Unlikely meetings (rhi)

[Anonymous]

Dappled light danced across the forest floor. Each ray of light brought with it spears of heat, and small animals sought shelter from the rage of the midday sun. The morning mists were long gone, replaced by sticky humidity. Even the largest of beasts were resting. The riverbanks became the site of an uneasy truce between predator and prey as both came down to drink. The dog-eat-dog world that was the jungle was, for but a moment, forgotten by all. Almost all, that is.

Deep inland, where underground water spilled up to the surface as large mud pits a family of giant boars wallowed. They grunted and squealed with pleasure, all but one. A female stood at the edge of the herd, calling into the trees. Her youngling was missing, having wandered off and never returned.

The young boar ran through the jungle, ripping at the low foliage with razor-edged tusks. It was being pursued. The predator moved among the trees, flying just below the canopy of impenetrable green. The green of its feathers blended with the leaves, making it difficult to see. Fen let out a deep grunt, the same sound he had used to lure the creature away from its herd. It was the cry of the beast’s mother, calling it back to her. The boar slowed and glanced behind, unsure of how to respond. Fen seized his chance, twisting in the air and grasping a barbed spear from the quiver slung over his back. In order to trow the weapon his wings had to be used as hands, and therefore he went into a freefall. Throwing the spear with a practiced hand he spread his wings and regained the hight he had lost. The spear had buried itself into the boars shoulder, slowing it considerably.

Fen glided ahead of the boar, landing with a scraping of earth and tearing of plants. He quickly drew the dagger from its scabbard on his leg. The blood-tongue was a powerful magical item, but also just a good knife. The boar slowed to a halt, raising the quills on its back and showing its tusks, trying to intimidate him. The beast was taller than Fen, even as a baby it was still a formidable foe. Fen ran at it, gaining speed as he went, talons digging into the soft soil. He leaped into the air, using one strong wing beat to propel himself further. The boar reared, trying to stab him, but missed. Fen landed on the creatures back, grabbed the fur on the hack of its head and sliced its neck open. Hot blood sprayed out and the beast fell with a loud thud.

Fen glanced about for nearby predators that might have heard the sound. When he determined it was safe he sheathed his blade and hefted the carcass onto his shoulders. This kill was too large for his to fly with. On the ground it would take the remainder of the day to get back to the village. The boar was heavy, and Fen grunted under the weight and set off.

An hour later he was forced to take his first break. A river stood between himself and home. He would need to build a raft. Fen knew the entire island like the back of his wing, and as such knew this challenge would come. Dropped the boar to the ground, then squatted down and rested on his tail. The shattered spear still poked from the carcass.

Fen sniffed the air. Something was nearby, something he had never before encountered. He waited; not wanting to alert whatever it was that stalked him to his knowledge of its presence. Better to wait. Better to gather more information. A snap sounded to his right, and Fen instinctively turned. His plume bristled and he went into a low crouch, ready to meet whatever revealed itself.

[Rhindeer]

The crack that sounded to the right of Fen soon evolved into an all out crashing sound, followed by a loud yelp and even more crashing and cracking, bushes rustling loudly as they were plowed through. It wasn't much longer before before the source of the sound was revealed, and in a far more anti-climatic manner than was intended...not that it was meant to be anti-climatic to begin with. Teikot had been going for something far more dramatic and professional. She had not banked on stepping onto uneven ground to end up tumbling gracelessly down an embankment.

However, that was exactly what happened. There she'd been, quietly stalking the strange feathered creature she'd come across, the creature she'd seen take down a huge boar with ease...and then she'd gone and stepped wrong. The next thing she knew, the world was spinning and she soon found herself tumbling out into the open to sprawl, leaves and dirt poking out of her boyishly short black hair, only a few feet away from her target. She landed hard on the ground, the wind temporarily forced out of her lungs and face pressed impresively into the ground, and it was by some stroke of luck that she managed not to get impaled by her own spear during the course of her tumble. Yet, that same stroke of luck was also kind of sadistic, because as she quickly scrambled to her knees and spit the dirt and grass out of her mouth, she found that, of course, it was still up on the embankment, lodged conveniently out of reach between a rock and a bush near the top.

Of course.

Well. This...could be a problem. And not just because her plan of stealing the boar and taking credit for it was ruined, as well as her plan to snag a feather or two to show her tribe her new discovery and if it was something they recognized. Probably not a very smart approach, but it sounded great in her head! At the time. Heh, kidding, kidding. She wouldn't do that--there was no way she could carry it, anyway. Really, she had just been curious.

Now, it didn't sound so great. Now, she couldn't even remember what possessed her to trail the creature to begin with. Curiosity was the obvious answer--she had a bad case of that, and he'd crossed her path to begin with. He just didn't seem to know it. Indeed, Teikot had been on her way to search for some food, prove herself as a competent hunter that was just as good as the boys her age--ugh, it was a long story, but suffice to say her parents didn't think it was proper, and Gods but they had nearly killed her when she'd cut off her hair a few weeks ago after one of their lectures about it being improper at her age (seventeen, though they'd been on her about this since she was sixteen) to be around boys, especially alone--and, anyway, while she was out...well, a rushing boar had nearly scared her out of her skin when it shot past her. She'd taken that as her sign to get out of there. Only the best of the best in her village could take down a boar, and of her village there were only two people who had managed. Now, even while she wanted to prove herself, she wasn't stupid--boars had killed foolhardy people before, and they were way out of her league.

