A Sketchy Meeting [Tiaue'a]

[Emi]

Timestamp: Winter, Day 33, 511 AV

Emi carefully navigated through the snow, careful to not drop the drawing pad and pencils tucked underneath her arm. It was a moment where she was oddly silent, contemplating a quiet place to sit and draw, and more importantly something to draw. Her pale blue eyes scanned the area for any obstacles or animals that might interfere but thankfully there was not one in sight.

It was rare that Emi had a moment to go out and draw. There really wasn't any reason for her to go outside first of all, and second she was typically exhausted from work to do more than stare at blank paper. It was a dream of hers to become an Avora yet as the days go by the drive to become one became less and less. Now she was ready to draw and despite the cold winter air she felt a certain warmness in her, a feeling that made her ready to take on the world.

It was a few more careful steps that she discovered the perfect subject for a drawing- a snow-covered rock. More importantly, it was a simple rock with a cake-like shape and size as well as a nice snow covered peak. Nearby there was a larger flat rock perfect for sitting and drawing on.
This is perfect! Emi thought. She sat down on the rock, pulled her notebook out, and began to draw.

OOCLame pun in the title, I know.

[Tiaue'a]

Emi could not have been too long at work, maybe ten minutes or so, enough time to get the basics down. Shapes of what was where, some depth, the perspective, but no shading or textures really. It would not b long before Emi’s worst fear was realized. That perfectly round rock with the little bump of snow, to the perspective of something…larger with wings, was a perfect perch near the ground. There was no room for any little bit of the snow to get on your feathers and melt. That rocky cradle of precious white was destined to become the seat of a bird…a wind eagle, even. She had been flying overhead, tired from her flight over the low lands just outside the Sanikas Valley’s reach. The hunt was terrible today. She was worn by the cold to add to it all. She had been searching for a place to land when that large boulder offered itself up. A bit covered and snow-dusty, yes, but there was a way of dealing with it. She brought her chest up and wings forward and propelled herself back and leaned back further, finally letting herself fall into a dive. Her wings were not fully closed; she held her wings out tight against her body, giving her little bullet form a set of wings to glide on as well, a steering mechanism of sorts. Maybe one hundred yards from the landing spot, as she hurdled through the air, she began to spread her wings more, slow herself down, and fully bring them out. As she slowed enough she began to fight gravity and slow to a stop. So few in this world failed to see flight was truly an art. And it ruined art, big time. Her final furious wing beats sent the wind over the rock, clearing away the powdery stuff first. By the time she was landing, the wind force was pushing away the pack snow as well. Her talons grasped the boulder and she landed. Her left wing was in, and she lifted her right one as she picked at the feathers to groom herself. Some feathers came loose throughout the year, in a bit of a cycle. The cold wind didn’t make it easier. It was an annual molting process, really, that she had to tend to if she wanted to keep up that fabulous look of hers. She searched through her wing for anything loose. She didn’t like to pull at them, but sometimes there was the occasional odd one jutting out the wrong way. She reluctantly plucked them; they were all so pretty. She tended to this process obsessively under her wing, and still tried to keep her body close together, to keep nice and warm. Her head wasn’t buried the whole time. She looked up maybe…twice in five minutes. She felt comfortable enough it seemed, or just didn’t see the girl as worth of acknowledgement. The first time she spied what she was doing. From the looks of it she was an Avora who was drawing. She didn’t have much talent if this is what she found so captivating…a rock. There were certainly more breathtaking images to be viewed from Wind Reach, assuming another was not already working to capture the moment in unique styles. The second time she caught Emi looking at her. There was a speck of annoyance, perhaps, but a compliment of interest. Tiaue`a wouldn’t kid herself, she was quite the sight. She liked the attention, but wouldn’t let it show. Beaks were good for that; there was no smirk to give her away. She sat there and groomed herself for a while, only peeking up on occasion to seemingly look over Emi’s head to check she was still paying attention. She wouldn’t stay much longer if that pencil didn’t get moving soon. OOCI’d worry more about the typos. Check the date again and what year it is on Mizahar. Also note it’s “timestamp.” Take advantage of the time to write your post by revising and editing as well. Take advantage of resources available to you (spell check, even on Google docs). I hope I didn’t assume too much of Emi’s character. Let me know if I need to look at her from a different view point. Otherwise…Tag! You’re it!

