Training and a show (Finished/XP Awarded)

[Alron]

4th day of Fall, 510AV
Location:The Courtyard of the Sky

The sun had just barely come up as Alron stepped out into the courtyard with Rel flying close behind. The natural lighting and open air was a welcome change from the heat and chaos of the arms gallery where he had spent the last few bells shopping for hunting supplies, plus a little something for himself. He grinned as his hand slid to the hilt of his brand new dagger. He slowly removed it from it's sheath and held it up, the silver blade gleaming in the sunlight. He sat on one of the benches and pulled out one of the small scraps of leather he had managed to convince one of the leatherworkers to part with. It wasn't that hard considering that he was going to throw them out anyway since they were too small to be of use.

He set one of the scraps out on the bench and carefully cut out a pair of thin strips. He then cut a series of small notches along one side of the strips, folded each strip onto itself forming a single loop with each, using the notches to secure it. He tugged each one lightly, testing to make sure the notches would hold, not that they would be under very much stress, before setting them down. He shrugged his back pack from his shoulder, set it down on the ground, opened it up, and pulled out the spoils of his "hunt" through the arms and crafter's galleries as well as a side trip to Inclemate Weather; A coiled up fifty foot section of rope, a loaf of bread, four small animal snares, and a red glass sphere, containg a very sparkly powder, roughly the size of his fist with a groove running along it's circumference allowing for it to be attached to a rope without slipping through, along with one of his sontav from home. He returned the traps to the bag and quickly stuffed the bread into one of his pockets before Rel caught sight of it.

He looped one of the ends of the rope through the groove in the ball and secured it with a simple knot. He swung it in a small loop, then tightened the loop a bit more. The sun had climbed higher, now fully showing, but still not directly over head yet, and Alron guessed that it was roughly the 10th bell or so as he strode out into a clear spot close to the middle of the courtyard, rope and sontav in hand. He slipped the glove onto his right arm, making sure that no one was within ten feet of him before raising his gloved arm. Rel caught sight of the extended arm and dove, swooping down and landing on the glove. Alron lowered his arm back to the same level as his shoulder and locked eyes with his training partner. While the pair had rarely trained together before, Rel had watched as Alron worked with some of the other raptors and they both knew this routine by heart, although today they had a little treat in store for any passersby who decided to stop and watch.

[Alron]

With a subtle nod of understanding betwixt the two, Alron raised his arm and Rel took to the skies once more, slowly circling over head. Al held the coil of rope in his left hand and grabbed the end with the glass bauble in the right, pulling until he had a couple feet of slack. He spun it a bit at his side, building up speed before bringing it up and twirling it overhead, loosening his grip until he had roughly five feet of rope twirling above him. He let out a sharp whistle and Rel banked inward and dove towards the orbiting crimson globe. Just as he was about to make contact Al pulled the rope into a tighter spin, speeding it out of the way, watching the crow as it sped past, flying high up into the sky before banking and making another pass. Each time he dove Al would let him get just a little closer before yanking it away.

A few people had stopped to watch, and Al began to put a little more flair into his act, letting out an excited whoop with each pass, shifting the orb's orbit from over head, to along his right side while shortening the slack until the sphere just barely avoided brushing the ground. This was what the duo had trained for, less about hunting, more about show. When Al spun it along his side, instead of diving from an angle, he would dive straight down, pulling up at the last moment in a dark blur. The crowd began to get involved, the crescendo of anticipating aaahs as the bird dove, hitting a peak as it nearly got the orb, before dieing back down as it was pulled away in the nick of time. While falconry was common in Wind Reach, it was rare to see such displays in public places such as this. It was a fascinating spectacle, man and bird competing in a test of skill and agility.

[Shayth]

Shayth loved the sky. It was wide, open, and for the majority of the time, Turiska wasn't angry. Tucked close to the bird, feathers in hand, the endal closed her eyes against the wind that tugged against her hair and threw back the hood of her black riding cloak.

"Gah, crows. Why does any good sensed inarta befriend a crow. Annoying birds, mind full of strange thoughts." Opening her eyes as the irritated voice of the wind eagle reached her mind, Shayth looked down. Indeed, below them was a small gathering around a solitary figure. Although she couldn't see the bird, the rider could guess by Turiska's rant that it was a crow. Reaching out with her mind, the endal felt for the crow, and immediately pulled back.

"Just ignore it." She said, already noticing the decline in the birds altitude. Turiska was taking her down. Sighing, the endal frowned.

