Stepping into the Night (Cait) [08.01]

[Shoki]

Just after sundown - 74.08.01

A new place took some getting used to. Lan had slowly been getting used to life in a Weyr, it was very different from his old home. He was walking out of the more densely populated area toward the fields further south. His right hand was lifted up and Syne was resting on it, completely passive for the most part. A leather hood was over his head, making it so he didn't see anything. Lan was quiet looking around for a nice open space. He was in 'work mode' since he was working with Syne. The bird wasn't quite used to the area he now found himself in, so Lan had been working toward that. He stopped and looked around, finding it looked like a good place. Not to much around to distract Syne. At least not a lot of people to make noise and bother him. So he carefully used his left hand to take the hood of Syne. The bird used the opportunity, once he could see to look around, though not for too long. His head rotated back toward Lan, looking expectant. At least that was how Lan interpreted it. He'd been around the bird long enough. He waited for a moment, letting the cool air of the coming night wash over them.

Still soon enough he turned back to the bird and ran his thumb across the bird's talons. There were strips of leather tied around the bird's feet, which he was still holding onto. He moved his hand to let go of them and raised his right hand slowly. Syne knew what that meant. Exercise, not work. He tested the air with his wings, extending them for a moment then bringing them down and taking flight. Lan could hardly hear the wingbeats as Syne rose into the air and started to fly, getting a feel for the area. Lan's eyes were glued to the bird as he flew, reading his mood. It was easy after watching the bird grow up. Syne was happy to be out, in his way. A small smile was brought to his lips as he watched, though a moment later he broke it. He heard footsteps. Turning around he went to see who it was.

[Cait]

Despite the fact that Saddyris rather enjoyed her stay at the Weyr, she was a restless spirit and when she wasn’t called upon to relay messages to the caravan—which was on its way North towards Cliffside Sea Hold—she made sure to keep herself busy. Whether it was keeping a watchful eye on Dyranor so that he didn’t upset the wrong person with his tactlessness or exercising Poica and Mud or just exploring the jungle beyond the Weyr, ever vigilant for signs of anything that would help the Weyr officials solve their mystery murders. On this particular night, she had been doubly restless which had put Poica in a less than jovial mood and so she’d escaped from the confines of the Weyr and run for several miles just for the sake of running.

At first she’d kept to The Road, her intention being to visit Delwys in Cliffside though after the second mile, she’d veered off and picked her way through tall grasses towards the jungle, Mud ranging beside her, low to the ground, ears erect and intent on any command she sent his way. With a sharp, short whistle he’d stop dead and sit, muscles tensed. Two short whistles would have him on his belly, eyes watching the young woman. A sliding whistle followed by a sharp whistle recalled the canine. Similar whistles could wordlessly control the runners of the Vrishna clan as well.

Together—with Poica swooping and gliding above them and chasing down songbirds in the canopies—Saddyris and Mud moved at a swift pace through the jungle, dodging branches, jumping over decaying logs and in general just working all the restlessness out until they finally slowed and angled back towards the Weyr, moving at a more subdued walk.

It was just after sundown before things began to look familiar and twilight didn’t linger long amongst the trees. It was Poica who alerted Saddyris to the presence of another human followed shortly by a low growl from Mud. With a faint hushing sound that was barely heard above the rustling of the leaves, both animals fell silent and with a hand-signal, Mud jogged back to the woman’s side where he stayed practically pressed against her leg.

Poica, rather than be alarmed seemed almost curious, which wasn’t uncommon for the Neon Rainbow. In fact it was quite normal. She sent a brief image of a large bird taking off from a man’s hand and Saddyris suddenly found herself curious and slightly distracted. The distraction was all it took for Poica to dart through the canopy and stoop down to circle the young man with a cheery trill and muttering a curse, the caravan girl hurried forward, sending a mental command for the friendly flitter to come back before she caused any trouble.

She would’ve preferred to observe without being seen first, but Poica had had other plans. With a cheerful warble, she glided over and landed in her usual fashion against the front of Saddyris’ leather vest, talons scrabbling as she hauled her gaudy self up onto the woman’s slender shoulder and coiled across the back of her neck, ducking beneath the long black braid. Mud, well behaved creature that he was stayed at her side and dropped to the ground with a flick of two fingers though his attention never left the young man. “Sorry about that, hope she didn’t startle you. She tends to be a little curious. She saw a bird?”