However, just when she'd been about to retreat...that was when that...thing...had appeared.  human looking thing, but also bird looking. She'd never seen anything like him--and then he'd taken down the boar with hardly a fuss. He made it look so easy, so effortless, when among her people killing a boar was among the highest of achievements, and the most dangerous of them.

So...here she was! And there he was. The thing that had killed a wild boar. Feet in front of her.

Right about now it would have been nice to know if it ate human or not, too.

"Uh...hi..." Teikot said sheepishly, waving feebly and rising to her feet, dusting off her front and wiping her face, more to give herself something to do, otherwise she might get twitchy. Like the other hunters of her tribe, she was dressed rather simply in a short breeches that ended just below the kness--another point of contempt for her parents, who thought it indecent for girls to bare their legs once they had been initiated into womanhood--lace-up sandles and a tight wrap around her chest for reasons of both modesty and convenience--another thing her parents screamed about, heh. Boys just went shirtless, of course, but that wasn't an option and, heck, she had to sneak out as it was. Anyway, the jungle was far too sweltering to wear a lot when you were doing a lot of moving around, not to mention clothes tended to snag on the bushes. Wasn't like a little extra clothing would do much if a boar decided to charge you, anyway.

Or, if a weird bird man decided to charge. He was crouched and he was armed. Teikot grimaced uneasily...then suddenly decided to take no chances. Turning suddenly, she lunged for the embankment to attempt to scramble back up it, reaching for her spear. Even if he was harmless she'd feel better armed.

[Anonymous]

Fen jerked his head back as a…something tumbled down in front of him. The thing was sprawled out, face down in the soft mud. The creature hauled itself up, using featherless arms and strange, soft looking claws covered, oddly enough, in skin. The odd thing was that the skin on this creatures claws did not appear tough at all, in fact it appeared quite soft. Fen couldn’t understand why any animal would have such soft claws, it seemed completely impractical. He immediately wanted to touch them, to see for himself how hard they were, to see if he was mistaken. He restrained himself, assessing the danger. The animal didn’t seem to have talons of any sort, nor did it carry any weapons.

Fen deemed, by the glands on the creature’s chest, that it was female. He sniffed the air, searching instinctively for the natural smells generated by most creatures. Females generally gave off greater smells, so logically he would be able to gain more from sniffing it, her, than from a male. He smelled a pungent mix of things, some reminiscent of females of his own race. He determined she was young, but mature. It was difficult to interpret more than that, as he knew nothing about what she was.

Before he could observe her further, the creature spoke. She spoke softly, in a tongue he did not understand. She made a gesture with her claw, some sort of warding gesture. Perhaps to keep spirits away. “I am Fae’ten,� he said in his own, screechy tongue, “What are you?�

When she didn’t reply he lowered his crouch. Fen was unsure of how to act in such a situation. He had never seen one of these creatures, which meant they didn’t come from his island. But where then? And how did she get here without flying? A raft perhaps, but he knew of no way to build a raft that could cross the wave break.

Her face, which was flat and oddly bore no beak, seemed to spasm. He blinked, not knowing what to do. Perhaps the creature was sick. She turned, looking up the embankment from which she had appeared. He followed her gaze, spotting a wooden stick protruding from a bush at its summit. She scrabbled for it, and Fen suddenly realized what it was. A weapon. A spear as far as he could tell. He pushed off the ground and thrust upwards with a few beats of his wings. A great gust tore at the ground beneath him as he soared upwards. Fen landed on the top of the rise before she could, plucking up the spear in one claw. He studied it, deciding that, if wielded properly, could be an effective weapon.

Fen pulled his arm back and hurled the spear into a tree. It was about twenty feet off the ground, and he believed she would have trouble reaching it. The trunk was smooth and devoid of low branches, and from what Fen had seen the creature possessed no means of climbing it. If she could just that high she would have done so to reach the weapon in the first place. No, she would not be getting that back unless he gave it to her.

That was good; he wanted to discover more about this strange creature. He didn’t want her to attack him, without her weapon she could not do so effectively. He hopped down off the ledge, back down to where they could be on even ground.

He cocked his head inquisitively, wanting desperately to be able to explore this creature further. He stood erect now, no longer in a defensive crouch. His plume was down again, reducing the size of his head significantly. First, the language barrier must be breached.

He reached down slowly, making sure not to startle her, and slid the blood tongue from its scabbard. He made sure not to try and conceal the weapon in any way, and made no fast movements. He brought the dagger over his palm and made a cutting gesture, then pointed to the dead boar. He grunted and squealed in the boar’s language. When he believed his meaning had been conveyed he tossed the dagger in front of himself, between the two of them, then retreated a few feet. As soon as her blood touched the dagger he would understand her sounds.

[Rhindeer]

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.

[Anonymous]

Evidently this creature was far less intelligent than he had originally thought. He thought he had made himself clear. The process was simple, draw blood then he could speak with her. How hard was that? Fen struggled to understand why she was behaving this way. The dagger was held in her soft claws, and she waved it about while making those grunting noises. Some sort of speech, he guessed. What a very odd creature she was.

