[Flashback] Lets go....Climb a Tree.

[Aidara]

29th of Summer, 509 AV She stepped up to the door, raised her hand and knocked twice before stepping back and waiting patiently for a response. Two, three minutes passed and nothing happened. She moved back up to the door and knocked again, louder this time, and calling a name. "Fen? Are you there? It's Aidara." She didn't want to shout, or have a conversation through the wooden door so she left it at that, turning and leaning against the stone wall to wait. Addy had never been to this part of the Aeries, but everything looked much the same. Walls carved from the stone of the mountain it's self, wooden doors, giant, deadly birds. The usual. Having asked around for the eccentric, shy glassblower's whereabouts, Addy was shocked to find that he lived in the aeries. He most certainly wasn't an Endal...So he lived with one? Addy's posture became slightly irritated as she waited, her back stiff, her shoulders rigid and her face a blank mask. She had invited him to have dinner with them, a meal that she never shared with anyone besides her sister, and he hadn't even told her that he was living with someone? She had thought him an innocent man, that and his complete awkwardness being one of his greatest charms...but now....? Shake it off, shake it off. She was acting foolish. It was only dinner with friends. Who cared who he lived with, right? Sai and herself only stumbled across the man a week ago, and already the Avora was a treasure to them both. Well aware that she was failing miserably at hiding her other feelings for Fen, she did try to keep it in the "friends zone". Prolonged romantic thoughts and feelings were foreign to her, and she didn't quite know how to handle their sudden appearances. Rotten feelings, messing with her moods till she rode a daily emotional roller coaster. Taking a deep breath, Addy resumed her previous good mood in a very short amount of time. All the anger had melted away and her shoulders and back relaxed into a more natural posture. A small, friendly smile played around the corners of her lips, green eyes riveted expectantly on the door.

[Fenilen]

Thump thump! The sound of knocking only barely processed in the barely-woken Inarta's mind. Was someone at the door? Emory wasn't due back for another few days. She was out hunt with Maverick and a few other Endal. Maybe it was one of her friends. Maybe if he ignored it and went back to sleep, they would go away. Maybe he would finally be able to catch up on the sleep be had been losing to the pangs of worry his sister's absence caused. Maybe he would just be able to spend a day in bed, ignoring all the needs and wants of the world around him. Wouldn't that be nice. He felt himself drifting back off into the world of dreams...

Thump thump! No such luck. Whoever it was was seemed determined. The Inarta tossed his feet over the side of his bed, rubbing his eyes to purge them of the hardened sleep at the corners. He grabbed a silken scarf as he walked to the door, curling it around his neck without a sound. Fenilen found her way to one of the small dressers in the room, removing a pair of Bryda. He pulled them up around his waist, yawning loudly. Eventually, his lumbering form reached the door. A single arm grabbed the door handle, and pulled it back, exposing his pale, slouched form to whoever was on the other side of the door.

"I'm sorry, Emory's out for a few d-" his sentence was cut short as his exhausted brain processed who was in front of the door. A subconscious smile played its way across his face as a single hand waved. "Hi," he said awkwardly, rubbing his eye with his right hand. He yawned, quietly, and then spoke again. "Come on in, I have to get some things together anyway," he held the door for her as she walked inside, then let it close behind them. Awareness and wakefulness slowly came to the man as he navigated through the room, grabbing various things from the shelves. His Sontav found their way to his wrists. From the corner of his eye, he watched her curiously, watching the expressions that played across her face. Odd. Fenilen could have sworn one of them was one of worry or concern. Why was she concerned? He wasn't hurt, or in danger. They were entirely safe in his sister's aerie.

He was certain to make eye contact with her at some point in his little marathon around the room, raising a curious eyebrow as his head tilted at a curious angle. "Is something wrong?" his voice finally rang out, cracking slightly due to its underused. He cleared his throat loudly, embarrassed by this little fluke his body had committed. He repeated the question once more, this time without letting his voice crack. Ah, how cute his little insecurities were.

