Completed Winged Thing I

Lani seeks Val out for some Falconry help.

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The westernmost tip of Kalea, Wind Reach is home to an amazing group of people and their giant eagle mounts. [Lore]

Winged Thing I

Postby Lani Stranger on March 1st, 2019, 1:54 am

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80th of Winter, 518AV
Continuation of this thread.


Zulrav had returned with wrath a few days prior. The storms which had battered the mountain and caused such strife and pain for the people within had briefly lifted, giving false hope for the few days of sunshine, before returning to their earlier rage. Up near Val’s quarters, the wind could be heard howling outside, so much so that as soon as Lani entered the long hallway that lead to the Sanikas gates, she feared a pack of wolves had broken in and was preparing to rip her to shreds. The gates area was humid and a little chillier than the rest of the Volcano, but Lani had precious cargo with her, and so continued anyway. Spider, her newly named crow, was perched in the small cage she held.

Lani didn’t know enough of the Wind Reach inhabitants in order to simply ask anyone for help, or to even pay for a few lessons in keeping the new bird. Instead she found her way to Val Imsun’s apartments, hoping the well-traveled elder could help her with her new responsibility. She had been a little brash buying the crow, but the soft ache in her innards reminded her it was the right decision.

Lani rapped her gilded knuckles on the rough oak door a few times, in the familiar rhythm which signified Val that it was her presence he was to expect, and waited. She could not see the outside, as the gates were firmly shut for the winter, but she could hear the sheets of rain hailing on the stone outside from here, and found being this close to the storm was rather soothing instead of frightening. It helped that Semele’s security was sound.

”Good afternoon Lani.” Val spoke, a soft grogginess in his voice that told her had been sleeping.

”Afternoon, Val. May I come in?” She asked, raising her new crow, that huddled in its cage, to show him what she had brought. His face, which had been stiff from an afternoon nap, rose, a small twinkle of curiosity in his eye. That is why the half-blood had made such good friends with him after all, their boundless curiosity was a shared trait. Of course Val had his own crow and knew more about the creatures than she did, so unlike herself, his curiosity was not about the new responsibility of birdkeeping, but rather the reasons behind why she had chose to take on such a task.

”Of course. You will have to share with me the reasons for this decision.” He said, opening the door wider and shuffling aside so that she could duck in. Lani grinned at the man, but walked slowly, careful not to disturb the bird. The rain and thunder was still sounding outside, and while Lani knew very little of animal handling, she feared the results of scaring the crow after first meeting it.

”What a beautiful creature you have.” Val said, letting the door softly thunk closed behind him, and turning to her. The two friends were familiar enough that they did not hesitate to reach for her arm, helping stabilize it under the weight of the bird, and to softly pet the shivering creature through the bars of the small cage. To Lani’s partial surprise, the bird did not stray away from the touch, but rather looked at his finger’s curiously, as if deciding if it were food or friend.

”He is fears me. Is he scared of you not?” She asked, and Val laughed.

”Sentence order, my dear.” He reminded her, and Lani rolled her eyes, trying to remember the proper sentence order. Grammar did not come as instinctual to her as she would have liked.
Last edited by Lani Stranger on April 28th, 2019, 10:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Winged Thing I

Postby Lani Stranger on April 28th, 2019, 10:13 pm

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”He fears me. He is not scared of you?” She repeated, and Val nodded, turning away from her and whistling something to his own crow, which was hopping a little too close to the newcomers. Almost as if the bird had understood him, the crow stopped where it was at, and looked at Val intensely, but did not find its way closer to Lani or her new companion.

”Birds enjoy human contact to. They are bonding creatures, and smart too. He is likely just fearful of the thunder, and that he is so young and now away from what is familiar. Also I’ve been visited by Eywaat on a few occasions, birds tend to like me.” He chuckled, pulling an empty perch towards the center of his apartment and turning back towards her. ”I’m assuming you purchased him without any prior knowledge on how to handle him? I don’t take you for a brash decision maker.” Val spoke with something that she couldn’t identify in his voice. Lani frowned, almost everything she did was brash, and sudden, was this anything special. Reaching out with her djed she felt his aura with her auristics and found a slight mischief rumbling through his other emotions.

