[PRP] Taking wing [Ruya + Natalia]

[Menelie]

Ruya's glad to be out of the house today. Free, unfettered. And away from Mother's watchful eye. It's not that she doesn't love her mother...it's just...

Well, what was it?

Ruya runs a hand through her hair, ruining the braid. She rebraids it while she walks. She's an adult now. Fully-grown. At least, she hopes she's fully grown. She already feels like a giant in that tiny house. Perhaps it's time for her to strike out on her own, permanently. The forest is where she really feels at home, where she can sink her claws into tree branches and hunt for her own food. She'd tried not to say anything or let it show, but what Mother and Aunt Amapola made for food was so much less...meaty than what her body needed. Recently she'd even taken to sneaking out at night to hunt. Nothing big, just a rabbit or a squirrel or something.

It felt good to tear into a once-living creature, and it certainly satisfied her carnivore's stomach, but this instinct to kill also scared her, to the point where she didn't feel like she could talk about it with her closest friend, Xia.

As she strayed further from the house, she let her mind wander a bit, but her sharp eyes and ears couldn't help but sense that she was being followed.  

[Daisicle]

Natalia had been out of her mother's care for some time now... how many days? weeks? seasons? A while... it had been a quite a while, for sure. Yes, she missed the care of her mother and the way she tended to the bird's needs, and she sometimes dreamed about the house and its warmness, but it had been time to go.

She was an adult, able to fly to the highest summits, take down the wildest beasts. It just came so... naturally. Too naturally at times, and with each passing day it became more difficult to control these urges. Sometimes just the littlest thing was enough to set her off into an uncontrollable rage, her claws slashing through anything nearby as if it were hot butter.

It was frightening.

She was frightening, a danger.

Even though she tried so hard not to be. That was why she had left her mother, gone away to establish a territory where she could act as herself. Or, so she thought. Even with a new place as home, alone she could not be herself; she needed people.

Her wings twitched as some distant movement caught her eye. Narrowing them, she leaned closer, trying to see who dared to trespass onto her territory. Moments later her wings flared, flapping once behind her before helping her to silently propel between the tree branches and closer to this intruder.

So... It was another like herself, was it? Natalia stalked her quietly, keeping to the cover of the leaves.  

[Menelie]

Sensing that her follower was getting closer, Ruya darts in between a couple of trees. Using her sharp claws on hands and feet, she climbs the tree, almost like a squirrel. It'd keep her out of sight, hanging onto the backside of the tree, rather than flying up to the branch she wanted.

Silent as light, she crouches on the branch, her eyes flicking through the trees. Whatever had been following her had been doing so in the treetops. She didn't like being on unequal footing with a potential attacker, and she hadn't known anyone except her and Xia to be able to move through the trees so quietly and so swiftly.

So that meant it had to be someone like her...or some kind of wild beast. She'd never met anyone like herself, other than Xia. Mother had said that there were others, but she'd never seen them. Ruya crawls along the branch, keeping low, trying to get another vantage point.

A flash of red catches her eye, but only for a moment. It was still following her. She had to keep moving.

Unsure whether it's panic or excitement, she moves through the trees, only making the faintest of noises as she passes, as a wind rustling the leaves. She doesn't like feeling pursued--time to double back around and become the pursuer. Abruptly she makes a left turn and circles back around, trying to get behind whatever it is that's following her.  

[Daisicle]

Natalia's eyes narrowed as she neared, taking note of even the slightest of movements the intruder made. What was she doing here, in her territory? Closer and closer she came before nearly losing her in a flash of movement. She stopped, crouching down and looking to the general direction before again finding the brown.

Folding her wings closer to her body, she weaved in stranger paths, almost zigzagging, almost random, as she stalked. It was almost as if she were chasing a prey with the excitement sending adrenaline to her head, making her want to pounce.

No... keep calm... always keep calm...

Having to bite her lip to keep from hissing aloud as she noticed she'd lost her intruder, the next priority became returning to her nest by the river and being prepared to defend this territory at all costs. Her wings flared as they quickly propelled her back to where she had come, and upon returning, she looked back, watching, waiting.

How strange this feeling was, how unique and intimate it felt.  

[Menelie]

Ruya can't help a feral grin creeping onto her face. It had worked! The pursued becomes the pursuer, and she begins to follow her quarry back to its nest.

Nest?

Ruya stops a fair distance away and just watches. So her follower is another like her. Fascinating. But what to do now? She'd successfully evaded her and chased her back to her nest. And it looks like she hadn't spotted Ruya yet, so she was at an advantage.

