[P] This is your moment, take to the skies

[Teagan Stryder]

Treasach (Falcon)

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Peregrine Falcon | New Caledonia | Dated: Jan 7th; early afternoon

Told from the POV of Treasach the Peregrine Falcon.

Related to [NC/SL] A Tear in the Tapestry, Part II.

He was younger than Agrona, but he liked to think he was just as brave.

Master Teagan had given him specific instructions. Fly fast, and fly high. The arrows will not fell him if flew out of their range. He was to steer directly southeast, towards the Sword Coast, where the forests and trees ran thin and could not conceal their archers, to climb as fast and as hard as his wingbeats could take him. Argona had told him the ceiling he should climb to, describing it in terms of how the air felt and how small everything should look on the ground below. The task that Master Teagan had given him was no different than hunting prey or one of their training exercises of hide-and-seek.

The Caledonians were on day four of a siege that showed no signs of letting up. They were running on emergency medical supplies, had multiple Luperci that were wounded, and what food had been found had practically run out. The King’s Bastion might have protected them from their enemies, but, it had become clear that they would either have to consider surrender or ask themselves exactly what sacrifices they were willing to make to continue fighting.

Master Teagan had said that the enemy had weapons in hiding that needed to be dealt with if the Caledonians had any chance of fighting back before they grew too weak to. During the first day of the siege, Agrona had been hurt by arrowfire while trying to scout out the enemy and find where the terrible things that were able to launch the boulders were positioned at. Argona could still fly, however, his egg sister was wounded. She was not as fast nor as strong as she should have been. The Master had refused to send either raptor back to the skies after Agrona had returned with an arrow sticking out of her wing.

He had overheard Master Teagan talking with her mate and chicks. Treasach had never seen conflict, not like his sister had. But, even so, he felt a dire need in his feathered breast. He wanted to be helpful. He wanted to be more.

The Master had trained him. She had told him time and time again, had commended him for his power, his speed, his agility. He could do it. He could help. He would be brave and fast. He was a falcon.

They were brave, they were swift, and they were the death that their prey never saw coming.

Perhaps it had been because of how desperate the Master’s people were for a way to turn the tide, perhaps it was because she saw the determination in his eyes and the strength of his claws. Whatever the reason, Master Teagan had permitted his plea to volunteer his skills for her cause.

When her hands wrapped around his body, Treasach felt the adrenaline rush within him. His dark eyes watched the skies above. She said her words in High Speech, and his muscles coiled in anticipation. She bounced him once, twice, and then one deep bounce that tossed him into the air. Treasach’s wings shot out, pumping with a giant great beat to secure the air beneath his flight feathers. He circled the great, protected courtyard of the King’s Bastion, gaining momentum before he shot upwards.

He flapped his wings quickly to gain altitude as he sling shot himself to the southeast like Master Teagan had told him to do. He didn’t look back, didn’t do anything but concentrate on the icy sea and feeling the frigid breeze that rolled off of it. If arrows flagged him, they missed their fast-flying mark.

It was only when he’d managed to climb to a safe height that he banked, turning back to the Fort and King’s Bastion. His sharp eyes searched the woodlands for the weapons that the Caledonians could not see from the ramparts of the wall or the roof of the building. Master Teagan knew not what they might have looked like, only that, whatever the enemy had, it was likely to be large given the size of the boulders that had been flung.

Treasach glided on the air currents at his lofty height, scouring the woodlands to the southwest where he knew boulders to have recently been launched from earlier that day. Even with the snow and the season being the middle of winter, the thick conifers and pine concealed quite a bit. He eventually found something that looked promising though—a pocket within the trees—and he tilted his wings to get a better look.

It was right at that moment though that something else caught his eye closer to the Bastion. Turning his attention away, he spotted two Luperci moving in zig-zagging, stealthy motions towards the Bastion. Judging from their heading, they weren’t Caledonian scouts either. It must have been the enemy!

His eyes turned to those stationed on the wall. They were looking the wrong way! The enemy was nearly upon the Bastion!

