Solo A Little Bird Told Me...

[Ayatah]

OocThis was originally meant as a Eywaat gnosis thread, but when I applied for that I'd completely forgotten about the applying-through-the-HD-only-once rule, so I had to scrap the gnosis part of the story. It makes it a little less... eventful, but hopefully it's still a little entertaining! It also has Ayatah go to library to do some reading about the God - but this is in preparation of hopefully applying for the gnosis another time!


|| 11th Winter, 512AV || Ayatah’s room, Student Dormitories. || 8th Bell ||

It was the seventh day in a row that the bird had appeared outside Ayatah’s window, so the frantic little taptaptap came no longer as a surprise. Instead, she lay in bed, listening to the big noise created from the small bird. It’ll go away, eventually.

Twenty chimes later, the taptaptap-ing was still going on. Ayatah had left her bed, but remained in her room in the student accommodation building. There were, every now and again, small breaks in the repetitive noise. In those times of silence, Ayatah would sigh in relief. But, soon enough, the bird would restart and the Myrian would give a frustrated groan.

The first time the bird had woken her, Ayatah had initially thought that someone was breaking into her room.

But instead, she found a small, brightly coloured bird on her window ledge - not a hardened criminal. The thing hopped along the ledge out of her window, frantically tapping at the glass with its short little beak.

The only way Ayatah could escape the noise was by leaving her room. By the time she’d return that evening, there was no sign of the bird.

Six days later, the hysterical tapping had simply become part of Ayatah’s morning ritual. She pulled her curtains apart, and there the bird was. It was a pretty little thing, really. And it was surprisingly ballsy around people; on more than one occasion over the past week, Ayatah had opened the window to shoo the bird away, and it simply stared up at her with black eyes, completely unafraid.

Sliding her window open, Ayatah waved her arms at the bird as she had started to most mornings, to scare it away.

”Go! Shoo! Go away, I don’t have any food for you!”

The bird chirped

Exasperated, Ayatah turned briefly away from the window, finding something that she could use to push the bird off her ledge - but not kill the thing. Picking up a few sheets of paper, she curled them into a tight tube. She turned back to the window and --

The bird had hopped to the other side of the window ledge. It was inside her room.

”No, go out!” Using the rolled paper as a weapon, she gently pushed at the bird’s chest, hoping it would go back outside. Instead, it hopped onto her makeshift tool and edged its way up the paper roll. It nipped gently at her fingers, and then eyeballed Ayatah once again.

Ever so slowly, Ayatah edged towards the window and dangled her hand out of it. She flicked her hand upwards, and her notes went floating downward.

But the bird remained on her hand. It looked a little annoyed, if anything. So it hopped further up her arm again, until it was just beyond the threshold of her window, and fluttered onto her desk.

”What do you want?” She begged, glancing out of her window to see her notes had landed on the shrubbery just outside.

The bird chirped delightedly and defecated on the paper it had landed on.

Ayatah stared in disbelief and annoyance. I needed those papers, she thought. ”Right, off you go.” She approached the bird and held out her finger for it to climb on. It obliged happily. She began to make her way back to the open window, but the bird cried out and flew back to the desk. It turned back to face her, looking smug.

I refuse to be outsmarted by a bird.

”You have the wrong room.” Ayatah told the thing, ”I don’t have food for you. The person who lived here before me might’ve fed you, but I don’t have anything.”

The bird watched her carefully, and bobbed its head a few times.

I have things to do today… Ayatah had planned to dedicate the morning to exploring the library. But her plans were quickly going out of the window, which was ironically the one place that damn bird would not go.

”You must be someone’s pet.” She decided as the bird flapped onto her shoulder. It cooed softly into her ear and nipped at her lobe. Ayatah had not had a pet since she was a child in the Jungle city of Taloba. PikPik had been the name of her Riamm, a little bundle of bright red fur. The thing had died when Ayatah was twelve, and she had been devastated. ”Your owner is probably looking for you.”

The little bird squawked loudly, nearly deafening Ayatah, and flew onto her windowsill. It leant out of the window, peeping at the papers Ayatah had dropped earlier.

