Solo Eagles Ahoy!

[Oryani]

Winter 29th, 513 AV
The Hunter's Allegiance

A number of warriors in the Watch had animals other than Striders to aid them in whatever battles they came across… and that was what brought Oryani to the Hunter’s Allegiance. She’d decided to follow the ‘trend’ and find a companion for herself. She wasn’t going to force anything, of course, but it would be interesting to see what came up. Khal was quite calm with all animals, so she wasn’t worried about her Strider having any problems.

Quietly and casually, she made her way to where the animals lived… and there were a lot. Cats, dogs, and birds of all sizes. There was quite the range to choose from. She contemplated the two major choices: flying or ground animals. Technically, a big dog or cat would be best for the job she wanted, with massive jaws and long thick claws. Perfect for ripping through attackers. However, her gaze kept drifting to the birds. They had talons and beaks, right?

Sighing quietly, she reminded herself that she was supposed to do this naturally, and see where her heart led her. At least, that was what her mother had said. So, the Chatakwe directed herself to the hawks, falcons, owls and eagles, to see what she could find in terms of a new ‘friend’.

Along the way, she ran into an older man who greeted her and introduced himself as Andrel. Apparently, he was the ‘animal guy’ around, and was willing to help her come to a decision. ”Mmm… thanks…” she muttered with a small smile. She couldn’t quite take her eyes off the huge collection of animals. ”Hey… could I have a look at some of the birds? I’m looking for something big and powerful.” She wondered how they could compare to dogs, though.

Andrel nodded and waved a hand, motioning for the archer to follow him. When they stopped, he procured a leather glove from what seemed like nowhere and passed it over, with instructions to passed it on. It was thick and long, reaching her elbow, and slightly restricting her movement… as well as completely blocking her motion sense from that hand. She slipped it on as he pointed at the chosen group of creatures, not noticing them until a few moments after their arrival.

They were of varying sizes and colors, but for sure… they were all big. Large falcons and hawks, plumage ranging from greys to reds, and… was that an owl? It looked big for an owl, with tufts of feathers on its head that looked kind of like ears. She scanned through them quickly, but her eyes locked onto one in particular… a great golden brown one that looked even more majestic and proud than the others.

“Might I see that one?” she asked, adding the sign for ‘beautiful’ to the last word. ”Ahh… good choice. She’s a Golden eagle, as big and powerful as they get. She’s… picky, but kind of sweet in an odd way.” He made an awkward expression, as if saying that the kind of ‘sweet’ he got from the bird was dead mice on his bedroll. Andrel held out a gloved hand to the powerful looking talons, and the eagle stepped onto his forearm from her perch quite willing. Slowly and steadily he shifted the ‘platform’ so the creature was closer to Oryani. Though she was big… the older Drykas carried the bird like she weighed as much as a feather.

“Hold your arm outstretched and flat, to make a good perch. For all birds, you’re going to wear a glove like this so they don’t rip your arm to shreds. Don’t worry about weight… they’re actually quite light. It’s how they can fly, see. And don’t shake your arm around either… it creates an unstable place to stand. If you want her to move to another place, just hold your arm right up to it, like I did for the perch. She’s been trained to step forward when she feels something like that. When you want her to fly… well, we’ll get to that. This is all just basic falconry and such.”

Speech done, he aligned his arm next to the Chatakwe’s and the eagle stepped forward. She was light, at least lighter than she first seemed. She hopped a little on the way over, giant wings outstretching a little to help balance. They were big wings… what if you were hit by one of those? It sounded painful. Oryani held her arm stiff as she stared in wonder at the bird, unable to take her eyes off those intense orbs…

[Oryani]

Winter 29th, 513 AV
The Hunter's Allegiance

“Don’t be so stiff… relax a little,” Andrel chuckled, adding some hand signs now that his were free, but the archer didn't see him. All she saw… was the eagle, the shimmering feathers, the painfully sharp talons, everything. The bird didn’t even seem to care that her holder was staring so much. Still, the Drykas nodded mutely and tried to relax the stiffness that had built up over the amazement.

