Solo [Ivory Aerie] Wounded Pride

[Lavira]

The aerie was filled with the smells of home; the musty aroma of eagle, the musk of Kovac fresh from a hunt, the tang of raw meat waiting to be fed to the birds. It was an attractive smell to the teen as she stood in the doorway of the small room with the mews; it was attractive in the wildness of it, the atmospheric feel of freedom on wing. She envied Mohya, Tulaj, and Mohya’s mate for this and yet, the comforts of the sky were always brought home by one of the many birds. She sighed, running her fingers through her hair and stepping inside.

“Well, my friend, time to tackle this. You’re going to have to cooperate or it’s going to be miserable.”

Yesterday, after Mohya and she had returned, Vira had spent the next bell coaxing the injured bird out of the cage and into the large mew’s nest. The mew wasn’t big enough for flight for a large bird like this one, but it was big enough for her to move around in and stretch her wings. The bird had been so stressed out when they’d arrived that Vira had not even attempted to tend to the damaged foot; the golden had squawked and screeched and clawed, even gouging the teen a couple of times before she had been wrangled into the mew.

Vira bore the marks of the bird under some bandages around her forearm, the talons having scraped a good chunk of flesh off and required her to go have it stitched up and bandaged by the healers. Kovac had had some questions regarding that and the eagle when she’d returned, but it was sorted quickly. How could he begrudge her her love for the birds?

Rubbing her palm gently over the bandage, she stepped in and closed the door to the room. Atop the mew was a basket of supplies she’d grabbed from the cities Aviary. Inside, there were several bandages, stitches, needle and thread, analgesic salves, and antiseptic creams, all specified for birds. She had used it before as a Yasi in training to treat various birds when doing bendi in the Aviary, the supplies common use for common injuries such as sprained wings and injured feet. She hoped it would do for treating the young eagle.

“Well, here goes.” The woman entered the mew where the wild bird was currently being kept, crouching low once inside and laying the supplies by the wall. She had a towel and a hood with her too, the towel to be used to keep the birds wings closed during the ordeal and the large hood for helping her to keep calm. “Okay, beautiful, nice and easy.”

The eagle had moved to the back of the mew and was hissing loudly, her wings half-open in a menacing display that dared this silly human to even try and touch her without losing something. Vira approached her slowly, the burning in her side from being in the position ignored in favor of getting in close to the raptor. “Easy, now, easy.” She cooed gently, stretching the towel between both hands and scooting closer still. The eagle was now cornered in the far upper-left corner from the door, that which was against the wall, her injured foot raised some off the ground. Vira lunged for her but got a face full of feathers instead as the eagle beat her wings against the teens head, screeching and hissing and even aiming a well-placed bite to one ear. “Ow, hey!” She cried, covering her head protectively with both hands. The bird got a piece of knuckle that time, but neither pecking was severe enough to force her to stop.

During the assault, Vira fought blindly back, using her hands to feel her way to the birds wings and then hastily closing them. This clearly did not please the eagle for she squawked and screeched even more now, jabbing at her even more and then trying to get a talon into anything that was near. Thankfully, the latter did not happen this time, but she would have to go see the healers again. It took a good ten chimes for the eagle to be safely bundled into the towel and the large hood to be placed upon her head. As soon as that had been managed, the raptor settled, only hissing through her open beak but no longer fighting.

The teen sat back on her butt now and sucked at her bloodied knuckles, grumbling quietly that she now looked as if she’d been in a petching fight for how cut up they were. “Gods, bird, I’m only trying to help. Must you be so mean?” Vira puffed her cheeks and turned to crawl back to the medicine and pulled a bit of bandage from it to wrap her knuckles in and dab the back of her head with. “I look like I got in a fight with an urchin…”

Once her own injuries were seen to, Vira wiped the blood from her hands and grabbed up the needle and thread, analgesic and antiseptic salves, clucking quietly as she approached the eagle once more. It was going to hurt like Hai, but there was little else the Endal could do but get it over with. Vira moved in close now and reached for the injured leg, her single eye floating between the birds face and her foot, just in case she decided to bite her again. “I should find a name better than beautiful to call you.” She murmured to the golden, her fingers inching closer.