“Close the door!”it half-squawked, and looked at her accusingly.

”Excuse me?”

“Close. Close. The. Door.”Ayatah had seen speaking birds before. There was an old man who constantly wore a large, multi-coloured parrot on his shoulder whilst he pottered around Zeltiva. The parrot spoke more than it’s owner, throwing insults to some people and saying explicit things to pretty girls.

Still, the fact that the little bird in front of her had told - no, commanded - her to shut the door (by which she assumed it meant the window), certainly caught her off guard.

”At least I know who your owner is.” She muttered, as she pulled the window to a close. She dressed quickly, hoping to find that parrot-man who she believed to be the owner of the pain-in-her-ass.

|| Ayatah's speech || Ayatah's thoughts || Others' speech ||

[Ayatah]

|| 2 Bells later, the same day ||

It had been a struggle to find the old man and his parrot. He wandered throughout Zeltiva, it seemed, and everyone she spoke to knew exactly who Ayatah was looking for. But nobody knew, exactly, what his name was - Peter and Terrance were the two most common that Ayatah had heard suggested to her.

Eventually, she found him at the docks.

”Excuse me, but I think I’ve found your bird.” She spoke in Patchy common, her Myrian accent thick and strong.

The parrot on his shoulder whistled excitedly.

“Whoo-hoo! If I give you a golden miza, will you suck my-”

”Your… other bird. It’s smaller. And orange.” She interrupted, giving the large bird a withering look. I think I’m discovering that I do not like your species.

“T’ain’t my bird.”The old man said, sniffing gruesomely,“I only have ol’ Terrance. No other bird. ‘part from me wife.”He pulled a small nut out of his pocket and passed it to Terrance, who took it gently with his beak and began to crunch it noisily.

”Are you sure? It’s come to my room every morning this past week.” She heard the desperation in her own voice, and rightly so - she’d left the bird completely unsupervised in her room and expected a scene of destruction and feathered chaos when she returned. ”It told me to shut the door. You’re the only man who I ccan think of who has a bird who can speak”

“I suggest you shut the closest door, then.”The old man smiled, clearly pleased with his unhelpfulness. He stepped around Ayatah, and began to potter away.“And I’d get a bird cage, if I were you! Birds are stubborn fools. D’ya think I want to share my life with Terrance here? He took a likin’ to be thirty years ago, and look at me now!”He called as he waved her goodbye.

“Hey sweetie, I’ll give you a gold miza if you…”Old man and bird walked away and around a corner before Ayatah could hear the rest of the parrot’s sordid line.

But I don’t want a bird. She thought ruefully as she began to make her way back to her home, especially one that messes on my work.

“Close the door!” Was her greeting as soon she stepped into her room. She sighed despairingly, but was hugely relieved to find that her room had suffered no damage at all. No more papers had been excreted on, and nothing had been chewed or stripped.

The bird chirped loudly and flew to Ayatah’s shoulder. It nuzzled against her cheek, clicking into her ear gently. She stroked the bird’s chest and sighed. ”I should probably get a cage, then.” She muttered, admitting defeat.

“Close the door!”The bird cried out cheerfully.

|| Ayatah's speech || Ayatah's thoughts || Others' speech ||

[Ayatah]

|| A bell later. ||

Ayatah had not yet visited the General Store of Zeltiva. She’d had no reason to; food was included in her accommodation, and her paper and ink she’d bought from the library. In fact, the General Store gave nothing for Ayatah to be interested in. Before now.

But thanks to the overhanging sign over the entrance, the shop was easy to find. Ayatah admired the various trinkets in the large window at the front of the shop, but noted the lack of birdcages. As she opened the door, she was greeted by an eerie creak of the door protesting. They should really fix that.

“Good day,”came a greeting from behind the main desk. The man who had spoken seemed a plain one, but kindly all the same. His hair had once been dark, Ayatah could tell, but age was slowly creeping its greyness over his hair and creasing his face with soft lines.

