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 Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:13 am
The central distribution platform is bustling with activity at all times of the night. Hunters and gatherers are arriving with full talons and packs and leaving after delivering their burden. In contrast, the Matron's delivery helpers are leaving with packs filled to the brim with food and supplies that are to be distributed to those in need. Other helpers are coordinating the incoming gatherers and hunters, storing the food, handing out quotas and specific requests and generally making everything run as smoothly as possible.
Most of the time the deliveries to those in need are handled by the helpers, but sometimes a Sentinel suddenly finds themselves injured and in need of more support. In that case they need to send word to the Matron and her minions, or perhaps travel to the platform if they are fit to fly but not to hunt.
Highfog will not be denied food here, as a teacher she performs a vital task, and no one will question a request for some extra food until her foot is completely healed.
The question is... Who is on duty for accepting incoming food tonight? Culls from keepers are always appreciated, but if that horribly snooty Deep Woods female is on duty she will surely give Liana a rough time when she delivers this batch of unfortunate Mus.
Specific details: Highfog is at the platform to collect some food for herself, and is nearby to see the treatment Liana is offered by the prejudiced Deep Woods female who is collecting the culls the keeper has brought. The Deep Woods NPC can be played by either player, as desired.
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Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 11:33 am
As the shape of a female sentinel carrying what appeared to be a small basked approached the distribution platform, it wasn’t long until Liana, the aberrant mus keeper, landed gently with a soft thud, a content smile dandling on both sides of her beak. Beaming proudly as she noted the hectic pace of her fellow sentinels with a swift glance, she took a moment to preen a few wayward feathers paying special attention to the dark brown plumage around her neck.
“We’re here, Dash. Down.” She hooted softly, stretching a wing until her primaries touched the platform.
“Down.” the mus repeated quietly before sliding to Liana’s side. The small creature looked around with visible curiosity, but didn’t say anything else. He knew exactly how Liana expected him to act when in the presence of strangers.
Liana eyed the basket with somewhat conflicted eyes before she lifted it with her will and strutted slowly towards a deep woods female (perhaps because she held an uncanny resemblance to Liana’s father), humming a rather happy tune. It was a shame, really. These culls. Even though they all came from Dash’s mother and a rather promising mus, none had earned her remarkable size. One in particular, had been a shame to kill, a mellow male that she had temporarily dubbed Honey. Though not the brightest of his species, he was definitely the sweetest mus she had ever bred. Still, just like the others, he was too big and she was glad Dash did not understand the family bond that united him to the creatures whose lives she had taken just before they left the safety of her trees.
But given the scarcity of prey as of late, she was proud to contribute with some nice fresh meat that would undoubtedly ease the hunger of a few members of the Clan. For that reason, it was nothing short of a shock that her offering was met with an unusually cold reply.
“What do mean…? You don’t really need this kind of thing? When is meat not necessary?”Liana’s feathers rose around her neck and chest as she eyed the female who seemed to act as if taking her mus was nothing short of disgusting, like the offering of four plump mus that she had struggled to bring was of little significance. The deep woods wasn’t exactly refusing it, more like rudely accepting it. At first it didn’t make sense. And then… it did. Caught offguard for just a tiny moment, she had succumbed to surprise and confusion. Just a little. Just enough for someone to hurt her again.
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Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:27 pm
Silently, a Ghost arrived on the platform, only showing signs of any problem when landing. Avoiding the ground with one of her foot, the only visible injury was a rather fresh scar between her toes. Possibly, avoiding the platform was a bit of an overreaction (but after all, there were many reasons Highfog was not a Hunter, and her tendency to exaggerate actual wounds could not be ignored), but certainly, she had all rights to get food there. Wings slightly spread for her balance, the Teacher thought sarcastically she could become a Skydancer the day she gets tired of talking to fledglings.
Anyway, she hopped and came near the incoming food area. Highfog was indeed curious to see what kind of critter she should expect for today’s lunch. At this moment, a Keeper arrived with a basket. Considering the culls as inferior to companions, which in her mind were themselves hardly more than candy with tongues, the Teacher could not perceive the sorrow related to their death. Instead, they were welcome lunch, indeed, from what she heard, food income had decreased recently.
