Ack! Teikot's heart just about leaped into her throat at the sound of rushing wind behind her, some of it even ruffling her short hair. Gods, don't tell her...it could fly. Well, yeah, the wings and feathers should make that obvious, but still! It was so big, it shouldn't be able to fly, right? Scrabbling at the loose soil and finding that it was far more difficult going up it than going down, she stretched out her arm to reach for her spear, throwing herself forward in a last ditch effort at snatching it up, but it was plucked up before she could grab it. By the bird thing, who stood easily at the summit inspecting her weapon. A loud groan escaped her before she could help it and she quickly began to climb back down as fast she could, though she did more sliding than climbing--especially when he drew back his arm, the one that held the spear.
Without even thinking, Teikot's brown eyes widened and she instinctively threw herself down as the spear went sailing overhead, half fearing that he'd been about to send it slicing through her. Maybe it was an irrational fear, but he'd screeched at her and now he'd taken her only weapon, which was now lodged beyond her reach in a tree! Augh! If she had only been uneasy before and thought he might be a threat, well, now she was convinced that he was dangerous, otherwise he wouldn't be so keen on taking away her only means of defensing herself. It never once occurred to her that, maybe, he viewed her as a threat if she was armed, because among her tribe it was a sign of trust to be armed while carrying out diplomatic discussions over, say, a disagreement between two people. The means of defense or offense was there as a safeguard--the trust factor came in because it was trusted that no one would stoop to violence, and doing so was dishonorable.
Well, great. She probably should have carried more arms, a hunting knife or something, but a spear usually sufficed and it wasn't like she went out thinking she was going to get into a confrontation with another person. Or creature. Now she was regretting that. Majorly. Gods, what had possessed her to follow him? Seeing a non-human bird-human hauling around a giant boar should have been a clue that she should keep her distance!
For all she knew, his kind ate humans or kept them as pets...maybe they even scalped them to use their hair as decoration. Teikot blanched at a sudden thought. Oh Gods. Her tribe often used feathers as decoration. What if...what if these bird things...used...that was it, she was never wearing another feather again, and she couldn't help but feel her hair quickly to make sure she hadn't weaved any into the short strands. She hadn't. Good. But still, it might not even matter, and she'd probably gone and pissed him off by diving for her spear. He might even feel she was a threat and want to deal with her.
Taking a few steps backwards, she didn't even fool herself into thinking she could retrieve the spear. Okay, her curiosity was quenched, now she was leaving because she was starting to get freaked out. It was one thing if she had her weapon--that was her safety net--but without it, and with someone else armed around her whose intentions she didn't know...much less something that looked like an animal but was acting far too human...
It hopped down from the summit and she jolted, retreating a few more quick steps, holding up her hands to try and convey that she was harmless--the white flag of body language. "I'm...I'm gonna leave now, okay...? I'm really sorry for bothering you," she said quickly but softly, even bowing hurriedly from the waist politely as she backed up. It was big, too. Taller than any human she'd ever seen, towering over her five feet six inches. And now he was pulling out a knife. Teikot grew a little more pale, which was something since she was rather dark-skinned, and a chill ran up her spine, her throat tightening. He wasn't going to. She swallowed stubbornly and turned her body slightly, preparing to run. Weaponless or not, she still had speed, even though he could fly. Well...even then, she could still fight...she was no weakling!
Her heart was hammering in her chest as the creature mimed out a cutting motion over his hand and gestured to the slaughtered boar, then imitated its sounds. Yeah. She understood--though she understood a different meaning from what he was trying to convey, and she could only stare blankly at the knife on the ground even when she knew that this was the part where she should probably run. He...yeah...she knew he'd killed the boar. Now he wanted her to kill herself or something? Was that it? Gods, what a savage culture he came from, if he even had a culture! Of course, there wasn't a chance of that! Really, how stupid did he think she was?
Perhaps there was a reason she didn't start running then. Because once he'd backed up, she'd swooped down on the knife, snatched it up quickly, and leaped back up to her feet while holding the knife out defensively toward him. If she ran, he could probably easily tackle her, bigger as he was and with flight on his side. But now she was armed again.
Hah! Well, that had been a stupid move on his part! At least, In Teikot's mind it had been, but they were both on completely different pages at the moment.
"Stay where you are..." she ordered as firmly as she could, taking cautious steps backwards.