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 Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2008 9:13 am
It was simply another night. Another idle, monotone, uninteresting night, like so many others before it. Above all though, it was lonely, and Bushfire felt herself wishing something, anything, would happen to break the monotony she'd somehow been sunk into. A small sigh escaped her beak as she turned her head to watch the small Mus that moved about bellow, "Oi!" the creature paused in it's work instantly, her head snapping up to look at the sentinel with wild, nervous, almost fearful eyes, "Are you done with that yet?" there was only a mild pause of hesitation as the Mus brushed her hands against eachoher, then she shook her head from side to side wildly, silently, "Well, get to it; we have a lot of work tonight," it took the Mus only a second to go back to her task, turning and checking on the growth of the plants out of Bushfire's reach.
With another sigh, the wild-type female turned her brilliant eyes towards the darkness, still wishing something would break the tranquility of the night. Anything had to be better than the feeling of restless monotony, right? She never paused to think that perhaps... she should be careful what she wished for.
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 10:04 am
A hoot sounded off from the edges of Bushfire's territory, signaling a visitor.
It had been overall a very quiet night. Bracken hadn't run into anyone obnoxious or anything unbearable, which was something to be noted, considering there was always some blasted Sentinel making a racket or getting in his way.
The deep woods waited for a response before going any further, not wanting to intrude on a recent source of information he had dug up...
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 10:12 am
The hoot from somewhere in the near distance made the female perk her head up from what she'd been doing. For a moment, remain silent, still, her head tilting to one side, as if the movement would allow her to better figure out whom had called; after all, she hadn't really been expecting any visitors. As it was though, the Wildtype fluffed herself out and sent a call back, indicating both her presence and the fact it was fine to approach.
Then again, a few sentinels were prone to dropping without previous invitation to exchange some of what they had caught that night for some of her treats, so thus, random company was not unheard of. Ignoring the working Mus bellow, her eyes remain on the near distance, waiting to see whom it was that had called.
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 10:31 am
A moment later he came into view, landing in the closest spot he could find to the wildtype. It didn't need to be a comfortable perch or anything he would have spent more time searching for- he planned on talking with her, after all, but not for long.
Bracken fluffed a few unruffled feathers, trying to make himself appear more welcoming. From a quick glance, he could tell that the female was who he'd been looking for.
"Greetings..." he said hesitantly, settling into his perch better.
"I hear you grow quite the delicacies here."
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 10:54 am
For a moment, Bushfire hesitated, her brilliant eyes narrowing in the darkness, as if she had decided something was... off, but then, the male unruffled his features and shifted almost awkwardly on the branch he'd picked and the tension was gone, "Indeed," she told him, having relaxed her stance, "Are you here seeking a trade, perhaps?" It was the only thing she could think he'd want from her, really.
She had already forgotten her earlier wish for something to happen, really... amusingly enough, the world seemed to have heard her silent plea.
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 11:21 am
Bracken's ear tufts raised as his eyes lit up immediately, but he made sure to keep the eagerness out of his voice. He could tell the wildtype seemed harried, and he didn't want to push her now, when he would do so later.
"Yes, a trade would be excellent," he said, "Though I'm afraid I have nothing to offer except my services."
The deep woods smiled awkwardly, unused to the expression, and offered a small nod of comfort. "I apologize for the intrusion, but I have a mate back home who is just dying for something better than I can catch. My name is Bracken, and I am a Seeker- and like most in my profession, I seek the truth of things."
His eyes glittered. The bit about a mate- it was a poor lie, but it was enough to lay the bait for his trap...
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 11:45 am
"Your services?" confusion seemed to mingle within her eyes, almost as if she could not quite understand what he was getting at, or perhaps simply not accustomed to being offered such a thing. However, then again, she had been horribly lonesome only moments before, and the possibility of a bit of company (even if there WAS something slightly off-putting about the male in question) was welcome, "The truth of things..." the words might have struck some sort of chord within her, for she fluffed her feathered coat up for a moment, as if trying to hide herself partially from view even if she was failing miserably at the task.
Bushfire calmed herself down moments later, eyes narrowing, intrigued, "What kind of services can you offer me? What kind of truth that I might not know?" and of course, she swallowed the bait, hook, string and all.
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:00 pm
His ear tufts smoothed back as he gained a sleeker, more proud look at his sudden accomplishment. Yes! He had her. He relaxed on his perch, his smile fading.
"Any question you ask, I can answer," Bracken said smoothly, " And of course, there are many things you might need answers for... a failed romance, perhaps?"
The seeker looked at her craftily, his bright eyes watching for any sign of discontent. He'd catch more flies with honey, and all that.
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:08 pm
Again, his words struck a cord; that much was obvious, for her ear tufts lowered slightly, as if shamed, or perhaps simply frustrated. Either way it was hard to tell, for the emotion was fleeting across her features before she turned back to face him, "You can get that sort of information for me?" a small pause of hesitation followed before she shifted on the branch, her talons digging into the wood, "Would you, perhaps, know how the one by name... Basil, is doing? A wild type... he's a wood worker. Slightly awkward," no sooner had she asked though, that she regretted her words, what if she was the only one that was still hung up on the past? What if he'd moved on?
Then again, what if he hadn't? What would she do?