Then, she realized there seemed to be a problem between the Keeper and the Sentinel on duty. Wait a moment, what if these delicious culls were diseased? Highfog preened the tip of her wings quickly before approaching them, ready to ask anything, and eventually, to lecture them on the utility of culls in hard times, or something similar. She hadn’t been a pain in the a** of anyone recently, and she needed to take care of this.
“Excuse me! May I know what’s going on here?” she asked with her best look and puffiest chest to the busy Sentinels.
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Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 1:17 pm
Highfog’s words reached a very different Liana than the one that had arrived just a moment ago. Cold and silent rage had already slinked her feathers back into their proper places and she suddenly looked rather small. Liana turned to the ghost teacher abruptly, undoubtedly with a sharp bitter answer at the ready but fell instantly mute when she caught sight of the ghost’s odd markings.
That brief moment gave the keeper just enough clarity to hold herself. Just barely. Wondering if the female with the extra “eye” would join the other, she spoke lightly with a cheery tone that was clearly betrayed by her piercing gaze.
“Oh, no problem really. It seems meat has been losing value lately. But the lady is kind enough to take it of my talons so it’s all good.”Dash didn’t seem very happy about Liana’s abrupt change. She was happy before. She wasn’t happy now. But even though an exceptionally bright mus he was, he couldn’t understand what had made his owner so angry. And though it frustrated him not to understand what was going on around him, he leaned closer to Liana nibbling her talons affectionately and decided not to say a word. Not that it would have accomplished anything.
Her protective wall had already risen.
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Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 2:47 pm
Highfog was a bit disappointed by the general reaction. The Aberrant (this fact was ambiguous, and Highfog still thought the Keeper was a wildtype) clearly didn’t seem to be happy at all, and the Deep Woods… did not look like someone you’d want to argue with at this moment. Seeing the Muses, she assumed they were the origin of the meat inside the basket, and didn’t pay attention to them after a first glance.
She put both feet on the floor, convinced she would not have to walk away before some time, and looked at Liana with friendly eyes. “Trust me, when the food income decreases, the value of meat increases. There is no problem with what you’re bringing here”, explained the Teacher, ignoring now the theory of infected meat. “I’m pretty sure you don’t need anything more than a stomach to accept this today.”
Did she just hear a grunt coming from the Sentinel on duty? Whatever.
“Is everything really okay, miss…?” asked again Highfog, before saying: “By the way, I’m Highfog, I guess I could start teaching the value of meat to my students, starting today.”
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Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 4:08 pm
“Trust me, when the food income decreases, the value of meat increases.”
Liana blinked in disbelief at the matter-of-fact tone of the words. Was the ghost female mocking her?! Liana’s feathers rose dangerously once again but as the teacher introduced herself and the deep woods clearly grunted her displeasure, she immediately relaxed enough to give the teacher a heartfelt smile.
She was about to speak when the deep woods moved again mumbling under her breath and taking the basket with her, forgetting (or maybe not) that the basket belonged to the keeper.
“I’m very sorry, but I do believe that’s mine.” Liana said softly but quite firmly, holding the basket with her will. The female froze for a moment and then held three of the mus in a rather wobbly fashion next to her.
“The teacher just didn’t notice yet.” She whispered quite audibly this time as she walked away.
Liana narrowed her eyes before turning to Highfog. She was quite aware of the fact that the ghost hadn’t realized she was part deep woods. Either that or she just didn’t care and Liana was perfectly fine with both.
“My apologies! I’m Liana. A mus keeper of the Clan, obviously.” She stated proudly as she took a bow half politely, half playfully and pointed a wing at the brown mus. “And this little thing is Dash. Don’t be fooled by his size, he’s my most prized possession.” The mus bowed his head to ghost female but remained quiet.
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 3:45 am
Raising an eartuft, the Teacher watched the scene with a bit of confusion. Refraining a “shush, shush” when the Deep Woods left, she made sure never to talk about subtle things with her. By the way, “The teacher just didn’t notice yet” was however too subtle for her. So, what was she supposed to notice? The young lady looked healthy enough, her companions too, so… what?
“Nice to meet you!” replied kindly Highfog, leaning forward to take a second look at the Mus by politeness more than actual interest. “Dash? He looks like a nice little guy.”