[Shoki]

Lan paused to take stock as he saw what had made the noise. A young woman, around his age had come up, with a very bright Rainbow firelizard coiled around her neck like a scarf. At her side there was a canine, and a well trained on at that. He liked well trained animals. He observed the lot again, trying to determine how this would impact things. The woman got straight to the point though, asking about a bird. He blinked, and got a little flustered.

"Yes, I, uh, have a ba-ba-bird." He turned a little red, his usual inability to talk properly to girls flaring up. That's what he got being raised with only a brother to talk to. His Mother hardly counted, she was as wild as the rest of them. He looked up,scanning the skies. He could see Syne circling, already having heard the noise. The bird's ears were very, very good. Of course they were, they had often put meat on the table. He gauged quickly that it would be better to have Syne calm, and therefore perched. "Pa-pardon m-m-me a m-moment."

He took a small step back a moment and made a low whistle. The bird above instantly turned downward to Lan, recognizing the sound. Lan then offered up his right hand, thoroughly gloved as it usually was. Syne swooped down quickly, and at the last moment brought his wings back and gently landed on the man's hand. Lan fished around his bag for a moment and offered a scrap of meat to the bird, which was taken carefully and then promptly eaten. Syne was smart enough to avoid the man's fingers, since it got him less treats. Lan took a step back and looked down at the canine again before turning his eyes back to the young woman in front of him.

"S-s-sorry to b-b-be rude. This is my b-bird." His stuttering tapered off some, as it usually did when trying to do something particular with Syne. In this case, acclimating him around people and other creatures. "Did you have an issue with him?" The posed the question lightly, trying to figure if there was some rule he didn't know about for handling birds around the Weyr. She seemed to know a bit about caring for animals, and he looked somewhat interested in her firelizard and canine. The flitter especially wasn't something he was well acquainted in, but he was always willing to learn. At the moment he was being a touch forgetful about introductions though, he wasn't exactly ready for conversation with a pretty girl.

[Cait]

Whatever she had been expecting, it certainly wasn’t the flustered response given by the young man. Blinking, she moved a little closer as he stuttered and Mud remained where he was though he was no less alert. It wasn’t that she wasn’t used to the strange reactions of others—she was convinced that a majority of the Weyr didn’t know what to think of her though they seemed to accept Dyranor a bit more readily—the blushing and stuttering was something new. Did this man always stutter? As her green eyes narrowed slightly, she estimated his age as roughly around her own.

When he looked up, she followed suit and ignored the scrape of a talon against the side of her neck as Poica shifted her grip to keep from sliding off the woman’s shoulders. It took a moment but she too spotted the dark shape circling above and the moment she noticed it, Poica chirped and moved as if to launch herself into the air to investigate. Silently staying the curious Queen, she watched curiously as the man took a step back and lifted his hand. When he whistled, Mud’s ears twitched and he tilted his head but otherwise remained where he was and when the dark figure stooped down to land on the man’s gloved hand, Saddyris felt her jaw drop.

It was a bird! Of course she’d heard and even seen other hunting birds; one of the other clans raised them. But this one was gorgeous! Nothing like the hawks that were kept by various clan members! His eyes were huge and a vibrant gold. Snapping her mouth shut only to have her lips peel apart over a wide grin, she reached up to nudge Poica and the Rainbow obligingly uncoiled herself from the woman’s neck and launched herself up to land on a low branch, eyes whirling curiously as she hunched over, peering at the bird.

“An issue?” She let out a soft bark of laughter that made Mud’s tail twitch and shook her head. “He’s gorgeous, how could I have an issue with him? Will he let me come closer?” While she was eager to move closer, she of all people knew better than to crowd a strange animal, especially one equipped with talons and a very, very sharp beak. “I hope my little girl didn’t ruffle his feathers too much, she can be rather curious.” She gestured over her shoulder at the firelizard who trilled merrily at being mentioned. Still smiling, Saddyris raised a dark brow and when he didn’t move to introduce himself immediately she took matters into her own hands. “I’m Saddyris Oneri, up there is Poica and the handsome fellow being so well behaved is Mud.”