Fen decided the creature must be frightened. Moving slowly again he pulled the spear quiver off his back. He tossed it away to one side, making clear that he was no longer armed. He held up his claws as she had done earlier to show that he meant no harm. Of course Fen didn’t realise his talons could be seen as weapons, and thus the pose he mow struck could be quite fearsome. But he didn’t think like that, his talons were for gripping the trees, not for being uses as weapons.

He cocked his head, taking a moment to study her further. Odd creature. She ad some sort of wrapping around her chest and legs. Some sort of second skin, but what purpose did it serve? He glanced at the feathers on his own legs. They helped him in flight, which he could understand. Perhaps this creature’s second skin was for a similar purpose. Perhaps she was some sort of burrowing creature and it protected her from sharp rocks and roots. Fen’s keen eyes scanned the edges of the second skin, noting that it seemed not to be attached. Perhaps it was some sort of weapons storage, or carried food. Fen of course never thought of wearing garments as coverings, such a thing was never even considered among his people. He was curious as to their purpose, and even more so of what was underneath. Fen disliked puzzles such as this, always wanting to know the structure of every. If he found an odd nut he would rip off the shell to look upon its inside. Perhaps that’s what they were, perhaps she had a shell.

The Chu’ack tribe were â€"in the greater scheme of things- quite basic technologically. What they lacked in machines they made up for in knowledge of living things. Any tribe member could tell you the internal structures of every animal on their island. It was this that drove Fen’s curiosity. He desperately wanted to know how she worked, to understand what she was and how she functioned. What she ate, what ate her, Fen wanted to know everything.

He took a tentative step forward, making little sounds unconsciously as he did so. His claws fell down to his sides, wings tucked back. When he was just out of range should she choose to swipe at him he stoped, stooping a little down to her eye level. It didn’t look like she understood what he wanted, so he would need to be more patient. He spread his wings out to the side, showing that, if she choose to do so, she could stab him with his own dagger.

“I â€" am â€" Fen.â€? He said in a calm and screechy tone. “Fen. Fen. Fen.â€? Little did he know all she heard was a low squawk.

[Rhindeer]

Darn straight she was frightened! Of course, she also had no idea that his claws were merely for gripping branches or that he wasn't about ready to slice her own throat open. He not only had her spear and his own weapons, but he had claws! She just had a knife, now. Oh well! knife or not, she wasn't going to let him near her without cutting him good, and when the creature went to move his spear and quiver aside, she tensed expectantly, half expecting him to use them on her. Instead, however, he tossed them aside and held up his claws.

Teikot shrinked back a little at that gesture before, suddenly, it began to finally dawn on her. Wait...he'd just...thrown away all his major weapons. Now all he had were his claws. Okay, sure, he looked like he was holding them up in a sort of "rawr, I'm gonna eat you!" fashion, but...maybe that was just because he had claws. Maybe it was more of a submissive gesture, or supposed to be. A call for a truce. After all, if he really wanted to capture or kill her, why would he go through the extra effort of doing it with his bare hands--er, claws--when there was an easier method? That didn't make any sense. Still, for a moment she could only stare, eyes still wide and knife thrust outward defensively, daring him to come closer.

Of course, she also had no idea about how closely she was being analyzed. If she had known any of the thoughts going through that creature's head at the moment--like how he wanted to see what was beneath her "second skin", and how he was comparing her to a nut. Yeah, if she had known anything about that, she would have probably flushed in humiliation and tried to stab him just for that! It wasn't like she was terribly modest, but there was a difference between being secure in your body and...and...and being downright indecent! And that was just indecent!

In any case, though she was oblivious to his analysis, she was quite aware of him, and the moment he stepped forward, she couldn't help but take an instinctive step backwards, still trying to keep the distance between them, just in case. He looked a little less intimidating with his wings folded and his claws at his sides, but she still kept stepping backwards as he moved forward until her back hit the soft, earthy side of the embankment she had tumbled down. Swallowing hard and wishing her heart would beat more softly to stop the blood from thundering in her ears. Less threatening or not, she didn't like feeling so cornered! Then, he finally stopped, just out of her range, and stooped a little.

And started squawking, spreading his wings wide.

Teikot grimaced, shivering slightly and still holding the knife ready. What...what was he doing?! What was he going to do?! Maybe he was just messing with her! Clenching her eyes shut for a moment, trying to regain her composure, she finally snapped them open and glared as menacingly as she could at him, even though her knees were shaking. "Stop it! Just...leave me alone, please!" she yelled, feeling mocked, or like he was trying to intimidate her, toying with her. And yet, she didn't swipe at him, not yet. She didn't want to risk it. If she did...he might go for her. She'd only use the knife if she had no choice. If she just..if she just...tried to remain calm...maybe it would just lose interest and finally leave her alone? Some predators were like that.

Or, maybe it was simply intuition that told her not to strike, that something else a bit deeper was going on.

Didn't mean she was any less unnerved, either way.

[Anonymous]

Fen slumped and, as much as he could with a not-so flexible mouth, pouted. He was now thoroughly interested in this odd little featherless thing and it refused to behave. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with it either, whether he was hoping for some sort of conversation or just to put her in amongst the other pets he had collected. Over the years Fen had gathered quite a few interesting pets, in fact his collection was now so vast that his home only had room for his nest and a small shelf to store his hunting gear and a little food.

