Completed Lifted.

[Ehati]

33rd of Spring 513 AV

It was a beautiful day to be on leave, Ehati thought as she walked through her city. She cradled the young hawk on her hand that she would be training. Otaki was still somewhat asleep, head tucked under his small wing, but she deemed him big enough now to actually train. She brought along some fresh meat from the stalls in the Bazaar, hoping to entice Otaki to fly for her and retrieve the meat if it was something her might like to eat. With his hood and jesses, he probably didn't even know she had something for him.

It wasn't a long walk to the main gate of the city, and she didn't take her time getting there. She would have trained in the Antinuous Training Grounds, but she didn't think falconry would have been exactly fitting for such a combat oriented location, and who knew? Maybe one of the others using the field would get over excited and shoot Otaki down when they saw him. She wouldn't be too pleased there. No, falconry was best practiced where there wasn't too much of a chance it would go awry. A few chimes outside of the city ought to be good. She would be close enough to the gate to call out if there was trouble, yet far enough to give Otaki and herself some privacy so they might better practice. Of course, that didn't discount passersby from being interested in her activities. The Kabrin was nearby, which made sure both knights and merchants would be as well, so privacy wasn't exactly the word for Ehati's seclusion. Nonetheless, it was private enough.

She reached a distance from both the Kabrin and Syliras that would be safe (relatively so, when one thought of the natural dangers rather than the human ones), and she removed Otaki's hood. The hawk began to beat his wings immediately, as though stretching, and she smiled like an indulgent mother would after watching her child stand up for the first time. Otaki chirruped a sound and turned his head this way and that, wide greyish eyes intent and fiercely predatorial. Affectionately, Ehati ran her index finger along the back of the bird's head down to the joints for his wings. He looked at her as though to challenge her and she offered him a bit of the meat. It stained her fingers, but she didn't mind. What worked best would work best and maybe it would be worth it to entice Otaki to be cooperative. The hawk had a good deal of attitude in him she could try to utilise.

He snatched the strip of meat in his beak and tried to take flight to eat a little further away, however he barely got any distance before the leash Ehati had tied to her glove pulled taut and made it impossible for him to continue.

She realised she would have to work on making him comfortable eating on her with something of a smile, one of the few she gave openly, and she stretched out her hand so he might land in it. With a flutter, he returned to her, an almost arrogant expression in his eyes. She tsked and muttered a short phrase to him in Nari, a language she knew birds would usually recognise but not necessarily understand. She waited as he ate, gazing up at the sky pensively.

[Alabast]

Alabast knelt down low in the tall grass. He'd bathed thoroughly and dabbed himself with a bit of pungent rabbit scent before he'd come out here. He wasn't sure why they called it 'rabbit scent' when really they meant 'rabbit pee' but whatever, he couldn't be sidetracked by questions like that right now. His target was in sight. He notched the arrow, and pulled the string back tight and took deep, silent breaths. There was his quarry: a fat hare twitching and nibbling on something. It was over forty yards away from Alabast, and it was both slightly down hill and down wind from him. It was the perfect shot. Or it would've been. Somewhere nearby (nearer the rabbit than himself) there was a sound that startled the creature away, and it quickly bounded from it's open position into the taller grass around it. It was a kree sound, the screech of a bird of prey. Alabast was no expert but he was pretty sure that's what it was. His prey scared away, he returned his arrow his hand-me-down quiver and rose to his feet, scanning the sky for signs of the animal that cost him his lunch of rabbit stew.

Surprisingly, the skies were clear, and it wasn't until Alabast scanned the field that he became aware of the responsible party. As soon as he saw her, he forgot about the lost rabbit. She was petite and smaller than he was, though clearly older. She had hair like fire. Or blood. Actually, a lot more like the latter than the former. And there she was standing with this creature on her arm. Alabast was aware of people hunting with birds, but no one in his family, who were all skilled hunters, practiced the craft. He waded his way down the grassy knoll he'd been hunting from and made his way to the woman and her bird. "Whoa!" he said with unguarded excitement as he approached her. "Is that your bird?" He immediately realized how silly the question was but did his best not to show it in his face. "You're-...it's really beautiful."

