Post by Curiosity on May 15, 2009 15:51:51 GMT -5
Characters Involved:
Sage, female lynx
Roki, male cougar
Roscoe, male whitetail deer
Kirkra, male raven
Braxton, male red fox
Terri, female red fox
Snowy, female coyote
Zephyr, male kestrel
=== Foggy Path ===
The white-phase lynx from the far north is exploring her temporary new surroundings, getting to know the area around Snow Crest Mountain for while she and her traveling companions are staying here and spreading the festivities about the upcoming eclipse. Sage is padding quietly through the forest now, trodding along the path with the morning mists flowing around her large paws and stocky legs, pale blue eyes scanning the bushes and foliage around her for any prized herbs and plants. At the sound of movement and noise from another creature in the area, she pauses mid-step, tufted ears pricking forward as she easily locates the source. Sighting the fellow feline, she offers a smile towards the larger male cougar in the wooded clearing. "Hello, friend." Her icy eyes glaze over briefly, and then she adds a few seconds later: "Your mother says hello, as well." Is she crazy? Given Roki's mystical upbringing, it's safe to assume he knows better than to judge the stranger's actions superficially.
Roki was following a ghost! Its not often you find something so large and white in this region. The hares and rabbits are already starting to return to their spring colors, but spotted far in the distance, this thing was no hare. After a while of tracking Roki found himself making the aqaintance of another feline, but one with remarkable white fur! Before he can reply he hears her speak of his dead mother's greeting and pauses.. a moment in thoughtful silence before answering. "I'm Roki." A light smile spreads over his face and he glances up and around at the trees. "And hello mother." Shes certainly caught his interest now. "What name do you go by?
As if answering his greeting, the trees sway, branches and leaves rustling as the wind rushes through them. The pale-furred lynx remains still, standing in the midst of the path and facing the decorated cougar with a faint smile. "I am Sage, of the Merrymakers. It is a pleasure to meet you, Roki." She takes a few steps closer to him, peering up intently into the larger feline's eyes, rather close to the cougar for only just having met him. "You have a pure soul, son of the Eagle." Is she merely referring to the feathers entwined in his thick fur, or does she know more than first appears?
Roki's rounded ears spin and twitch a moment and he glances around as if hearing voices on the wind through the trees. Theres a presence there but one Roki has started to become quite familiar with after the passing of the shamaness. Sensitive creatures notice while skilled ones recognize details, and the mountain lion prince sees the recognition in the pale blue eyes of the lynx just before him now. "Welcome Sage. Thank you for the compliment. Its this your first time in the area?" Perhaps she had been here before and met his mother, there were few who didnt know of her afterall.. but this one smelled of a far off place.
Sage settles back on her haunches after leaning in, looking up at the tribal cougar with a continued smile. "Yes, it is. My home is to the far north -- but my friends and I are visiting the area to share our celebration of life and love and nature with those we find here." Her smile turns up the corners of her blunt muzzle a little more as she considers the larger male feline. "Perhaps you will join us sometime in our festival." She looks around, realizing she left her pouch of trinkets with the others when she went exploring beyond the open grasslands. "I do not have goods to trade with you at the moment, but perhaps I can offer you some other service to demonstrate our good intentions. Is there something you would like?" The question is left quite open to interpretation, but perhaps that's the intent - to determine Roki's hopes and dreams.
Roki smiles at Sage, instantly taking a liking to the strange newcomer with the gifts of sight beyond sight. "Id very much enjoy attending a festival celebrating life, of course!" The larger cat seems all smiles hearing about that! Roki is on the path of learning the higher powers of nature and has been spending many of his seasons traveling on journeys of discovery, searching for truths and the skills to see some of the more hidden signs. Hes already learned so much but has a long way to go yet. So perhaps since the offer was granted he could learn something from her. "Can you teach me see and hear farther?" Its an odd question, but Roki has a feeling she might have an answer or two. She could see the eagle afterall. The prince looks back the way he had come a moment. "I have a deer to offer you in return. I had just been hunting before I spotted you." Though he has a strange feeling that it was actually she who found him.
Sage beams at the cougar's exuberance about the festival, pale blue eyes glimmering in the sunlight that filters through the rustling trees above, and she nods at his request. "Of course. Before you can clearly see beyond, however, you must be able to clearly see within yourself. But I'm sure your mother has taught you that already," she suggests with a knowing smile. As for the second half of Roki's request: "Every inch of the forest has a story to tell. Listen closely, and patiently, and they will speak to you." Her answers are short, but perhaps the cougar can find some personal worth in them. But perhaps even the lynx realizes it's not worthy of a full meal just yet -- "Would you like to remember your mother, Roki?"
Roki smiles right back. "Follow me, its just over here." He leads her only a few steps ahead and to the side, walking with her more-so really as he listens to whatever she might have to offer. "My mother taught me many things, in indirect ways. Showing me the right paths to discover things on my own. She.." He pauses and smiles looking up at the leaves. "..still does." The good natured puma laughs and shakes his shoulders slightly, turkey feathers woven into the fur there dancings back and forth over him. "Most of what Ive learned has been from the birds however." He quiets quickly as she continues to explain the part about seeing inside and listening. This is something he knows from his travels but Roki looks very contemplative over the her words, letting them sink in and show their full meaning. It becomes as new and meaningful as the first time he realized it and he finds new truths already! "Thank you, Sage. I can see you have a great wisdom inside you. I will remember your words." The scent of a recent kill becomes apparent on the air and cawwing crows can be heard. "My mother?" He stops in his tracks and looks to Sage, and answers with only a nod. Its something he seeks on every path and usually finds, but the path today seems to have brought a particularly good opportunity.
Sage pads along behind her felid cousin on short legs, her stocky form perhaps slightly less graceful in appearance than the slender, lanky frame of the fully-grown cougar leading her to his recent catch. But if she's hungry, it doesn't show -- as Roki speaks, the silvery-white lynx listens carefully, paying close attention to what he has to say just as much as he listened to her. Only when he grows quiet again with a solemn nod does she divert her attention, smiling subtly as she moves to the edge of the trodden path, lowering her head to the various flowers and weeds here, sniffing out the one she's looking for in particular. When the toothy, irregularly-shaped leaves of the thornapple plant are located, she carefully picks one of them off at the base with her teeth before carrying it back, spitting it out on the ground in front of Roki. "Eat this, and think of her. She will come to you."
