[Flashback] A Lesson [Solo]

[Izra]

Summer 16th, 511 In Naras' apartments, nothing ever changed. Day after day Izra would play around; running aimlessly under furniture or climbing up on it. If she was feeling particularly adventuresome, she would attempt to reach the top of the old, splintery grandfather clock that was just to the left of the door, her parents' favorite perch. Usually, whenever she tried to reach her parents, one of two things would happen. Either they would squawk at her as an order to climb back down, if she got too close, or they would simply wait for her to fall down on her own. The first time this happened, they had flapped urgently to the floor and shifted into their human bodies to see if she was well. When she had stood up with ease and continued her frolicking as if it had never happened, they relaxed and returned to whatever they always did up there. Today was the last of those adventuresome days. Izra was rather bored. Being confined to their little room, as she had been for her entire life up to this point, she had little to do. The furniture she enjoyed resting on or climbing over was well-explored and she could navigate it with ease, while the bed was quite boring, as Naras had remembered to make it and left it completely flat and neat. The bookcases on the far end of the apartments where Naras kept his ledgers, writings, and other things was tempting for a moment, though Izra knew better than to get close to those. The one and only time she had clambered up onto his desk, she had spilled an ink pot all over one of his old, yellow books. He had beaten her soundly for that one. Silly thing to be mad about, though... With the desk out of the question, she turned her eyes to the familiar clock. It called to her like a siren's song, beckoning her to try yet again to reach her parents so she could play with them. She never understood why they always flew away whenever she wanted to play. On the occasions the three were permitted to be in human form, they had enjoyed plenty of childish games together. Unfortunately, these occasions were few and far between, with the only reason for them being that Naras was out for at least a week and had given them run of the house. Slowly she approached the antique clock, as if it were the prey and she the predator. Suddenly, the clock donged out a single tone to indicate the time. Izra jerked in surprise, losing her footing and falling flat on her belly with a surprised meow. She could not be certain, but she might have heard a low squawking from the top. Her parents laughing, perhaps? The possibility only spurred her on, and she once more began creeping forward. Upon reaching the elaborate base of the clock, she placed her front paws on the familiar climbing places that she had used so often before as a starting place and extended her claws for a grip. She continued to hear quiet noises from the top of the clock, and for once wished that she could understand her parents in their true forms.

[Izra]

Yaril chuckled quietly, the sound coming out like a quiet chirp. His mate, Era, joined in, both of them remaining as quiet as possible so their daughter's sharp ears could not pick out the sound. "That girl is going to reach us some day, dear," Era said in an amused tone, the chirps and body language used immediately translating themselves into a language every bit as complicated and expressive as Common. "You're right," He agrees. She was, really. Izra was getting bigger by the day, and they were having to tell her to climb down voluntarily more and more often. Fortunately, she had been busy climbing and exploring the already thoroughly explored house for most of the day, and was likely too tired to successfully reach the top today. Good thing, too. He and his mate had been up most of the night doing chores for their bondmate. Naras always insisted that they work at night, for some reason. He preened his feathers in an attempt to settle them in, "But not today." With that, he nuzzled his head into his feathers and heard Era do the same. Within moments, the two were sound asleep, the quiet meows of occasional alarm and the crackling of wood as Izra climbed unregarded.

[Izra]

Halfway up the clock, Izra began to feel a bit weary. Every few minutes, she would slip slightly on a bit of wood whenever she misjudged the strength of grip her claws had. She was still a kitten and had much to learn before she would be truly adept at the movement skills that come to every cat instinctively. She still had to grow into her body, after all. In order to grow better, she had to push herself to her limits. Fortunately for Izra, this was one of her favorite activities. Up and up she climbed, striving for that elegantly carved mantle that adorned the clock, the eagle with widespread wings that arched across the front of the clock, the wings melting into smooth woodwork on the sides of the clock's face and working their way down to the bottom. She had sometimes thought of sitting on top of that eagle's small head, seeing the whole world, as she saw it, from its highest point. Izra had never even considered the fact that the eagle's head was far too small for her to fit on top of, and if she had, she would not have cared. Slowly but surely she passed the highest point that she had ever reached, over three fourths of the way to the top. She had now reached the smooth carvings on the sides of the clock face that would allow her much easier passage. Izra celebrated briefly, but quickly grew silent and determined once more as she lost her grip and slid down the side a few inches. Again she reached the engraving, and continued to climb. Closer and closer she came to the lip of the mantle by the wing's edge, expecting every moment to hear her mother or father's reprimanding squawk and be forced to climb back down. It did not come. As soon as her claws latched onto the mantle's edge, a surge of triumph ran through her. She scrambled up over the lip and tackled the first creature she saw--her father. As he was close to the edge, they began to tumble down together. She was oblivious to this, as she was oblivious to the fact that her parents had been asleep. Izra barely even registered the fact that she had put her father into serious danger. All she knew was that she had finally succeeded where so many times she had failed.

