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 Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 7:20 pm
A storm was brewing. It could be heard in the wind as it approached. The sky was illuminated with a streak of bright light, and after it came the ear-splitting sound of thunder. Most of the Sentinel had gone to their homes and group shelters to wait out the storm. But a brave little Sentinel sat on a tree branch, watching with curiosity as the rain grew closer. Another streak of light shone in her eyes. Her expression always adventurous, curious. She loved watching the ribbons of lightning fill the air, and see how the clouds rolled around and over each other.
"Beautiful..." She said, breathing in deeply.
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Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:30 am
Not quite everyone had vanished into the protection of the trees. Somewhere behind the young female storm-watching Sentinel, a shaggy form flapped noisily through the trees. Only one Sentinel flew this badly on a regular basis: Moult, the Watcher.
Indeed, a moment later, it is his form that comes into view, still flapping heavily. Upon catching sight of the female, the Watcher changes his course and alights-- awkwardly-- on a nearby branch. He stares, head twisting rapidly between the female and the oncoming storm. He seems confused.
"Ho, young'un! What're you looking at? That storm's gonna be here faster than the Brigadier on a mouthy mus!"
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Jaeger Erdarastrix Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 2:25 pm
"Hm?" Eva wasn't expecting to be approached my any other sentinel around this time. She turned somewhat quickly, and almost lost her balance. "Ah--ah." She flapped her large wings and caught herself before she tumbled off the branch. She shook her head and then turned her attention to the unexpected figure.
"Oh... um..." She said. "I was just coming back from getting some food when I saw the lightning in the distance and decided to stop... I'm not too far from home, I thought I'd be able to get there quickly enough." She explained. "It's strange, how the clouds move around each other, I couldn't help but watch for a little bit."
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Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 2:40 pm
"True enough, I s'pose!" The older male clucks to himself a little, rearranging himself on his branch. Several feathers dislodge and are quickly blown away in the high wind-- Moult does not seem to notice. "So long as y'aren't too far from shelter, there are worse things to watch than a stormfront."
He squints at the approaching clouds for a moment, then perks his ear-tufts as much as he can against the wind and twists to watch the young female again. "You know what makes those storms, eh?" Moult's gravelly voice is expectant-- it's pretty obvious he has as story to tell, if the female Sentinel is at all receptive to chatter.
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Jaeger Erdarastrix Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 3:16 pm
Eva watched at the other Sentinel's feathers blew away in the wind, and opened her beak to comment about such, but stopped herself from doing so. She looked back at the storm as he continued to talk, and when she asked him a question, she shook her head.
"No, I don't." She said, then looked at Moult. "What makes the storms? It must be something big, right?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 4:19 pm
Moult shuffles delightedly, and a few more feathers whip away on the wind. If this keeps up, it's hard to imagine he'll have many left. He doesn't seem to care-- he's found a receptive audience! Excellent!
The male hops heavily to a slightly closer branch, and leans forward with a conspiratorial bent. There's a twinkle in his eye. "Aye, ye got that right, missy. The biggest thing you can imagine makes storms like that 'un." He nods his head in the direction of the massive tumultuous clouds. "Those clouds blow like that because of the beating of a giant's wings-- the Thunderbird!"
Moult fluffs his ragged feathers and eyes the female. "The Thunderbird's an ancient critter, young'un. And he's a cranky one. Every so often, he puffs himself off, and he shakes out his wings, and the beating causes the wind to blow like so..." A particularly strong gust of wind has him squint his eyes and pause until it passes. "...And thus we have storms."
He clacks his beak. "What'd you say your name was?"
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Jaeger Erdarastrix Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 4:40 pm
Eva's eyes grew wide at the thought of such an event. The thunderbird... such a giant creature that even the Sentinel must be nothing compared to it's size. Something large enough to flap it's wings and cause something like a storm.. She began to picture suck a creature in her head. A large falcon-like creature appeared, lightning painted all over it's body like the tribal paint that they wore...
"Oh... uhm..." Her little daydream faded away as the story was over. She blinked her large eyes, processing the question that had been asked. Then replied happily. "Oh! My name... it's Eva." She said. "I don't think I know your name, though.."
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Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 5:10 pm
"Eva? Lovely!" The wind howls, and the old Watcher cocks his head to stare at the approaching storm, trying to gauge exactly how much time they have left before the rain starts. For a moment, it seems as though he didn't hear her ask about his name, but he suddenly turns to the young Sentinel and focuses his full attention on her.
"My name? Surely you've heard of me?" He chuckles so quietly it's almost lost in the wind, then draws himself up to his full height and spreads his wings. They're in tatters-- almost none of the feathers are whole, and some of them are missing entirely. No wonder he was having trouble flying. "I am Moult. I didn't used to be, but I am now. See?" And sure enough, as he says that, one of the primary feathers on his left wing is caught by the wind and whips away. He watches it go with an expression that's halfway between amusement and regret. "And I am sorry to say, my dear, that I had best be on my way. If that storm catches me, I'll be knocked out of the trees, and that'd be the end of me." He eyes her. "Your feathers are in a tad better shape than mine, truth be told, but I don't recommend you stay out here much longer either."