”Hello, I’m looking for a bird cage.” Why beat around the metaphorical bush? Ayatah had always been direct, especially when making purchases - her mother had bought her up respect money, and to only part with it when her needs were fully met by the purchase in question.

The man frowned for a moment as he mentally checked through his wares. He tapped the side of his mouth for a few chimes, and then nodded,“I believe we have one in stock.”He called out another name, and a man much younger than he appeared from behind tall jars of dried fruit. The two men conversed in abrupt sentences, and the younger of the two slipped through a heavily padlocked behind the shop counter.

I should get some birdfeed, too. Ayatah thought, and asked the shopkeeper where such a thing would be found. He gestured to something behind her, and Ayatah helped herself to a handful of various nuts and seed. She also bought some dried, cherries too.

The young apprentice reappeared again, carrying something covered by a dusty sheet. He placed the cage on the shop counter, and in a grand gesture, revealed it to Ayatah. The cage was beautifully made, and she guessed it to be nearly as old as her Great-Grandmother. The young man opened and closed the small latch at the side of the cage in a demonstrative manner,“And this is where you fill the food and water containers - which as you can see, are attached at the bottom.”

Ayatah nodded, ”And how much is it?”

The shopkeeper investigated the birdcage, hmming as he turned it in front of him. Although it was far from new, the cage was in good condition and Ayatah expected a hefty cost.

“Seven golden Mizas, I think. For the food- eight.”Not as bad as I expected…. But she couldn’t help but haggle a little, as was the tendency to do in Taloba,

”How about five? It’s old, and that door seemed delicate.” It was a poor lie; a skillful workman had made the cage - its door protested less to be opened than the front door of the store itself.

The shopkeep was having none of it,“seven Mizas, I’m afraid.”

”Five?”

“Seven.”Ayatah had to hand it to him - the shopkeeper put up a good fight. She conceded defeat and handed the man his money, then bid both he and the apprentice a good evening and departed. The door squealed exactly the same as it had when she had entered, and she pulled the same pained face.

They really need to fix that.

|| Ayatah's speech || Ayatah's thoughts || Others' speech ||

[Ayatah]

|| 12th Winter, 512AV || Ayatah’s room, Student Dormitories. || 9th Bell ||

Ayatah had not been woken by anything that morning, and it made for a pleasantly relaxing start to the day. The little bird that had pestered her for the past few days was happy with his new cage (although he had nagged at her to close the door whilst she filled his water and food).

She had named him Kiwi. There was no particularly reason or meaning behind the name - although the green on his feathers was a little similar kiwi fruit green. But the sound of the word ’Kiwi’ suited him, Ayatah thought. He certainly seemed to like the name, anyway.

I’m not sure whether I can even keep pets in here, Ayatah thought as she watched her new roommate preen his feathers. Kiwi chirped and watched her with black-filled eyes.

“Open the door!”

Ayatah turned around, watching as Kiwi repeated his new phrase several times. His voice became higher and higher, until finally he was shrieking his command.

So, she opened the door to his cage. The bird fluttered out and landed on the windowsill, where he began tapping it with his beak. Ayatah nearly cried out in frustration.

I have just spent seven golden mizas on a bird that simply enjoys tapping on windows. “Open the door!”

”But.. I bought you a cage! Ayatah exasperated. She could perhaps return the cage to the general store, but she’d used some of the seed, and it was unlikely the shopkeeper would allow her to get a refund on that. I’ll have to give the seed to the Terrance’s owner she planned.

Kiwi hopped out, ruffled his feathers and flew off. Ayatah watched him go for as long as she could see him, but the little bird quickly disappeared amongst the rooftops.

Perhaps he will back she considered. The old man with Terrance had certainly made it seem that Ayatah would not be able to separate herself from the bird, even if she wanted to. He’d called birds ‘stubborn fools’, so maybe Kiwi would return every morning to visit Ayatah.

She decided not to linger her thoughts on Kiwi, and instead to continue her daily plan that had been so rudely interrupted the day before. She had planned to go to the library, so that was where she would head to today. Ayatah dressed simply, choosing to wear the cotton clothes that she bought with her from Taloba, but with a small jacket to shield herself from the Zeltivan winter breeze. As she looked at herself in the mirror, she decided that she looked like a true amalgamation between Taloba and Zeltiva.

