[Sanctuary] I've Got A Theory! [Asim]

[Raiha]

Closed. Asim, Please!

15th of Spring, 511 AV.

Raiha loved the beginning of the year. She had always loved it. After the quiet winter, the world came alive. Birds sang and called overhead, filling her head with their own joy, with the songs of new love and new hatchlings. Even if it wasn’t that way here – Raiha found less birds around Riverfall than she had in her birthplace of Mura – there were still plenty more of other creatures, and with Uzima, well, Raiha planned to be very, very busy in keeping the pasture free and clear of other creatures. Kavala would have a stroke of paralysis if a newborn foal broke its leg in a mole hole, and that would simply Not Do. She was going to take Asim out along the coasts, too, like their brief summer trip, and see if she could spot the birds that she had looked after and released. And, possibly, see if there were more out there. She was thinking more and more about sending away to Mura to get a Goshawk shipped here for Uzima, a male that she could introduce and see if the two would mate. And with Akasha gone, Raiha still had her heart set on finding an owl. Kanikra had been bothering her, encouraging her to go out and start hunting

But today, Raiha had a particular motive. For the first time since the heavy snows, Raiha was taking Uzima outside for the first time in numerous tendays. Oh, the goshawk had flown through the entire upper level all of the last season, leaving not only her flight but to the room where Raiha and Asim shared, flying the lengths of the stables – mice had been plentiful, even with the cats, until the hawk got into the action there to try to keep those little rodents out of their food stores. But now Uzima was getting into the excitement of the springtime. Raiha scratched the feathers along the bird’s neck, finding a couple pinfeathers and working them free from their itchy casing. Every bird that didn’t have a mate found those irritating, those new feathers that couldn’t be reached except by foot, and that was when it was Raiha’s responsibility to look after that. Kefi had been the same way, although the little kestrel would roll on her back in Raiha’s hands to rub her pinfeathers against the girl’s gauntlets to get them rubbing. It required particular care, because not one bird was forgiving if she accidentally pulled a pinfeather out.

She pulled on one of her gauntlets, and opened Uzima’s flight. The bird landed as soon as the door opened a crack, and demanded Raiha’s attention. She was hungry! Food! Food food food! And yet other voices were speaking to her in Makath. They eat, they lurk… the shadows told her. Raiding fresh and tender, they’re here, they’re back…. Kanikra in particular paid attention, listening carefully to the warning of the shadows.

Thank you, Raiha told them, reaching out with her free hand to go stroke and touch the shadows as they twisted along the wall. “Well,” Raiha told her goshawk, “we’re going hunting.” Especially now if the shadows were true in telling her that the first of the furry menaces had started their assault on Kavala’s prized garden! And they had no reason not to be, except, well… they had distinct minds and personalities of their own, and their own reasons for doing things. It was all she could do to coax, persuade, ask, and bribe them sometimes. She’d asked them once to look out for Laeraix and Akasha, but so far, nothing had come back to her on that front. She didn’t think that they ever would. But Kelvics were people, and like the shadows, they had their own way of doing things. But for now, it was a brilliant day out, even if it was grey and cloudy, and Uzima was excited. And that excitement was catching on. She closed the door, and headed out into the cold spring air. Fresh and new, just like the world. Even if she could practically smell the rain that would come… but still, it was a time of rebirth, and the Akontak was determined to enjoy it.

[Asim]

"What are we hunting?" asked Asim from right next to the now closed door. The way he was leaning against the wall, Raiha wouldn't have seen him if he hadn't spoken, or until she turned around. With a grin, the Kelvic bit into an apple in his hand, watching his Bondmate and the goshawk. Pushing himself off the wall with one foot, the Kelvic lifted his pack from the ground by him and slid one strap onto an arm. For once, the Kelvic seemed to be clean, with his hair neat, his beard trimmed, and dressed in his loincloth, boots, and coat. He seemed, inexplicably, human for once. Even stranger, his eyes had a sly twinkle to them, as if he knew something she didn't.

To match the twinkle, he kept a sly grin on his face as he waited for an answer from his Bondmate. As he did, he scratched at his beard, as if bothered by it, and his fingers twitched towards his hair, as if to muss it. But he left it alone. "It appears we're hunting something small, since you brought Uzima."

[Raiha]

Raiha couldn’t help but stare a bit at her bondmate. This was an almost bizarre twist. He normally preferred to lumber around, growl at everyone that so much as looked at him crosswise, and very much embrace his animalistic side. That was just what made him Asim. And now he was acting like she’d seen some of the men in Mura flirting with the Konti, trying to get their attention, and like that man who had provoked an outburst when she had been minding the storefront. She closed one eye and squinted at him with the other, making a mock suspicious face, only to grin at him, her white teeth flashing in contrast against her skin. “Gooooooooooooood morning! I have a theory,” she said in a sing-song voice, a tinge of playfulness in it. Solemn was something Raiha did far better than playful, but what the Ukalas, it was springtime, darn it!

She stepped up to Asim, until she was standing right in front of him, her eyes huge, nostrils flaring, and she grinned from ear to ear. “It could be bunnies! They’re looking for the remains of last year’s garden with the snow going, and they’re hungry. The predators are moving up ahead more, because the Grasslands aren’t covered in snow like we are, so they’d rather stay down here and hide from them.” She put on her mock-serious face again as she stepped back and held out the hand that didn’t have Uzima perched on her wrist, as if to shake, “But I am firmly convinced that we are dealing with long-eared, furry thieves. We must stop the rabbit menace. It’s up to us. Are you with me?” And despite this, he could tell that something was bugging his bondmate, that something was wrong, and had been since Laeraix and Akasha had flown off. Birds were flighty... but maybe it was just the bunnies. They weren’t just cute like everyone supposed, after all!

[Gossamer]

. Character: Raiha Experience: 1XP Falconry, 1XP Planning Lore: Loving The New Year. Recognizing Threads to Food Crops Additional Note: Very short thread. I could give it more if you guys would have finished it. I hope you have a lot better luck finding thread partners that stick around! .