[Emi]

Despite the poor quality of the drawing, Emi was completely and utterly focused. Her mind had droned out the sounds, smells, and sights around her enabling her to not get distracted. Unlike many good artists, however, Emi didn't realize that you have to constantly be looking at your still life instead of looking down resulting in a rock looking very different than what was actually there. She also failed to hear the beating of the wings of the Wind Eagle that was about to land on her subject of interest.

Her cold hand was focused on drawing a line when suddenly her entire drawing was covered in a fine coating of snow. Emi quickly brushed it off and continued to work. More and more snow began to fly onto her artwork and soon she realized that something was landing. She looked up, expecting a animal trekking by, but instead found something much more magnificent.

It was a raptor of massive size: a Wind Eagle. Sure, Emi had seen Wind Eagles before but none were this beautiful. Nor had she ever been able to see a full-grown Wind Eagle so close. Tiaue'a's feathers were an earth brown with hints of creme laced across. Her wings were large, graceful arms whose fluid movements were a sight to see. Her talons were razor sharp and gripped the rock as if it was the prey beneath her ready to be snatched up and flown away. A simple glimpse of her face showed a beak capable of grabbing a leaping fish out of water. Her eyes were gold with flecks of brown. The rather large bird was grooming itself at the moment. Sadly, Emi had missed the flight of the bird but desired to see it. Feathers were scattered around her. The large feathers of brown and red were merely a glimpse into the beauty of the Wind Eagle.

None of this mattered to Emi. To her, it was a living being and someone to talk to. She was still very annoyed at all of her hard work ruined but it seemed to slowly fall to the back of her mind as the awe of the bird settled in as well as her desire to speak. It was difficult living in a world where it wasn't exactly common for someone to talk so much, and running out of breath was not nearly a problem when most of the time nobody wants to hear you speak. She took this as a rare opportunity to talk to someone who wouldn't protest.

Emi put her notebook to her side. She brought her knees to her chest putting her half-frozen hands beneath her knees as she prepared to speak.

"You're a beautiful bird, you know that? Hi, I'm Emi, it's nice to meet you! I'm a Chiet but I'm going to be an Avora any day, I know it! I like to draw because it's my passion and I also want to learn how to paint because painting makes art so much more beautiful. Did you know that shading basically triples the quality of the work? I'm trying to work on that... I've just been trying to draw this nice rock until you came and I hope that you'd allow me to draw you and I don't know what you'd like out of it but maybe I can sneak you some food or maybe something else anything you'd want if you'd please please please please please let me draw you?!"
Her voice ended in a plea with her typical annoying ramble drawing out the last vowel. The sense of urgency in her voice was imminent as she spoke with fast pace and little regard for grammar.

OOCSorry, I'm still attempting to figure out Mizahar as well as get a grip on how things go. I think the timestamp is okay now as I'm trying to set it as today's date... correct me if I'm wrong on anything including Tiaue'a's appearance.

[Tiaue'a]

