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Username: [.Ginger Wonton.]
Name: Widget
Prompt for Fledgling #3 : You've just been put to bed by your Minder, and are annoyed when he has to take extra-long with the next fledgling. While you wait for the noise to quiet down so that you can have a good day's sleep, you notice a fledgling off on an upper branch - clearly sneaking out past curfew! You turn to whisper to the male fledgling in the nest with you, only to see that he's preparing to sneak out as well! What do you do?

Entry: He didn’t take as long as he’s doing with Widget’s nest mate. That got her mad. Really mad. She wanted to talk to her other ‘mates and complain - but. Hey! Now that wasn’t fair. Both of them were starting to scurry away towards the upper-reaches. In fact it was almost impossibly… High. Canopy high is where they seemed to head towards. Well fine. When the minder, Olohan turned his attention she’d be off like a rocket too. But Widget will be braver!

“Psst, sissy feathers! Watch this,” She had gotten their attention, and when she held her breath for as long as she dared while prolonging what she was about to do, Widget did it. She did it with a muffled hurrah as well!

Down, down, down she spiraled. Widget had launched herself towards the ground! Never fear, Widget was near. She heard stories, but in her young fledgling mind she thought she could take everything on. Yes, she’d be the greatest scout or hunter ever. In fact she wanted to be an Elite when she grew up! Perhaps a general or sergeant of some sort. She was proud that she was so strong already and brave. She faced a large Waral and Serpe and survived to tell the tale! (Of course this would naturally have nothing to do with the fact that each of those creatures were part of two Keepers she had visited... ) But her nestmates had other plans. They’d stop her fun cold. Oh yes.

In fact the little rats with wings tattled on her. She could hear their screeching keening into her eartufts. Olohan was then suddenly too close for comfort.

“Pull up, egg-face.” He shouted towards her. Widget’s face contorted angrily. What a horrible nickname, Olohan was such a horrible minder too, come to think of it.

“No!” Came her defiant cry back at her chaser.

“Alrighty I’ll hunt you like a Mus and you won’t be happy!” And he did, none too gently either. A few plucked feathers and Widget was back in her nest; happily though, since she out maneuvered him by many lengths. Olohan stomped towards her nest and the crowd shuddered. He'd never admit it but he was scared for the little blighters. Olohan did not want to let these guys get hurt or worse... Killed.

“Alright egg-face,” he began his chewing out… At the end of the tirade all the nest mates were firmly rooted into their beds and falling asleep as quick as possible. Olohan kept his weary watch all through their rest time. Especially on Widget!

Username: Mamoru_Hatake
Name: Fig
Prompt for Fledgling #3: You've just been put to bed by your Minder, and are annoyed when he has to take extra-long with the next fledgling. While you wait for the noise to quiet down so that you can have a good day's sleep, you notice a fledgling off on an upper branch - clearly sneaking out past curfew! You turn to whisper to the male fledgling in the nest with you, only to see that he's preparing to sneak out as well! What do you do?


Large golden eyes widened with surprise. First, Fig saw a fledgling sneaking off on another branch, then the male in the nest with her was sneaking off! Her Minder, although in clear sight, had failed to notice this breach of curfew. Fig blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't mistaken. She was shocked to see that two other fledglings were indeed sneaking out past curfew.

Perhaps she should just forget all about it. Yes, that's what she would do, forget about it. After all, she was quite tired and it was daytime. But as Fig closed her golden eyes, she found that she was unable to keep then that way. Her mind kept drifting to the two fledglings that were sneaking off. Something about the whole thing just hit Fig the wrong way. Was it the fact that they were disobeying the curfew? Or the fact that one of the fledglings in her nest was sneaking off and didn't even tell her about it? He didn't tell her about it and certainly didn't invite her to join him.

And that's when it hit her. Fig wasn't upset that they were breaking the curfew, but that they didn't invite her to join them. What nerve! She was in the same nest as him for pete's sake! Thinking about this, Fig puffed up her feathers and squinted her eyes. There was no was she was going to let them get away with this. She might have thought about forgetting it, but that was over now. Fig had to teach those fledglings a lesson and put them in their place. However, she would need her Minder for that. These were the times when Fig was glad for her shrill voice...

"Look! Look! He's sneaking out!" Fig flapped her brown wings towards the male in her nest, who was preparing to leave. Then she pointed up towards the unknown fledgling on a higher branch, "And so is that fledgling!"

Busted! That would teach those two to sneak out. But more importantly, it would teach them not to mess with females, especially this one. Now, if those two wanted to sneak out again, they would have to take Fig. For now, however, her work was done and it was time to rest. Fig closed her large eyes and let of a small, but sneaky laugh.

"All in a nights work..."

