The patter of tiny... wings?

Neela Garcia · 01-30-2012, 05:27 PM

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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.

Jace Wolfe · 01-30-2012, 05:42 PM

300

She very clearly remembered being a child and speaking at ten hundred miles a minute on things that were seemingly very important to another member of the pack, usually a frustrated adult that had been roped in or a very willing elder with a look of deep interest upon his or her face. Therefore when her own child, the one taking after Temo's good looks had come up to her babbling on and on at a speed that was most impressive Jace found immense humor and some amount of her own frustration mixed in at the turning of time and occurrences. Dalgina had rambled on for a good fifteen minutes after finding her hybrid mother before Jace had finally been able to understand the summary of her words.

Festival. Neela. Boat. They were the three words that stuck out the most in the girl child's gushing speech and it set her mouth to a slightly frown. A boat? On the sea? It made her cringe mentally just to think of it. She had sent the hyperactive girl off to play with her siblings while she spoke to Neela. The collie woman had recovered from her illness, as Jace preferred to call it and as far as she understood had uprooted herself temporarily to go to the festival, something Jace was unsure of if she was going to attend. she had a few things to trade but not much really.

It didn't take her long to traverse the small distance to the house Neela claimed as home and she wandered around the abandoned human house, her voice calling out for her friend,

"Neela? Neela are you in there? I need to speak to you." She didn't barge in as she had done the last time, that had constituted as extenuating circumstances.

Neela Garcia · 01-31-2012, 01:52 PM

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OOC here.

Word Count → 236

Even though the roaring fire, kept especially high by Neela for the chick's comfort, filled the room with an almost uncomfortable warmth Neela still felt a chill run down her spine when Jace's voice echoed into the house; her doom had come.

Though on the plus side Jace didn’t sound particularly angry and hadn't burst into the house snarling and spitting so maybe Neela stood a chance of making it through the night in one piece and in good health. Maybe.

Neela's ears twitched before she called out, higher rank or not there was NO way in hell that Neela was having this conversation out of the comfort of her own home. "I'm in the front room Jace, come on in!" Even if Jace had forgotten where the entrance was its location was fairly obvious from the firelight spilling under the heavy furs that Neela had slung over the gap that used to house a French Window.

Then Neela sat back and waited, seemingly calm. The only thing that betrayed her nervousness was her left ear, which was twitching rapidly to an imaginary beat. From her perch Grynn, picking up on Neela's apprehension and discomfort, let out a soothing sound, flexing her claws. While normally the sight would have reassured Neela in this situation it didn’t; Neela LIKED Jace and she doubted that Grynn clawing out the hybrid's eyes would earn her any brownie points.

Jace Wolfe · 02-07-2012, 04:24 PM

314
The reply was quick and short, kind of like Jace, although she resented being short mostly she made the most of it. Speed could often out maneuver size nine out of ten confrontations. A huff of breath escaped the woman's jaw as she promptly made her way around the house that belonged to her lower ranking friend towards the hacked out window that served as a door. Light from a blazing fire streamed out into the skeletal trees and plants beyond giving them a warm buttery glow.

Upon entering the room after a brief hesitation Jace was immediately overly warm to a very uncomfortable degree given the thickness of her coat and the sweltering heat of the overly large fire, surely Neela was not this cold? Her fur was pretty thick like Jace's was. The reason for the huge fire though was almost instantly apparent as from within the box that Neela's trusted companion Grynn was perched upon loud insistent cheeps made themselves known. She stopped where she was just inside the entrance way and didn't come any closer, she was really not in the mood to have a falcon fly at her face and try to claw out her eyes in an attempt to protect her chicks from the dog hybrid.

The first thing that came to her mind was that it was the wrong time of year for new chicks to be born, too early at that, too cold and not enough food. This produced a frown upon her face that coupled with her already unenthusiastic look only deepened the lines about her face.
"uhh, maybe it's better I don't ask about them? I came to talk to you about Dalgina traveling in a boat on the ocean." She sniffed gently at the air, discreetly trying to catch the scent of the chicks that she could not see from her position.

Neela Garcia · 02-07-2012, 05:57 PM

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OOC here.

Word Count → 535

Neela didn’t meet Jace in the eye, instead busying herself with looking at the chicks, simply catching a look at the other woman out of the corner of her eye as she entered. Despite her best efforts Neela flinched when she saw Jace's frowning face, a small yet violent motion that flowed from her shoulders down her body. Despite the fact that Neela was genuinely fond of Jace, counting the multi0hued woman among her friends, she was also intimidated by her; an unwelcome throwback to their less than friendly first meeting.