He looked at her again. Whatever it was this creature was intelligent. She would have to be tricked. Fen lowered himself down slowly, backing up as he did so to make it appear that he was backing down. Once he was crouched he inconspicuously took a handful of dirt.

Throwing the earth in front of him he leapt forward, taking advantage of the creature’s temporary blindness to ram her, ever so gently, into the embankment with his shoulder. Snatching the knife from her he twisted, fighting her resistance. He managed to make a cut, in her upper right arm. He tried not to cut her badly, but he wasn’t sure how deep the cut was. Fen rolled backwards awkwardly, feeling the familiar tingle of the blades magic working through him.

His tongue tried to form words, but it came out in an unrecognisable garble. Her language was complex, containing many words that did not seem to fit the overall structure of the language itself. More so it was not a language learned by instinct like other animals, this one was taught. He held the blade in front of himself, warding her away while he struggled for the words. He needed to explain.

“Whait!� Not a perfect word, but a start. He tried again.

“Wait! Please. No mean hurt you!� This time it came out in something close to her speech, although it was still screeching due to the limitations of Fens’s beak and vocal cords.

“Fen, fen� He pointed to himself. “Dagger make Fen speech your speak. Cut, Fen very not good.� Sorry hadn’t quite come yet.

He stood upright again, letting the dagger fall to his side. His plume shot up again out of excitement, hopefully it was no longer a threatening gesture.

[Rhindeer]

Was...was it backing off? He was. He was backing away slowly, lowering himself down, and Teikot watched him curiously, still tense and rigid but now even more confused than before instead if more relaxed. Had that seriously worked? But, she hadn't even thought he could understand her, unless her glare really had been that menacing! Or...maybe it just was losing interest like she'd been hoping. She took a deep breath. Please, please let it leave...let it be losing interest. The last thing she wanted was to get in a fight, to have to use that dagger.

...Mostly because she knew she'd probably lose at this rate.

She began to relax just a little, her breathing evening out a little, but she held the knife steady as he backed up. No use in getting too at ea--gah!

Teikot hadn't noticed when he'd picked up the dirt, but she did notice when some of it found its way into her face and eyes, and she had time only to yelp sharply in pain, blinded, before the creature was on her. Or, not really on her, but she found herself shoulder-checked onto the embankment, the wind knocked out of her in a rush of air as her back hit it, now blinded and completely taken off guard. Damnit! Heart in her throat, she reacted in a panic, acting completely out of instinct and swinging her arm around to try and strike him, not caring where she hit as long as she did. But her arm was caught and, despite her resistance, the knife was wrenched from her grasp, a sharp pain suddenly slicing through her upper arm not a second later and a tell-tale warm trickle soon following. Oh Gods. This was it. She was dead--!

"Whait!"

Teikot froze, breath coming in short, shaky gasps as she pressed back against the embankment. W-what? She attepted to open her eyes, though she still couldn't see with the grit and tears (both from fear, though she wouldn't admit it, and from the stuff being in her eyes) still blinding her. Blinking rapidly and reaching up to rub at her eyes, she could just make out the creature, a blurry silhouette, positioned not too far away from her and still holding that dagger. Pointed at her. Blood was trickling down her arm, but she ignored it--the cut really wasn't that deep at all, actually.

It...it...could talk...?

Still somewhat shell-shocked and probably quite pale, she listened, having really no choice but to as her body was absolutely frozen. It...he...hadn't wanted to hurt her...? The...dagger made him talk...?

Teikot let out an airy breath and her legs decided at that moment to give out, so she slid down the wall of the embankment until she was seated on her bottom, legs bent at the knees. Oh Gods...that...that was it? He had scared the crap out of her!

"...Ahaha...you're...not going to...eat or kill or skin me...?" she asked dully, too relieved and, well, just numb at this point to make an effort to put emotion into her voice. Then, suddenly, she felt pretty foolish. Well, duh. Wasn't that what he'd just said? Teikot swallowed to try and work moisture back into her dry mouth. "I'm...Teikot...or Tei...or...whatever." Carefully, she rubbed at her eyes, still blinking the dirt out of them but also still watching him carefully, noting how his plume shot up.

Then, suddenly, she blinked and actually narrowed her eyes at him. "You scared the crap out of me." She just thought he should know that.

[Anonymous]

Was he going to eat her? What sort of question was that? Unless she was some sort of overgrown grub there was little chance that he would eat her. This little thing would be much more fun as a pet. Fen slid his little dagger back into its sheath and lowered himself down a little so he was at her eye level. He glanced down, looking for the faeces that he had apparently just scared out of her. Upon finding none he gave her an inquisitive stare. Very odd way of saying things this one had. A few years ago he had come across a troop of monkeys living on the southern peninsula of the island. They had insisted on constantly speaking in riddles, which often made no sense at all and by making odd links between completely unrelated things. She must be related to them.

