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 Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 6:36 pm
 Her herd had failed. The two other wind serpents and her male had fled to the far winds. She was alone again. Zosime stood on a hill, looking back one last time at the home that had been her hopes and dreams. She felt the tears fill her eyes and just let them fall. Silently she promised to the beautiful landscape before her, and to herself.
I will return some day. Return and start anew!
Resolutely she turned her back and walked away. It was back to the life of a wanderer for her. Maybe it was for the best. Zo took her first step on the new leg of her journey.
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Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 6:42 pm
 Kalril, the hawk, floated high above on graceful wings. He loved to fly. Flying gave him power. From here he could do anything. At the moment he was play hunting. Mock hunting just for the thrill of sending lesser creatures scurrying for cover.
Today he spotted a flash of color through the densely foliaged tree branches. Folding his wings, he turned over in a graceful dive. The wind raced against his nares and feathers. It felt great! The flash of green whizzed passed and his talons came forward to grab the red and gold feathers he saw. Suddenly he was not facing what he thought to be and veered away.
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Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 8:10 pm
The dark mare had been lost in her own thoughts until the sound of wind rushing across feathers caught her attention. Just as the bird entered the lower branches, she lifted her head and flashed her long fangs. Zo was amused as he quickly changed his mind and swerved away. She noticed the interesting markings on his wings.
"Hello?" She wondered if the bird, he looked predatory, was still within ear shot.
A swift shift of his wings and Kalril sent himself speeding to the safety of the branches. He tilted his head as he looked down at the strange creature. She looked like a soquili, but nothing like he'd ever seen before. And those Teeth! He ruffled his feathers irritated she had gotten the drop on him by deceiving him with those curious feathers of hers.
He didn't respond right away when she called out. Was it a trick to get him to betray his location. After a moment, he didn't think so.
"You. Don't look normal."
Zo turned toward the voice and smiled when she saw the bird. A hawk. That explained what he came zipping down. She studied him for a moment.
"Don't I?" She laughed, "neither do you. For a hawk you certainly have extravagant plumage there." She said it admiringly cause he really was striking.
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Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 9:33 pm
Kalril huffed and wiggled his tail feathers. How dare that misshapen soquili dare call him un-normal.
"I am known for my vibrant colors and all the lesser animals skitter before it. They know I am ruler here." He glared balefully at the mare. How dare she imply he wasn't normal. He still appeared like a hawk.
"Why are you walking? You have big wings." Surely wings like that could lift her up. In fact, he seemed to faintly recall some that looked similar to her flying around.
Zosime had to bow her head to hide the chuckle that threatened to escape at his proud attitude. He was certainly a lively specimen. She regretting not running into him before this. With his territory nearby the ex-herd lands she wondered how far it extended. She was surprised by his next question, and it brought back her failure.
"I suppose that is a good question. Yes, I could fly, but perhaps I think I need some time with my feet on the ground." Zo found she was having a hard time coming to grips that her herd had come apart. It wasn't as easy as it seemed. She would have to think things through before she tried again.
Kalril hopped along the branch and tilted his head. He realized that she seemed pretty down about something. There wasn't too much that got the hawk down. Scarce prey or bad storms that scared it to deep cover. There wasn't anything he could do about those.
"Can you do anything about it? If not, then don't wallow in self pity." He eyed her again and hopped a few more steps. "And what are you doing here if you can fix it?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 11:56 pm
"Maybe not now, but perhaps earlier I could have. If I had been paying attention to the signs. Now that its happened, I don't think I was ready for what I was trying to do. I've been so long without a family that I rushed into it." She admitted slowly. It was hard to admit being wrong.
"Your pretty smart for a bird," she teased. "My name's Zosime. What's yours?" Almost smart, in a rude way, but straight to the point. She could appreciate his logic. Life seemed so much simpler for him. For a moment, she fantasized about just staying here by herself.
Zosime knew immediately that that was not the course for her. While fierce she needed something more. A herd and family.
"You cannot change the past." He hissed. "Think of how many meals I would have missed if my prey could do that!" The idea did not appeal to him at all. Kalril turned his beady eye on her and glared; unsure if she was complimenting or insulting. It was best to put the mare in her place.
He twisted his head to give her a good look over after she said her name. It seemed a surprising long time, almost as if he wouldn't give his name, before he spoke, "My name is Kalril. You are walking because you are down yes?" This too didn't make sense to the hawk. Any time he started feeling bad a long flight usually fixed the problem.
