Closed To Reach the Top(Oitera)

[Red Daghul]

As Oitera's answer echoed in his mind he mentally made the note that she changed her answer. It was a pretty clear sign that there was much more to this story then she was letting him know, and with her actions and the way she looked at Daghul he was starting to get a idea.

As she stood in front of Daghul her request hanging in the air he sent the answer to the riddle to Red while he lowered himself with a hop down to her level. The Bird's massive size making it a little awkward to allow the girl to pet him, but he tried his best to offer her the chance. 'She wants to become Endal, Red'.

Red stood not but ten feet away while the Oitera seemed busy with Daghul. The Endal understood why the girl wanted so bad to prove her skill or her desire which ever it was he understood. Red had been that child once who longed for something more, he had been the young boy who looked to the skies and dreamed of becoming something more then a lowly kid on the side of the road. Then it had happened to him. Red met Daghul ho chose him, and together they started a quest to become the best they could be.

Now walking over to where Oitera and Daghul were Red ran his hand over the wing feathers of Daghul's as he searched for the words to say. It was clear that she didn't want him to know of her secret desire to be Endal, but at the same time he felt like he should say something.

"We'll, I think you have proven your bravery today" he offered as he watched her interact with Daghul. Then adding " He is something special isn't he" Red's tone seemed almost as if he was telling himself almost as much as Oitera of how special Daghul was to him "it seems like just yesterday we met at times, and then at others it's like I have known him my whole life" he was hoping that the girl might respond to talking about the Wind Eagles, and maybe then she would be more willing to tell him about how she felt.

[Oitera]

When the Wind Eagle lowered himself to her level she stretched her hand out and clapped on his head, smiling. She had petted a Wind Eagle once before and it felt like such an honour to be allowed to pet one. For one moment she imagined herself as an Eagle Rider, flying on the back of one of the Wind Eagles.

She didn't even notice that Red moved over to them until he talked. Her fantasy image. disappeared with her smile when she looked at him, a little irritated over the fact that he was encouraging her like she was a little child. Which most certainly was the case in his opinion. With a hint of irritation in her voice she answered. "Thank you. Yes, they are certainly something special, the Wind Eagles. " Oitera looked back at Daghul as she said the last words, petting his head. With a bit of irritation over her own weakness for the Wind Eagles she asked Red. "How did you become a Rider?" She looked back at Red again to see his reaction to her question, not all of the Eagle Riders that she'd meet liked when she asked things. But this man seemed different, kinder.

[Red Daghul]

The irritation in her voice was something he had not expected, and he found some what distasteful as she was getting a privilege that Red gave few others. Oitera was skimming on a line in Red's head, and if the disrespect kept up the Endal wasn't sure he was as willing to help the girl.

'Red' the voice of Daghul sounded in his head 'she is young, and is taking things you say wrong' the Eagle kept himself where the girl could continue to pet him 'she treats you and me different... give her a reason to befriend you' with that Daghul stopped talking as a sign for him to try being friendly again.

When he thought that he was going to have to try and get her talking again she uttered the question that few ever dared ask "How did you become a Rider?". Red had nothing against telling her other then the dis respect that she showed a endal, but maybe that was the key. Oitera seemed to have a softness for the Wind Eagle in front of her.

"I met Daghul I guess...around 15 years ago" he said his mind pulling him back to the day he met the little bird that meant so much to him. "I was trying to find my sister some food" should he tell her he had been Dek at one point though only for a short time, maybe not "and I was attacked by a group of bullies... three of them" there was a pause in the story as Red seemed to drifted back, and then taking a deep breath "they wanted me to hurt one of the fledglings so that they could save it and in doing so become a endal themselves" the Endal looked over to Daghul's face and smiled.

"Thats when Daghul showed up, though small he still gave them a fight, and between the two of us we were able to send the bullies running... well I guess we had a little help from others" he gave a small laugh as Daghul sent him a image of the fight from his point of view "Daghul says it was pretty pathetic as we both were small".

"In the end instead of their plan working Daghul chose me to be his bondmate, and from that moment on we have been together" running his hand over the Wind Eagle their was a grin on Red's face as he knew that if he had never met this wonderful creature he would be stuck struggling for life instead of helping others. Looking at Oitera he wanted to see what she thought of their story.

[Oitera]

While Red told his story, pictures of it- or at least like she imagined it- was running through Oitera's head. It was a nice story and she smiled, still petting Daghul. But in the back of her head, she thought of the irritation that Red had shown before he told it. She realised that he probably didn't like her tone when she talked to him. She could imagine why.

With a bit of a struggle to come over the hate she felt for all unknown men, she looked up at Red. She was still smiling but it was visible that it was a bit hard to keep the smile as naturall as before, but she did it quite well she thought to herself. After all this man had done nothing evil to her. Infact, he had probably saved her life by coming. A little bit of her said that it was Daghul who had saved her, but it still may have been Red who saw her.

"Nice story." She petted Daghul a little more before asking "What happened to the boys? " She looked up at Red once again, still trying to hide the fear and hate for men. Waiting for his answer, she looked up at the cliff wall again, once again trying to see how she would be able to climb it. She hadn't changed her mind. She was going to climb that cliff, no matter what wounds she got from it. The hope of getting a Wind Eagle that way was still strong, maybe even stronger than before Red's story.

[Red Daghul]

There was a shift in the way Oitera looked at Red, though still there was a odd feeling coming from her at the same time she seemed to put a lot into her smile, and then even in her next question about the boys from the story. Time seemed to fade around that answer from that day on life had taken a turn, and it never had gone back to the way it was. That day had been the worst and the best for him, and what happened to those boys hadn't mattered.

