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 Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 3:28 pm
Pure force of Will mangled the little, brown twig. It twisted and pulled it into place with the others and towards the tip, it bended and curved until it looped beneath in what was a weaving pattern. The sticks, they needed to be rebuilt. The storm had knocked them away, but they needed to go back.
It was tiring work, but something Rosinweed never stopped doing. She went down and brought the fallen barrier up bit by bit and even now it was no where near it's original splendor.
Fortunately for her, she had been born with a moderately skilled will. skilled enough, anyway, to help build this protective shell from the world. Had she not been able to do that...
Well, she shrugged the thought off. If there was no place safe, then she would of been eaten by now. It was as simple as that. Silly to think otherwise.
Silly, silly.
She clucked silently to herself as she preoccupied her being with her constant work. Her golden eyes watched as the single green leaf, one she had aimed at keeping intact, drifted downward slowly. Too bad. She'd add fresh leaves later, once she was finished.
The lightly hued wildtype drifted silently from a higher protruding limb to a lower one. Too much space, here. Add more sticks. Pluck, weave, pluck, weave. Place it here, shift it there. The mere movements were calming to the paranoid sentinel.
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Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 1:58 pm
The night was sweet with the smell of thick foliage and a warm heat. It was a gift from Noctua for someone who had been traveling for days to return back to the Deep Woods. Rosemary wasn’t under the gift of not remembering when she last returned, and the harsh encounter here had done her no good. Still, the past was plaguing her, and she knew things needed resolved, or else she needed to get back into the swing of things. After Willowstone’s passing, she had worked hard, but more and more Sentinels were choosing to live closer to the Deep Woods and considering her already far away territory, most were no longer willing to travel the length to ask of her Artisan services. Word had come that new batches of Artisans were graduating and with each new generation, her name was lost, only talked about on the beaks of the past generation. How was a aging Artisan suppose to make end’s meat?
Change had to happen and despite the consequences of moving to an area she had previously made an unspoken agreement not to return to, she was making the route back. She could not remember seeing so many Sentinels before and had forgotten how densely populated the woods in these parts was. It was refreshing and she felt more thrilled, excited, more than she had in a long time.
Yet, it HAD been a long time, and the woods seemed to change on her, though it wasn’t like she had paid attention the last time she went with her mate, going to listen to a few bards that Willowstone had wanted her to met. How long was that? Several seasons for sure!
Flying, she once again lost her already weak bearings. Which way was it? Further west…..or maybe northwest.
Troubled, she flew slowly, conserving energy the way experienced fliers who made long trips knew how. She was flying, probably in the wrong direction, and hadn’t expected to get a sign from the woods itself until one presented itself.
A large, bulking sculpture. A congested tree. A wooden deformity. This…thing, a craft or maybe a natural phenomenon, she did not know which, had loomed ahead and she was taken aback by it. Saffron, who had been flying silently, long since too tired to sing pleasantly, stopped and the pair, both exchanging confused glances, slowly moved closer.
With each beat flap, she saw the details of the unusual structure. Weaving twigs like a gatherer’s basket, leaves and twists that brought color and contrasted. Sticking mushrooms and traveling ivy, with several beetles crawling inside.
It was…
“ LOVELY!! “ She sang.
“Such work. Such raw form. It’s taking nature and creating something unnatural. It is mysterious. Magical. A shell that belongs in nature but doesn’t!” She praised.
Admiring, she started to circling, doing several rounds at this perplexing object before her tired limbs told her to take a break and, selecting a close branch, flew to it and perched, Saffron following to land next to her.
From here, she could watch the bulge closely and what a fine piece of art to see when resting!
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Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 2:54 pm
Rosinweed squinted her eyes and flattened her eartufts as she manipulated another branch on the lower portion of her fortress and was deep in concentration. It swayed with her Will and twisted beneath the branch above it.
She was growing tired and was nearly ready to call it a day, yet the thought of it being imperfect bothered her enough to want to keep working.
“ LOVELY!! “
The wildtype froze and her feathers sleeked tightly against her frame as a strange voice interrupted her. It didn't belong. Didn't belong. Wasn't Sequoia. Nettle? Nettle didn't sing! Did it eat her!?
Her eartufts flattened tightly against her skull as irrational fear began to take over her. Her golden eyes flashed upwards, searching for the owner of the voice.