"Why are you taking us down? It's just a falconry display." There was a hint of curiosity in Turiska's response.

"I want to see what that thing is he keeps throwing. It's - see! There!" Shayth didn't bother to remind the bird she couldn't see as well as herself.

"Alright! But don't land on top of everyone. Over there, where its empty." She directed, showing in her mind the blank patch she could see. Without further words, Turiska circled, coming down in a sweep of black wings to land gently. Sliding off, Shayth turned to look at the bird. Her blue eyes met steely yellow ones. There was a silent argument for a moment, before Shayth threw her hands up with a groan and stomped towards the display.

As she got closer, the endal realised it was the same foolish man from the day before. Crossing her arms, she moved between the people to watch the display. To say it wasn't interesting would be a lie, and the redhead found herself smiling and making small chuckles along with the rest of the group.

[Kellan Lucia]

There had been talk of a display of falconry in the Courtyard of the Sky. There were not many shows in Wind Reach like that so of course Kellan's attention was peaked. He loved when things out of the ordinary happened. Although he loved his home things had a way of stagnating very quickly. Usually when Kellan wanted to see some new sights he would venture out of Wind Reach and spend the day at Sanikas River. The snow would come soon and then he would be locked in Mount Skyinarta until First Thaw again. All of this would have been a nonexistent worry if he had an eagle but alas, he did not. The commotion seemed to have attracted a fellow Endal. He looked at her in envy as she sat there with her eagle companion. He walked up next to her and smiled. "It's not everyday we get to see a crow show." He tried his hand at a terrible rhyme and then smiled at her to show he was not being serious. He had seen the girl around the aeries but he had never talked to her. He put on his most charming smile and extended a hand. "I'm Kellan, I've been trying to bond with Alwin. I've seen you around but I never introduced myself." He looked over at the man with the crow and noticed with delight that he was the same man that he had spilled a drink on earlier. It truly amazed him how little his world seemed to be at times.

[Alron]

The crowd had grown quite considerably, although it was impossible to pick out faces anymore as the displays required more and more concentration from Alron. Shifting orbits at a moments notice was very taxing, both on the body and the mind, going from over head, down to his side, and actually circling around himself before bringing it back over head and switching back to the standard dive and pull from earlier to allow himself a short reprieve, and he was pretty sure Rel was getting worn out too, but they needed something extra for the finale...

He scanned the crowd, and was pleased to see that most of the attention was on Rel when he picked out two familiar faces, the two Endal's from the day before. An idea popped into his head, a long shot for sure, but if it worked the result would be spectacular. He couldn't see whether or not the male Endal (Kellan he had said his name was?) had his bow with him, but it was a risk he'd have to take. He waited until Kellan turned his attention back towards him and mouthed two words at him, praying to whatever particular diety was watching that day he could read lips.

Shoot it

He turned his focus back onto Rel and gave him an almost imperceptable nod, the sign to bring things to an end. Rel dove yet again, but instead of continuing straight and looping back around, he shot out his wings and followed the orb in it's tight loop, creating a vortex of red and black. Matching Rel's speed took Al's full concentration, but they only had to keep it up for five rotations, lasting only a few seconds. After the fifth loop, Rel broke off, allowing himself to drift within inches of the crowd while Al shifted back into a sidearmed loop. He swung it as fast and hard as he could before releasing it straight into the air. Rel had looped back around behind Al, and just as the rope was released, Rel shot straight up, climbing furiously after the dazzling ruby globe. The inertia carried the orb upwards, allowing Al to simply let the rope run through his hands, twenty feet, twenty five feet, thirty, forty. The globe was nearing it's peak and Al could only hope that his message to Kellan had gotten through.

[Aria]

Aria leaned against a wall of the Arms Gallery watching the spinning ball that was part of the falconry display with some amount of amusement, her bright green eyes following it's every move. Sometimes she found it difficult to shrug off the nature of the cat the was a part of her. The man putting on the display was an Inarta, no doubt about that; but she just couldn't understand why an Inarta would bond with a crow, nor could she remember seeing him around, although 2 years was a relatively short time to get to know the faces of the whole city. His display had attracted two Endal, one actually landing in the square to watch, probably because the eagle was just as interested in the flying ball as she was. She watched as he continued the display, getting flashier and flashier, until he finally released the ball, it's momentum carrying it upwards. Just before he let it go however, she caught an almost imperceptible motion of his lips, or at least it would have been imperceptible from this distance, had she not been Kelvic. He appeared to be gesturing to somebody in the audience. She snickered to herself as she watched the events unfold.