Finally, he made his way back to the door, holding it open for Addy until she exited. He closed the door behind them, then turned to her and smiled, finally awake. "Good to see you," Fenilen said quietly, a tone of honesty in his voice. He then followed closely behind her, letting her lead the way through the aeries to the cave she shared with her twin. Upon their arrival, he allowed her to open the door. Slipping into the aerie, he examined the semi-familiar surroundings. Ah, there was the seat he loved. He instantly scurried over to that seat, plopping into it with a small smile.

"So... ah... what're you doing today?" he finally asked, in a tone little more than a whisper. His eyes danced around the room as they had just a few nights ago, absorbing every little detail that surrounded him. Everything seemed just as it had when he left. He wasn't sure what exactly this lack of change was meant to symbolize, he just knew that it was that way. The room was, once again, imprinted into his sponge-like, photographic memory.

[Sairque]

"Addy? When you get Fen, ask him how he feels about riding in Catabasis' talons." Sai's voice resonated from the Eagle's aerie, escaping through the slightly cracked door into the common room. The door swayed an inch or two, Sai rummaging around on the other side of it. "He refuses to let Fen ride on his back," Sai said loudly, her voice preceding her into the common room. ...Where her eyes settled on the man in question. "You are not Addy," the flight leader stated dumbly, blinking at him.

She had some straw in her hair, the yellowed stalks clashing with the blood red locks that had yet to be braided. A pair of flowing white bryda gathered at her ankles, right above low cut boots. The material had swirling designs stitched throughout the material with a dark green thread that matched the color of her vinati. She was brushing other random pieces of Catabasis' nest off of her clothing, slowly walking into the room. "We're going out," Sai explained. "I was just cleaning up the nest a bit."

See, now there would be differences in the room. Now it was dirty.

[Aidara]

"It's nothing, I promise. Just...thought you were ignoring me, not coming to the door right away. I thought I had told you I was going to come get you this morning." Aidara lied quickly, averting her gaze and stepping quickly ahead of Fen as she lead the way from his house to her own. Addy opened their front door and ushered him inside, leaving him to his own devices as she disappeared in to the darkness of her room. Once inside, she gathered a few things she needed for a shower and appeared back in the common room, strode quickly across it past Fen and into the bathroom. As one twin exited, the other entered, shouting rudely at their guest. "She doesn't mean you, she means another Fen. We have many friends named Fen." Came the bright and cheery tone from the back of the common room. The door to the bathroom was slightly, and Addy moved around inside as she got everything just so before her bath. Since she was sent off to fetch Fen, she hadn't had a chance. Blargh, and she would have to rush. A bath was a.....journey, to be enjoyed, not rushed. But she wasn't going to keep them waiting. "I'll be right out!" She shouted as she closed the door completely. Humming and running water was all that could be heard from inside. If Sai and Fen decided not to talk at all whilst she bathed and acted all awkward and quiet, then they would most surely hear Addy singing softly to herself. A quarter of a candle mark later, some splashing, a pause and the door opened. The steam that had been trapped within the bathroom poured out the open door as Addy strolled out, wrapped in a big green fluffy towel. "Sorry, I rushed." Really, she did. Sai could attest to that, for it must have been her fastest bath on record. Sauntering across the space, past Sai and Fen, Addy disappeared once again into her bedroom, reappearing when she was fully clothed. She took the towel to her hair, flipping her head upside-down and dried it vigorously while talking to the pair. "So, now what?"

[Fenilen]

The man went pale as he heard Sairque comment on how he was to be carried in the Eagle's talons. Entirely pale. Like, oh my god, what just happened to all of the color that had only a few moments ago decorated his face pale. When she pointed out he was not Addy, he nodded quickly and fervently in agreement. He was most certainly not Addy.

"Don't want to ride in claws. Don't want to, no, no, no, no, no, would rather walk, would rather walk," the man stuttered out, a frown claiming the entirety of his face. He spent the rest of Addy's absence in this state of frightful shock, shaking his head slowly. No no no. Talons were not safe. He would be dropped, and then he would die. No one would be able to protect his sisters if he died. They would be left defenseless, and then, Goddess only know what would happen to them. No, he refused to take the risk. Too much risk, not enough reward.

