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 Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2010 9:23 pm
 Semuan-Ya was used to the fact that her sisters were not overly sure of her or her place among them. She was aware of their jealousy of her wings, and the sheer distase some seemed to show her. She weathered the antipathy and the indifference with a kind of grace. She would put up with much to live here in this tight-knit community, to have a home where, even if she wasn't necessarily liked, she belonged.
But if there was one thing that was beginning to wear on her, it was the antagonism the second in command showed to her. What on earth had she ever done to provoke such from Zahraa'? She had put up with it from the very first day she joined the Flock, hoping that it would eventually go away or be resolved on its own, but it seemed that hope was in vain.
Taking a deep breath, she decided she was sick of it, and one way or another it would be resolved today. Winding her way amidst the trees after leaving her "nest" on the fringes of the territory, she made her way towards the commander's nest, hoping she was still there.
Coming closer, Semuan-Ya announced her presence with a soft sibilant whisper. "Mightssss I sssspeak with you, commander?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 7:51 pm
 A yawn split pale lips as Zahraa' lifted her chin from from folded talons, claws flexing to dig into the packed soil beneath her. She was lain out under the shade of a tree near the edge of the clearing not far from the ring of her nest, Resting through the hottest hours of the day, at least until she was needed. Her pet was with the other males, she'd dropped him off there not long ago. She was letting him have little time to himself, so to speak.
She heard the approach of another and turned towards the sound. Expecting to see one of the sisters, or perhaps even Cabriole returning. She had not been expecting to see Semuan-Ya, and she couldn't quite help the flicker of a frown that crossed her features before she had her expression under better control. She wasn't fond of the serpent, and didn't really go out of her way to hide it. Not out right hostile, not blatantly rude, nothing so obvious, but not nice either.
"What can I do for you, Sister?" Her voice was soft, polite, but not really friendly. She wouldn't admit it, but she was envious of the other's wings, her ability to fly, and what Zahraa' envied she tended to treat poorly.
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 1:31 pm
Hearing the thinly veiled hostility in the others voice, Semuan-Ya had a moment of indecision. Was this truly the best plan of action she could have taken? Sure, being on the sh*t list of one in command when her very place depended on the whims and goodwill of those above her in rank, was a far from enviable position- but wasn't the group as a whole stronger for working together- there was likely a better way of finding out just what their issue with her was, and how she could address the matter and try to mend the rift.
But now, in this moment, she was committed, for better or worse, to the current course she had started undertaking. She fluttered her wings ever so slightly, stirring the air, creating a small breeze to help in the heat of the day. "Ifssss I might be sssso bold, perhapsss thisss disssscusssion is bessst hadsss away from the othersss?"
Semuan-Ya herself had a volatile temper, one held in check because she refused to disappoint the queen, and because she wanted nothing more than to fit in. But she knew that the second in command also had a temper, and if the discussion were to go as she feared, and perhaps somewhere in her heart longed for, it would be best that there were no witnesses around to be hurt. For a brief moment she considered an arena. No, that would be too confrontational on her part...
"There isss an empty glade not far." Truly it would be a matter of a few moments walk along the trail, not even at the speed required for a hunt, and they could have at it- if it came to violence- and there would be no collateral damage. "Ifsss that meetsss with your approval..."
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Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 9:46 am
The harpy could have feigned a friendly expression, could have smiled and pretended that everything was just dandy between them, but she didn't see any reason for it. She had never veiled her feelings towards her sisters in the past, and now shall be no different. She may not have liked the serpent on a personal level, but she recognized her as a skilled hunter, and felt respect for her, and she deserved honesty, if nothing else.
The flutter of wings drew her gaze, and the plush feathers of her mane twitched upward as she fought not to curl her lip. Was the scaled mare mocking her? rubbing her nose in the fact that she had wings and the commander did not? Semuan-Ya's question was a convenient distraction, but the content was unexpected. What could the other want to talk about that needed privacy?
"You may, where did you have in mind?" The narrowing of eyes that followed matched the slight suspicion in her voice, but she got to her feet, muscles along hips and thighs jumping to shake any clinging dirt or debris from her white hide.
"That will be fine." She watched the other mare, waiting for her to move, to lead the way. Willing to follow to keep the other sister from being at her own back. She didn't know what the serpent wanted, didn't know her intent, and was not going to turn her back on the other mare until she had figured it out.
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Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:43 am
Semuan-Ya's skin crawled as she was forced to turn her back on the ahrpy and lead the way. Her instincts were crying, danger enemy, but she managed to force them down enough to do what she must. Breath hissed between her fangs as she lead the way to the nearby grove.
Though both were capable of high speeds, and though it would have helped the serpent's nerves, to wend through the trees, she also needed some time to prepare herself for the confrontation to come.
Reaching the grove, she walked a few paces in then stopped turning around to face the commander. Though she had come up with many pretty speeches along the way, she discarded them all now that it was time.