Mission accomplished, she had caught the girl’s attention. She tilted her head to the side with a glance, and then straightened herself out to show off her entire grace. Perhaps she’d get the respect and honor she deserved around here. It’s not every day that a wind eagle is so complimented by her beauty that an Avora would draw her. She began to settle herself, to find the right post that was. Did she want to be the huntress? The noble guardian? Perhaps the incarnation of Sikanas? Or better yet she could – woah, woah, what just happened. What, what, what just happened?! The girl just started flapping her mouth; the words that flew from it zoomed right into her being and bounced off in a scattered array. Balls from cannons, they just keep coming with unparalleled speed; she became lost in the babbling! Emi…Chiet – Chiet!? Now that was a disappointment. She was certainly of greater beauty to be drawn by a true Avora. Shading, what is sha- girl, stop, stop, stop! Emi just kept going! If Wind Eagles ever had an outer ear, this girl and all her ancestors must have talked them to stubs from birth! That straight look at the girl soon became something of awe. Awe for what? The incredible speed of those lips? The non sense that came out of them? Maybe it was a side effect of sheer confusion? She might have laid an egg! Not really, but damn! As Emi kept talking, Tiaue`a head slowly drifted off, down and sideways. Her head was level with the tops of her folded wings by the time Emi had finished, and rotated about forty degrees which way producing an awkward side glance. Her beak had been wide open. She remembered and shut it. Her eyes glanced to the side as if there were something there. It was a tactic, if she started looking at things, maybe the girl would too, and then she could – Tiaue`a brought her statue back together immediately – adjust herself in that mannerly way. Perfect work, girl, she told herself. She looked around a little more, pretending to have not understood. She was an awful tease with things like this. Not all of the Inarta have experienced telepathy, and it could make for a fun joke. Clearly, Emi must have been doing it wrong. That was the goal Ti`ue had, to trick her now. She was a Chiet. There was no hope of some little girl like this getting a tapestry of her majesty on the greatest halls of the colony. She looked at the girl again, secretly thinking of what an idiot she was. Ti`ue didn’t truly know that of course. She simply was quick to judge. Wind Eagles needed to be quick. She looked at Emi now, wondering if the girl herself understood she was being made a mockery of. The attention could easily be mistaken as her undivided attention…encouragement for the continuation of that mindless babble from those lightning fast lips. She expected the worse, but was in no way prepared for the running of that mouth that had yet to come.

[Emi]

Emi wasn't exactly the most observant Inarta in the world. She preferred to think that everyone was listening to her as long as they were in earshot. Even when people would walk away, she would blame it on a obligation that they had or perhaps they would be back. It wasn't exactly her fault she thought this way either: she was in a world where talking wasted precious air and people didn't really communicate other than quick, direct sentences. Nobody wish to hear her speak, and if in her mind everyone did then so be it.

She licked her chapped lips, the cold mountain air whipping her face with her hair. When she looked to see the Wind Eagle's reaction, Emi noticed that Tiaue'a was looking at straight at her. This meant attention! It was just the thing she needed to continue, but she noticed that the bird wasn't posing nor was it about too. Silly me, a bird would want something!

It was a long pause as the gears in her head were clinking together. What would a bird want? Money meant nothing to birds, as they couldn't buy anything, and art would merely be as useful as a branch for a nest. It wasn't every day she was faced with this beautiful oppertunity, and it would be a crime to let it slip from her fingers. What would any creature want?

"So I know you probably won't want to do this and that's okay. I don't even know if you understand me or you think I'm a giant hunk of meat haha. But could you consider it? I mean, I'm not exactly the best artist but maybe I can become an Avora with this drawing and you could be all over! I don't know, I just know it would be really really important to me and I would love if you do it and it would just be the most special thing in the world! I can get you anything you want. Food? Shelter? I can do anything you want I will do everything everything everything !"

"I mean, if you don't want me to do anything I won't do anything! But if you do want something you can trust me. One time when I was little someone told me to hold something, I forgot what it was, and even though I dropped it I picked up all the pieces and I tried to put it back together. It worked and they never knew! Actually I forgot what really happened but it didn't matter. Did you know that tempered glass is extremely strong? It's formed when the outside of glass is cooled faster than the inside, making the pressure inside really strong. It's so cool! I don't know why I know that but it's still something I like to talk about."

"Maybe you want glass? I don't know what a bird would want with glass. It wouldn't make a very good nest. Ewww, is it true that you guys make your nests with sticks and spit? That wouldn't be a very comfy home but maybe you guys are used to it. Also I heard you guys use feathers so maybe it's like a soft feathery pillow! I think that you would be above that with how regal you look and how strong you are. Do you guys, like, sleep in the carcasses of dead animals? That would be smelly, though. I wouldn't want to sleep in anything but a bed, but birds must be different. After all, you guys get to fly. Flying must be amazing. The wind in your hair, the bugs flying into your mouths, the sun shining in the corner of your eye. I wonder if everyone will be able to fly someday. Could you imagine? A bird being all bird-like and then BAM! A human flies by. Amazing, right? But I'm getting off topic here..."

