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 Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 6:57 am
After watching another group of fledglings for a moment to make sure that they wouldn't hurt themselves, Willow also turned his attention to the young one that had just arrived. His eyes watched her for a moment, listening to Ivy's story as he did so.
"Poor thing," he replied, nodding to the Minder. As she headed over to the fledgling, he himself started towards the younger ones; he moved to the small group first, chastising them lightly for their loud chatter. After they had calmed down, he moved over towards Ivy and the aberrant fledgling. The Minder had already grabbed something for her, so he merely clicked his beak slowly for a moment.
"Are you enjoying the festival?" he inquired, voice carefully soft and gentle as to not scare her, "It looks like there's lots for all of you young ones to do, after all."
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Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 9:40 pm
And here it goes again! She arrives, the adults mobilize, and the other fledglings shrink away. The whispering of the group of fledglings blends in with the over-loud whispers of the Minder (does she recognize her? Probably... she'd been shuffled from one to the next so frequently that almost every Minder in this enclave saw her for at least one night... or part of one, depending on how tolerant they were). And Dodger staunchly ignores them all. Ignore the whispers. Ignore the not-so-secretive glances. Ignore the...
...the offer of a mouse? Well, that can't be so easily ignored. In fact, Ivy's action so perplexes the patchy fledgling that she simply stares up at the Minder. Blankly. It's only when she looks back down at the mouse, and then at the pile, and then up at the Minder again that she realizes. Her food has been placed far from anything that a 'proper' Sentinel might touch.
Frustrated at this second act of segregation (and more than a little bit grumpy by this time!) Dodger moves past and ignores the offered mouse - now she's moving towards a nice pile of assorted nuts. She's so intent on her new goal that the quiet clicking and subsequent voice does startle her, but she does not show it aside from a brief pinning of her pupils. The Aberrant glances back over one shoulder at the other adult, "Oh. Y-yes, very much so," she lies smoothly, an amiable grin upon her young face, "There are so many great stories to hear that I hardly know where to begin!"
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Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 2:25 pm
Ivy is grateful that Willow takes it upon himself to talk to the unfortunate little girl. Well... Not so little anymore she isn't. Perhaps the whiteness has affected her intelligence somehow and that's why she's lagging behind and hasn't graduated yet. The thought that Dodgers late development might have something to do with teachers too biased to teach her doesn't even cross her mind.
Nuts can always be used as food for companions if they should somehow be spoiled by the tainted fledgling's touch, so Ivy doesn't try to intervene again. She preens instead, feathers prickling with unease at the thought of sickness spreading in the enclave.
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 5:06 pm
Had Willow felt the inclination to laugh, he most likely would have; he was amused by the young fledgling's antics, to say the least. While he could not fathom the slightest of how she might feel due to her obvious difference in color, the Sentinel had some sympathy for her, at least; even if she was a notorious little thing. Even as a medic he had caught wind of her from some of the Minders.
"Oh, really?" he replied, a charming grin of his own spreading across his face, "I'm rather jealous; they didn't have this sort of thing when I was young." His golden eyes moved back to Ivy. "Am I right? These young ones are luckier than they think they are, you know..." he trailed off a bit, ruffling his tail feathers absentmindedly.
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 6:41 pm
"Well, you are here now, aren't you?" She asks clearly, turning herself about to face the medic. Every movement is crisp, measured. Every feather is placed just so. Her gaze is clear, her movements sure, and she carries herself with more pride than many other Sentinels would think that an odd-feathered freak like her should. And the blue-eyed Aberrant gazes up at the adult she is addressing, head canted just a little to the side. "Why not enjoy the stories while you can?"
Dodger seems to be genuinely curious. She's decided that the Minder is not worth bothering with, at least not for now - she's one of those sort - but she doesn't know Willow and she's certainly not going to ruin an opportunity to make a valuable contact, as Hawthorn might say. But she's also not going to miss the chance to grab a few nuts - a casual reach with her Will brings a few treats rolling towards her talons.
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Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:46 pm
"Yes, yes," Ivy said absentmindedly, "Lucky indeed."
Ivy didn't miss the fledgling's casual show of will, and it surprised her. The Dodger she had heard of wasn't really good at anything and Ivy would have expected the poor freak to barely be able to function in society. But will is good, she can't taint the nuts with her will, right?
"Silly girl," she suddenly hoots, and waddles over to a young deep woods fledgling, "You can't try to swallow the entire squirrel, you'll choke!"
