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 Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 11:30 am
"Huh, dun' need 'em, anyways."
Highwind was miserable, which wasn't something all that unusual. The minders were, more or less, use to the runty Wildtype muttering and complaining under his breath, so most didn't find it all too concerning as he inched to the edge of one of the platforms and gave the ground a rather determined stare.
The green eyed runt was waiting his turn, yet again, for lessons that his parents would give him, but he grew increasingly impatient. Feth' always got lessons first! So he tended to lose focus... So he was smaller... So he was having more trouble learning to fly... Did that mean she always got to go first?
His attention suddenly snapped from his own brooding thoughts to a little beetle that had, unfortunately for it, wandered too close to the young sentinel. He momentarily forgot what he had been so unhappy about and fluffed out his feathers as he prepared to stalk the little insect.
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 11:51 am
Tassle looked around the classroom, being just dismissed from his lesson on the importance of diligence while gathering. He hoped maybe he could sneak away and find some more treasures for his collection. Maybe he would get lucky and find a shiny stone like the ones the artisans always seemed to find.
Suddenly he caught a glimpse of a greenish black shine over in the far corner of the roost and with all attention on the potential of a shiny stone to call his own he hopped over quickly. With a bit of a careless lunge at the object he accidentally collided with another fledgling.
Shaking his head and attempting to reassemble his dignity he turned sheepishly, "I'm so sorry about that."
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 12:22 pm
"He-eeeeeey, watch it!"
Highwind had been so focused on the beetle that he had not seen the Deep Woods male that was quickly approaching him and the collision, while it wasn't the most painful thing in the world, was hefty enough to knowck him flat on his rump.
The green eyed youngster glared almost spitefully up at the older fledgling, before hopping up to his paws once more. Upon hearing Tassle's apology, he preened at his chestfeathers and no longer looked quite so upset.
"S'okay. You scared away my bug, though." He complained with a flat voice. The beetle squeezed between boards of the platform and was lost from sight. He sighed defeatedly and turned his gaze back to the Deep Woods.
"I'm Highwind! Who're you?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 3:55 pm
Tassle watched as is hopeful "stone" scuttled off, he sighed, maybe another time.
He perked up as the other fledgling asked his name. For the first time he looked at the Wildtype. He appeared to be a little younger then him and had a crestfallen look on his face. He felt even worse now for mistaking the beetle for a shiny stone.
"M' names Tassle, but you can call me Tas, never much cared for my full name. Thought it was more suited for a female." He smiled hoping to cheer up Highwind. "Aaw don't worry, there are plenty of beetles around. If you want I can help you find an'ther." He puffed up his chest feathers proudly. "I'm pretty good at finding things, I have quite a collection already." Looking around he gave the other fledgling a sly smile, "Even if the minder's don't care much for my 'collect'n'. They lecture me all the time," He made a stern face as he tried to mock a Minders stern lecturing voice," If your not careful Tassle, when you have a roost of your own you'll have it so jammed up with odds and ends you'll be sleeping outside in the cold!" He laughed out loud as he smiled casually at Highwind.
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Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 7:18 pm
Highwind seemed to perk up considerably as he listened to the older fledgling talk. For one, Tassle hadn't even pointed out the fact that the Wildtype was considerably small for his type, but that was probably due to the fact that Tas was a Deep Woods, anyways.
"Tas, huh? Okay, I'll call ya that instead." He agreed rather willingly, as he was pretty much used to following whatever another fledgling, usually his sister, told him to do. He gave a little laugh as Tassle spoke about his collecting and his eartufts flicked forward slightly.
"You'll be sleepin' inna cold? What sort ah stuff do y'collect? Beetles like that'un?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:29 am
Tas smiled as he saw Highwind begin to perk up. "That's what the minder's said, I personally think it's t' scare fledglings into doing what they tell them. I like collecting and I'm gonna keep on doing it."
He stretched his wings as he continued,"I like to collect anything thats got a pretty colour to it. Leaves and flowers are some of my favourites. I've been trying to find a shiny stone for a while and I thought maybe that beetle was one. I don't collect bugs though cus they don't like to stay collected for long."
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Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:07 am
"No, they don't." Highwind nodded his head as he agreed with the older fledgling.
"Bugs, they wander off or get smooshed. One time, I tried to keep one, but my Mama's friend's parus ate it." He made a face as he recalled the bright green insect that he had wanted to keep. He planned on keeping the bug as his own companion, but that certainly didn't last long. He'd have better luck keeping a rock companion until he was old enough to get a real one, that was for sure.
"Anyways, I wanna get another one. Maybe we can get a shiny rock for you to collect'n stuff." He offered fiendishly as he peered over the edge of the platform again. In the stories, Mudbeak always got in trouble, especially if she went down...
But that was where the rocks were, right? He wasn't a particularly brave fledgling and he didn't want to try and fight a wild beast on the ground, 'cos in the stories they were always very scary... But he wanted desparately to make friends with the friendly Deep Woods, so he would at least try to act tough.
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Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 3:13 pm
Spreading his wings Tas did a few practice jumps. He still was on the clumsy side when it came to flying but he was getting better. Not as many crash landings as he used to do. He looked at Highwind who appeared to be a little nervous.
"How much have y' flown? Have you ever been on the ground before? It's different from the trees. It's a lot harder to take off from the ground and maneuvering around isn't much easier either." He didn't want to scare the younger fledgling but he remembered his first trip out when the minders discovered his interest in the task and had sent him on a "field trip" to see if it was a good fit. On the ground you definitely felt more vulnerable and it was not a place to taken lightly.