Zo sighed. Again he was right. Then if she couldn't change it, she would have to learn from it. No more rushing head long into something. She would take the time to plot and plan things out. The black mare could clearly see the point about catching prey. Like him she only caught small animals.
"A pleasure to meet you Kalril. Yes, I suppose you could say that...." She was embarrassed as her stomach picked that moment to growl. Loudly. So focused on her loss, she had failed to realized that she was getting hungry. It would be important to keep up her strength and she knew how long it took to fill her belly. Priorities came first.
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Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 1:38 pm
The familiar felt she needed to get her mind off what was bothering her. As it happened, the growl of her stomach gave him the perfect opportunity. He would get her to hunt then take part of her kill for himself. That would save him the trouble of hunting himself, and allow him to spend the rest of the day harrassing the lower animals.
He clicked his beak to get her attention. "It seems you are hungry. There is lots of large game in this forest. Stupid and tender. I could show you where they like to hide in return for a portion of your kill." If he could have, he would have grinned. With an easy sure hunt in front of her, how could this mare turn it down.
Her ear twitched toward him as he clicked his beak. That was an interesting noise. Zo wondered if she could mimic it by snapping her teeth. She listened to his offer, then slowly shook her head. It was kind of him to offer her his assistance for a sure kill.
"Sadly I cannot accept Kalril. You see I only hunt and kill small game; like you. I do have to have meat, but only small animals will I take." She turned her red eyes on him and smiled. "Thank you, it was very kind to offer."
Kalril couldn't believe she turned him down! And her reason for doing so made him squawk and fly for higher branches. If she decided to come after him, his best bet would be to fly through the most thickly branched areas he could. With her larger wings she could easily outfly him in the open.
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Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 1:58 pm
Zo was dismayed by the bird's reaction to her admission. Clearly he thought she was going to eat him! Even though she was hungry, the mare took a slow step forward as she called.
"Please don't be afraid! I didn't mean that like it sounded. I wont eat you Kalril. I promise." Her ears twitched for sounds that the hawk hadn't fled the area completely. Just her luck, now even the birds fled from her. Her head drooped as she prepaired to leave and continue on her way alone.
Kalril froze in planning the best way away from the mare when she spoke. He listened intently. What she said had some merit. First, she had not attacked him even though he had dove at her feathers. Second, she just told him she only hunted small game. He felt himself to be a smart bird. His instincts said she would not hurt him.
He looked back. She was heading out. Now was the point of choice. Either he could turn his back and never see her again or join forces with her. The hawk wiggled his tail and spread his wings. Taking off to make his way through the branches and gain more height.
She had truly frightened him. Zo could hear his wingbeats as he flew away. It was all she could do to keep the tears from falling. She regretted her hasty words, now. The pain of rejection burned deep within her heart. Perhaps returning to her mountonous valley retreat was the best choice.
She had lived by herself so long before. Zo felt she could do it again. It might be a bit lonely, particularly at first. She had come to enjoy the company of others in this short time she had been among them.
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Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 1:21 pm
Kalril made note of which direction the mare was heading as he winged off. It wouldn't do to loose her now. His wings stiffened as he caught a thermal to glide in; letting his eyes go to work doing what he did best. Soon enough he spotted a rodent out too long and went into a dive.
It stood no chance against his sharp talons. Kalril resisted the urge to eat his kill and took off with the animal. He clacked his beak pleased with himself. This would be a good start. A short flight saw him over the feathered mare again. He went into a shallow dive, aiming to land on the top of her head.
Her stomach rumbled again, but Zo ignored it. She wanted to get as far away from the area as she could right now. Too many hurtful memories. How could she hunt and eat when her heart hurt like this? Reason told her that she'd have to stop at some point and eat; resolutely she ignored that voice.
Her ears twitched as they caught a sound. The sound of heavy wing beats. She looked around. Her mouth dropped open as she couldn't believe her eyes. There was the bird, Kalril, flying toward her and carrying prey. It looked as if he intended to land on her head.
"Don't Land There!" Instinctively she flattened her head feathers as bird and prey buzzed over.
Kalril blinked as she yelled not to land on her head. He changed direction just barely and picked a low branch to perch on. Holding onto his kill he made his point to the mare.
"You can't catch enough stuff for yourself alone." He eyed the unusual looking soquili and puffed out his feathers. "We both look different from our normal kind. We'll stand out well together."
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