|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 7:57 pm
The moon was finally rising high when Verdigris made his way to the clearing. Looking at the sky and thanking Noctus for the weather, the bard alighted softly on one of the thinner branches of a young pine tree. One of the largest of the trees in this particular grove, an ancient fellow Gris had always known and been fond of, had fallen during the Thunderbird’s little tantrum, and Gris, while he had mourned the loss of a tree he had known since he fledged, had been dying to use the open space to his advantage. It wasn’t a platform, which meant that he couldn’t really practice his non-aerial motions, but that wasn’t what he wanted to work with.
Stretching his wings idly, he considered the different things he could do with this space. All of them excited him. There were maneuvers he had been wanting to try, things he had wanted to improve upon but hadn’t wanted to perform in the denser wood, where everything was tight turns and careful control.
He wasn’t entirely sure if he had a program or not, or even if he had a set series of maneuvers. He’d probably just make things up as he went along. For now...
Unfolding his wings, he simply dropped from the branch, only to catch himself and turn the fall into an ascent, gaining the altitude he’d need for some of the more complicated motions he was thinking about trying.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 8:07 pm
It had been like any other conversation amongst friends, flitting from one conversation to the other, rumours, things of passing interest, with Sunny listening at the edge, occaisionally adding one of his own anecdotes to the discussion, but for the most part keeping his thoughts on adding new verses to the ballad he'd been steadily concoting in his head. One little snippet of info however, had jerked the easily distracted mist sentinel back into the discussion, one of the gathered group turned the conversation towards skydancers. Sunny had seized upon this topic of conversation as a starved sentinel might seize upon a tasty mus, flat out pestering the female until she divulged the possible home territory of the sentinel of whom she spoke.
Tact, well tact was a word he was sure was useful for other people, but not for him. As soon as he'd said his goodbyes to the others, he was off, skimming rather noisily through the trees, his movements heralded by a series of jingles and chimes, heading in the direction of the deep woods, every now and then having to dodge a branch he almost didn't see in his preoccupation with his thoughts. He'd have to ask if there was anything he could learn to accent his performances, after all, he wasn't the most agile sentinel around, but surely there were things that could be done on the relative safety of a branch? And even if there wasn't, he'd get to meet one of the few specialists around in the area. He didn't consider for a moment that said specialist might not WANT a random bard intruding on his territory. His modus operandi was that he was always a pleasant surprise. Even when he wasn't.
As he scouted around, a rather noisy ghost amongst the trees, he came across a clearing, spotting movement not far off and diving quickly to alight on one of the trees with a veiw of the area, holding dead still in the hopes that by some fluke of luck, he wouldn't be immediately spotted and would get a chance to see if this sentinel really was the skydancer he'd heard lived near here. And if he /was/ spotted, no big deal, he supposed, he'd just explain his precence and ask outright.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 8:50 pm
If Sunny had come to see phenomenal aerial maneuvers, he would be sorely disappointed for now. Verdigris' stretching routine was nothing more than any other Sentinel would do in preparation for a long flight: he was currently descending in a lazy spiral, though his was accented by little flicks and flourishes of his wings. He looked, for all the world, like any other bard thinking while he flew. There was nothing unique about him at the moment.
Pulling out of his descent long before he hit the ground, he angled upwards, using the momentum he had gained to save him from excess effort, so it seemed as if he weren't working on the ascent at all. That was something he had learned. Banking sharply, he followed the contours of some sort of complex, serpentine shape, using it as a simple test of his own agility. When he finally broke away, satisfied, and stopped to perch, only then did he catch sight of something. Another Sentinel. Smiling, he dropped from the branch again, as if it had given way beneath him, and rode an easy glide down to where Sunbeam had perched.
This particular clearing didn't belong to him, and this was certainly lucky for the other...Verdigris was momentarily bewildered: from a distance, he had thought the newcomer was male, but as he took a perch a few wingspans away, he found himself second-guessing. After a moment, though, he decided that in spite of the two rows of chest bars, this particular mist was male...and a bard.
So like himself then. That complicated things...or perhaps it made them more interesting. Careful to keep his awareness of what were probably Sunbeam's preferences (some bards did it as a joke, as he had learned...) out of his reaction, he gave a soft call of greeting and settled to preen a wing.
