Flashback [The Mud Flats] Turning a Songbird into a Hunting Partner

[Arandolya]

Arandolya The only limit is the Stars . . . Timestamp: 6th of Summer, 510 AV The day had dawned lovely and clear, the sun burning in a sea of blue that glittered off the view of Thunder Bay from Skyinarta. It practically called the hunter down to its waters in hopes of finding some prey to sell to local buyers within the marketplace, sometimes even the restaurants advertised they needed some specific meats. Taking her bow, quiver, and Trith, Arandolya eagerly made her way down towards the Bay, picking her way carefully down the pass. Eagles soared ahead with their Endals, taking their riders - and any Avora lucky enough to catch the Eagles - down in a matter of minutes. As Trith fluttered around her head, Arandolya shushed the bird as it startled some birds into flight. Watching the birds take wing, Arandolya tilted her head slightly, pausing. "Scaring them," she murmured. Trith settled on her fingers when she outstretched her hand and Arandolya smiled. "How would you like to be my hunting partner?" she asked, raising the songbird eye-level. Trith cocked her head and let out a sharp whistle, hopping onto her shoulder. The pair arrived to The Mud Flats quickly, and Arandolya removed her boots so she was able to sink her toes into the sand. She stayed silent and still for a moment, subconsciously stringing her bow. Kneeling, she peered between the reeds for movement of birds, while looking at the sand for imprints of their footsteps. Arandolya tilted her head, squinting slightly in an attempt to define the shape of the sand birds between the brownish reeds. Taking note to take some back for some weavers, Arandolya looked to Trith. "Sing," she whispered to the bird on her shoulder. The birds of Wind Reach seemed to always excel the avian of other places, easy to teach when given to a kind hand and of keen intelligence. It was Trith would be who'll guide Arandolya during the Djed Storm, staying loyally by her friend while the other birds took wing in an attempt to escape the ruins. Trith naturally expressed happiness - or distress - in her short, clipped, songs. If Arandolya sung, Trith would finish the rhythm, until it got to a point Arandolya was able to train Trith to sung short songs on command. Trith took settled on the tip of her bow, and let out a loud and ringing note. It wavered a few times, and Arandolya seemed satisfied as the birds startled at the unfamiliar sound. They took flight and Arandolya shot an arrow into the mass, grabbing another arrow and nocking it to shoot again as they flew over the sands towards the water. The second missed as the flock wheeled and turned back over the reed, but the first managed to pin one by the wing. Walking over, Arandolya crouched down to quickly kill the bird, clearing her throat slightly so she didn't hear the snap of its neck. "Now, if I can get you to fly closer you might be actually able to scare some land prey towards me," she said idly, stroking Trith's head as she took hold of the bird and retrieved both arrows. "If we wait until the fall of night I might be able to teach you a bit." Looking at the sky though, Arandolya noticed it was later afternoon, and would only have to spent a few hours on the Mud Flats before the sun began to fall and the nocturnal animals emerged. To pass some time, Arandolya began to pick a few of the ripe reeds for some weavers. "I should learn how to weave a basket one day," she commented to Trith, who had taken wing and was flying over the reeds. Looking at the reeds curiously, Arandolya crouched down and tied them into a knot. "Hmm ..." She took another reed and tied it to the others, close to the bottom. She knotted two more reeds. It looked a bit lop-sided .... when did the weaving part come in? "What do you think, Trith?" she asked, holding up the thing. Trith came over and plucked at the reeds. "Hey!" Arandolya protested, through the bird weaved a couple reeds with the dexterity of nesting birds. "Well aren't you a show off," Arandolya muttered, her mess of knots slightly nicer looking as Trith pulled at the knots and redid them. She promptly nestled into the cup-like thing, warbling a note as she peered out at Arandolya. "Alright, alright, we'll bring it home," Arandolya laughed, putting it in the backpack she'd brought along with the dead bird. The hunter titled her eyes back towards the sky and stroked Trith. "It looks like we have quite a ways to go until any bigger animals come. I suppose I should just try to teach you to fly close to something and sing, eh?" Trith twittered a song.