[Shoki]

Lan observed her change in demeanor, and looked a bit surprised. Okay, looked like there was no trouble at all. He briefly mouthed out a 'oh' before trying to gauge the situation again. Birds could be finicky, it was true, but Syne was extremely good. The only thing that might be an issue was if the Rainbow was a little too active, but she looked well behaved enough to not be a problem.

"S-sure. As long as you aren't too l-loud he is v-very well behaved. J-just careful about reaching toward him. He is v-very calm r-right now, s-so its the b-best time to introduce him to p-people." And he was. Syne had finished his snack and was perfectly content to rest on Lan's hand for as long as he needed to. He ignored the sounds of human conversation, but when the firelizard trilled, Syne's head rotated around to look at her. It was a trait of some of the night hunters, something that was odd to those used to the hawks. After a moment of keeping his head at the odd angle, it rotated back to front, apparently deeming the firelizard noise as not a threat and not food. Lan smile a little, and stroked the front of the bird's breast with teh back of his finger.

"Oh, uh, m-my name is Lan. Lan Orpheal. Th-this is Syne. Its v-very n-nice to meet you and y-your c-c-companions." he nodded briefly as a way of greeting and observed her again. She really seemed interested in Syne. He supposed it made sense, it was really a chore to train up his kind of bird. So it was something different. At least it was nice to have the attention on animals rather then people. It made things easier.

"Th-they are r-really w-w-well behaved. D-did you train them y-yourself?" He looked down at Mud again, still quite impressed. He looked like he was a good sturdy canine, probably made for a good guard. As for the firelizard, he knew many used them for sending messages, which was very useful. He wanted to learn more about them eventually.

[Cait]

Taking another step forward as the man agreed to let her greet his bird, Saddyris stopped just shy of an arm length from the pair. As much as she itched to stroke the bird’s feathers she knew better. Handlers often knew best what their creatures could handle. For instance, Poica was perfectly fine with just about anything while Mud tended to get overly agitated around dragons and whers though over the months he had gotten a great deal better and no longer barked uncontrollably when one of the aforementioned startled him. The bird’s reaction to noise making not only fascinated Saddyris but elicited the silent command for silence; she didn’t want to startle the bird, she knew how devastating a sharp beak like that could be when attached to an agitated or alarmed bird.

“Nice to meet you both.” Her voice was softer now that she was closer and she took care to remain still. “That’s quite a bird you’ve got there. I’ve only ever seen falcons. I’ll bet he can take down a small feline if he wanted.” She eyed the talons that gripped the thick leather glove and nodded slightly as though agreeing with herself. Yes, that was definitely one amazing critter he had there and she found herself a little jealous if she were to be perfectly honest. As a lover of animals as well as the training process, she appreciated the calm alertness of the bird and how it always seemed to turn back to Lan.

“Oh, yeah. I raised Mud up from a pup; he’s good for guarding and herding…and being silly on occasion. Poica’s my main connection with the caravan while I’m here. So did you capture him and tame him or raise him up from a fledgling?” Both were common practices amongst falconers and she had a very professional interest as a trainer herself though her specialty geared towards fur rather than feathers.

[Shoki]

Syne observed the human move closer with a detached gaze, or so it seemed to Lan. Birds were notoriously hard to read, but he had a saving grace for Syne. The tuffs of feather over his eyes that reminded him of ears often raised or lowered with his mood. They were perked up at the moment, which indicated he wasn't stressed at all. Syne hardly noticed humans he didn't know for the most part, though he was giving this new person a look over for a moment to see if she had food. She did not appear to. So when she stopped moving he merely turned his head about to see what had the grass rustling. There was a breeze now, so it wasn't long before his head turned back, but still.

"He has, w-well, caught m-me game about the size of a tame f-feline. W-when he can find it." Larger birds could take down some amazing things he knew, especially in groups. As it was, Syne did lovely at his job. He was planning to let him loose to see what he could catch around here at some point but didn't want to jump too quick. Besides, not like he needed to.

"That's always r-rewarding. R-raising them up from a young age. Syne w-was only a l-little f-fledgeling w-when I got him. I've t-tamed some falcons I've c-caught before, and let them g-go after the season is over. Some of them w-were almost f-friendly." Hunting birds were not particularly social creatures as a rule. You trained them to behave.