There was but an inch to go and now the teen paused, digits lingering patiently as the eagle shifted in discomfort. “Easy girly, easy now…one…two…three.” She reached forth and grabbed the foot. The eagle jerked in surprise, screeching loudly for a moment, then settling quite nicely once more. “Good girl, there we go, that wasn’t so bad.” Her fingers slid down the fine-scaled and muscled appendage mindful of the ugly tear of sinew where the snare had aggravated and rubbed the flesh raw or bleeding.

Once she had reached the point where the wound began, the woman grabbed the bottle of antiseptic cream and popped the top off with her teeth. “It’s gonna sting, girly, so don’t freak out…Please, don’t freak out.” Vira took a calming breath and set the container down, fingering out a pea-sized portion and rubbing it between her fingers. Then, her hand giving a gentle, tingling warmth, the endal reached forward and closed her fingers around the injury. The eagle jerked immediately, hissing and shaking her head in disapproval, her wings half opening and her good foot hopping a couple of times to find her balance.

“There’s a good girl; and again, nice and easy.” The hand with the cream began to rub against the injury, wincing whenever the raptor jerked. It took nearly ten chimes to get to this part, the whole ordeal a measure in patience for both bird and handler as Vira cleaned the injury with the cream. It wasn’t a fancy cream other than to have a bit of aloe vera and alcohol in it. Now that that was done, she grabbed the bowl of salve and likewise uncovered it, still holding the eagles injured leg steady. “This one won’t hurt nearly as much.” She explained quietly, dipping a few fingers into the goop and then applying it liberally to the injury. The bird seemed to relax immediately this time, her wings settling in against her sides and the hisses lessening to something markedly more calm. “Good, good, there’s a good bird.” She soothed.

The hardest part was going to be stitching up the deepest cuts and wrapping it all. At least the analgesic would numb it up nicely.

[Lavira]

Vira gave the eagle some time for the analgesic to kick in, watching the way the bird shifted in agitation from leg to leg though constantly trying not to use her injured left. It would take nearly ten chimes for her to settle enough to allow the teenager close again, she reaching for the wounded leg and for once not getting beaked in the process. “There we go, good job, good bird.” She soothed, closing her fingers around the foot itself to keep the talons closed.

Then, with her left hand, Vira began to methodically wrap the bandage around the leg, using her right thumb to hold the first bit in place until enough of it had been put around the injury. This took another several chimes, by which time the bird was finally quiet and watching the young woman intensely. The animal was still extremely nervous, unfortunately, but it was better than it had been when she had first been found and caught. “There, there, I know it’s hard.” She soothed, putting a bit of wire through the bandages edge so that it could be held in place without irritating the raptor. “But you have to understand how important it is. If you were left out there, you would’ve been eaten and died and well, I would have had a hard time living with myself knowing that I could’ve helped you out, pretty bird.”

The endal smiled at her and reached to give the birds breast a stroke. But the animal wasn’t ready for that and beaked her again, hissing and making Vira flinch back at her attacked hand. “Alright, alright, too soon.” She backed away now, gathering up the messed supplies and putting them into the basket once more before exiting. The door to the mew was carefully secured as she left and then the door to the mew-room itself, the basket of medical supplies tucked under one arm. It would be stored in hers and Kovac’s room so that Tulaj would not tear it up.

Speaking of which, the albino bird was currently perched over the entry to the aerie, hissing at her from afar with his feathers all ruffled. The falconer looked up at him and grinned. “Jealous git, come here.” Her right arm raised, the sontav ready for him. Immediately, the bird pushed off his perch and flew the short gap to his handler. He landed hard and bit at the leather lacings but Vira just rolled her eyes at him and stroked a finger down his chest. “Don’t worry, you’re not getting replaced, but you might have a new hunting partner, in time…maybe. We’ll see how she does, hm?”

