[Flashback] Capturing a Gift.

[Nixie]

Timestamp: Evening of the 79th of Summer, 507 AV.

With the fall of night, the ache of soar muscles and tender bruises reminded Nixie of how exhausted she was. In the few days she had been traveling, the nights had become a cherished thing. A time to let her body rest and prepare for the next day. She would have taken comfort in the light of a fire, but it was summer; the temperature was hot enough without the added heat. Moreover, the threat of whatever would be drawn by smoke and light was more than enough to convince her to stay cloaked in shadows.

This evening Nixie found herself beneath a large willowy tree. Sitting quietly with her blade set across her lap and a strip of dried meat in hand. Roughly six days had passed since her departure from Syliras, and so far every night felt the same as the first. Unnerving. When it was time to settle in for the evening, Nixie would burrow into whatever shelter seemed safest and listen to the sounds that came with the moon. Howls, hoots, and stranger things she couldn't imagine echoed in the darkness. While some of the sounds were more disturbing than most, the peaceful ones outnumbered them. Providing some comfort in their lullaby and letting sleep come easier. But tonight was different, the moon had risen as every night previous, but the sounds did not follow. Wind moving through branches kept her awake and when it would still, the silence the filled its place was a deafening one. Something was amiss, but what was it?

[Scorn]

Scorn had been feeling resentful ever since her twin sister had returned to the colony with an adult glassbeak in tow. Scourge was now recognized by the family as a full adult, while Scorn was still a child. The situation was made worse by Scourge's "helpful" efforts to find Scorn a kill impressive enough to be worthy of adulthood, which only made Scorn want to thwart her sister's efforts. She glided over the cool night landscape, wondering whether she could lose Scourge long enough to find an impressive kill on her own, or at least bring back something easy, like a fawn, without her sister's help. Scourge's wish may have been simply to see her beloved sister become an adult quickly, but her efforts backfired, instead making Scorn feel more like a child who was not able to hunt on her own. Between wingbeats, the Zith listened to the night, trying to hear the heartbeats of something they could kill. But the family had claimed this territory for too long; the prey had fled to safer places. There was nothing within a few miles, and if they went much further Scorn have to abide the annoyance of carrying her prey back to camp, with no way to avoid her sister. Much as she loved Scourge, she did not think both of them would survive that much time in close proximity to each other just now. Lost in her thoughts, she almost missed the sound of her sister calling to her. Scourge seemed excited; she had found prey that she thought would be worthy for Scorn to bring back. Scorn was curious enough to at least go see what Scourge had found, but she balked at the thought of sharing her first major kill. She flew higher, trying to spot her sister without getting close enough to scare off whatever prey she had found. Her eyes passed over Scourge's midnight-colored figure at least twice, only seeing it in a tree after spying the human below it. Scorn felt ill with contempt. All the claims of finding a worthy kill, and all Scourge could come up with was a puny human? Scorn could not accept this. A human was a snack, not a challenge. She was insulted that Scourge would think this could count. Worse, what if she tried to help, as if Scorn couldn't handle a lone wandering human on her own? Before her anger could grow out of control, she suddenly had a brilliant idea. An idea that would let her completely throw her sister off balance. in a language pitched so that most animals couldn't hear, she told Scourge, "I want to keep it." Scourge responded with disbelief. She and their mother never saw the point of keeping food alive longer than it took to eat them, though their father kept a slave (who taught them most of what they knew about humans). Scorn almost cackled with glee at successfully confusing her sister, and without wasting anymore time, she dove at the human, not listening to Scourge's warning until it was too late.

[Nixie]

The longer Nixie sat steeped in the forest's darkness, keeping as still as she was able, the easier it was for paranoia to creep up and disorient her mind. It made every sound louder than it was and mutated shadows to appear stranger than they were. The thought of monsters, stuff of nightmares, lurking just out of sight wasn't far from the truth though. Soon every swaying branch and snapping twig seemed a potential threat, instincts telling her to stand and run, but to where? The beginning of panic started arising in her when she thought she saw a shadow moving toward her. And urgency sent her heart leaping in her chest when instead a dark figure came upon her. The frightful surprise eliciting little more than a sudden sharp breath when the figure was proven to be more than just her imagination.

Raising her blade at the last moment, Nixie was forced back against the tree when the weight of another pressed into her weapon. The attacker was too quick though as she failed to defend herself. Suddenly face to face with strange eyes when Nixie had only managed to keep a distance of a couple feet between them. Straining with both arms to keep the figure from overpowering her, breaths came quickly through flared nostrils. One hand maintained its tight hold on the swords grip while the other pushed out against the broad side of the blade. The weight of the attacker pressing it into her palm and forcing fingers to curl over the sharp edge. The pressure sending streaks of deep red down the length of the blade. She would not make a sound though; her words lost and her body trembling in the surprised and fear of this sudden encounter. What she imagined would happen next sent her mind racing for someway to escape the situation.