[Izra]

Being awoken to freefalling in midair is a very unpleasant experience, even for a bird. It is made doubly so if one happens to have a young cat on top of you. Triply, if you happen to be a sparrow. Unfortunately for Yaril, he was all of the above. Giving a surprised squawk, he flapped his wings wildly, attempting to escape from his kitten daughter. After finally breaking free, he landed with a thud on the hard, wooden floor, the breath knocked out of him. Immediately, he felt a pang of alarm. He knew that his daughter merely wanted to play, but he also knew how hard it was to resist instinct. Being cooped up in his master's small apartment had been very trying, due to his free-flying nature, but he at least had his instructions not to leave to help him resist. Izra had none of that, and she would likely try to kill him if he were at her mercy. He hurriedly scrambled to his feet and tried to launch himself away from Izra, though he only skidded a few feet. He could not muster enough force to fly away, winded as he was. All he could do was pray that he did not get caught or that his daughter had enough self-restraint to keep herself from ripping him to shreds.

[Izra]

Izra's triumph was quickly replaced with bewilderment as she hit the floor with a squeaked meow. Like any proper cat, she was on her feet again within moments, looking about wildly for her father. She was beginning to feel the pumping adrenaline that came from the hunt, something she had never experienced before. Izra did not know it at the time, but she had every intention of hunting and killing Yaril. Izra leaped forward in an attempt to pin her father to the floor to play with him. Finally! she thought gleefully, Father will let me play with him! It had taken dozens of tries, but she had finally succeeded, and father had let her do it, too! The vague thought of the taste of the bird's flesh crossed her mind, though in her current state, she did not think much of it. Afterward however, she would be haunted in her dreams for some time to come by that passing fancy. Maybe mother will join in, too!

[Izra]

Yaril's heart was beating at a fever pitch as Izra landed on him, her claws extended. "Izra, no! Stop it!" He tried to say to her, though he knew it would do no good. She would only hear normal bird noises, not intelligent speech. He gave into panic for a few moments, flapping his wings uselessly, before he finally mustered the presence of mind to shift into his human form. Quite suddenly, a rail-thin man with limp, brown hair and dark brown eyes replaced the bird, and Izra found herself resting on his chest. Yaril laid there for a few moments, still shocked with fear and nearly hyperventilating. He had been moments from demise, he was certain. He saw that feral look in his daughter's eyes that was a precursor to a predator successfully completing a hunt. That look had been in other eyes; unfriendly eyes. Hawks and falcons that had chased him, only to be deterred by a sudden transformation into a much larger human being. He picked his now comparatively tiny daughter up by the scruff of her neck and placed her down beside him before pulling himself up into a sitting position on the wooden floor.

[Izra]

Izra was shocked. Now that she had a tick to think, she realized the true purpose behind her 'play'. She had intended to kill her own father! Horror and guilt welled up within her, and she shifted to her own human form, revealing a girl of about eight or nine years with hair to match her father's, though her eyes were a much more vibrant green, as opposed to his tree-bark brown. "Sorry, Father..." She said quietly, looking up at him guiltily, "I don't know what happened..." What else could she say? How could he forgive her for this? Did she even deserve to be forgiven? She sat up a bit straighter and pulled her legs under her in a cross-legged position, as was her custom in human form. She had always found chairs to be uncomfortable. Except as a cat, that is. They were always nice, then. She felt tears well in her eyes, and knew she was about to cry. Why was she the one crying? It's not like she was the one about to be killed by her own child...

[Izra]

Yaril sighed, taking a deep breath to calm himself down, "Izra, it's fine." He said in as calm a voice as he could muster, though a hint of his recent panic was still detectable. "No one was hurt, dear," He smiled to show that he was not angry, and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "Besides, I think you learned something." Yaril hoped so, at least. She couldn't let her instincts control her like that; if Naras had been nearby, she would have surely been thrown out into the streets. Naras was a good man, but he was very protective of Yaril and Era. He had never liked Izra much, for some reason, Yaril could never figure out why. "You learned just how hard it is to keep yourself under control. I know it's hard sometimes, Izra. I have to keep myself from walking outside for a quick flight through the countryside, and I can only imagine how hard it must be for you. You're a predator, not just a songbird." He said with a chuckle, "Maybe I should ask Naras to let you leave the house to go play around outside...I think you're old enough to take care of yourself." Who knew? Maybe learning what it's like outside their little world could teach her some lessons. He could practically feel Era's eyes on him; the conversation they would have about allowing Izra outside would be hard, and he knew it. It was the best for their daughter, though. Of that he was certain.

[Izra]

Outside? Izra had never been past the door to their room. Once she'd tried to scamper past Naras when he'd opened the door, but he had nudged her away with his foot, shaking his head firmly. "No leaving, Izra." He had said firmly, "It's not safe out there." Despite these instructions, her curiosity had driven her to shift and attempt walking out herself, though her parents always seemed to be watching when she did that. A single warning from them was more than enough to send her back to her cat form and as far from the door as she could get. Izra brought herself back to the present and out of her memories, "You're right, Father." She said obediently. She never wanted anything like that to happen again; it was terrible. The feeling of actually wanting to hurt one of the two people dearest to her scared her. Despite the freshness of her guilt, Izra was extremely eager to be allowed outside. She was about to thank her father and apologize once again when the door to the apartment creaked open. Almost instinctively, Izra and Yaril shifted to their animal forms to avoid displeasing Naras. Naras looked at the pair for a moment, wondering why they were both on the ground, Isn't Yaril usually up on that clock with Era? He mused to himself for a moment before waving a dismissive hand and walking wearily over to his desk. After plopping down in his favorite chair, he begins a long night of paperwork, leaving the father and daughter to whatever it was they were doing.

OOCFinished.