Vira strode through their cave with the harrier on her arm and the supplies under the other, heading for her bedroom. She carefully balanced the basket against her side before turning the handle on the door and admitting herself. She headed for the bed and set it down before manuevering it to drop onto her foot and eventually slide beneath the massive stone frame.

"How about we go to the ranges, hm?" She cooed to Tulaj now, tickling his breast with one finger only for the psychotic bird to beak her again. "Of course if you keep misbehaving, I'll just leave you here again, how does that sound?" right on cue, the raptor settled, though still glared at her. "Good boy. Perhaps we'll go by the Market first and look at some new gear. Maybe get something for Kovac..." She trailed off and dislodged the raptor with a gentle toss to let him fly to a perch so that she could look around their bedroom for her training gear.

[Lavira]

The teen spent the next ten chimes changing into her old clothing from the Aeries, donning her sontav for temporary transport of Tulaj. The shortbow was then grabbed and Vira sat on the bed with a foot behind and in front of the bow to keep it from sliding out of her grip. Then, with her right hand, she bent the top of the bow downwards a little and grabbed the string which had been draped over her left knee to slip the loop over the tip of the bow. She tested the tension with a gentle pluck and smiled in approval. “Alright, boy. Let’s get going.” Vira extended her hand again and the harrier flew to her arm once more as the teen stood, shouldering the bow comfortably.

With little fanfare, she wove through the warrens towards the Ranges, her step light and her blindside kept near the wall so that she wouldn’t bump into anybody as she went. Once they reached the ranges, about a twenty chime walk from their home, she headed to the Endal quarter, otherwise known as Top Notch. Vira was quite glad that she had access to this part of the range now, and though the participants in this section tended to be more judgemental, they still gave the girl targets to fire into.

Once inside, Vira ordered Tulaj off, letting him go do whatever he wished for now while she walked the path of the range, looking for an open avenue. There was one way near the end where a set of targets had been erected: most of them were various animal shapes and a couple were typical bullseye’s with bright red centers and yellow bands around it. The recurrent twang of bowshots in neighboring sets made her smile and she unshouldered her own bow and fetched a quiver of training arrows in anticipation for the shots to come.

There were two other occupants of this particular set, one she recognized and the other she didn’t. The one she recognized was actually one of the Flight Leaders from another unit. His name was Harkoi, and he led one of the other Swift Falcon teams. Vira knew him to be a fairly laid back man when not working, but training was almost always considered work, especially to him. The thought made her uncomfortable, knowing he would judge and she could be reported to her superior if she did not show any improvement.

With a breath, Vira set the quiver down by her feet and touched the tip of the arrows feathers. They were coarse with use and she wondered if they would be able to fly as true as otherwise. But these were the only ones available and thus the only ones she would be able to use. Closing her first and ring finger over the end of the shaft, she drew it out and raised her bow to half-raise. The arrow head was lined up with the center of the bow then, the shaft near the head just touching the wood as she set the groove in the back of the arrow against the string, thus nocking it. Then, the weapon was raised and Vira took a breath, held it a moment, then released to steady herself.

Shooting in front of others always made the teen a little nervous and she took care to not distract the other two. What she failed to notice, however, was that both of them had stopped to watch the young Endal and see just how well she could shoot. Vira set her body to the side, rightside facing rear so that her left hand was the bow hand and right hand was the draw hand. Then, the bow was raised, the string pulled back with her right hand as she did so until the feathers just tickled her cheek, left eye staring down the shaft and past it to the target. The muscles in her arm trembled at the tension of holding it as her head tilted and the breath that had been drawn with the pull of the string was likewise held. She measured and counted, gauging in her mind the distance and any affects of the surroundings before at last releasing.

The arrow flew across the distance with a low swoosh and twang of the string as she exhaled with the release. The bow stayed lifted as she sighted after the target. There was a thud and then the young woman frowned, her cheeks coloring in discouragement. The shot had hit high, just the edge of the top of the target. Normally, her shots were too far to the left as she tried to accommodate for her lesser sight. “Petch, way too high.”

