Kala Ree

The day drew to a close in Kala Ree, and the long shadow cast from the western mountains advanced across the land. The shadow's edge was just now reaching the sanctum, home of the Kyriders. Torches lit in the large common areas cast a weak, flickering light.

A scrawny girl with a large floof of a tail tuft was carrying an armload of cut logs towards the firepit in the middle of the sanctum's spacious common room, grumbling quietly to herself. The woodpile was in a small shed outside, down a corridor from the common area.

You complain so much, said a voice in her head. It's not so heavy.

Kette rolled her eyes at her bondmate, Kayna. The young adult Kyrka walked just behind her, wearing large baskets slung over his shoulders like a pair of saddlebags. The rig was was fashioned as not to impede the motion of the spikes on his shoulders, and both baskets were loaded up with firewood as well--significantly more than Kette's arms. "You're bigger," she said.

Kayna's jewel flashed purple with amusement. Not as big as Sarasha.

Kette glanced ahead. On the other side of the firepit lounged the great Sarasha, Alpha of the Kyriders. The weak torchlight matched her fiery coloration, and her tail lashed impatiently. Hurry, she told Kayna. She was unable to speak directly to Kette, but the Serra nonetheless felt her impatience through her bond with her grey-feathered companion.

When she reached the firepit, Kette deposited her load of wood in the growing pile nearby, then began to pull logs and limbs from Kayna's basket. The other trainees would be, theoretically, assisting her with this task--gathering enough wood to keep the fire burning through dinner and the rest of the night, as was tradition.

Karah came running in not far behind Kette carrying a smaller bundle then the older trainee or anyone else for that matter. In fact she was the smallest and youngest trainee of all having bonded to her kryka Lillua at the tender age of seven. What she lacked in size however, she made up for in her work ethic and determination. The little kyrider-to-be still occasionally had her childish moments which was to be expected, but over all, she was a good kid.

She too deposited her load from the growing pile and then deviated a little. Instead of immediately working on Lillua's basket, she went over to Sarasha and attempted to hug whatever she could. Then she quickly returned to Lilua and hugged her leg before starting to pull wood out of her own basket.

"I sometimes think you love Sarasha more then me." She would hear in her head from Lillua teasing her and the child would reply by showing her bondmate a fake hurt expression as she worked.

Karah did of course love Lillua more then anyone else, but she also loved Sarasha and Laylar a lot too. Even to this day, she remained eternally grateful to the alpha for producing her bondmate's egg which had an even greater impact on her then it would for a normal Serra. Karah's birth had been considered an unwanted accident by her parents and she had been taken care of only out of duty instead of love. Naturally this meant that she had been neglected, mostly emotionally. So by being chosen by Lillua, she had not just gained her bondmate, but also a new home where she felt wanted. Since being chosen, she had had very little contact with her parents as they had simply been relived to be rid of an unwanted burden. That had been fine with her as she had taken all the Kyriders to be her paternal figures instead.

The sound of rattling wood preceded Raikinu down the corridor and into the common room, heralding the arrival of the beige-furred Kyrka. Carefully as the basket-rigs might have been fashioned, she'd somehow managed to catch the highest of her shoulder-spikes in the bottom of her basket--'somehow' in this case perhaps meaning 'on purpose'--and was jostling her load wildly as she pranced into the room, crest fluffed and eyes bright. To look at her, one would hardly think she'd been training hard all day, though she'd been just as enthusiastic about her training.

Look! Lillua, look how much Karah is carrying! she exclaimed, trilling brightly at Karah aloud at the same time in an attempt to convey her delight directly to the girl. Raikinu was perhaps unduly fascinated by watching Karah grow; alone of all the fledgling Kyriders, she seemed to be growing up at the same rate as Raikinu and the other young adults, transforming from a child to a young adult just as they were. Though she was slowing down at it, just as Lesa'ah had warned would happen. Karah was still a Kyrlet, or the Serran equivalent, while Raikinu considered herself very grown up by now.

