Chasing pavements

Neela Garcia · 03-04-2012, 02:34 PM

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Set somewhere around the Halifax/CdC area, idunno. WC 801

In somewhat of a reversal of recent events, Neela was actually having a nice evening.

The Collie had headed down south several days earlier, trying to get away from Ichika no Ho-en and clear her head. The trip had been fairly generic, if successful; Neela had travelled south down towards Halifax, following rivers where she could and fishing as she went. This days efforts had rewarded her with five tasty looking, and fairly large, fish and she had set up camp for the day, setting the fish cooking over a campfire.

The spot she had chosen for the night was quite frankly, beautiful. A medium sized river gurgled through a small, mossy clearing and straight off a cliff that cut the circular clearing in half. The cliff was about 20 feet of sheer stone ending in a deep pool created by the waterfall running down it. Neela's camp was situated atop the cliff ad the collie herself was currently leaning against a tree, sipping lightly from her hip flask of whiskey and watching the sun set.

The scene would have been quiet and peaceful but for one thing, the thing that made this journey somewhat different than the others. For the first time in a month Grynn and her three surviving chicks had left the house and come with Neela out of Ichika. The three chicks: Oonu, Marahute and Skylar, were absolute darlings in Neela's opinion but, cute as they were, they were very noisy.

The incessant chirping would grate on most peoples nerves but it was worse for Neela, the collie actually being able to understand what they were saying, which was largely insults at the moment. At just over a month old the chicks were at the point just before they would learn to fly, apart from one. Oonu was the smallest of the chicks, which was natural as he was the only male of the three, and also the oddest looking with most of his front and face being pure white, lacking the black hood most Peregrine's bore. He had also learnt to fly before any of the others. His movements were clumsy and generally limited to quick flights between branches but, aided by his mocking calls as he sailed above her, it was enough to piss off Marahute, who was hopping about on the ground and screeching angrily at him. Marahute was a carbon copy of Grynn both in temperament and in appearance and was not taking well to being one upped by her smaller sibling.

Thankfully the third sibling was quieter. Skylar was much larger than her sister and brother and looked to beat even Grynn, who was fairly large for a Peregrine, once she was done growing. Skylar was much darker coloured than both her siblings, her dark sections were a vivid black rather than the mottled black that was typical and her front and face were dusty grey rather than white. Skylar was fairly passive and quiet, especially compared to her boisterous siblings, and was also very close to Neela. At the moment the chick was perched on Neela's shoulder, pressed close against her face and crooning softly as she played with the Collie's hair. Grynn was perched on Neela's other shoulder in a more neutral position, watching her chicks proudly.

The sun was almost set now and with the main spectacle gone Neela stretched and stood slowly, reaching up to scoop Skylar off her shoulder and place the chick on the ground as she did so. Grynn flew down and started fussing over Skylar as Neela made her was across the clearing, ducking to dodge an out of control Oonu as she went and ignoring Marahute's mocking cry as Oonu bounced off a tree, turning to dismay as the dizzy falcon aimed his crash landing straight into her.

Neela stopped at the edge of the cliff, taking a deep breath of the air, and the cooking fish behind her, as she gazed at the scenery below her. While the cliff wasn't particularly tall is was tall enough to create a pleasant scenery. As they had done when Neela had first encountered the camp her eyes strayed down to the pool at the bottom of the cliff, almost tempting her to dive down into it with its perfect circularity.

Neela had only just resisted doing the jump earlier because she didn’t know how deep the pool was and diving into pools of unknown depth from this height was a bad idea. But now that she had been down there and checked the depth while she was fishing there was little stopping so, taking a deep breath, Neela slipped her hat, scarf and belt off and hung them up on a tree and then stepped to the very edge of the cliff, preparing to jump.

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