Raiha was in good spirits when she finished tacking up her Firemane mare and led her out of the pasture. She was opting to go without the saddle today – the Akontak had something coming on the boat that she had been preparing for for a while, and today, they were due to arrive. As such, she had Yakini’s bridle, reins, and saddle pad, She would be loading some crates up there after, if all went well. She walked the horse through the gates, before using the rail to boost herself up. It took a moment to get settled – much beyond a novice rider Raiha was not, and at long last she nudged the mare with her legs, making a kissing sound at her, and flicked the reins. Yakini, who had been getting fat with good food and not enough riding, responded by moving into an easy walk, and down they went towards the city.
By the time she had made her way to town, carefully balanced on the mare’s back, the sun was already high in the sky. It had been a slow, steady pace with the mare taking it easy and Raiha guiding her with reins and focusing exactly on where she wanted to go. Once they got towards the gates of the city that led to the Grasslands, Raiha was glad to see the caravan’s arrival. The Akontak dismounted, sliding off of the horse’s back and adjusting the saddle pad, shaking the length of rope from her shoulder, draping it over and around the mare, loosely securing the ends up top for now. The horse demanded a mugging, and she gladly gave it while she waited, her fingers getting in along the Firemane’s mane and digging in to give her a good scratch. She was working her way back up when the Konti waved her over.
By the diminutive pale woman’s feet was a pair of crates, one bigger than the other, with holes punched in them. Emanating from those wooden boxes was enough of a noise that had the Akalak nearby almost grimacing. It was an unholy union of avian shrieks and calls, and Raiha picked them out immediately – one belonging to a familiar source, and the other was unfamiliar, but was just plain mad. Both birds were nervous, and the smaller one ravenous. “I thank you. They weren't too much trouble?” Raiha asked the Konti hopefully as she passed her a bag of Mizas.
“That one,” the merchant indicated the larger box, “will be a handful. This, I know. Watch yourself.” She took the bag with a nod. “Watch yourself, blue child,” she smiled up at Raiha, who inclined her head, and lifted the rope handles of the first crate, the bigger one, and listened to the ungodly screams from inside as she carried it over to Yakini, who stared at her with what Raiha was absolutely certain was disapproval at the very idea. She could not be serious, surely, the horse looked like she wanted to say.
“Steady,” Raiha warned the horse as she lifted the crate up, balancing it even as she fed the rope through the handles, and tied steady on Yakini’s back as the horse shifted and Raiha felt the bird flapping its wings with rage. “Steady, Yakini. You are the most perfect mare ever. Good. Good,” she rubbed the mare’s nose as she huffed and puffed in complaint, and Raiha went back for the second crate and the cloth bag that the Konti handed her. The bag was looped over her shoulder, and the second crate was stacked on top of the first before being tied again, and tested. Satisfied with her handiwork, Raiha bade the woman farewell, and started the walk back to Sanctuary, which, if possible, was even slower than the trip to town.
It took some juggling, a lot of begging and soothing and pleading on her part, but she got the horse and the new arrivals back to Sanctuary, where she undid poor Yakini, setting the crates on the ground before taking off the bridle. The mare fled into the pasture before Raiha could apologize further, and lost herself amongst the herd, giving her rider a dirty look. Apples and sugar were going to be needed tonight. The tack was hung up by Yakini’s stall, and Raiha stacked the crates, still carrying the bag on her shoulder, and carried them up to the mews, where Uzima called a greeting to her from her flight, and called out in curiosity when she heard the other birds. “I know, I know,” Raiha grunted as she set the crates down, carrying the smaller one into the flight across from Uzima’s, and undid the latches before sliding up the top end of the crate, and out rocketed one angry little kestrel. “Hi, Kefi,” the Akontak greeted her very first hawk, the one whom she had left behind in Mura.
Killykillykillykilly! Kefi screeched at her. Who did she think she was, carting her about like this? She was hungry! Raiha reached for the little bird with her bare hands, and got her finger nipped with annoyance. It had been over a year since she had last seen her little bird, but the kestrel still seemed to recognize her, letting Raiha stroke her feathers before tweaking her finger again. "I got you,” she promised Kefi, guiding the kestrel to a bowl on the wall. Mouse! A big one, but dead, and the Kestrel ripped into it as Raiha backed out, unable to get what she knew was a stupid grin off of her face as she turned back to the second crate, which she carried into the flight beside Uzima’s. She pulled her gauntlets on. The bird inside of it had quieted a bit, and between that and her success with Kefi, she let her guard down as she unlocked and opened the crate, and an angry goshawk flapped out of the crate and onto a perch, and from that perch, launched himself at Raiha.
Shyke.
Raiha ducked, bringing her leather-covered arm up to try to give him something to stand on, only for the bird to go past it and ripped at the woolen tunic she wore, shredding the cloth with talon and beak as he raged at her, being the only target that he had to take out his anger and confusion and fear on. She couldn’t disengage him – the only thing she was able to do was get her free arm from her tunic, slide it off, and let it tangle the bird as her right arm hurt like hell. Kefi and Uzima called out from their own flights, and Raiha made sure she was almost at the door before untangling the male goshawk from the torn remnants of her tunic and shaking him free before closing the door, breathing heavily, only now finally examining her arm with her fingers once the bird was glaring at her with something akin to malice as she stood there looking at him.
Well, she sucked in her breath as the adrenalin wore off and she looked down at the gashes and gouges of her arm. That wasn’t good. That definitely wasn’t good. She grabbed the remnants of the tunic and shook it out before pressing it to her arm with a hiss and headed out in search of Kavala as the blood stained the dark grey fabric, turning it almost black with blood, and Raiha’s face was twisted up, teeth clenched, as she used the hand of her injured arm to knock on Kavala’s room, keeping the cloth pressed against the wound. “Kavala? Are you around?”
