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Watching the flabbergasted Sentinel with eyes of no particular fear or worry, Auu'weh slowly mulled over the venomous words. They had no real effect on the Watcher, after all, he didn't care for other's opinions. It was a mistake that he hadn't seen the other, which did nothing for his reputation as 'watcher', but it wasn't like he actually intended it to happen. An accident's an accident, and that was the end of it, or so Auu'weh believed. Halfway through the tirade, Auu'weh's eyes slowly drifted away from the other's menacing eyes of hate and he watched the deep blue night sky behind him. Adoration overcame him at the sight of the blinking stars, but he secretly hoped that they would soon be covered by the foggy blanket of storm.

"Look where you are going!"

Auu'weh's attention was snapped back to the fuming Sentinel and he gave a lift to his brows..."Sure," he said in response, not really knowing what the other had said in the first place.

As soon as the other's tirade of fuming disgust was over, Auu'weh tilted his head to a 90 degree angle, as if studying the other. Right as the other turned his back upon him, Auu'weh's raspy voice asked curiously, "Hey! Do you perhaps know what has happened so far here in the Gathering Place?"

It took more than extreme concentration to keep himself listening to the answer he sought after. Auu'weh's eyes were scanning along the edge of his sight, watching the night above and wishing for the faint lining of mist. Alas, there was no such thing. There probably wouldn't be another storm like that for ages to come, he thought drearily. At least there would be foggy mornings are slight chances of precipitation, but...

Oh, fumblefeathers, he was doing it again! Auu'weh had lost track of what the other was saying. He had only gathered that the story was already told, and it was his guess (since his mind had drifted off) that the bards were starting up their own festivities. At least he didn't miss all of the fun.

Auu'weh was about to open his mouth and ask another question, but the other Sentinel had haughtily pointed out that his name was Sly. Well, Auu'weh supposed that was useful. He didn't know much about the inhabitants of the forest. Auu'weh knew who he had to know, and that was it. Everything else he knew was about the wind's whispers, the cloud's tears, and the rain's song. He knew almost everything about weather. It had taken up almost every part of his mind! Perhaps that's why he was so distracted.

"Sly?" the Wildtype echoed thoughtfully. It didn't make as big of an impact as he thought it would. And...What was it that Sentinels did after this? There was something following an introduction...Oh yes! You follow it with an introduction of your own! "Well," the young adult hooted in reply, "I am Auu'weh...Nice to meet you, Sly."

It was then that a little bolt of brown flittered to Auu'weh's side. It was his little companion Parus, Enlil. His little chest was breathing in and out and he seemed relieved to find Auu'weh.

"Oh, there you are Enlil," Auu'weh said, raising the tufts of feathers with the flex of his brow muscles. He watched as the Parus settled down on his shoulder, "Enlil, this is Sly-"

"You need to tell me when you leave the nest!" the little Parus chirped in annoyance, "I could've slept all night if I hadn't woken up and found you gone."

"Sorry, Enlil, I guess I must've forgotten," Auu'weh muttered thoughtfully. He turned his golden eyes back upon Sly and puffed his feathers, "Sorry, what was it you were saying?"

Thorn decided that since he was small, he would have better luck going around and asking other Sentinels if they had seen a missing Parus. He noticed a pair of males he hadn't seen before, and glided down to speak to them. One of them, a young Wildtype, looked friendly enough, but the other one, a sinister Shadow, made Thorn's neck feathers prickle. "Excuse me, sirs," he chirped, "but has either of you seen a strange Parus? It has lost its Sentinel."

Auu'weh had almost begun talking again when the other large dark Sentinel spread his massive wings and leapt into the air. He watched as the other flew away after dispelling a couple snarky comments. They didn't do much to Auu'weh, but the Parus did give a shrill huff of indignation.

"What?" the Wildtype Sentinel asked the Parus.

Enlil sighed and he hopped to the other's shoulder where he gestured with one wing to a new youth that had toddled his way over. Auu'weh had hardly noticed his approach, but now that he was directed by his companion, the owl gave a pleasant rumble in his chest. Huh, well, what'ya know? A little one! All thoughts of his encounter with Sly were quickly ushered away and he bent down low so that he was eye to eye with the youth.

"Is there something you need help with, young'un?" Auu'weh asked, speaking as if he hadn't heard the other's statement in the first place...Because he didn't.