And it felt a little wrong.

All through her life, Ayatah had found herself in the middle of two very different cultures - Eypharian and Myrian. She did not wholly belong with her Myrian peers, and she knew nothing about her father’s multi-armed race. Now she found herself with something else thrown into the mix; Zeltivan culture. The captain of the cargo ship she had arrived on had told Ayatah that she should try to blend in as much as possible (“A girl of your… race will certainly draw attention to yourself”). The tip had been far from an insult, but it had touched a nerve for Ayatah regardless. She was fully aware of how her people seen by outsiders, and although part of it was true, she had been convinced that the fact she was half Eypharian would mean that people wouldn’t scream and run away form the savage.

However, in the eyes the ignorant people of Zeltiva, she was a full-blooded savage. They watched her cautiously and with fear in their eyes. Mothers dragged their staring children away, telling them that she was one of those bad people who will eat you, Timothy, if they don’t go to bed.

Instead of causing Ayatah to dislike the people of her new home, she had actually appreciated the confusion. I have never been seen as a full-blooded Myrian before - and it strangely delighted her.

The library was quiet that morning and Ayatah quickly found an empty table. Her reading material, however, was not so easily discovered. She had decided to take a break from reading about Eypharians, and investigate a little into keeping pet birds.

The literature was incredibly limited. There was only one book that she could find, and it was a simple classification of every bird that had been domesticated. She found a picture of a bird that looked exactly like Kiwi and read the small amount of text:

The Sun Conure is a bird known for creating big noise despite its smaller stature. They are incredibly social birds, and bond well with their owners, though strangers can be greeted with hostility. They have limited ability to mimic human speech, so may only successfully be able to repeat one or two phrases. With attention and time, they make agreeable pets but do require a lot of attention.

The description sounded about right to Ayatah, and summed Kiwi up perfectly. Noisy, but affectionate. Small, and only knew two sayings - or commands, in his case

It as nice to put a breed to a face, so to say, but the simply book did not give Ayath the information she was hunting for. What she needed to know was how to take care of Kiwi. So she began searching again, but found only books of more common pets - dogs and horses.

“What is it that you’re looking for?”The voice took Ayatah by surprise, and she turned to see the wrinkled face of Lisaelis, the head librarian. The woman could be surpassed as a feeble little old thing, but she had an infamously sharp tongue and wit.

”Something on birds.” She tapped the front of the bird book she had just read, ”I’ve recently gained a pet Sun Conure.”

The woman thought for a moment, and Ayatah waited quietly. She had heard that the head librarian knew the exact number of books in the library, their names, and their locations. She had never believed the rumor before, but now she hoped it was true.

Eventually, Lisaelis shook her head,”there are no other books on keeping birds as such,” she told the Myrian,”but there are books on Eywaat, and some of those will tell you how to please him by taking care of birds.”

Eywaat? The name meant nothing to Ayatah, but did not express her confusion to the older woman.

Apparently, she didn’t need to. The librarian smiled at her lack of knowledge.”He is the God of birds. And invention, but that won’t help you how to look after your new pet. You are Myrian, yes?”

No, not fully. ”Yes.”

”He is thought to be the son of Caiyha, and you worship her, do you not?”

That Ayatah agreed with whole-heratedly, and she nodded.

”I am surprised that you haven’t heard of her son,”The librarian was saying as she tapped the side of her mouth thoughtfully, watching Ayatah through narrowed eyes,”he is celebrated in Eyktol, although most commonly by the Chaktawe race. But still, I would have thought that you’d have at least heard of him, seeing as you carry the blood of a different desert people.”

Ayatah stared at the old woman, shocked. She was the first person to even consider Ayatah as anything other than a Myrian - let alone guessing correctly her other half. How did she know? She watched as the librarian smiled knowingly and wrote down a three digit classification number.

