Closed Pride, Pestilence... and Other Things...

[Sphinx]

Who: Vaas, Hess, Nij When: Summer 76th, 512 AV Where: Wind Reach The morning had started out nice enough. The sun rose on time, her cheery face a sight for sore eyes, and there was a nice wind for the great eagles that hunted food for the city. Some marvelled at the amazing pastels of the new day rising, while others enjoyed a breeze that wafted up through their aeries and carried away the assorted smells. The Dek laboured over their charges, cleaning the filth away and disposing of it. To the casual observer, it appeared as though the day would be a fine one, a reward for the perseverence of the Inarta that had struggled for so long after the freeing of Ivak. There were a few that weren't so optemistic. The wind, he spoke to these people. His voice sang and sighed, and they whispered back. The wind was excited, playful, cruel. It rushed about the heads of the watchful Stormwardens that faced Thunder Bay. They could see the rising tumult in the distance, the flashes of light in the sky, and they rejoiced even as they sounded the alarm to call the eagles back in from their hunts. The storm would give the city a respite from the heat that had mounted after the last storm. Zulrav have mercy. The city began to grow quiet then, and Thunder Bay ad well. The doors to houses were shut, children were.swept back beneath the safety of the volcano. Thunder sounded above, high above, and just beyond the walls. For a while, maybe a bell or two, the wind shrieked his glee at being set so free in the earthy city and the lightning and thunder became so fierce that it felt as though the entire city were shaking as a massive giant walked above them. It ended much the way it had begun, with dying complaints from the thunder and a slowing of the wicked wind. It grew quiet, so eerily quiet, as the storm faded into the Unforgiving. Droplets of rain echoed in the tunnels, faint grumbles from the thunder still threatened in futility. The very air began to feel stifling underground, but cool drafts from the storm washed through the tunnels not long after people began to sweat. They began to emerge from their warrens and the pleasant coolness turned into a cold shiver as a mass of sleek black heads turned to face the people emerging. A bald-headed vulture shifted somewhat, his gaze growing intense as more people piled out of the city and stopped. The birds stared at the Inarta, and the Inarta stared back. It almost seemed the birds were as surprised as the humans to see one another. A young Inarta jumped forward, flailing his arms at the nearest raven. With a surprising tumult, the test of those large black birds burst into a shrieking, laughing mass. The poor boy fell back, frightened and in tears, and the birds fell back into their silent, unwavering vigil. Somewhere, a bird seemed to laugh.

[Hess]

Hess ran his fingers through his damp hair, pushing it back from his face. He had been out hunting for rabbits when the first signs of the incoming storm had ruffled the leaves of the trees. The birds had gone to cover, and as he checked the snares he had set early in the morning, he had felt first the arrival of a light breeze. Growing more capricious over the next little bit, it picked up in strength, and the woods began to sway and shake in its clutch. He had sought shelter in a small alcove of rock in the shoulder of a hill, and had watched bemused as the skies let loose with all the energy typical of a late summer storm, and then some. It had boomed and cracked and flashed and poured down buckets at time, and he had patiently waited for the front to move on. When the thunder could only be heard far, far in the distance, and the lightning seemed to have worn itself out after its spectacular display, he exited the shallow cave and made his way back to Wind Reach. The occasional shower still fell and by the time he had reached the gates, Hess was a bit wet. But the after storm cool was welcome and he never minded rain, at least not in the summertime. As he passed through the gates and made his way into the rock warren that was Wind Reach, he noticed them, right away. His steps slowed and his gaze turned in an arc, his eyes scanning the walls, the ground, rooftops. He had never seen so many birds gathered together in one spot, not like this. And they were of many different species, yet perched wing to wing, in a wholly unnatural way. Hess came to a halt, frowning in perplexity. Others were doing the same, just standing and staring at the odd and unsettling sight. Turning to the person he had stopped next to, Hess asked in a low tone, “How long have they been here?” It was clear who, or more precisely what, he was referring to, for every eye in the crowd was on these unwelcome arrivals.

[Vaas]

“Windy... with all the bravado you display on a daily bias. I can't believe you are scared of a little thunder.” Vaas teases the hawk as he puts on his pants. Wind Dancer, who not amused, shoots Vaas' a annoyed look and starts flapping his wings in his direction. Vaas smiles and says in a gentle and condescending way, “Sulking in the corner will not make the rain go away. Sometimes my friend you just have to face your fears and get your feather wet from time to time. Besides what would happen if we are out in the middle of the Unforgiven and a rain storm happens to appear out of nowhere?” Being with Vaas for almost ten years ow, the bird knows when the human is teasing him. Wind Dancer fixes a stare on the ginger human face if Vaas wasn't blind, the human would know he is treading on thin ice right now. Vaas looks at Wind Dancer and says to him, “I think the storm as passed, Wind Dancer. Come on, we have a busy day of training before dark.”