Her free right hand raised halfway to the eagle’s shoulder, then stopped as she hesitated. ”Does she mind being… well… petted?” It felt like an odd question to ask in the situation, but she so wanted to touch those feathers… they looked so soft and perfect… “She doesn’t mind, really, but keep it to a minimum. And don’t go near the beak at all costs… she might just snap and there goes your finger.” Andrel smiled a little at his own joke, but he seemed to be pretty serious. That beak did look like it could go straight through a finger, and maybe more.

”Mmm.” Her hand continued on its path until it brushed the eagle’s feathers. They were as smooth as they looked. ”What do they eat?” she finally asked, managing to tear her eyes away from the bird’s. ”Meat. All kinds of it. Hare, foxes, you name it. They’ve even been known to take down deer and coyotes.” His hands mentioned that the deer hunted were small, rather than the massive ones moves Drykas went after. ”If you want any big bird, she’s it. Fast, powerful, and very, very dangerous. She doesn’t attack humans, at least.” There was a hesitant pause, then ”Much.”

”Much?” Oryani stared, a little shocked. Well… this could do some damage to a human, especially if they could take down deer.

”I mean, if you annoy one, or… yea. Take good care of her, and you’ll be fine. As long as you connect, at least.” He added the concept of Strider to Drykas bonding to the word ‘connect’.

”Oh, good. ..”

“Would you like to see another?”

“No! I mean… no. She’s…” She had to pull herself away from saying beautiful again. ”Great.” It seemed like a lame answer, but summed things up.

”You don’t want to make a rushed decision…”

“I don’t think I am…” She didn’t sound too sure about this, but… this felt right. Like when she’d bonded with Khal. Just… right. There were several moments of quiet pause as the eagle shifted on her perch, and Oryani fumbled through decisions. She didn’t want to rush… was there something wrong with picking the first one you saw? But… she couldn’t see anything wrong with this decision either. The creature one her arm was perfect for the job, powerful and fast, as Andrel had said. And she fit.

”I’ll take her,” she said abruptly, glancing over at the older Drykas.

”Alright then… I’m assuming you’ll buy some equipment? You’ll need a bigger glove than that, jesses… a hood, and probably a perch. Unless you have some kind of fence or post already near your pavilion?” Oryani winced at the idea of buying more things. She had little money, but… at least she wasn’t paying for the eagle. [b]”No… what’s the total?”

“Fifteen gold mizas and six silver.” She let out a sigh of relief. Not that much, then. “Will you teach me more of the basics?” she asked, a little concerned about that. Sure, she could hold a bird on her arm… but doing anything else was going to be beyond her. Her arm was already feeling a little tired from this…

“Of course… shall we get to it?” Ten chimes later, the deal was made. She handed over the aforementioned number of mizas, and returned got an even longer glove that was more like a sleeve (it nearly reached her shoulder), a pair of leather strips called jesses, a hood to go over the eagle’s head to keep her calm, and a large, sturdy wooden perch for the eagle to stand on.

[Oryani]

Winter 29th, 513 AV
The Hunter's Allegiance

Before they got started, Andrel had suggested coming up with a name… yes, a name. Frowning, she thought over several Tawna words, which would mean nothing in Pavi… but would have a meaning to her. ”Alaril,” she said, settling on the word for ‘gold’. For Alaril was truly gold in every way.

Said bird was now wearing the purchased jesses, standing on her new perch, whilst Oryani was wearing her glove. “Get her to move onto your hand. Leave the jesses for now,” was the first instruction, and the Chatakwe nodded. She did just that, carefully placing her arm so Alaril would be able to step onto it easily. Even if she’d wanted to grab the jesses, they trailed over the back of her hand, rather than lay in her palm as Andrel had demonstrated.

The bird was settling herself on the glove when the next instruction came. “Now to make her fly…. Shove your arm up as if you’re throwing her. Normally you’ll do it in a direction, but right now… just up will do.” The archer stared at him. Flying already? Still, she said nothing, and concentrated on the task at hand. She lifted her arm quickly, sending Alaril flapping up, and… into the sky. ”Can you whistle?”

“Yep.”

“Do that and point in the direction you want her to go in.” She lifted her gloved hand and pointed in a random direction, before shoving two of the fingers from her other hand into her mouth and whistling as hard as she could. Alaril wheeled gracefully, wings flapping to help turn, and sped off in that direction. “She’s well trained…” Oryani muttered, and her tutor simply grinned. “She was trained by me, of course. Now to call her back, whistle again and hold your arm out flat. She’ll land on your hand, and that’s when you can grab the jesses.”