Pausing for a moment he considered what to do next. He wanted desperately to know more, to quench the cravings of curiosity. He leaned forwards, eventually having to go onto all fours to stop from falling down, and stretched his head out as far as it would go. He wanted to get closer, but she might run away, or die of fright, or worse not like him anymore! Though he wasn’t entirely sure she liked him very much right now. He liked her though. Aside from a very colourful beetle he had found once she was the most fascinating thing he had ever come across. “Tehkot….Teikoht….Tei,� he said, experimenting with the name. Tei seemed to be the easiest to pronounce, so that is what she would be called.

“What are you?� he asked, very proud of his quick mastery of the language. He was doing quite well so far, especially for such an abstract and complicated language. Edging a little closer he cocked his head from side to side, trying to see from every angle at once. He posed the next, and most obvious, question that came to mind, “What happened to your crest?� He pointed to the short growth on the top of her head. Even for a female it was small, and it lacked any colour at all. He wondered how she ever indented to attract a mate.

He edged closer, close enough that he could reach out and touch her odd, bald arm. Strange creature she was. Finally giving in to his curiosity he reached out and plucked tentatively at her second skin, pulling on it and then quickly withdrawing. “What is this?�

So many questions so little time! Well….actually there was plenty of time; Fen just didn’t feel like waiting. His lack of complete mastery over the language was the only things stopping him from asking questions so rapidly that she would not have time to answer between them.

[Rhindeer]

Teikot was still winding down from her previously panicked state, breath still coming in quick little gasps, but it certainly helped calm her more when he put his dagger away. Still, she watched him carefully as he lowered himself down to be more on her level, and then she blinked in confusion when she saw him glancing down a little further, looking around on the ground. What was he...? Suddenly, it dawned on her when he raised his eyes again and stared at her, and a flush of color spread to her previously pale cheeks. Oh man. He took that literally. "What?! No! No, not like that!" she very nearly yelped, and, realizing how she was sitting, quickly closed her legs and drew her knees up to her chest. Agh! She wouldn't normally care--she really wasn't all that ladylike and besides, it wasn't like she was wearing a skirt--but this was still a strange creature that looked like he was practically examining her! And she didn't particularly want him looking any closer for that mysterious, non-existant crap.

Looping her arms around her legs, she frowned at him and watched him as closely as he watched her, listening to him experimenting with her name and wondering if he really understood that it was a name, and not the name of her species or something. But, aha! He knew the difference! Because soon he was asking what she was.

"Uh...I'm a human," she answered slowly, rubbing at her cut arm and wiping off the blood. She still felt uneasy. Even though he said he didn't want to hurt her, she still wasn't all that sure what to think. Sure...maybe he wouldn't hurt her. But even after she'd tried to get away, he'd made a point of keeping her trapped here. That made her uneasy...why would he do that and what did he want? Just simple curiosity? Either way, she was starting to imagine that this was what the lizards she used to catch must have felt like. She always released them, of course, but...still. She'd kept some of them as pets, too...

With that in mind, part of her wanted to try and run. Just get up and bolt. Try and make a break for it and slip past him. But...he was bigger. And from the way he'd handled that boar. stronger and faster than any human. She wouldn't have a chance...and what if it angered him? The main rule of thumb she'd learned was to never run from a predator, as it triggered their instinct to chase. She didn't know what he ate, so...best to stay put for now.

"What are--" she began, but that was when he asked about her...crest?

Blinking, she reached up to feel at her short hair. "Um...well...I don't have a crest..." she answered slowly, eyeing his own feathered crest. "I don't have feathers...I have hair..."

Then he edged closer, and she couldn't help but suck in a breath and press back against the embankment, shifting a little to slide her legs beneath her so that she was crouching instead of sitting, as though ready to flee. Or, not really flee, but at least she was in a good position to strike at him if he tried anything. He reached out and touched her arm, and an unpleasant shiver ran through her body, but she held still. That was harmless. Maybe he'd never felt skin before. Maybe he was just curio--

"NO!" He plucked at her chest wrapping, and Teikot quickly slapped the hand that had touched her before crossing her arms firmly over her chest, defensively. "Don't touch that! That's my clothes! You can't touch there!"

Good Gods!

[Anonymous]

Fen blinked, stared blankly, and blinked again. Clothes? What in the world were clothes? Fen searched his mind, trying to pry some meaning from the word. The magic of his dagger never actually says what a word means, but Fen understood the word as meaning “covering� or “binding�. The only kind of binding he knew of was when his people used leaves to wrap wounds. The poor creature must be injured, and in such sensitive areas. Poor dear, she probably didn’t know the first thing about medicine, though truth be told, neither did he.

He glanced at her little crest again. Or, fur as it was, not a crest at all. That meant that she was surely some sort of monkey, or perhaps a boar. No, to spindly to be a boar. He shifted closer, trying to study her in more depth. He discovered that she was not quite as naked, in the sense that she had no feathers, as he had at first believed. She, or Tei rather, after all she was obviously somewhat intelligent, was covered in a fine laver of fur. It was so thin that at a distance it wasn’t even visible. He ran his eyes up and down her arms and legs, studying the little hairs, trying to discover their purpose. Perhaps they weren’t always this short, perhaps she was simply livestock and had been shorn down. He didn’t know much about livestock, because being tree dwellers avians never did such things, only that some of the mainland tribes used them. The land dwellers.