With a warning cry, he called out for Master Teagan to hear as he tucked his wings and dove. The Caledonians on the wall had not seen the enemy, so, he would make sure they did. The falcon descended quickly from his safe altitude, but, with his eyes focused on the Luperci moving below, he had failed to notice that, he too, had been spotted until it was too late.

A dark figure to his left had his head turning sharply, and Treasach let out a screech as he threw out his wings to harshly flip his body to meet the larger bird that charged at him. He pulled his lower body up, throwing his talons out to defend himself as the opposing raptor—a hawk!—crashed into him.

Their wings collided, and Treasach felt the larger bird’s talons scratch at his scaly legs and feathered body. It was only because of momentum that they separated, the hawk continuing on its original path while Treasach quickly recovered enough air beneath his wings to climb back to the skies. His heart was beating fast in his chest as he somersaulted, searching for the bird that had attacked him.

[Talbot Kingsford]

Kala (Red Tailed Hawk)

The goings-on of the Luperci were not of great importance to Kala. She had learned early on that only one person mattered – Agatha – and beyond that, her world was very small.

She did not remember much before being with the canines. There were times she recalled being in a nest, with what were surely her siblings. The warmth of the bigger birds, her parents, that she remembered. They had been strong birds, and she and the others were not their first offspring. Even so, that did not prevent them from being unable to defend their nest from the greedy hands that had taken a pair of fledglings from all they had known.

Kala did not remember what had happened to her sibling. She had been a frightened little thing, unable to fend for herself or stop the big hands that put her into a cage.

Agatha had given her back some of that freedom, and for that, the hawk felt an obligation to stay with and obey the simple commands she was given. Scouting and hunting were not difficult tasks. She was always rewarded for both. On days like this, when the air was cold, she knew that there would be a warm, dry place awaiting her return.

This new place was not the final place Agatha's father always talked about. He called it Watchtower. Kala did not understand what this promised land would be like, but it seemed to her that safety was with these Luperci, and so she remained.

Bad things were happening out in the world. Poor Agatha had wept herself to sleep every night since the death of her sister. The other Luperci were mean looking animals, and Kala had heard them joke about killing and eating her more than once. She would be glad to be rid of them.

Today was not so bad, she thought.

The sky was clear and her orders had been simple: watch, warn, and strike if needed.

A thermal had given her lift to a loft height, and from here Kala circled the grounds with her sharp eyes trained for any unusual movement. The bad people were still in the big building. As long as they stayed there, the attack could commence without issue – and once they had won, they would leave this cold place. There would be more time to do as she pleased. Agatha would stop crying. Kala would make her proud.

That the bad people had birds was known. Agatha had told her to kill these if she saw them. Her instincts told her the same, which reassured Kala the command was correct.

So when she saw the little falcon dive, the red tail dove after him.

He was faster, and if he had not stopped to fight, he might have outrun her. She was glad he had not. This would be a victory she could tell Agatha and her future chicks about when the war was done.

Her own battle cry was a ferocious noise, and when she collided with the smaller raptor they became a tangle of feathers and talons. She sought to down him, or grab hold of his tiny frame, but the collision forced them apart. Indignant, the hawk flapped her wings hard and sought another gust to carry her back up to her prey.

There!

She ascended slower than she would have liked, but kept her attention on the falcon. Soon enough she was after him again, her talons out and her terrible war-cry a scream against the wind.

Thread will be from the POV of Kala, the Red Tailed Hawk.
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[Teagan Stryder]

Treasach (Falcon)

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Told from the POV of Treasach the Peregrine Falcon.

He didn’t recognize the hawk. When he and Agrona had first traveled to the northern lands with their Luperci, there had been other raptors; large and small, paired with Luperci and not. He and his egg sister had chased the more aggressive ones out with their combined efforts, and had secured a domain over the Caledonians’ daylight skies. Was this a new challenger? Or was it a bird of the enemy?

Regardless of its allegiance, or if the attack was merely an unfortunate coincidence during such dire times, the hawk had its sights set on Treasach, and it was clear to the falcon that it meant him harm.