It wasn't It, but a sentinel. A dark sentinel with bright red. It was paint! Crimson paint, it would attract It, maybe!
Rosinweed shot fiercely from the bottom branch to become more level with Rosemary and landed on another thick limb with much noise and wild wingflaps. Her feathers fluffed and wings spread in an aggressive posture.
"Intruding!" She hissed soundly.
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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 7:19 am
The sudden flare up of aggression was not what Rosemary expected, or welcomed. Her body instantly fluffed and she stepped back, further towards the trunk of the tree as the other Sentinel flew up at her. She hadn’t expected another Sentinel to be about. The simple logic of territory was lost when she spotted the weird structure and she couldn’t image a Sentinel living there to produce it. It seemed to….unearthly to be made by a Sentinel’s Will.
“I’m TERRIBLY sorry.” She shout out, trying to be heard over the wild flapping and shouting of the other Sentinel. She, as she could tell from the voice, was in no mood for interlopers and Rosemary scolded herself, knowing that, at her age, she should have know better.
Her body lowered to show she was no threat, but her mind sparked suddenly with a thought.
Perking up, she was suddenly thrilled. “I had no idea someone lived here!” She called out. “..But, Do you know what this structure is?” She said, wanting to know what she was seeing before she was forced out of this area. Most Sentinels would see this situation as a bad thing, but it was a blessing in disguise to find someone who knew this area and could tell her what beautiful marvel she was seeing.
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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:22 am
"Go, go, go , go ,go!" Rosinweed hissed and grated her beak to create a cracking sound. Usually others did not linger after she met them aggressively unless they intended on either teasing her or challenging her, the latter being rarely the case.
Rosemary's perky behavior had her baffled. It didn't seem aggressive, so the wildtype took it as a form of mockery or teasing.
Her mind drifted to and from two different worried thoughts. The first being that the Sky Fiend would hear and see, the second that her faithful little parus might of been eaten.
"Nettle, Nettle? Where is? Where is she? You ate?" It was a question born of confusion and worry, and held a combination of question and accusation.
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Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 6:23 pm
Rosemary reared back at the accusation. “I would NEVER!” She said, offended by the remark. To harm a little parus was unspeakable. She loved little companions dearly. To eat a companion was TERRIBLE!
Fluffed, she sleeked down at the Sentinel’s erratic behavior. “Did you loose him? Oh, the dear. He must be frightened.” She said, rotating her head around to try and spot the little one. “Saffron. Go out and look for a tiny parus. You can see better than I can.” She said, and chirping, the little bird flew off.
Foregoing the previous worry of the flying Sentinel, she moved on her branch. “Don’t you worry. I’m sure the little dear will show up soon. Big forest aren’t as big as they seem and the dearies never go too far.”
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 8:54 am
Rosinweed was completely taken aback by Rosemary's reaction.
She stumbled back on her limb and her eartufts pressed tightly, then loosened up and her feathers went from puffed to sleeked against her sturdy wildtype build.
"Not far?" She murmured quietly, but it was hard to keep her beak from grating.
"Never? Not eating?" This was not usually what happened when strange visitors came. Either a challenge would ensue or the trespassing sentinel would fly off upon being noticed, never did one stay and offer to help.
Fortunately for both Rosinweed and Rosemary, Nettle was only out and about, neglecting her assigned task to stand watch against visitors. The little parus was taking her time eating berries from a bush on the outskirts of Rosin's territory.
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 6:14 am
“Oh, I would never think of it. There are better things to eat, and I love my dear Saffron more than the summer rains.” She said, perking up. “Oh, aren’t we being sociable now! I was so worried that you thought I was just some rude interloper. No need for fretting now. I’ll clear things right up. My name is Rosemary, and I’m not too familiar with this area. It’s been a while since I went to the Deep Woods, and I think I might have lost my way about. Silly thing at my age, don’t you thin?.” She said with a smile. “Well, you can imagine not being familiar that I’d fly into someone’s territory without noticing, or I would have called out and made myself know. Terrible manners on my part. Oh, and when I just saw that basket over that tree over there, I just HAD to stop. It’s so….new!” She said, but was cut off from her fluttering talk when she heard Saffron.
The tiny bird had looked about, whizzing around and had spotted the other bird. Chirping, the butterfly-painted parus flew over and landing next to Nettle, started singing. “Found you. Found you. Eating Berries. Found you!” It sang, glad for it’s little success and hopping around the bird.