Entering from the lawn of delicious blooming clover, the whitetail buck elegantly paced through the sunlit forest with a rather stoic look plastered upon his maw. The male's only problem that early afternoon was the lack of antlers upon his head. How embarassing it was, to be an animal so pictured with antlers all year long, and there he was with these fuzzy stubs just beginning to split in two. Though they were growing quickly, he wished summer would arrive just as fast. The cloven hooved mammal was aware of his surroundings, and was getting much better at anticipating danger in the strange lands. Used to snow at this time of year, the muddy ground began to become an annoyance, though he knew it would dry soon, and he would be wishing for the mud to return. Stopping dead in his tracks, the stag's head lifted to the sky as he took in the scent of death; definitely predators nearby. With a flick of his ears, Roscoe became tense and just stood there, his eyes scanning the area, trying to find whoever it was that killed whatever it was. He certainly wasn't going to be next. After moments upon moments of his defensive searching, the buck let out a relieved snort, and continued onwards towards a tree-gated field. It seemed safe enough, and who's to say that he wouldn't find another whitetail somewhere out in this wilderness?
Roki looks on in silence as the mysterious white cat wanders off the path and finds something among the vegetation. To this point Roki is only aware of the life force energy that can be felt through the forest and has never known the specific effects that certain parts of his environment can do in medicinal effect. So with a moments hesitation he looks and sniffs over the leaf that had been deposited before him.. but the trust he feels already for Sage, perhaps from the energy of her aura or some deeper gut feeling. Roki licks up the leaf and eats it without so much as making a face to the taste on his canivorous palate. "My own offering is just through here. Perhaps you would like a moment to rest your travelling paws and..." He looks up at the whispering winds through the trees and just silently leads the lynx to the remains of perhaps one of Roscoe's acquaintences.. Roki looks back to Sage again with an amused smile on his face. He thought he heard a familiar voice already. "Please help yourself." Even as a cub, Roki was the son of Amaranth to remember his manners and act in a diplomatic manner to new creatures he came into contact with.
Sage remains near to Roki, but does not yet stop to eat the offering given to her in exchange for her mysticisms. Which is perhaps a good thing, given the presence of the whitetail buck wandering nearby that's so far gone unnoticed - it'd be an awful first impression of the Merrymakers if she were seen dining upon his kin's flesh when they met. It's all a part of life's harmony, of course, but even so. She does indeed settle next to the tribal-decorated cougar, but her eyes remain on him, watching him closely now that he's eaten the leaf she instructed him to take. Perhaps after a few moments and the plant's alkaloids have started to take effect, the fog hovering over the forest path may start to appear a little different to the Amaranth-born male. A breeze whispers by, stirring the mists in front of Roki in a motion that's nearly reminiscent of lifting wings, and perhaps by coincidence the sound of a raptor's cry can be heard echoing in the distance.
After a few more moments of graceful wandering with his head lowered to the ground, sniffing out any blades of grass or buds of growing flora, Roscoe had caught the sight of both predators; a lynx and a cougar. He'd seen lynx before in the cold lands that he called his home seasons ago, and knew that they mostly kept to themselves there. The cougar was what worried him. He'd heard stories of their ruthlessness, and made them out to be somewhat of a super-predator of sorts. However, he did not show fear outwardly towards them. That lesson was learned early this winter, and instead he rose his head up to a superior stature, and cleared his throat. "Good morning." he offered the two felines, not politely and yet not rudely, just in a passing by manner. Perhaps if he got on their good side, they wouldn't make a meal of him.
Roki watches the rolling fog and the swaying branches in the trees. They are just as they've always been, every inch telling a story just as Sage had said. One only needs the right ears to understand the language and the right eyes to read it. Roki smiles to himself as he recalls the paths he had been taught, but they only ever revealed so much to him. He takes a moment from his concentrations to glance at Sage who seems to be looking quite intently at him, and perhaps not as hungry as he might have thought. He's about to ask but movement in the fog distracts him from the corner of his eye and he peers at it curiously. The big cat suddenly becoming very silent and seeming to delve back into concentration again. "Mother.." he whispers under his breath as he focuses his thoughts on her. Appearing quite rude when he doesnt even reply to the deer's greeting, though under normal circumstances he would have. Deer normally always are granted a mountain lion's full attention afterall.
Kirkra circles around in the air for a few minutes, looking down curiously from his vantage point in the air. Seeing that something seems to be happening, it's not surprising that he quickly grows quite curious, swooping down to alight on one of the upper branches of a nearby tree. He calls down in a raspy voice, "Mammals... Mammals..." Although he's seemingly speaking to nobody but himself, he still seems quite interested to know what's happening. It's rare to see such a diverse group in one place without bloodshed, even if they were all landbound. He seems a bit more interested in Roscoe, having met the deer before. "What's all this then? Did you decide to forge a truce and make life less interesting while I was away?"
While the lynx will likely still take the cougar up on his offer to share his kill, she prefers hunting smaller prey, and so Roscoe's assessment of her behavior is accurate. So when the whitetail's greeting draws her pale blue eyes from watching Roki to the antler-less buck, they hold no signs of predatory hunger or malicious intent - in fact, the bobbed-tail female returns the greeting with one of her own. "Hello, forest walker." Realizing that he must be able to smell the blood, and is no doubt instinctively wary as a result, she adds: "Forgive our unchangeable nature, proud one. His sacrifice will not go unappreciated." A tufted ear twitches almost imperceptibly at Roki's murmur, and the faintest of smiles appears on her maw. The wind cannot talk, of course, but one can still listen to it speak. And even so, the breeze seems to whisper nonetheless, wisps of fog swirling loosely around Roki's legs and chest as he stares quietly at the nothingness.
"Listen, Terri, I am telling you, a bird came by and said that there was some sort of festivities this way." Comes the voice of a soon-to-be-aged fox named Braxton, taking numerous careful steps. He's never once been in these parts. "I just thought it might be a good way to spend our spring, I mean, after all, we can't just stay cooped up in the den for all eternity, right? Heck, I wonder if Rye heard about this, being an avid believer of Luna and all." Braxton finally stops and turns to his mate. "What's bothering you?"
Terri sighs and says "well love I am not suppose to be away from the den in spring thats when I give birth and well its our third litter and very well could be our last I guess I am just worried about what will happen if I give birth at this place we are going to" she sighs and nuzzles him and says "alright this bird tell you how much farther it is I mean I trust you but do you know where we are going?"
