A Lovely Morning for a Stroll

[Hina]

Hina ambled down the dirt path, in no hurry to get to the city. She looked up to better see the intricacies of the twisted and gnarled branches that these looming trees procured. While thus occupied, the young woman failed to notice a particularly rude root that had stubbornly pushed itself out of the ground and defiantly held at such an angle that was perfect for tripping those who did not pay attention.

Such as Hina. She landed on the hard dusty ground with an, "oomp!" and an abashed look. Just like her to not be paying attention to what was right in front of her. But her lack of luck turned out to be a lucky break for others.

If Hina hadn't been on the ground she would have never been able to see under the bush. And if she couldn't see under the bush, then she wouldn't have noticed the small shivering fledgeling underneath said bush. As it was, she quickly went to into action.

Hina cupped the small things in her hands and whispered to it. "Shhh. It's ok sweetie, it's going to be all all right. Momma is going to make everything better."

Well, to start with, it was about midday, and if Hina was hungry, this young one was probably starving. Shrugging her knapsack back onto her back, Hina held her newest ward delicatly and firmly as she navigated to a clearing just a little off the main road that lead from her village Shim to the city of Marn.

The clearing was large and dry enough to eat in, and so Hina set out her own food stuffs as well as a canteen of goats milk mixed with honey, a fairly effective substitute for most young animals. It would have to do until she could get ground meat for the poor thing.

She arranged her shawled into a nest like shape ad nestled in the space between two roots of a rather large tree. Placing the bird there, she got up and moved a bit farther away to make a fire. She was no mage nor spell caster, and so made do with dry wood and a tinder box. Once she got a nice blaze going, she carefully warmed up the milk. That was the easy part.

Taking a hollowed out reed for just such purposes, Hina placed one end in the sweet liquid and capped the other with her thumb. "Hungry?" she asked.

The response was a feeling of loneliness and extreme starvation.

"Yes, yes, I know darling. Let us see how you fare with this."

Hina removed the reed from the milk, her thumb keeping the liquid from spilling too much. The little one was screeching and opening its mouth for food. Slowly she allowed a few drops to fall into the open beak. A quiet ensued, the young one considering whether she liked it. Her beak opened wide again, and again Hina obliged until the little one was pleasantly and drowsily full.

With the fledgling asleep, Hina had more time to observe her find. It was definitely a meat eater, perhaps a falcon or a hawk. The bird herself didn't know, and Hina simply knew from instinct that it was a she.

Even the most selfless of nurses must sustain herself, and Hina was quite hungry. Quickly and quietly she downed the flame with in an inch of its life. Jerky and bread were pulled out of her pack, and Hina set down for a midday break.

[Raishel Munden]

There was a little huddled form in the shade of a tree on the edge of the clearing in which the half-elf girl had settled. It didn't move for the length of time the bird was being fed, but when human food was taken out the figure moved. Out it rolled from the curved resting place it had sat, tumbling awkwardly around for a few spins on the grassy ground. It stopped on its stomach, arms flailed above its head, mingling with the blades of grass.

Stopped, it was obvious that it was a person. When its face lifted, it was obvious it was a woman. Her hollow eyes stared out from dark, black circles under her eyes, watching the fire, entranced. Black hair was gnarled and tangled atop her head, making it clumpy and bushy. Her arms were wasted down to bones and they lay feebly on the ground. Her legs stuck out behind in her a similar way as she lay there. A ragged, grey-tinted smock, tied with little strings that were now coming undone, covered the rest of her body. It had tangled around her waist as she spun and her matching, ragged pair of white underwear was peeking out. Not that she noticed. She seemed fairly clean for all of this, and had no stink about her yet—except, her feet were muddy and barefoot.

The woman laid silently for a moment or two, staring at the dying fire. Then she seemed to shake out of something, and look directly at the piece of bread the girl had. "Gobble," she said quietly, under her breath. "Goobles, goggles." One of those wasn't a word, but she didn't notice.

Then, despite whatever the girl had by this time done or said, Raishel pushed herself up, arms wobbling with the effort, and suddenly looked at the sky. "It's a green baby to be playing in the waves," she said, this time a little louder. Her head came down again and she saw [Hina]'s face. Her tone was conversational and she seemed to be enjoying the moment.

"A little later, a donkey took the walrus down to the farm. It wasn't a good quill." She smiled politely, and blinked a little slowly.

[Hina]

Hina watched warily as the woman came out. And, indeed, she was a woman, although one could hardly tell. Her skin seemed to cling to her bones and her sunken eyes had a haunted, wild look about them. As she stumbled into the clearing, Hina asked, "are you alright?" Then she began spouting gibberish.

Maybe the stranger was potentially dangerous and definitely mad, but this did not stop Hina from feeling a wave of sympathy for this poor woman. Even though she was talking about walruses.

"Yes, that's right," she cooed, "do you want something to eat?" In case she didn't understand, Hina held out a portion of the bread. "Yes, come get something to eat. It is just me and my birdy, there is plenty for you," Hina coaxed.

She set the bread down on the grass a little ways from the woman and backed up a bit, just like she would for an injured and possibly hostile animal. Hopefully this woman was the kind of non-agressive crazy

[Raishel Munden]

Raishel sat with her legs tucked under her and her arms hanging down to her lap. She watched the other woman as she spoke and put the piece of bread down. It was impossible to read her stoic expression and tell if she understood at all; unfazed, she continued to stare at the bread. She seemed to be focused for the moment. Then her brown eyes glazed over.

Whipping winds tugged at their clothes and hair, sending the flames of the fire swirling and fluttering. The sand they now sat in blew up in their eyes, causing Raishel to squint and brush a hand at her face. The sun beat down on them, hot and stifling in the desert heat. The transition from peaceful woods to wild desert was undetectable to Raishel; it just was.

When she blinked her eyes clear, she saw a giant falcon standing where [Hina] had been. It towered above ten feet tall, and Raishel cringed down as she saw its beady eyes on her. Eyes to the ground, she hunched down even lower than her previous bad posture and her arms came up to shield to both sides of her head. "Bubbles are in the making!" she cried hysterically over the loud winds. The air blew faster and faster and more dangerous; they stole the breath from her feeble lungs as she tried to breathe. They were whirling in a circle, forming steadily and slowly into a tornado, sucking up grit from the sandy dunes to fling it about at faster speeds. She squeezed her eyes shut from fear and felt the force begin to lift her. The huge falcon spread its wings and cawed continuously, just as falcons do.

With her eyes closed and her face bent down all the more, she tried to shut it out. Fear was overtaking her. Suddenly, the cawing and sound of the wind abated. Wind stopped blowing and all was still again.

She sat up a bit, looking hopeful, and glanced around at her new environment. Everywhere was almost pitch black, as if the day had turned into a deep, moonless night. Shadows lurked all around, watching the two people in the center. This other person was ignored for the moment as she watched the shapes frantically to all sides, trying to keep track of their movements. Were they coming closer? Prowling around the edges? Watching? What were they?