Solo Secrets for the Birds

[Vest]

Fall 35, 523 AV

It was her first day starting her new job and Vest was being escorted up the tower by Svantia to be shown where the birds were that she would be caring for. She had them stored on a separate floor from the crows and ravens so that they would associate that place with home. Not only that, but Vest knew just how vicious crows and ravens are towards pigeons so she also assumed that it was for their safety.

“This is the floor you will be at while working with the birds. There are currently eight of them left as two escaped and were attacked by the others. Untrained birds not associated with the flock here are immediately attacked and killed, so keep that in mind while training. Now, let me take you to where you will gather your part of the messages.”

Vest felt a bit worried at the mention that outside birds would be killed. She would need to keep her bird safe and see if she could get it associated with the others here. She wanted to ash right away, but she had no time as Sventia started moving again. Sventia leads Vest up to the very top and unlocks a heavy looking iron gate. She leads the girl inside and immediately to the left to show her a board with multiple envelopes pinned to it. She took one down and flipped it over to reveal a colored seal.

“This is a standard envelope and wax seal. There are no markings that suggest it is from anything important so it can be passed off as some rubbish mail. The color of the seal indicates how important it is and which ones you need to do first. Black is of utmost importance and should be delivered even if your life is put in danger. Red is a common letter and we tend to get a lot of those.”

Vest watched as Sventia explained the color system before she put the letter up and grabbed another. This one had a blue seal and no address, unlike the others and Sventia’s face grew serious.

“Now blue is for secrets that the sender doesn’t want revealed. You will not deliver blues, the birds usually deliver them. But on occasion that the birds can't carry the letter, you will be tasked with the job and given no other job with it.”

“Are these secrets that i may need to put my life on the line for?” Vest was curious as to why Sventia got so serious, but she just watched the woman shake her head.

“Not necessarily. These secrets are ones that the sender wants hidden. For example, a forbidden love letter between two parties could be a secret that a third party may try taking from you by any means.”

She seemed so casual when she spoke about the situation and started escorting Vest out of the room. But she could get an understanding of the situation and didn’t ask any further questions. Once again, she listened to Sventia talk about a few other rules and regulations, most of with just telling her where she can and can't go in the buildings. She also said there was a place in town she could go to get a city map made for her for two gold and recommended Vest stop by there so she can get something to familiarize herself with quickly. With that, she was given orders to begin getting acquainted with the birds and left Vest on the floor with the pigeons.

WC: 592




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[Vest]

The first thing Vest needed to do was take a closer look at how the birds behaved around her. She could remember vague teachings from her mother about not reaching into the cage of a bird. Smaller birds can be finicky, and if handled wrong, can be scarred for life by their handler. Then there was the warning that Sventia gave her about loose birds being killed by the others so she couldn’t just open the cage. So, instead, she pulled out the last bit of seeds she had in her pocket and began fiddling with them.

“Look at this, I have a snack. Want seeds?”

Vest brought her hand over to the edge of the cage to show the pigeons and watched for any signs of curiosity or confidence. If they showed these, then she knew which birds would be easy to work with and she could build off that. If she could just get one pigeon to do well with her, the others would soon follow suit. And soon, Vest would get what she wanted as a brave bird came from the back of the cage to the front. It examined the seeds, cocked its head at Vest, then looked at the seeds once more.

“Here, treat. Yours”

Vest watched as the curious pigeon finally came over and started picking at the seeds, its curiosity turning into eagerness as if gobbled the snack. She smiled and hummed softly, enticing another response of curiosity from the confident pigeon. She kept humming and gave a glance at the ones in the back, who seemed curious but still wat too shy to approach. Vest was fine with that, one leader would allow all the others to follow eventually, so this was a huge step. A short chime later and her pockets were empty of the seeds, therefore causing the birds to not want to approach her again. This was fine, as she could always go buy more seeds later. For now, she was satisfied with this and decided to take a peek at the other birds flocking in the upper floors.

She wasn’t told to take care of the birds here, but she wanted to see how they were doing out of pure curiosity. However, when she started to get near the floor with the other flock, the birds went eerily silent before staring at her. It only took a moment, but they then immediately started to accost Vest to get out of their area until she left. She only put up a meager fight, raising her arms and slowly swaying them around to keep them out of her hair.

“Okay, okay! I get it!” She huffed and basically skipped down the stairs until she reached the bottom. They had easily given up on chasing her once they seen she was leaving, But she needed to leave anyway to go buy more seeds and treats for the pigeons. She wanted to get them to trust her faster so she could at least work with one.

WC: 504



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[Vest]

Vest took a trip into the market to buy some seed for the birds. However, on her way down, Sventia was making her way up and looked at her over her glasses and raised a brow.

“Off so soon? You just started and are already trying to leave your duties so soon?” She sounded irritated and Vest was a bit taken by the response. Instead, she shook her head and raised her hands as she answered.

“Absolutely not, I have a bird who shows promise, so I was going to go find some seeds to use as treats.” She smiled some and ran a hand through her hair. “I was going to check the upper floors, but the birds havent accepted me yet so they shooed me out of sight.”

She chuckled at that and it seemed to work as Sventia changed her expression and gestured for her to follow. She climbed the stairs to a floor just below the one she was at and opened the door.

