Private Tales As The Crow Flies

[Finn Glider]

Leave it to Finn to make his own life difficult. He had accepted a bounty, with a decent purse, not totally sure what or where he was headed for it. The Ixchel wilds were not on his list of fun places to go. It was hot, and humid, on he was going to have to fight more than just the target he was after. More work than he had wanted, and not worth the coin he was being paid. At least he got half in advance, this wasn't going to be cut and dry like he had planned on.

With a sigh, the lad stared into the darkened void that awaited him, avoiding entering the trees until he could wait no longer. Stepping into the shadow of the wilds was like entering a different world. The humidity hit you instantly, clothes growing damp and sticking to your body. There was a hushed reverence that seemed to pulsate around you the further you traveled. This was not lost on Finn, and he kept his eyes sharp and his blade close. There were too many hazards to trip up a weary traveler.

Hours and days later, Finn paused to brush the sweat from his brow his brown eyes canvasing the trees in front of him. He pulled an apple from his satchel, taking a bite of the softened fruit. The juice of it dribbled down his chin as he held it in his teeth while he pulled out his map. A map that seemed to be very inaccurate. "Well, I guess forward it is." He spoke eto himself between bites, no longer giving the map much consideration. He was sure at some point he would find the naga he was looking for.

Flies-With-Beasts

 

[Flies-With-Beasts]

Above the jungle canopy, a lone Krr'chee'aw soared with a shortbow strapped to his back. He wore light robes braided into a lightly protective armor-like garment. They had decorative tassels dyed into a pale yellow while the rest was brown. It was a hunter's outfit, not one for combat, and he wasn't far from his home city, Coh'hii. A lone Krr'chee'aw is often a vulnerable one as his kind is used to being accompanied, but right now, Flies wanted to prove himself.

He was a hunter by trade, but that didn't mean he was the best at it. He was unremarkable. Plain. Even his plumage wasn't as colorful as many Krr were. The only part that stuck out, he believed, was his personality... and his obsessions. He snorted. It wasn't his fault that shiny stuff was meant to be hoarded!

His sharp eyes then caught something. A weird two-legged beast. Granted, Krr'chee'aw also possessed two legs to walk on. But this creature was so strange! No feathers, no tail. At least, it looked like the creature had fur on its head. He'd never seen anything like it. It looked civilized, which stayed the hunter's talons. He wasn't comfortable with hunting something that could craft... that wasn't a repulsive naga.

He tucked in his wings and dove from the sky. He was painfully aware that his dark plumage stood out during the daytime when he flew, but when he was branching, he was naturally camouflaged. The leaves and branches softly rustled as he sped past them. With little room to use his wings he had to use his limbs and tail to gradually slow his descent and perch on a branch near the wingless beast. This created quite a bit of noise, but he figured that if the beast was a threat, this was a safe position for him. It didn't look capable of climbing well, he thought.

 

[Finn Glider]

He was about to continue his journey onwards when a deafening silence filled the canopy. That only meant one thing, some sort of predator was about. He tossed his apple core into the dirt, brushing his hands on his pants as he scoured his surroundings. Whatever it was, he was bound to find out shortly and he gritted his teeth before beginning his trek once more.

It seemed that he should have been looking to the air, and not the dense foliage that surrounded him for his perceived enemy. His head shot up as he caught sight of a very large dark figure crashing through the canopy.
he followed the creature, moving his body in a slow circle as he grasped at the hilt of the silver blade that rested across his back.

It landed high up in the branches of a gnarled tree, and Finn stood with his feet apart and his hands at the ready. He couldn't see the beast very clearly, and he had no idea what to expect as he tried to adjust his gaze to see between the leaves and shadows. It hadn't attacked him yet, but that did not mean he wasn't dinner in its eyes.

Flies-With-Beasts

 

[Flies-With-Beasts]

Once situated in the tree's branch, Flies took some time to orient himself. He did this by gripping with his feet and lightly bobbing his tail behind him as he bobbed his head about like an owl or parrot might do. All the while, he watched the wingless stranger.

He wasn't surprised when he was seen, as he knew that no matter what he'd do, he would be if he wanted to investigate this alien. However, he was surprised by the creature reaching back for a sword... or some similarly-built weapon. He squawked in alarm and quickly spread his wings and hands as he shook them quickly while leaning back. A rather universal gesture that generally translates to WAIT-WAIT-WAIT-WAIT!! WAIT-WAIT-WAIT!!