She did just that, whistling and keeping her left arm the way she was used to when holding the eagle. The bird came turning back again, a little lazier now, and drifted down to perch on her hand. The jesses dangled below, so they were much easier to grab in a clenched fist. Now she knew that Alaril wouldn’t just fly away.

[Oryani]

Winter 29th, 513 AV
The Hunter's Allegiance

“Now… we’ll point her places. If you look closely, can you see those posts? Anyways, to direct her, you can either whistle or just instruct. Whistling is better when she’s far away, and instructing is better when she’s with you. So point at that platform and say ‘go’,” Andrel explained, pointing at a few of the platforms. It made more sense to speak rather than whistle from a close distance, Oryani had to agree.

She used her free hand to point, and just as she was about to start the command, her tutor added ”Don’t forget to toss up… but only a little. And let go of the jesses!” She nodded and finished what she was saying, ordering ”Go” to the Alaril, pushing her hand up and opening her fist. The eagle flew more gracefully this time, flapping off in the post’s direction before landing on it smoothly, still able to look at the Drykas below. ”Ooh…” the archer muttered, very pleased. This was getting better by the chime.

”Point and whistle to get her to move to another platform.”

”Right.” She picked one of the nearby ones and pointed with her left hand this time, using the other to whistle. Alaril seemed to see where she was pointing and set off again, quickly reaching the next mark without any complications. ”So, say, I could send her off to attack something by pointing?”

”Spot on.”

”This is great….” After pointing and whistling a few more times, she paused. ”And I hold out my arm and whistle to get her to come back?” Andrel made an agreeable sound. The Chatakwe repeated the motion of earlier, holding her arm out like a pitch and calling her eagle back. The bird was settling in seconds, looking rather pleased with herself… and… pecking? Pecking at the palm of the glove. ”Why’s she doing that?” Oryani asked, practically whispering.

[Oryani]

Winter 29th, 513 AV
The Hunter's Allegiance

”She wants a treat. Here.” He carefully passed over something wet and cold, making sure the eagle didn’t see. ”Shuffle her to your forearm so you can use your left hand to feed her. Don’t use your bare hand if you value your fingers.” Both of them grinned, before the man continued. ”To make her shuffle, tilt your arm so your hand is up… she’ll move to the lower spot.” It seemed like an odd, but workable command.

The archer tilted her arm as instructed, lifting her hand and loosening her hold on the jesses so Alaril could move sideways. She didn’t make it too steep, though, and the eagle shuffled willingly, finding a comfortable perch in the middle of the Drykas’ forearm. Carefully, she slipped the bit of meat into her still closed palm, so she could feed it to the bird… She didn’t want the creature to notice, but sadly… Alaril followed the closed hand intently, instinctively knowing there was something inside it.

”Turn your hand a bit to let her see the meat… she’ll go right after it.” Still keeping the strip clenched tightly in her fist, Oryani awkwardly maneuvered it so it stuck out halfway. She would have gone further, but the eagle snatched it right out of her hand, devouring it in ticks. ”There it goes…” she muttered sarcastically, but she couldn’t help but smile.

”Feed her when she does something well… if you’re hunting, let her have some of the kill. She’s a powerful bird, she eats a lot…” Andrel drifted off into explanation, describing the purpose of the hood and how to use it, where to keep Alaril, how much to feed and water her, and to remember to try and exercise her as much as possible… all that care stuff. The Chatakwe listened, but could never stop watching her new eagle sitting comfortably on her arm… She’d gone from first-time bird handler to a sort-of-knowing-what-to-do person. That was… better… but she’d still need to practice with her friend to truly use her skills best.

[Fantasy]

XP Award!

Name:Oryani

XP Award:

• Falconry: +4
• Observation: +2

Lore:

• Falconry: What Raptors Eat
• Falconry: Basic Commands
• Falconry: Basic Equipment and its uses

Notes: Lovely thread that was very easy to read and quite to the point. If you have any questions please don't be afraid to PM me! And don't forget to edit your grading request!

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