Just as he thought; they had a kill with them. It disturbed him slightly, to see a deer who he very well could have met and befriended at the feet of the carnivores, but he also knew that it was just a part of life. They had to eat, just as he had to head. The buck couldn't pass judgement on them for trying to have a peaceful meal. The cougar seemed preoccupied with whatever it was he was doing, and Roscoe did not bother to disturb him. He seemed very tribal and was perhaps taking part in a religious ceremony of some sorts, all the more reason not to bug him. The lynx however, was very civil, which surprised the deer to some extent. Forcing a grin, the herbivore nodded respectfully. "It's fine, I understand." he offered the feline in response to her apology, and his attention was stolen by the black bird that he had met yesterday. Not wanting to show the predators his more confrontational side, he just chuckled at the raven and flicked his ears. "And as always, a pleasure to see a scavenger as well."
Roki slowly makes his first step towards the fog, which rolls and twists before him. His ears perk up sharply as if focused on some distantly percieved sound. Many new sounds from newly arriving creatures fill the nearby forest, but only one seems to have captivated Roki and all the others go completely unheard. It was his name!! A familiar voice from his past is calling to him! Remembering the shamaness more and more seems to bring the voice into more distinct clarity and give it a source, a direction. And without another word, the cougar starts making his way down the path, ears forward and alert, eyes trained ahead.. tail still and stiff behind him.
Kirkra sways gently in the branch as the breeze ruffles his feathers back, his gaze darting between the different creatures on the ground... "Ah, yeah, I managed to find that vole too, whatever your name is. Funny how these things work out in the end." He leaps off the branch and perches on a lower branch of a different tree, hanging there no more than six feet off the ground. Making a strange clicking sound, he continues speaking without a pause. "Oh! I couldn't help but notice your recent success, cat-whiskers. It's good, yes? You aren't *that* hungry, I'm sure. Could I just..." He sways on the branch, looking around curiously. "Well, whatever you're doing, I'm sure you don't need to to take those eyeballs to do it, right?" He finally hops down onto the grass, keeping a relatively safe distance but still looking quite desperate for some ocular treats.
The cougar she met here first is continuing his spiritual journey in the literal sense now, guided by the plant's effects as he continues down the tree-bordered path towards his destiny. But Sage's responsibility lies here, with the others who have come to visit she and her companions, called by Zephyr's announcement to all the inhabitants of the area here. The white lynx turns from the retreating cougar to the others beside the buck that she has not met yet -- the raven, and the pair of foxes. As the other feline is currently occupied inside his own mind, Sage assumes that she's the 'cat' the bird is speaking to, at least for the purposes of replying to him. "You may have some to eat, black bird." If he wants the eyes in particular, that's certainly his choice to make. To the vulpines: "Welcome. Have you come from hearing of the Merrymakers' message?"
"Well, do you want me to turn us around and head home and forget about this 'Merrymaker' thing?" Braxton says to his mate. They've been bickering like this for a while. They love each other dearly, but this is one decision they're not agreed upon. "I just thought you'd like some sort of relief from all the stress. A lot has happened and I thought we needed a getaway like this." Then Braxton hears someone ask him if he's going to hear their message. Well, he supposes that's true. "Well, yes, a bird came by and told me all about it, though I must admit I don't know the first thing about where I'm going or what I'm supposed to expect. Just that there's somethign going on in these parts!" Braxton nuzzles his mate and licks her cheek. "I am thinking my heavily pregnant mate here might not be able to stay for the whole whatever it is. She's likely to give birth any time."
Terri sighs and says "well no I dont mind coming but you know how hard it is on me during the end of a pregancy and its usaully not a good idea for me to travel while I am pregnant and well what if I need to give birth love?" she tries to give him an I am sorry nuzzle she dont wanna ruin his planes but she is worried she hates bickering with him and they been doing it too much lately. she nods to sage and says "yeah my mate was told about this merry maker"
Of course, the bird takes little time to get on his nerves. To already begin his feast on the deer in front of Roscoe, it made the buck's stomach churn. With little respect held for the feathered fiend, he acts as if he isn't even there, and focuses instead on the lynx, until he catches the scent of the familiar fox, Braxton. With a smirk he turns around, expecting to see only one fox. Caught by suprise at the second one, he smiles just a bit more at the female, and bows his head towards her respectfully. His attention is once again caught by the lynx, and it stays there this time. "Merrymakers? What are the merrymakers?" he questions, his ears perked forward with interest.
Zephyr has been on his perch for some time. Not eavesdropping. Words have reached him, but he hasn't truly heard any of them. No, Zephyr was thinking most entertaining thoughts, thoughts that allowed him to effectively block out anything occuring below. Soon, though, two questions break through that block into his mental landscape. Who are the Merrymakers? Calling out to answer the question from his hidden perch, he says, "Ah! One who missed my message!" They're out there. Zephyr is good, but he could not speak to /everyone/ in the time he had. After what he first said, he abandons his branch for a lower one, not terribly far above from Sage, before adding, "Lucky that you came this way, for /we/ are the Merrymakers!" And, appropriately enough, the colorful bird seems to be plenty merry.
Kirkra scoots over to the corpse, his beak opened happily. "Well there we go! Spirit of giving and all that." He hops up onto the limp neck and reaches down at the eye, tugging a few times until it breaks free. He holds it in his beak for a few moments as he looks around at the others. He swallows it partway and then knocks his head back a few times, the ocular nerve dissapearing down his throat as he ruffles up and makes a happy warbling sound. "Great great! I suppose that's just the start of whatever merryment you lot are talking about? I've rarely seen such little interest in a clean kill." He pokes his beak into the exposed eye hole, taking out a little strip of meat
Had it been south she needed to go? maybe more east... or wait was it west! Oh fiddlesticks! She was lost, she had been wandering around looking for the place where her and her mate had denned in the mountains and had unfortunately headed the wrong way. This was all thanks to that dang rabbit, she /knew/ the rabbit was jerking her a long staying / just/ out of her reach! Bah! What a bad bad day she has had today. How could it possibly get worse? She continued forward, and curiously she was now heading towards a huge group of animals, and strange... there seemed to be a mix ahead, so out of curiosity she started to pad forward, seeing a familiar, if not what she thought psychotic fox in which she had ran into just a few days before. "Hello?" she calls to the group ahead.
