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 Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2012 9:53 pm
The sky was unusually clear that morning.
It was the sort of day the motoujamii had come to expect: a suffocating mixture of soaring temperatures and breathless winds. But with a portion of the firekin out serving a tour of duty, supplies were not as strained as they'd once been. Suffering the heat became daily routine, rather than a constant battle for survival. If the drought had been the only problem the desert faced, it might have even made for a half-way decent day.
Unfortunately, it was not that sort of day.
At about noon the cloud appeared. Still so far out, it seemed an insignificant blemish upon the endless blue. Had it held, it might have been cause for some excitement. But it didn't take more than a few minutes to grow and expand, coming closer. Coming closer at a rate far too fast and erratic for any sort of weatherly apparition. Even its shape started to change- at first a half oval shape of chaos, before quickly morphing into a black scar. Wild and changing as it twisted in and upon itself.
And at a certain distance? That was when you could hear the sound. A roaring torrent of caws and screeches.
[[ Note: This is not avian only! But I'd love to showoff any bird characters we've got. ]]
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Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 2:08 pm
Shumusi preened at her feathers, getting the sand out of between them. The little gold eagle, though size being subjective, had been hunting for the day already. Slim pickings had taken her to the edge of the desert, where hunting had proven far more fruitful as she had brought a scrubland hare back. The bones sat at the base of 'her' tree, a gnarled and dead shell of a former plant that had grown and died outside what had become the den of her mistress and her mistress's mate. On a branch above her, the eagle that had taken up companionship with her mistress' mate sat, himself enjoying a rest.
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Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 5:42 pm
The mob of birds continued to twist into the sky. They were enraged, that was for certain... but over what? The mob seemed content to rip itself apart, jerking this way and that as it writhed in the sky. Black feathers fell onto the sands, depicting the mob's path. If someone was looking close enough- they might have noticed that a few of those feathers vanished before ever coming to rest.
As the group continued to spiral, the cloud like shape became swollen and chaotic. Then, like bursting, one of the individual blackbirds broke from the group. It darted down towards the sand below, diving at a wild, breakneck pace. It was a careless gamble, and the crow's wings had barely enough strength to break off the sharp descent as the rest of the horde turned and gave chase.
Now in two separate groups, it became clear that this smaller bird was the object of the mob's attack. It gave a sharp turn back towards the sky- only to be engulfed into the ball of black wings once again.
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Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 1:03 pm
Shumusi looked at Kenta for a moment, puzzled, before she hunched down, spreading her wings and pushing her self off the tree with heavy thrusts of her feathered appendages. The eagle was soon climbing into the sky, intent on either checking out what was going on... Or simply intervening. Smart as crows were, even they still feared the eagle, as far as she knew. At least... That was what her parents had always told her. Like a gold patch of sun-soaked sand, she rose higher and higher, sharp eyes trained on the shifting angry mass. She had completely missed the vanishing feathers, that was certain.
The male spared a look to the female, before he, too, rose into the air. But unlike Shumusi, his eyes were trained on falling feathers, and very unlike the golden female... He saw them vanish. "Well, that's curious..." He shifted, angling himself up in a steady climb. His ascent wasn't nearly as fast, and in fact took an easy pace, as if he had all the time in the world to get there. Each stroke of the wings carried him ever higher, until he managed to catch a thermal, allowing the updraft of warm currents to carry him effortlessly into the sky. It took him no time before he was nearly level with the shifting mass of angry birds, before he beat his wings to manually climb higher than them. There was no sense, he felt, in not at least picking one or two off - After all, it'd make his master happy to have something new to eat.... Even if it meant plucking feathers off.
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 9:46 am
And one of those ravens was Moma.
She ducked and dived and swooped with minor adjustments of her wings, looping down beneath the fray to dart in again a moment later. When the flock had risen she had joined them and the sound of wings all around was a thunderous and glorious thing.
Moma added her voice to the cacophony of cries, twisting sharply on the tip of a wing to follow the smaller bird, only just avoiding another raven drawing up alongside her. Crying out angrily, she lashed at her peers with her talons and drove forwards again.
So caught up in the chase she had not yet noticed any onlookers.
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 11:46 am
A relatively recent but aggressive arrival to the nearby bird clan that had forced her way into as much of a dominant role as she could manage in the egotistical and independent group, the red-winged hawk was unusually vigilant of the pride and goings-on around the desert. When the cloud appeared, she immediately knew something wasn't right and she had taken to the sky to get a look at what was going on. Even when it became apparent to her there was a fight, she stayed out it. Her attention sharpened when she caught sight of the strangely thinning trail of feathers- and it was just in time to spot a single, familiar raven fall from the sky in an attempt to escape the attack and get caught back up in it.
She didn't need any more reason to intervene and having no shortage of confidence, she made her way above them- paying no attention to the eagles- and dove into the flock of ravens with a sharp, angry call, aiming for no bird in particular but intent on stirring things up.