She wasn't by nature eloquent, though she could be when the situation called for it, she felt the sitaution called for blunt honesty. As the second in command of the Flock, and one with the power to have her chased away if she so desired, Zahraa' deserved nothing less than honesty.
"Whatsss isss your problem with me? Hasss I done sssomething which offendsss you?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 9:27 am
Cool eyes stayed glued on the other mare's back as they moved through the wood to the clearing. Watching carefully, looking for any sudden tensing, or twitch of muscle. Not only alert, but looking for a show of nerves, a clue to what Semuan-Ya wanted. As they reached the groove she let the distance between then grow, lingering at the edge while the serpent moved to the middle.
She wasn't surprised by the other sister's questions. It was no great secret she held distaste for the scaled fem. She'd been tolerant, civil, even polite, but certainly not friendly. She kept her opinions her own, and would never have spoken them allowed to any but the queen out of respect to their leader and for the sake of peace within the flock. But now.. Semuan-Ya was actually asking, and they were clear of the others.
The white mare snorted softly, the toes of one foot flexing to drive talons into the packed earth beneath her feet. "Done something? No, not that." Her voice was cool and low, riding that razors edge of neutrality, and nearly failing. She would try, for Aviania, not instigate this fight, to simply be honest, but if pushed, she would by goddess push back. "You are a stranger to me. You and the river sister. I do not know you." Her lip twitched, almost curling, but she caught it, controlled it. She'd spoken the truth, but not all of it.
Her jealousy of the serpent's wings was a petty thing, and she would not give up that truth easily.
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Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 1:47 pm
Semuan-Ya sneered. Tension is never good for any herd. And the main cause in within the Flock was caused by the harpies following the subconcious leading of the commander. And it was for such a petty reason as the fem didn't know her or the river sister? That couldn't be the only reason. There had to be more to it than that.
Why if that was the only problem it would have been easily solved if the fem had made any effort at all. But she hadn't. And that caused the serpent to start to become beyond rational thought. Her precarious position was so for so trivial a reason? She started to puff up in her anger. Her wings fluttering about her in agitation.
There was a flash, she noticed that came and went so quickly in the other mare's eyes when they had cause to rest on her wings. If she hadn't been looking at the commanders face she wouldn't have noticed it at all. Jealousy. So that was the real motive behind it all. Though, granted what the other fem had voiced was also a part of it.
She snorted. How childish and petty.
The restraint she'd held so tightly to, out of respect for the queen and in acknowledgement of her place, snapped, and her eyes began to glow as she darted forward without any warning, her fangs dripping their toxin in anticipation.
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Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 8:46 am
Avoidance had been her key to tolerance. She'd steered clear of Semmy and Benn'jo whenever possible, and though that would do to keep the peace within the flock. If her own petty biases weren't on display, then life could continue on as normal. Apparently she had thought wrong, if Semuan-Ya's bristling anger was any indication.
The multicolored feathers of her mane twitched, raising in response to the tension singing in the air between the mares. She waited for the other to speak, to verbally lash out in some way. She expected yelling, she didn't expect violence, not really. She'd been prepared for it, alert and cautious, but didn't really think the wind sister would lash out physically. That was the only excuse she had for the dripping fangs making contact with her hip.
It was a shallow bite, and her reaction, albeit slightly slowed, had kept the other mare from striking anywhere vital, but it wasn't simply the fangs that posed a threat, no it was toxin that leaked from them, and Raa' was sure she hadn't escaped at least a minor dose of the slowing poison.
Talons scored the earth as she darted out of the mare's reach, bounding of to the side before springing up to launch herself from the thick trunk of a surrounding tree, a pale blur racing back at the scaled female with claws flexed, aiming for those damned wings. Semuan-ya had struck first, opened the way for the commander to retaliate, and she intended too. She wouldn't strike to maim or kill, but if the other mare wanted a fight, she was going to get one, and Raa' would hold very little back.
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Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 12:27 pm
Semuan-Ya knew her strengths and weaknesses, knew that if she were to have any chance at all in a fight any of the truly higher ranking harpies, she would need to get the drop on them, to take them by surprise. This plan had come to her as she led the commander here. If she couldn't make her see reason through words, then she would have to prove herself through action.
She was glad her first strike had managed to even land, knowing the commanders speed and strength, this would slow her enough, she hoped, that she could get in a few good blows. To show that she wasn't weak, that she could hold her own, that she was an asset to the herd rather than a hinderance.
She had not wanted for it to come to this, for her to need to get into a physical altercation, but now that it had happened, she realised it had been inevitable. Now all she could do was to fight.
It had been her intention to keep this brawl just that, a light brawl. Trying to avoid either getting injured too seriously, given that the herd lacked a healer, but when she felt the other mares claws attempting to deprive her of her wings, all her intentions flew away, leaving her in a primal state.
Withe the tears in the rather fragile membrane of her wings, flight was out of the question for at least this fight, but when the claws managed the bend and tear out a few of the stabilising feathers, she knew she would be grounded for a longer period than she would wish.
