The air was cold and Alma still had her thick winter coat. Despite the cold air, the sky was clear for once, and the sun gave off a pleasant warmth when she stood still long enough to bask in its rays. She could see signs of life spring up here in there - grass was beginning to turn from brown to green, while buds appeared on a few trees. Her position, sitting on a hillside, facing Folly Lake, gave her clear a view of all of this. Yet the coyote's expression was sullen, as if she didn't notice her surroundings at all.
Alma yawned, and sprawled out on the dry, brown grass. One arm was held in a sling, and that accounted for one reason why she was so unhappy. It was an inconvenient reminder of an event she would much rather forget - or at least, not be forced to recount over and over in her mind. In addition, her injury was reason that she couldn't do anything, and she was desperately bored.
The coyote picked up a rock with her free arm. She squinted, inspecting it and wondering if she might be able to carve it into an arrowhead when she regained use of her arm. Abruptly, she decided against the idea and threw it into the lake. There was an audible splash. A flock of robins rose from the grass, probably startled by the noise or sudden movement.
OOC: Sorry for the wait on this, I'll try to be faster :] / +585!
Folly lake was a regular hang out for the woman, and she was on her way there this morning with her fishing spear and her owl friends in front of her, in the air. She was proud to say with the beginning of spring that Hextor and Muerte had begun to nest, and therefore, Muerte would spend less and less time with Valkyrie and Hextor on their journeys, but the good thing about them nesting would be that there would be more scouts for Inferni in the future. She was excited for it. The moment Muerte had brought up the idea to the woman she was ecstatic about it, so why shouldn't they go along with doing what they were going to do?
It was their early morning hunt, and the sun was out and somewhat harsh on the eyes of the night-dwellers. Valkyrie needed their help though, because she had yet to get Sascha's osprey in the air, nor had she caught herself another day-dwelling bird of prey. She was not a crow or raven girl, for they were all too common around the clan and she was sure that for a long time she would confuse her raven or crow with the others that lived in Inferni. She was going to stick with her birds of prey, but she needed to capture another one though so that she could let Hextor and Muerte become the night-dwelling birds that they are supposed to be.
She was just about there, just coming upon a hill that she needed to get over before she got there, but that was when a flurry of robins startled the woman and then made her fall down on her butt with a loud thump and a yelp from the coywolf's mouth. The owls didn't let the robins get away with it though, because Muerte came from seemingly nowhere and she ripped the robin straight out of the air with her powerful claws and she soared off with the body, but not without a bunch of the robins following after her, and Hextor attacking a few of them in the air. The battle between the two owls and the six robins ensued until the robins finally were down to four. The robins then fled from the battle and went to hang out in some other trees. The two owls returned to where Valkyrie was sitting, on the ground, watching them attack the other birds. It's not like she would have been able to stop them from doing it if she wanted to. They were hardheaded when it came to things like that.
She barely even noticed that there was a woman just a few feet away from her, sitting under a tree until the scent hit her nose. Even then she was distracted yet again by the plopping of dead birds on the ground around Valkyrie, for her owls thought that the robins would make a nice snack. Valkyrie kind of agreed with the birds. When Hextor landed in front of her, she put her hand in his feathers and cooed to him before the scent hit her nose again, and Hextor cooed about the woman who was only a few feet behind Valkyrie. She finally looked back at the woman and cocked her head. I didn't see ya' there. M'name's Valkyrie de le Poer, who're ya'? asked the woman who did not know who the golden Discens was.
I thought it was my terrible first post. ;p It wasn't exactly inspired... hopefully this one is better. actually, I'm fairly sure it's not, but I can't put this off any longer.
A yelp alerted Alma to the presence of someone else. Her ears flicked backwards, and she gave a glance in the direction she heard the sound. There was a hint of vague recognition in her eyes - this wasn't a new clanmate; she'd seen her somewhere before. Probably at one of the meetings, Alma thought, and tried to prod her mind into remembering.
That attempt did not last for long, because the cry of several robins caught her attention. The coyote looked up to see a flurry of chattering robins following an owl with a bird in its claws, and another owl coming up behind to chase the group. For a moment she forgot about the newcomer, and simply watched the display with wide-eyed fascination.
She didn't know much about birds, but she knew just enough to realize that it was unusual for an owl to be about in the daytime. When the robins had escaped and the two owls had landed, Alma rolled on her side and leaned on her good hand to see what was going on. She stared in silence, watching the unfamiliar coyote-girl's actions towards the birds. She recognized her now, or thought she did. The Discens had seen her and the owls at her first clan meeting. She had meant to ask her about the birds when she had first seen them, but it didn't seem right to interrupt her leader's talking just for that - and afterwards, things had been so chaotic that it slipped from her mind.