Stretching his wings a bit more he hopped a little closer to the entrance of the roost and then looked back at his new friend. "We could make the excuse of going out to practice flying so the Minders don't get too worried...or angry." Quietly he added, "Technically we're not supposed to go out to ground level unless supervised."
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Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 1:49 pm
"Just a little..." He replied much against his own wishes to wow this Deep Woods. It wouldn't do him well to tell Tassle that he was some sort of fledgling protégé, if all that would do is have him cornered in a lie shortly. "I ain't been t' the ground yet, either."
The Wildtype fledgling shuffled his feet almost bashfully and scratched at the wood of the platform with his small talons. His eartufts were low and his feathers slightly sleeked, which only succeeded in making the already runty thing look that much smaller. "I wanna see it, though, even if Mudbeak always gets eaten down there. It's gotta be cool, right?" He perked up as he spoke and gave Tas a most fiendish, playful grin.
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Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 12:09 pm
With growing excitement he smiled, "You bet its neat! The ground holds all sorts of treasures and goodies, just a second." He hopped off to find his Minder. After a brief moment he returned to where he had left Highwind.
"There we go, I told my Minder that we're just going out for a bit to practice flying." Slyly he added, "And if we just so happen to "fall" to the ground, well we're just learn'n, eh? She said you can have your lesson when we return, there not finished with the others quite yet."
As he began to hop towards the entrance he looked over his shoulder, "Who's Mudbeak by the way?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 7:37 pm
Bee Balm was supposed to be listening to a story about Clan history right now, but his agemates were all in an attention-demanding sort of state, and the Minder had gotten sidetracked with a lot of inquiries about how the Brigadier was so old and what he kept in his forbidden territory. Bee wasn't feeling particularly excited, so he hopped out of the ruckus with typical, absent ease, and was currently scuffling along a worn branch above the Enclave platform. Scatting absently to himself, he glanced about for interesting goings-on, ba-doop doop...and oh, look at that, an older fledgling and another wildtype like him! Obviously very high on his priority sentinels-to-meet list. He flapped along his branch until he was almost directly over them, in time to hear a familiar name. "Mudbeak is the unluckiest fledgling in the world," he hooted, beaming down at them. "And she's died more times 'n the Brigadier's Mus."
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 9:40 pm
“Mudbeak is not just unlucky, she’s a bit stupid.” The young deep woods spoke from a lower branch from where he’d been watching the fledglings in silence, his dark colors blending his shape completely amongst the surrounding tree trunks. Bee’s entrance seemed to give him enough confidence to also join the conversation. “Takes all the risks and then always dies at the end. Didn’t you ever hear the stories from...?” Darkwood stopped himself as he wondered if the other fledgling could possibly have never heard the normal fledglinghood stories from his parents or the minders. That would be so sad… impossible. “In some places they call her Mudfeather…” he offered a little hesitantly.
“Shhhh. No talk to bad fledglings. Bad fledglings go down.” A whispering voice dropped from the small shape over the fledgling’s head where a worried-looking parus stood in a very alert stance. Darkwood chuckled and hummed a tune for a few seconds before his beak opened in a song that sounded slightly odd in his deep voice.
“Poor Mudbeak is never seen a-gain.”
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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 6:11 pm
"She's never seen again lots 'o times, huh?" Highwind mumbled almost hesitantly. The group had suddenly gotten quite large, which made him feel slightly uncomfortable at the given moment, if only because he felt a little inadequate. So what if he wanted to go find a beetle... They could find one wihtout going down, but finding Tas's shiney stone might be more difficult.
In fact, that would be much more difficult.
The little fledgeling plodded towards the Deep Woods and studied the parus briefly. He wanted one, but he wasn't deemed "responsible enough" yet, or at least that was what his minders and parents said. His attention span was far to short to entrust a valuable tool to, so no companions for him until he could show he had grown a little.
"That's a funny lil' bird. E' always tell you what not ter do?"
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Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 12:00 am
As the little group began to swell, Tas looked at his friend and thought he appeared to be nervous. He moved closer to Highwind and tried to show an air of confidence hoping it would make the younger fledgling feel more secure. Even as the others remarked about the stories of Mudbeak, or was it Mudfeather, he frowned a little. He had not heard those stories. Then as he thought about it more he began to recall bits of the tales. No they had taught that but he had often showed up late or had daydreamed during the lessons. This must have been the parts he had missed. Oh well, he shrugged.
However when the little parus made its quip that was the last straw. Glaring a little he laid his ear tufts back and boldly said, "So what if we wanta go out fer a bit? I told the Minder's and I'm not making Highwind come with me, he can come if he wants ta. 'Sides I'm almost fledged and would watch out fer him anyways."
Tassle hated it when he let his temper flare up. Slowly he took a few deep breaths trying to calm down. He reminded himself that tempers only caused more trouble. "We're going ta go look'n for beetles and shiny stones. If ya want ya can come with us."
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Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 8:54 pm
Bee had been content to sit above the group, but on hearing Darkwood's parus start to chitter warnings, he burst into a full-face smile and flapped awkwardly down to land a short distance away from the pair. Hopping toward them at his best unthreatening pace, meanwhile taking in Tas's little flare of indignance, he smiled and squinted his eyes at Dork. "I dunno, fella, what's to say it's not you who's bad? You look awful suspicious yourself, ole thing." Then, straightening from his crouched position, his pleased-looking face glanced to Darkwood, then to Hi' and Tas. "You DO look tough," he hooted, beaming, "have you ever seen a fox?"
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