Slower as it might have been, the hawk climbed the air currents after him. Treasach waited until the last possible second to flip his tail feathers and zip away from the larger raptor. He knew he was more agile than it, knew that he was faster. If he could out-maneuver it, he stood a better chance of having it decide he wasn’t worth it and give up. Simply trying to fly away risked the hawk trying to cut him off, or, worse, taking their aerial fight lower where the Luperci’s arrows could pierce him.

Master Teagan had explicitly said to stay out of range of their fire, and he would not fail her.

Still, no amount of play fighting with Agrona or chasing and harassing other raptors could have prepared him for the ferocity of the hawk on his tail. Its piercing scream made his heart beat faster in his breast, and the feel of its talons grazing his flight feathers scared him terribly. He was used to being the predator, not the prey.

He flapped his wings hard to put some distance between them, ever aware of the hawk chasing him. Treasach turned and banked sharply, twisted and somersaulted suddenly to evade the larger bird’s attempts to catch him within its claws. He had to be fast, had to be agile, had to be brave.

It was hard to maintain the flight ceiling that Master Teagan had wanted him to. The air was thinner there, and made it difficult to perform his tricks that kept him just out of reach of the hawk. That, and he was sure his little heart might hammer itself out of his chest if he didn’t manage to shake the hawk sooner rather than later. He would have no choice but to lead it back to the Bastion, where the Caledonian Luperci there might help him.

No, he couldn’t do that. This was a fight between raptors, not Luperci.

Treasach flipped his wings, attempting to juke the hawk once more. Perhaps all of his maneuvers had finally begun to tire him, perhaps the hawk had merely predicted his actions, perhaps it was a combination of the two, but, whatever the reason, the falcon had not expected for the other bird’s claws to snatch ahold of his feathers and jerk him off-balance.

He screeched as he realized that he’d been caught. They spiraled. His wings flapped in an instinctual need to remain airborne and not plummet to the ground. His smaller talons scraped and clawed desperately at the hawk’s feathered belly in an attempt to make it release him.

[Talbot Kingsford]

Kala (Red Tailed Hawk)

The little bastard was fast – but his kind always were. Kala had not been in the business of hunting other raptors, but there had been times when wild ones saw her presence as a threat and came after her. In those instances, she had been forced to engage: against noisy jays, arrogant ravens, and every now and again falcons like the one she now faced. In each of these instances, fighting was inevitable. Having the Luperci to support her meant she could afford to fight back, certain they would ensure she had food and (though she had only needed it once) proper medical attention.

Agatha had always cared for her. She had been a good and loyal friend, even though the ways of her people were strange to Kala.

Her big talons reached out to snatch the falcon from the air, but each time she thought she had him he managed to outmaneuver her grasp. This was terribly frustrating. Of all the jobs she had been given, striking down a little bird should have been easy. She had killed rabbits bigger than the falcon.

He had a pattern – it might have been subconscious, something he hadn't even realized. More importantly, he was avoiding turning back to where the Luperci were pinned down. Kala recognized this and used it to her advantage. When he made his next attempt to gain height, Kala finally connected.

She caught hold of his tail and the end of one of his winds. Off-balance, the little falcon could no longer maintain his flight. While she might have managed to carry him away, his frantic flapping and the way he kept scratching and pecking at her belly and legs was making it hard to stay upright. When she could not control this, nor get a better grip on the little falcon, Kala made a decision that would cost her dearly: she drove him into the ground.

They hit the snow in a flurry. She spread her winds to block the sun and keep him pinned, and then began the killing attack – her sharp beak sought to peck and grab hold of the skin beneath his feathers, so that she could better rend him asunder.

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[Teagan Stryder]

Treasach (Falcon)

(+534)
Told from the POV of Treasach the Peregrine Falcon.

