Closed When Glassbeaks Attack

[Scorn]

18th Spring, 513: North-western Cyprhus Scorn was used to not knowing where she was or where she was going, so when she detected a vaguely familiar salty scent on the air, she was understandably excited. She took off on her own to see if the familiar scent was what she thought, not bothering to explain herself to the older Zith who had taken to following her around. She could always tell him about it later. Not too much later, an unending expanse of water appeared on the horizon. She had no idea if this was the same water she had crossed before--certainly nothing looked familiar--but it smelled the same. In the quiet corner of her mind, she knew it wasn't much to be excited about, but it was just so much of a relief to know that, no matter how far she traveled, she seemed to be staying in the same general area, which meant she might eventually find her way home. Not that she could go home yet. She was still searching for her sister, who had disappeared in the storm of all storms a year ago. She wished she had a better plan than wandering aimlessly, so that she could just go get her sister and they could go home. But she had no idea where to even start looking, and so she just wandered. She was broken out of what would prove to be a very depressing line of thought by the sound of a very loud and distressed Zith. Scorn immediately adjusted her course to intercept the sound, which seemed to be coming from the beach. She had a very clear approach to loyalty: first twin, then kin, then Zith, last not-Zith. Right now, she had neither twin nor kin, and so if there was a Zith in trouble, she would do what she could to help. She was used to a family of twenty or more fellows, but had spent the last year almost entirely alone. She was just relieved she hadn't had to resort to not-Zith for companionship yet. When her eyes picked out the dark shape against the sand, her eyes tricked her for a moment. Her breath caught in her throat when she thought, just for an instant, that she had stumbled across her sister, at long last. But no, the smell was wrong. It was a Zith, but not kin, and it was most certainly not Scourge. The disappointment stabbed at Scorn's heart like a claw, but she quickly shook it off in favor of dealing with the present situation. As she approached, Scorn saw that the strange Zith was not alone. There were several brightly-colored creatures chasing her. Glassbeaks! What a nightmare; glassbeaks were like Zith in that they usually hunted in packs. But this Zith was alone... where was her colony? Why was she hunting such dangerous prey with no help? Was she mad? Unlucky? Or just not very bright? The Zith should be able to fly out of the glassbeaks’ reach, but for some reason she hadn’t yet. The glassbeaks were too close. Scorn would have to distract them, to give the other Zith some space to escape. “Hold on, I’m coming!” she called, before releasing a screeching hunting cry, designed specifically to strike fear into the hearts of prey. The glassbeaks did not necessarily look afraid, butshe had at least caught their attention. To make sure she kept it, she went into a dive, aiming for the lead glassbeak, opening her wings at the precise moment to lift her back into the safety of the sky. She had intended to scratch the glassbeak on her flyby, but she had been too cautious. Her claws missed their target by several feet. She rose back into the air, breathing a little heavily as she re-assessed the situation.