[PRP] Birds of a Feather (Zhi Lan Xiang x Penedesenca)

[Pandora Talie]

This is a private RP between Pandora Talie's Zhi Lan Xiang and Lunadriel's Penedesenca

High above the forest bordering the O-da-lv pass stands the crumbling remains of an almost abandoned fortress. Its eroded yellow walls contrast the grey lichen and shrub covered stone typical of this elevation. Instead of soldiers, its battlements now sport clay planters spilling over with fresh green herbs. Its chambers, often tinged a lush green, are all strange and wonderful, but one in particular stands out. The outside wall of this room has long since given way. Rather than being closed off, it has been converted into a landing: heavily ornamented, brightly painted various colors, with shiny baubles, and smooth stones.

This old structure is home to an eccentric Usdia named Zhi Lan Xiang. He isn’t a typical specimen, with red hair and feathers--oh! Did I mention his wings? Yes, unlike most of his kind, this pint sized stallion is blessed with a set of big, strong wings: the kind one uses to soar up very, very high to touch the clouds.

Now, to make a long story short, he raises hawks, training them to deliver medicinal herbs which he cultivates, on high, in his forgotten castle. Normally this is an uneventful practice. By various means, folk place orders, he fulfills them to the best of his ability, and after an, ideally short, interval of time, payment is delivered, usually at the foot of the mountain.

Today however, something is amiss. Two of his birds have gone missing. As usual, they departed with their precious cargo and there were no complaints about delivery; but they simply did not return. Once a season, he might lose one of his couriers, perhaps to predation or natural causes, thus is the nature of life, after all. Not two at a time, though.

Having only 8 birds, currently, and half of those only partially trained, Zhi cannot afford this setback. Indeed, his customers very lives depend on his services! So he decides to take a quick look to the west. Taking care to stay close enough to home as not to miss callers, Zhi circles about his haunt looking for some sign of his little feathered friends.  

[Lunadriel]

((Totally going to toss out three ponies since they are a group before meeting Zhi. I don't think I've ever done three at once. Here goes nothing!))

Daydreamer, loving friend, and bright beautiful bird. That's what Penedesenca felt like. Child-like innocence filled her heart and soul, spilling out to those around her. Happy blue eyes gave sight to the warmth she had to share with others. That very warmth had kept her with her current friends. Making them smile, made her feel good about herself. Self worth something she had, but it gained new value when she had friends to share life with. The story of how the three met, quite a series of events. Pollux saved her life. Anytime she recalled the events, chills crept over her, giving her a shiver. Without him, she would not of survived that night from long ago. A knight with no armor, and a pure chivalrous heart. That is Pollux. By her side he stayed, protecting her from any evils that might pursue her. There was a time when she was the only winged Usdia in the lands. At least for back wings. Being the first of her kind to appear, she caught the attention of all sorts of predators and hunters. Not the good kind of attention. Pollux guarded her life with his own. For that, she would forever be grateful.

Then there was Precious Hope. A kind, soft spoken mare, with a love for all the injured. Pollux and Pene met her by chance one evening. As they were distracted meeting someone new, a hunter tried to kidnap Pene. Pollux and Hope banded together to fend them off. Pollux didn't feel comfortable leaving a the lady alone after that. And well, the three have been together ever since! Hope studied medicine, Pollux stood guard, and Pene kept them all smiling. To Pene, it's a simple relationship. Three good friends!

To Pollux, and Precious Hope, it had become an awkward triangle of unwanted love of sorts. In the time Pollux had been with Penedesenca, he had fallen madly in love with her. The kind of love that made him ache all over. Pollux didn't want to tarnish Penedesenca's innocence and purity with his prospect of an inter-species relationship. Those type of relationships weren't something he didn't agree with, just that he loved Pene so much, he wanted her to have everything in life. Including, raising kids of her own. That was something he couldn't naturally give her. Pollux knows she will make the sweetest mother, and be very nurturing to young of her own. Yes, there was wishing stars, but Pollux wanted everything for her. That, and he wanted to make sure she stayed protected. His feelings couldn't get in the way. As time goes on, Pene seams to no longer be in any danger. Diligence has kept Pollux at her side though. Until I time comes when she no longer needs him, he will continue to serve her with his everything. That is the way he loves her.

That very chivalrous and beautiful way of loving is what caused Precious Hope to fall in love with Pollux. However, she see's what Pene does not, that he loves her. So he loves her, she loves him, and Pene loves them both as friends. Yet still, together they all travel, supporting each other in ways that they can.

Precious Hope could feel their time together growing to an end. She did her best to not let the sadness of such a thing overwhelm her. Without telling anyone, she had started taking herbs that help keep one happy. Pene helped where the herb could not. The conversations between the three of them were carried by her. Otherwise, there might be a cloud of awkward silence that followed them everywhere!

Today the triangle traveled through the forest alone, away from all the markets, the village, and the populated fields. Hope liked to travel off the beaten path, in search of new herbs to expand her healing practices with. Currently they were in foothills in central Kawani lands, searching for herbs that grew near the mountains. The hike had been quite the pick me up! The area was so green and pretty this time of year.

"Pene, look at this!" she said as she crouched down to touch the petal of an exotic flower with the longest pinion on her wing.

Pene bounded over and smiled. "Oh Hope, it's absolutely beautiful! Do you think you can use it for medicine?" she said as she stuck her muzzle right up to it and took a whiff. Her soft muzzle twitched from the tickle of the flower. "Huh. It doesn't smell. It is pretty though." she said, a little disappointed.