”Then you must not know me Val,” She winked at the old man and stepped forward, her arm was tiring after having held the animal for most of the afternoon. Her pain medication was setting in from earlier and the ache in her stomach was far less now, although still softly reminding her why she had chosen to purchase the crow after all.

I assume you would like to learn a few beginner things?” Val asked, and she could hear the prepared patience in his voice at her. Lani let the cage rest on the ground beside the perch, massaging her hand for a tick.

”Yes, please.” She nodded to the man, looking down at her new companion, and setting her bag of new supplies down beside the cage. When she looked back up at Val, she found the man beaming at her, yellowed missing teeth showing his pride at her action. She rolled her eyes.

”This doesn’t make me Inarta.” She pointed a curved finger at the man speaking in common, a bit of mischief in her tone. The old man had the most faith in her ability to adopt the Inarta culture than anyone else. He was sweet to outsiders and her mentor, but he had little to go off of for proof that she would ever be considered equal among the Inarta. ”I just want a bird.” She muttered in Nari.

”Sure, whatever you say, dear.” He smiled, huddling beside her to open her pack and investigate the supplies she had bought from the vendor. ”Well, the first thing you will need to know is how to use any of these things.”

”Oh, I did learn the name of them, and kind of what they are used for, when I bought them.” Lani volunteered, crouching beside her bag and pulling out what she knew, standing briefly to lay them on the counter before returning. ”I bought three sets of jesses,” She spoke the Nari word among her common, having not learned the common phrase for it. ”Of different sizes, because I wasn’t sure.” She started, and Val placed a hand on her shoulder.

”Nari, dear.” He reminded her, and she sighed. He was one of the few Inarta that spoke common well enough that she could feel comfortable he completely understood her, and yet he still always insisted on using the Inarta language. She knew why, and she couldn’t argue with his reasoning. She was just tired of the mental stress of speaking the language she didn’t know as well so much. She wanted the relief of some common, although she could not have it, apparently.
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Winged Thing I

Postby Lani Stranger on April 28th, 2019, 10:13 pm

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”Okay, I will.” She agreed, offering a playful huff to show she was not actually annoyed by this reminder.

”This is the jesses.” She said, her sentences growing significantly simpler in Nari, as she did not understand the grammar well enough, nor had the vocabulary, to speak with her usual vigor. She quoted the name of the leather straps from the man who sold them to her. She realized what they were and how they were necessary, able to assign a definition to the word she had not yet learned a translation for. She opened it to show him, the small clippers for nails, the ”I buy three size, because I do not know… which is use best.” She explained, searching her mental index of Nari for the best substitutes for words she did not know. Val simply nodded at her words. This was not a language lesson, but it was proof that she did not mess up too bad. Still, she tried to pay attention to her words while she explained her new items.

”This is the hood.” She pulled out the small leather cap as soon as she laid out the jesses on Val’s counter. ”Use to cover bird eye and calm him, yeah?” She checked with Val, and he nodded but she could see a patient correction forming on his lips.

”In a way.” He spoke, his voice slow as he obviously tried to piece together the most crucial information. ”But I don’t think we will come across that today, so we will talk about it later.” He dismissed the topic quickly, and Lani nodded, not wanting to argue him on it. She trusted the elder to tell her what she needed to know, and she knew she was going to try and learn as much as she could from him anyway.

”I buy cage, bird, and blanket. Blanket use to cover bird in night.” She explained, repeating the words the birdkeeper had told her. She assumed it was to provide the bird some form of safety or enclosed space during the night time, or to block the sunlight to keep the bird asleep during when she was sleeping, or possibly even warmth. The blanket had so many uses, she could only guess.

”Smart,” He commented, nodding, and she put the blanket on the edge of the counter, pulling out the two falconry gloves that met her elbow when she put them on, one for each hand. ”Falconry gloves, for … um… claws?”

”Talons.” Val corrected her. He had been her language teacher long enough to know when she was at loss for a specific word. Immediately, Lani thought of her Talon Sword, and it clicked.

”Oh, like Talon sword?” She asked, and Val nodded.