Sage smiles genially at the pair of foxes. "Well, you're already here, I suppose," she answers with a little laugh. The festival isn't staked out with flags and string, of course, merely located in the general area. But before she can continue, the whitetail buck echoes the red fox's question, and before she can answer them as well, another voice pipes up to respond. The white lynx's ruffed head swivels up to peer into the tree, and she smiles upon seeing the familiar kestrel settled there. "Indeed. I am Sage, and this is Zephyr. There are three others among our wandering band - Flume, Gully, and Kindle." That certainly explains who they are, but perhaps not yet why they're here.
"But what do you Merrymakers *do?*" Braxton asks curiously. "And what is it that's about to happen, exactly?" Braxton twitches his ear and looks over at his mate. "That's a good question. Maybe we can find you a temporary den... or maybe we should go home... or..." Braxton looks over at the lynx. "Any of you Merrymakers happen to also be healers? Or at least experienced in kit birthing?"
Not wanting to seem rude, but not wanting to see that raven feast upon a whitetail brother, Roscoe narrows his eyes at the bird, and then shakes his head in disgust. Looking towards the lynx; Sage was her name, he lowered his eyelids half-way and provided her with an excuse. "My deepest apologies, madame, but I must be off. Herbivores have to eat too, you understand." he said in a rather snarky tone, and turned around to head back to the clover field in the north. He needed to enjoy his time alone, not spoil it by watching some scavenger rip a fellow deer's eyes out. Lifting his hooves, the buck swiftly walked away.
"Why, what does it sound like we do?" Zephyr never makes a habit out of talking in riddles, and he is not changing that, but of all there is about their group, it would seem that the name is the least mysterious. "We celebrate that which calls for celebrating!" And, as far as Zephyr is concerned, even that which doesn't call for celebrating. Why not? As far as whether he knows anything about birthing... No. Really, no. He knows a bit about egg-sitting, but nothing that could help those foxes, so he does not even address the question. Neither does he speak to try to keep the herbivore here, though he heard the snarky farewell directed toward, he has to assume, Sage.
Terri smiles and says "Braxton I dont think I will need help with the birthing but I will be needing a den to give birth in and I wont be able to leave the den much for some time after I give birth so I suppose we could make a temperary den but I dont think I will be able to build one love" she smiles at him and nuzzles him saying "you think you could dig one up"
Kirkra shuffles around on the neck of the slain beast, looking around the area curiously. "Well, what about all this?" He scratches at the neck with a clawed foot, more to feel the skin than to scratch it open... It's not as if ravens have proper talons. "All of this merriment I mean. I certainly didn't hear anything about it and I don't exactly have poor hearing."
Snowy blinks as she hears words like merry making. What the heck is going on over there? Well it isn't like she has pressing matters right now, if Kuruk was worried, he'd find her. Afterall she wasn't hiding or anything. Slowly she moves in closer. She notices they are all engaged in conversation and instead of adding into it without knowing what the heck is going on she quietly slides up behind Braxton and simply listens blinking a little bit.
Sage listens as Zephyr continues to explain their reason for being here, turning back to Braxton and the others as she fills in the details. "We are here because we must spread the word and gather as much help as we can. Luna will be hiding her face from us soon -- and we must show her that we appreciate the light she provides for us, and the guidance she gives, so that she will return to shine upon us once again." She nods understandingly to the buck as he turns to leave behind the sight of the eyeless whitetail corpse, watching him tread off towards the north into the open field. "As for your other question, fox, I know of some medicinal plants, but I have never had kittens of my own. Is your mate in pain?"
Braxton looks over at his mate. "Probably best to ask her how she feels. Much as I love her, she has a voice." Braxton smiles to the lynx. "I think mostly What I am asking for is assistence should it prove necessary. For all I know all we need is a den and some time."
"Perhaps, then, you also ought t'ask her what she needs, and listen t'what she says." The female fox did, after all, just say that all she needs is a den. No help in birthing. No herbs. Just a den. That should have answered Braxton's question about what they need, and what they ought to do, but Braxton seemed to ignore every word even while telling Sage to talk to her. As far as help... Zephyr can't help them in that den-procuring. He would just get in the way, and if there is one thing Zephyr has learned in his years, it is not to get in the way of a soon-to-be-mother. Of course, given that the male kesterel's sometimes-mate is easily large enough to thrash him something fierce... He would never ignore anything she said when that time came around.
Snowy blinks a little bit. As the female fox wanders off she feels safe enough to pipe up. "Um... sorry to disturb but might i ask a few questions?" She says obviously having come in on the tail end of conversations she only really gathered the female fox was going to have pups.. or kits or whatever the heck fox's called there offspring. "Where exactly have i wandered to?" she asks straight off the bat.
"Well, Nature has a fine way of keeping a steady course. She's a mother too, after all," Sage answers with a chuckle. Then, another question is spoken aloud, this one from a new visitor whose arrival she somehow overlooked. "Hello there, friend. These lands are no more ours than anyone's, but they will nonetheless serve as a common meeting ground for the festival I mentioned before. You are as welcome as any to stay here and join our celebration if you like." The lynx pauses, considering briefly, then adds as an afterthought, and perhaps as an incentive as well: "There will be a feast in later days."
Braxton nods and decides he will follow his mate. "I look forward to it. But for now I must be with my mate." Braxton nods to everyone respectively, even gives Snowy a double-take when he notices her there, but un the end and ultimately, and with finality: Braxton joins his mate.
Snowy nods a little bit as she hears Sage's explanation of this place. "Ah, so I have stumbled into a celebration?" She says looking about. "Well, sounds kind of fun." She comments with a smile and truthfully the thoughts of a feast sound simply wonderful to her. "Alright you got me with that feast, I am game for a celebration, sound like fun." She comments looking twords the mountain. "Hope Kruk doesn't get hurt while I'm gone.." She says in a worried tone.
Sage seems delighted by the news, making a pleased-sounding rumble of a purr when the coyote agrees. "Wonderful. Please let your friends know as well -- in addition to a feast, we have many other things to offer during our stay." The lynx has settled down onto her haunches now that the large group has dispersed, and unless the coyote has further questions at the moment, she's content to enjoy the quiet with Zephyr. Though she might ask him to go see if Flume has finished preparing the dye for their markings, yet.