Feeling hungry, Windy watches Vaas as he puts on his tattered leather gauntlet. He knows on training days. If he wants to get feed today, he needs to listen to the music stick and fetch the blind man the stuffed squirrel. Windy stands up and displays his wings for Vaas and decides to surrender is pride, embrace his need for food. He buries his pride further and flies to Vaas' leather gauntlet. Vaas decides to put the hood on the birds head just in case there is lightning. He never seen lightning before, but he learned that thunder normally follows lightning. Vaas knows Wind Dancer gets nervous during storms, and he doesn't want his friend to panic when they get outside When Vaas feels Windy land on his gauntlet, he walks to his apartment door. Once he is there, he grabs his staff, his back pack, and he leaves his apartment.

Recently, he learned of a new warren that cut his time to Sanikas Gates in half. It was his quick way to get outside the city, so his bird and him can have some peace and quiet while they train. As Vaas makes his way to the warren, he notices the air is slightly cooler now since the storm as passed. Vaas smiles to himself knowing that days like these have been far and few between during the summer, and the citizens of Wind Reach will definitely take advantage of his opportunity to cool down. When he reaches the end of the warren, he notices a crowd of people have gathering by the opening of the warren. Vaas starts making his way through the mass of humanity, and while passing through the crowd, he listens and overhears people talking about bad omens. Bad Omens? What could possibly scare these people into a frenzy? Honestly, after Ivak escape there is much to be anxious about in the Wind Reach and outside the city. Some people even convinced themselves this is the end times. The idea of the end times is totally ridiculous to Vaas, and the whole notion of the idea is silly at best. Why would the gods destroy their play ground? Thinking to himself and shaking his head ,Vaas eventually makes it through the crowd He takes a deep breath and smiles at the fresh air. On the other hand, Wind Dancer starts to move around nervously on the leather gauntlet. Vaas looks at his bird and says to Wind Dancer, “I still hear a rumble of thunder in the distance lets keep the hood on for a little bit longer.”

Vaas smiles to himself and starts whistling a tune as he strolls in to the street. Totally oblivious to the other crowd in front of him. Vaas hears a woman yell at him, “Are you a fool? Get back here! Its dangerous out there.” Vaas smirks to himself and starts waving his staff in front of him to guide his way through the street. Vaas laughs out loud and yells back to the lady without turning around, “I'll be fine, and what is life without a little bit of danger anways!” Not knowing the non human eyes upon him, Vaas starts singing to himself, “Happy Little Arrow in Flight” as he continues his course into the street.

[Nij]

After the storm, she couldn't keep eye contact with any of the vultures or ravens. They would stare and she would look, right into their eyes, and they'd move their heads away from hers. It was as if they didn't want to speak with her. Her easiest means of learning why they were here now was being rather ineffective. If she couldn't speak to them, she couldn't learn what they were doing. Was there a rotting corpse somewhere near? She had left Vincis in her room to do whatever he wanted to do, but now she was second guessing that decision. She stared at a raven. He stared back. All he seemed to be saying was laughter. No words, not answering any questions she pushed at him. Just laughter.

[Sphinx]

Oh, they knew what Nij was. As the eyes of them all slipped to her at her arrival, they seemed to harden their resolve to resist the phylonurist and her questions, but they couldn't resist the humour of the situation. The Inarta couldn't -wouldn't- touch them. They could be shooed away, but at the cost of how many Dek and Chiet? No, something else had to be done.

Even though the other birds weren't speaking to her, a massive vulture took the liberty to speak for them. As he looked at Nij, she could feel sensations of fear, anger, loathing, and pity as well as see quick flashes of images of feathers, other birds that were displaced, and a nameless, formless mass that the bird gave the impression of loathing most strongly to. It was obviously trying to tell Nij that something was going on, but after showing her so much, any more questions she would have for him were met with even more feelings of anger and mounting frustration.

During the exchange, Vaas was walking straight across the invisible line that kept the Inarta safe from already riled birds. As he approached, a particularly ornery turkey vulture shrieked up the general cry of alarm and beat its wings in a threat at the blind man. The vulture took off, straight for Vaas's face, outstretched talons reaching for his eyes. Without warning, something struck Vaas out of the way however and the bird sailed by harmlessly, turning away for another strike should Vaas decide to continue on. As Vaas rose up, he was helped to his feet. Murmurs rose from the watching Inarta as the man that had knocked Vaas out of the way helped Vaas to his feet. Someone among the crowd cried out that he should have just let the stupid Chiet die for not paying attention, but the words were met with only a solemn glare.

Vaas couldn't see him, but the man who had saved him was an Avora. His hair was nearly black but in the sunlight it glowed the most vivid red. Upon his left ear, like some kind of fashion statement, were three highly stylised feathers of yellow, red and green banded with lighter shades of those same colours.