This was so exciting! Fen was torn between emotions. On one hand he wanted to set her free to go live and eat and breed with all the other little humans, but on the other hand he had never dreamed of a better pet. He wanted to show her off to his people and at the same time keep her all to himself. A perplexing mix of selfish and unselfish desires. If he did take her back to the village, and there was no guaranteeing he even wanted to do that, then she could get some proper treatment from the shaman and lose those ridiculous looking “clothes�.

His head bobbed up and down rapidly with uncontrollable excitement and curiosity. He couldn’t hold it anymore, it was all too much. A wave of questions gushed out, each one only giving a second for her to comprehend what he had said before asking anew, “Where did you come from? How did you get here? Have you yet bore young? Do you lay eggs? Are the males of your tribe as odd as you? How does your species breed?" he paused, leaning forwards eagerly so that his beak almost touched her nose. He added one last question, “Do you wear those because you have an injury? There is a good shaman at my village and then you could get rid of them.�

[Rhindeer]

For some reason, as the bird creature examined her, Teikot felt far too underdressed. Augh! She hated this! Then again, she couldn't really think of anyone that liked being stared at. It was awkward and embarrassing and rude and made you feel oddly vulnerable, not to mention she still couldn't help but be reminded of all the times she caught animals and stared at them. Was this how they felt? Well, whatever the case was, it seemed like the roles were reversed. Because even though this "Fen" looked at least part human, he was still a bird, and she was fully human. Great. This was great. Nature always did have a way of righting wrongs and teaching valuable lessons, so maybe she was getting a huge lesson in perspective this time around.

Fen shifted a little closer, and she held perfectly still, still flushed slightly because of that close call with her wrappings. Jeez. He really didn't have any concept of...anything, did he? Though he was intelligent, that was for sure. Ahaha. He was the first talking animal she'd ever...um...talked to. Ahem. Finally, though, it became a little too much when he kept running his eyes over her arms and legs, staring. Oh jeez, was she really that interesting?! Well, she guessed as long as he didn't hurt her or eat her...and with that in mind, she kept her mouth shut, even though she wanted to swat him away and tell him to knock it off and let her go.

If she had known a thing about the thoughts running through Fen's mind, she would have been on her feet and running as fast as she could in a heart beat, predatory instincts or not!

But finally he stopped staring quite so intently and the next thing she knew, he was bobbing his head up and down and...a grin actually tugged at Teikot's lips and she had to cough slightly to keep from outright laughing. Maybe it was the stress, but...that was funny. He really was a big bird, human traits or not! Covering her mouth with one hand and shifting around a little so she was seated on her knees--her legs had started cramping up from crouching for so long--she watched him closely. But no matter how closely she watched him, nothing could have prepared her for the next round of questions.

Oh Gods.

Question after question gushed out, and each one was more embarrassing than the next. Teikot could only stare, gaping, as he rattled them off while leaving her no time to reply. Not that she really wanted to. The first couple of questions were harmless. The next...

Great Goddess.

"Uh..." Her mouth hung open.

By the time he was done with round one, Teikot was vaguely aware that she was probably beet red. How...did her species breed? GYAH! Yeah! So not touching that one!

She was still blinking dazedly when he finally paused and leaned forward, and she only snapped out of her trance when his sharp beak suddenly loomed right in front of her nose, making her jerk backwards and gasp. And then blush some more at his next two questions.

Why of all questions did he have to pick the embarrassing ones first?!

"U-uh...well...you see..." She cleared her throat. Something told her that she had to tell him or...well...he'd probably just try and figure it out himself. Yeah, best to be straight-forward. I'm not injured at all. I'm totally fine. Er...these...humans don't have fur or feathers like you do...we wear them so we're not naked." And with that said, she folded her arms over her chest just a wee bit more firmly, just in case. "And..." She blinked, trying to remember his other questions. "I got here because I live here...on this island, my tribe and all. And no...we don't lay eggs and I haven't...er...bore young." Had she missed any? She couldn't remember...except for the breeding one. Yeah. Skipping that one!

Shifting uncomfortably, still feeling a bit overwhelmed, she suddenly started when she remembered something else he'd said. Take her to the shaman? That...that implied going to his village! That he was going to take her away. She shook her head quickly and looked him dead in the eye. "You're...not going to take me away, are you? I mean...you're going to let me go, right?" she asked a bit more quietly than she'd intended, swallowing after to get rid of the sudden dryness in her mouth. Hopefully she didn't look as worried as she felt--worried, hah, she was scared!--because she was trying her damnedest to be brave. Kind hard to do around seven foot tall bird men with sharp beaks and claws, but...you know.

He seemed like he meant her no harm. And she did find him as fascinating now as she did before, even if he made her nervous because there were so many unknowns.

But if he decided he wanted to keep her...

She shuddered.

Maybe she was just looking too deeply into this, but...well...she was cornered! It was natural to think in those kinds of ways when you felt stuck, right?