Emi took a pause. Perhaps it was her common sense kicking in with the realization that the bird wasn't listening to her. Maybe she realized how annoying she sounded and decided she had to sound better for a bird. Or maybe she was just running out of breath. Either way, her eyes were fixed on the bird as she took a deep breath.

"I could get you anything you want... could you give me a sign on what it would take to pose and let me draw you?"

[Tiaue'a]

While most of the girl’s babbling was soaring right through Ti`ue’s head, she did catch a few key points that peaked her interest… Food sounded brilliant. She couldn’t remember the last time she got a free meal. She had her place in the aeries, and this dumb girl should know that. Wait, okay, not so dumb. Glass what? Oh, that’s interesting. Tiaue`a did actually take in the information of the glass. She saw the Avora work it sometimes, but what they did was always a mystery, or why. So tempered glass is strong because the outside is – woah little lady, slow down! Ti`ue tried her best to keep up, her mind floating somewhere between a free meal and glass. The parallel existed, it was just fairly faint. But could this little girl talk up a storm. Ti`ue’s head just started to turn down…more and more. Her beak was open in astonishment and turning till it was almost ninety-degrees from its proper place. Humans do fly, somewhat, the worthy ones… Girl, you just really need to shut up. Gah! The catch…anything she would want if she would model. Do little work…get free meal. It sounded like a plan. However, this pose simply would not do! She straightened herself back out, the gracious wind eagle in the most ungracious of positions, and looked back to Emi. The thought came alive in Emi’s head, not as words or speech, but an idea. “You bring me food. Much food.” The broken thought was no intention to seem barbaric, but she was merely trying to make a point. She nodded at Emi in confirmation that the girl wasn’t crazy, and then fixed herself on the rock. She picked through her wings again, grooming those unwanted feathers, few loose ones during her molt. She checked her tail as well; everything needed to be perfect. Just need to move this feather under this one, and this over here… That needs to be pushed under another one! Oh goodness, she could use a bird bath. When she seemed done, she peeked back up and looked around, and back to Emi, but then resumed her work. Birds in general had very compulsive mannerisms it seemed. Was the compulsion the grooming or the watching though? Probably the latter, hence nothing went wrong in Wind Reach. When she did finish up she briefly pondered the look she wanted to be remembered for. What appearance truly captured her? What appearance… Yes… She brought herself to balance better on the rock, clinging up on the center. She arched her back and proudly pressed out her colorful chest. Her wings held out slightly to tease the on looking Inarta of her vibrant colors under wing. The dark red down showed through sometimes in her wings especially, near the joint. To top it off she gave Emi a characteristic look. She stared into her soul with the greatest of intelligence and beauty she could possibly display. In other words, she looked at Emi like a bird. Now she might have that same look when staring down her prey or when she’s tired, but there were few ways to tell the difference from the sheer look on her face. Those big golden eyes, the sharp elegance of her beak, and the smooth curvature of her crown were all captured in that moment. Caiyha had gifted the Orika with so much…beauty.

[Emi]

Saying that Emi was nervous would be an understatement. She didn't really notice if Tiaue'a was paying attention or not, but an answer or at least an acknowledgement would satisfy her to start. It was common knowledge for her to know random facts about birds and their gear, but she had yet to even get a bird to stay for more than five seconds of her beginning to talk. It was then when she decided that she wouldn't be an Endal, for no bird would ever listen to her.

An idea popped in her head. Normally she would credit this as her own, but the idea had a certain quality to it. She couldn't describe what it was: it was in a different voice, a unique tone that was unknown yet alluring. It was the doings of Tiaue'a, of course, but Emi figured that she would get the food later. Nobody would raise an eyebrow if she took raw meat if it was her dinner. She could miss a meal.

When she looked at the bird again, it had assumed a regal pose. Emi really wasn't sure what gender it was yet, or if it even had an Endal. Well, it probably didn't, or else it wouldn't have been alone. Either way, she quickly got her notebook back out. Taking a pencil in hand, she began to roughly sketch out the details of the beautiful bird in front of her. Now she was looking at Tiaue'a as she drew, making sure that she didn't fly away or move from her pose.