”Talons are what it is named for.” He answered, and she placed her hand on her hip to caress the hilt, recalling the sword’s shape and realizing its adept naming. It was a small detail, but she felt like an idiot for not putting two and two together in so much time. Pushing the realization away, she placed the gloves on the counter and pulled out the two tin dishes.
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Winged Thing I

Postby Lani Stranger on April 28th, 2019, 10:14 pm

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”Water and food dish.” She explained, holding up the larger one to signify water, and the smaller for food, and then placed them on the counter, as well. ”Scroll.” She pulled the last thing out of the bag, handing it to Val for inspection. He took the scroll form her and rolled it open for a tick, studying the contents for a few chimes before handing it back.

”Excellent, I think that scroll will help you in the future, but it does teach you the necessary things, like holding and calming the bird. Those are best taught in person, I am glad you came to me.” He said, tapping his chin and offering her the scroll again. Lani took it and he spoke again. ”Did you purchase a perch of some sort? Or a mew? If it will fit into your apartment?” He asked, and Lani furrowed her brow at the new word. She had purchased a perch and so knew what it was, but was uncertain what a mew was.

”I buy perch, but I put in my home before I come here.” She explained in Nari, and Val nodded, seeing the logic in her decision.

”Well, the first thing you’ll need to learn is that this crow hates this cage. The more you can let him out, the better.” He said, old creaking bones popping as she crouched to look at the bird. Lani felt odd watching the elder struggle with the movement, and she picked the cage up carefully, setting it on the counter as well so that he could see the curious crow better. Val didn’t seem to notice this action so much, as he was already asking more questions. ”Have you decided on a name for him yet? He will learn it quickly if you keep using it.” Val asked, and Lani nodded.

She had never been the best at naming things, luckily she had had help choosing her own name from the Jamoura, Quett, but the wise primate was not here to help Lani choose a name for her crow, and she had already named the thing, which was as good as set in stone in her mind. Spider. It was her demeaning nickname in Wind Reach, given to her by those who were unsettled by her gaze, and her pied crow seemed to share her same odd eyes, and so she was happy to give him the demeaning name, turning it into a n endearing one.

”Spider.” She said, using the Nari word for the name, which seemed to have made Val happy as he grinned at her.

”A Nari name, I see.” She rolled her eyes at him, getting a movement of mischief in his aura. She was becoming more attuned to the man, and so even as a passive ability the magic would lend her insight on what new emotions he was using. The sudden reminder of her sixth sense reminded her though that auristics might be a massively useful tool as she got to know her knew crow. Although she had now heard from many that crows her smart, and in fact she had already heard him speak human languages, there would be no communication between them in other sense. She would have to get to know the bird’s body language and reaction to things in order to best work with him. ”Why Spider?” Val followed up his comment with a question, which Lani did not expect.
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Winged Thing I

Postby Lani Stranger on April 28th, 2019, 10:15 pm

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”Oh, um. He is like me, his eyes are like me. I am called Spider by few, so I call him spider.” She explained. She didn’t have the words for explaining that she wanted to turn the demeaning nickname into an endearing one, but as Val offered her a warm smile, she realized she didn’t necessarily need to. The old man had the most sympathy for her situation as an outsider in Wind Reach, and although he was undyingly loyal to his people, he never angered at her when she brought up the rudeness and alienation she faced. In fact he had always been a good source to help her find solutions for her anger with the misplaced abuse, and how to better stave it off from an Inartan perspective. This reason for naming was clear to him as it was to her, and he didn’t seem to need her to explain herself either.

”Interesting name.” He mused briefly, and then turned to Lani from the crow. ”Would you like to learn how to hold Spider, and put him on and take him off a perch?” The elder asked, and Lani was nodding before his question was complete. She wanted to learn anything and everything she could to care for her new companion, that was no question.

”Yes please.” She answered quickly.

”Then let’s get started.” Val grinned, stepping back and pulling the gloves from the counter and handing it to Lani. Lani had only ever gotten language instruction from the man, so she half expected him to walk her through it, but he did not. With language, at least, he had to actually teach her the thing before she attempted it, but it appeared he was going to let her do all the work here. It was highly possible the old man had too much faith in her.

