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 Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:46 pm
"One, two, three, hup, two, three, hup, two, three, over, up, up, over...drat!"
A shrill, alarmed cry escaped the boldly-painted bard's beak before she could stop it, at approximately the same time as she failed to stop herself from losing her precarious balance and fell gracelessly off the bough she had been strolling up and down, trying to walk (and perhaps eventually dance) as she juggled. Flaring her wings with a completely undignified squawk, she managed (with much ungainly flapping and the insane jingling of bards' bells set in frantic motion) to slow herself. Reorienting and getting talons beneath her, she gently hit a branch and clung. She was safe, but it was too late for the bells she had been juggling. All three had fallen into the leaf-litter below.
Murmuring darkly and cursing herself for being such a clumsy fool, she hop-glided down to a lower branch of the pine tree, descending that way until she had reached that particular conifer's bottom-most bough. Cocking her head first one way, then the next, she contemplated the three bells shining in the needles and loam. They were still so far down...
A high, clear trill brought the young Sentinel's head snapping up and around almost the full one-eighty degrees as she sought the source of that noise. She recognized it, and she did not approve.
"Brightling, Brightling, slip and fall! What a silly speck-tee-call!" A flash of yellow-and-black wings, and a brilliant parus in Goldfinch mantle alighted on the branch above the bard, cocking its pretty head this way and that, inspecting both Brightling and the bells on the ground. "Little bells fall too," the bird remarked before smugly preening a wing.
"Oh, shut up," Brightling answered, focusing on her problem again. She didn't like the idea of hopping about like an ungainly fledgling in an attempt to recollect her bells...but she probably wasn't going to have a choice, unless she could get the parus to do it.
"Flickerwing, Flickerwing...." she began smoothly, trilling like a songbird and shaking the bells 'round her ankle.
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Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 4:08 pm
 " Awww..." came Fern's response when she saw Brightling's bells fall to the ground. She had been sitting in a large old pine tree, dutifully watching the area when the colorful bard had flown in. She hadn't given away her position because she had wanted to watch the bard with all of her bells and noise makers.
Fern glided to a lower branch near Brightling and nodded to her. "That was a lot of fun to watch. If you'd like some help recovering those I have a chirop who could help." Fern fluffed all of her feathers up and shook herself vigorously, trying to get the small, dark chirop who had attached himself to her back to fall off. When she succeeded in doing so and said chirop landed with a thud and a surprised squeak, Fern let all of her feathers fall back into place.
After preening herself for a moment Fern looked back at Brightling."This is Micah, and I'm Fern" she said, opening her beak into what she considered a smile. Micah looked up at Fern with an angry look on his face. "I was sleeping!" he said indignantly, huffing at her unceremonious dropping of him from his warm little spot between her wing and her side.
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Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:17 pm
A brown blur flew past Fern with stunning swiftness nearly colliding with several pine branches before the shape of a deep woods Sentinel landed roughly on a thick lower branch. Standing tensely with slightly open wings, the medic let her worried citrine gaze jump between the females and as if suddenly understanding the situation, she folded them neatly by her side and assumed a relaxed stance.
“I’m terribly sorry!” she said apologetically looking slightly uncomfortable. “I heard a screech and I was worried someone had gotten hurt. I’m a medic.”
A small white mus slid from her back, visibly relieved to find himself back on a branch. He stood silently next to his master unable to suppress a light shiver.
((Mind if I join in?))
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Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 6:35 pm
Brightling's sharp gaze (startling eyes that would have been more effective had one not been orange instead of yellow) flicked up from the bells to the Ghost female and her chirop. She tilted her head first one way, then the other, regarding Fern with something approaching solemnity, then clicked her beak and ruffled her feathers.
"For your kind offer, ye shall be repaid," she said gravely, before smiling and flicking her tail in dismissal of the offer. "But alas, the error is mine and mine alone, and so it shall be mine to repair." Giving a brilliant wink, she tipped down and was about to dive for the bells when Micah spoke. She blinked twice at him, largely impressed at the indignance.
"And indeed, I am sorry for waking you," she said in that same grave tone, then added, "Little snack!" and gave a quick hoot of laughter.
The brown blur caused Brightling such alarm that she had actually launched herself from the branch in a massive clamor of wingbeats and frenzied tintinnabulation before she realized that she wasn't under attack at all. Immediately striking another branch and clinging there like she had been stuck, she swiveled her head over her shoulder to investigate the medic. To add to the peculiarity, she turned her head nearly sideways.
"Ah, well then. I hate to disappoint you, Brownyback," she said, "but I seem to be in order. I simply lost my balance."
"Fell juggling!" the Parus added cleverly, earning a deadly look from Brightling.
