9th February, early evening
Word Count → 521
Neela stared at Grynn and Grynn stared at Neela, Dog and Falcon trapped in a speechless staring contest until Neela finally broke the silence, her voice filled with a mixture of confusion and humour, "You know Grynn, the part that really confuses here is, where the hell did you find another Peregrine around here?" Grynn's only reaction was a avian shrug.
Neela had returned home from her voyage up north, weary and salt encrusted but overall a hell of a lot happier than when she had left Ichikan lands and had been greeted by an odd sound when she had entered her house, the hungry chirping of baby falcons. The sounds had been shocking enough to drive away Neela's thoughts of impending doom; she had encountered Dalgina on the way back to the house and, after a confusing and one-sided comversation between tired wolfdog and hyperactive puppy Dalgina had dashed off, presumably to her mother, under the impression that Neela had agreed to take her down to see the trader's festival on the Meria.
In the back of her mind Neela was still waiting for Jace to come and kill her.
After much confusion, a stalemated glaring match lasting nearly ten minutes and a scuffle leading to a thin line of cuts being scored down Neela's cheek, not bleeding much but still making themselves annoyingly visible with the contrast on white fur, a compromise had been met and the box which held the core nest had been brought into the main room, placed by a roaring fire with Grynn perched on the lip of the box.
Neela was sat cross-legged by the box, gazing curiously at its contents. Three chirping blobs of white down were clustered in the middle of the box, tucked tightly into a swaddle of fabric. There was one more chick but the body was sprawled out in one corner, not moving at all, Grynn huddled above it. Neela had tried to move it but this had only resulted in a second set of claw marks, this time on the back of her hand; Grynn was being fairly vicious today.
Can I touch them?" Neela asked Grynn hesitantly, gesturing to the living chicks, making it clear she would leave the dead one be. There was a long silence and then Grynn nodded gently, her eyes fixed on Neela in a steely stare. Neela simply smiled and leaned over, returning Grynn's stare with a lick to the falcon's forehead, before reaching one hand down to gently rub a fingertip along the head of one of the chicks. "They're beautiful." Neela said softly, grinning as she saw Grynn preening out of the corner of her eye at the statement; it seemed that her love for praise extended to her chicks.
Done with her examination Neela leant back and placed another log down into the firepit, raising her paws to warm them on the flames, and wondering if she might have been better served by staying down south a little longer. Between Grynn's new chicks, Jace's impending visit and Dalgina being Dalgina, things were looking fairly complicated already up in Ichika.