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 9:25 pm
Now THIS was exciting! Kenta let out a sharp scream, twisting and suddenly diving at the mass of crows. The hawk diving had been all the goading he needed, as the sun seemed to blink out. Wings and feathers everywhere, all dark and shadowed, very loud... He couldn't see, and wings brushed him everywhere, and then, quite suddenly, his claws made contact, grabbing whatever body he'd made contact with and rocketing down out of the flock. Above him, he still heard the crows, crying and screaming, and so many wings. Had they even noticed the two eagles and the hawk?
Shifting her own flight, Shumusi aimed more to get a good look at what the center of attack was. As she avoided being hit by a crow, she narrowed her eyes, before gritting her beak. This was getting ridiculous! The gold eagle changed her direction again, rising up before diving down and under with a scream of her own. Wings, feathers, claws... It all blotted the sun out, with snatches of light peeking through now and then. She let out a surprised squawk as Kenta suddenly shot out of the bottom, a black shape in his claws. After considering chasing a moment, the female opted instead to take the same note. Thin the swarm... And things got easier. She flipped around and was soon flying around and above, before pointing her claws at the birds below. Her aim was to snap wings, and she was confident in her ability to do so as she dropped from the sky.
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 6:09 am
For a long moment, the blackbirds seemed unconcerned at any outside interference. Native birds were an annoyance at best, and there was a job to be done. This was not a time for caution. The ball continued to warp and pulse, fighting and doing its best to grab their intended target. Something which had a bit more difficulty when all of your kind looked more or less alike! Occasionally, a few repeated the mantra: blue eyes.
But then, the hawk-queen pierced the mob, and chaos descended. The birds fanned out in shock, stopping their mad clawing enough to see they were under direct attack. One of the ravens spun around and tried to grasp at the hawk's wing- but given her size, it was a futile effort. Several of the other ravens were immediately struck down by the eagles joining suit.
The attacking birds had caused a rift in the mob of black feathers. A streak of blue sky in flashing black. The crow that had been attempting to escape before saw another way out. He gathered about as much strength as he could muster and tore up through the path. A few of the other ravens gave chase- but became distracted when one of the larger birds skirted their view. It seemed the pathway was almost cleared- when Yoan slammed sharply into Moma in a flurry pathetic of squabbles. Escape wasn't about to be that easy.
As the sky started to rain black feathers and little bodies, one of the ravens broke off from the group and began to wheel upwards. As she flew up, she seemed to grow larger. By the time she reached her destination, she was far larger than any raven had a right to be.
The male eagle was closest to her, and she rammed into him with a downright pleased caw, her black wings almost melting into shadow.
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:49 am
He'd let the raven - Or was it a crow? Things looked alike enough as it was... - drop and was rising for another dive when something slammed into him, causing him to let out a startled scream. The world seemed to spin for a moment, before he realized he was tumbling very dangerously fast. He looked around wildly, before his eyes landed on the biggest... Crow... Was that a crow? It was no raven... "What ARE you?!" With a mad flailing of wings, he soon righted himself, trying to regain altitude. That was no ordinary bird... And it wasn't Hestia. Oh, Hestia, Hestia wouldn't be pleased... And why wasn't he rising faster? He looked at himself and realized there were flight feathers now missing. Kenta swallowed, opting to hold his wings steady and simply float for the moment.
She twisted as a crow avoided her, and the caws of "Blue eyes!" filled her ears. The eagle glared at them, before spotting one climbing... Climbing... And blue eyes. So this was the object of their attack... But her attention was yanked away at the sound of Kenta screaming. As she watched him tumble, she felt a sudden pang of horror. "KENTA!" Shumusi could only watch in horror as he fell, before relief swept over her as he righted himself. Black eyes rose to what had to be the largest bird she'd ever seen, and all caution about such a thing vanished. A shrill scream escaped her beak as she turned her rage and attention on the massive bird, beating her cream and gold wings hard to gain altitude to drop down and attack it.
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 10:15 am
And so the red-winged hawk had indeed caused quiet a stir.
Adrenaline flooded through her as she heard the cried of anger and panic and the shrill, horrifying death calls of those who collided and were torn from the sky. And then she spied the flash of other colours amongst the black and she twisted sharply again to try and recalculate the situation. Unfortunately for her, with the sky so crowded and filled with panic, she struggled to free herself of the masses.
And then she was struck on her side - just beneath her left wing - and she sprawled uncontrollably through the air, straining to gain control of her wings and this not hit the ground like so many others already had.
By the time she had gained control of herself, the one who had struck her was lost amidst the crowds again and, with a furious flapping, she rose higher still: her heart pounding as she tired.
Strangely enough, she spotted the red feathers of the hawk flashing before she spotted the huge shape of the bird up above. "Hawk! Hawk!" She called in warning. "Stay together!"
And then she spotted the huge raven higher up and back-winged sharply in shock.