”Oh, okay. I am to pick him up now?” She asked, a little uncertain, and Val raised an eyebrow like she was a moron.

”Of course, you are going to have to learn, aren’t you?” He said, and Lani pursed her lips, he was right. ”It’s very simple and the same for almost all birds. For the first few times, you will need both gloves though, just to be safe.” Val instructed, and Lani nodded, slipping her fingers into each glove and adjusting them up her arm until they were comfortable.

”For first timers, you want to handle birds that are more okay with being handled. Since this crow was raised in captivity, he will likely be fine.” Val said, and then as she watched he padded his way around the counter to grab one of his perches, to which his own crow currently sat. Unlike Lani’s crow, which had a white crest on its chest, Val’s crow was completely black and clearly older. Val picked up the perch and shuffled to place it near the counter where Spider sat in his cage, curious but seemingly patiently waiting. His earlier fear of the thunder seemed to have calmed with all of Val and Lani’s talking to one another.

”You’d do best not to handle any sick or wild birds at the moment, leave that to a more experienced bird handler.” He advised, and Lani nodded at the obvious statement.

”Can’t imagine a situation where I would, other than if Spider happened to get sick, of course.” She agreed with him in Common, and he nodded, happy with her agreement.

”Nari.” Val reminded her, and she nodded, rolling her eyes slightly. Val held his hand up and his crow hopped onto his hand with little trouble, a clear sign of years of familiarity and training for this expectation. For some reason, Lani imagined it would be that easy with Spider immediately, but common sense told her otherwise. Val shuffled around his apartment for a few ticks, searching for something. When he finally found an old pair of jesses, he brought them over to the perch he had set out, and let the crow hop back onto the perch, a smoothly practiced move. He attached the leather straps to the bird’s legs and then turned to Lani.
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Winged Thing I

Postby Lani Stranger on April 28th, 2019, 10:16 pm

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”You can probably use your small jesses for this normally, but I want you to use your medium ones so you can get a hang of the grip and so that you don’t accidentally slip and lose them.” Val instructed, and Lani nodded, picking up her medium sized jesses and smoothing them out in her hand. She watched Val attach the Jesses to his bird, and glanced at her own bird. Spider was looking curiously, if not cautiously, at the things in her hand and then at what Val was doing. A small part of her wondered if the thing understood what was happening or if it was just bored and focusing on the only activity in the room. Either way, she hoped it wasn’t going to negatively affect her first time.

”You can just wrap them around his legs and button them together and then tie them off like this.” Val said, and she snapped her head back to his hands to pay attention.

”Bit much.” She remarked at the complex fastening for such a small piece of leather.

”Trust me, they will find a way out of it if they are determined.” He chuckled, and Lani nodded, seeing the logic of it. Fair enough. After having watching Val complete his, Lani turned to her cage, beginning to open it when Val stopped her.

”Hold on.” He said, and she paused, waiting for his tip. ”Before approaching the bird you want to make him aware of your presence. You can either talk to him, coo at him, or say his name. Any sort of vocalization works, just not too loud or confusing, else you will make him nervous. He just has to be aware of your presence and your mood coming to him. You should be calm too, they can sense any nervousness and will take advantage of it.” Lani sighed, as the remark began to make her nervous wondering what a bird the size of a crow could do to take advantage of her nervousness. It was a bit of a paradoxal instruction. Oh well.

Lani took a breath and focused on the bird for a tick, reaching out with her auristics to gauge his mood. All previous fear had dissipated, and had been replaced with a clear curiosity. It seemed he picked up on her recent flare of nerves with one of his own, vibrating under his aura’s other movements. Still, she found the emotions of the bird to be much simpler and less complex than that of a human, and focusing in on the movements of his aura was much easier. Interested by that realization, she felt much more comfortable with how she was going to get along with this bird, finding him a just a little easier to understand with magical assistance, of course.