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 1:18 pm
He nodded, pretending to be sympathetic. The seeker wasn't very good at sympathy, so it came out more as a sort of fake, mild interest.
"Basil?" Bracken pretended to think about it, leaning back on his branch. Wood worker, slightly awkward... it seemed she'd hit the nail on the head. So his name was indeed Basil after all.
"What a coincidence!" the male lied, "Yes, that sounds exactly like my neighbor, Basil. Blue eyed and awkward. The area is in quite the uproar right now, over the fact that he's courting a Mist..."
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 1:38 pm
Sadly, the usually perceptive female was blinded by her need to know... not to mention by her need for sympathy. Thus so, Bracken had her eating straight out of his metaphorical palm within seconds; never once did she notice that the sympathy he was offering her was false and that it was simply took them both a step deeper into the clutches of his plan, "Yes, Basil," her ear tufts perked again, eager to listen, as was made obvious by her restless moving upon the branch, her work all but forgotten in favour of the 'gossip' he could offer.
As his words hit her, the female's beak hung open, gaping at him, her eyes wide, looking torn between horrified and completely dumb struck, "A... a.... but..." she closed her beak, swallowed and tried again, "A mist? Courting her? Are you..." a pause as she shifted restlessly on her branch, still looking rather shocked, "Are you quite sure? He wouldn't... I mean... he would have never..." it seemed she couldn't even insert a full phrase without practically tripping over herself, so shell shocked was she.
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 3:32 pm
Bracken had to fight to keep his face neutral. There was something so delicious about this whole scene, so enthralling, that he couldn't help but feeling a bit excited by the manipulation. His eyes were wide and pale yellow, staring at Bushfire intently.
"Unfortunately, I am quite sure," he said, making a show of sighing and slumping on his perch. "I live next door. They have been courting for quite awhile, and I believe they're making a nest. Truly a pity, considering the Mist... Fiercefire, is it? She's barely passable as one- Basil looks like he has a strong lineage, such as yourself."
He paused, realizing he was talking about his prejudices without thinking. He didn't know where her own thoughts lay on that, and it wouldn't be good, if this Sentinel were to view him as that type of bird.
"W-well, I mean I'm worried for the soon-to-be aberrant chicks. They're so... sickly, you know."
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Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 4:03 pm
It was sad to note that despite the way Bracken was staring at her, Bushfire was much too flustered, shocked and horribly traumatised by the revelation to really notice. In fact, at that point in time, had she noticed much of what was going on beyond what he was saying, it was probable she wouldn't have cared. Her feathered coat fluffed out and flattened down alternatively, as if in repetition, no doubt done in a mild attempt to calm herself down; how could this be happening? How could it be possible? WHAT had she done to deserve this?
Her eyes which had gone unfocused, turned back on the male when he spoke, "I..." she closed her beak and had to swallow down what could only have been vile creeping up her throat before she tried again, "Aberrant?" of course, Bracken could have never known how deep that struck; after all, all Bushfire could think of was of her long lost chick. Dead, disposed off... gone. Had it been possible, the female would have paled a notch at the thought, "I.... you're right," while she wasn't as prejudiced as he was, by any means, the thought of her mate not only being with another, but RISKING having more chicks like their... failure, was heartbreaking in more ways than one, "Someone should talk to them. I-I mean, it's only right, after all..." she'd managed to calm down from shock, but now only felt a void within her.
Despite that, she attempted to bring herself together, "I'm sorry, it's just come as such a shock to me that he'd be courting another. You said you wished to trade. And while the news is..." her eyes closed and she shrunk almost into herself, "Unexpected," came the murmur, "You have done your part. You may take what you came here for."
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Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 12:09 am
"Hmm," he hummed to himself, watching the female churn and tumble through emotions with a calculating stare. She seemed at a loss, for whatever he'd said that had finally run her through, and Bracken happily noted that his slip ups went unnoticed.
"I'm afraid they won't listen to the neighbors," he muttered, and looked solemnly off at a point past Bushfire's wing. "Perhaps you should go talk to them yourself-- you seem to have ties to them, surely they would take you more seriously than me."
He nodded then, ruffling and settling his feathers in mock sympathy.
"But, it's alright. I can't blame for your reaction, as it must be such hard news for you to bear."
All the while he was looking curiously at Bushfire's wares below, half paying attention, half wondering on what to eat. There were things he'd never tried before down there...
"Ah, you can give me whatever you can part with," he said indecisively.
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Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 3:10 pm
Bushfire was all out of words though and couldn't, for the life of her, do anything else other than nod along to what he said, her feathers ruffled, as if a tornado had struck her perch, and only she had been affected by it, "I... I'll see to it. Surely they just don't realise," oh, she was a sad, pathetic excuse for a sentinel, and even as she spoke, she knew deep down that it was jealousy talking; that she should not give into the green eyed monster. Sadly, the female found nothing with which to fight against the sin and nodded again, "Yes, I will."
Her eyes strayed down to her goods and only wretchedly, used her will to plug a fruit and something that looked remarkably like some sort of nut, "Those that come here find these delicious. I hope you'll enjoy them," then, after a pause, she shifted slightly, trying to regain some of her lost dignity, "I... could I beg you to come again, if you find out more?"
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