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“I am fine.” Snowpeak said clearly stepping away from his minder with a cold expression, Noctus forbid if he was to show any weakness in front of someone other than Typhoon. Still, he knew the ghost female was a hunting teacher and that did put her above most of the sentinels at the enclave as far as the young mist was concerned. He wanted to tell her something and at the same time found himself unwilling to speak, mulling over dark thoughts in silence.

“What did you think of the decision?” he asks abruptly almost defiantly and as his fiery gaze drops on the teacher there is no possible way to misinterpret his intention: he is blatantly testing Highfog.

As far as Birch was concerned he had arrived just in time. He flew in almost at the same time as the Lawspeaker landed in fact. Other Sentinels would probably consider it "late" however, as most of the good spots were already taken. After some scouting he found a free perch next to a mist female and landed there, bells jingling cheerfully.

Recently he had avoided public gatherings to sulk and nurse the wounds from the fight with Bracken. He needed to grow out some missing feathers and his ego was still bruised, but an event like this was too important to miss. It would be the talk of the forest for weeks so it would be truly embarrassing not to have any first hand information. He quickly scanned the crowd for other bards and noted (rather smugly) that Wicker didn't seem to be among his colleagues in the audience. That female could be incredibly annoying.

It was a horrible story of course, and Birch was glad that these two criminals were punished for it. Birch found himself mesmerised by Rosso and the way he played his audience. The Lawspeaker had allowed the tension to build, withholding information to reveal it all after a dramatic build up. An aberrant chick. Really? And those two must be Wildtypes of the purebred variety since he talked about their families.

"He's good," he mumbled.

Minke sat, somewhat queasily, through the remainder of the speeches, hunkered next to Birch and serving as a prime example of the Lawspeaker's prowess - he had garnered her rapt attention, complete with gasps and outcries at the appropriate pauses. When the show ended, she shuffled awkwardly, imagining malformed chicks, and turned to ask Birch if he'd ever seen such an aberrant - but, oh falling owls! Minke went straight back into gawk-mode, puzzling at the bell-decked and impossibly gendered bard in open-beaked silence. Apparently...this sort of play on appearance didn't happen Up North.

The ugly realisation set in as Rosso announced the crime. Silverbirch watched Dodger's reaction (and eventual) retreat, sighing inwardly. Casting a final glance at the pair of wildtypes, the mist shook her head and took off into the night herself.

There was nothing more for her to see. Might as well get going, she still had a delivery to make.

Typhoon nodded along with Highfog's words. He agreed whole heartedly, but he wondered if this would be a real punishment for the Sentinel. Did he feel guilty? Did he hate his fledgling? What drove him to this? If nothing else, at least he would be working hard. He tried to not chortle at the other Sentinel's threat. It didn't need to come down to that.

"I will also be checking in on him, since I'd like to look into this new Enclave myself. See if I can help out at all. We could go together, Snowpeak." He spoke half to Highfog and half to Snowpeak. Even Ty wasn't fool enough to notice Snowpeak was moving beyond his caring. If he remembered correctly, this other Sentinel was a teacher, specifically for hunting and such. Her name teased at his beak, and so he avoided calling her by her name.

Typhoon accepted Snowpeak's answer gracefully with another nod, but his wings pressed tight against his body as his charge reminded him that he would be gone soon. As the young mist turned, Ty fluffed out his feathers, preening for the flight back. He didn't want Snowpeak to see that he would miss him, the little brat. Snowpeak would see that as a sign of weakness, it was just his way.

And Ty knew it was better to not let fledglings see the pain that Minders went through when their charges graduated and left those who had cared for them up until this point. He hoped Snowpeak would remember him, and that was really all he could ask as a Minder. He'd have to find a new fluff to take care of or visit some other Minders, because wallowing in sorrow was unacceptable.

The Ghost preened one last feather and said with a smile, "Right, right, of course Snowpeak. Nice to meet you, Miss. Perhaps we'll meet again soon."

He hopped over to a clearer branch, not wanting to bother Highfog with his take off, and glanced once behind him for Snowpeak to follow before starting a low glide through the branches. Ty knew Snowpeak's flight skills weren't excellent yet, and if he stayed close to the branches there was less of a chance of the Mist falling.

As the Lawspeaker delves into the final aspects of the sorry pair's crimes, the young murderer's diminutive form turns strangely placid, with any obvious outward signs of attentiveness abandoned. Basil is lost, leagues away in thought. It is done. At long last, it is finally over.

That's not to say he's relieved, far from it. He's terrified of what's yet to come. The rumors are at an end now, with the majority proved true. His family would be sure to avoid him all the more so now, the damage to their collective reputation as irrevocably great as it is. Who could, or even would, help him learn the skills he would need to fulfill the terms of his sentence? Conventional crafts-workers were clearly out of the question... Blackbirch... Augh! Facing him after what he was doing to Fi would be impossible! If there was any mercy left for him within the forest, maybe he'd be relegated into someone else's tutelage. Basil silently thanks the stars above Fi isn't here to see this...

... and suddenly, there she is, flying towards him from amidst the crowd! Noctus, have mercy, turn my wings to stone! Let me die where I stand! He was filthy, plucked bare by her presence. He swore he could feel the stabs of every pair of hateful eyes looking down on him from above. This... his sentence was nothing in the face on this new torture. How could she be here? Why?!

Through all the bustling and gabbing from the branches below perched a large and dark form, alienated from the busy group only by a couple of feet farther up amongst the branches. It was silent and stood ever still all throughout the Lawspeaker's show and the time for gossip; there is no need to give in to such selfish reflexes.

However, can Blackbirch blame them? It was certainly a crime to be told, the murder of your own blood, let alone kind. And for what? A single, imperfect soul? Most of crowd here should feel ashamed for verbally attacking Basil, as all he ever did was do the exact thing that their own prejudice longs for. Filthy hypocrites, he thought to himself.

He found himself musing back when he met Breeze, not too many nights ago. He hadn't believed her when she mentioned a different history of Basil's, and now, right before him, is the truth all laid out for him to see. There is no room for denial tonight. What a shame, he would have made an excellent apprentice, even if he lacked self-confidence.

And he would have left both the idea of an underling and himself physically from the platforms just then, if he hadn't noticed a flurry of pale feathers suddenly appear from the crowd and perched herself beside the one who was, or perhaps still is, her mate. An eyebrow ridge raised in surprise: she still supported him, even after all of this?

Shuffling his wings together, he decided that he would stay for a little while longer. What could that girl be up to...