With graceful strokes she began to outline the shape of her figure. Even though she was pressing too hard for a sketch, Emi was doing a decent job in capturing the essence of a Wind Eagle. Still, it was difficult for Emi to stay this focused for this long and her drawing began to lose quality. Her hand began to cramp. Emi was squirming in place after the first five minutes, trying to get in a comfortable position. And especially the fact that she wasn't talking was bringing her to exhaustion.

[Tiaue'a]

Her wings began to tire in time. She minded not flying, but to sit there in stillness was truly a bore and taxing on the body in many ways. Her eyes were left to wonder though, and she was soon looking across the way, at the walls, and soon back at Emi. If ever an Inarta had fidgeted so… Tiaue`a began to itch. It was an unsightly itch at that that bugged her deeply. Under that mass of feathers she felt it itch and her skin twitch and soon crawl in vain in an effort to find something more agreeable with her. It was not our typical twitch, but rather very atypical, for this itch did penetrate through her skin and thus failed every twitch to subdue it. And it was not because the twitch had failed that this itch had not ceased to prevail, but rather because it lay deeper yet. Beneath feather, skin, flesh, bone, Tiaue`a felt the urge to peck the damn girl on the head. Emi’s shifting and discomfort just as easily upset Ti`ue’s balance on the matter. She could feel it crawling up her claws into her bosom and tickle her lungs and throat. She just wanted to move all over if not give Emi what for. She tried to be discrete. Her shoulders swayed lightly and her head as well. The itch in question did begint to come loose, but rather than outright removal, as she should hope, it was beginning to manifest itself a more tangible – if we might mock the sensation in having essence – thing – and a thing indeed it was, hardly an idea. It settled on her back left shoulder. It’d be damn near impossible without moving entirely to be rid of this wicked itch. And to move would ruin this want to-be Avora’s drawing, which would ruin her imagine, which would ruin her chances of becoming a greater work of art. Decisions…decisions. She produced a solution with swiftness. She was doubling over to peck and itch at her shoulder with near total absence of hesitation. Upon completion, as she smiled inside, Ti`ue turned back and looked back to the wall as if she had not moved. Her wings might have drooped down a bit more now, or tilted wrong. She gave a quick glance to Emi to see if the girl had noticed… Suspicious…!

[Emi]

It was by chance that Emi didn't seem to notice because she was erasing a mistake at the time. She continued her drawing even with her hand cramps and desire to speak. What would happen when she became an Avora? She could be famous, doing artwork of Wind Eagles for their Endals and selling great masterpieces to travelers. It was this desire that kept her going. She continued on for the next half bell, never stopping and never complaining

Emi was doing the finishing touches of the drawing. Perhaps it was due to her lack of skill, or maybe it was just really quick drawing, but she was almost done. It lacked precise shading and there was the occasion smudge mark as well. However, there was one thing that looked a little off, and that was that one wing was slightly lower than the other. She didn't seem to notice this, however, and proudly showed it to Tiaue'a.

"I'm finished! I hope you like it! I should probably go and get you food but first I want to know what you think! It's beautiful and it looks just like you!" Emi beamed, the black-and-white drawing a few inches from Ti'ue's beak.

OOCSorry it's so short...

[Tiaue'a]

It was…it was… The eyes were all wrong, her feathers were not that ruffled, and surely her beak was better kept. There were smudges everywhere, and she failed to captivate the vibrant shades of her feather – even if it was a black and white sketch – not to mention the lopsided wings and so on. …pitiful, horrendous, god-awfully disgraceful. “Done? Good. Bring me food.” Tiaue`a was brief. Surely she didn’t look anything like the bird on that paper. That’d be reason enough to die. All artists start somewhere, but she would have never imagined that. At least she upheld her part of the bargain. She couldn’t scold herself that much. It must have just been the girl’s fault. She didn’t really care for it still, and it began to bother her. It’d disappear when the girl left to bring her the meat. That’d work. Ti`ue eagerly awaited as she looked at the little Inarta. She posed for a picture, so now she’d eat. Run, run little red head.

OOCNP. sorry for taking so long. Make te delivery, somehow, and we can wrap it up. I'm still sorry you're closing Emi, but perhas it's for the best. GL!