That was when she felt a hand at her elbow, urging her to lift the weapon once more but not draw the string. A voice behind her was speaking, a woman’s voice, sharp with criticism. She said, “Your bow arm was elevated. You must be used to Second Quiver.”

Vira started to turn, but the voice continued, “Nock a new arrow and let me see you shoot again.” The voice was very familiar, but Vira couldn’t place who it could be. Mindful that she was definitely being watched, Vira fetched another arrow from the quiver, nocked it and studied the target, going over in her mind the various steps for shooting.

Stance. Was her stance okay? She glanced subconsciously down and saw that the toes of her sandals were pointed out too far. She lined back up and set them even with her shoulders. With her fingers on the arrow, she raised the bow, pulling the string from her back and not her hands until it was at full draw. It was now, with the bow raised and drawn that she saw what the mystery woman spoke of. Her bow-arm was aimed too high. She’d become used to the upwards slant of the Second Quiver and had not stopped to evaluate. Quickly, the teen adjusted, glad for the criticism she had received and released the shot. This time, it was at the right level with the center of the target, but too far right this time.

Her head had shifted about the entire time, trying to acclimate and sight in the same fashion but having difficulty. Now, she turned, hoping that the figure might have some tips for the falconer.

[Lavira]

When she turned to ask of this mystery woman, she was surprised to find Tysala standing behind her, arms crossed. The archery master was twice Lavira’s age, though her face did not look it. The lines of her seniority did not show but in the creases of her eyes and tight set of her jaw. She was a lovely woman, true, but her notoriety was not in her looks but in her bowmanship. Tysala was the best archer in Wind Reach, outshining even the Tavina and Tavinar. She was definitely a teacher worth listening to. But the woman was always busy! Why had she stopped to consider her? Wasn’t it rare that Tysala taught Endal?

Tysala spoke, “Your stance is right and your draw is fine; but you’re floating. But it’s not why you overcompensate to the right, is it?” Her gaze had moved to the blind eye staring back at the woman. “What’s your name, Endal?”

“Lavira, ma’am.”

“Ah, I know you, or your name anyways. Meera’s mentioned you a few times, and I thought I saw you visiting the Aviary. New bird?”

“Maybe. There was a golden eagle caught in a forgotten snare from some other hunter I rescued yesterday.” Tysala’s eyes turned to her bandaged hands now, nodding in understanding.

“Be careful of your grip while your hands are healing. Reset and draw but do not fire.” She was instructed to do and obliged. The teen set her stance again, evenly spaced feet shoulder-width apart with draw-side over the firing line. Her hips were rotated forwards so that her body lined up smoothly and Vira drew an arrow from the practice quiver. She gripped it close to the fletch and then placed the shaft on the arrow rest near her bow hand. Noting that the index was not properly aligned, she rotated the shaft until it did and then nocked the index against the string.

Once the arrow was nocked, the teen gently wrapped the fingers of her right hand around the string into the hook position, careful to ensure her index finger was pushed against the nock of the arrow. With this ready, she went over the list in her head once more. Stance, check. Nock arrow, check. Set, check. Had anything changed leading to now? She verified her body position and decided that she hadn’t altered. Making sure that the hooked fingers were still in their proper position, Vira at last, raised the bow, taking a breath as she did so. A hand touched the front of her left hip and told her to bring it forwards so that it was back in alignment. She hastily corrected.

Her bowhand was now positioned just above the level of her nose, the string yet drawn. Then, she pulled the string, drawing it until her fingers were just off the side of her face. Her index finger was now positioned about nose-level as well and again, Tysala stepped in and began correcting her in the firm way that was normal for her.

“Index finger near the corner of your mouth.” The master bowman put light weight on her wrist until the teen was back into proper position. “Drop your shoulder. You draw with your back, not your arms.” The hand moved to press upon her shoulder until it was level. Almost immediately, Vira felt the tension in her draw arm begin to ebb. She rolled the shoulder backwards then and the tension was gone. She was surprised by the sensation but now understood why. If you constantly drew with your arm, shooting would be painfully exhausting before you were even close to finished!

