Flitherness (Khida)

[Colt]

The falconess devoured the meat in an instant and turned to make a lazy arc, surveying the plains with the ease of a cat surveying a mass of cornered mice. Some noticed her, but in the dim light of morning she had no shadow, at least not one that would fall below her, and many creatures were left oblivious. The man tucked the carcass under his arm and slipped into the foliage. His eyes scanned the ground, gray from night but starting to turn gold in the oncoming morning. He had no trouble catching sight of the trail; less than five minutes fresh and bearing more than one set of tracks, the path from a small clump of sagebrush to the nearby stream was a regular morning run for the resident fowl and displayed it openly. The man crewt slowly forward until he could hear the contented cooings of some type of bird he could not identify, then slowly rose to peek over the curtain of grass. Many forms were squatting by the water, pecking at it and preening themselves in preparation for the day. The man stepped back and straightened completely, waving slowly at the falcon so as not to startle the prey. The movement came naturally, without thinking, and in isolation the man gave it no thought. He was alone, had no comprehension of kinsmen or horseclans, and therefore had no idea that he was gently preforming the Pavi sign for attention, and then prey in indication to the animals.

[Khida]

The man didn't throw anything up this time, but turned his attention downwards, towards the earth. Khida flew on past his position and back around again, the better to gauge his intentions. Crouched and creeping through the grasses as he was, he clearly intended to hunt. She could pick out the birds beyond him, the quarry he might be stalking -- the targets she would choose in his place, for certain. Though as long as they stayed on the ground, the falcon herself would seek other prey. Hopeful that he would flush one out, she continued to keep station, circling overhead. He gestured, movement momentarily focusing the raptor's attention on him; movement which seemed like it might bear intent and meaning. Or it might not, and as she had no experience with which to interpret anyway, that remained a moot point. Only expectation held Khida intent upon the hunter -- hers, not his.

[Colt]

The falcon seemed to be paying attention, but beyond that he didn’t know. Sighing in slight irritation, he crouched again, rolling to the balls of his feet and arching his back. His whole body tensed, a drawn bowstring, and he sighted where he wanted to go. The birds by the water looked around warily, as if they could sense that something was preparing to attack, and the man sprang. The fowl erupted from their rest as he sprinted through their midst, throwing his arms around and even knocking a few of them by accident, though it did nothing to slow their ascent into the sky. They hadn’t seen the falcon, and knew only of the apparent danger that the man presented as he cast them from their morning ease and into a frenzied flight into the sky.

[Khida]

She waited. He sank down, the tension coiling in his body visible to his skyward observer. She looked ahead along his line of sight, to the birds at the water, birds she thought would spook if he moved... He charged, and they indeed spooked, scattering in all directions even as they collectively sought the safety of the sky. The falcon sighted on one of the fowl frantically beating for altitude; she tucked her wings in and dove. Focused on the man from which it fled, the bird noticed the winged hunter too late to dodge. Khida struck it with fisted talons, the fowl killed instantly by the force of impact; she flared her wings abruptly to brake, then swung back around to catch the carcass in its limp plummet towards the earth. Khida selected a clump of brush and glided down towards its relative shelter -- not being very thick, it couldn't be termed cover, but it was an improvement over open grass. Coming to rest on the ground, just at the edges of the shrubbery, she took a moment to look around her before eyeing the fowl beneath her talons and contemplating where to start.

[Colt]

The fowl filled the air with their cries, loudly screaming their annoyance at him as they fought for distance from this large and noisy creature. They saw the falconess too late. As one of their number was struck down, the rest of the flock scrambled to get away from this new threat. They kept suddenly low; the thing on the ground destroying the sanctity of the ground and the raptor destroying the sanctity of the sky. They were soon lost in the grass, but the hunter had long since turned his attention to his unlikely partner. The dead bird plummeted and he sprinted towards its landing. He stopped short at perhaps five or six strides away from the corpse, close enough that his presence was clear but far enough away that it was obvious that he was making no claim to the kill. As the falcon approached the hunter squatted, watching her but avoiding eye contact. He made no move towards her or the carcass, letting her eat or do whatever she wished. He would take the remainder after she had gorged.

[Khida]

Short, sharp movements stripped feathers from the carcass, tossed them without ceremony in all directions; the plumage was useless to the falcon. She had her own, and couldn't eat feathers. But the rustling sounds of something running through the grasses caused her to stop abruptly, wings flaring out as if to shelter her kill. Her head swiveled around towards the sound; she tensed, and hissed defiance at -- -- a tall figure gone stationary, still some distance away. Beak still agape, though now quiet, Khida stared intently at him. He didn't move. Feathers fluffed to their fullest extent, she shifted her grip on her kill, talons unclenching and reseating themselves. ...He didn't move. She waited, ducked her gaze away and snapped it back as if to test his resolve -- and still he didn't move. Slowly, she came to accept that he might not move -- that today, there wouldn't be the charge he'd spooked her with before. The peregrine didn't fold her wings completely, but she brought them in a bit. Cautious, she ducked her head towards the partly-plucked bird and resumed clearing the plumage from her kill, or at least that portion of it she planned to eat. He continued to observe, and she became more confident about her feeding, until finally she tore into the flesh and swallowed strips with hardly a glance towards the man in between. When the falcon had eaten her fill, she leapt from the carcass and up into the air, the wind from her wingbeats ruffling the grasses. She banked around onto a clear line for the crater, her business in the outside grasses completed; the man, she left to do whatever he would. If the bird felt any gratitude for his aid this morning, she expressed it not at all.

[Colt]

The she-falcon attacked her kill, vigorously ripping feathers from the corpse with such speed that she looked to be shrouded by snowfall. By the time she noticed him she had already torn through the feathery layer and the tiniest hint of blood was staining her cheek, visage becoming more vicious than usual when her stare pierced his, mouth open in accusation. He lowered his eyes to stare at the ground halfway between them, occasionally flicking to look at her. Her wings mantled the kill protectively, casting it in shadow, and he was careful to keep his eyes away from it. Her glare turned from accusational to cautious, and she darted down to pluck at a feather before looking back at him. He couldn’t resist tilting his head. She was clever, unusually so. When he still made no move towards her or hers, she pulled in her wings slightly in confidence. Then, deciding that he would not flush her as he had before, she tore into the bird in earnest. Her interest in him suddenly plummeted as she devoured the creature’s flesh in hulking strips. The red smudge spread to her beak’s entirety, making her seem almost demonic as she finished her gorging. There was no ceremony when she was done save the swirling dust in the air as she returned to the air. She gave no sign to whether she was annoyed or grateful, but he didn’t need any. As he slipped toward the carcass, all he needed was the contentment of knowing that he would be fed another day.

[Jackalope]

Khasr

Award

Skill	XP Earned	Lore Earned
Observation	+3	Leading a Raptor Using Meat
Tracking	+1	Flushing out Birds
Hunting	+1	Working with a Falcon

Khida

Award

Skill	XP Earned	Lore Earned
Observation	+4	Humans Are Strange
Unarmed Combat	+1	Working with a Human
		Sharing the Kill

Witty Remark Here

I enjoy the threads between you two. I hope you keep them coming! If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out.