"Hello to you," he said, realigning his primary feathers with a few deft sweeps of his beak.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 9:35 pm
Sunny watched the aerial warmups with the most critical of gazes, barely going further than a simple gaze. He wasn't sure exactly what to look for in a flight that might set it apart from that of any other, less typical one and immediately regretted his own lack of expertise in the field. The way he saw them, wings were a simple way of getting from a to b without having to venture near the panic-stirring undergrowth, a way of filling his belly via a nice hunt and in his favourite context, pretty feathers to preen, dye and groom to make himself look more presentable. Other than that, the intricacies of flight were beyond him. Still, he looked impressed at the grace the other sentinel displayed, easily impressed by beauty in others. And wether or not his quarry was the skydancer he sought, Sunbeam was rather aware of the fact that next to those little aerial warm ups, he'd look like a fledgeling who'd just found his wings. He really needed to work on it.
However, he had to pause in his staring as he realised that he'd been spotted, tensing up unnoticably, ready to fly for it if things went pear shaped. Gris' immediate reaction wasn't a hostile one, at least and this soothed Sunny back into his usual casual attitude, ruffling his wings to re-align them along his body before grinning brightly at Gris.
"Hello!" he purred, his voice more of an indication of his occupation as a bard than even the bells and chimes he wore, effeminate but incredibly clear and sweet. It was also the kind of voice which seemed to add an exclaimation mark to every word he said, something which was not helped by the animated way he gestured and moved when he spoke, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and restlessly wiggling his tail now and again. "Sorry for spying. Sortof. I'm looking for a specific individual, you see. And..well." He thoughtfully tilted his head "One of my friends said he lives around here." He paused and eyed Gris' chest fleetingly, for a moment feeling as if his eyes were lying to him at the double barred plumage that met his enquiring gaze. Those markings certainly didn't seem to match the voice that had greeted him, so he found himself curious as to the reasoning behind such a dye job -if that's what it was- and if it was for similar reasons to his own. But he didn't dwell, trying to press on as if he'd not noticed, talking rather a lot, as he often did when nervous.
"You see, I hear, he's kind of well, special. In a way. I don't know his name though, she couldn't remember, just that she'd heard of him." he tilted his head properly to one side before righting it with an exclaimation. "You might be him! Er. If my gut instinct is right." he eyed the chest bars again pensively.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 2:15 pm
“I may have heard of him. I know most of the more ‘special’ of our number,” Gris answered with laughter in his voice, mostly sure that this particular male was out looking for a Skydancer. He wasn’t new to the profession, but his performances were few enough, and there were many who didn’t know he had been the one to assume his grandfather's former position.
As soon as Sunbeam suggested that he might be the perpetrator of all those feathery acts, he smiled and and fluffed out his wings. “I may be able to help you find whoever it is you’re looking for.” With the slightest of flicks of his tail, he extended a wing and dipped a low bow. “Verdigris, Skydancer, at your service,” he said, then righted himself and inclined his head. “A fellow bard, as I see it,” he said, and again finding his gaze drawn to Sunbeam’s chest bars.
The other Sentinel wore a chime: Verdigris had never been one for that particular emblem, since its jingling and bumping distracted him and continually tried his patience, but he had always liked the look of it on others. The silver with this particular Sentinel’s creamy feathers was a contrast he hadn’t considered but immediately came to admire immensely.
The aesthetic of this one was lovely, and Gris found himself idly wondering if Sunbeam knew exactly how far his appearance could get him in barding. Indeed, here was a one who needed naught but that little bit of dye to accentuate his colour, one who wouldn’t need grafts or adornments to beautify himself for performance. Likely he’d look quite lovely in flight.
“I didn’t catch your name,” he said, again eyeing the double row. It would be rude to ask, but he wanted to nonetheless.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 3:37 pm
Sunny looked heartened by Gris' mention that he could be of help in finding the one he sought, even if he wasn't the one himself. He nodded enthusiastically, setting his ear tufts waving, about to butt in with a thank you for the offer when the other male slid into a bow and introduced himself. Most sentinels would show a little more poise than Sunny at finding the one they'd been looking for, he cheered happily and puffed his feathers. "Fantastic. A pleasure to meet you." he too allowed himself to mirror the bow, with less poise but nevertheless earnest.
At the very least however, he was pretty sure now that he had a handle on Verdigris' gender, as he had not been corrected yet from describing the skydancer he sought as a male. He put down their significance to a symbolic one and immediately and almost without thinking permitted himself to fully absorb the other sentinel's appearance, his rich green markings and eyes delightful to behold against the rich coppery hues of his feathers. Speaking of feathers, he found himself drawn to the accented and somewhat unusual ones that complimented Gris' figure.