She could attack the other, but her own nest gave her a distinct advantage. Home territory and all that. In the back of her mind, a little niggling thought wonders why she'd want to attack the other at all, but she quickly dismisses it, too consumed with the thrill of the chase. It would be such a shame for it to be over so soon.

Heart racing, she makes a little whistling noise, wondering if she could draw the other from her nest and into the game again.  

[Daisicle]

Natalia's eyes darted back and forth as she looked to the treeline in front of her, trying to find this other pae again. How frustrating that she had been born with such adaptive coloring, unlike her own unnecessary display of reds and greens. If she had been a bit less easily identified, she could have caught this intruder first.

And now she had made it worse. If she had been spotted, what's to say it hadn't decided to follow her instead?

How stupid could she be?! She had led this outsider to her most intimate place, to her nest, the heart of her territory. Downright idiotic. See, this is why she had to control these silly instincts, without doing so she was nothing but a simple beast.

Well, now that it had come to this, this intruder would have to pry her cold, unmoving body from this comfort to take it from her. The bird's eyes narrowed further as she turning in the direction of the whistling. There were a few moments before she again found her, making eye contact, and hissing.  

[Menelie]

Ruya's heart leaps into her throat when she realizes the other had caught sight of her. She's paralyzed for a moment when she hisses at her. Oh--she was dangerous and beautiful! When she gains control of herself again, a mere few seconds later, she quirks a crooked smile and hooks her finger in a come-and-get-me motion before taking off through the trees again.

Suddenly the more rational side of her brain takes over, and while her body continues to dart through the foliage on pure instinct, she begins to have thoughts again. What is the purpose of this? She was chasing you, and then you lost her, and then instead of just...going on your merry way you deliberately provoke her? Are you out of your head?

Yes! responds a different part of herself. She feels so...alive! Her muscles strain, her heart pounds, and yet her spirit feels free, like her soul is thrumming with joy. There's not time to think of what might happen if/when the angry femme caught up to her. All that matters is how she feels right now.

She turns sharp to the right, trying to circle back around her again. She's not particularly expecting it to work, not the second time around, but there's a little part of her that....just maybe....wants to get caught. She almost giggles, thinking about it, but she bites her lip and stops it from bubbling over her lips and giving away her position.  

[Daisicle]

Natalia's eye twitched at that very provocative finger motion, the anger in her flaring up within her. This woman, some girl who had decided to trespass in her territory without a care, was making little of her ability to protect it. That was it! Enough of this nonsense.

Springing forward, she dived below the branches, wings pressed against her side, before they opened and began to quickly propel her forward. Her body brushed against leaves as she returned to the upper canopy and began to weave in-between the foliage. A smirk danced on her lips as she locked onto her target, her gorgeously-decorated tail shimmering behind her movements.

This girl... she would prove just how foolish it was to underestimate her strength. Surely Natalia had the upper hand; she had lived here, understood how the trees bent, their spacing, the feel of their branches and leaves, the sounds of the birds around them. She knew which small crevices she could fit through, which she could not. There was no way someone invasive to this special place could hope to understand it as well as she, could hope to compete with her.

She needed to prove it.

Fluidly turning as the other did, her wings flapped more furiously, bringing her above. From there she grabbed the girl's shoulders and swung, throwing her into and pinning her against a tree. Her eyes were fierce as she looked into Ruya's, the primal anger clouding her reason reflected in them.

She growled, wings remaining flared out behind her in a display of intimidation. "Who are you? Why have you entered my territory?" The harshness in her tone was strange, even to her, but only a very small part of her conscientiousness seemed to notice so. "I will have you know that I will not share my assets with any other, not even to another of my kind, and I will guard them to the fullest extent of my abilities."

If this girl wanted to remain unharmed, her answers better be sufficient.  

[Menelie]

She hadn't expected to be taken from above. The other's talons almost piercing her skin, she finds herself pinned to the tree trunk. "Uf!" she exclaims as her back hits the bark roughly. Wildly, her eyes search the other's, hoping to glimpse her intentions. She looked furious. Maybe this was a terrible idea. Maybe she was going to get ripped to shreds right here! She almost begins to panic, but the rational part of her brain forces her instinct to relent.

She'd have to talk her way out of this.

"Woah, woah," she begins, holding her hands up. "Nobody's threatening anyone's territory, alright?" She tries unsuccessfully to shrug out of the other's hold. She's pinned pretty tight. "I'm Ruya. I have a home. I was just out exploring." She can't help but grin. It had been so exhilarating! "I've never met anyone else like us," she says breathlessly.