[Anonymous]

“Let you go,� he mused, bobbing slightly. He pondered it. A creature had never voiced any concern for its freedom before. How very odd she was. He shifted around so that he was on her right with the wall of dirt to his left. Fen considered how to phrase things, how to explain himself and his thoughts. In the end he decided that outright honesty was the only way. “I’ve never met one of your kind before, and I’ve been over most of the island. Your village must be well hidden, from above at least. So if you decide to run off right now I’ll follow you, see where you live and perhaps find one of you people who would like to come and be my pet. Or we can go to my village and I will show you my tribe and my collection and if you like it you can stay. If not you can go.� It wasn’t really the best choice for her, but it was the truth. If she ran he would follow.

He glanced around, looking in the trees for something. Without warning he started up the embankment, talons gripping into the soft earth. He moved with speed, sending pieces of soil raining down below. When he reached the top he turned, crouched and sprang outwards. Gliding for a moment he latched onto a tree. Scuttling upwards he reached his target, a shaft of wood sticking out of the trunk. The spear he had taken from Tei earlier. Now that they were friends, at least as far as Fen was concerned, it needed to be returned. He wriggled and pulled at the spear until it gave way, gliding down with it and landing softly back where he was, only on the other side.

Fen stuck the spear into the ground near Tei in a non-aggressive way. He decided to mimic her, more of an impulse than a conscious decision really. Flipping his tail under him Fen leaned his back against the wall and pulled his legs up like hers were. He looked quite comical in this awkward position, but he still crooned a little with his success at having managed to pull it off.

She had answered most of his questions, though more still filled his mind. Most of all he was curious about clothes. What on earth were they for? She said she had not yet raised chicks, perhaps because the males couldn’t mate with her through the clothes. They seemed completely silly. Unable to resist anymore he prodded the front of he upper section of clothing. Having no frame of reference Fen didn’t understand that she would find this inappropriate. The females of his people would mind any more that a male would if you touched their chest. Unless they had young suckling of course, but he knew she didn’t so logically it was ok. He sighed, “I don’t understand.�

[Rhindeer]

...What?! Pet?!

Teikot was so shocked by what he said that, for quite a few moments, she couldn't muster up anything to say to that and could only stare at him, eyes wide and lips slightly parted. He...was not serious. He wanted to adopt one of her people as a pet?! That...that was...no! No way! She certainly wouldn't go for that and she knew no one else would! And then what else had he said? If she ran, he'd follow her. Straight back to her village. He may not have intended it as a threat, but she was quick to interpret it as one. If she went back to her village, she would be safe once she got there, but...but if he saw where it was located, and went back to his own people and they had this sad odd fascination with humans and pets as he did...she might very well put her entire village in danger. If all of Fen's people were as tough and large as he was...

She suddenly felt a bit ill. She couldn't run back then. She couldn't risk that. She wouldn't be able to live with herself she inadvertantly caused some...some crazy take-over or who knows what, something she would always remember as an event she could have easily prevented.

And as he said, he only wanted to show her his village and...collection? Then she could go.

Her shoulders hunched up defensively and she ducked her head a little, not liking this at all. There were no guarantees he would keep his word and let her go after. It was risky on both ends of the spectrum. But...she sighed, biting her lip. She guessed one of those risks was...less than the others. Risk one person, or risk a whole tribe? Augh...maybe she was reading far too into this, maybe it was all just harmless curiosity--Fen seemed geniune enough. But the thing was, she just didn't know, and like any animal, she didn't like feeling so...cornered, both literally and figuratively.

Damn had she gotten herself into a mess. Heh...because of her own curiosity.

Ugh.

Lifting her head, she was about ready to finally answer Fen and to ask her own questions, but then he was suddenly scrabbling up the embankment, and she covered her head with her arms to keep from getting dirt in her eyes, and then lowered them again when Fen returned back to the ground, sticking her spear into the earth near her. Thank Gods! Never in her life had she been more happy to see that spear, she practically wanted to hug the thing! But she left it alone. Just knowing it was withing her reach was enough for now, and she didn't really want to use it on him.

Because then he'd just take it away again...or get pissed...

She waited until he was seated awkwardly near her to open her mouth and form her questions finally, but once again he took her off guard.

Because then he prodded at her chest.

With a yelp and a blush, Teikot smacked his hand away and scrambled sideways away from him, half tempted to grab that spear and weild it. He said he didn't understand? He'd only done it twice now when she'd told him not to! Either he was dense or he was doing it on purpose and playing dumb! "No! I said don't do that! Don't touch me!" Gods. "Just...don't do that anymore. Okay?" she added through grit teeth, crouching a good distance away from him now and self-consciously adjusting the chest wraps.

Dammit.

Rubbing her face, she decided to quickly try and change topics. "Fen...if I come, if I don't run, you'll let me go once I see your village, right?" she said, forcing the words out, speaking them hurriedly. He really didn't seem to understand a lot, so she tried to put it as simply as she could and worked to keep her voice steady but firm, pushing the past...touching...thing to the back of her mind. She was pretty proud at how calm she came across, even when inside she was filled with dread. "You won't keep me? I really want to go home after this, Fen. I have a family." Then she blinked. "My parents and siblings." She thought she should clarify before, well...he started asking more questions about, erk, "mating" and stuff...

Augh...

[Anonymous]

He bobbed up and down, almost chirping with joy. He didn’t chirp of course, that was for lesser birds species…or avians in…er…private times…

“Yes, yes! You’ll come and see al of my pretty pets and meet the elders we’ll get you some healing so you can take those silly bandages!� Apparently her point about not being hurt hadn’t quite sunk in.