[Leda]

Leda Leda should have been at work in the bazaar, of course, and she had been until midday, but the day before a man had come in to ask her to do a reading for a very sick woman who could not leave the room. It had earned her a bit plus tip and a commission for agreeing to come all the way. It had been a happy trip on the whole and though the cards had looked a little dismal at first, as might be expected, it appeared that the woman would make a full recovery and would partially regain her sight, as she had been praying for for months since the illness had hit her, making her almost blind and hardly able to move, with headaches and a loss of the sense of taste. It was a hard, lengthy illness but not as deadly as might be expected. Leda did not feel like going back into the market, paying for her usual spot again, so she gave herself the rest of the afternoon off. She walked out into the wilderness surrounding Syliras, careful not to go down the Kabrin Road, which she knew to be popular with bandits, and out into the bronze wood. It was the middle of the day and she knew that if she didn't venture too far out, certainly not to one of the traveller shelters, it was all relatively safe and safer once she'd found a niche in one of the bigger trees which still had its plumage of branches - which she did quickly - nestling her book - a book of stories about a mad merchant; she supposed they were for children since she hadn't been taught to read well enough to manage much more - in her lap. It was about twenty minutes later that she noted a hawk fly by very close to her. It could have been a wild one but somehow she didn't think so, especially when she saw the hawk fly back down to a red-haired woman. Quietly, trying not to be seen, she closed her book. It was then that a boy appeared, almost out of nowhere. He was dressed like a hunter and Leda supposed he had been skulking around for a while. Shifting slightly to better watch the scene, Leda looked down with a smile of amusement. "I won't jump in on them..." Quite literally, "Immediately."

[Akilia Dosert]

Akilia Akilia was lolly gagging. She should have been hunting or something, maybe go for a walk or a run but no today was the day to do absolutely positively jack squat. She was laid out on her back in the right smack in the middle of a meadow. She was attempting, to relax but out here that just never seemed possible. A rabbit dashed by as if something startled it. A breeze carried over the scent of...rabbit piss? She scowled as the stench hit her nose, she got up and was thinking of retreating from the smell but stopped misstep. There was too much pee carrying on the wind and unless rabbits somehow obtained intelligence overnight and began forming territories and packs, she was sure it was a human. She stalked in the direction of the foul smell holding her nose as she did. Even with her nose plugged she could still smell it so there was really no point. Pushing through some low branches, Akilia spotted the culprit. It was a young boy with dark skin and short hair cut short to his scalp. There was a quiver on his back and a bow in his hand. If that didn't confirm he was the one hunting than the rabbit pee did. It was so bad that it made her eyes water and cough a little. He was to the side of him but he looked to be talking to someone...Akilia tried angling her head to see who it was but the brush was too dense blocking her view. The tell tale screech from a bird close by, made her guess that there was a bird of prey around. She pushed past the remaining branches and found that the boy was talking to a young woman. The woman held a small bird on her arm, the bird looked to young to be a full fledged adult for it still had baby feathers. The woman herself though had fiery red hair, she was taller than Akilia, but then again wasn't everyone? Realizing she had been staring at them arms crossed with one hand plugging her nose in her simple dress of a grey blue shirt, dark blue pants and boots, scabbard strapped to her side; Akilia blinked. She pointed to the boy with her free hand. "Vagik! You smell like rabbit piss." She mumbled. Not the best thing to say but it was out before she could take it back. She relapsed her plugged nose and blushed. "Sorry, I have a good sense of smell... Um..what's your name? I'm Akilia." She looked over at the fiery red head absently saying, "Oh, and I like your bird he's cute."