Thanks for the thread <333

It was unnatural, to feel the air move around him like it was. It was different when he was performing his maneuvers and stunts, when he could feel the air beneath his feathers as he soared, or when he could see the ground moving fast beneath him as he dove and zeroed in on unsuspecting prey. He knew he was falling, and there was no way to trick his mind into believing otherwise. Treasach could feel his little heart beat faster and faster in his breast as the hawk held him firmly in her talons.

His brain was torn between two concerns; righting himself and trying to fight off the larger raptor. The air was changing too quickly, and he could sense the ground fast approaching against his feathers. He needed to get free! Try and try as he might though, the hawk would not relent, would not give up the advantage it had on him.

The impact into the fresh snow was soft, but, even still, it was frigidly cold against his back. Treasach continued to squawk, crying out for Master Teagan to hear his plea or that maybe even Agrona would come to his rescue. He knew it was a longshot though. He had no idea where they had landed, and knew not if Master Teagan had heard his avian cry for help. He was on his own.

Instinct told him to keep the hawk at bay, and he straightened his legs out as far as he could to push against the larger bird. He readjusted his iron grip several times, pushing and bracing himself against the hawk. Treasach screeched as loud and as alarmingly as he could. He held out his wings to brace himself, flapping to buffet the red-feathered terror that stood above him each time it tried to attack him with its terrible beak.

He knew what that beak could do. After all, it was simply a larger, and more robust version of his own. It would rip and tear, and, if he was lucky, it would end him quickly enough. If he was lucky, and Treasach knew he was not.

Not if that gleam in the hawk’s eyes meant anything.

Its beak came down again and again as Treasach did his best to fight back. Feathers flew and scattered around them, both plucked and those lost from the stress of the fight. He could feel the hawk’s talons begin to cut into his skin, could feel the point of its predatory beak snap closer and closer with each attempt it made to dive beneath his protective feathers and rip him apart.

He fought. He fought with everything he had in him. Every attempt he made to push against the ground with his wings and flip them though, the hawk remained firmly on top of him. Treasach’s talons could do little more than hold onto his enemy and fruitlessly push against them. His lungs were growing tired from his endless screeching.

Treasach wanted to be brave like Agrona, wanted to be praised for his feats like she was praised for her own. He did not want to die. Not to a hawk. Not like this.

[Talbot Kingsford]

Kala (Red Tailed Hawk)

Down, down they had fallen, and Kala had felt victory was close. She had not stunned him as she might a rabbit or other prey animal, and the little bastard continued to fight and scream. He felt fragile beneath her mighty talons, but even so, it was difficult to land the killing blow she so sought. If she let go to strike at him, it risked releasing her captive entirely. Though her reach was longer than his own, the falcon had managed to keep enough distance between them so as to prevent her from blinding or otherwise disabling him, as she intended.

They were a whirlwind of noise. Even though she managed to rip some of his feathers free, he was putting up a surprising defense. It was the sign of an animal that did not wish to die. Kala understood this. She had not accompanied her mistress to these lands just to fail.

The real glory of this battle would be won in the field, by the Luperci who had come here to spread their words and fight. If they lingered until spring, she would hunt in the vast fields – Kala and Agatha had explored plenty of New Caledonia's vast countryside during their time here. Summer would be a glorious season of travel. This was how it always had been.

Everything would have been simple, and perfect.

A snarl broke through the falcon's shrieking. Kala turned her head and was startled to see a tall, armored figure rushing in their direction. Unwilling to face this larger predator, the hawk released the little bird and made for the skies. At least, she would have if his grip had not been so tight. Infuriated, Kala screamed and fought until she broke free. She was off the ground, she was going to get away –

Something heavy grabbed her tail. She screamed again, and was thrown to the ground.

The bigger animal was all teeth and fury. Kala fought for her life. Even so, she could not save herself from the massive force bearing down upon her. Fear flooded her body, and in desperation, the hawk spent every bit of her remaining energy attempting to break free.

Then she was forced down. Her mouth filled with snow. Sharp, powerful pressure pierced her body. She recognized pain, terror, and ultimately, endless darkness.

Immediately followed by [M] this thread.

Yeah this was fun! :D
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