Sage, female lynx
Roki, male cougar
Roscoe, male whitetail deer
Kirkra, male raven
Braxton, male red fox
Terri, female red fox
Snowy, female coyote
Zephyr, male kestrel
=== Foggy Path ===
The white-phase lynx from the far north is exploring her temporary new surroundings, getting to know the area around Snow Crest Mountain for while she and her traveling companions are staying here and spreading the festivities about the upcoming eclipse. Sage is padding quietly through the forest now, trodding along the path with the morning mists flowing around her large paws and stocky legs, pale blue eyes scanning the bushes and foliage around her for any prized herbs and plants. At the sound of movement and noise from another creature in the area, she pauses mid-step, tufted ears pricking forward as she easily locates the source. Sighting the fellow feline, she offers a smile towards the larger male cougar in the wooded clearing. "Hello, friend." Her icy eyes glaze over briefly, and then she adds a few seconds later: "Your mother says hello, as well." Is she crazy? Given Roki's mystical upbringing, it's safe to assume he knows better than to judge the stranger's actions superficially.
Roki was following a ghost! Its not often you find something so large and white in this region. The hares and rabbits are already starting to return to their spring colors, but spotted far in the distance, this thing was no hare. After a while of tracking Roki found himself making the aqaintance of another feline, but one with remarkable white fur! Before he can reply he hears her speak of his dead mother's greeting and pauses.. a moment in thoughtful silence before answering. "I'm Roki." A light smile spreads over his face and he glances up and around at the trees. "And hello mother." Shes certainly caught his interest now. "What name do you go by?
As if answering his greeting, the trees sway, branches and leaves rustling as the wind rushes through them. The pale-furred lynx remains still, standing in the midst of the path and facing the decorated cougar with a faint smile. "I am Sage, of the Merrymakers. It is a pleasure to meet you, Roki." She takes a few steps closer to him, peering up intently into the larger feline's eyes, rather close to the cougar for only just having met him. "You have a pure soul, son of the Eagle." Is she merely referring to the feathers entwined in his thick fur, or does she know more than first appears?
Roki's rounded ears spin and twitch a moment and he glances around as if hearing voices on the wind through the trees. Theres a presence there but one Roki has started to become quite familiar with after the passing of the shamaness. Sensitive creatures notice while skilled ones recognize details, and the mountain lion prince sees the recognition in the pale blue eyes of the lynx just before him now. "Welcome Sage. Thank you for the compliment. Its this your first time in the area?" Perhaps she had been here before and met his mother, there were few who didnt know of her afterall.. but this one smelled of a far off place.
Sage settles back on her haunches after leaning in, looking up at the tribal cougar with a continued smile. "Yes, it is. My home is to the far north -- but my friends and I are visiting the area to share our celebration of life and love and nature with those we find here." Her smile turns up the corners of her blunt muzzle a little more as she considers the larger male feline. "Perhaps you will join us sometime in our festival." She looks around, realizing she left her pouch of trinkets with the others when she went exploring beyond the open grasslands. "I do not have goods to trade with you at the moment, but perhaps I can offer you some other service to demonstrate our good intentions. Is there something you would like?" The question is left quite open to interpretation, but perhaps that's the intent - to determine Roki's hopes and dreams.
Roki smiles at Sage, instantly taking a liking to the strange newcomer with the gifts of sight beyond sight. "Id very much enjoy attending a festival celebrating life, of course!" The larger cat seems all smiles hearing about that! Roki is on the path of learning the higher powers of nature and has been spending many of his seasons traveling on journeys of discovery, searching for truths and the skills to see some of the more hidden signs. Hes already learned so much but has a long way to go yet. So perhaps since the offer was granted he could learn something from her. "Can you teach me see and hear farther?" Its an odd question, but Roki has a feeling she might have an answer or two. She could see the eagle afterall. The prince looks back the way he had come a moment. "I have a deer to offer you in return. I had just been hunting before I spotted you." Though he has a strange feeling that it was actually she who found him.
Sage beams at the cougar's exuberance about the festival, pale blue eyes glimmering in the sunlight that filters through the rustling trees above, and she nods at his request. "Of course. Before you can clearly see beyond, however, you must be able to clearly see within yourself. But I'm sure your mother has taught you that already," she suggests with a knowing smile. As for the second half of Roki's request: "Every inch of the forest has a story to tell. Listen closely, and patiently, and they will speak to you." Her answers are short, but perhaps the cougar can find some personal worth in them. But perhaps even the lynx realizes it's not worthy of a full meal just yet -- "Would you like to remember your mother, Roki?"
Roki smiles right back. "Follow me, its just over here." He leads her only a few steps ahead and to the side, walking with her more-so really as he listens to whatever she might have to offer. "My mother taught me many things, in indirect ways. Showing me the right paths to discover things on my own. She.." He pauses and smiles looking up at the leaves. "..still does." The good natured puma laughs and shakes his shoulders slightly, turkey feathers woven into the fur there dancings back and forth over him. "Most of what Ive learned has been from the birds however." He quiets quickly as she continues to explain the part about seeing inside and listening. This is something he knows from his travels but Roki looks very contemplative over the her words, letting them sink in and show their full meaning. It becomes as new and meaningful as the first time he realized it and he finds new truths already! "Thank you, Sage. I can see you have a great wisdom inside you. I will remember your words." The scent of a recent kill becomes apparent on the air and cawwing crows can be heard. "My mother?" He stops in his tracks and looks to Sage, and answers with only a nod. Its something he seeks on every path and usually finds, but the path today seems to have brought a particularly good opportunity.
Sage pads along behind her felid cousin on short legs, her stocky form perhaps slightly less graceful in appearance than the slender, lanky frame of the fully-grown cougar leading her to his recent catch. But if she's hungry, it doesn't show -- as Roki speaks, the silvery-white lynx listens carefully, paying close attention to what he has to say just as much as he listened to her. Only when he grows quiet again with a solemn nod does she divert her attention, smiling subtly as she moves to the edge of the trodden path, lowering her head to the various flowers and weeds here, sniffing out the one she's looking for in particular. When the toothy, irregularly-shaped leaves of the thornapple plant are located, she carefully picks one of them off at the base with her teeth before carrying it back, spitting it out on the ground in front of Roki. "Eat this, and think of her. She will come to you."