“Raise your elbow.” The fingers pushed under her elbow, positioning her properly once again. “It should always be directly behind the arrow, not beneath, above, or too far to one side or the other. Your left arm is twisted too much, as well. Rotate your left elbow up until it’s pointing straight out.” Vira obeyed and was shocked at the difference. “Make sure your bow-shoulder is back and down as well. Remember, draw with the back.” Again, the phrase came and again, she was corrected with the firm touch of the older teacher.

“Transfer the draw weight now.” The hands pressed against her shoulders in specific directions until her torso was aligned. “Now hold it.”

[Lavira]

Vira held it as instructed, though she felt the tension beginning to build in her forearm. Tysala would not relent, however, as she slipped around in front of the teenager, one arm crossed beneath her bust to hold her elbow and the other hand resting beneath her chin in evaluation of the young woman. The Endal could feel the criticism coming off of the Master in waves and she wanted to speak, but it was not the time. Instead, Vira put her focus into holding the bow and sighting down the shaft of the arrow to the target. As usual, it appeared slightly more to the right than it should have been and out of reflex, the arrow head and bow drifted to the right just a smidge.

With her visual deficiency, Vira had tried on a number of occasions to find the right method for shooting half-blind, but nothing truly jumped out at her. Even Kovac’s assistance was not getting the results she’d hoped for. She should have been hitting the Red solidly each time by now yet, she wasn’t! It was beyond frustrating for the falconer and she was sure it showed on her face as Tysala shifted the bow with a finger back into its proper place.

When the woman spoke again, it was the same critical tone demanding perfection from someone who was not perfect. “Stop overcompensating.” The master reached past the bow and touched just beneath her right eye, making the Endal flinch in response and force her to go through the process of getting back into position again. “You’re blind, not incapable. Just focus on the target like you would have normally and keep the bow centered. Shifting your head about is going to alter your anchor and will ensure you never hit the target.”

The master then took her own bow from her shoulder and drew an arrow from the quiver. She lined up in the same way Vira had, set, raised, drew, aimed, and then at the last second turned her head in an odd way before releasing the arrow. Looking back to Vira, she said, “You see? You lose your anchor, you lose your aim. Now concentrate.”

The Endal frowned, replying, “But my sight shifts to the right. I have to shift that way to see better or I miss it all.”

“Then aim left.”

“But-“

“Aim left.”

The teen stood there, looking at the other through her periphery, her right arm quivering with the effort of holding the bow and a fine sheen of sweat having broken across her brow. Was the archer serious about this? Then, immediately following these thoughts, Vira laughed and murmured, “Of course she is; she’s a master.”

“Okay, aim left…got it.” Vira kept her head properly positioned but shifted her eye just a little to the left.

“Now, release.” The twang of the string as the tension was released at last resonated in the gallery before the shot struck the target with a loud thunk, dead center at last. Vira lowered the bow slowly, amazed and turned to look at the Master once more.

“Like I said, you overcompensate, you lose your anchor. Keep your position (and your head) in the same spot but just aim a little to the left and you will hit the mark every time. Let me see you do it again.”

Vira had temporarily switched the bow to her right hand and was now gingerly massaging her forearm to work the kinks out of it. “How did you figure I should aim left, Master?” Once the ache had receded, the teen reset everything. Her stance was put in place and her grip checked as she pulled another arrow from the quiver and knocked it. Drawing a breath, the teen raised the bow and drew in a fluid motion, holding the breath. She noticed now that the errors had been pointed out to her that she was doing it again. Tysala came forward to correct her but before the critical hands could urge her back into a proper position, Vira had already dropped her shoulders down and rotated them back. Her bow elbow was turned out and her right/draw elbow was put in alignment with the string.