Rosemary perked more than her already sunshine self. “Ohh. There we have it. The little dearest is found.”
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 10:14 am
The yammering of the brightly painted shadow never seemed to stop. Not that it was bad yammering. She wasn't saying bad things...
But she was so bright. A beacon. They would be found. And eaten.
Rosinweed was convinced of this as she listened to Rosemary talk away and introduce herself. "New? Not new. Is safe. Need safe. Not safe out here." She replied curtly, though she did not intend to be rude. Curt was her nature and she was unused to strangers, especially talkative ones, friendly talkative ones.
"Ro-Rosin-Rosinweed." She stammered her own introduction and turned her gaze upwards, towards the canopy. "Need safe. Safe inside, okay? Not safe out here. Not safe at all."
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 11:19 am
Rosemary was a talker, though she felt more giddy at having met someone. She didn’t know how rangers got by without seeing someone for ages. If she was out for so long, she would talk herself silly to the first person she would meet! Luckily, this Rosinweed was around and she was such a lovely little dear to be nice and accommodate her. Rosemary thanked Noctua that manners and good hospitality had not died off through the years.
“Oh, is it?” She said, glancing up, scanner for the major danger signs, yet did not see any. The canopy was thick and full, the ground below did not rustle with anything too suspicious, though she would never go too far down to find that out anyways. There seemed to be nothing about but a calm peace, well, aside from the jittery Sentinel who was looking about.
It seemed, being the guest, she would take her word as to the danger that was present. That and she was being offered to come inside the….tree basket.
“Oh can I? That would be wonderful! I have never seen a tree basket before.” She said, stepping by to follow after Rosinweed.
“You have a very lovely name by the way.”
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 11:30 am
Tree Basket?
She had never bothered deciding on a name for it, but this one was as good as any other...
Tree Basket...
And it had a sort of pleasant and homey ring to it, despite it's intended purpose to be her own little fortress. Perhaps the name would stick and that would be what she called it from now on. She sort of liked that.
"Tha... You... Er... Same. Likewise. Very pretty." She forced herself to respond as she shifted along the limbs and landed on her entrance perch.
"Much safer. Much safer. Very much safer, inside." She hooted as she shuffled in to the cozy home she had weaved over the past seasons. It was comfortable inside, not too roomy, but not a tight fit. It could easily accommodate two sentinels comfortably.
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Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 2:01 pm
Rosemary followed after, still looking about outside for something she could not spot before entering the odd structure. Inside was stunning. It was cozy, just like being in the nest at home, but this one completely surrounded you. It was dark and that made it comforting. “Ppprrreeetttyyyy.” She was in awe as she stepped in, watching to make sure she did not bump into Rosinweed.
“When did you start? It must have taken you forever.” To do this much, she would have thought that a entire group had worked on it.
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Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 2:54 pm
Forever. That was what it felt like, and it was never finished. She would pick and place and move it around until she was satisfied, which was something that seemed like it would never happen. She shifted into the little nest she had made in the back of the comfy little hovel, as to give Rosemary more room to move about.
Although she was a complete stranger, for some reason she reminded her a little bit of Sequoia.
"Forever... Mm, graduation. My graduation. Long time. Time ago." The wildtype female gave a short response as she studied Rosemary in the darkness of the comforting Tree Basket.
Hmm...
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Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 8:32 pm
Rosemary settled herself, though her head was spinning to see all that she could of the inside of Rosinweed's home. "Oh, you seem like such a young thing." She said, looking over at her. "..which makes this all that much more amazing. I thought a whole flock was helping you. You did this by yourself, right? Must have spent ages on it and to think of how to do it! Now that is something I haven't seen any crafter do, and I've met a lot of smart Crafters. Are you a Crafter, dear?" She asked, turning back to her.
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Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 8:37 pm
"Hn? Oh, no. Not Crafter. No, never, Watcher." The younger sentinel replied quietly. Suddenly, she felt a wave of embarassment that was brought on by praise she rarely heard from anyone other than Sequoia.
"Uh. Not by self. No, not really. He helps, Seq. Sequoia. He helps when he visits." She was eager to shove off all the praise that Rosemary was spilling over her. She felt rather uncomfortable and her feathers were sleeking.
"Task? Yours? What is it?" Rosinweed tried to shift the topic rather ungracefully as she moved from one paw to the other in her little nest.
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