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Jaeger Erdarastrix Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 5:24 pm
"Ah... yes... Now that you mention it, I do think I've heard some of the others mention you." She followed his eyes to the storm cloud, and noticed that it was dangerously close now. "Oh... yeah... I guess I should hurry up back to my shelter before it gets here... It was very nice meeting you, and thanks for taking time to tell me a story like that one. See you again sometime." She said. taking off from the branch. She turned as a goodbye gesture, then flew off.
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Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 5:32 pm
"Safe travels, young'un!" The old Watcher... well, watches her go, and then turns to eye the storm a final time. He nods to it, as though he was meeting an old friend he hadn't seen in a while. "And to you, ol' Thunderbird."
That said, Moult turns his back on the storm and launches himself from his branch, flapping heavily towards one of his small, mangled territories. The wind blowing at his back helps him fly, thank goodness. Uncomfortable though his choice of homes may be, it'll still shelter him from this storm... just as long as he makes it there before the rain.
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Jaeger Erdarastrix Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 4:15 am
[[New section of this rp begins now]]
The storm was now past. The wind having beat the trees around with amazing strength, the lightning having severed a few branches from the higher parts of the trees. It was one of the worst storms that the young Eva had ever seen, sitting in the little hollowed tree that she had called her home. Inside, she hadn't gotten wet at all, but she felt really, really sorry for anybody who had.
She was thinking while flying again, and almost hit a tree. She snapped out of the state just in time to get to the side and just barely miss it. "I wonder if that Moult got back safe..." She absently wondered. The storm had been there pretty fast after she had left the tree branch.
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 7:15 pm
The Ghost Sentinel weaved through the trees, in graceful spirals before she alighted onto a nearby branch. Storms were always something Emerila enjoyed, it gave her the thrill and challenge of trying to get of them alive. She was quite skilled in flying, and in her words, aerial acrobatics. That's why she became a Scout; none of the other jobs really required her to cover such a large area of the forest. She had covered almost all the areas of the forest, and her sharp eyes had seen almost all the details. Of course, Ila knew that this specific area was one of the common areas where it was clear enough to see a storm. Oh, how exhilarating it would be to fly in between the streamers of light, and dodge the pellets of rain on a light storm. However, she had enough common sense to know when to stop, and she sensed that the previous one had been too unsafe to attempt anything. It was still a good alternative to just come and watch the storm, safe in a hollow. After all, imagining herself dance amongst the droplets wasn't such a bad option.
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 11:10 pm
The lasting storm had been a heavy, rampaging monster. Strewn branches, broken trees and injuries ran rampart through the deep woods. Frostbane, forever the helper, had been up all night caring for the stray sentinels who managed to make it to his cherry tree. Broken bones, bent feathers, bruises and bumps, he took care of them all. That is, until the call had come in. A broken wing and concussion had brought one of the scouts spiralling down to the forest floor. Luckily a few of his fellow companions were in the area and flew in to tell Frostbane of the disaster. Frostbane had immediately flown out to the accident site and healed all that could be mended. The scout, of course, had been taken to one of the warden’s way stations to recover; Frostbane didn’t have that luxury. He had attempted to return to the Cherry Tree but when the winds had gusted the trees so hard they moaned and creaked, he deemed flight to dangerous. Exhausted and stiff, Frostbane emerged from his overnight shelter, a small hollow in what seemed like an ancient tree. Clicking his beak in irritation, he shuffled his wings and bent down to straighten what seemed like half of his primary feathers.
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Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2007 11:38 am
Soon, Eva decided to stop flying. She landed softly on a tree branch, and looked downwards towards a stream. Usually calm and flowing gently, this stream had been fed so much water from the storm that it was now flowing rapidly through the forest, almost three times its normal size. It was almost amazing what a storm could do.
She turned her head around, and wondered if now the other Sentinel were coming out of their shelters and continuing with their lives.
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Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 5:40 am
Tousled could hardly remember the last time she had felt so excited. The storm had brought something with it that had nestled itself somewhere deep in her heart... or maybe it had just woken something up that had always been there... In any case, it was fluttering restlessly against her chest now, yearning for release.
If she had been a bard, she would have burst into song on the spot.
However, she was not a bard, she was a crafter, and it was as a crafter that she had to set this remarkable feeling - no, inspiration! - free. Oh, she had saved up for a time like this. It was all in the tiny pouch she had tied around her foot: grey beads, shiny white beads, dusky purple beads, black beads, metal - every scrap that she had saved - sparkly stones of white and light blue, and The Purple Jewel: as big as a parus egg and her most priced possession. She had found it a long time ago, in the small brook that came down from the mountain and passed through the outskirt of her territory on its way to the lake. Back then, the Jewel hadn't been all that much to look at, but she had kept it and polished it carefully until it practically glowed, and saved it for some very special occasion.
And this was it, she was sure of it. She was ready to create her masterpiece.
But she needed more elements to be sure that she got what she wanted out of it, and thus she was scouring every stream that she knew of in the forest, knowing that they would be swelled with rain and might carry all sorts of interesting things with them.
She was so intent on her task, she didn't even notice the other sentinel in the tree where she landed.
"Search for anything shiny or sparkly," she said to her brightly-colored parus, "and go upstream. I'll stay here for a while and look."
"Ya-ya," the parus replied and flitted off in the appointed direction.
Tousled's keen yellow eyes turned to the churning water, trying to catch every sparkle, every shift of color. In her chest, her hatchling masterpiece was impatiently flapping it's downy wings.
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