Was it even safe to fly in the talons of an eagle? That was how they carried prey home, and how they gutted and killed their prey, was it not? It couldn't be safe to fly in the grasp of things that could kill you in less than a few moments! They were not meant to carry anything that was alive! Thoughts of brutal death at the hands of the talons replayed in his mind over and over again, varying ever so slightly in their details. Ah, his mind worked in mysterious ways.

Then, Addy opened the door. Fenilen's terrified eyes dashed over to her, silently begging him to tell him that her sister was only teasing him. A look that could instill pity in even the most stoic of hearts gazed into her eyes. Only after this gaze did he notice her choice of attire. A towel. Fenilen's cheeks went from the pale white to a burning red. His gaze followed suit, turning to one of fright and sorrow to one of utter embarrassment. Green eyes danced away as his head turned, focusing on some seemingly unimportant section of the wall.

[Sairque]

Sai stifled the sadistic grin that threatened to break out and would, without a doubt, send the boy running back to his house where they would never be able to coax him from again. Walking past his favorite seat, she patted him on the shoulder firmly. "Buck up, lad, you'll be okay."

He needed some time to digest their travel accommodations, anyone could see that. A pile of bight material was snagged from the floor next to the couch, Sai bending over briefly for them. Two of the scarves were shaken out to their lengths before being wrapped around her neck, the third was tied sash style around her hips. The bright orange strip of material added a nice flare of color to her outfit.

Sinking gracefully into her favorite spot, the corner of the couch, Sai picked up a book on Inartan history and pretended to peruse it. "The first time I flew with Catabasis I was in his talons, you know," that succulent voice of hers rolled each word off her lips coated in honey and dipped in chocolate. A ready treat for any boy that needed some distraction. Not too harsh, not too soft, just a tinge of indefinable amusement. "Personally, riding on their backs is more comfortable, but in their talons is safer." They towed huge tuna back that weighed several hundred pounds, holding onto a scrimpy little Inartan was nothing! Not that Fen was scrawny...just, compared to most things Wind Eagle's hauled around, all Inarta were.

And then her sister was flouncing around the common area all naked and dripping wet and deliberately provoking their guest. Sai regarded the heavily blushing boy. He was hopeless. Addy was going to eat him for breakfast. But then again...why had she even bothered with the towel. Hmn...something was afoot. Was Fen playing some kind of game with her? Was Addy getting mixed signals that she couldn't decipher? Was Addy trying a new approach? No..no...that wasn't it. Why did Addy care? Why was Addy coddling the boys sensibilities? Sai didn't realize she had let her eyes lose focus while still on the boy, staring blankly at him. Then Addy appeared again, and Sai turned her vastly amused and knowing stare on her.

"Oh, we're gonna go have a little romantic picnic down on the lake. I already have everything ready," now her voice was measured, one brow arched at the girl.

[Aidara]

"Well, isn't that just lovely.." She drawled, glancing at her sister curiously, also arching her brow. It was times like these that really made it obvious how many little mannerisms the sisters shared. "Fen you're...in my seat" Addy laughed, walking back to the bathroom and carefully hanging up her towel to dry. Fen was in her favorite chair, claiming it as his own. Instead, she perched on the arm, gently bumping his arm out of the way with her hip. "No Fen, really, it will be okay. Do you really think that Sai and I would let anything happen to you? That would be negligent. Not to mention Catabasis would hold on just as to not ruin his precious reputation." She smiled, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Come on, you can do it. I promise...Plus, how else are we going to get to this mysterious picnic? It's not every day Sai goes out of her way for someone other than...herself. We must snatch this opportunity while the fruit is ripe!" Sliding off of the armrest, Addy meticulously fixed her outfit, straightening the waistband her bryda until it clung just right on her hips. Unlike her sister Aidara dressed for the warmth of the day, sporting a green top embroidered halter with white thread that left her abdomen completely exposed. Until now the woman just looked slender, but with so much skin exposed it was easy to see the tone of her body, the muscles rippling just below her skin, hinting at strength. Since they were going for a fly, Aidara wisely took the top portion of her hair and braided it attempt to keep it from her eyes during flight. Finally done fixing herself up, Addy's gaze sought out her sisters. Wordlessly, she sent a question along their bond, glancing at Fen as she did so. Her meaning was clear- to Sairque, at least. Upon receiving a confirming nod, Addy whirled upon the poor, traumatized man. She had watched as the blood drained and rushed to his face in rapid succession, and decided not to comment and pretend she didn't even notice. Fen deserved to hold on to even a shred of his own dignity, poor guy. However when she faced him now, she took both his hands in her own and pulled him to his feet, a brilliant smile on her face. Green eyes sparkled with mischif as she tilted her head back to look into his face "Come on, Fen." She managed to slip an arm around his waist, even though the top of her head didn't even reach his shoulder, and half dragged him towards the aerie. Next to the door were her sandals, which she slipped on before twisting the knob and admitting them both to where Catabasis stood, saddled and waiting. "Fen, dear, if you would..Go stand on the edge. Please?" Turning her face up once more, Addy made her eyes huge and pleading, a small hopeful smile on her lips. She felt bad using Fen this way, but...They had to get him into the birds talons. Without waiting very long for Fen to respond, Addy left his side and vaulted up onto the eagles saddle, turning to watch the other two as they made their preparations.

