside from a troublesome fledgling. Rune narrowed her eyes at the possibility that Amber might be distracted enough to forget Ashton's original crime, and Rune would see to it that Ashton owned up to his actions all in due time.