|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 3:43 am
Drywood landed with a graceful flutter on the branch outside his hollow and hop-skipped inside. He felt a little weary after his long flight but tremendously pleased to have been able to contribute to the good of the clan. Everyone had done their very best to contribute after the havoc that the storm had wrought, and he was no exception. Having spent a few valuable days hunting and bringing in all excess food to the clan's stores, he had finally been allowed to focus on his own projects again.
He just hoped that Tails had remembered to feed them, and not eat them, while he was away.
"Longtail! Where are you, girl?" His cheerful greeting recieved no reply. Drywood shrugged his wings and engaged in a post-flight preening. She was most likely sulking since he had been gone for longer than expected, this time.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 5:38 am
Odd was tired.
His limbs ached and his eyes were sore, but he continued his somewhat slow paced flight. As always, Moth was before him, showing him what she deemed to be the least hazardous way through the forest.
He had been busy, as had been the rest of the clan, with hunting and gathering. At a few points he had tried to offer medical advice, but had been scoffed at and shooed away.
So he helped the best he could in other areas, which included passing off a number of his culls to the minders, who seemed thankful enough, although he could see their judgement in their postures. He hoped that those culls did not go to waste merely because the hues, or rather hue, of his feathers.
And here he was now, west of Deep Woods with a few more culls clutched in his talons.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 2:17 pm
"Longtail? Ho-hoo..." Drywood flew up to his upper level and ridded himself of his emptied gatherer's pack, carefully propping it up against the wall in its usual spot. Clacking his beak, the brown aberrant checked his specimens, satisfied to find them all alive and unharmed. Casting a quick glance upwards, he noticed the red-patterned tail tip that hung out of a hole near the ceiling. He smiled to himself. She was fine, just sulking.
Humming happily to himself, Drywood swiftly opened one of his smaller cages and emptied it of the withered little body of its previous inhabitant. A pity that he hadn't been able to be there to take proper notice of the specific time of death, but all in all the experiment was still a most satisfactory success. With a smooth flourish he flew back down to his entrance level, where he hopped out onto the worn branch that served as his porch and unceremoniously dropped the dead parus into the undergrowth, far below.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 7:41 pm
"Where? Go? Where?" Squeaked a tiny voice from betwix Odd's talons. He sighed, but ignored the chirop, who had been deemed unfit for companionship. The little thing could hardly fly and it's sentances were hardly of any value. It was nothing he wanted to run in his lines. The second chirop was similar in behavior and was too slow to serve any true usefulness.
He had been wandering, now, searching for any sentinel that might need or would even accept his help.
"Hohoo" He heard a vaguely familiar hoot and came to the realization that he might possibly be crossing through another's territory, so he gave his own soft hoot to announce his presence.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 4:29 pm
At the sound of the greeting hoot, Drywood's ear tufts perked right up. A customer, perhaps? So soon? He cheerfully adjusted his body to the position of his head - turned towards the sound, of course - and hooted a greeting back.
Keen orange-yellow eyes scanned the surrounding woods with interest, but on the other side of the chestnut tree, cold reptilian eyes slowly slid open.
Not another visitor! No!
Longtail carefully turned around and poured her long, sleek body into her own personal little entryway. The other two had gotten away - this one would have to pay.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 5:05 pm
Moth easily led Odd to the tree in which Drywood's hoot had come from. The aberrant followed her with full faith, but neither of them noticed the serpe, though they knew Drywood owned one.
Odd settled on a thick, sturdy branch of the chestnut tree and held the two unfortunate chirops still with his will. The squirming things, however, were not concerned with escaping.
"Hello? Forgive the intrusion." He called softly. It was rare that he went out of his way to greet others.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 12:58 pm
Drywood blinked the first time he saw a glimpse of pure white between the trees, and then again when his first hunch proved to be true. When Odd landed in his tree, the apothecary still hadn't quite processed the situation.
He blinked a few more times, then found himself and quickly put on his amiable smile again.
"Why... Mr Odd! What ever brings you here, so far out west?"
The politeness in his voice was only partly faked - some little part of him was actually quite pleased to see the unexplainable aberrant again, even though most of him felt rather worried. His track record with keepers was somewhat less than stellar, and he couldn't seem to remember if he had accidentally insulted Odd in their previous encounter. He hoped that that meant that he hadn't.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 4:04 pm
Odd clamped his beak for a moment as Drywood's somewhat familiar voice rang out. So this was where the other aberrant lived. He had hoped he was not bothering the fellow.
"Searching, really... Though for nothing in particular. I came out this way to see if I could lend a talon with anything, but so far all seems in order this way."
The two chirops at his paws squeaked and shifted this way and that, climbing up onto his talons.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 2:54 am
"Oh..." Drywood tilted his head to the side. So Odd hadn't come this way with the intention of meeting him. He wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. Bobbing his head, he decided that this was probably a nice opportunity to make a new good first impression. He was curious about Odd, and hoped to be able to talk to him in a friendly manner.