[Alabast]

All of a sudden there was a twitch in Alabast's ears and he turned around. There was a girl standing there, pointing at him and accusing him of smelling like rabbit piss. As far as accusations went, he supposed less true things could've been said about him. Still it was kind of embarrassing to have it pointed out so openly, especially from a cute girl. She was dressed plainly with a scabbard by her side, so he was assuming she was another squire. "Well, yes Miss." He said hesitantly. "I was hunting rabbits." He offered an smile, but felt a tad humbled behind it. When she apologized mentioning her sense of smell his smile became wider and he let go of the feeling. "Oh? That's alright, I'm kind of like that myself. I never know if how much I'm putting on is too strong or if it's just me." He let out a puff of air that serviced for a laugh.

At this point, Alabast had to look around. He couldn't help the feeling of being watched, but perhaps that was simply the sensation of standing between to lovely women, one of them actually eligible. He nodded his head towards the young lady who'd introduced herself. "Akilia? That's a beautiful name. I am Alabast Hartbane." He extended a hand the girl who looked just his age. "At your service." He still couldn't shake the feeling, and so he began peering over his shoulder and around. There was just this uncanny sensation. He looked up, and could see a third woman, peering down at them all, from a tree. "Good day Miss!" He called up to her, satisfied that he wasn't insane after all. "Don't be shy! Come on down here, with us!" He waved at her beaming friendship.

[Ehati]

Otaki was restless at all the noise and the distraction. Ehati frowned, sharing the same opinion as her bird. It was all fine and good, meeting new people, but she didn't expect them all to be significantly younger than her. Is this what her fellows had been doing? Having kids? She snorted and reached to stroke the bird. Otaki would have none of that, though, and pecked at her finger instead. The cut was deep, but short, and the Inarta immediately began to suck on the wound to sort of ease the flow of blood before it got anywhere. She didn't scold her bird. That would get nowhere with him, but she did make sure to ignore the insistent chirping for more food. She would not reward him for misbehaving. He had to learn that.

"So, Alabast and Akilia? I am Sera Ehati," she didn't even feel the need to introduce herself as part of the Knighthood nor did she see the merit in giving them her full title. Children, they were. Maybe one day they would be squires, and then knights, but she never put such things to hope. People had their own goals in this world. "If you are hunting, then what are you out here doing all by yourself?" She focused her intense eyes on the girl, Akilia, in an unwavering stare that was entirely hawk-like and unimpressed. "Have either of you ever heard of 'danger'?"

She was interested when the boy pointed out the presence of a third party and turned to follow what he was staring at. Otaki complained at the movement, wobbling unsteadily, and Ehati reacted reflexively to right the way she held him on her fist as her other hand raised to shield her eyes from the glare of the sunlight.

"Get down here, this instant," her tone took on the firmness of the way she spoke to misbehaving squires. Demanding, unyielding, and entirely unnecessary at this point. Now that the watcher had been spotted, it was very unlikely she would stay up there.

[Leda]