"Th-they say it's r-really intense t-to have a f-f-firelizard. Like w-with knowing how they feel. Is that true?" He hadn't met someone directly who had a flitter. He knew the searchrider a little, but dragons were extremely intense, so he heard. He expected he might learn something about it if he got to handling a Wher, but they were different, apparently.

[Cait]

Saddyris smiled as her estimate was confirmed. She was generally pretty good at sizing a thing up and was fairly good at tracking, though not nearly the best in the caravan. Taking another step closer and now well within reaching distance, the young caravan woman tilted her head slightly to inspect Syne’s plumage. It looked incredibly plush and ridiculously soft. However, despite her fingers itching to verify her observations, she knew better than to go around grabbing carefully trained animals. It was one of her pet peeves in fact; when people just marched up to Mud and assumed he was some cuddly lap dog, or that Poica wasn’t capable of being violent when the mood struck—which admittedly was almost never.

In her mind it was the equivalent to bouncing into a random wher’s den and hugging it without warning. You could be fine…but it was more probable that you would get the crap mauled out of you. But who would get blamed? The wher of course or on occasion the handler. Sharding lame in her opinion!

“I have to agree with you there. I’ve had Mud and Poica since they were little and in my not quite professional opinion, it makes for stronger bonds. Especially with birds I would imagine as they tend to imprint.” While she’d noticed the young man’s stuttering before, Saddyris quickly adapted to his halting speech and paid it no mind. In her humble opinion, caravan folk tended to be a bit more accepting of strange quirks such as speech impediments or disabilities than others if only because they knew what it was like to be ridiculed for being different. It wasn’t nearly so bad now as it had been in the past though, if clan stories were anything to go by.

When Lan mentioned a curiosity in firelizards, Saddyris almost called Poica to her then quickly reconsidered. It probably wasn’t the best idea to put a firelizard in such close proximity to a trained bird such as Syne, especially without knowing how well the bird was trained; however, no matter how well you trained an animal they were never truly one hundred percent under control. All animals retained an untouchable wildness, regardless of how tame they seemed. “It’s certainly different. There are times—especially in the beginning—when I had trouble telling my feelings apart from Poica’s. Mainly when she’s hungry, scared or proddy. Plus she’s eternally curious so I’m constantly being assailed by random images of things she discovers though I broke her of the habit of bringing things back and leaving them in my bed to find.”

[Shoki]

Syne observed but didn't particularly react to the human as she came closer. It seemed that he got an itch or some such after she moved, and went about preening the area just behind his head. It wasn't long though and he just turned back when he was done and his feathers were in order. He seemed fairly content.

Land nodded briefly before speaking. "Th-they make the easiest ones to get back, w-when they imprint. B-but they are b-both the b-best and the w-worst when they are t-t-trained. It t-takes a while t-to get them p-properly t-trained, and if you m-m-mess it up they are r-real brats. B-but Syne here is the b-best sort." He smiled, very genuine, when he was done talking about Syne.

As he listened to her speak on the firelizard, he wondered at it. Hard to tell where your feelings ended, and hers began huh? It seemed rather alien a concept, but he felt it made for a most interesting sort of communication. He was quite interested. He observed the Rainbow again, smiling at her as he thought. Well, he imagined he would see plenty more firelizards as he got more friends at the Weyr.

"Seems l-like a w-whole different challenge." He paused and took a guess. "But a g-good one, y-yeah?" He didn't notice the area under Syne's beak puffing up a bit.

"Ooh-hu." Syne's call was not particularly loud but it did catch Lan's attention. He looked at the bird for a moment and smiled wide.

"If you w-want to p-pet him n-now is a g-good time. Just uh, t-try it l-like this." He tucked his thumb wave down into his palm, but left the rest of his fingers out. After showing that he presented the back of his hand to Syne and used that to stroke the front of his feathers. He stopped after a second and motioned for Saddyris to try. Not that Syne was likely to become perturbed if she tried it some other way (unless she tried to pet his head or back) but Lan was very careful about making sure it didn't seem like the action was meant to give food. That and it didn't overlap with any of his commands for the bird. Best not try and tempt fate.