"All of you, stand back," the mystery man said. He began to dust Vaas off after his fall, to which the bird that had attacked Vaas seemed to find amusing. He was singing something that had the man smiling with amusement. In some way, the watchers would know he understood the birds on a seemingly deep level, as he had now stood beyond the line with Vaas and was not being harrassed for it. Unknown to them, he was but another member of the flock, come to tend to the birds and see what had gone wrong. Taking Vaas by the arm, he pulled the man out of the danger zone and towards another group of Inarta. Some of them shifted uncertainly and outright left.

"Now then, I think it would be best if you minded your surroundings. You'd almost had your eyes food for the carrion, my lucky friend, but if you stand back with the others here and stay here until I see what the problem is, you'll be safe. Understand?"

He left to cross that line again and gesture to the vulture. Vaas would find that Wind Dancer seemed to have disappeared after the confusion and heard no sound of him within the courtyard. Where had he gotten to?

As for Hess, he had watched the whole spectacle with an air of surprise. The man that had saved Vaas was none other than the one he had spoken to just ticks before. Before the whole action had gone down, his question had been answered, but the answer wasn't exactly a comforting one.

"These birds have been chased out of their homes in the Unforgiving. I don't know what did it yet, but I don't believe these are the last of the flock we will see." The man had said. He had seemed intent on saying more, but before he had the chance he ran off to the rescue of Vaas, and then returned with the blind man with only a few chiding words.

Needless to say, this was becoming an increasingly confusing day for them yet even so, they still felt the need to help out in some way.

[Hess]

Hess was just on the brink of asking another obvious question – something like, How the petch do YOU know that?- when the one who had answered him bolted. Eyebrows shooting upwards, Hess’ gaze followed the dark haired one, only to see a big, ugly buzzard closing in on an idiot who had gone ambling towards the odd confab of birds. Then the one who had just left his side was giving the hapless target a shove, knocking him down, but also knocking him out of the bird’s trajectory. It all happened so fast, Hess could have blinked once and missed the whole thing. But as it was, he stood, arms across chest, listening to the rescuer giving out instructions to the one he was now helping to his feet, in a fairly solicitous way. More out of a feeling of deep uneasiness over the weird situation than a compunction to assist the guy who’d been knocked on his butt, Hess moved. Stepping closer but careful to stay this side of the dark haired one, who once again was approaching the disgruntled flock, he reached out to touch the git’s arm, asking in a low voice, “Are you alright? You really need to watch your step, mate.” OOCSorry I took a while to reply. Is Vaas still around?

[Nij]

The vulture's feelings were painful. They sparked something resembling a headache. She doubled over, spots dancing in front of her eyes. She had always been able to feel what they were telling her, but not like this. It was then that she noticed the imbalances that were poking at her, telling her to pay attention to them. Nij couldn't get anything else out of the flock of vultures. She didn't want to approach them, even if she had nothing to fear. They wouldn't hurt her, even if they were as fearful and angry as they were. "We should go find what's bothering them." She gestured out to the Unforgiving, her gnosis hidden by her bryda. The gnosis seemed to hum, so slightly, as if she needed more reminder that she needed to go and fix this. She tried to pin her eyes to the crows', but they moved and shifted and completely ignored her questioning glances and urgent stares.

[Sphinx]

The Avora returned to the group of Inarta he had dropped Vaas with, noting their faces and seeing the foreigner among them, off to the side a bit. The oversized vulture was nearby, edging closer, and above him, circling like buzzards in the sky above a carcass, were the Wind Eagles of Wind Reach, ready to exterminate the intruders from their city.

"My name is Ziluva. I need volunteers to help me. I do not promise fame, or fortune, or survival, or safety, but I do promise that you will be doing something that benefits all and not just yourselves. Who will answer my call and the call of the birds at my back? These birds that you, and I, have revered our whole lives, even before the great mountain rose and became our roost. Who will come with me?"

Ziluva stepped back then, his arms outstretched as though welcoming, but in reality they were held like so in order to placate the birds behind him. He was calling people into enemy lines and wanted to make sure both his birds and the people would not be harmed.

A flutter of movement, and a young man broke from the crowd, straight backed and with his chin held high. He seemed proud and brave as he joined Ziluva before the birds. Another person soon broke rank as well and darted to Ziluva's side. A young woman with strawberry blonde curls and the same feathery decoration that Ziluva had on his ear, although slightly less colourful and long. She shared a secret smile with Ziluva and they waited for others to join their cause, but it seemed that the Inarta were breaking up finally, retreating into their warrens and finding different paths to the places they wanted to go. A few loitered around, still gawking at the birds, and one or two took the opportunity, while Ziluva still stood there, to come close and snatch some of the thick bird feathers off the ground.

"Is this all?" Ziluva said.

OOCI just want to see who's still around, so bear with me here.