So much for being that paragon of wit...  

[Daisicle]

As Ruya's arms moved, Natalia's gripped tightened, dramatically reducing the extent to which she could move them. Her eyes narrowed as she looked the other girl up and down. This was her first time encountering another like herself; not even her mother had known if there were others when she asked as a young child. To think there were others...

...and they were apparently not trying to take her territory...

It was a little exciting, in all honesty. "You say you're no threat, yet you purposely antagonized me and drew me away from my home." Her eyes narrowed. "Why should I trust what you say?"

Even so, the bird's breathing had begun to calm down, her tone was noticeably softened, and her wings folded against her back instead. While her words were fighting ones, her actions certainly resonated with her dislike of unnecessary violence.  

[Menelie]

Ruya's eyes widen. "Antagonize you?" she asks, shaking her head. "I thought we were having a bit of a game!" At least, she'd thought she'd been sending playful signals. It was all a bit of a blur now that her head was beginning to clear.

"You were making me a little nervous there at the beginning but once I figured out you were another person and not like, some kind of wild beast, I thought we could have a little fun!" She searches her captor's eyes for some sign of softness. She'd picked it up in her voice, but it hadn't yet made it up to her face. "Sorry if I freaked you out, I guess. I just thought maybe once you caught me it'd be my turn, sort of like tag?"

After a pause, she adds, "I don't get out much."  

[Daisicle]

A... game? All of this simply a game to her? There was a flash of irritation at the notion that she was being fooled with, but it subsided just as quickly. From the tone in her voice, she seemed to be speaking the truth, at least. Or, her perception of the truth in any case.

Leaning back some, calming the glare, and loosening her grip, yet not removing her hands, she clarified, "So, you meant all of this as a game? Not an attempt at my territory?" There were some traces of confusion and curiosity, the malice all but gone at this point. She waited a few moments for an answer before sighing and shaking her head.

There was a smirk at that comment. "From how you moved, I can trust that." Hands remaining on her shoulder, perhaps due to a comfort in dominating, perhaps to a disassociation to the position, she continued. "I am called by Natalia."  

[Menelie]

"Of course I'm not trying to take your territory!" exclaims Ruya, shaking her head. "Not that it's not a very nice territory," she adds quickly. "I'm just trying to get out of the house for a while. Do my own thing. Be out in the forest and breathe the air and climb the trees without Mother worrying I'll fall." She rolls her eyes, knowing that Natalia would understand. "As if I'd fall."

Feeling Natalia's grip on her relax, she smiles a little. "Never thought I'd meet a friend..." She lets the words hang in the air, an implied question attached. Are we friends?

[Sorry for the short tag!]  

[Daisicle]

The was a flicker of irritation at Ruya's sheer denial about wanting to impose on her territory, before she reaffirmed that it was, in fact, a nice one. Yes, that it was. Natalia had spent many weeks searching around until she found a spot that she considered suitable, with fresh water from the lake, an abundant supply of fish and creatures to dine on, and a location out and away from most others.

Had any of them an actual idea on what they were? She had been discovered as a young bird and taken in by a fae with no idea what to do with a child; apparently this other one had had a similar life. Without understanding for their strengths and weaknesses, of course other pae would underestimate their abilities.

She smirked, shrugging. "They never understand, do they?" Letting her hands fall, she took a couple of steps back, placing some distance between them. Glancing away, she sighed before looking back with an apologetic smile. "Um... Please forgive me for the way I handled you; it was more my intention to frighten than to harm. I am sure you understand how these things are, though."  

[Menelie]

"Of course," replies Ruya, rolling her shoulders a bit to loosen up. "But even I have to admit, the thrill of the chase is exhilarating! I haven't had that much fun in a long time! Hunting for food is one thing, but there's something about having it be someone else, instead of a squirrel or whatever, that makes it different, more intense. What do you think?"

Now that it's clear her new "friend" wasn't going to slice her to ribbons, Ruya has time to think a little more. So there were more of them than just her and Xia. Natalia had the same kind of tail feathers as Xia, more adorned than Ruya's own. She'd always been jealous of Xia's gorgeous tail feathers and bright coloring, and Natalia had the same glamorous look to her. It made Ruya feel so...plain.

"So...where'd you come from?" asks Ruya suddenly. She'd often wondered where she'd come from, before Mother had acquired her egg. "Like, do you remember?"