”Hey Spider,” She spoke to the bird in soft Nari, a bit of the childish cooing tone that one does towards animals in her voice. The crow blinked and focused its gaze on her face, but she felt his aura carefully, watching for any signs of further nervousness or fear which could lead to lashing out. Then, remembering watching Val attach his jesses, Lani carefully unlatched the cage, slowly reaching her gloved hand in with the jesses. Before she got a chance to do anything, Spider scooted away from her hand on the perch within the cage, but did not flee with further dramatics. She felt a spark of nervousness again in his aura, and something that took her a moment to understand as discomfort. ”Do not worry, I will take you out.” She spoke to the bird in Nari, thinking that the language made him more comfortable, but not letting his spark of nervousness slow her down. She was able to latch one jesses on with little issue, before the crow started moving again, avoiding her hands to the other side of the cage.
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Winged Thing I

Postby Lani Stranger on April 28th, 2019, 10:17 pm

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She wanted to get frustrated with how long this seemingly simple maneuver was taking, but she knew she would have to hold her temper, remembering that this was probably more foreign and invasive for the bird than it was for her. Only as she moved her hand to grab his other leg, the crow landed a sharp peck on the top of her thumb. Luckily she was wearing the gloves and so felt the quick punch and dull pain, but no sharp searing pain of the skin he was sure to have been able to break. ”Rude.” She chastised him in Common but did not let the peck stop her, latching the jesse on his other leg and working to fasten it before he could lash out again.

”Good, you want to be calm and stable with him. He shouldn’t lash out too much if you show persistence, so long as you don’t go to fast or too slow.” Val spoke, putting into words the event that she had just experienced and learned. But she had successfully gotten both jesses on, which she counted as a win.

”Alright, that was the easy part.” Val said, deflating her ego a bit as she realized what he said. ”Now, how to hold the jesses.” While she was busy he had donned a falconry glove his own, and was holding the crow with the jesses in one hand. All of it seemed like extra and gaudy garb on him, but the crow was sitting patiently, obviously comfortable and fine with this procedure. ”Just grab the jesses in a way where your thumb is holding down the leather strips up against your fingers or palm.” He said, showing her the inside of his hand where she could see what he was talking about. Without anything in her hand she mimicked his movement, comparing it to how one hold’s reins loosely on a simple walk. ”Make sure there is not too much slack for the bird to fly away, but also enough slack so that the bird can accommodate itself on your hand.” Val advised and she nodded at the information.

”Okay, Spider. Here we go.” She turned back to her bird, putting her right hand into the cage and coming up underneath and in front of the bird where it sat on its perch. She fiddled with the jesses for a tick before bringing her other hand in to help adjust them in her hand. The bird seemed uncomfortable with this and was scooting to opposite sides of his cage to avoid her, but she was eventually able to grasp them, although not in the best way.

”You’re going to want to hold them a little closer, don’t leave too much room between Spider’s feet and your hand.” Val corrected her, and she inched her fingers up the rope, trying to maintain the foreign hand shape that he had showed her. The crow seemed to respond to this a little better, not moving about the cage so much. But the bird did flex its shoulder muscles a few times, and she read some nervousness from Spider’s aura, which was beginning to make her nervous.

Cool, calm, and collected. She told herself, taking a breath and then speaking to the bird. ”It’s okay, Spider. I got you.” She said to the thing as if to reassure it, and then Val was speaking again.

” Now that you have a hold on the jesses, you can begin to pull the bird onto your hand. There are different ways on how to motivate the bird onto your hand. Some handlers pull up on the jesses, touching the breast of the bird as you pull up on the jesses. Others pull away from the perch in a horizontal manner, allowing the bird to hop on your hand.” Val said, and Lani nodded, trying to visualize what he was saying. ”But you can do whichever is most comfortable for you.” He said, which didn’t help with Lani’s decision making. When she hesitated just a tick too long, Val spoke again. ”Maybe try pulling up and touching his chest.” Val said, and Lani nodded, happy to not have to make the decision herself. The cage seemed a bit small for the horizontal move he described anyway.
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Winged Thing I

Postby Lani Stranger on April 28th, 2019, 10:18 pm

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Lani pulled her left hand out of the cage so that she could focus and adjusted her grip on the jesses before slowly pulling them up towards the bird’s chest. As if she was pulling a puppet the crow’s breast caved a bit and his legs pulled together slightly on the perch, as if he was trying to fight it. She persisted though, not too harshly pulling until she touched his chest. Without warning one of the crow’s legs flew up to grip her finger, and she felt him steady himself on the one leg before pulling the other leg up.