”This is the number corresponding to books about Eywaat, you might find something interesting there.”The librarian walked off, and disappeared amongst the student tables and bookshelves. She never misses a trick, Ayatah realised as she watched her walk away.

There certainly were plenty of books on Eywaat, though there seemed to be a large overlap of content; mainly brief histories of the God, or his influence on the Chaktawe people. Ayatah selected a book covering the former - a thin book that appeared to target people of an age younger than herself. Her Common was by no means fluent, and Ayatah had swallowed her pride during her first visit to the library, and chosen books that were simpler in content.

The God of Birds certainly seemed a curious character. Like Lisaelis had said, he was also known for invention and ingenuity, Ayatah read. He was portrayed as incredibly wise - but he was also a little under appreciated, it seemed to Ayatah. I can relate to that, She thought dejectedly.

It was interesting to learn about another deity; especially one that had familial ties to Caiyha and Navre, both of whom Ayatah paid homage to back in Taloba. Unfortunately, though, the book did not tell her in detail how to look after Kiwi - just that Ewyaat will appreciate if she did a good job.

Still, I don’t even know whether I will ever see the damn bird again.

|| Ayatah's speech || Ayatah's thoughts || Others' speech ||

[Ayatah]

|| 22nd bell, the same day.||

Ayatah had been greeted to a silent room when she returned to her home that night. The quietness of the room was a little sad, she had to admit.

Silence was uncommon in Taloba - there was always chatter, the sounds of people busying themselves with tasks, or music and dancing. It had been the silence of her room in the university that Ayatah struggled with the most. She wasn’t use to such quietness, and it unsettled her. Only in the Taloba temple did she find such silence, and even then, one would walk outside to be greeted with the noise of Jungle city. Quietness was a temporary thing, but in her room it was permanent. Nothing made her feel further away from Taloba, or more homesick.

So she began to pray to her Goddess-Queen. Ayatah knelt at the window, and closed her eyes.

”Myri, give me strength. I have come to this city to learn about my Father’s culture, as was your bidding. I am here to learn not only about him, but of the enemies of the Myrian people. I cannot serve you in your army, my Goddess, but I can-”

“Open the door!”

Taptaptaptap

“Open the door!”

The prayer stopped, and Ayatah scurried to her feet. Kiwi was on the other side of the window, looking thoroughly annoyed that it had been shut on him nearly nine bells ago.

”Hello, Kiwi.” Ayatah said, rejoiced that another living being had broken the silence and that once again, she had company.

“Open the door!” The bird repeated, clearly losing his patience with the woman.

”Gladly.” the smile on Ayatah’s face spread across her lips.

The bird flew into the room, circled, and landed on Ayatah’s shoulder. He nipped at her ear gently and squawked excitedly. She bought a finger up to the bird, and he hopped onto it obligingly. Ayatah investigated him carefully whilst Kiwi preened his orange feathers. He must have been someone’s pet - how else would he have learnt to talk? But where his owner was now, Ayatah did not know.

Perhaps he left home, like she had.

”I was learning about your God, today.” Ayatah told the bird as she sat down on her bed. She put Kiwi on her knee, and he skittered across her legs, his tiny claws pricking her skin a little, ”Eywaat. Did he send you? Did Navre tell his brother I needed company?” Ayatah likened that idea. It gave her hope that Taloba, and the Gods celebrated there, had not forgotten about her.

Kiwi ran up her legs, and began hauling himself up her top, using his beak as leverage and his feet to push himself up and up. When he finally reached her collarbone, he nuzzled into the crook of her neck.

”It’s nice to have someone to talk to in my home language,” She said quietly. Having to speak in Common outside of her room certainly meant that she got plenty of practice, but she missed the sound of the Myrian language. She could talk to herself or pray, but there were only so many times a person could do that without finding himself or herself insane.

|| Ayatah's speech || Ayatah's thoughts || Others' speech ||

[Ayatah]

|| 17th Winter, 512AV || Ayatah’s room, Student Dormitories. || 20th Bell ||

Ayatah had found herself a new daily routine.