There where a few Sentinels dotting through the branches, silent pairs that muttered to one another in private company under the darkness of the canopy, hidden from sight. Some where friends reuniting for old time’s sake, catching up on the present holiday that made Rangers, Hunters, and Scouts take time off from their usually constant professions, reuniting back with the colony. Aside from these where a few couples, flirting with one another, their seasons spent keeping their passions at bay and now with the mark of The Longest Night, already preparing for the mating season. Sly’s mind only vaguely wondered on the possibilities that this time meant. Being a Watcher, he rarely spent time in the constant company of others. Specifically, he picked and choose when he went out to see someone, the person never specific and more on chance who he would take to at any given time. With the exception of those times, he was rather solitary. He didn’t dare try and fill any void with the inadequate companionship of a Mus or Parus, naturally, so he usually was his own private company. That wasn’t to say he didn’t let his eyes linger on the opposite sex. Even a bird such as himself had his natural weaknesses. Yet, when he took it with a serious viewpoint, he found little of the females around offered anything or proved any sort of notable worth. He didn’t just want anyone by his side. They had to be someone that would be just as impressive as he was, or at least worth having around. (There where hardly any females that where at the same level that he was.) Still, most everyone thought of romance during the Mating Season, and as he passed a pair who where snuggling close to one another, only watching him as he flew past in that hushed worry that they where found out to early, he couldn’t help wonder on that topic of mates and fledglings.

Thinking ahead of yourself? He thought, and shook off the matter then and there (at least for now).

Flying, he continued, finding the occurrence of Sentinels thinning out even more than before until he seemed to be flying in only the company of the trees. It was then that he hard a faint chirping, a sing-song voice that was far off and to his left. Alerted, he tilted his body, gliding as he turned and followed the sound that was becoming louder. From the darkness of the forest, it wasn’t hard to spot the Mist Sentinel at first, and even easier to see a startling pink Parus chirping nearby, lingering off at a distance. As he drew near, he noticed her to be female, the moonlight hitting her gleaming feathers and on a decoration about her neck. As Sly had a tendency to talk to most everyone and made a point to know who was who, he picked up the name easy as Snowdrift. It was an easy name to remember on account of her color and that ornament she wore. As he flew near, he noticed she was talking to the Parus, who was looking at her with interest but was not nearing. Clearly she was not the master. Sly had a feeling he had found what he was looking for.

Going to a nearby tree on the opposite side of the Parus, he fluttered down and landed, easily claiming his center of balance and bring his feathers close together. Slowly, his yellow eyes slid open and turned to regard the Parus first. Sweet thing, all pink like spring in the middle of the cold breath of the season though just as brittle as a twig in winter. Smiling, he let his eyes continue to rise to look at the nearby Sentinel. “Hello, Snowdrift.”

The Watcher listened to the youth, letting his head slowly slip to the side as he tried his hardest to pay attention. Luckily for the little one, there was no teasing blotch of sky behind him for Auu'weh's golden eyes to drift to. He was small, and so that made Auu'weh look down, where there was no sky. So, Auu'weh actually heard every word that the little had come there to say!

"A lost Parus. Someone missing a Parus. No, little one, I haven't seen anything of the sort. You see, we just came to the Gathering," Auu'weh told him with the curt nod of his head.

"Late, we were," intervened Enlil, with the little hop of his skinny legs.

Auu'weh glanced at Enlil and gave him a stern lilt of the brow. That meant "shut up" in their silent language, and the Parus gave a chirp and followed the advice.

"Anyways," Auu'weh continued, looking back upon the young Sentinel, "That was Sly. I don't think he was very nice either."

Sniff. Snuffle. Sniff. The air was filled with different aromas; of Sentinel, of fear, of Mus...and even of Parus. However, scent could not help in this search, crowded as the gathering was. It was hopeless...There were just too many smells for even Hazel's highly developed sense of smell to follow.
So he switched tactics. Out of the corner of his eye, he spied a dark-feathered Sentinel. Though the Shadow looked perfectly normal, Hazel could sense something about him that...just...wasn't quite right. Recalling Raine's dire warning, the Martes followed him at a distance, just in time to spot the pink Parus and Mist Sentinel. Finding the Parus wasn't Hazel's only priority...

Raine clicked her beak softly. "Companions are always worth it...", Liam had said. But at what cost? At what price could he -would he- sacrifice Roth? Raine had pondered her decision countless times, had wondered if, given the chance, she would have done the same. Would she have complied with her duty as a Minder, killing the Martes the moment she saw it near the nest? Or would she still have hesitated, giving it that one second...that one fateful second... "No! " she started, "I mean...no, I don't have to worry about Hazel. He can fend for himself..."

"Hmm, huh, oh, what?" Chase's voice seemed to snap him out of the dream-like trance he had fallen under, as he always did when he started to tell tales.

He was about to open his beak and ask the sentinel what was wrong, when he noticed the sudden absence of noise, too. The pica was always there and he was never quiet, unless something grave was about. The pica was quick and had relatively little fear of sentinels.

Fjord gripped his perch and swivled his head about anxiously.

"Feth? .. Feather? The little rotter has gone to far again, oh dear..."