[Fenilen]

Why did she choose the adjective romantic to describe the picnic? Why was it going to be romantic? Was this a hint that one of them liked him? What was this? Questions shot constantly through his mind, skipping gracelessly from one line of though to another. He couldn't stop being bothered by that sentence, though. Romantic picnic. Images flew into his head of a picnic by the ocean on a beach with candles. Bah, no, can't be right. He must have misheard. He was broken from his endless chain of thought by Addy's comment on how else they could get there.

"We could walk," was Fenilen's quick retort to her rhetorical question. However, in his heart, he knew this was already lost. The had both decided, and he, ever the follower, was doomed to obey. However, obeying didn't mean he wouldn't scream in terror for the duration of the flight and whimper softly when they finally dropped him onto the ground. The thin man slouched in his chair, a sense of defeat rolling off of him in waves.

When Aidara took his hands in her own and yanked him from the couch, she was yanking up a rag doll. He only remained standing because the muscles in his legs locked him in a standing position out of habit. Her arm snaked its way around his waist, and in an almost instantaneous response, his arm was around hers, holding her firmly, as if he was uncertain about whether or not he would survive the events that were to come. She then requested for him to stand near the edge, and walked off. He frowned.

Slowly, cautiously, he approached the edge. When his slowly shuffling feet brought him there, he faced his fate silently, eyes closed. The uncertain man's body quivered and shuddered in fright as the horrifying scenarios began repeating in his mind again. He was quite a sight-- frightfully pale as he was. He would be safe. Both of the girls had told him so. He would be safe. He would not be dropped. He would be safe, and then he would never have to do this again...

Except for on the return trip. He almost hurled as this realization crossed his mind.

[Sairque]

Addy hopped up on Catabasis, who did look over his shoulder reproachfully at her enthusiastic familiarity. But then he had that delectable little morsel otherwise known as Fen to focus on. The Eagle, huge with a wingspan of almost forty feet, tilted his black head so that he was pinning Fen with an unfathomable yellow eye. His head dropped so that his sharp beak was just inches from the man.

"Stop it! You two are terrible!" Sai admonished from her position in the doorway where she was pulling on her sontav as she strode into the nest. "Fen, you're perfectly safe. I'll be riding next to you." Her brows were still drawn down in displeasure even though Catabasis had straightened up again and no longer looked as though he was trying to decide whether the man was worth holding onto for the duration of the flight. "Fenilen, Catabasis. Catabasis, Fenilen, Avora."

Catabasis just stood up in preparation of flight. On his back was the two person saddle, and the safety straps had been undone for Addy's use in the front seat. Behind the empty back seat, a saddle bag, bulging, had been tied down tight to prevent any wind from getting inside. Inside was a meal that Sai had spared no expense preparing. Mead, meat, vegetables, sweets, breads, mosses, fungi...a smoargasboard of options and variety just for her two guests.