“Use the seeds here. This is my extra stock, but use it as you need. If you don't find something you need, let me know so I can provide it.”

With that, she left Vest to the store room and headed upstairs. Walking inside, she got hit with the smell of earthy seeds and dust. She coughed a bit and waved her hand around to find a light, as the small slivers coming from the walls was just as much help as the door that won't stay open. After fumbling around a bit, she finally found a light and got it on, allowing her eyes to adjust and she saw several large bags of seeds. She went to each one to examine them and find out what she was working with. Seeds, grain, and many dried insects were stored in this room and it baffled Vest to see such an assortment. She went through each bag and box and finally found what she was looking for in the far back corner.

A small bag of safflower seeds that she knew was a favorite for her pet bird, maybe these pigeons would like them too. She picked up the seeds and carried them out of the room, closing the door behind her before ascending the stairs. Vest plopped the bag on the floor near the door to the pigeon floor and looked at the birds who stared at her and cooed.

“I am back, want treat?” Vest smiled and spoke calmly as she opened a small hole into the bag and pulled out a pinch of seeds. She walked over slowly, and as expected, the bird retreated to the back. Stopping about two feet away, she held out her hand with the seeds and smiled. “Here, treat for you.”

Vest spoke to the birds in simple phrases, as one should when you train a bird for the first time. Most birds are smart enough to know simple commands, especially pigeons, but when they don't know a person, it is best to talk to them like a toddler. After some time, the pigeon that had shown curiosity before had approached and started checking out the seeds in her hand. It gave a coo for a response before coming closer and pecking the seeds from her hand cautiously. She smiled at its courage for approaching the big, scary human hand and shifted the seeds a bit for it to take more. It obviously skittered back, but soon came forward to eat, which entailed the others to begin to come forward too.

WC: 596



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[Vest]

Vest had finished giving the birds some treats before she looked around the empty floor. Besides the cages and the bag of seed, nothing else was on this floor, leaving it open and barren. This brought the idea of how in the world she was going to actually train these birds. To properly train a pigeon to deliver messages, they need to have a proper enclosure to call home that supplies all their necessary roosting supplies. She debated if she should ask Sventia for the help or if she should do it all herself, which in thought didn't seem like a difficult task on her own. Instead, she decided that building it herself would be the best course of action once she got the wood. She figured, even with the zero experience she had in carpentry and construction, she didn't think a coop for the birds would be that bad.

Vest decided that she would go talk to her employer and see what she could do. Walking to Sventia, Vest asked if she could try to build a coop for the pigeons. SHe explained that it would help the pigeons associate this place as their home if she gave them something larger and more comfortable. A place they would be more willing to roost in rather than the stuffy cage they were all huddle in currently. After a bit more discussion about where Vest was allowed to buy supplies and when it needed to be done, she was soon ushered off with a small bit of money as an investment from her boss.

It took roughly an hour for Vest to hunt down the lumberer that Sventia requested Vest to use. They were out on the edge of the city, opposite of where Vest had looked on the northern side where most of the forest was at. She noted there were several workers milling around and going about the business doing what lumbermen do. After watching them a bit, she eventually waved one of them down and asked for some help buying some lumber. She explained what she would need it for and roughly how large it would be before the man led her over to some wood and showed her the options. She listened intently, learning about what woods would be best for the project and what would probably be the worst.

She nodded and bought a small bundle of wood before asking for it to be delivered to The Rookery sometime tomorrow morning. After saying her goodbyes, she made her way to a general shop to look for some netting to put around the cage. She wanted something premade, as having something weaved would be double the cost and expense and possibly double the wait time. She wandered around the city for a good while, duckling in and out of shops to look for a simple net. It wasn't until it was early evening, when most of the shops started closing, that she finally found a shop selling old fishing nets for a good price. The owner seemed irritated that the woman walked into the shop near close and was irate when she tried to bargain. After she noticed her efforts wasn't getting her anywhere, she handed over the money and the nets were basically thrown at her before she was shoved out the door.

Vest gave a grumble at the shop owners rude behavior and stuck her tongue out in their general direction before hurrying down the road to make it back to The Rookery. She had a hunch it would be closed, but she wanted to know if she was going to be carrying around some netting or if she could drop it off. Not only that, but all her belongings were also in the tower, Sventia wouldn't throw all that out would she? The uncertainty of losing all her things turned her trot into a full sprint. She couldn't afford to lose her belongings, there were things in there that she got from her parents when she left home. Upon arriving to the tower, exhausted and gasping for air, she noticed that the light was on and the door was still unlocked. Vest slipped in quietly and went to close the door before a throat was cleared behind her.

Sventia stood under the candle light, arms crossed and eyes narrowed like a disappointed grandmother. She held a dagger in her hand and tapped her foot for a bit before letting out a sigh.

“Coming into property that isn't yours could result in death. You are lucky that I was expecting you, otherwise you'd have already been dead with your lack of awareness. Why are you coming here so late and out of breath?” Her eyes scanned Vest and she gave a weak smile, recounting what all had transpired over the day. With a slow nod, she gave Vest another lecture before having her gather her belongings and showing her out of her tower. Vest was confused as she thought she would be working for the night shift as well. Sventia only laughed and stated that she wasn't skilled enough for the night shift yet.

WC: 859



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