Hope looked at Pene and the flower. So delicate, frail, and not everlasting. The flower and the mini mare.. Hope decided not to pick the flower. She had no idea what genius it was anyways. "I think that one deserves to keep growing." she said with a wink at Pene.

The time that Pene and Hope spent looking at the flower, Pollux had caught site of something else. Ahead in the distance, a bird circled the ground. A hawk in fact. Typically not the type of bird to circle in the air. That is more the style of carrion birds. Pollux looked at the ladies for a moment, half listening to their conversation, then back up at the bird. When the girls were finished looking at the flower, Pene bounded gracefully over to Pollux. He lifted his chin with a deep breath, silently soaking in her beauty, and holding firm in his resolve.

"Pollux, did you see the flower? It doesn't have a smell." she confirmed again, in case he wasn't listening.

"I did see the flower. Very pretty." Though it paled in comparison to the soft pastels of his little lady. "There is something up ahead." he said, still looking up at the bird. "I want you both to stay behind me, and let me scout ahead of you." It is unlikely to be anything threatening, or the hawk would of flown away. Pollux had two lives that he took responsibility for though, and he would let not harm come to them under his watch!

They followed his lead, as he cautiously headed deeper into the forest. Pollux kept one ear forward, and the other moving to listen to the noises beside and behind them. Nothing seamed out of the ordinary. As they got closer to the bird, he couldn't quite make out what was up ahead. The forest thinned out, but still he did not see what the hawk was circling. The area itself appeared to be safe though. He did not let his guard down even still. He looked back behind them, and all around. Ever careful, and protective. He did not say anything, but kept observing their surroundings. Pollux maintained his position in front of his two friends. "That hawk up there has a pouch. It's not a wild hawk." he observed with another glance up to the sky, and the troubled bird.

Pene kept close beside Hope, very curious as to what they would find up ahead of them. It's like they found a side adventure, to their current one! Pene liked a little excitement in their day. Staying behind Pollux, she craned her neck out around him, trying to see what he was seeing. The bird is just about over their heads, and does appear to be troubled by something. But what though? Pene broke the silence. "Excuse me hawk, do you need some help?" she said with a smile. That's if the hawk could even talk? Pene got confused when it came to bonded animals that could talk, and non bonded animals that could, or couldn't? Or some of them could be heard by soquili when not bonded? Pene had carried on a conversation with a rabbit once, but she thought it rude to ask if she was bonded or not. Seeing as none of them had familiars of their own to interact with. It did interest her though! A companion with a special bond that only she would have. In a way though, she had that with Precious Hope and Pollux though!

Precious Hope wondered past Pene, and stood beside Pollux. Her natural instinct, was that the hawk was hurt, or someone else close by was hurt. The hawk did in fact have a pouch around it's neck. It's very similar to her own. How peculiar. A carrier hawk perhaps?

Pandora Talie

 

[Pandora Talie]

The red winged mini soars westward over the lush green forest. I’ll have to retrace their delivery routes I suppose, he decides, dropping altitude and speed. At his regular velocity, the terrain below would be nothing but a blur, so today in addition to flying low, he would also have to fly quite slow. This is going to take a while, he sighs.

<>

A lone dappled, black on white hawk drifts through the cloudless blue sky. To him, this day was not kind. His razor sharp claws are dulled from scratching futilely at hard, unyielding stone; his once powerful wings are frayed, dragging unnaturally through the air; and to top it all off, a close friend of his still lies trapped--pinned under a rock, of all things.

What are the odds? He shakes his head, it was her own fault, though, really. Fooling around on the ground when we have a job to do, he grumbles, trying to distract himself, more than anything. The trip home will be a long one this time he realizes. Despite his various physical discomforts, the unease taking root in his heart is the most troubling sensation that he currently experiences. Was she bleeding? He tries to remember. Predators smell blood miles away, they say. His eyes narrow and with renewed determination he pours on steam, pushing his battered body to the limit.

But that only worked for so long. After covering a little ground, he grows weary. His chest begins to cramp and he starts to feel faint. The hawk resumes pacing himself, allowing time for his pounding heart and ragged breathing to return to normal, once more. He hangs his feathered head in a most dejected fashion, not at all becoming for a regal bird, such as himself.

Huh? Suddenly, amidst the green woods below, he spies a small band of Soquili cavorting in the midday sun. Could they help me? The bedraggled bird circles around, staying on high for a moment, just assessing the group.

Strangers... I’ve never seen any of them before.

The smaller one look friendly enough. One of them is even calling out. I need to go down there, he concedes and descends to say hello.

The white spotted hawk swoops down. Flapping his wings, he gingerly perches on a low hanging tree limb, close to the threesome of unfamiliar ponies. “Um… Hi!” he stammers, “You look like nice folk. Would you be able to spare a moment to help a fellow out?”

He stares sort of dumbly for a moment before realizing how that sounds. “My friend is stuck under a rock and I’m worried that she might get eaten by a wolf. Or maybe a fox… owl or raccoon.... Or some other opportunistic predator.” The bird bobs his head, “I tried to move it myself, but it's much too heavy.”

<>

Some distance away, Zhi continues his low, slow search pattern. The young male knows this area well enough, having spent his entire life around these parts, but it's impossible to know the exact route that the birds could’ve potentially taken. There are several factors involved: wind, rain clouds, a bird may have even taken a minor detour for food or water.

He soldiers on, for now. This may take a couple attempts he mulls over his options while trying to maintain focus on the task at hand.

Lunadriel