Birds of a Feather (solo)

[Aello]

Birds of a Feather 73 Winter, 510 AV Location: Wilderness just outside Ravok Aello was walking through the forest. She had gotten up not long before, as soon as the sun had risen and shone through the barren tree branches, illuminating her face, and causing her eyes to sting, and reluctantly open from a deep slumber. She was holding her bow tightly in her right hand, while her bag and quiver rested against her back, bumping against it from time to time with each of her swift steps. Aello's mind was rather empty, and she felt strangely care-free despite everything that had happened to her of late. Despite the fact that the scratch marks the wolf had left upon her skin were still bright red, and appeared as though they would take quite some time to heal, and her clothes were still a tattered mess that hung loosely from her thin hourglass frame. Logistically speaking, she should be trying to heal her wounds, and keep them from becoming infected, or at least, busy getting herself a new set of clothes so she wouldn't spend the entire day shivering. But no, for whatever reason, all that seemed to be in-between her ears, was thin air. As Aello skipped along, she came to a small clearing in-between a number of rather large, gnarled maple trees. The trees were so tall that they seemed to touch the sky, and their bare branches intertwined from time to time as they reached upwards, towards the sun. The closer and closer Aello came to the center of the clearing, the more aware she became of the fact that she was no longer alone. Resting in the middle of the clearing, on its back, was a small bird. Chirping piteously. As Aello drew closer to it, she realized that it had a broken wing and small cut across its leg. Its wings were folded out and away from its body, and twisted in such a way, that it gave the appearance of a bird trying to imitate a human putting their hand on their hips. Its beak was small, and yellow on the bottom, but black on the top. The bird had beady black eyes which seemed to display the greatest sense of distress, causing Aello's heart to melt, and for her to pity it tremendously. The white and tan feathers on its belly were matted with splotches of drying crimson blood, while the mixture of brown, black and white feathers of its wings appeared to be bathed in it. Entire feathers appeared to have been torn away, as though some larger animal had tried to eat it, but thinking better of it, spat it back out. A small tuft of golden-colored feathers rested atop the bird's head, reminding Aello of a crown. The bird was rather small, and with its wings spread out entirely, wasn't much larger than the span of Aello's hand. The bird chirped sadly again, its right wing trembling as a gust of wind swept through the clearing, blowing one of its loose feathers away, swirling on the ethereal winds, which still managed to appear almost tangible. Aello bent down to get a closer look at the bird. Its wing was definitely broken, and if it was not set in some sort of cast or something, the bird would more than likely, never be healed. The Sparrow : Just imagine this more injured-like.

[Aello]

Feeling sorry for the sparrow, Aello decided that she would attempt to care for it, despite her lack of medicinal skills. Or rather, her non-existent medicinal skills. Aello bent down, and rested atop her knees, hovering just over the broken bird. She placed her bow down lightly on the cold forest floor, and then pulled her bag off her shoulders and set it aside. They would simply get in the way, she thought, as she leaned in a little closer to the bird to get a better look. Aello reached out her right hand, and as tenderly as she could, pressed her fingertips into the bird's wing. The feathers were soft, and reminded Aello of the inside of a down pillow. Some of the bloodier ones felt crusty and gross, like a healing scab. The bird chirped, alarmed by Aello's touch. "Shhhh," Aello tried to soothe it, not knowing anything about animals however, she failed to do so, and the bird's head shot up, and pecked at her knuckles, ripping off a small portion of pale skin, and shedding a few crimson droplets of blood. Aello ignored it however, not thinking it particularly painful after the wolf attack, and the number of scratches it had left upon her skin. "Shhhhh, only trying to help love," Aello whispered as she removed her fingers, and retrieved her waterskin. She opened the top and poured some of the water over the bird's wing, lightly wiping the blood away with her fingers. As soon as she had removed as much of the blood as she could, Aello closed the water skin, and set it aside, she sighed heavily and looked down at the bird who was chirping unhappily at her. "Alright alright, I heard ya the first time! You don't like it!" Aello paused, "but it'll be over soon, alright love? So just hold out a little longer for me, ok?" Aello smiled shyly down at the sparrow, as she picked up a twig that was resting in the grass nearby. She then ripped several long, green blades of grass from the earth. Perhaps she could use them to set the bird's wing, Aello thought, shrugging, but thinking it was worth a try nonetheless. Delicately, Aello placed the twig up against the bone of the bird's broken wing, then, she began to wrap several blades of grass around it, so that it would remain securely in place. She tied the grass as tightly around the twig and ruffled bird feathers as she could; but not so tight where it would just make the pain worse; or so Aello hoped. When Aello was done, and the bird was merely chirping, and no longer making dives for her hands with its sharp beak, she sighed deeply, and wiped her lightly sweating brow with the back of her hand. That was hard work, she thought, now merely wondering how long it would take the poor creature to heal. OOCYay for my pc being as clueless in animal care as me! (Least it reflects her level though).