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 10:24 am
The chaotic cloud of aggressive avians made it difficult to know what exactly you were attacking, it was no wonder their target had made it as far as he did. The division made it easier and Amaka weaved around attacking ravens before circling back in to strike again. She barely noticed the blue-eyed raven's escape attempt and it was only when she heard the shrill cries of the eagles through the raspy calls of the ravens that she realized something else had happened.
Using speed that made her glad she was a hawk, she escaped the chaos just as she heard warning calls from Moma. She rose high above the cloud of ravens, immediately spotting the impossibly large raven and the impending strike against it from the brightly colored eagle. It caused her to pause just long enough to lose any lead she had over the ravens below.
Still. She had found her target.
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 11:18 am
Yoan bounced around the other flapping wings, losing sight of the one that had been after him. Well, the one that had currently been after him, seeing as the chaos was spreading by the moment. An unseen adversary grabbed at one of his wings, but he was propelling himself fast enough to lose only a few feathers. Which stung more than he'd of ever thought, at the added disadvantage of suddenly making his wing beat all the more erratic.
As the crow dodged another group of birds, the giant raven passed just beside him, the edge of her wings sending him spiraling. As he righted himself, he saw her crash against one of the eagles, his friend hot on his heels to defend him. Yoan clawed at the air, as if he could find some purchase there. That was no ordinary raven, and the thought that he'd unwittingly dragged three others into his ordeal was not one he liked.
Compared to the huge raven and the other birds of prey, Yoan was a small thing. But as the other birds started to catch on and swam about him, he yelled a quick warning: "--hey! Stay away from that one! Look out!" Then, he was cut off as another group gave chase.
The large raven didn't seem to take much care at the crow's warning. Instead, she beat her large wings, any feathers she had lost from the brief clash with the eagle seemingly replaced by smokey ash. She could hear the eagle's protests- and simply offered a low chuckle in response.
Her dark form wheeled, and then suddenly, was struck by the eagle's friend clawing at her from above. She made was a low caw of surprise, before roughly jerking her body to the side to dislodge the errant bird. A few of the smaller ravens swarmed to defend.
If anything, that seemed to annoy her even more. The black bird flailed for a moment before giving the eagle and other collected birds another brutal shake to dislodge them. As she freed herself, more feathers melted back into shadow, seemingly unscathed. For a moment, they glinted like fire.
Now free, the raven turned to return an attack against the female eagle- not noticing the hawk-queen had freed herself from the tangle and was lining up another attack.
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:42 pm
This was getting out of wing.
That was all Moma could think as she turned into a wide circle, flapping frantically as she tried to relocate the blue-eyed raven and try and stay out of the firing line of the birds of prey. She fancied herself a strong avian but against their hooked beaks and raking talons she would stand little chance if she allowed herself to get caught up.
But the huge raven was shrieking in protest and Moma thought that perhaps it was that strange creature which was far more dangerous to her than any of the hook-beaked ones.
And then she head Yoan's cry and tucked in her wings, dropping back down to join the masses giving chase. She did not grieve for any of the ravens being torn from the sky for she did not know them. She only wanted to stay alive and play her part.
"Stay close, I say!" She called out. "Give chase. Stay on him!"
But as she dived to join the group she could sense some of them faltering, looking back to watch the huge raven instead of their target. Things were not going well. But at least she seemed to be closing the gap again, pulling ahead even as her wings began to burn at the effort.
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:21 pm
Amaka had completely lost focus on her apparent objective, now determined to get between the eagle and the monstrous raven. She heard Yoan cry out a warning but she ignored it. Ascending just enough to get a good angle, she dove confidently and without any warning cry, hoping to get in the middle of the eagle and raven before they could meet again.
From the direction she approached, she could see that while some of the ravens were stopped to see what was going on.. but some were still after Yoan. She realized her mistake but it was too late, and looking back to her target, she was much closer than she anticipated- leading to a very uncoordinated strike at the raven.
Focus.
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:27 pm
She triumphantly gripped at feathers... Only for them to vanish. Beating her wings, Shumusi swung around, aiming to strike at the massive raven again. When she spied Kenta regaining ground, she swung away from the raven for a moment. "HELP THE BLUE-EYED ONE, KENTA!" She then twisted, rising up and dropping back down, talons out. Though little coal points amid her sand- and sun-colored feathers, a fire burned bright and angry in her eyes. Whatever this thing was, she was taking it down... No matter what. This thing wasn't coming after her mistress, or any of the lions - She wasn't giving it the chance!
The male spared a look at the monstrous raven, horror reflected in his green eyes, before he looked back at the shifting mass. He heard the cries of the raven with the gray-green eyes, and found again the strength to start flying fast and hard again. His wings burned from the extra effort for the lost flight feathers, but he told himself it'd be worth it. The eagle was very quickly back to striking at any crow or raven he spied that didn't have blue eyes. That was the key... Look for the blue-eyed one, and avoid it. He'd rather ask it why they were all chasing it than join the chase himself.
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