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 Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 1:00 pm
 The small furry shape of a skurri moved gracefully through the tree branches carrying a small pouch in its mouth. The red dyed companion jumped to a large birch tree and landed silently next to a ghost Sentinel who was leaning to the tree trunk.
"Berry?" Ally asked quietly, nudging Breeze's wing.
The teacher's head turned to face the companion with a somewhat blank expression in the unnaturally red gaze but silently left the skurri just a moment after. The companion didn't seem surprised or upset at the small acknowledgmen of her presence. This was "The Day After". Every year after each graduation ceremony, Breeze would isolate herself for a few days, dragging her talons around and barely eating. And Ally would chase her around every time, trying to get her to eat something. This was their ritual and it was just starting once again. The "lost" fledglings would linger on Breeze's mind for a few days... but she would soon forget, let go, look for new fledglings to teach... and she would be there, next to her master, ready to aid as much as possible.
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 2:32 pm
"This'll teach them."
A tiny voice grumbled moodily, but was broken with gasps and grunts as the owner struggled to move from limb to limb. The ghostly white shape was larger than some of the other fledglings, partially due to his age and to his unknown lineage. His wings were sore and he moved with about as much grace as a kitten in water, but he was determined to make a point. The sad thing was, he probably wouldn't be missed from the Enclave that he was trying to leave behind.
Odd Winter gave another sharp grunt as he pushed off of one limb and flapped madly to the next. Unfortunately, he had yet to have any proper lessons from minders or teachers. He caught snippets here and there and tried his best, but none of the minders or agemates seemed to want him around.
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 3:18 pm
Ally gave the alarm but Breeze was already watching the clumsy white shape out of the corner of her eyes. A mist fledgling. What foolish minder would let a child wander off like that…? One would have to be particularly brainless to let that beacon of light wander too far from the Enclave.
“White bird. There. No bird. Sentinel. Flying that way.” Ally shot in short sentences as she followed the movement of the fledgling.
Breeze snorted. Flying. As if that could possibly be called flying. The teacher’s head leaned against the tree, sulking in her own way.
“Don’t move. Don’t make a sound.” She whispered to her companion.
Let others come. Someone else should take care of it. The last thing she wanted right now was to visit the Enclave. And a minder would probably be following the child anyway. Someone would show up. This was not her problem. And yet on the back of her stubborn mind, she was having some difficulty ignoring the strained movements of the fledgling’s wings.
Ally obeyed the command promptly, tilting her head to the side in a clear sign of confusion as her eyes followed the small white Sentinel.
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 3:33 pm
"They'll miss me, I bet they will." He continued to complain in a hushed and angry voice, much how a scolded child would when reacting irrationally to one thing or another. Deep in the back of his mind, he had the feeling that this would have no effect on anything that had conspired between he and his agemates, but that wouldn't stop him from trying. He didn't stop to think about his poor flying abilities, his poor vision, and the fact that the forest was dangerous to all sentinels, especially for ones his age.
He grunted as he bounded to the next limb, then landed hard against the bark. The white aberrant's talons scraped the bark in an attempt to perch and he nearly fell, as he had with almost every movement.
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 4:03 pm
When the fledgling’s talons scratched the bark in what seemed to be a movement condemned to failure, the red-eyed ghost jumped abruptly almost knocking her companion from the branch she left. Ally suppressed a small surprised screech, ducking and grasping the bark with all her might trying not fall but obeying the master’s command at all costs.
For crying out loud! What mindless, senseless, fool of minder… if worthy of such title the imbecile in charge of that child… Breeze’s mind wandered off in search of an appropriate offense as she approached the white fledgling. She dropped with unusual speed on the closest branch she could find right in front of the weary fledgling.
“Where do you think you’re going?” she asked sternly, a little harder that she intended at first considering she was addressing what was most likely a lost fledgling.
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 4:09 pm
"Hurkehhhhh."
The little white fledgling was taken aback by the sudden arrival and stern words of the much larger ghost teacher, who's red eyes seemed to pierce deep into his very thoughts. He let out a surprised, half choked peeping sound and stumbled backwards.
He nearly lost his balance and images of a fast approaching ground filled his imagination, but his body managed to keep hold of the limb. He crouched low and his feathers sleeked.
His determined demeanor to get away seemed to dissapate completely as he went into his usual minder and fledgling routine. His eyes lowered to his talons and he did not look up towards the imposing female.
"N-n-nuhwhere."
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 4:39 pm
“Nowhere? What kind of an answer is that, child? Aren’t you lost?” Maybe he wasn’t, really. That would explain how a fledgling could be found alone in the middle of the forest without anyone to look after him. But if he had purposefully evaded the minder’s eyes in order to have a little adventure… Noctus is testing me, Breeze thought to herself, burning silently in her talons.