‘Go home…� he looked hurt. Really, really hurt. Like a baby duck that’s lost its mother. Then just as quickly her was happy again. “Oh yes you can go home, but I doubt you’ll want to. We’ve got everything you could ever want! And your family could visit.� He really was getting the language now. The intricate subtleties were coming together in his mind.

He scampered forward, bundling up his discarded things. Fen turned, glancing at the boer regretfully. Elder Sheina had yelled at him to bring something back this time he wouldn’t keep alive. Boy was he going to get it…

But it was well worth it for Tei. He looked at her and crooned, still seeing her as a pet than as an intelligent being. Everything was intelligent to Fen. Not as intelligent as him though.

“Come, come! This way, it won’t take long.� He scampered towards the river and pushed off hard, taking to the air.

He circled above for what seemed like an age, waiting for her to come across. When it became clear she wasn’t coming he landed again.

Ah, right…no wings. And it didn’t look like she was built for swimming either.

He tilted his head for a moment, and then said slyly “How heavy are you?�

Fen had a plan. A good plan. A great plan. A flawed plan. He would carry her. It seemed simple enough. She had thumbs so she could grip easily enough, and she didn’t seem that heavy.

He turned away from her and crouched a little, wings slightly spread. He looked back over his shoulder. “Hop on.�

[Rhindeer]

Teikot glanced up at him sharply. "Silly bandages?" Healing? What was he going on about? "I'm...but I'm not hurt, I'm really not injured!" she repeated with a hint of frustration, glancing down over herself just to make sure, in case she really was missing something and the bir fellow wasn't just dense. She could be a bit clumsy and it wouldn't be the first time she'd hurt herself without noticing. It was pretty much an everyday thing where she'd find cuts or bruises she couldn't remember getting, just because she was so used to bumping into stuff that she hardly even noticed it anymore. But, bandages? That was something different. She wasn't wearing any bandages--oh.

Her eyes dropped down to her bound chest, noting the wrappings. Oh. They...did kind of look like bandages, didn't they?

Well, they sure weren't coming off!

She did look relieved, however, when he said she could go home. Sure, he looked hurt, but he'd just have to deal! She had a family and she had to live among her own people, and he had to realize that there was no way she could be happy living there...not if she was going to be viewed as a pet! Of course, this was all assuming he wasbeing honest, that he wouldn't hold her there against her will once she got there. Then again, if such was in his nature, he wouldn't even be asking her, would he? He could probably just scoop her up right now and carry her off whether she wanted to go or not.

"We'll see about that..." she muttered as she rose to her feet, brushing the dirt off her legs and bottom and picking up her spear as Fen gathered up his own things. Then he was scampering off and she jogged after him. At least, until he took to the air. Right over the river.

For a moment, hope filled her. Maybe in his eagerness he'd forgotten some very basic fundamentals like...oh...the fact that she had no wings, maybe? She certainly couldn't follow him over the wise river and...suddenly, she was looking around her, searching for a place she could bolt to, where she could hide out for a time and hope he couldn't find her.

...That sounded ridiculous even in her head.

He was part bird. He'd be able to sniff her out.

So, she just stood there and waited at the edge of the river for him to either fly away so she could escape or for him to remember her.

Unfortunately, he didn't forget about her.

Teikot took a step back as he landed, then blinked at him when he asked how heavy she was! What? Her eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms over her chest, frowning. "Not very heavy, thanks," she replied curtly. Heavy? Heavy! He'd called her heavy...the nicer way of asking would be to ask how light she was, not how heavy she was!

But when he turned around, presented his back to her, and spread his wings before telling her to hop on, it suddenly all made sense.

He wanted to fly her across.

No way.

"Er..." Staring at his back, she took another step backwards. "Can't we...find another place to cross?" It wasn't that she didn't trust him--which she didn't, not all that much--it was just...flying? On his back? Er...she was pretty sure humans were meant to stay on the ground! "I'd rather not..."

[Anonymous]

Fen visibly drooped. He thought that it had been a good idea, perhaps even a great idea. And the worst part was he couldn’t for the life of him figure out why a creature so obviously robbed of the joys of flight would turn down the chance at being airborne.

“You’re probably right, too heavy anyway,� he muttered.

He turned back to her and cocked his head. “Yes, a way to cross. You know I’ve never really thought about crossing a river without flying…it might be fun.�

With all traces of disappointment washed away by this new adventure Fen started scuttling down the river, shouting “Come on. Come on!� behind him as he went.

The river curved away, angling towards Fens’s village, then turned the other way to fit the contours of the land. Fen’s keen eyes picked out something crossing the river up ahead.

Rocks and dirt were sent flying into the air as Fen suddenly put on a burst of speed. A log. It was perfect! Anything can cross a log. Even the dumbest creature in the world could not possibly have any trouble walking on a log.

He skidded to halt before the upturned roots of what used to be a mighty tree. Looking back he gestured wildly at Teikot to hurry up and follow, before leaping onto the log. He landed on all fours, claws digging into the trunk. It was thin, thin enough he could have hugged it, and it was swaying slightly. He scurried across without any trouble, then turned, expecting to watch Tei do the same.