Suddenly, something hit her: Liana, somehow, looked a bit off in comparison with the busy crowd in the background. Not changing her friendly voice in any way, and to make sure, she eventually asked: “I guess this gal was not really complaining about your help to the community, right? It would not be healthy to have such disgust against rodents.” Aberrants with such little aberrations did not bother her at all, but she could not say no to an opportunity to give her opinion and make herself a new friend.
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 3:21 pm
Dash replied with another bow but did little more than to sit closer to his owner, looking rather concentrated on her features as if trying to somehow hear the aberrant’s thoughts.
Liana watched as the deep woods left and started talking to another female in the distance but her eartufts twitched gently as if acknowledging she was listening to Highfog. When she finally spoke, her smile had diminished and it was clear she was still being somewhat reserved and cautious. It hadn’t taken long for Highfog to realize what had caused the small argument.
“Healthy? No, I don’t think it would be…! I believe she’s not against my contribution at all, no. More like… my presence…or sould I say my existence...” Surprisingly, her smile widened as the last word left her and her expression gained a certain cheerful defiance. “Unimportant, unimportant... So Highfog - such a lovely name, it really suits you! - what is a teacher doing away from her students on such a fine night?” She wasn’t feeling very comfortable but she simply refused to leave with the feeling she had been pushed away. Besides, there was still a mus in the basket.
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Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:59 am
What a disappointment! The Clan has better things to do than giving a hard time to its generous members. Especially if one has to take a good look before deciding someone is an Aberrant. “I see! What a pity, some of us are flying around with more flashy colours than a flock of butterflies - not that I don’t like those who do! - but some others claim you’re not quite the right shade.” Highfog shook her head. “I won’t tell you to look at me because you obviously did already, but I hope you didn’t expect me to be a hypocrite and get on her side. As long as you don't have shiny polka dots, it's not my problem.” At this moment, she felt especially proud to be a Ghost.
Before the memory of her mother hit her feelings hard, she decided to focus on the new topic. “Thank you! I believe it’s the first time someone gave me a compliment about my name”, she replied with genuine joy, “Actually, I expect giving new lessons as late as tonight. You see, a few days ago, I decided to catch something for the community right after the Storm, and…”Crap, she managed to slip back into the taboo topic, and on her own, nothing less. The Teacher refrained very hard from remembering or crying, and sighed: “My prey bit my foot. It will be completely healed soon. I don’t want to talk about it, I’m sorry.” While apologizing, she barely lifted her talons to show the red scar between them. It was a thing to cry in front of a single Sentinel, it was a completely different matter to do so in public.
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Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 2:57 pm
“Trust me, I’m not hiding any dots under my wings.” She joked, finishing the sentence with slightly open wings and a pleasant musical hoot. “But really, it’s a subject unworthy of our time.“ She took a moment to preen while she listened carefully as Highfog spoke and lifted her eyes slowly and almost imperceptibly narrowing them as her gaze met the teacher. She continued to preen her already carefully arranged feathers for a few moments, wondering if she had said something wrong.
“Nasty creature it must’ve been… but it seems to be healing well thank Noctus.” She said to simply acknowledge what she’d heard and immediately proceeded to change the subject. “What do you teach, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Dash had visibly relaxed and was now leaning closer to the keeper, eyeing the ghost female with curiosity, happy that she had managed to lift Liana spirits up.
“Mmm…mm… high, up. Fog… What fog?” he whispered softly next to her.
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Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 3:52 am
Welcoming the change of topic, Highfog roused her feathers. “I teach a bit of everything, but the art of hunting is my speciality. I don’t have the necessary physical skills; however, I know everything Hunters need to know!”
The teacher watched Dash as he spoke. “And you? You are a Keeper, how long have you been breeding them? Do you have an achievement in mind, do you want to get a smarter Mus, or a better speaker, or a fancy one?” Although her interest was a bit forced, she wanted to know more about this profession.
Personally, thinner and smarter companions would not look as appetizing as most of them seemed usually. By the way, was someone even breeding fat, dumb snacks in these parts?
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 11:03 am
The keeper let out a soft pleasant-sounding whistle.
“Hunting specialty?” Liana hooted, impressed. “That’s quite remarkable. The Clan needs strong and able hunters to face the prey shortage. Good teachers are of the utmost importance to the new generation.”
She eyed Dash for a moment as if finding words to explain his question.