Entering from the lawn of delicious blooming clover, the whitetail buck elegantly paced through the sunlit forest with a rather stoic look plastered upon his maw. The male's only problem that early afternoon was the lack of antlers upon his head. How embarassing it was, to be an animal so pictured with antlers all year long, and there he was with these fuzzy stubs just beginning to split in two. Though they were growing quickly, he wished summer would arrive just as fast. The cloven hooved mammal was aware of his surroundings, and was getting much better at anticipating danger in the strange lands. Used to snow at this time of year, the muddy ground began to become an annoyance, though he knew it would dry soon, and he would be wishing for the mud to return. Stopping dead in his tracks, the stag's head lifted to the sky as he took in the scent of death; definitely predators nearby. With a flick of his ears, Roscoe became tense and just stood there, his eyes scanning the area, trying to find whoever it was that killed whatever it was. He certainly wasn't going to be next. After moments upon moments of his defensive searching, the buck let out a relieved snort, and continued onwards towards a tree-gated field. It seemed safe enough, and who's to say that he wouldn't find another whitetail somewhere out in this wilderness?
Roki looks on in silence as the mysterious white cat wanders off the path and finds something among the vegetation. To this point Roki is only aware of the life force energy that can be felt through the forest and has never known the specific effects that certain parts of his environment can do in medicinal effect. So with a moments hesitation he looks and sniffs over the leaf that had been deposited before him.. but the trust he feels already for Sage, perhaps from the energy of her aura or some deeper gut feeling. Roki licks up the leaf and eats it without so much as making a face to the taste on his canivorous palate. "My own offering is just through here. Perhaps you would like a moment to rest your travelling paws and..." He looks up at the whispering winds through the trees and just silently leads the lynx to the remains of perhaps one of Roscoe's acquaintences.. Roki looks back to Sage again with an amused smile on his face. He thought he heard a familiar voice already. "Please help yourself." Even as a cub, Roki was the son of Amaranth to remember his manners and act in a diplomatic manner to new creatures he came into contact with.
Sage remains near to Roki, but does not yet stop to eat the offering given to her in exchange for her mysticisms. Which is perhaps a good thing, given the presence of the whitetail buck wandering nearby that's so far gone unnoticed - it'd be an awful first impression of the Merrymakers if she were seen dining upon his kin's flesh when they met. It's all a part of life's harmony, of course, but even so. She does indeed settle next to the tribal-decorated cougar, but her eyes remain on him, watching him closely now that he's eaten the leaf she instructed him to take. Perhaps after a few moments and the plant's alkaloids have started to take effect, the fog hovering over the forest path may start to appear a little different to the Amaranth-born male. A breeze whispers by, stirring the mists in front of Roki in a motion that's nearly reminiscent of lifting wings, and perhaps by coincidence the sound of a raptor's cry can be heard echoing in the distance.
After a few more moments of graceful wandering with his head lowered to the ground, sniffing out any blades of grass or buds of growing flora, Roscoe had caught the sight of both predators; a lynx and a cougar. He'd seen lynx before in the cold lands that he called his home seasons ago, and knew that they mostly kept to themselves there. The cougar was what worried him. He'd heard stories of their ruthlessness, and made them out to be somewhat of a super-predator of sorts. However, he did not show fear outwardly towards them. That lesson was learned early this winter, and instead he rose his head up to a superior stature, and cleared his throat. "Good morning." he offered the two felines, not politely and yet not rudely, just in a passing by manner. Perhaps if he got on their good side, they wouldn't make a meal of him.
Roki watches the rolling fog and the swaying branches in the trees. They are just as they've always been, every inch telling a story just as Sage had said. One only needs the right ears to understand the language and the right eyes to read it. Roki smiles to himself as he recalls the paths he had been taught, but they only ever revealed so much to him. He takes a moment from his concentrations to glance at Sage who seems to be looking quite intently at him, and perhaps not as hungry as he might have thought. He's about to ask but movement in the fog distracts him from the corner of his eye and he peers at it curiously. The big cat suddenly becoming very silent and seeming to delve back into concentration again. "Mother.." he whispers under his breath as he focuses his thoughts on her. Appearing quite rude when he doesnt even reply to the deer's greeting, though under normal circumstances he would have. Deer normally always are granted a mountain lion's full attention afterall.
Kirkra circles around in the air for a few minutes, looking down curiously from his vantage point in the air. Seeing that something seems to be happening, it's not surprising that he quickly grows quite curious, swooping down to alight on one of the upper branches of a nearby tree. He calls down in a raspy voice, "Mammals... Mammals..." Although he's seemingly speaking to nobody but himself, he still seems quite interested to know what's happening. It's rare to see such a diverse group in one place without bloodshed, even if they were all landbound. He seems a bit more interested in Roscoe, having met the deer before. "What's all this then? Did you decide to forge a truce and make life less interesting while I was away?"
While the lynx will likely still take the cougar up on his offer to share his kill, she prefers hunting smaller prey, and so Roscoe's assessment of her behavior is accurate. So when the whitetail's greeting draws her pale blue eyes from watching Roki to the antler-less buck, they hold no signs of predatory hunger or malicious intent - in fact, the bobbed-tail female returns the greeting with one of her own. "Hello, forest walker." Realizing that he must be able to smell the blood, and is no doubt instinctively wary as a result, she adds: "Forgive our unchangeable nature, proud one. His sacrifice will not go unappreciated." A tufted ear twitches almost imperceptibly at Roki's murmur, and the faintest of smiles appears on her maw. The wind cannot talk, of course, but one can still listen to it speak. And even so, the breeze seems to whisper nonetheless, wisps of fog swirling loosely around Roki's legs and chest as he stares quietly at the nothingness.
"Listen, Terri, I am telling you, a bird came by and said that there was some sort of festivities this way." Comes the voice of a soon-to-be-aged fox named Braxton, taking numerous careful steps. He's never once been in these parts. "I just thought it might be a good way to spend our spring, I mean, after all, we can't just stay cooped up in the den for all eternity, right? Heck, I wonder if Rye heard about this, being an avid believer of Luna and all." Braxton finally stops and turns to his mate. "What's bothering you?"
Terri sighs and says "well love I am not suppose to be away from the den in spring thats when I give birth and well its our third litter and very well could be our last I guess I am just worried about what will happen if I give birth at this place we are going to" she sighs and nuzzles him and says "alright this bird tell you how much farther it is I mean I trust you but do you know where we are going?"