[Scorn]

There was a long, hard object between Scorn and her prey, which was preventing her from getting a good enough grip to carry it off. She beat her wings in an attempt to breach the object, but though she pushed the human creature against the tree, she could not get through the hard shiny stick. The smell of blood made her hungry, but she had decided to capture this thing alive, and nothing was going to stop her. There was a screech of bloodlust from above, as her sister dove toward them both. Scorn was pissed; her sister wanted to eat here slave. No petching way. Furious, Scorn launched from the human and it's stick straight toward Scourge, tackling her out of mid-air, and sending them both tumbling to the grass meters away. "Mine!" Scorn shrieked in a language only her sister could hear. The two Zith tumbled away from their target, trying to subdue each other; scratches and gashes appeared on both sisters (though never in vital areas). They were still going at it by the time the human recovered itself enough to act.

[Nixie]

Nixie was at a lose as to what was going on just a short distance away; night's shadows moving with the wind and twisting what she thought she saw. There was one thing she was certain of though, something had attacked her. Even if it wasn't a very successful one, there was no mistaking it. Her stomach in her throat and breathe shallow, she tried to anticipate what would come next. Frightened with the night's sudden liveliness, her body trembled. It took her a moment to break free from it's hold before her mind was clear enough to consider what her next move would be.

Nixie saw little more than two shadows rolling in the grass, but managed to hear dirt turned up and things moving against other things. It sounded like a struggle to her, and the perfect distraction while she tried sneaking away. Sure she had a few scratches from the earlier altercation, but nothing that would seriously impede her movement. Shifting to a crouch Nixie rolled forward onto her toes, keeping her sword unsheathed and dropping what jerky was left in the place she had been sitting. Maybe the smell would keep her attacker here a little longer. Moving in an agonizingly slow pace, she held her breathe in expectation that suddenly they would be upon her at the slightest noise. Managing to sneak back behind the tree without incident, but how long would her luck hold out? Surely it was just a matter of time before she was found out.

[Scorn]

OOCNote: Dialogue in Italics is spoken in Zithanese

Scorn was losing this fight, as she always did. Scourge had always been able to overpower her, which was a sore point with Scorn. It also was probably related to why Scourge was now an adult and Scorn was still a child. Scourge currently had her pinned, and Scorn was struggling to get out while her sister watched in amusement. Unable to escape, Scorn stopped struggling for a moment, to catch her breath, getting ready for another struggle. But in her moment of stillness, she noticed that the quarry they were fighting over... was nowhere to be seen. Furious, Scorn let out an unearthly screech. "You let it get away! Get off me! GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF!" She shoved violently at her sister, using her claws if necessary. Scourge released Scorn and took off into the air, replied bitterly, "Fine! Catch it yourself then, if you can!" She then flew away, either back toward the colony's camp or somewhere else, Scorn couldn't tell. "Fine! I never wanted your help anyway!" she yelled at the top of her longs. Sometimes she just couldn't stand her sister. The resentment stuck with her while she went back to the hunt. The entire mood had been ruined. It would be even worse if Scorn did not come back with her prize...and so she wouldn't. Scorn would capture the human or die trying. But first she had to find it. She stayed on the ground so the sound of her wingbeats would not interfere. She closed her eyes and let everything else fall away, focusing on what she could hear and smell. There was a curiously unfamiliar scent.. it smelled like meat, but not like any she's ever encountered before. But she would not be so easily distracted. She listened, and soon could pick up the panicked heartbeat, followed by the rustling of grass that was slightly more than just the wind. She opened her eyes with a snap, and launched into the air. Her prey had not gotten far, and it would get no farther. With a predatory cry of exhilaration, she dove again at her target, who this time had her back exposed. She tackled the human from behind, wrapping her arms around it, attempting to pin its arms. "You are MINE!" she yelled in its ear in a language it would understand. Once Scorn managed to get a good grip, she would be able to carry her prize back to the colony.

[Nixie]

Trying to wear the darkness and fade away, Nixie couldn't stay calm enough to control her breathing. Eyes shut tight, she didn't know what to do. Stay here and die, or run and die. Options were slim, and before she could decide she felt stakes digging into the front and back of her arms. Unable to react with quickness, she was pushed face down and slid against the ground. Only going far enough to scuff exposed skin a little before stopping.

Nixie was taken aback, the assailant on top of her couldn't have weighed more than a child. It gave her hope of breaking free, but not of putting great distance the hunter and her. From what she gathered, light things couldn't hit very hard, but could travel faster then most.

Struggling against her constraints she forced her arms out enough to allow for her hands to reach up, over, and behind her head until finding an unfamiliar neck. With her arms fairly restricted she mustered what strength she could to wrap her fingers tightly around its neck.

Nixie knew she was at a disadvantage from this position, but hoped that fighting back in this little way would be surprise enough to throw the assailant off. Both physically and mentally. Hopefully it wasn't expecting her to fight back.