Feathered Musings (Khida)

[Colt]

The falcon seemed to have lost him. He slipped through the underbrush with ease. He had come this way many times before, so many that a trail seemed to be forming. The precious pheasant was clutched to his chest and his gaze flicked about warily, not intending to let any unexpected competitors steal it from him. He moved quickly, and within three minutes emerged onto the bank of a pond. Four ducks floated lazily upon it, drowsy with the heat of midday and paying no attention to him. He raised his head when he saw a large, dark, horse-like shape move on the opposite side of the water and smiled involuntarily. Akaidras might or might not have seen him, giving no indication either way and continuing to wherever he had been going. The man turned to follow the shore until he came to the stream that fed into it. Kneeling, he cupped the clear and positively frigid water to his mouth, shuddering as it moved down his throat with all the ease of a rock. He closed his eyes and rolled his neck, and opened them, as luck would have it, to the falcon sitting in a very high tree.

[Khida]

Smaller birds tucked themselves behind screening foliage, hiding from the predator now in their midst. Khida regarded them not at all, not overtly; it would be a while before their caution blunted. Movement, something large, drew her attention down to the earth below; but the dark horse had no significance for the falcon, nor held her interest. She looked to the pond and the ducks floating on it, head cocking to consider the water. Then he interrupted that consideration, as he had interrupted virtually everything else today. The man stepped into her field of focus: Khida watched across the crater as he drank. She continued to do so as he looked up, meeting his gaze, staring levelly down. Though her feathers fluffed up a bit in response to his regard, the falcon shifted the grip of her talons on the branch, as if settling in more comfortably. As though she had all intentions of remaining -- which she did. There was more food to be had here than out there. Just as soon as something -- bird, rodent, pheasant-stealing human -- lowered its guard. In the meantime, Khida would just have to practice her patience. (Again.)

[Colt]

For the first time in a very long while, his face broke into a true scowl. He didn’t like predators in his crater if he could help it. Hunting in his safe haven was just wrong, and if the falcon killed something would it be his fault? He looked down at the pheasant. True, he had stolen it, but there were plenty of creatures that stole kills from other hunters. And they did it without any particularly strong feelings of responsibility. He looked back up at the falcon. Returning its kill was wrong too, something that was almost heretical in the animal kingdom. Like trying to catch a fish by looking in a tree. He looked back at the pheasant. Would… would returning it keep the falcon from hunting within the crater? It seemed like it should, at least at present. And then it would move on. He looked back up at the falcon, then rose from his squat. He uttered a loud trill in an attempt to capture the falcon’s attention, then held its kill at arm’s length. He trilled again, then threw it into the air.

[Khida]

That look didn't bode well. It seemed she'd made him mad, for some reason. Khida half-expected the man to fetch a bow, or throw a rock, or... do nearly anything but what he actually did: just stand there. She could see him look back and forth, falcon to pheasant and pheasant to falcon, but could not fathom what went on inside his head meanwhile. Really, it was all very perplexing. The falcon turned her gaze away, following a finch in another tree as it fluttered from one branch to another. The purely odd noise from the man brought her attention snapping back to him, abruptly tensed for flight. But he didn't charge as she expected, he -- -- tossed the carcass upwards? Instinct and hunger would have had Khida immediately into the air after it, but late-come caution kept her feet securely on the bough, wings half-unfurled for flight. She looked from the thrown pheasant to the man. Did he really mean to give it back? Yet caution lost that internal battle in short order; the peregrine launched herself from the tree as the pheasant began its descent back towards the earth. She intercepted it halfway down, talons sinking into the dead flesh, using her momentum and a few added wingbeats to direct its fall away from the pool. And the man. This time, when her kill hit the ground, Khida didn't immediately start in on it. Instead, wings mantled over the carcass, she stared warily up through the brush at the human. After a moment, she bent, plucking a tuft of feathers from the pheasant with a sharp jerk of her head -- and quickly looked up again, feathers dangling from the corner of her beak, to be sure the man hadn't moved before continuing.