She was still paying attention to his aura, and got the distinct sense he was unhappy about his turn of events, and it dawned on her that these moves where created to force the bird to perch on her hand, unlike the willing hop that Val’s crow had done.

”Nicely done,” Val commented, and Lani couldn’t help a small flush of pride in her cheeks at the comment. Then again, she was surely to mess up before the day was over. ”Now you can pull him out and walk with him a bit, to get used to it.” Val said, and Lani pinched the jesses in her fingers and slowly pulled the bird out of the cage, preparing to take a step, a little more excitement than was appropriate in her step.

” Now that the bird is on your hand, make sure that your hand is vertical, so that it acts as a comfortable perch for the bird.” Val carefully reached for her hand, adjusting the angle. Spider readjusted his grip on her hand, but she did not find any discomfort in his aura at the movement. Not any more at least. ”Walk slow with the bird, and keep talking to him; especially if Spider is looking agitated or stressed about it.” Val encouraged.

”Okay,”Lani agreed, not sure if nodding would disturb the bird. Unsure of where to go, Lani started walking slowly and evenly as possible on a quick loop around the room, she circled only once, finding little issue with the actual process. It was once she began to slow near the perch that Spider began to flap his wings with a sudden vigor. She had been paying attention to the movements in his aura, but had only had a split tick to recognize the sudden burst of agitation in his aura’s movements before he was flapping and trying to get out of her hand.

”Woah, woah, woah, buddy!” She gasped, still gripping the jesses, but still unsure what to do. Spider was desperate enough to fly away that he fell off of her hand, and was stopped short by the jesses, which ended with him plummeted down and hanging upside down from her hand. Scared that this would hurt him, her instinct was to put her hand on his chest to help him up, but he squawked at her and flapped his wings more to stop her. ”Val! Help!” She began freaking out a little bit and Val laughed at her reaction to the bird’s escape attempt. He stepped over to her, and placed his hand squarely on Spider’s back, helping him back up to her hand.

Her heart was racing, and not a moment after Val had done so, Spider lept from her hand once more, flapping his wings as if it would help him fly away, and again was jerked short by her grip on the jesses. ”Val! Again!” She whined, unsure what to do, and Val just chuckled and leaned on his counter.
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Winged Thing I

Postby Lani Stranger on April 28th, 2019, 10:19 pm

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”Go for it. Place your hand on his back and place him back on your hand. Stop having a fit, he is fine.” The elder Endal said with a curious calmness. Lani’s heart was racing at the uncertainty of the moment, but she did as he said, copying his movement from earlier. She placed her hand on the bird’s back and flipped him back onto her hand, gripping the Jesses tight as she did so. Uncertain if letting go of his back would make him fly again, she let her hand relax, but hovered it over his back. Spider readjusted himself on her hand, and past her own beating heart, she could feel the enhanced rhythm of his in her auristics.

”Spider, don’t do that!” She chastised a small panic in her voice before she realized yelling at the bird wont help. Lani took a deep breath and sighed. ”You don’t need to freak out, buddy. I got you.” She said to the bird in as calm a voice she could manage before tentatively dropping her left hand and hoping he did not try to fly away again. As soon as her hand was away, he flapped his wings lightly to adjust himself, but did not attempt to fly away again. Lani was unduly upset about the small attempt, her heart still bumping her chest with worry for his legs and what the ordeal had done to him and she frowned. Val laughed at her again.

”Here, put him on the perch and I will explain baiting to you later.” Val chuckled through his instruction, stepping closer to help her with the perch. ” Approach his perch or cage slowly. Your hand must be parallel to your body so the bird is facing you. You’ll put the tail of the bird behind the perch and the bird will gently hop back onto the perch.” Val instructed, tapping the perch, and then hooking his hand on a little ring below the horizontal bar of the perch. ”This should be easier than picking him up and walking around with him, and here is where you will tie off the jesses.”