"To tell the truth I don't remember" he said as he shot the question to Daghul who was enjoying the attention from Oitera "and neither does Daghul it would seem. My best guess is that they were exiled, or their caste was lower to Dek, but I can't say for sure" watching the girl the Endal noticed her looking at the wall again.

It was not to odd to him her drive to reach the top, but why? What did she gain from reaching it. Truly there had to be more then just the approval of her peers, or the challenge of it. No there must be something more to this.

Now deciding it was his turn to ask a question he opened his mouth once or twice before he got the question out the way he wanted it "Your going to climb again aren't you?" not in a authoritativeness, or one of disagreeing, but simply of curiosity.

[Oitera]

Oitera nodded slowly when she heard his answer, she thought it was something like that the once who harmed any Wind Eagle would get as punishment. She saw that Red was looking at her, but she ignored it and continued looking at the cliff.

When he asked if she was going to climb again, Oitera looked at him. The determination was visible in her eyes, she nodded and prepared herself for the chance that he was going to say that it was a stupid idea and that she shouldn't do it. She had already made her mind up.

She looked at the cliff again and said it alound. "Yes, I am." She looked up at the top of the cliff wall. It was very high up, but she was going to make it... or fall to the ground and have something cruched... She ignored the though, clinching her teeth.

Oitera walked over to the cliff and ran her hand over the stone, searching for grips she could use.

[Red Daghul]

Her answer didn't surprise him to much mainly because of the look in her face, and then partly because of what he had learned about her from their short talk. Of course then with out another word she started over to the wall as if she was about to climb again. A surge of concern swept over the Endal, but Daghul stopped him with a gentle nudge.

The bird sent images to Red of him as a young inarta trying to over come challenges very much like this one Oitera had chosen. Rubbing the back on his neck the Endal walked over to the wall and stared at it before looking over to Oitera who seemed ready to climb "Mind if I join you?" he asked as simply as he could. The choice to climb was made out of a desire to see the girl reach the top, as well as to try and help her the best he could.

[Oitera]

She was looking up at the top of the cliff wall, but when Red asked if he could join her, she looked at him. First her face revealed the surprice she felt, then she curousity over the reason but that very quickly went over to suspisiousness when her normal thoughts about men came to her. After a less than half a minute, her face wenr blank and she didn't show her thoughts in any other way than that her eyes was watching him closer than before and that her arms and legs was more tense now than before. She wanted to back away from him now that she thought she knew that he was just like all other men, but she reminded herself; he hadn't done anything wrong... yet.

"Of course! It would be an honor" Her voice didn't quite sounded as if they words she spoke was really that honest, but did she have any choise? The only thing he needed to do was speak the word and she was forst to do whatever he asked of her. "May I ask why you want to join me?" this time her voice revealed real curiosity, but maybe more in the way that she wondered if she was going to take the chance to run and see if she could make it.

He haven't done anything wrong, she reminded herself but a smaller part of her added, ...yet. Her fingers twitched but she managed not to curl them into fists, it wouldn't help. She watched Red closly as he answered.

[Red Daghul]

Oitera's words seemed hollow as she accepted his request to join her, and there began to form mannerisms that the Endal seemed to take almost like fear though strangely they seemed masked differently. The girl didn't look scared, maybe more like a cornered dog ready to bolt, or maybe even fight.

Red had pinned it down to either she didn't like Endal or men, and maybe just him. Though the latter seemed off as she had just met him. It was all getting quite confusing for the Endal who never seemed to have this much trouble before, but then again every person is different.

Then came the question of why he wanted to climb. The Endal studied the wall instead of the girl while he searched himself for the answer. Partly it seemed that he wanted to help the girl, and the desire to do so coming from his own past. Then again maybe there was something more deeper inside him. Maybe there was a desire to climb the wall for himself to show off his courage... No, that wasn't true heights were not something he was afraid of.

"You know, I can't say I entirely know" he paused looking at the height again "I guess in a way I would like to see you reach the top... but I rather join you as a equal on the climb" then looking to her "and if you see it fit, and you feel you need some help I could offer it" he tried to be a honest as he could, which he noted seemed to work best. Then deciding it best to add he said "Of course, if you rather I not climb with you that would be fine as well feel free to be honest" he decided that the girl deserved some respect for her courage.

Daghul had been right to give her another chance rather then let her mild disrespect change his views. In this the Wind Eagle had a strange wisdom that the Endal didn't understand where it came from, but was grateful that he had it. Hoping that the girl would understand he meant no harm, and that he was just trying to be nice and help seemed to weigh heavy on his mind and heart. Some of the feeling must have come from Daghul who seemed to have taken a bit to the girl for his own reasons Red was sure.

[Oitera]

After she heard Red's answer, Oitera remained tense. A spark of irritation over his offer to help was litten in her mind, she didn't like to need anyones help. But he didn't mean that as an assult, she was sure of that and honestly, she could use some help.

She relaxed, he did seem to speak the truth and he had been kind to her so far. She nodded "No, I could use some help. I don't know if I'm going to have same luck if I fall another time from that hight." Oitera looked up again and prepared herself to climb, but she couldn't stop her normal suspiciousness against all males. A bit of her thought about if Red had any hidden reason to help her. She ignored that part of herself, or at least as good as anyone can ignore themselfs.

"Are you good at climbing?" She looked at Red again, her voice now almost normal with just very little of the hate and suspiciousness that was there in the begining. But that gave room for the respect for Endals and the curiousity of why he had chosen to help her. "And can you tell me about the Wind Eagles?" The interest was easy to hear in her voice.