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 Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 9:43 am
Menelie After finishing the meal that Sindri had provided--it wasn't meat, but it had been filling, and there had been a lot of it--Xue Li tidied herself up outside, cleaning and preening her feathers, as Sindri had promised to take her to meet a group of harpies who lived outside the village.
Xue Li was fully not expecting them to tolerate her presence, but for some reason she still wanted to meet them. Partially because she'd never met any of her kind before, other than her mother and sister. Maybe they weren't all like her mother. She didn't allow herself to hope, but she couldn't shake the tiniest fantasy of not having to hunt all day, every day, for even a scrap of food. Not having to search for a safe place to sleep would also be great.
But again. That was too much to hope for. She was an outsider. She'd already been rejected by her own family. Why would anyone else's family show her any kindness? Well, except for this total stranger...but that was probably a one-time thing. Daisicle Having cleaned just about everything up, or at least had the mixing bowls soaking, Sindri headed outside to meet up with his little problem for the moment and, with any luck, hand her off to someone else here soon so he could continue on with his life. Yes. That'd be nice, now wouldn't it.
He closed the door behind him and started walking forward, pausing only to turn around and make sure the teen had noticed him leave and was now following. "You ready? No promises or anything, but you're probably fine." He looked forward and continued walking. "Probably." Menelie Xue Li nodded and skipped a little to catch up to him, then walked behind him. She was strangely quiet as they walked, and her personality had changed drastically from the puffed-up little murder bird he'd caught trying to steal chickens an hour ago. Was she simply on her best behavior, or was her earlier behavior a product of being hungry? Hard to tell, even for Xue Li herself.
"How far is it?" she asked anxiously. Daisicle Sindri was weaving through a small, unmaintained forest trail, slowing only to look back occasionally and make sure Xue Li was still following. "It's a bit aways off - they don't technically belong to the village, but almost."
After some time, the squealy, high-pitched noises and giggles of (probably) children in play started to be audible among the wing and ambient critter sounds.
"Almost there."
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Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 9:46 am
Menelie Xue Li started to pick the sounds of others like her out from the animal noises. She kept a sharp eye out, but didn't see anything--yet.
Suddenly she didn't know what to do with herself. She smoothed out her feathers, fussed with her hair, and continually changed position. She didn't know what to do with her hands or arms or wings, which ruffled nervously.
What if they wouldn't talk to her? Or worse, what if they invited her to stay? Xue Li's stomach roiled. Daisicle Sindri stopped as a small, black child darted in front of him while giggling tremendously, followed by a slightly-larger tikicat in pursuit. A few moments passed before the tiki - whom Sindri recognized as Maika'i - returned with a tilt of his mask and a flurry of chirps and other noises. Not long after that, the child also returned with slightly puffed up feathers, annoyed her nanny had stopped playing. In the same sort of vocal intonations, she whined at the tiki in his native language before recognizing Sindri. She grinned and pointed. "Chick-en man! Bring eggs?"
She then ran on over before gasping and running back over to Maika'i and puffing her feathers up again defensively. "That's no chick-en! Or eggs!" Menelie Xue Li nearly crashed into Sindri, but stopped herself in time with her lightning reflexes. She peeked out from behind him to see what the holdup was, and was fascinated to watch the child run around and play. The thing with the mask, however, confused her. What in the world was that? She stared for a moment before tugging on Sindri's hand. "What's the thing with the mask?" she asked.
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Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 9:51 am
Dream WhiteWitz Lavender was another of Maika’i’s progenies, or rather his flock. Since the time before she was hatched, his voice was always a constant, alongside their mother. That lend to the chicks that were hatched underneath Rosamin able to understand the tiki cat’s unique language, one that is not familiar to the area in which they resides. “Little Daddy!” She shrilled, upset as well he proceeded to stop playing with them. She flicked her blue-ish purple ombre wings in agitation. Daisicle Ruzha looked over at her cousin and then motioned to the older, new harpy. "[Look! There's someone new - I don't know her. Do you?]" She looked over at Maika'i. "[Do you know her?]" Maika'i shook his head in response to Ruzha and then gave Lavender a little rub on the head. "[Let's see what the nice pae wants, okay?]" He has noticed the new harpy behind Sindri, one that looked neither full grown, nor touched by the Great Thunderbird. But all harpies we're precious and deserving of service. At least to this tikicat anyways.