Just as he thought; they had a kill with them. It disturbed him slightly, to see a deer who he very well could have met and befriended at the feet of the carnivores, but he also knew that it was just a part of life. They had to eat, just as he had to head. The buck couldn't pass judgement on them for trying to have a peaceful meal. The cougar seemed preoccupied with whatever it was he was doing, and Roscoe did not bother to disturb him. He seemed very tribal and was perhaps taking part in a religious ceremony of some sorts, all the more reason not to bug him. The lynx however, was very civil, which surprised the deer to some extent. Forcing a grin, the herbivore nodded respectfully. "It's fine, I understand." he offered the feline in response to her apology, and his attention was stolen by the black bird that he had met yesterday. Not wanting to show the predators his more confrontational side, he just chuckled at the raven and flicked his ears. "And as always, a pleasure to see a scavenger as well."
Roki slowly makes his first step towards the fog, which rolls and twists before him. His ears perk up sharply as if focused on some distantly percieved sound. Many new sounds from newly arriving creatures fill the nearby forest, but only one seems to have captivated Roki and all the others go completely unheard. It was his name!! A familiar voice from his past is calling to him! Remembering the shamaness more and more seems to bring the voice into more distinct clarity and give it a source, a direction. And without another word, the cougar starts making his way down the path, ears forward and alert, eyes trained ahead.. tail still and stiff behind him.
Kirkra sways gently in the branch as the breeze ruffles his feathers back, his gaze darting between the different creatures on the ground... "Ah, yeah, I managed to find that vole too, whatever your name is. Funny how these things work out in the end." He leaps off the branch and perches on a lower branch of a different tree, hanging there no more than six feet off the ground. Making a strange clicking sound, he continues speaking without a pause. "Oh! I couldn't help but notice your recent success, cat-whiskers. It's good, yes? You aren't *that* hungry, I'm sure. Could I just..." He sways on the branch, looking around curiously. "Well, whatever you're doing, I'm sure you don't need to to take those eyeballs to do it, right?" He finally hops down onto the grass, keeping a relatively safe distance but still looking quite desperate for some ocular treats.
The cougar she met here first is continuing his spiritual journey in the literal sense now, guided by the plant's effects as he continues down the tree-bordered path towards his destiny. But Sage's responsibility lies here, with the others who have come to visit she and her companions, called by Zephyr's announcement to all the inhabitants of the area here. The white lynx turns from the retreating cougar to the others beside the buck that she has not met yet -- the raven, and the pair of foxes. As the other feline is currently occupied inside his own mind, Sage assumes that she's the 'cat' the bird is speaking to, at least for the purposes of replying to him. "You may have some to eat, black bird." If he wants the eyes in particular, that's certainly his choice to make. To the vulpines: "Welcome. Have you come from hearing of the Merrymakers' message?"
"Well, do you want me to turn us around and head home and forget about this 'Merrymaker' thing?" Braxton says to his mate. They've been bickering like this for a while. They love each other dearly, but this is one decision they're not agreed upon. "I just thought you'd like some sort of relief from all the stress. A lot has happened and I thought we needed a getaway like this." Then Braxton hears someone ask him if he's going to hear their message. Well, he supposes that's true. "Well, yes, a bird came by and told me all about it, though I must admit I don't know the first thing about where I'm going or what I'm supposed to expect. Just that there's somethign going on in these parts!" Braxton nuzzles his mate and licks her cheek. "I am thinking my heavily pregnant mate here might not be able to stay for the whole whatever it is. She's likely to give birth any time."
Terri sighs and says "well no I dont mind coming but you know how hard it is on me during the end of a pregancy and its usaully not a good idea for me to travel while I am pregnant and well what if I need to give birth love?" she tries to give him an I am sorry nuzzle she dont wanna ruin his planes but she is worried she hates bickering with him and they been doing it too much lately. she nods to sage and says "yeah my mate was told about this merry maker"
Of course, the bird takes little time to get on his nerves. To already begin his feast on the deer in front of Roscoe, it made the buck's stomach churn. With little respect held for the feathered fiend, he acts as if he isn't even there, and focuses instead on the lynx, until he catches the scent of the familiar fox, Braxton. With a smirk he turns around, expecting to see only one fox. Caught by suprise at the second one, he smiles just a bit more at the female, and bows his head towards her respectfully. His attention is once again caught by the lynx, and it stays there this time. "Merrymakers? What are the merrymakers?" he questions, his ears perked forward with interest.
Zephyr has been on his perch for some time. Not eavesdropping. Words have reached him, but he hasn't truly heard any of them. No, Zephyr was thinking most entertaining thoughts, thoughts that allowed him to effectively block out anything occuring below. Soon, though, two questions break through that block into his mental landscape. Who are the Merrymakers? Calling out to answer the question from his hidden perch, he says, "Ah! One who missed my message!" They're out there. Zephyr is good, but he could not speak to /everyone/ in the time he had. After what he first said, he abandons his branch for a lower one, not terribly far above from Sage, before adding, "Lucky that you came this way, for /we/ are the Merrymakers!" And, appropriately enough, the colorful bird seems to be plenty merry.
Kirkra scoots over to the corpse, his beak opened happily. "Well there we go! Spirit of giving and all that." He hops up onto the limp neck and reaches down at the eye, tugging a few times until it breaks free. He holds it in his beak for a few moments as he looks around at the others. He swallows it partway and then knocks his head back a few times, the ocular nerve dissapearing down his throat as he ruffles up and makes a happy warbling sound. "Great great! I suppose that's just the start of whatever merryment you lot are talking about? I've rarely seen such little interest in a clean kill." He pokes his beak into the exposed eye hole, taking out a little strip of meat
Had it been south she needed to go? maybe more east... or wait was it west! Oh fiddlesticks! She was lost, she had been wandering around looking for the place where her and her mate had denned in the mountains and had unfortunately headed the wrong way. This was all thanks to that dang rabbit, she /knew/ the rabbit was jerking her a long staying / just/ out of her reach! Bah! What a bad bad day she has had today. How could it possibly get worse? She continued forward, and curiously she was now heading towards a huge group of animals, and strange... there seemed to be a mix ahead, so out of curiosity she started to pad forward, seeing a familiar, if not what she thought psychotic fox in which she had ran into just a few days before. "Hello?" she calls to the group ahead.