He found his mind momentarily flickering to his ballad, and thinking that it could do with such a striking character in it somewhere, his vivid imagination romanticising his idea of the elusive skydancer. Only after a moment of extended pause where he realised he'd trailed off into a sort of daydream, did he blink and apologise. "Oh, s-sorry. Yes, I'm a bard. Had a moment of bardic inspiration there." he laughed easily "Strikes at the most inopportune moments." he grinned. "I'm Sunbeam. Apparently named like that because my parents thought I was a bit odd. My friends like to tell me it was probably because I clash with the night-time a bit." he ruffled his wings in the avian equivalent of a shrug. "Feel free to call me Sunny, if you like."
Part of him almost subconciously wanted to add "sir" to the end of everything he said, as if he was in the precence of some wise and noble master of an art beyond him, however he mentally kicked himself for that instinct, a bard spoke to everyone as an old friend, open and on the same level. "But yeah, that's great! First time lucky. Hope you don't mind me intruding like this, I simply couldn't stay away. I'm an inspiration hound, and even if I can't coax you into showing me some of the old arts, I'm inspired anyway." his enthusiasm was practically tangible and boyed up on the wings of his success in finding Gris, he decided rather boldly to go for a somewhat risky icebreaker, figuring that even if he took it badly, Sunny himself could simply blame his boldness on his own double bars. He nodded. "My apologies for being so forward, but I am to assume you aren't female, right?" he beamed, a picture of innocent ignorance. "Just wanted to double check before any little oversight on my part snowballed into a huge embarassment."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:54 pm
Oh, this one was darling! Gris couldn’t help but smile at the other male’s utter enthusiasm, and he was tempted to bow again after he had righted himself. Instead, he simply laughed a bit and answered, “The pleasure is all mine.” He hadn’t noticed before, but this male was rather fetchingly dyed on his wings as well as his chest. Those blue accents were much handsomer than Gris had previously realized. Pale and subtle, but they matched his eyes.
He was quite adorable, actually. Something about this particular bard put Verdigris in mind of a fluff, toddling about on claws it was still learning how to use, adorable in its clumsiness. And Verdigris, always easygoing in conversation, found himself as comfortable as he had ever been just moments after meeting someone. “I do understand,” he agreed. “Sometimes I find my own mind wandering while I’m in conversation. It’s just that sometimes things catch your eye and you’re off, no?” Smiling, he roused his feathers, shook himself out, and settled down again, gently nibbling one of his talons while he listened to Sunbeam talk. Sunbeam. It seemed fitting, though Verdigris had only known him for scarce moments.
“Sunny,” he repeated, and smiled. “It seems fitting, for a cheerful bard like you.” About to ask a question, the other bard’s sudden flow of words cut him short. Closing his beak with an amused look on his face, he simply went back to preening, arranging his other wing while Sunny babbled. Babbling...yes, that was what he was doing. But it was in such an endearing way. Again, Verdigris couldn’t help but compare Sunny to a hatchling or a fledgling. Awkward but not in an unpleasant way, and very amusing to watch. Nice to be around. He could see this particular bard making a lot of friends very quickly. A bit like Gris himself, though Gris preferred to work with his charm and easy manner, rather than this endearing quality that probably made Sunny an instant friend. And again, his mind returned to those chest bars. It wasn’t often that he found another male Sentinel who wore them so boldly. There were a few bards who wore them jokingly, but these didn’t seem bright enough to be a mockery or a play on gender identity. At least...not in a theatrical sense.
“I would not mind that at all,” he answered amiably after Sunny had finally finished the torrent of words. “I came out here this evening to practice, in fact, and as long as you promise me not to summon a crowd from the shrubbery, you can sit in on me. Mind you,” he added, making sure Sunny was not expecting something more than he was going to get, “this is only for myself, and it’s not choreographed. There are just a few things I wanted to try before I went about adding them into performances. This seemed a good space to do so. The Thunderbird was gracious enough to grant me a secluded place to rehearse, and I intend to take advantage of the blessing.” Another warm smile to Sunny, and he stretched his wings idly.
Ah, and then the question he had been itching to ask was out in the open, aired by the other one. Smiling at the way in which it had been phrased, he idly tilted his head to smooth out his chest feathers before replying. “No, I’m not a female,” he agreed. “I was hatched a male and male I remain.” Smiling a bit, he straightened up again and put his head on one side, looking with interest at Sunny. “And yourself? Male, I presume?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