Leda Leda smiled with amusement at the request that she join them, trying to hide the disappointment that she had been spotted. "I'm not shy. I am a spirit of the trees." She said with a grin and raised eyebrows, "Whether or not you choose to believe that is up to you, but I should be delighted to find you gullible. Nobody is anymore and it's a pity because I rather think it shows potency for genuineness. Either that, or an open mind and a generous heart." She had already swung down before she heard the sharp reprimand of the young woman. She greeted this with a frown as she touched the ground. "I am down. Asking a request in a more domineering manner will not make anyone react quicker. Rather the opposite. And I rather think your friend was more polite." Leda did not comment further on what she perceived as the rudeness or the improper sense of self-entitlement of the woman, but rather shook her hair out of her eyes, as though equally shaking the woman's comment. Leda rather wished she had stayed up in the tree, securing a place where she could see and not be seen rather than come down to be reprimanded like a child by one who could be no more than ten years elder than herself. Being reprimanded by an elder was bad enough, but treated that way by one such as the red-haired woman? The woman had not earnt that right and Leda had to refrain from making a scathing comment on the subject. Leda likewise refrained from saying that she had been in the tree before the arrival of the little company, she had been for quite a while and that, in this case, she was not the intruder. "I gathered your names from my branch. Well, all names apart from that of your..." she paused, observing the hunting bird, "Hawk chick. Mine is Leda, and a surname is of no importance." She punctuated this by looking around at her companions with interest, unabashed and practically unblinking. Apart from the red-haired woman with delusions of grandeur, there was a young dark-skinned teenage boy of a most jovial countenance and a young teenage girl. They must have been the same age... perhaps thirteen or fourteen. Leda never minded speaking to those younger than herself. Wisdom and intelligence were not a product of age, even if maturity so often was and one could find just as much interest in youth, who perhaps had more bright ideas than any jaded adult. "Why do you think cuckoo spit is called cuckoo spit when it has nothing to do with cuckoos?" she asked spontaneously, as it looked like there might be an awkward silence. She added with a smile, "Cuckoos are interesting birds, aren't they? But mockingbirds are perhaps the most interesting that you'll find in a wood such as this one. Mainly because, without knowledge of birds, I think it would be difficult to recognise one."

[Akilia Dosert]

Akilia The boy had just confirmed Akilia's suspicion about him hunting rabbits and she was sort of pleased, it proved that her nose hadn't failed her, though it seldom did. Except for that one time when she...well it wasn't fun, end of story. She returned the boy's smile, chuckling when he admitted to put on the rabbit scent too strong. He certainly had, but her nose had been offended by worse things, and a forest was always full of surprises. Looking past his masking animal scent, she noticed he was quite...cute and close in age. She had never really met any other children like herself in a while unless you counted the child ghost Fubuki Kouri but she wondered if ghost children could even be counted as kids anymore, after all, they were dead...sort of. Then he complimented her name causing her to blush again, she had never found her name as much of anything. Just something to call herself and others to refer to. She didn't know a name could be be beautiful, only people. Before she could ponder it further the cute boy introduced himself as...Alabast. "Alabast..." She said, repeating it to make sure she said it right. "Very unique." She added, grabbing his extended hand and shaking it twice before letting it go. "Its nice to meet-" A new voice cut Akilia off, and the girl turned her head dropping Alabast's hand to see who. It was the small redheaded woman with the baby bird. "So, Alabast and Akilia? I am Sera Ehati," Akilia simply nodded to the woman in acknowledgment, teeth gritted. Akilia didn't know what the Sera part of Ehati's name meant, she suspected it was some sort of title, and by the way the woman said it, it seemed to be of some type of importance. The girl didn't like Ehati right off the back for some reason. But then again the girl didn't like many adults in the first place especially those who believed age gave them the right to boss around those younger. "If you are hunting, then what are you out here doing all by yourself? "Have either of you ever heard of 'danger'?" Ehati asked. Akilia returned Ehati's intense gaze with a defiant icy stare of her own. It was her animal instinct to return a look that the girl passed for a threat, the woman's intense gaze intimidated Akilia and the child had to hold herself back from baring her teeth in warning. Such an act would probably seem odd, still she revealed her longest canine tooth, the top one that went over her lower lip. "I can take care of myself, I'm the only 'danger' that lurks in these woods." She snapped. Then the woman's eyes we'rent on her anymore, instead they gazed up, focused on something behind Akilia. The girl grudgingly turned around, casting her own eyes on a dark haired woman in a tree. "Petch." She cursed, annoyed that she had not been aware of the woman before hand. She listened as both Alabast and Ehati, talked to the woman lounging in the tree. Alabast kindly, Ehati commanding with the tree woman responding cleverly, this adult, Akilia figured she could get along with...maybe. The dark haired woman introduced herself as Leda, and mentioned something about birds. "I rather like listening to songbirds like the Cerulean Warbler, they sing so beautifully. Wouldn't you agree?"