"I am Alma." she replied to the coyote-woman's question. "I make bows. Archery." Her voice was not as slow and deliberate as when she'd first joined the clan - she even used contractions occasionally - but it could be rather clipped at times. Her eyes fell to one of the owls. The coyote shifted her weight to get a better look, and awkwardly sat up by using her good arm to support herself. "How do you take care of those? Where do you get one? How do you hatch an egg?" As per usual when she'd met someone who had birds, she had a thousand questions to ask. For now, she was wounded and couldn't take care of any creature, but when she had healed... perhaps her dreams of attack-eagles would come to bear fruit.
OOC: I'm a dick, sorry for the stupid wait. If I had internet at home this would not be happening, I promise you. / +336!
Valkyrie looked at the wounded girl and briefly her mind ran over what could have happened to the girl. The Tirones held her head still cocked at the woman, and when her questions were answered, she almost didn't catch what had happened because she was so focused in thinking about what happened to her. she shook her head to snap out of it, and her gamboge eyes rose to meet the golden ones of the gold woman. Aye, It's nice ta' meet'cha, Alma. the woman spoke to the other, with a friendly smile on her maw. She got up from her spot and moved closer to the woman. Hextor was not too far off, and Muerte took to a nearby tree and she sat in the shade. Valkyrie thought that the bird had the right idea.
Valkyrie came and sat closer to the woman, and Hextor flapped his mighty wings and he glided to the spot where Valkyrie was and he landed on the ground next to her and the other woman. This was when the onslaught of questions fell from the other woman's maw. It threw Valkyrie off slightly because she was not used to anyone getting so ecited over her birds. She giggled though and took it in stride. Dhey pretty much care for themselves honestly. spoke the woman, nodding her head as she looked from her bird to the golden woman. M'friends gave both of m'owls ta' me, but ya' could catch one in a net. and hatching an egg takes a lot of time, since ya' gotta keep it warm and supervised. I haven't hatched an egg me'self in a long time, but Muerte and Hextor have been breeding lately, so I'mma hoping dat I got some eggs soon. the woman spoke, a smile forming on her jaw. I see you are interested in them...Ya know how to train them? asked the woman, wondering how far Alma's knowledge of birds went.
I don't mind. I have too many threads with Alma, so some of them being slow allows me to keep up without getting overwhelmed.
Alma continued to stare at the owls. It was possibly quite rude to do so, but lack of experience with animals meant she didn't know any better. The mention of catching one in a net made her ears twitch, though she did not turn her head to the woman until she had finished. "I traded for some eggs one time, and I couldn't get them to hatch. They died and stunk up my cave." The coyote frowned, and wrinkled her nose at the memory. At least now she'd known what she'd done wrong; hadn't watched them or kept them warm enough.
"I don't know much about taking care of adult birds, either. Just that they eat meat, and some of what Ithiel told me." There was a pause as she tried to remember all that she'd been told. "He has a vulture that he uses to scout, and I think he said he kept it there by feeding it." That had been the extent of their conversation then, as Alma had been so excited to learn that birds could be used to attack a Luperci that she had run off in an attempt to catch an eagle. It, of course, didn't work.
"I don't know anything about training them." There was a pause as she tried to sit up with her one good arm. Somehow, she managed the strength to push herself up; the arm in a sling would likely be much weaker once it had healed, as she'd been relying on the other arm to compensate. "Do you think you could teach me?" Her tail wagged behind her and made a noticeable thump on the ground. She grinned, her eyes filled with child-like fascination.
Word Count :: 605 I know what you mean. It happened to me all the time when i had the ability to be more active. Also I am planning on Valkyrie getting more birds pretty soon so if you would like, we could thread and get Alma's first bird for her :3 (after this thread of course)
Bright gamboge eyes, one with a huge scar across it, turned from his meal to look back at the golden coyote. He cooed lightly, wondering why she was looking at him like that. He couldn't tell if her intentions were bad or not because Valkyrie seemed so comfortable about the woman. His feathers ruffled nervously as he tried to ignore the woman and he returned to his meal. If both of his eyes worked, then he probably would have been able to watch her from his peripheral vision, but the woman was on the side where the scar had crossed his eye. Valkyrie was not around when the scar was made, for she had left her friend with the group that had given him to her as an egg. It was her mistake to leave him behind though because of the things that they made him do. Hextor had told the woman the story of his ventures when he was sent to her to announce the coming of her friends to visit. Valkyrie never really forgave them for Hextor's fight that he shouldn't have had to fight but she was glad that they did not let Hextor die.