Grynn noticed the motion and ruffled her wings threateningly, head snapping around on her neck to face her, beady black eyes narrowing. Neela noticed this and frowned, not wanting to make things worse between her and Jace, " Calma Grynn, su argumento es conmigo, no te o los polluelos" Neela spoke soothingly, subconsciously adding a Spanish accent to her voice as the spoke the foreign words. Grynn, understanding both English and Spanish high speech, twitched at the words but relented, turning back to her children. "Come in Jace," Neela mumbled, still avoiding her eyes, "Grynn won’t attack you just for being here." She finished up, correctly interpreting Jace's glanced towards Grynn.

A small smile forced its way onto Neela's lips as Jace remarked uncertainly about the chicks, "I'm just as confused as you Jace." That smile dropped instantly as Jace carried on to the end of her sentence, Neela flinching once more. "No. I agreed to nothing, not that I would mind doing so, but I wouldn't even offer without consulting you first but well…"

Neela was cut off by a massive yawn that ripped itself free of her mouth, teeth glistening in the firelight as she exhaled. When Neela finished yawning she looking Jace in the eyes for the first time, revealing a pair of tired and sunken eyes, the usually lively amber tinged with red. Neela let out a tired sigh before she continued talking, "As you might guess sailing a boat single-handedly and sleep don’t go well together and even by boat its not a short distance from here to Halifax. I haven't slept in over 24 hours and, being her mother, I'm sure you know how fucking fast Dalgina talks when she's got an idea into her head and excites herself." The expletive had left Neela's mouth before she had even considered that it might not be appropriate here, a further sign of her tired state.

Neela spread her arms expressively as she finished talking, a tinge of humour entering her tone for the first time, "I didn’t stand a chance." Finished talking Neela returned to a neutral position and brought her eyes back to the nest box, a small popping sound as Neela's clenched fist crushed the small piece of charcoal she had been fiddling with the only sigh of the tension still racking her body.

Neela didn’t apologise. She had done nothing wrong here other than be misunderstood by an excited pup, which was exactly what this was; a misunderstanding. Not Neela being chased up for an actual wrong and as such she felt no need to offer an apology, certainly not within her own home.

Jace Wolfe · 03-06-2012, 03:12 PM

563

The tension in the air was thick enough that she could have cut it with her knives should she so wished to. Neela refused to meet her eyes and Grynn's body language only became more threatening so maybe the Yakuso could be forgiven for taking an involuntary step backwards instead of forwards. Her arms were arranged over her chest in a attempted relaxed movement but the stiffness of her arms revealed it to be a front. Also it gave her a better chance of getting them up in time in case Grynn did decide to go with her instincts and attack her.

She remained quiet and non threatening as the sailor spoke, explaining the situation. Yes she understood exactly how fast Dalgina could talk when she was excited and sometimes just agreed with what she was saying to get her to be quiet. Her mind rolled back to that luxurious hour spent in bed with Temo and her tail quivered slightly, the silence had been good, almost as good as his body. Her lips quirked upwards, abolishing her frown and resurrecting her old smile that Neela would know so well. Now that her explosive explanation was finished did Jace step forwards into the light, the shadows flickering over her scarred form, catching in the deep grooves carved into her face.

"Of course Friend. I do not believe you would agree to such a thing without asking me. Actually I was here to give my consent to a question not yet asked." Her face contorted into a wince as she said that although the huff of a laugh passed her lips. "You know my dislike of the ocean." Yeah, more like outright terror. "But I cannot let my own biases bar the way to my children's happiness and their lessons of life. In my own experience, life has taught me that the ocean is a dangerous place." Again her face fell into that considering frown as she remembered her young friend falling through the ice, "I lost a very good friend to the waters of the Arctic, on top of that my beliefs in the nature of death by water have given me a lust to keep my feet firmly upon dry land. Having said that.. I feel that Dalgina should.. ahh find these things out for herself so to speak. I cannot lead her way for her forever." Here the woman turned positively mournful at the thought that she wouldn't be always there to protect her daughter, "But...." A deep sigh, "I trust you Neela, and I have faith in your skills and capabilities as a captain." Her nose twitched as she huffed through it. "Just keep her safe for me."

A sudden louder cheep drew her attention from Neela to the chicks and an idea crossed her mind, these little ones would need to be kept very very warm if they were to survive the winter, "I have an idea about keeping those chicks warm." Her words were slow and thoughtful, "I'm moulting at the moment so my winter coat can come through." To demonstrate she gripped a handful of her chest fur and tugged gently, pulling away a clump of dead fur which she held up, a wry smile crossed her maw, "I can donate my fur for them to use if you want, its good for keeping you warm, I can attest to that."

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