[Aello]

Aello closed her eyes, and let herself fall to the ground. She lay on her back next to the bird, and stared up at the sky. She folded her hands over her chest, and closed her eyes. She began to breath deeply in through her nose, and then out through her mouth, feeling her belly slowly but surely rising and falling with each of her breaths. Trying to free herself of all the pain, and the tension, to rid her mind of the horrible pained chirps the sparrow was making, Aello attempted to relax using a technique she had only tried a few times before: progressive muscle relaxation. Aello began by tensing all of the muscles in her face. She grimaced, shut her eyes as tightly as she could. She clenched her teeth, and sucked in her cheeks, making a fishy-face. She held this position for seven seconds while she inhaled, before letting it out and sighing loudly with her exhale. As she exhaled, she unclenched all of her facial muscles, allowing herself to relax so fully that she appeared to be in a dream-like state. Next, Aello tensed her neck and shoulders, as she inhaled and counted to seven, in her head. She then exhaled again, and allowed her muscles to relax. She sat for a moment in silence, enjoying the feeling, before she moved onto tensing her chest and abdomen, sucking in the air tightly, and allowing her body to grow concave as she inhaled and held for six seconds, before allowing her body to relax, and exhaling deeply with a loud sigh. She then made a muscle with each of her arms, held for seven seconds, exhaled, and allowed her arms to relax. Then, she balled her hands into tight fists, her knuckles growing red, and inhaled, she held her breath for eight seconds, allowing the air to fill her lungs up completely before letting her breath out and unclenching her fists, allowing her body to relax. From there, Aello went on to her butt, and then her legs, allowing each of them to relax before she moved onto her feet and tiny toes. After she had successfully tensed and then relaxed each portion of her body, Aello opened her eyes and looked up at the pale blue sky again. The grass that rested beneath her was tickling the tips of her ears, and mixing with her hair; forming one large earthen-colored mass. The bird was still on its back beside her, chirping unhappily. Slowly, Aello sat up and looked down at it. "Feeling any better love?" she asked the sparrow, as though it could actually understand her. Gingerly, she reached a few fingers out and touched the feathers on the broken wing of the bird. The instant she made contact, the bird seemed to shriek. Aello abruptly pulled her hand away. "Guess not," Aello said a little startled, "sorry 'bout that love." OOCI don't know why, but I tend to refer to animals as "love," and apparently, now do my pcs. >.<

[Seth]

Aello: +1 Birdkeeping XP +1 Medicine XP +1 Meditation XP Lores: Splinting (Basic), Mending a Broken Wing, Taking Care of Small Creatures, Progressive muscle relaxation, Taking Pity on Hurt Animals. The Method behind my Madness : I think this one pretty much explains itself. I gave you a point in each skill you used, as they were each described fairly well. I also gave you the Lores you requested, along with a few more. <3 Good thread! I look forward to seeing more of the little bird! <333!