He started frantically chattering in Krik with pigeon and thrush calls in a futile effort to explain himself... completely failing in his panic to consider that the one he was talking to wouldn't understand a single word. But perhaps his gesturing and puffed up feathers coupled with his green eyes being very wide would get the gist across... maybe.

Finn Glider

 

[Finn Glider]

Finn could only blink at the odd display the even stranger creature gave him. He continued to slowly unsheathe his silver blade, though once fully exposed, he kept it at his side. While the bird..thing seemed to not be an aggressive type of creature, he still could not trust the being that stared from the trees.

The pleas of the beast fell on deaf ears, purely because Finn did indeed not speak bird. It only seemed to become defensive, feathers puffed up and its eye wide. "Oy, I'm not looking to fight if that's what you're after. I'm hunting a creature that is definitely not you, and if you can understand a word I'm saying, I'd appreciate if you left me alone!"

He was hesitant to turn his back, and waited to see what it might do. At least if he kept eyes on it, he could anticipate an attack. He locked his blue eyes on those of bright green ones. There seemed to be intelligence there, but he couldn't count in it.

Flies-With-Beasts

 

[Flies-With-Beasts]

When the creature continues to unsheathe the blade Flies abruptly calms down in physical gesturing and Krik. This does not mean he has actually calmed down, however. He quickly climbs into several branches above himself in order to get out of reach of the blade.

He visibly frowns at the weapon as his tail wraps around the thinner branch. One main hand rests against the tree trunk while another reaches back to gently grab at his bow. He doesn't unsheathe that yet. He looks, and feels, frustrated by the miscommunication, but the creature doesn't seem aggressive yet. Flies likens the behavior to a coiled snake.

There's a faint grinding from his throat as his retracted beak presses against itself with stress. He squints at the beast's mouth, carefully observing how it moves with this strange new language. The Krr hesitates before mimicking what the creature has said, word for word, though it's heavily slurred and sounds drunken. He's not used to using his mouth this way.

Finn Glider

 

[Finn Glider]

It seemed to understand Finn to some sort of extent. He watched as it seemed to calm down after he spoke, his blade obviously causing stress to the birdlike creature. He watched it move through the trees in an awkward kind of grace, and his curiosity heightened even more as he could see the frustration that etched itself across the face of the creature. It was sentient, that much he'd deduced.

Finn made a big show of putting his hand up in surrender, every movement exaggerated and visible. Despite the alarms going off in his brain, he opted to slowly put his blade away. As he did this, the bird creature seemed to try and convey something to him, this time in the form of mimicry.

It was replicated perfectly, though slow and slurred. It seemed that it wasn't trying to be a threat, though that had immediately been mistaken with all the excitement. He put both his hands up now, palms facing outward and sat on the jungle ground, his eyes still never leaving the still possible threat. "I won't hurt you, if you don't hurt me." He slowly reached into his pack, pulling out another apple. He offered it with an outstretched hand to his new friend.

Flies-With-Beasts

 

[Flies-With-Beasts]

The creature continues to act in a very un-animal way, which oddly starts to reassure Flies. He lowers himself against the branch as he observes the other move slowly and speak again in that strange language. He then seems to offer an apple?

Flies isn't hungry, he's hunting for his people. He grinds his beak again but his stress visibly fades to a more casual stance, especially with the immediate threat away. Both his main hands grip the branch between his feet as he perches there with his tail still helping with grip.

He shakes his head as he politely declines the fruit before he gets an idea. With one wing hand he points to the apple and utters a toucan honk. A single sound as he verbally identifies the fruit. He hopes the creature might understand what he's trying to convey....

Finn Glider

 

[Finn Glider]

Finn was far from stupid, maybe a vagabond and handsome, but definitely not stupid. He could see the agitation diminish from the creature, though a wariness still filled both of them as they continued to stare each other down. It even shook its head to decline the offered fruit, and that gave Finn a great pause.

It was now clear that this...person was sentient and was able to comprehend and reason. It didn't seem violent, it seemed curious and defensive. It wasn't a man, or a bird, it was a conglomeration of the two it seemed. At the response of his offering, it let out a sound that though in itself he didn't understand, he knew with the addition of a pointed wing what it was trying to do.

"Yeah, apple." He sounded the word out slowly as he lifted the red fruit higher. Despite the voice in his head, Finn took a moment to put away his silver blade. "Look, as long as you don't turn on me and eat me or whatever, why don't you come down and perhaps we can help each other." He gestured with his hands for it to join him on the ground, lifting his hands up in surrender.

Flies-With-Beasts