Sage smiles genially at the pair of foxes. "Well, you're already here, I suppose," she answers with a little laugh. The festival isn't staked out with flags and string, of course, merely located in the general area. But before she can continue, the whitetail buck echoes the red fox's question, and before she can answer them as well, another voice pipes up to respond. The white lynx's ruffed head swivels up to peer into the tree, and she smiles upon seeing the familiar kestrel settled there. "Indeed. I am Sage, and this is Zephyr. There are three others among our wandering band - Flume, Gully, and Kindle." That certainly explains who they are, but perhaps not yet why they're here.
"But what do you Merrymakers *do?*" Braxton asks curiously. "And what is it that's about to happen, exactly?" Braxton twitches his ear and looks over at his mate. "That's a good question. Maybe we can find you a temporary den... or maybe we should go home... or..." Braxton looks over at the lynx. "Any of you Merrymakers happen to also be healers? Or at least experienced in kit birthing?"
Not wanting to seem rude, but not wanting to see that raven feast upon a whitetail brother, Roscoe narrows his eyes at the bird, and then shakes his head in disgust. Looking towards the lynx; Sage was her name, he lowered his eyelids half-way and provided her with an excuse. "My deepest apologies, madame, but I must be off. Herbivores have to eat too, you understand." he said in a rather snarky tone, and turned around to head back to the clover field in the north. He needed to enjoy his time alone, not spoil it by watching some scavenger rip a fellow deer's eyes out. Lifting his hooves, the buck swiftly walked away.
"Why, what does it sound like we do?" Zephyr never makes a habit out of talking in riddles, and he is not changing that, but of all there is about their group, it would seem that the name is the least mysterious. "We celebrate that which calls for celebrating!" And, as far as Zephyr is concerned, even that which doesn't call for celebrating. Why not? As far as whether he knows anything about birthing... No. Really, no. He knows a bit about egg-sitting, but nothing that could help those foxes, so he does not even address the question. Neither does he speak to try to keep the herbivore here, though he heard the snarky farewell directed toward, he has to assume, Sage.
Terri smiles and says "Braxton I dont think I will need help with the birthing but I will be needing a den to give birth in and I wont be able to leave the den much for some time after I give birth so I suppose we could make a temperary den but I dont think I will be able to build one love" she smiles at him and nuzzles him saying "you think you could dig one up"
Kirkra shuffles around on the neck of the slain beast, looking around the area curiously. "Well, what about all this?" He scratches at the neck with a clawed foot, more to feel the skin than to scratch it open... It's not as if ravens have proper talons. "All of this merriment I mean. I certainly didn't hear anything about it and I don't exactly have poor hearing."
Snowy blinks as she hears words like merry making. What the heck is going on over there? Well it isn't like she has pressing matters right now, if Kuruk was worried, he'd find her. Afterall she wasn't hiding or anything. Slowly she moves in closer. She notices they are all engaged in conversation and instead of adding into it without knowing what the heck is going on she quietly slides up behind Braxton and simply listens blinking a little bit.
Sage listens as Zephyr continues to explain their reason for being here, turning back to Braxton and the others as she fills in the details. "We are here because we must spread the word and gather as much help as we can. Luna will be hiding her face from us soon -- and we must show her that we appreciate the light she provides for us, and the guidance she gives, so that she will return to shine upon us once again." She nods understandingly to the buck as he turns to leave behind the sight of the eyeless whitetail corpse, watching him tread off towards the north into the open field. "As for your other question, fox, I know of some medicinal plants, but I have never had kittens of my own. Is your mate in pain?"
Braxton looks over at his mate. "Probably best to ask her how she feels. Much as I love her, she has a voice." Braxton smiles to the lynx. "I think mostly What I am asking for is assistence should it prove necessary. For all I know all we need is a den and some time."
"Perhaps, then, you also ought t'ask her what she needs, and listen t'what she says." The female fox did, after all, just say that all she needs is a den. No help in birthing. No herbs. Just a den. That should have answered Braxton's question about what they need, and what they ought to do, but Braxton seemed to ignore every word even while telling Sage to talk to her. As far as help... Zephyr can't help them in that den-procuring. He would just get in the way, and if there is one thing Zephyr has learned in his years, it is not to get in the way of a soon-to-be-mother. Of course, given that the male kesterel's sometimes-mate is easily large enough to thrash him something fierce... He would never ignore anything she said when that time came around.
Snowy blinks a little bit. As the female fox wanders off she feels safe enough to pipe up. "Um... sorry to disturb but might i ask a few questions?" She says obviously having come in on the tail end of conversations she only really gathered the female fox was going to have pups.. or kits or whatever the heck fox's called there offspring. "Where exactly have i wandered to?" she asks straight off the bat.
"Well, Nature has a fine way of keeping a steady course. She's a mother too, after all," Sage answers with a chuckle. Then, another question is spoken aloud, this one from a new visitor whose arrival she somehow overlooked. "Hello there, friend. These lands are no more ours than anyone's, but they will nonetheless serve as a common meeting ground for the festival I mentioned before. You are as welcome as any to stay here and join our celebration if you like." The lynx pauses, considering briefly, then adds as an afterthought, and perhaps as an incentive as well: "There will be a feast in later days."
Braxton nods and decides he will follow his mate. "I look forward to it. But for now I must be with my mate." Braxton nods to everyone respectively, even gives Snowy a double-take when he notices her there, but un the end and ultimately, and with finality: Braxton joins his mate.
Snowy nods a little bit as she hears Sage's explanation of this place. "Ah, so I have stumbled into a celebration?" She says looking about. "Well, sounds kind of fun." She comments with a smile and truthfully the thoughts of a feast sound simply wonderful to her. "Alright you got me with that feast, I am game for a celebration, sound like fun." She comments looking twords the mountain. "Hope Kruk doesn't get hurt while I'm gone.." She says in a worried tone.
Sage seems delighted by the news, making a pleased-sounding rumble of a purr when the coyote agrees. "Wonderful. Please let your friends know as well -- in addition to a feast, we have many other things to offer during our stay." The lynx has settled down onto her haunches now that the large group has dispersed, and unless the coyote has further questions at the moment, she's content to enjoy the quiet with Zephyr. Though she might ask him to go see if Flume has finished preparing the dye for their markings, yet.