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 1:25 pm
Micah's eyes opened wide at the odd sentinel's comment and he glared at her, sticking his tongue out. "Don't eat Chirops. 'Specially not Micah, cause Fern loves Micah." He looks up at Fern with his mouth open in a grin.
Fern chuckles lightly at Micah and nods. "I do love you, Micah." She looks back up to Brightling and nods again, understanding why her offer was refused. "There is no need to repay me, I was just doing what my minder said was right."
Her gaze shifts to the foliage on the forest floor, scanning for the dropped bells. She lightly sighs, failing to find them this time, and looks back up at Brightling. A brown blur scares her as she looks back up, causing her to jump back. She looks down at the branch, looking for her small chirop, and her beak opens slightly in a grin when she sees him hanging from the branch with his wings wrapped tightly around himself.
Fern notices a movement in the leaf litter as a mouse steps out of a small hole under the tree adjacent hers, stepping towards the bells with it's whiskers twitching rapidly. "I think you might want to get your bells before that mouse runs off with them."
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Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 1:51 pm
“Brownyba… oh.” The medic spirits lifted when she saw the bard’s amusing stance “Whirlwind. No disappointment here I assure you.” Her head tilted to the side at the parus’ words, before the medic’s attention turned to the other female present. Clacking her beak softly as she acknowledged the bard’s little predicament, she gave a quiet laugh at the small mouse’s interest. “It seems your bells make good bait…”she joked, gently hopping to a lower branch. “Shame to waste such an appearance, especially considering the shortage of prey as of late.”
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Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 1:39 pm
Her amusement at the little chirop's upset was immediately dispelled by the movement of something investigating the bells. Brightling was somewhat surprised that a little mouse was to be found at all, especially in a place where it had heard her jingling and jangling not too long before. Glancing once again at Whirlwind, she raised her eartufts and then spread one wing gently.
"Be my guest," she answered with a smile. "After all, so difficult is silent flight, when you've bells tied to your feet."
It wasn't more than a snack for any of them, but at least if one of them fed herself, she'd keep the demand off the hunters for a bit. That would be good.
Then she turned back to Fern. "Your minder taught you well, then," she said cheerily. "We shan't worry about the mouse anymore, eh?" she added, and then fluffed her feathers. "It's a lovely evening."
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Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 1:41 pm
Fern watches as Whirlwind approaches the mouse and nods lightly at both her and Brightling's words. "Of course. Catch it while you have the chance."
She looks back up at Brightling and her beak opens in a grin at the odd Sentinel's compliment. "Yes, he taught me everything I know and I'm glad I had the chance to be close to him." She looks past Brightling into the forest, her grin fading as she thinks about her old friend.
Fern shakes her head and looks back at Brightling. "It certainly is, isn't it. The stars should be out soon, too." She looks up at the canopy far above them, catching small glimpses of the darkening sky through the shifting leaves.
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 3:39 pm
“Well then, I suppose I will…” the medic said quietly, her voice fading softly as she readied herself for the plummet. In her mind, Whirlwind quickly chose the route to follow and hopped from the branch just a moment after, gliding in a silent circle before dropping suddenly to the ground. The force of impact stunned the small creature (that just a second ago had seemed so recklessly interested in the noisy trinket) long enough for the deep woods to break the tiny neck with single strike of the beak without much resistance.
She immediately proceeded to swallow the small shape as a whole finding it a small comfort to her surprisingly light stomach. After a quick preen and holding the bells tightly on a talon, the medic took a quick look around before lifting up in the air, almost as silently as when she had descended. Landing very close to Brightling, much closer than she normally would, Whirlwind raised a talon at the bard, slowly easing the tight grip around the bells.
“Not much of a meal but it should keep me going for a few more hours before I have to hunt again. Here you go.”
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Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 5:11 pm
Brightling, watching Whirlwind and the mouse, nodded absently in response to Fern's comments on the stars. "And they should be lovely," she added, smiling pleasantly. It's bright recently," she added. "Not in a bad way, though."
And then Whirlwind was back, having eaten and--oh joy of joys!--retrieved Brightling's bells. Laughing delightedly, Brightling seized them all with her Will and hung them around her neck once again, shaking her head so that all three clinked and jangled. Turning to the other female, who was still perched quite close to her, she smiled and bowed deeply. "Many thanks to you, many thanks indeed."
Cheerfully, she shook the bells for a moment, and then flared her wings. Looking up, she caught a glimpse of a bat dashing between some branches and wondered how easy it would be to take one for a meal. Probably not so easy; bats were difficult prey even if a flier didn't have bells on. She'd stand no chance.
"Pity the hunting is so bad," she remarked after a moment. "Would be most delightful only to worry about my stomach and not that of the clan. But until that day returns, I wouldn't dream of abandoning the dear little fluffs. Couldn't leave them to starve, little dearlings!"
It was idle conversation.