[Colt]

The falcon’s wings seemed to move of their own accord, jerking to a stop when it regained control. Poised for flights but firmly clamped to the branch upon which it had been resting, it looked at him with confusion that quickly fell to hunger. It dropped from its perch and took to the air like a fish to water, arcing gracefully in the air to strike at the dead bird from underneath. They fell away from him, and he could have sworn he saw an accusing look from the raptor, but all attention was soon returned to the falling meal. He settled onto his haunches to wait. The falcon wouldn’t eat all of it; he knew that. Birds of prey were some of the most efficient hunters out there; barely any of their time was spent gathering food and though this one was big it would probably be full when the pheasant was only half-eaten. Then he would be able to eat the rest without the perplexing guilt. The falcon landed on the carcass but didn’t immediately begin to gorge. Instead it shrouded the kill with its wings and looked up and gave him a piercing look that shot straight to his core. The falcon’s golden eyes glittered with intelligence, gaze cautious of him in a way no ordinary bird was supposed to be. The falcon leaned down and plucked a tuft of feathers from the pheasant, then returned its gaze to him. Watching. Waiting for him to attack or disturb it or otherwise make its life uncomfortable. He tilted his head and returned its stare with one of his own but made no move in its direction.

[Khida]

The man seemed content to do nothing more than stare back now, crouched beside the water, just beyond "her" clump of brush; now, when he could have done just the same thing before, and with less trouble for them both. Another unanswered why for the list; one Khida didn't dwell upon. The important matter was the meal now securely in her grasp, which she could finally turn her attention to. Before long, a pool of plucked and discarded feathers came to surround the falcon and her kill, plumes cast to all sides by her whim. As most predators are wont to do, the falcon tore first into the pheasant's soft underbelly, gulping down the more easily removed viscera. Then she shifted to worrying off pieces of surrounding muscle with practiced haste -- every now and again casting a watchful glance about, just to be sure nothing snuck up while she wasn't looking. The pace of her feeding didn't change much, from beginning to end; the transition from gorging raptor to satisfied bird came rather abruptly. One moment, she was swallowing another ragged chunk of meat, and the next, the falcon shifted to staring back at her audience. Not another quick did-he-move scan, but a longer and more contemplative study of the man, her head tipping to one side. Color daubed the peregrine's beak and talons: red blood, the color of life spent and life sustained. The peregrine bobbed slightly, then stretched out her wings and launched herself into the air. Her initial flutter of wingbeats resolved into a swooping glide over the pond, afterwards climbing up to the same bough she had been seated on before. The falcon settled into her perch, attention turned away from the groundling world below. Cleaning and preening first, then a nap through the afternoon heat; that made a fine plan to Khida's mind, and she set herself to accomplishing it, the man and his activities now far from her concerns.

[Colt]

He could see now that it was a peregrine. Probably female, judging by its size. Once it—no, she—decided that he was not going to interrupt again, she turned her full attention to the thing beneath her. She tore into the pheasant violently, removing and swallowing innards with frantic hunger that every animal had no matter how hungry they were. Feathers floated gracefully around the two birds, resting on the ground around them in a fluffy layer. He tilted his head. He might be able to use the larger feathers for something. Surviving didn’t take up all of his time, and the one in the pheasant’s tail were pretty enough. The falcon stopped as suddenly as she’d started and he returned his attention to her as she returned her attention to him. Their eyes locked and a chill went up his spine. She wasn’t merely assessing, she was contemplating, something a falcon had no right to do. The gaze ran its course and she broke it to leap into the air, wings dragging her into an easy coast over the surface of the pond, ascending to rest on the branch she had been on a few minutes before. He rose from his crouch and approached the remains of the pheasant, picking it up without any aversion to the blood. While its organs were torn up and useless, a large part of the meat was still intact and usable. He turned to go farther upstream to his camp. He would be able to live off this, at least for tonight. -End-

[Jackalope]

Results!

Khasr :

Experience
+3 Observation
+1 Hunting
+2 Running
+1 Intimidation
+1 Larceny


Lore
Settling for Seconds
Flushing Out Pheasants
Angry Falcons Are Annoying

Khida :

Experience
+3 Observation
+1 Hunting
+1 Unarmed Combat


Lore
Humans are Thieves
Patience is a Virtue
Never Look a Gift Pheasant in the Mouth

Great thread you two. Looking forward to future interactions! Feel free to PM with questions about my grading!