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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 6:52 pm
"I'm sure you'll do just fine!" Jericho encouraged, "We're both novices here. We can fumble together."Because he had his doubts that he would somehow miraculously remember how to be a proper hunter. Especially with this gangly elven body of his. Grinning, he went on to follow Riley.
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Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 11:02 pm
Well, if anything, it will be funny to watch. Was she teasing them both? Entirely so. She led them out of the dorms, and directed them immediately to her favorite little spot, dense with trees and chirping with wildlife. There wasn't much there yet, and she knew she'd have better luck if she went in deeper, but she wasn't under any real impression that they were going to catch real game today. Jericho couldn't remember a thing about hunting, and Malodore, while a delightfully pointy and deadly being - Riley had to take a moment to compose herself at the thought - was still just noisy enough to notify the better listeners of the forest.
So instead, easy game. The kind that were just a bit too friendly to be safe.
Okay, dears. Pick a tree. Any tree. Then, we climb.
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Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 5:36 pm
Malodore gave Riley a look of despair - well, inasmuch as it was capable of doing so. "After I already mentioned becoming entangled? You are a cruel mistress, mia cara," it sighed, opening its beak in a smile to take the edge off of its words. The last time it had climbed a tree had been on the now-destroyed Isle of Famine. It hadn't been a pretty sight. "Ah... you can pick, Jericho," it said jovially.
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Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 6:20 pm
Jericho gave Riley a sort of nervous smile. Oh boy. This was going to be interesting. Once they were at their destination, the elf looked around. Ok. Pick a tree. Any tree. "Aaah.. that one!" he chimed before making his way. It looked fairly sturdy. Hopefully. In any case, he began to carefully make his way up. Or try to. He was a bit clumsy about it.
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Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 7:07 pm
Riley's eyes slit as thin as paper when Malodore complained. It was as if its particular choice in wording pleased her - which, of course, it did.
You have no idea. The mindflayer growled, curling a tentacle around one of her long fingers and tugging on the curl lightly as she stared down the plague doctor freely. It left the decision up to Jericho, which was good, because it was probably for the best that Jericho went first.
Riley shook herself out of the dark, twisted little reverie of her thoughts and actually checked the tree the boil had started climbing. Nothing was wrong with it, but she watched regardless. It's better to do this now. If we tried in the summer, with the flush of leaves in the trees, the two of you would disappear from my sight immediately. That meant they would disappear from the sight of prey, as well.. but Riley really didn't expect to catch much today.
She was having too much fun.
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Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:18 pm
None whatsoever? My, my. I am in trouble then, aren't I? Malodore thought back at Riley... because really, Jericho didn't need to hear their flirting. They were out here for him, after all, not because this was one of Calder's beloved 'dates'. ... And Jericho had picked a tree. Damn. That meant it would have to try and climb. It gave the tree a firm look, as if daring the tree to do something. Nothing happened other than branches shaking under Jericho's clambering. Hm. Well, maybe it should... wait for him to get up there? Yes. Clearly. It would have to wait. It was only proper. It wasn't stalling at all. Nope.
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Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 4:53 pm
Once he was up on a sturdy branch, Jericho stopped climbing up any further. He looked at Riley, then to Malodore below, satisfied where he was. "Come on up!" he beckoned.
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Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 6:21 pm
It was entirely distracting, the way Malodore's voice sounded in her mind. Distracting enough to lose sight of what they were doing for a moment. What were they.. tree.. why..
Oh - Riley stumbled forward, caught off guard when she remembered where she was and what they were doing, and her cheeks flushed dark in embarrassment. So. Jericho, it looks like your natural climbing instincts are still there. That's good. She walked over, and stood under the tree, pressing her hands against it. And you picked a very sturdy one. I can feel it. How do things look from up there?
Malodore was hesitating, and it was obvious in every gesture and move it made. She tried to keep a straight face. Up you go, mia cara. She murmured, letting only the tiniest trace of amusement lace her thoughts.