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:01 pm
Fern watched Brightling's delighted reaction and couldn't help but grin herself. The Sentinel was certainly a little odd, but she knew how to make others smile even when she wasn't trying to.
Fern watched the bat the Brightling had spotted, following it's flight with langour. She wasn't particularly hungry, but she knew that the rest of the clan could really use the food. She contemplated the idea for a moment, staring up into the trees, and turned towards the other two. "Would you two like to help me find some food for the others? Though we're not hunters or gatherers, we should still try to help as much as possible."
She nodded sternly and her gaze moved back to the trees, rustling quietly with the sounds of other noctournal creatures. "And I believe that tonight would be a good night for hunting, too."
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Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 1:26 pm
“Yes, I’ve noticed it’s getting harder to find prey particularly on the edges of the deep woods. I find it quite odd seeing we didn’t have a drought or anything of the sort. And I doubt the Clan’s growth is to blame.”
Whirlwind’s head dropped to the side as a confused expression ran through her facial disk.
“Hunt for the little… fluffs?” Struck silent for a moment, the medic eyed Brightling with renewed interest. She had assumed the wildtype to be a bard… juggling bells, odd markings… eyes of different colors, perhaps not as obvious as the inverted Elite markings but quite easy to catch at such close proximity.
She had a hard time picturing a bard as a contributive member of the Sentinel society for it was common knowledge (at least… that what she’d always been told) that most bards were lazy and devoid of any particular talent, sometimes even having trouble in supporting themselves. Now, she didn’t share such an extreme opinion but in the scale of usefulness to the Clan, she always placed the bard task on the very last spot…even below the Artisan profession.
Still, in the present of the well-spoken strong figure of this particular bard, the medic found herself (once again) rather embarrassed.
“I mean… do you spend a lot of time with… fledglings...?”
Fern’s question seemed to cease her short stuttering and Whirlwind eyed the ghost with relief.
“Well, I guess we could… I’m happy to say I haven’t had many customers lately. By the way, I don’t believe I caught your name… names.”
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 4:43 pm
"I love fledglings," Brightling said lightly. "Spend as much time with the darlings as I can. And since I'm not quite one of the Brigadier's, it's a bit harder to find anything to do other than distract noisy little featherballs so their Minders can catch a moment's sleep, or perhaps a squirrel." Laughing at her own slight play on wirds, she inclined her head to Whirlwind, either ignoring or completely oblivious to the medic's apparent surprise.
Then she turned to Fern. "Indeed. Of course, I wasn't actually out to, ah...hunt, as such...I was out to steal a bit of time for a practice..." and here it was her turn to look embarrassed. Bards, all talk. Even me, she thought idly, though she contented herself with the knowledge that she had actually managed to get her claws on a nasty old squirrel-grandad the evening before that she had dropped off in a typical sense of obligation. "But I'd be glad to help however I can. I'm afraid I might be a bit noisy, though."
Even bards were raised with their own strong senses of duty and obligation, after all. And since she wasn't even contributing as a bard, well...
"Oh, I'm Brightling!" she said enthusiastically to Whirlwind, fluffing her feathers and smiling at the medic.
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 2:10 pm
Fern couldn't help but giggle to herself at Whirlwind's look of surprise, knowing that she thought it odd that Brightling was not like other bards. She had grown up with some rather interesting characters, so she knew better than to expect a certain personality from another based on their chosen task.
"I love fledglings, too. I didn't know what I wanted to do at graduation, so I chose to remain a watcher until I could choose, and I think I'd like to be a minder or possibly a teacher." She nodded slightly, a happy expression plastered on her face as she thought of taking care of the little fluffs.
Fern shook her head at Brightling's last point. "It'll be fine even if you are noisy. Three heads are better than one in any situation."
She perked up at the mention of customers and she watched Whirlwind excitedly, wanting to know what her profession was. "What is it that you do, Whirlwind?" she asked, cocking her head to the side questioningly.
"And I'm Fern" she said, straightening herself up and smiling at Whirlwind.
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Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:11 pm
“Whirlwind, medic.” Whirlwind said with a small bow, introducing herself for the second time but between much more controlled breaths. “I say “customers” in a purely joking sense. Most of my patients can’t wait to go back to the time when they didn’t require my services.” She was secretly relieved that the situation hadn’t turned out awkward. She’d have to watch for that mouth of hers. “But it seems we have something in common. I also spend most of my time around fledglings. Especially with the ones taking their first wing beats. Unfortunately, many accidents happen around that time and I get to practice what I like the most: mending bone injuries.”
She seemed much happier and willing to go on an unusual hunting trip with the new acquaintances.
“I guess it would be nice to bring something with me next time I’m visiting the enclaves. And you can always leave your bells with my mus if necessary.”
Wit, the white mus, leaned closer to his master visibly uncomfortable to be the center of attention.
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