Alma spoke of having eggs, and she got slightly excited, but then Alma broke the news that they had died and stunk her cave up. Valkyrie frowned lightly. When they arr eggs, ya' have ta' keep uh really close eye on dhem. I 'member when Hextor was uh egg, we had shifts watchin' an carin' fer 'em. I did most o' the work, tho'. she spoke and nodded her head to the woman before she reached over and touched Hextor. He snapped up and was about to peck at Valkyrie before he realized it was her, so he didn't and he cooed a 'sorry' to the woman. Valkyrie listened as the woman continued to speak about how she didn't know how to care for adult birds. She also offered up some information about Ithiel and his vulture. Valkyrie silently stored the information for later and she nodded her head. Depends on the type o' bird ya' get. They eat meat, but some like some meats over others. Meh owls like mostly fish an' rats, while there arr other birds who like bigger things, like cats an' 'coons. spoke the woman, trying to think of the basics of bird training. Valkyrie had an easier time because she was able to communicate with the birds on their level, so training was more like bargaining for her. Once upon a time she didn't know the language of birds all that well, and Hextor was the one who helped her with that, so she had some bird training skills without being able to understand them, but she would have to think back to those times really hard.
Valkyrie was told that Alma did not know how to train birds, and Valkyrie watched the woman get up and then she was asked a question, with a soft thumping of the woman's tail. Valkyrie chuckled lightly and she nodded her head without deep thought about what she was getting herself into. If Valkyrie knew that the woman was going to use them for attacking luperci, Valkyrie probably would be less than excited about teaching her falconry. In fact, Valkyrie might have refused to do so, if only because she did not want to see anyone be hurt in the process. Sure, I'll teach ya'. We gotta git ya' uh bird to practice with tho'. the woman spoke to her with a smile on her face.
Alma had no idea she was making the bird uncomfortable, since she was unable to read his body language. She did notice the scar over his eye, but it didn't occur to her that he might want be wary because of it, or to ask how he had gotten it. She assumed it was from some other owl - surely birds fought with one another as canines did?
Her eyes strayed from the owls as the birdkeeper spoke of how she hatched the egg, and the types of meat adult birds might eat. Alma had to wonder how large a bird would have to be hunt and eat a raccoon or a cat, and came to the conclusion that such a creature would probably have to be an eagle; precisely the sort of bird she had wanted when she had the idea of attack-birds, but it left her with another thought. If a bird was that big and ate that much, would she be able to hunt enough to feed it? How often did those things eat, anyway? She pondered this while the other coyote tried to recall a time when she was unable to communicate with birds.
The words a bird to practice with entered Alma's ears, and suddenly she was no longer thinking about how much food it would take to feed a bird of that size, but how to acquire one. "How do I get one?" she asked. She almost hoped it wasn't an egg; she was afraid of another failure. Still, if it was, she'd be willing to try again.
It seems like each time, I'm with you, I lose my mind
Soon Hextor would become uncomfortable enough to move towards Valkyrie, and then take off from the ground and going to join Muerte in the tree. Valkyrie looked at the owl and she cooed at him to ask him what was wrong, but he did not answer the coywolf, and instead he just landed in a tree where he could see them both from a distance. Valkyrie shrugged her shoulders and looked back to the golden woman. The other seemed less talkative than she once was a few moments ago, and Valkyrie found this to be her chance to speak to the woman. She was trying to come up with something to say when the woman finally spoke again, asking her a question. There's several ways you can get one.... she started to speak before she looked at her hands and twiddled her thumbs. You can catch one, which is kinda hard without a trap. If you know how to speak their language, you can come to an agreement with them. And if you find a nest, you can just steal an egg. Valkyrie spoke to the woman, nodding her head lightly.
What kind of bird are you looking for? Do you know, or were you just asking to ask? I can possibly help if you have a specific bird you want. spoke the woman, wondering what kind of bird the woman could want. Was she a owl woman, or a hawk woman? What about song birds, or crows, or even chickens and sparrows? What kind of bird was the woman interested in? From there, Valkyrie could tell how and where to find such a bird.
Valkyrie cooed up to Hextor and Muerte once more, asking for one of them to come down, and instead of Hex, the female owl came down and landed roughly on Valkyrie's shoulder, her talons digging deep into the shoulder of the woman. Valkyrie clenched her teeth slightly and cooed lightly before Muerte's grip on her shoulder loosened up and the owl balanced on the shoulder of the woman. When this happened, a hand went to pet the bird and the bird welcomed the praise with small coos of her own.