Username: Mamoru_Hatake
Name: Marigold
Prompt for Fledgling #4: Look at them all... talking to each other, sneaking out together, always.. together. It's like that all through the night, the three of them thick as thieves while you're left alone next to the tree-trunk. And even in daytime they spend all their time together, sneaking out to have fun without you! It's just. Not. Fair. It's almost your turn to be put to bed, at least - the Minder is coming your way. What do you do?


"Oh! Those three!" Marigold huffed silently to herself. They were always together and they were always leaving her out. You name it and those three have done together without Marigold. Just the thought of them sneaking out again was maddening! Marigold couldn't stand to be left out of the mix again.

But what could she do about it? Telling the Minder about their sneaking out would do no good. It would only make them angry at Marigold, something she did not want. All she wanted was for them to include her in their merriment. Was that too much to ask? Well, Marigold guessed it was considering she was never included in the merriment.

Maybe the three always left her out because Marigold never made an effort to join them. Yes! That had to be it! All the fledgling really needed was a plan. A plan to join the three when they snuck off. Perhaps then they would realize she wanted to join them and let her in. This plan couldn't fail, atleast, Marigold didn't think it could. But at the moment she was too tickled by the idea of being included to care. Then Marigold caught sight of the Minder, who was coming her way! If the Minder got to her, all her plans to sneak off would be ruined. Then Marigold wouldn't be included by the other three fledgling.

"Think, think, think!" Marigold thought rapidly, "What to do, what to do, what to do!"

It was either sink or swim. Marigold could either slip past the Minder now or never. Unable to bare another daytime nap while the three stooges went to play, she decided to swim. As quickly as she could, the fledgling dove behind her nest and attempted to skip to another branch to evade the Minder. Even though Marigold moved with the grace of a hippopotamus, she was not seen by the approaching Minder. This was no less than a miracle.

Once out of the Minder's sight, Marigold gave a proud giggle. Her plan had worked! WORKED! The fledgling was out in the daylight and ready to join the other three.

"Teehee.....hee?"

The other fledglings were nowhere in sight. Marigold's large eyes searched franticly but it was no use. Afterall, they didn't sneak out all the time...

"Gosh darn!" a small voice echoed through the nearby trees and quickly faded into a mumble, "I'm goin' to bed! Who needs those three anyway?"

Username: Eric Stratton
Name: Aerothan
Prompt for Fledgling #2:

Aerothan watched as the Minder's gaze came his way. Ducking back to try to avoid detection, he wondered to himself why he even tried to be friends with a hatchling like him. The Minder's watchful eye shifted and was now going back towards his 'friend'.

Aerothan danced back and foward on his limb.
"Better him than me right?" he thought to himself.
He watched on as his friend hobbled and was getting ready to take flight.
"Wait..." Aerothan thought. "If he gets hurt, I will be in a lot of trouble."

The minder was getting closer to spotting the little wuss. What to do...
"Forget it, let him get in trouble. It's not my problem if gets caught."
Closer.
"It was his decision to follow me. Nobody is forcing him."
Closer.
"It would be good for him. He could use the attention."
Closer...

The Minder spun her head and threw a sharp glare at Aerothan who was now flying back to his perch where he landed and waited for his scolding.
As he stood there waiting for the Minder to get to him, he wondered,
"Why? Why would I do something like this for a loser like him?"
Then he understood.
"Mus mess." he fake swore. "That's what.... friends are for."

Username: Mamoru_Hatake
Name: Oakwood
Prompt for Fledgling #1: It's getting close to daybreak and your Minder keeps pestering you to go to sleep, but your friend has been goading you all night to climb to the canopy and watch the sunrise with him. The Minder has finally turned his attention to the next tree of fledges, and you can see your friend beckoning from a higher branch. He's so popular with all of your nestmates and you want desperately to impress him (and them!) but you know that you can't fly as well as he can... what do you do?


Even though it was almost daybreak, even though he was tired, even though his Minder was telling him to, Oakwood didn't want to sleep. Well, part of him did. But the other part wanted to do something else, something that his brain knew he couldn't do. Oakwood's friend, a popular fledgling named Burley, was motioning for him to sneak away. Burley had been saying all night that they should sneak away to watch the sunrise. Although this sounded like a grand plan, Oakwood had his doubts. For one, his Minder had a watchful eye and wasn't about to take his eyes off Oakwood, the other reason was, well, the height. The two would be going up to the canopy and Oakwood was well aware that his flying skills were less than good compared to his friend's. Both of these created a knot in the fledgling's stomach.

Oakwood had tired to explain that it would be impossible to sneak away with the Minder nearby. His friend merely laughed at this, "Just wait for him to look away!" It was true that he could sneak away but could his brown wings carry him all the way to the canopy? Oakwood doubted it. The fledgling's brain knew he probably wouldn't make it. This sensibility, however, was overrun by the need to impress. To impress Burley and his nestmates. He would go for it.