“You should look up when being addressed by an adult. And a proper introduction is in order as well. My name is Breeze. What is your…? Ally! What are doing there? Get your furry tail here this instance!”
Finally released from the previous command, Ally grabbed the small pouch and darted through the branches until she reached her master’s side.
“..name?” Breeze ended with an impatient word.
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 8:45 am
The little white fledgling winced against the chastizing words of the ghost teacher and his eartufts flattened tight against his sleeked feathers. For a moment his eyes strayed to the funny little skurri companion that had taken position alongside Breeze, then slowly turned his eyes up towards her.
He retained the hunched, shameful posture as he peeped his response.
"Odd Winter..."
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 4:53 pm
“Odd… Winter.” Breeze repeated slowly, tilting her head as she examined the immaculate white plumage with visible surprise. Never in her life had she seen a mist of such pure white, without so much as a tiny spot, stripe or speckle to adorn the light feathers, untainted by so much as a hint of color. It wasn’t dye, no… the plumage was definitely natural albeit a little too thin when compared to most mists. Seeing past how unusual and atypical this particular color was, Breeze had to admit she found it strikingly beautiful.
But the eyes! For the love of Noctus, what was wrong with the child’s eyes?! Had his parents asked a Mystic to change the young one’s eye color? At such a young age? Had they intended for such an odd effect or had there been a problem? Parents should know better… and what kind of a Mystic would even attempt to do such a thing to a young fledgling…?
The teacher’s feathers fluffed up in surprised as she met the fledgling’s gaze but they soon fell into place as she silently took control of herself. A sentinel of her proud task had to remain calm at all times in the presence of a fledgling. She had to give the example.
“Odd Winter. Your parents have a good sense humor, I’ll give them that.” The teacher began lightly as she pictured a mist couple surrounding the pure white fledgling, unsure of how to approach the whole “weird eyes issue”. “Your plumage is quite striking, Odd Winter. Your eyes, however… how did that happen?” She was curious now but perhaps not too far from remembering a couple of minders talking about a strange hatchling that had been born with a dreadful “white sickness”.
Ally’s ears twitched a couple of times as she eyed the fledgling. He seemed absolutely normal to her. Just another mist like so many others that had been in her master’s care.
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Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:35 am
His gaze wavered back down towards his talons as he felt Breeze's piercing eyes comb over him, inspecting him, evaluating him...
"I 'unno. I been with the minders for as long as I can 'member." The fledgling peeped his response quietly as he shifted from paw to paw. His little, pale talons scratched at the bark of the limb on which he came to stop, albeit rather ungracefully.
After a moment, he was peering back at Ally. A little fuzzy... But cute. Definitely not a mus, like many of the minders have.
"'Re you a minder? I ain't seen you at the Enclave, before..."
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Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 12:05 pm
Minders…? Did that mean his eyes had been changed as a hatchling? No, impossible. No one would ever do such a thing, it was ridiculous to even consider it. But that meant he had been born with the strange eye color… and the unusual plumage as well. Had the poor think suffered from a rare disease that had affected his eyesight? It was then that she remembered it. Whispers of a hatchling, a very sick hatchling that had to be isolated from all the others had reached the teacher’s eartufts not too many nights ago. The “white sickness”.
The teacher’s eartufts leaned against the ghostly head betraying her cold silence and the female leaned backwards with a slow almost unnoticeable movement. Ally sensed her master’s anxiousness and tried to light up the mood by offering the fledgling a couple of berries. But as she attempted to jump from one branch to the other, Breeze instinctively reached for her companion with a talon as if trying to avoid any sort of physical contact between Ally and the odd fledgling.
“No berries.” The teacher said coldly to the companion as she held the surprised skurri against the bark. And as if ashamed of her quick reaction she added more quietly, “We’re going back to the Enclave. Follow me.” And with that the teacher hopped to close branch and turned around to glance at the fledgling, red gaze waiting for him to move behind her.
Ally looked confused but followed her master through the thin branches, speaking softly for the first time.
“Follow, follow. Follow the teacher, pretty mist.”
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Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 5:34 pm
Pretty mist...
That was the first he had heard of that and was slightly taken aback by the skurri. It was so nice that he had wished Breeze had allowed her to get closer. It had seemed impossible for the little fellow to crouch even lower, yet he appeared to be doing so against the limb.
Breeze's demeanor was to be expected, as most behaved in such fashion around him, others a little more violently than some.
"I dun' wanna go back. I'm leaving." He had intended to say these words with some defiance, as he had been practicing what he would say when and if he was caught on his way out. He had met no resistance until now and being meek and lonely by nature, his voice seemed only a keening whisper.