[Kellan Lucia]

The show seemed to move in slow motion after Kellan saw Alron mouth the words "Shoot it". It was instantaneous and almost a reflex as he whipped his bow around. He saw the events unfold in his mind even before he pulled the arrow out of his pack. The arrow flew and hit the orb sending glitter showering down on the court yard. It would be a beast to clean up but that was not his issue. The Dek would clean it up. Kellan's golden eyes were focused on the orb in front of him watching it like a predator stalking it's prey. The shot had to be perfect and it had to hit dead on. It was now or never. The orb flew from Alron's hand and Kellan watched as it flew into the air. He looked over at Shayth and smiled. "Time for the grande finale." He stood up and pulled an arrow out of his pack. The closed his eyes and felt the wind around him. It was blowing to the right, he would have to factor that into his shot. He lined his arrow up with the orb that was still advancing in the air and let it fly. The arrow raced though the courtyard and in a well placed shot it broke through the orb. The glass flew off in different directions and the glittery substance seemed to snow down on the spectators. Kellan wore a proud smile and looked at Alron. He jogged down to where Alron was and smiled in the falling glitter. "Good show man, we need to team up like this more often." As the glitter fell into Kellan's hair he shook it out and it fell to the floor beneath his feet. He would not be sparkle free for a few days now...

[Aria]

Aria watched the young endal whip his bow out and loose an arrow at the ball that was flying through the air. Arrow head met glass in an explosion of glass and sparkles. Aria clapped briefly and stalked up to the performer, slipping through the crowd with ease. "Good shot, my endal friend" Said as she walked up. "Nicely staged."

[Shayth]

Shayth groaned light-heartedly at Kellan's joke, glancing back at Turiska as she felt the eagle bristle. The bird's feathers were raised and her golden eyes stared at the rider. Turning back to the man, she smiled and took his hand. He was an endal, she knew that, but not unlike the majority of the men in the aerie, she'd not actually met him before.

"Shayth. I know of Alwin...and all I can say is persevere. It took me ages to bond with Turiska, she hated me I think. But, in the end, I think we annoyed each other enough we realised we actually did want to be together." Shifting her blue eyes to the display, she made a small sound in the back of her throat.

"Personally I have nothing against crows, not my choice of bird, but to each their own. Turiska dislikes them, a lot. But she was curious to see what was going on. Interesting display." She fell silent as they continued to watch, eyes following the orb as it sailed higher and higher. Beside her, Kellan spoke, and the redhead turned to look at him puzzled. The shot was perfect, and as the orb exploded into a shower of glass and glitter, Shayth walked up to follow the other rider towards the crow-handler.

"You certainly know how to draw a crowd." She said, ignoring the disappointment radiating from Turiska. The wind eagle wanted the orb, and now, she was bored. Shayth silently reminded the bird she had wanted to come down. There was a sudden figure between the group, and with a start, Shayth looked at the new comer. Kelvic, judging from the feline green eyes looking at the falconer...crower.

[Alron]

The plan had worked perfectly and the crowd was awe struck, so much so that they didn't see Alron fail miserably at trying to coil the rope as it succumbed to gravity's inevitable embrace. Instead he wound up with a decent bump on the head from the knot he had tied earlier as well as the rest of the rope snaking off around him. As he gathered up the rope from the ground and coiled it around his arm, Rel flew back down and landed on the falconer's shoulder, very tired and very sparkly. Al reached back with his free hand and broke off a chunk of the loaf of bread in his pocket and handed to the small bird, who snapped it up greedily. "You'll get the rest once I get a chance to sit down." Al said, coiling the last bit of rope and slinging over his left shoulder, his whole right arm numb from the constant swinging for nearly fifteen chimes.

Only then did Alron notice the three who were approaching, Kellan and the other Endal from the day before, along with another young woman who came from another direction. "Indeed we do! Maybe next time we should make them buy tickets, could make a killing!" He agreed at the archer's remark. "And as for drawing a crowd, this was the first time we had attempted this in public, but I'm glad you liked it." He admitted, running his good hand through his glittery red hair, his right hand being the only part of his arm that wasn't numb due to the severe rope burn from the constant shifting of the rope, especially during that final trick. The third person piqued Al's curiosity; She wasn't Inarta, her dark hair made that obvious enough, and her eyes, something was off about them, they almost looked like a cat's eyes. "That wasn't so much staged as it was resting the success of an entire act on blind luck, although I think things went rather well."