She would wake up - sometimes to Kiwi asking her to ‘open the door’ - let the Sun Conure out of his cage, and open her bedroom window. The bird would eventually leave her room, to go wherever he went during the daytime. Ayatah kept an eye out for him as she went around her daily business, but had not yet seen him around the city. When Ayatah returned home - regardless of the time - within a few chimes, Kiwi would be at the window, demanding to be let in.

She wasn’t sure how he knew what time she would return home; it varied every day depending on what she was doing. But nevertheless, the bird would be outside her window in no more than half a bell. She welcomed him back every time. He would spend the rest of to the evening with Ayatah, roost in his cage for the night, before a new day started the same routine.

Kiwi was with her now, watching her intently from inside his cage as Ayatah wrote notes on the history of Ahnatep. The latch on his cage was open; Ayatah allowed the bird to flutter around her room until she went to sleep, at which point she would tell Kiwi that she was finally ‘closing the door’.

A tapping at the window took both woman and bird by surprise.

The two looked at each other in equal confusion. When the tapping sound was repeated, Kiwi jumped out of his cage and gave Ayatah an accusatory look.

”I haven’t been feeding other birds behind your back, I promise.” She grumbled as she parted the window curtains to peer outside.

On the other side of the glass was a large, velvety black crow. It cawed at Ayatah and tapped the glass once again with it’s large beak. By now, Kiwi had joined his owner investigating the rival bird. He chirped and hopped back into his cage. At least you know not to pick a fight with someone three times your size The Myrian thought with a smile on her face, although I refuse to adopt another bird.

She left the window and returned to her work, hoping the crow would get bored and go away.

It didn’t.

The tapping from this larger bird was louder than the little tippy-taps Kiwi had made. Ayatah was concerned the glass would shatter, so she had no choice but to converse with the bird - it had become somewhat of a habit of hers to talk to birds, apparently - and tell it go away.

As she opened the window ajar, the crow hopped along the windowsill to stare at her with its beady eyes.

”I have a bird already, please go away.”

CAW!

Kiwi ruffled his feathers grumpily, but remained in his cage.

”I can give you some food.” Ayatah sighed. She closed the window and picked a handful of dried cherries. As she reopened the window and held her hand out, Kiwi gave a dramatic cry. Learn to share Ayatah thought, but was touched by her pet’s jealously - even if it was over his favourite treats and not Ayatah herself.

The crow took the cherries from her hand and swallowed them one by one. Afterwards, it eyed her up once more. Eventually satisfied, it flew off.

How odd...

”Could you at least tell me next time one of your friend’s come to play? She scolded Kiwi. The bird turned his back on her, and tucked his head under a wing. Apparently Ayatah feeding the crow his cherries had truly enraged the little bird.

OocThe crow isn't meant to be Eywaat himself in bird form, but I'm hoping that when she meets him later on, the fact that she treated an old crow the same way she did Kiwi will work in her favour... As well as the fact she shared Kiwi's dried cherries with him!

|| Ayatah's speech || Ayatah's thoughts || Others' speech ||

[Jester]

Thread Graded!! Ayatah : XP Awarded +1 Tracking +2 Birdkeeping +1 Negotiation Lores Awarded Small Birds Can Make Loud Noises Big Birds Can Make Scary Noises Kiwi Can Speak...Sort Of Kiwi is a Sun Conure Don't Take Kiwi's Cherries Lisaelis Sees More than Most Lore of Religion: Eywaat Misc Awards You are now the proud owner of a feisty bird with an attitude, Kiwi! Be sure you feed him lots of cherries. Eywaat would probably like that Notes : Awesome thread! I enjoyed all the detail and thought you went into to learn more about him and keep him happy Also, since this is my first grade ever (thank you for making my first grade an interesting read!), I'm going to especially say, please PM me if you have any issues with it. If you think there is a mistake, especially as I'm just learning, then it's quite possible there is "The difference between a jester and a fool is that the jester knows he's a jester" DISCLAIMER: If you think I have been foolish in grading your thread, don't hesitate to PM me. I am happy to take another look at anything you feel is in error, but keep in mind the other Storytellers and I have final say.