He looked up at Sindri - quite literally actually - and commented. "New... Who she...?" "It's called a tikicat," he quietly commented to Xue Li while the three conversed amongst themselves. "...yeah, they kind of creep me out too..."
Upon being addressed, he nodded. "Yeah, she wandered into my yard this morning. Apparently hasn't been eating. She doesn't feel comfortable near the village though, so thought I'd see if she could join you all."
"Is Saira or Hatil around?" Menelie Xue Li watched the (now) two children talk with the "tikicat"--what an odd creature, which she might have tried to catch and eat if she weren't already feeling satisfied--in a bizarre language. Did they all talk that way? Maybe this was a bad idea. She wondered just how many harpies there were here. The two children, plus the other two Sindri had just asked about, that was already.....many. A whole flock. She'd never heard of this before. Xue Li tried to stand a little taller, hold her chin a little higher. She'd have to make a great impression to stand a chance. Stand a chance at what? She wasn't sure. Dream WhiteWitz Lavender giggled under Maika’i’s affectionate pat and started to preen the tikicat in return for the affection bestowed upon her. Her mama always said the Little Daddy is her favorite being and must always treat him with care so that meant the best of food and warmth on those chilly nights. [“Little Daddy,”] she trilled happily and ‘bapped’ him on the head with her wing. [“Tag!!!”] she screeched then started to run around playfully. Daisicle Oh, Ruzha knew that. She perked up and raised her hand. "[Mom]...!" Oh wait. She quickly caught herself and switched to the correct tongue. "Mom hunting. BIG deer! Yummy tonight! Yaaaaaay!" She used her arms to emphasize what size she expected the deer to be - spoiler, it was a full arm's-length big. Maika'i nodded and reiterated Ruzha's statement, more slowly though. The language of Laisidhiel was difficult to speak for a cat like him. "Saira... Hunting... Not here... Hatil... Here...! I get...?"
He turned and quickly touched a paw to Ruzha's shoulder. "[You're it! Quick, get Lavender before she runs away!]" "[Hey no faaaaaaair!]" Ruzha whined before turning over to look over at Lavender. A smirk quickly took over before she raised her hands in prime tagging posture. "[I'm gonna get you!]" Sindri nodded at Maika'i's question. "Yes please." Once the tiki had turned around and wandered back and the children had run off, he turned to answer the main question he presumed Xue would have. "Saira is the oldest and largest in the flock, and Hatil is her younger sister. You're lucky she's the one around - Saira is much grumpier." Menelie Xue Li's eyes widened. A deer! She wished she could see that in action. All she'd been able to nab so far were small things. But a whole deer? Saira must be an impressive hunter. She looked up at Sindri and nodded. Maybe her luck was about to change. She watched the children play and couldn't help a small, sideways smile. She and Jing Wei never played so much as practiced hunting. It had never occurred to her that children could just...have fun while their mother was off hunting. Perhaps there were advantages to living in a community like this. "What is Hatil like, then?" she asked.
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Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 7:12 pm
Daisicle Some amount of time had passed before the tiki returned, followed by a bright white and green adult harpy. Her dark and fluffy hair had rough braids to keep most of it out of her face, and there was a bit of dirt evident on her nose. Still, despite the slightly unkempt nature of herself at this moment, she had the clear muscle tone of one capable of taking charge, both of a hunt and of a squabble.
Wasn't her fault she'd been prepping their little vegetable garden for spring. Also wasn't her fault she kinda sucked at it.