With Ivy fussing over the fledgling Willow and Dodger is free to talk without the fretting minder hovering in the background.
((Feel free to skip the Herald after this))
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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 6:11 pm
"Yes, I am," he replied, tipping his head to her, "I've found that I'm enjoying watching the younger ones, though. I've heard many stories in my life, so I'm not being deprived of anything." He watched her for a moment, noting her sharp sense of focus; impressive for a fledgling, even one that most seemed to be shunning away. Most of the younger ones that were here were too bust jumping from one thing to the next to really focus their attention on more than one thing at a time.
Amber eyes blinking, he watched as she brought a few more nuts towards her. Her Will? Not bad, not bad at all; she obviously had some skill to use it so readily. In fact, Willow didn't even think he saw her bat an eye. He suppressed a soft laugh of amusement. This one was intelligent, yes. What task would she choose, then, when she finally decided? An interesting question indeed...
"Now that I think about it, I don't think I've heard your name, young one." he stated suddenly, his own head tilting to the side. How strange; he rarely missed an introduction, but it seemed that the little Aberrant's name had slipped his mind. How could he forget such a distinct Sentinel, anyways?
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Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 1:22 pm
The Aberrant waits in silence while the Medic answers her questions, nodding to each answer in turn. And when he makes mention of names, and the hearing thereof, she responds. "I don't think that my name has been stated, unless your friend the Minder," and she nods her head towards Ivy, "has supplied you with it."
For a moment it seems as though the fledgling does not plan to speak any further, but then her thoughts return to a question she had considered while he was answering hers. Now that the balance of question-and-answer has been filled, she supplies another. "Is it possible to grow too old for stories?"
Her casual display of Will is nothing important, or so she thinks, and it ends when the nuts bump against her foot and she shifts her stance to enflod them within her talons. To be fair, Dodger is a fledgling more in name than in age - she's clearly older than most of the others present, and should have graduated during the large ceremony a few moons ago. Other Sentinels of her age would be young adults, newly-tasked and productive members of society. So her focus and ability with her Will is unusual for a fledgling, but not necessarily for a Sentinel of her age.
"Dodger. My name is Dodger, and I am Hawthorn's student."
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 5:17 pm
"No, not quite," Willow replied, quite amused, "She didn't mention your name." He was curious now about the relationship between the young Sentinel and the Minder; he knew it was none of his business, and wouldn't dare inquire, but it was a point of mild interest all the same.
His head tilted to the side at her next question, large amber eyes blinking once or twice in thought. Too old? He had never quite thought about that; he always would listen to a good story, but whether or not he had outgrown the tales of his youth was a cloudy matter for him. "I'm not actually sure," he replied after a moment, "But I would think that as long as you have your imagination and can think past the nitty-gritty bits, that one would never outgrow stories." He paused. "Most stories adults share are of battle and the hardships of the past, but... when it comes down to it, I think every adult out there could use a good story every now and again."
Ahhh, and then her name. A smile pulled at his face. Dodger? It seemed... fitting for the young Sentinel. A student of Hawthorn? He had never met him, but he had heard of him, at the least.
"Willow," he replied, nodding his head, "And while I am no longer a student, I strive for the health and well-being of all Sentinels I encounter."
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:39 pm
"They usually don't," is her only verbal reply to Willow's confirmation of her suspicions. None of the Minders had ever really bothered to call her by name. She was usually referred to as 'that one' in casual conversation. And she can count on her primaries how many times she'd been addressed directly.
His answer does not alleviate all of her unending curiousity, unfortunately, but the patchy freak is patient while he explains. Once he has finished she lets loose with another few questions, "So are the stories adults tell each other bad stories then? Or are they just not as good as told-to-fledgling stories?" Having had little experience with stories in general - Hawthorn shared information and lessons, not lore and legend - she's got very little background knowledge to draw upon. Still, the idea of a good story versus a bad story is very strange and new to her, especially since the types of tales that the medic described actually seemed quite exciting by her reckoning.
He's smiling. Why is he smiling? Her name, that's what made him smile. Did he recognize it? He's probably heard of that embarrassment with Highfog and the fruit. Or some other mortifying tale told by a gossiping Minder.. ahwell. There's little that she can do about his smile now, aside from pretend that she hadn't noticed it and continue on in as calm and level a manner as possible.
And then, after his introduction, she narrows her eyes and gives Willow another thorough examination. "You're a medic?"
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