"Pssst!" Burley gave a sound when the Minder looked away. He was looking after the next tree of fledglings. Without a second thought, Burley took flight and began to make his way up the trees. Oakwood hesitated for a moment and only a moment before jumping into the air after his friend. There was no holding back now, Oakwood decided that today he would see the sunrise. His flight lasted for about three seconds.

Something unexpected happened. When Oakwood looked up he could see Burley, who was now much closer. This puzzled Oakwood at first, until he figured out that Burley was falling out of the sky. Usually very good with his wings, Burley had hit a branch about halfway up. This sent him hurdling back towards Oakwood and the nest. Burley hit Oakwood first, then both fledglings hit the nest. The sound echoed through the trees.

Neither of them were injured, well not physically anyway. Only a few feathers were lost but both went to sleep with much less pride then before.

"Nice flying there Burley! Imma never listen to you again!" Oakwood wondered why he had wanted to impress that fledgling.

Username: xxblindartistxx
Name: Howl
Prompt Response: #1

Fear engulfed him and prayers of sinking into the earth where he stood filled young Howl's thoughts. Why did his worries and fears so easily overpower him? Wasn't there a time when he had been confident and not afraid? Perhaps these changes had been unearthed when he had been lost and on his own back when he was younger. Yeah, that could be it....

Streak's accusing glare had rooted Howl to the spot. The canopy? Why on earth did the canopy appeal to him? The young sentinel remembered quite clearly the stories the minders told of the dangers that await an unsuspecting sentinel in open sky. It was madness to go up there, even to just sit upon the treetops to watch the sunset. He couldn't fly very fast yet, and if something were to happen....

They were all staring at Howl waiting for his answer as they sat upon the branch just outside the enclave entrance at the ready. Their eyes seemed to pierce his core and more then anything he wanted to dematerialize and escape its wrath. He really did want to impress them, especially Streak. For the longest of times in his eyes he had been trying to fit in. When Streak had asked him to join him in his daring escape to the canopy now seemed like the chance to prove himself. However he just couldn't seem to bring himself to say yes. An internal battle with his cowardice had him unable to make a decision. The other sentinels were starting to fidget anxiously and Streak ruffled his feathers in anger.

"Hey waral waste, what's your decision?" Streak hissed not bothering to hide the irritation in his voice. "We don't have much time ya know? Our distraction will only last so long."

Howl glanced to where the shrieks and cries he had been previously ignoring originated from. Two fledglings where duking it out and the other minders were desperately trying to set things straight, leaving a window of opportunity for their escape. He wondered what Streak had promised the two who were fighting.

"I..uh," he stammered. "Streak I don't know a...a..a..about this...We could...uh g...ge..get into serious trouble or w..w. worse..." His words came out in a jumbled mess and he could barley contain his embarrassment.

"Don't be a wuss! This might be the only chance we get to escape!" he replied angrily.

"Yeah don't be a scaredy-mus!" said one of the other sentinels in their band.

Suddenly, Howl noticed quiet had replaced the fledglings screams. Uh-oh...He turned to where the minders had been earlier to see them staring up at them with annoyance crossed upon their faces. Too late!

Streak seemed to notice too and he cried out, "Aiyeee! We've wasted too much time! Scramble!"

The other fledglings took his cue and with an opening of wings, scattered out into the semi dark of evening and leaving Howl behind. Howl was quickly returned to bed by his minder before she took off after the others. The minders were quick to catch the escapees and with defiant shrieks they were brought back in to be returned to their beds. Streak was the last one to be brought in who wore an expression as if cold water had been poured on him.

"Traitorous filth! It's all your fault Howl!" he spat at him before being put to be bed. Every fledgling in the enclave followed along by calling him other names and jeering at him from their beds. After being silenced by their elders it soon grew quiet until he was the only one awake.

Quietly Howl rose from his nesting spot and effortlessly climbed to the perch outside his window after sneaking past the guard. Surprising himself, his dark wings opened and began to beat the air to increase his momentum. Slowly he rose higher and closer to the forbidden Above. Where his mind had gone he hadn't a clue, but all he could think about was reaching the top. Higher and higher until finally the fledgling broke the tree line. Immediately, he found a perch so he could catch his breath after that exhausting exercise and get his surroundings.

Everything up here was beautiful at night. A blue-ivory sky stretched endlessly above him and was painted with countless numbers of dazzling stars. The air was cool and the breeze ruffled Howl's feathers and the dark green trees, producing a pleasant melody that was made even better by the songs of the insects and frogs down below him.