[Alabast]

Bast's perpetual smile stretched just a bit as a red hue took over Akilia's face. It faded however at her interactions with Sera Ehati. Tense situations were not Alabast's forte. From his perspective at least, Sera Ehati was a Knight, and she had every right to demand an explanation for his presence outside of the city. Akilia and Leda, however, seemed less receptive to the knight's harsh attitude. Alabast bowed his head down to the two older women. "Sera Ehati, Miss Leda, it's nice to meet you." He heard Akilia snap back about being the only danger out here and he quickly worked to reply with his own answer. "Danger Sera? Oh, of course. But I am the very spirit of caution Sera, I'm young I know, but the wild places are not so foreign to me." He chuckled. "But, I should count my luck. Better I ran into you than any of the number of bandits that haunt these ways." Bast cocked his head at Leda. She offered a curious riddle that he couldn't quite puzzle out. He wasn't sure what to make of it. "I'm afraid I don't know Miss Leda." He said with a quizzical look on his face. "Why is it called cuckoo spit?" The only thing Alabast knew about birds was that some of them tasted better than others. After that, his knowledge of the flying creatures was exhausted. Which reminded him. "Would you know, Sera Ehati? You seem like you'd know a lot about birds and...their spit." It occurred to Alabast he wasn't entirely sure what cuckoo spit was.

[Ehati]

Ehati smiled, but it wasn't the indulgent smile she had shown to her bird just chimes before. She didn't appreciate the attitude presented to her, but she supposed people who oft dwelled in trees didn't have much cause to learn propriety when meeting your superiors. It would have been for the woman's poor health if she found herself talking like that to an Endal in Wind Reach, but since Wind Reach was so far away and the great eagle riders didn't make their way down to this city, it was probably for the best.

"Surnames are all the rage in this area of the world, I've found." The Knight replied, going in to stroke a finger down Otaki's back again. This time the bird allowed it, although he tightened the grasp of his talons around the fleshy part of her palm. She smiled again. "I've found that those who don't have a surname are from some inhospitable part of the world or are shamed of their heritage otherwise. Perhaps a bastard child would mention surnames as being unimportant first and then try to cover their shame with a quickly cast ditty about something nonsensical?" The politeness in her tone suggested she was doing nothing more than suggesting the weather was nice.

Her eyes fixed themselves on the woman, though, sharp and green and indignant like the little bird in her hand.

"Cuckoo spit is, to my knowledge, a weed of some sort. Or a plant. Birds don't have the ability to spit really. As for me, I rather appreciate the presence of crows and hawks. On one do we find ingenuity and perserverence and on the other do we find magnificence and the domination of predator over prey. It's too bad that a mockingbird, whether we recognise it as a mockingbird or not, would find herself chased from the trees by one and then hunted down by another, isn't it?" And then, almost as a sidenote, she spoke again. "His name is Otaki."

She returned to tending to her bird while focusing her attention on the other two people in the little group. Alabast was a mite more well received now, as he had addressed her by her title rather than forgo the whole thing gracelessly as the other two had done. She had to assume he had dealings with knights before and didn't think too unkindly of them, and for that she was grateful. The other girl, like the first young woman, had the most impressive display of insolence that Ehati almost wanted to smile anyway. Wildlings were such horrible people to deal with.

"You are not the only danger as you so wisely put it. Nor are you really a danger when you think of all the horrible bad people around these places. It is lucky, though, you stick to the trees and don't go towards the mountains. There are birds there that would split you open and let you rot before you even knew what it was that hit you. The smell, though, is something you'd find most pungent and frightening, I've heard." However, again her mood lightened, displaying something a lot like bipolarity in the woman that wasn't exactly true. She just liked to think and hear of birds and they always lightened her mood. "I suppose it is my duty to remind you all being alone isn't always the best thing for you when it comes to the Wildlands. I come alone because I know enough to stay within calling distance of the city and the road, but even with all my care I could still be dead if something bigger and faster than me got to me. So, remember that before you go hiding in trees or crawling through bushes smelling of rabbit."