“Lesson. Yes. High is up. Fog is… thick wet air. When everything is grey and you can’t see. Do you remember? That’s fog.“ As the mus averted her eyes with a typical ooohh!, Liana looked back to the teacher.
“I breed for small very intelligent mus. I want them to be light enough to be carried for long periods of time without much effort and clever enough to be able to serve as an extra pair of eyes and ears. They’re mainly for scouts and rangers though. A couple of hunters have asked me as well. I train them for all sorts of things. Dash here is still very young but he's already an expert at diverting prey.”
“Oh, name is good! Grey Sentinel like grey fog.”
“Yes, that’s right, Dash. But stop talking now. Don’t interrupt.” She corrected him gently, secretly proud by the small companion’s eagerness.
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 4:40 pm
“Exactly! I do my best to make hunting their second nature. When you get children of your own, I will be glad to be their teacher.” Highfog was about to explain her methods of teaching when she was interrupted by Dash. She blinked at his cute attempt to make sense of her name, which held, as far as she knew, no deeper meaning than a similarity with fog, and the fact she lives far from the Ground. “Yeah, maybe. Like… clouds.", she mumbled before turning back to Liana. "It’s important for him to be interested by new words!” she said, patiently standing the rodent’s comments.
“I see!” The Teacher nodded. “It’s good to be ambitious. I have always thought companions should be more than simple pets, actually. However, a Chirop might fit this job better than a Mus, in my humble opinion. They tend to talk less, from what I know, and they only need their own wings to follow their owner. Is there a reason for this choice?” She tilted slightly her head to her side, wanting to know more.
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Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 4:44 pm
Pleased to find someone who seemed genuinely interested in her task, Liana smiled openly as she answered the question.
“Ah, to tell you the truth, I initiated my work without thinking too much about it. It came down to who’d be willing to mentor me. But looking back now, I don’t think I could’ve made a better choice!”
Her eartufts twitched a little somehow showing her excitement.
“I’m sure a chirop keeper would disagree, but I find them a bit limited. The only advantage I see in them is their flying ability but even that is insufficient for the purpose I breed. Compared to us, they fly too slowly and are such clumsy things on the forest ground… That’s why I breed creatures that feel comfortable on trees and on the ground, with paws that are very useful to Sentinels with low will control and enough brains to understand more complex commands. When they’re young they do speak more especially as their acquiring the base vocabulary but when their ready to be sent off to new owners, they’re already been taught the virtues of silence. The older ones will speak when directly spoken to. Oh, and they are sooo much easier to breed…”
She had sat comfortably on the platform, completely ignoring the past events with the deep woods that stood behind her, eyeing the teacher with a passionate gaze.
“I completely agree with you, Highfog. I see no point in raising a companion for the sole purpose of being a pet. It actually annoys me a little, really. But… who am I to say that? If they’re bred, I’m sure there’s enough demand. It’s not really my place to judge those willing to trade for them, I guess.”
Dash’s ears went low after the gentle scolding and he sat quietly next to Liana, determined to keep his mouth shut no matter how much the two Sentinels talked about him or other companions.
“Sometimes I sell my bigger mus to gatherers. But I’m definitely breeding for a smaller size. It’s very easy to hunt or fish with a properly trained… ah. I’m so sorry, Highfog. I’m getting a little bit too excited here. Other than other keepers, it’s not often that someone asks about my task. I must look like a blabbering fool.” Liana bobbed her head as she apologized for the previous rambling but her open smile showed how happy she felt.
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Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 4:16 am
During the whole explanation, Highfog didn’t sit, but listened carefully, only speaking up when directly talked to. “Some people find it easier to consider small critters as friends. It only makes sense if the companion is supposed to keep an eye on a fledgling, and is smart enough to avoid getting eaten”, she said, thinking however kids should not try to bring up young pets on their own.
She softly laughed. “I would be worried if you had nothing to say about your job! I’m very pleased to have met someone with such ambition and knowledge of what they do.”
Then she realized, eventually noticing the people around, that she had come here for a purpose: lunch. “Excuse me! I should really get tonight’s meal now”, she apologized with a faint laughter, “And I should also make myself ready for a lesson. It was really nice to meet you! Do you mind telling me where you live?” asked the Teacher. She had got now a new interesting subject for her students, and she was pretty sure they would be interested by the services well-trained companions can offer.
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