She wiped some sweat from her forehead (and spread some dirt onto it) as she approached. She smiled at Sindri. "Is it trade day today? Not in two moons?" Sindri shook his head to quickly clear up the misunderstanding, then raised his hands to show they were empty. "Nope, not today. I don't usually trade with you all anyways." Hatil nodded. "That's true. You usually bring chicks and yelling." She tilted her head, then looked forward to see the teenager behind her. Her eyes narrowed slightly. "She's not one of ours." Sindri nodded, and motioned to Xue, whether she was behind or beside him at that point. "This is Xue Li. I found her trying to eat my chickens earlier this morning, and it seems she has nowhere to go-" "She could go with you." Hatil cut him off and stated as a matter-of-fact. Despite her words, she didn't seem particularly perturbed by the teen. More wary, if anything. Menelie Xue Li (mostly) successfully concealed her disappointment. After all, she'd figured it would be like this. There was almost no way a family group like this would just accept an outsider like her. However, she kept her back straight and her chin up, her facial expression neutral, but still proud. She would be respectful if addressed, but under no circumstances would she become submissive in order to fit in. Perhaps if she were accepted, she'd keep her head down until she found her place in the hierarchy, but until then? She was her own family, and was the head of that family. She clasped her hands in front of her.
She'd also not be going back with Sindri. She appreciated his help, to be certain, but she had less than zero desire to live in a village, inside a building. That s**t was unnatural. No, if she wasn't accepted here she'd simply carry on with the life she'd been living, going wherever she could find a meal and a safe place to sleep. Elros Namasi Lily had been mostly sitting out of the game of tag until the shrieking laughter paused, replaced by voices she didn't readily identify as any of her immediate "family". Moving with a surprising amount of stealth, she settled into the underbrush to watch Chicken Man (she recognized him easily; he'd shouted at and chased her away from his fat little birds plenty of times) and some New Girl chat with Little Daddy. Huh. Chicken Man must think this was where every harpy in the area lived. That was just silly. What would Gran and Grauntie Hatil say? Daisicle "Yeaaaaah, about that..." Sindri began while rubbing the back of his neck. "...she said she didn't like the village. Too, y'know..." he held his palms together to imply it was too stuffy, whether or not Hatil was inclined to understand it.
For his part, Sindri was not aware enough of his surroundings to notice Lily nearby. Hatil nodded once, seemingly convinced by his point. That made sense - their kind didn't really belong in the nearby village. It was good for visiting and eating and trading, but not for living. For one thing, the houses were too close to the ground and much too short to make a proper nest in. She looked directly at the teen, sizing her fully. She didn't seem particularly troublesome, but she also didn't seem particularly useful... and she'd need to at least try and get along with the others. "Why do you want to come here?" Menelie Xue Li's attention was focused on the adult harpy in front of her, but she did flick a glance toward the underbrush. A third? How many harpies were there around here? She quickly snapped her attention back to Hatil, though, when addressed. What to say? Why did she want to come here? Living by myself sucks, she thought, but that wasn't a particularly respectful answer.
She cleared her throat. "Safety, to be plain," she began. "I've been on my own a long time, ever since my mother felt I could hunt on my own. I'm quick to nab squirrels and rats, but I'm too small yet to take down something larger. Although I did almost take down a wild pig once," she was quick to clarify. "But I'm almost always hungry anyway, and I can never sleep more than one night anywhere." She wasn't sure where she was going with this.
"I'm not asking for anything for free. I am fierce and clever and quick. And I can hunt. I know the more I grow the bigger things I'll be able to take down."
Was that it? She just wanted a safe place to rest her head and to know where her next meal would come from? That didn't seem like all. She glanced toward the children playing together. She thought of the fancy fat bird in Sindri's yard. Xue Li stood a little taller. "And I want something...to protect."
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Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 7:14 pm
Daisicle Hatil watched the teen carefully, taking in what was a more sincere sort of exchange that she'd anticipated. That said, at her core, Hatil was a simple harpy. "Okay then."
And that was that. Sindri blinked. Was it really gonna be that easy? Really? Menelie Xue Li blinked a few times, as if stunned. She looked from Hatil to Sindri, to see if he had any ideas, but he looked just as confused as she was. "Wait, for real?" Daisicle Hatil nodded and turned around to walk back, pausing only to look back over her shoulder. "If you don't come, then don't come." Seemed this would be her only chance. Best she made the most of it. Sindri glanced down at Xue Li and shrugged before giving her a thumbs up. Looked like everything had worked out perfectly. Menelie Xue Li tried to hide it, but she was practically glowing. "I'll repay you someday," she told Sindri with a little wave, then skipped a little to catch up with Hatil. Daisicle Sindri offered a wave to Xue Li as she ran off, then turned around to return home. He needed some nice, relaxing TLC after this heck of a morning.
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