[Flashback]Not Exactly As Planned (Irriari)

[Athe Stormheart]

Spring, Day 84, 510AV Late Afternoon So Athe liked her privacy. One day, she knew, she'd be brave enough to walk into the War Pavilion herself and ask for training. Did one simply ask for training...? She had no idea. But she knew, regardless, her brothers and sister laugh at her if they saw her waving her staff around like she was now. She wasn't prepared to embarrass herself, to reveal her dream of joining the Watch. Only her Strider, Grayfellow, paid audience to Athe's personal practice. She had rode out all this way, with Endrykas barely a lump on the horizon now. She squinted at it, across the miles of grasses that separated them. It was far enough, she thought, that she could find some privacy, and also still be protected by the Web. The Watch would already know she was out here, and if there was any trouble, they could come find her. That's what she was told, anyway. She didn't exactly understand the Web or how it worked, only that it was spread across Cyphrus. Any Glassbeak packs or foreign marauders would be quickly detected before they came within even miles of Athe. She hoped. It was a waste of time to worry about the unknown, she told herself. Standing in the Sea of Grass, she pulled her quarterstaff from the harness on her back. The smell of pollen was rich in the air, and the breeze passed over her with a gentle whisper. Grayfellow, her claybank Cyphrus Srider stallion, busied himself with a particularly lush clump of grass several yards away. Leaning on her staff, she gave him a sour look, placing her hand on her hip. "Fine, you don't have to watch," she joked, though she did feel a little neglected. Grayfellow should have been proud that Athe wanted to train in combat! Instead, her only friend was stuffing his face. Typical. "But you're going to get fat, you know. Seriously, all you do is eat. It's embarrassing." Shaking her head, Athe set down her staff and leaned over. Reaching for her toes, she felt the muscles pull in her calves, and in her lower back. After a minute or two of that, she lifted one leg and grabbed the top of her foot, balancing on the other as she worked her thigh muscles. She didn't actually know much about stretching, but she knew it was better to make herself limber before any sort of strenuous activity. This was part of the reason she had sought privacy. She wasn't exactly sure what she was doing, and wasn't looking for criticism. Just as she was getting started, the patter of a light, afternoon rain began to drum on her skin. The grasslands were suddenly alive with the sound of rainfall, and Athe straightened to stare at the world around her in disbelief. "Petch. Just what I need." She sighed. Oh well. The rain was fairly light, and she continued stretching anyway.

[Irriari]

Irriari flew through the skies as the sun began to set. For most of her kind, it was early to fly, but Irriari knew that as long as she did not fly directly into the sun, her eyes would not be damaged too badly. The sun was simply an irritating glow that warmed her wings slightly as they pumped rhythmically to keep her afloat and moving from one thermal to the next. She wondered what the birds thought of her, and chuckled. It was a saddening thought however, that even with wings, she was still an anomaly among both creatures with wings and the humans who had none. The skies were relatively safe for a zith. There were no glassbeaks here, and if one flew high enough, even the strongest Akalak archer could not loose an arrow that would maim them.

Few of the colony flew during the night for the sake of flying anymore. It was sad, but it afforded some much needed privacy when every muscle in her body and thought in her head begged her to get away from the incessant noise and chaos of the den. It was hardly fair to Sevrai who had to simply endure the chaos, but she knew the girl would be ok when she returned.

Irriari continued watching the ground. She had always dreamed of shooting a glassbeak over and over from the sky, until the creature fell and died, helpless to attack her. It was a dream she would one day live, she was sure, but she was afraid to give a single task that much attention unless the glassbeak was close to the colony. Finally, after two bells of leisurely flying she saw something. A human girl was below her and about a quarter mile ahead though aside from the horse that accompanied her, the distance blotted out most of her features.

Irriari was lost in the memories of another young girl who she had found in the grasses years ago. Now, the girl, Sevrai, was her treasured slave, and she wondered what had brought this girl out to the Sea of Grass alone. She descended slowly, taking in the landscape of the grasses that surrounded the girl first. From the sky, the grass hardly seemed different from any other section of the earth. Maybe this girl would be another potential slave. Sevrai was lonely, after all and she had her bow to take down the girl from afar, if that was what she wished. But the horse would have to go first. Irriari shook her head. She was getting ahead of herself again, and slaves that were wounded when captured typically didn't tend to be the friendliest inside the colony. Having a resentful girl around her poisoncrafting kit while she slept could prove to be a deadly mistake. No, she would have to see who the girl was first.

Irriari flew down, a couple hundred feet behind the girl and her horse. The horse would most likely spook and alert the girl to her presence, so she made no attempt to be stealthy. She continued flying lower to the ground, with her bow still attached to her quiver. The girl seemed harmless for now.