Sai stopped in front of Fen and nodded a bit. "Just stay still, keep your arms at your sides, it won't be comfortable," she said grimly but suddenly grinned. "If we do this enough we should be able to perfect it and figure out how to make it a decent ride." With a pat of his shoulder she walked straight past him...and off the cliff. Well, she did leap at the last second to get more forward momentum and push herself away from the mountain as she fell. She was lucky to have an aerie that made it easy to do this from. They were higher up so had a greater distance for Catabasis to catch her before she smashed into a million pieces against the side of the mountain. Immediately after she disappeared, Catabasis rushed forward, wings flapping in vast sweeps and one foot coming up to grab Fenilen firmly but gently, his great talons no where near the human's delicate flesh.

Sai, meanwhile, was executing a graceful swan dive. Hair whipping in the wind, goosebumps broke out over her flesh and she closed her eyes. She knew the rock, with great openings for the Eagles to fly right into their nests, was whizzing past, entirely too fast. Honestly, this wasn't the best place to play fetch with Catabasis. Eagles tended to get pissed off when they were about to leave their home and a human went flying by about to take them out. Luckily, she passed by that section pretty quickly, and just about right after she did, Catabasis should have caught up. Flipping over onto her back, the air resistance was almost terrifying, but she could squint her eyes open to look for her Eagle. He was there, Fen clutched in his right foot, curled up to his underside protectively. Sai didn't know how much time Fen had spent free falling, but she knew that he would experience the same stomach rolling for the first three or for seconds before it wouldn't feel like he was falling at all anymore. And it had to be an interesting experience all cuddled up to the belly of the bird.

Catabasis' other foot whipped out and his toes wrapped carefully, so carefully, around her body. Then he gradually opened his wings and started leveling them out with a graceful and gradual turn away from the mountain. It had to be gentle, because Catabasis couldn't clutch his two little human bundles as tight as he would have liked...because then they would die. Sai was used to this, though, so she was held as tightly as Fen. Sai was given room to adjust her position straddle one of the toes and wrap her arms around the other two so she was facing forward.

If nothing went wrong, like someone falling and smashing into the side of the mountain, where wasn't very far below them at this point, Catabsis would wheel off and catch an air current to take them out to the beach.

[Aidara]

Aidara tried not to fidget as she waited for Sai and Fen to both stop chattering and get on with it, already. She was excited to see if this plan worked, and also anxious as to if Fen was going to make it to their destination still conscious. The poor boy looked as if he would faint right off the edge of the mountain at any second. Caught up with worry, Addy didn't see the physical queues Sai's body was giving as she prepared to jump from the cliff. And then she was gone. Addy knew she was going to perform the stunt, but she thought she would have time to ready for it and what would ensue. Her negligence rewarded her as all the air in her lungs was promptly removed as Catabasis launched himself into the air. Fighting to get even the smallest breath of air back into her lungs, Addy scrabbled at the feathers on Catabasis's neck. YOU COULD HAVE WARNED ME She screamed mentally at the bird, though unsure whether he would really hear her or not, it didn't really matter. There was those few panicked seconds as the giant eagle plummeted towards one falling twin, while the other practically flew off his back as a result. Slender arms finally wove their way around the birds neck, since there was nothing with any real purchase on the saddle to speak of, and she had become distracted in the midst of fastening her safety straps. After what seemed like ten years, Catabasis' decent began to level out. Considering the bird wasn't screeching in grief and Addy hadn't felt her bond with her sister snap, she went so far as to assume her caught her. The action was preformed so smoothly that the woman wasn't able to pinpoint when it had actually happened. Once her life wasn't in danger of turning into an ugly splatter on the side of Skyinata mountain, Addy began to actually enjoy the ride. Though she dared not lean over and look, she still wondered how poor Fen was fairing. She knew Sai probably had as close to as a goofy smile as was possible for the woman plastered from ear to ear. She adored these types of unnecessary death defying risks. With the wind whipping her red curls all over the place, Aidara managed to get in peaks of the scenery from between the flying locks. Not as used to flying as her sister, the wind actually burned her eyes and face and it wasn't long until Addy had tucked her head under her arm for protection. Before long, the bird began to make his descent. Peeking from beneath her shielding arm, Addy say that Catabasis was headed towards a rather picturesque cove, with trees, grass, beach..the works. A groan slid from her lips, and was immediately whisked away by the wind. what was her sister up to..?