"...Well, then, my dear fellow, you look right tired, if I may say so. Would you like to rest your wings here in my nest for a little while? I'm afraid I don't have much to offer you..." He glanced down at the two white, squirmy chirops. "...but unless you've brought those as a snack for yourself, I'm sure I could at least shake down a few mice. What say you?"
He smiled and made an inviting gesture with his wing towards the dark entrance into his chestnut tree.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 8:20 pm
Drywood, although still a mere aquaintance, did not seem to bother Odd as much as the companionship of other sentinels did. Perhaps it was because he was an aberrant as well, or perhaps it was because he did not seem to mind the hue of his feathers too terribly much.
Even Odd, himself, could not pin a talon on it.
"I am afraid I am a bit tired. I appreciate your offer greatly." He bowed his head out of politeness and seemed to remember the two squirming things.
"Oh? Oh. Yes, these two. They are for the taking." Odd chuckled lightly. "I have no use for them and I doubt they would make decent companions."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 11:55 am
"Ah, excellent, excellent!" Drywood fluffed excitedly. "Then please, by all means, step inside. I-" Struck by a sudden insight, the brown aberrant halted himself just as he was about to hop into his spacious hollow ahead of the albino. Slowly, his head pivoted until he could lay his eyes on the tow squirming, white chirops again, and his ear tufts rose as he spoke in a subdued, calculating tone of voice, barely more than a murmur:
"...I'm sure that Tails would appreciate a little snack." Knowing his serpe, Drywood was quite certain that she was not in the best of moods, right now - which usually meant that she would be... difficult around any guests of his. But a little bribery, perhaps... well, it was certainly worth an experiment.
quickly recapturing his smile, Drywood reverted back to cheerful again. "Yes! Come on in!" He bobbed his head excitedly at the stark white keeper, before hopping through the entryway. "I'll introduce you to my Longtail, and see if I can't find us something juicy to snack on."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 8:26 pm
"If it would please her, she could most certainly have one." Odd chuckled. "I, for one, would not like to be one caught by a sour serpe." It was true, the serpe could be quite dangerous. Moth tucked close to his eartufts, hoping to stay far from the fangs of the reptile.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 11:35 am
Immediately upon entering, Drywood stopped and looked straight up.
"Ah-hah!" he chuckled upon finding the blunt nose of his serpe suspended just above his head. "Come on down from there, you silly girl. We have a guest - and he's brought you a present!"
Longtail hung motionless for a little while, her long, forked tongue flicking out a few times. Then she slowly, slowly pulled back from her "sneak attack"-position and started climbing down to the floor.
"Presssent?" she hissed, neither her voice nor her cold, reptilian eyes revealing anything about what she might be feeling about such a gesture, but Drywood still seemed encouraged.
"Yes! A present!" Bobbing his head enthusiastically, he called out to Odd: "Do come in, sir! There's no reason to worry!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 9:13 am
Odd was worried, even moreso by the fact that he could barely distinguish the serpe from the floor of Drywood's hollow.
"Oh, yes! I have, for you, a present." The aberrent said as cheerfully as he could while he shuffled inside.
"Close... Close... Close... Stop. Look hard. On ground. Wing away." Moth instructed quietly from behind his eartufts.
"Yes, yes, yes. Let us see, hnn?" He dropped one of the two chirops by his talons and moved the other forward, dropping it next to what he hoped was the serpe's head.
"A chirop for the lovely Longtail."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 12:59 pm
Longtail watched the squirmy little creature with an indecipherable gaze, flicking her tongue out a few times to taste the air around this unusual little creature. How long since she had last had a chirop? Her master only seemed to bring home mus and parus... she wondered if it was anything like the bats she sometimes had the good fortune to sneak up on when she hunted on her own.
She liked bats.
However, she was perfectly aware of the fact that this was an obvious bribe. Master wanted her to behave, and this stark-white visitor wanted to buy her affection - or at least her non-hostility - by offering her a snack. This made her feel slightly insulted. But still... the chirop was so white, so easy to see, almost as if it by its mere existance tried to gaud her into eating it.
The serpe slowly lowered her head, tasting the air at a faster pace, determining the distance to her prey.
Just because she ate what the two sentinels put before her didn't mean that she had to meet their expectations afterwards, right? Right.
In one lightning-quick movement, Longtail's head shot out and her jaws closed around the entire upper half of the chirop. After a slow but very effective swallowing process the huge serpe raised her head again and turned her cold eyes on Odd Winter.
"Now, wasn't that good?" Drywood chuckled, beaming with pride at his terrifying companion. "Good girl, Tails! That's a very good girl."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