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Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 9:15 pm
Malodore stifled a sigh. " Si-" There was no getting out of this, it seemed. Why did it have to be trees, though...? It dug its claws in and tried to climb, but its hooves scrabbled against the bark. Though its wings flared, it simply didn't have enough feathers for flight, and it wasn't long before the plague doctor was on the ground again, long furrows scraped into the bark from its claws. "Is, ah... is there a ladder about?" it asked, weakly.
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Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 9:30 pm
A ladder. Was it really asking for a ladder. Riley couldn't watch Malodore suffer, not even for a moment, nor could she handle the mere idea of needing a ladder to climb a tree. She moved up behind the plague doctor, and patted its shoulders gently.
This was cruel of me. I'm sorry. She wrapped her hands around its waist gently, gathering it up in a firm hold, and nuzzled her head in the crook of its neck. Just hold on. I'll get you up and down from there.
Her feet slowly lifted off the ground, as she hovered very carefully up, and completely cheated at tree climbing by carrying it up into the crook of a branch near Jericho. She settled it in, and then untangled herself from it, moving her arms up to grab a higher branch. With one arm, she hung from the branch and swung there idly as her wings dimmed.
Better?
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Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 9:33 pm
Malodore made a startled noise as she scooped it up, and then they were flying- Flying. She had never done this before. Its own wings tensed as if to flap, but it stilled the motion by force; it would be far too easy to damage her with an errant bladed feather. When she put it into the tree, it immediately leaned against the trunk, its tail lashing up to wrap around the tree and sink its tailblade into the bark as an anchor. " Si," it said again. It gave Jericho a vaguely embarrassed look, but its beak was open in a smile. "So... now that I am up here, at such great expense... what now?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 9:40 pm
Hanging happily from the tree, Riley looked at Jericho with a pleased expression. Now we let instinct take over. Jericho, close your eyes. Clear your senses. I want you to hear everything. Taste the air. Feel where the breeze is coming from. She pushed lightly, to keep rocking - apparently enjoying herself. Basically, we're going to work on honing your senses while you're up here. The key to hunting is knowing where your prey is before it knows where you are. That means using almost everything before sight.
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Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 9:49 pm
It seemed that Malodore was having some trouble getting up, but thankfully Riley was able to help with that. Jericho continued to smile, right up until the point where she said for instinct to take over. Wait. What instinct? He furrowed his brow and slowly nodded at her words. "Right... I'll see if I can do that," he said before taking in a deep breath and closing his eyes. Initially, he really didn't pick up on anything in particular. Just.. everything he had been hearing at first. "Am I doing this right?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 1:38 pm
Hmm. That was not what Malodore had been expecting, truth be told - but it sounded much more pleasant than what the plague doctor had assumed would happen. It nodded, shifting so that it could hold onto the tree trunk, digging claws into the bark before it quieted. It heard... rustling leaves, Riley's breathing, Jericho's breathing. As a doctor, it was used to listening closely, though it was usually through a stethoscope that focused the sound, reducing the world to that one pipeline of contact. Now... everything seemed overwhelming, almost. Not sight. That left... sound. Touch and taste were immaterial. Scent would do it no good. Though it did have one other sense; still, it wasn't sure it would care for feeling terror and deathpain from its target.
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Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 2:53 pm
No. How did she know Jericho wasn't doing it right? Because you're speaking. Oh. These things take a lot of time, and a lot of silence. But most importantly, if you have to ask, you're not doing it right. Here, open your eyes for a moment.
Riley pulled herself up and sat down near the trunk, between the two of them. She leaned her head back on the tree, and closed her eyes. Watch me. Pay close attention to every little thing I do. Neither of you make a sound until I say something. She demanded, before her shoulders lowered just slightly and she focused on using her other senses.
She could hear the frustration in Jericho's breathing patterns. She drove that particular sound out, and stretched her senses as far as she could. To watch her, they would notice the movement of her eyes behind her eyelids - the sound of a crackling branch made them flicker in the direction she'd heard it, despite being covered. Her fingers twitched every time the wind picked up. Her head flicked up just slightly at the smell of prey on the breeze. Then her arm lifted and she pointed in a direction, still unseeing.
Look there. Her eyes opened. Behind the bramble that covers the pine trees.
It was almost impossible to see, but the tiniest little ear was sticking out, twitching as it, too, listened to every sound on the wind.
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