Exhilarated, the young sentinel sat and admired the scenery for a few minutes. Fear had been replaced with awe and new self confidence. He had done it! And by himself too! How he had found the will to do it he didn't know but it felt incredible. He would show the others he could be brave too! It was best he not stay up here too long though he thought and quietly he relieved his perch to descend toward his minder's enclave.

Username: RaiMidori
Name: Fiachra
Trying for #1~
Response:
The light leaks in from the east, the blood spilling over as if there is a war going on above. He lets out a warm breath, watching the vapor rise into the air, sharp, billowing, like an arrow in the blue. Above, the clouds converge in the grey and grey and grey, moving in and out of the landscape like satin across the sky, soft, peaceful, fading. He stands, rigid in his spot, talons gripping the branch with intensity unrivaled. From the corner another Sentinel stands, stern, stiff and older, the very paradigm of bitterness.

Fiachra stares out into the open expanse, the waves of enigmatic mist wavering beyond the shadows, his feathers tingling at the pretense of being called out to. He fancies that old man would rather be doing anything anywhere else, at the moment, anything but standing in the glacial cold to call out to one stubborn fledgling that’s made up his obstinate mind to stay. He shuffles on his branch, wondering what his Minder is thinking, and almost not wanting to know. He doesn’t like pain, but it’s natural.

“Fi.” the Minder calls, taking baby steps toward the adamant child. In the corner, screams can be heard, high pitched, immature, sending shivers up the spines of the both of them. On the other side of the scene the dying sun is lifted into the sky, a tome of neverending mystery that the youngling wishes to reach. One day, he tells himself. One day, I’ll fly like them.

He stays silent, because he doesn’t know what to say- he stays silent because there is nothing more he can do.

The Minder sends the boy another look before spreading his wings and heading off, the draft from his liftoff enveloping the younger one in his thoughts. Trembling, he turns his head to the perch a little farther off, a little closer to the chaos above. Silencing his fears, he stares, challenging his companion with a taciturn rhythm.

I’ll beat you I’ll win you I’ll come back victorious, pal.

There is no real battle, but it’s amusing, so he continues.

His almost-friend stares back the same way, head tilted to the side, a small band of followers settled comfortably around him. From where the boy is, they look like a troupe of performers, and he expects to laugh, but he finds it insipidly dry, bone dry, dry, dry. He shuts his mouth.

The make-believe men are like tin soldiers, staring at each other through space while the sun cuts in between, the warm rays connecting and separating and aberrant magnetisms pulling them apart. He tilts his head again, the other following. The wings spread, he makes a motion- fly. Yes, up here. Yes, right now.

Fly.

And Fiachra nods and he looks and he spread his wings and he knows. He knows that he cannot make it, and as the light reaches his part of the tree he finds himself afraid of something, for the first time in his life. But the second his feathers hit the wind, the second his eyes reach out and see something looking back, he knows something else.

He knows that he must.

At first he is a soldier like anyone else, thrashing, fighting, but the tips catch a sharp wave or two, his mind suffers a blow. The world blurs- he knows that he had to, he knows that he must fall.

But falling can be a very, very elegant thing.

So falling slowly, falling in a lovely manner he curls in his wings and spirals toward the earth, the token in the sky almost laughing, the golden staining his fur something beautiful. Beautiful staining the clouds and the mist and his wings and he almost smiles, thinking it is such a sad, lovely, beautiful world.

From the corner of his eye a female cocks her head lightly, the only one in the bunch not drowned in their own laughter and spite, she stares through him and into him with emerald eyes, debating something very important with herself. The emerald orbs gleam into the waning air and he thinks to himself, huh. He is stupefied and mystified but most of all he is falling, falling, falling.

And then- not quite falling anymore.

It is over in a moment- wings rush out, soft feathers encase him and it’s dark-light-dark-light; a warm face, the epitome of bitterness and sugar and someone he knows he can reach out for. He is looking out, and for the first time, there is someone looking back.

“Be careful, Fi,” the Minder half-scolds, holding the fledgling carefully before setting the trembling child back on the branch.

“You need only time, you will learn. Be careful.” he nods, the feathers around his face like a halo in the sunlight.

And below, the mist dances, waltzes, sings, knowing something that hangs in the air like a forgotten wish, something dusty and almost broken, but not quite.

He stares up into the forest eyes of the only one that held her breath only to find that they are closer than before, a jewel in the light, glimmering, glittering with jokes left unsaid. She stays silent as he studies her, stays silent as he looks her over with interest.

She smiles and he smiles and all of a sudden the sun seems so much brighter.

In the corner, his Minder slinks back into the shadows, the reverberating heat of the youngling’s body still lingering in his wings and an almost-smile gracing his face, the wind whipping about, a jest in the air.

A jest, he tells himself.

A jest and the taste of sky, hanging on his tongue.