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:38 pm
Eartufts twitching before being suddenly pulled back, the ghost teacher turned her head very slowly, boiling at the unusual occurrence of having a fledgling refuse one of her simple commands. But the pale shape glued to the branch looked do pathetically helpless that she couldn’t bring herself to even raise her voice. Still, the teacher was not used to being contradicted.
She hopped to closer branch, automatically stopping at what she considered to be an adequate (that was to say safe) distance and spoke very calmly with a subtle anger barely concealed under her cold words.
“Oh, you’re leaving? Is that so… I am so sorry for not realizing that you were trying to kill yourself on purpose. I’m sure you can hunt all by yourself. You can obviously fly to ground and back in an instant, bringing back all sorts of nice treats to eat. Actually, I am certain you have already picked a nice safe and cozy hollow to spend the day.” And suddenly she sounded much harsher, so much that even Ally felt the need to approach her master and nudge her wing tips.
“Right now you are nothing more than a helpless baby who can’t even fend for himself. And I am a teacher of the Clan, Odd Winter. You chose the wrong place to kill yourself. You will return to the Enclave with me. And you may jump off the highest branch for all I care but don’t you dare doing it in my presence. Now follow me.” The words didn’t quite come out as she had intended. But it was too late to take them back and she was too proud to do it anyway. Ally’s ears were pulled to the side and she scurried through the branches to stand next to the albino, leaning against him as if to support his weight. Breeze had a sudden fleeting thought that she now had to send the skurri to the stream near the platforms to take a bath. Thankfully, that she managed to keep to herself.
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:04 pm
"They don't want me." He keened at the teacher, but only after a long period of silence as he took in her harsh words. He had trouble even forcing these out, as he had done so much to avoid night to night confrontation. He had very little skill at arguing with other fledglings, let alone an adult sentinel.
"I'm not ever gonna learn any of that, 'cos they just want me t'dissapear or fall off a branch." His voice quavered as he tried to justify his leaving the enclave, though it was barely audible.
He flinched as the skurri pressed against him and would he of been able to, his feathers would of sleeked more tightly. The sheer fact that the companion was with him, instead of balking like all other sentinels and companions seemed to do, seemed to at least give him the courage to turn his strange, pale eyes back at the ghost's imposing form.
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:22 pm
To Ally, things were quite simple. There were sentinels of all sizes and colors. White sentinels were called mists. Little sentinels were called fledglings. Therefore, Odd was a sad mist fledgling and Breeze was being an idiot for making him worse every time she opened her beak. She didn’t care that it was “The Day After”. It was wrong to make a fledgling feel bad for no reason. She wasn’t even teaching him. Or maybe she was…
“Oh! Teach something?” she asked softly looking relieved.
“No, I am not teaching!” Breeze said curtly, more vehemently than she intended. She met the fledgling’s gaze a little uncomfortably but didn’t look away. She wasn’t quite sure of what to say. She knew what exactly what she’d say to a normal fledgling… like a child who was teased for being smaller than most… or a fledgling who was teased for being the only one of its type on a certain area. Children could be shockingly cruel and she had seen it all before… or at least she thought she had.
The truth was she felt very uncomfortable. She didn’t want to tell this odd creature what she was really thinking. And she was sure he would not want to know it either. Because in her mind she was very angry with the minders that had taken care of this child. Because he had now grown not just in size but also in intelligence and it would be immensely cruel to even consider disposing of him now. The right thing to do right now was to take him to the Enclave when he would probably live a miserable ignorant life until he turned into adulthood, ready to become to become a burden to the Clan. So she was very angry, really. Because this fledgling should not exist. Someone hadn’t done their jobs and now she had to pay for it. He should have been set aside as a hatchling many moons ago and he should never have lived to see the day when he would become her problem, the pathetic vision in front of her that she had escort all the way to the Enclave where a horde of fledglings would try to approach her for a lesson. But she had to take him there and she had to make him move… preferably without touching him. So the teacher concealed her feelings and spoke as if he was just a normal fledgling. And as she started the familiar speech, even her voice took softer tone.
“You are there. You are fed. You have a place to sleep. The minders may not have taken you willingly but they still took you and provided for you all your life. They think you’re not as good as the other fledglings… prove them wrong. Play by their rules and beat them at their own game. You may whine all you want, feel anxious and ashamed but nothing will change the fact that you were born different. You will always be different. That just how you were born… it’s what you do after that will count. How will you serve the Clan, Odd?”
She didn't let him answer. Hopping to a different branch once again she turned her head to face him, red eyes glowing as the moonlinght hit them.
"Now for the last time, follow me."
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