”Alright,” Lani agreed, slowly stepping closer to the perch, making sure to keep her arm that held Spider as even as possible. She slowly lowered her arm to the Inarta-sized perch and lowered it over the perch so that the pied crow’s tail was over the end. Spider seemed to anticipate this a little better, and was watching the incoming perch over his shoulder, stepping back just as soon as she was close enough for him too. Lani loosened her grip on the jesses slightly to give him the ability to, and then once he was on, pinched them down again. Without instruction, she tied them off to the ring, and Val nodded at her work.

”Keep talking to him, you’re so silent, it is making him nervous.” Val instructed, and Lani nodded. She focused on her auristics to try and confirm if what he was saying was true. Was she the source of his stress? Surely she was.

”You’re alright buddy. I’m not trying to hurt you, this is all just new to me. So you gotta bear with me okay?” She cooed at the thing in common, and could feel the vibrating strand of nerves slow and merge with his other auristic movements. Was it really so simple as talking to him?

”If you noticed earlier, he was terrified of the storm, and us talking calmed him down. The birds feed off of their environment easily, and so it is not hard to distract the and lure them into the mood you want them in in order to work with them. Since this is your first time, you are nervous, I get it, but you are making him more nervous too, so you have to keep it in check.” Val said, and Lani hung her head.

”Sorry Val,” And then she looked at Spider. ”Sorry Spider.” She said, realizing she was the root of the dramatic walk that was supposed to be so simple.
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Lani Stranger
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Winged Thing I

Postby Lani Stranger on April 28th, 2019, 10:21 pm

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”Don’t stress about it too much, Lani, you will get better. The more skill you acquire with him, the more confident you will get, and the easier he will be to handle. Just give it time and practice.” Val reassured her, and she nodded, still watching Spider, who was flexing his shoulder and moving from one side of the perch to the other. She did not have to focus on her auristics to realize he was nervous.

”Hey, Spider.” She whistled to the bird in Nari, which seemed to take his attention better than her common had. ”You will be good.” She cooed to the bird, trying to calm him with her voice without approaching him. ”And I will be better.” She promised the bird, before turning back to Val. ”Do I take him off the same way?” She asked, and Val held up one hand.

”Yes, but let’s give him a few chimes to relax before we move him again. You’re going to have to do this with him every day, twice a day, until he gets used to you. He should be pretty good for you by the end of the season, but you’re going to have to get used to him too. In the meantime, I’ll tell you what baiting is.” Val offered, and Lani nodded, resting her hip on the counter to listen.

”Baiting is just when the bird tries to fly away from your hand, which is why the jesses are important. The usually only do it when they are stressed or are wild. But considering Spider is very tame, he may only do it when stressed. Don’t worry he won’t hurt himself from hanging by the jesses, but you still want to avoid baiting as much as possible. It stresses them out and teaches them not to trust you.” Val, spoke, and Lani nodded. She was already feeling a little bad over the incident and her overreaction, and she didn’t want it to happen again.

”Do I just put him back on when it does happen? How do I prevent it?” She asked, a little bit of worry in her voice.

”Nari. Well, talk to him, to start. You have no idea how much it calms him down, I promise it will help.” Val reminded her to use Nari before emphasizing his point. Lani nodded, sighing. She knew he was right. ”But you can just do what you did. Hold onto your jesses tightly. Spider should fly back onto your hand by itself. If it doesn’t, use your other hand to help bring it back up by lifting up the bird by its back, like you did.”

”Not to hard.”

”And don’t freak out.” He teased, and Lani gave a embarrassed grin.

”I know, I just wasn’t expecting it.” She excused herself, and he nodded.

”I know, but when you are working with Spider, you really can’t freak out about much. Animals are really sensitive to your moods, so be aware of that.” He reminded her, and she nodded. ”Are you ready to put him back?”

”Is he ready?” She countered, looking at the bird. Instinctively she reached out with her auristics, and tested the bird’s aura for familiar nervous movements. He was more or less calm, and curious once again, a bit impatient, but not stressed or frustrated.
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Lani Stranger
Wanderer
 
Posts: 649
Words: 697231
Joined roleplay: March 21st, 2014, 11:48 pm
Location: Wind Reach
Race: Mixed blood
Character sheet
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Journal
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Medals: 5
Mizahar Grader (1) Overlored (1)
Wind Reach Seasonal  Challenge (1) Power Fork (1)
2018 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)

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