Whipping her heavy, sharp scaled tail around, she knocked the commander back, just enough that she could get her wings, which were starting to drip blood onto the battlefield and enflaming her bloodlust, out of reach.
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Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 12:45 pm
When claws met the thin membrane of those enviable wings the commander gave a fierce chirp of triumph, and she closed those razor sharp talons within that thin flesh, tearing as she moved over head. Snagging a few of the stabilizing feathers with a last hind kick as she landed. If it was real, if the dirt was going to fly, then she would ground the scaled sister, she would make her feel what it was like to be limited, and she would delight in in.
The slam of Semuan's tail took the harpy across the shoulder and sent her sprawling against the earthen floor of their arena, claws digging to slow her momentum. Stunned, but not dazed, she shifted her legs beneath her, shoulders rolling as she tensed to strike, despite the new protest of the deep muscle bruises blossoming purple and black against the pale hide of her shoulder and hip. The serpent had gotten her hits in, but no more. Zahraa' was commander, second in command, and she would fall to no sister save the queen herself.
"Your temper has blinded you, sister. For these injuries you shall pay." She voice was cold hiss, and at the tail of her threat she sprung, pale body streaking low along the clearing, claws catching on the gnarled roots of the trees around them to weave back and forth, feinting before diving for the other mare's legs and lower chest, talons lifted and flex to pierce and tear. Not a kill shot, she did not wish the other death, nor even to truly cripple her wings. But she meant Semuan-ya pain. Physical pain coupled with a stint on the ground.
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Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 10:49 am
Semuan-Ya knew her temper, knew her weaknesses, so she refused to rise to the commander's bait. There were times the serpent wished she was tougher, stronger, meaner. This was definately one of them. As it was she was a more than capable hunter, her tactics relying on surprise and flight. But in an equal battle like this, where she would not sully her honor by using her wings to advantage, she was rather out of her depth when dealing with an able fighter such as the commander, perhaps against any of the other sisters she could hold her own but not the opponent she faced now.
She hissed -more sullen than angry- as she attempted to dodge the swift attacks which left her no time to think or breathe. SHe barely felt the claws that raked across her flanks, removing some of her scales which would grow back, dodging just enough that the injuries were more superficial than truly crippling or disfiguring.
She lashed out thoughtlessly, guided by instinct, even as she felt the others claws on the rather tender unprotected flesh of her chest. The pain was intense. She screamed in pain, even as she continued to lash out hoping to get in even one more good strike with her tail before the blood loss from her combined wounds caused her to pass out or forfeit the fight.
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Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 11:59 am
Zahraa' dug talons into the ground as she moved past the other, blood like a bright exclamation soaking between clawed toes and up along the thin ankles of her front feet. Pausing to admire the work she'd done to Semuan-Ya's flank and chest. The wounds were deep, not life threatening, but certainly nothing to shake off. Not a moment too soon either, the harpy could feel the effects of the venom as it radiated from the point of injection at her hip.
Her limbs felt heavy, increasingly harder to move, and her reaction time was slowing at a dangerous pace. Slow enough that she didn't notice the tail whipping at her cheek, and barely kept her feet when it smacked into her jaw. She staggered, dropping to one of her front knees, as a snarled hiss parted her lips in the others direction.
She might have left it alone after her last attack, but she couldn't let the last blow belong to the serpent mare, refused to accept it. No, she fought her way up right against the weight of the venom in her blood and walked closer, a little uneven. "Learn your place, Semuan-Ya," she hissed, glaring down at female with a mixture of satisfaction, and cold anger. Though a hint of respect reflected in her white eyes, impressed by Semuan-Ya's nerve.
She turned to leave, but the top of her hind foot jerked, aimed for the other's jaw. A last parting shot to be sure her point and pride were drilled deep within the other mare's mind.
Her pace, as she left the clearing was slow, laborious. Concentration focused on putting one foot in front of the other, on making it back to the nesting grounds, her nest, where she could rest and let the effects of the venom run it's course. If she collapsed before she made it there it would not reflect well on her. That simply wasn't an option, she refused to appear weak in front of her sisters or her stallion.
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Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 12:35 pm
Semuan-Ya watched with a satisfied sneer as her last blow struck the prideful harpy acroos the jaw with enough force to stagger her. It was a validation to herself that she wasn't weak, that, if she could get past the prejudice of the other sisters, she was worthy of respect.
She didn't see the last blow coming, so wrapped up in what she saw as a victory for herself. She didn't hear the hissed warning or even admonition. The blow to her jaw would not have ordinarily been that devastating, given that it was delivered by someone who was under the influence of her venom and who had been fighting previously, but she was also not at her best. She staggered. Loss of blood and tiredness working together to bring her to her knees.
She didn't watch as the harpy left the clearing, focused as she was on trying to stay on her hooves, trying to remain concious. She would gather her strength, what little she had left after such a brawl and walk back to her nest with head held high. Sure, she had been beaten, but her opponent had not escaped unscathed. She had hopefully proven her worth.
Now, all she had left was to find a healer...
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