She sighted down the shaft of the arrow, her heart thundering in her breast, and picked the point just a smidge to the left of the bullseye before exhaling and letting the string go. It shot the arrow forward until the projectile struck the target, in the middle once more, this time just a hair over her first center-shot.

When Vira turned to look with brows raised at the woman, she noticed that the two others on the range had stopped their practice to observe what was going on, one of them leaning casually over his own bow. “Master, I’ve been trying to figure out a way to aim true for three years, though only in force the last few seasons. Nobody even gave me the chance before an Avora caught me watching the other archers in Second Quiver during spring, but even then it was just some lucky shots and nothing more. He helped stabilize my stance and remind me of my elbows.”

“What was this archers name?”

“Kovac, ma’am.”

“Really?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Well, Endal, count yourself lucky that’s all he taught you. That man has a bad habit of cavorting his way into a pretty faces bed.”

Vira stopped, her brows furrowed in displeasure at the words the Master said of her lover. “Begging your pardon, Master, but Avora Kovac is one of the best shots Wind Reach has; it isn’t fair to judge his history when his generosity actually helped a down and out Chiet find her strength again.”

Tysala paused, her brows raised at the brash retort the half-blind woman gave her. “Kovac is well known fo-“

“-for his bedroom affairs, yes I know. He lives with me and flies with me and hunts with me and was one of two who actually saw me for who I am.”

[Lavira]

Tysala stopped with her eyebrows high. She’d dealt with know-it-all Yasi and power-hungry Chiets before, but it wasn’t often that she faced an Endal who had the gall to tell her different. And just when she was about to reply again, the scarred woman before her went on.

“Master Tysala, did you judge me when you saw this half-blind woman shooting in the ranges just for the Endal? Did you think maybe that ‘what is this Dek doing in here’? Or thought perhaps to so put my skill down that I would run out crying like a little girl?” Vira watched the others eyes, aware that those portals often told more than what words could. “You didn’t, because what Dek or chiet or even Avora would come in here where they are not supposed to be without getting promptly kicked out.

“You only saw the Endal and thought maybe, since you have a few moments in your busy schedule, you could pause to offer them a quick few tips. Afterall, we are the ones who supply the bulk of nourishment for Wind Reach and if our skills are not in tip-top shape, well everybody starves, don’t they. So, I would ask that you please do not counsel me on something you may not understand. I wouldn’t dare counsel you on which bow is better for what task, afterall.”

The Master stood there, stunned somewhat and watching as the young woman drew from the quiver a fourth shot. But her emotions were running high and this time, she didn’t hit as true as she would have before. Her anchor was off and, thus, the shot slipped too far to the left. Vira sighed and lowered the bow, looking back to Tysala again to say, “I’m sorry for snapping at you, ma’am. Kovac and I are close; we try to protect one another when we can…or I do, at the least. I know about what he used to do, and what he may still do. It is who he is and I’m willing to accept it where others could not. He is who he is and I am who I am and…eh…Thank you for your assistance. I would love to keep training with you sometime if you’ll have me. I’m sure I can wrangle up some gear in exchange.”

Tysala did not immediately answer once the teen had finished her vent, her arms having crossed again. “Well, I am pretty booked this season…but come find me on your next off day; I am sure we can work something out. I hate to see an Endal fail due to improper training.”

Vira grinned now, glad that she had gotten the lesson out of Tysala but not having expected to get one in the first place, and waited for the other two, who had resumed their sets, to finish so she could fetch her arrows from the target. “I will have to check with my Flight Leader for time, but I think I can manage to find a date in the near future! Thank you for your understanding, Master.”

The Avora bow-woman just nodded her head curtly and turned to leave, letting them get back to their work.

[Taylani]

XP Award!

Lavira:

XP Award:

• +2 Falconry
• +3 observation
• +2 socialization
• +3 weapon: Short bow
• +1 rhetoric

Lore:

• Antiseptic stings
• Bandaging the leg of a eagel
• Weapon: Short Bow: Be careful not to float.
• Being Blind Doesn’t Mean Incapable

Notes:

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TAYLANI