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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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 Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2015 2:22 pm
It had been days since Mirela had broken free. In that time, she had hunted and explored the area around her. Her foggy mind had not be exaggerating when it had thought the desert went on forever. No matter how far or how long she allowed herself to travel, in each direction, she found nothing. She would either have to suck it up, soon, and leave her small cave in the cliff or continue to hunt in this area and stay. She didn’t like the second option. Staying put and alone forever was not something that appealed to her young, khehora mind. She missed her parents and her siblings and she found herself wondering if her unborn siblings had survived. She hadn’t been there for them.
So, in her mind, it was settled. She would set out to find the nearest village and maybe find a way back to Soudul and her home. Before that, though, Mir realized that it might be best if she learned to fly. She was slowly getting used to the sand beneath her feet but it was still a strange sensation and she’d much rather be in the air. Not only would she be able to see further out, it would also help her hunt.
So she spent the next few days attempting — in many different ways — to take off into the sky. It was on the third day that she decided to climb up onto the lower part of the cliff and try to fly from there. Maybe, just maybe, if she had a jumping start, she would be able to get going. Mir glanced over the edge, a small, worried rumble escaping her throat against her will. To say she wasn’t nervous would have been a lie. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to back away. Despite her nerves, the height of the cliff wasn’t that high and she’d be alright if she didn’t manage to fly at all. Wouldn’t she?
Shaking her head, Mir shoved the thought away and, with a little hesitation at first, took off running. She spread her wings out, catching the air beneath them as she pushed with her back legs and shot into the air. A light laugh bubbled up into her throat as she remained in the air for a few seconds, gliding. In her giddiness, though, she forgot to flap and soon she was losing altitude — what little there was to begin with, anyway — and falling to the ground.
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2015 4:38 pm
Jijikko stretched his wings lazily, holding himself in flight with now practiced ease, such a natural feeling to it that he never had to think anymore except under extenuating circumstances — like maneuvering between multiple, massive gaili a dozen or so times his size. Today, though, came with no such excitements as all that. The day was hot and dry, burning down on his golden wings and his travels were largely uneventful. So much so, he considered himself nearly ready for a noon-day nap to weather through the fiercest daylight hours and get in some relaxation time to soothe his muscles.
That decided upon, he began taking up a lazy lookout below for an acceptable tanning rock to rest and heat his scales. It wasn’t as though there was a shortage of warm rocks in the Malro, and he didn’t suspect the search to take long. It never did, even when he was at his choosiest about where to break. Today, however, it seemed the fates had something else in store for him.
Moments after deciding that he thought he’d found an acceptable perch and started sweeping down to settle, activity further below caught his eye. Another khehora. Near impossible to miss, she was: against all the brilliant white-yellow sand, she sported a coat of deep, dark maroon-purple scales. And, if his nose was correct — which it nearly often was — a diabi, at that. Humming curiously, it took only a fairly brief period of watching to come to several useful conclusions: a.) she was quite young, small, likely not fully grown unless she came from a particularly petite bloodline, and b.) she was attempting to learn to fly. Without success.
The latter fact lead Jiji to believe that she must be very young indeed. An orakoir in her learning years. And alone, from the smell of things. He shifted his weight, rolling and flicking his wings before deciding that he simply couldn’t stand back and watch forever. He alighted, and swept down, coming to land directly before the poor, struggling girl had come to her last shuddering halt.
“Good afternoon little miss,” he greeted amiably. “I’m Jijikko. You seem to be very hard at work…you haven’t hurt yourself, have you?”
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2015 4:54 pm
Mirela groaned as she landed, face first, into the sand. Raising her head up she spat the grit out of her mouth and growled. Stupid wings. They should have flapped. At the sound of a voice, Mir’s gaze jerked up and she scrambled up. She lowered her head close to the ground, a small and quiet growl escaped up from her throat as she eyed the other, older, khehora. The last thing she had expected, when she’d started to try and teach herself to fly, had been company. Her tail lashed back and forth and she spread her wings out. “I’m fine,” she growled out and not letting her guard down.
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2015 4:59 pm
Jijikko blinked, startled by the immediately hostile reaction. He lowered his snout a fraction, tucking his wings in to make himself ‘smaller’ — though, being a naturally large khehora, even for his breed, it wasn’t likely particularly effective — in an attempt to assert he wasn’t threatening her.
“Woah, there, sweet lady,” he said. “I’m not here to attack. I’m native to this desert, and I can leave it you’d really like that best, but…” He tilted his head, assessing as he dropped his own tail to the sand. “Are you here alone? Where is your clutch and your territory? You smell far from home…are you hungry? I couldn’t call myself a gentleman if I left a fair dame in the sands — even one so ferocious as you — and I would love to know your name.”
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2015 5:04 pm
Mirela’s tail faltered in it’s swishing at the mention of her clutch and she whined softly. On this desert continent she knew she was all alone. However, being reminded of it only made it worse. She wondered if she would ever see her family again. Were they looking for her? Would they look here? She eyed the other khehora and sniffed the air, wondering if there were others of his kind around. “Mirela,” she said after a length of time. “And I’m not hungry.” As if on cue, though, her stomach gave a soft rumble and she dipped her head low. “...maybe a little…”
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2015 5:21 pm
“Mirela,” Jijikko repeated, getting a feel for it and smiling as he stretched his wings and nosed her gently. “It’s a beautiful name, for a beautiful little diabi. It just so happens, I’m always hungry, so if you’d like to accompany to find something to satisfy our stomachs, perhaps I could help you learn to stretch your wings without damaging your snout? It’d be a shame on me if I left a damsel in distress…and it would be my honor to share a meal with you.”
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2015 5:38 pm
Mirela’s stomach gave another rumbling sound at Jijikko’s mention, yet again, of food. She scrunched her nose up at the sound and raised her head up, tail finally stilling. “I’m not in...distress.” She lowered her wings but still kept a careful eye on him. “I would like to fly without eating sand, yes. You’ll help me?” She sniffed moved closer to him, sniffing hesitantly. “Why?”
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2015 5:44 pm
“Of course,” Jijikko answered without hesitation, beaming at seeming to have the offer — more or less — accepted. “And because, it’s the honorable thing. I was quite a lot like you when I was your size,” he added. “I even leapt from the great stacks myself before I got a full handle on it, so it’s nothing to be ashamed of, and helping where help is needed is the right thing to do.” He gave a nod with the words, as though to double-emphasize the validity of the statement. “It makes me happy to help, and the more young khehora there are in the skies, the less there are in the jaws of beasts before their time. So. Lunch?”
His eyes brightened a little in spite of himself. He actually had just eaten, but his assertion that he was always hungry was no lie, and already, the promise of more food soon appealed to him. Perhaps they could find some nice, fat desert bouken — never mind that a fat desert bouken was all but a myth. But a prime meaty hastar or wild kargoth? He gave a low, excited trill, already eager. Yes, second-lunch would be good.
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