[Arandolya]

Arandolya The only limit is the Stars . . . For a couple chimes, Arandolya wondered how exactly she would teach the bird to fly close to prey to scare them. She watched Trith fly around a few times, trilling sweetly as she settled on a reed. "Sing, Trith," Arandolya called. The bird looked over and let out a few notes before coming to join her on her shoulder. "Maybe ... if I taught you how to fly on command, then I could try and teach you to fly to a branch, then to stay there and sing?" Trith sung a bit as though in agreement. "So, fly on command." She frowned in thought. "I didn't bring anything as a treat," she muttered dourly. "A good scratch will have to go, eh, girl?" Arandolya scratched Trith's wing gently and rose. By placing Trith on the palm of her hand, and twitching it upwards, the bird automatically took flight. "Alright, let's try this." She chose to use her fingers instead, flicking them to coax the bird to take wing. "Fly," Arandolya said, looking to the little song bird. When Trith settled back on her fingers, Arandolya praised her with a nice scratch underneath her wing. She flicked her fingers again, "Fly," she said firmly, praising Trith again right after the action. Trith tilted her head, dark eyes glittering with the uncanny intelligence of Wind Reach birds. "Fly," Arandolya said, though Trith only ruffled her wings. She flicked Trith into the air again, "Fly." In a bell or so, Arandolya felt Trith was slowly catching on. She barely had to flick her fingers before Trith took wing, circling once before settling again on Arandolya's outstretched hand. "You're a smart bird, aren't you?" she said with a smile. Arandolya looked at the sun and guessed she had almost two bells before it would set. "I think we can get this down pat by the nighttime, eh? If we're not going to hunt tonight, then we should probably head back before it sets, I don't want to try it in the dark." Settling Trith on a reed, Arandolya looked at her. "Fly," she said. Trith lifted her wings and took off, circling once before landing again. "Good girl!" Arandolya said, stroking her little bird. She repeated it a few more times until she was sure Trith learned the command. "You'll get some berries in your feed tonight," she promised. Stretching, Arandolya looked at the meager amount of prey she had to bring home. She'd set it, wrapped in her bag, in the sand in an attempt to keep it cool, though she supposed she'd smell it before she took it home. Arandolya decided to sit for a moment before heading home, as she doubted the flock would return before sundown. And what else was there to hunt on the Flats? Settling down, she glanced at the sun. She should probably try to bring something else home on the way back. The young woman looked at the sand in an unfocused manner, thinking about asking an Endal to fly her down tomorrow. As her gaze stayed on the sand, Arandolya noticed a movement that caused her head to turn. She couldn't see anything different though, until another slight shift made her turn her head again. Frowning, Arandolya looked at the sand closely, watching it. Then, the answer presented itself. A small dip in the sand appeared. Arandolya's golden gaze flickered with confusion as she examined it, watching as little holes dotted the ground she'd previously been standing on. "What the ..." She poked it curiously. Her finger sunk into the sand before it hit something hard, causing her to jerk back with alarm. When she watched, the hole reappeared. This time she dug her hand in and groped for the hard figure, wondering if it was just a lost item lodged in the mud. Feeling her hand come around its edges, Arandolya pulled it to the surface. And found ..a mollusk? She looked at it curiously, looking over the shell to identify it as a clam. Arandolya's fiery eyebrows raised in surprise. "This is where they get them?" she asked herself, referring to The Coastal Clam that always had the freshest ingredients. Digging her hand around another dent in the sand, Arandolya retrieved another shell, this one she thought was a mussel. Now that she knew what to look for, Arandolya scanned the Mud Flats and saw these dents were everywhere. Gone unnoticed by many the hunter who tracked the birds and their eggs. "How curious," she commented to Trith, who had settled herself on the clam. "Perhaps I'll come back with a basket next time," she said, looking to Trith. "I might as well put these back for now," she added, dropping the mollusks back onto the mud where she knew they would disappear. "Let's go, Trith." Trith hopped onto her shoulder, and Arandolya hefted her quiver and backpack onto her other shoulder, carrying her bow loosely with an arrow to keep an eye out for more prey. The sun was beginning to set, and the hunter hoped she might get lucky on the way back. Perhaps. At least the bird was better than coming back with nothing. "If we come back in a few days, maybe the some more reeds will be ripened too."