Sound preceded Lesa'ah, too, as she emerged into the common room. In this case, it was her voice, calling out to Raikinu. "Raikinu, wait and let me help unload your baskets," she called, entering with her own hefty armload of wood, a few extra logs propped up across it with the aid of her prehensile tail. She was continuing a conversation that they'd had on the way up the corridor, but putting voice to it in the hope that the fear of embarrassment would daunt her Kyrka. "I know you think you can tip them, but don't-"

Fear of embarrassment, of course, never daunted Raikinu. Reaching the pile, she started to tilt herself sideways, folding in the foreleg under the stuck-in spike and trying to use the spike's leverage to make the well-balanced basket tilt with her. As planned: the basket overbalanced. Not as planned: Raikinu tilted with it. Logs clattered out to spill across the floor beside the pile, and Raikinu, squawking in surprise, flailed and tried to right herself, even though the weight of the logs had caught the edge of the basket and held her down. A small flash of pearl-and-rose pink darted out from amid her logs and fled to the shelter of one of the benches at the edge of the room.

Lips pinched tight to hide laughter under the countenance of disapproval, Lesa'ah strode up to stand beside Raikinu, looking down at her flailing Kyrka. "That was not better than waiting." She set her own load down--carefully--and then started gathering up the spilled logs and stacking them properly.

I dropped off the logs! Raikinu countered cheerfully, finally wriggling free of her basket rig all together and popping upright. Grabbing at the logs with her beak, she nudged them straight against the base of the pile. Let me help, let me help! It's fine!

As impatient as she was, Sarasha's heart melted a little at the sight of the younger Kyrka coming in with their riders. She remembered the days before her first hatching, when the common area felt like it was populated by only ghosts; the sounds of flickering bonfire made it seem all the emptier, so half the time she hadn't bothered with lighting it at all.

It was just so you didn't have to carry in the firewood, came Laylar's teasing voice. The Serra was in the adjacent room, still close enough for him to sense her musing. Sarasha let out a soft and indignant squawk--seemingly at nothing, for those watching her.

Thankfully for Karah, plenty of Sarasha's ample neck-fluff was within reach--the little girl would sink deep into the crimson fur. Crooning gently, the Kyrka even drew her beak gingerly through the Serra's hair a couple times, then nudged her back to her duties.

Kette hid a roll of her eyes at the snuggling and preening--thankfully, in the commotion from Raikinu's rollicking arrival, her little scoff should go unheard. The most affectionate Kette would be in public was a quick pat to Kayna's shoulder, or perhaps drawing her fingers through his feathers. He already knew how important he was to her, after all.

Raikinu, don't, whined Kayna as the gold began to empty her cargo. Don't! It's going to be loud and--

--and so it was, as Raikinu tipped over with a cacophony of rattling wood and squawking. Kayna's ears pinned and he shot a glance back towards their Alpha, whose jewel flashed with weak highlights of red. Her tail gave an impatient lash, but she said nothing. Kayna bumped Raikinu's head with his own. You're going to mess up the pile!

To show how much better she and her bondmate were than Raikinu, Kette hurried with her task of pulling all the wood from Kayna's basket. The longest and thickest of the logs she selected to arrange in a conical shape in the firepit. "Karah, hand me that one," she said, pointing to a piece of wood just out of the reach of her flicking tail.

Karah would would return Raikinu's excited trilling with a beaming smile before returning to her work. Lillua would then reply to the beige Kryka by trilling back. "She grows bigger and strong every day. It makes me so proud to be her bondmate." She would then turn her attention back to her little krylet of a trainee.

Karah at this time was hugging Sarasha and enjoying the bit of attention she was receiving from the Alpha. She then returned back to to Lillua and hugged her leg, earning her a croon from her spotted Kryaka. The little serra then promptly returned to her work.

However she had only just started her work when Raikinu fell which also triggered Lillua's protective nature. The very second the sound of the crash was heard, the spotted kryka would screech and instantly get in front of Karah, ready to put her life on the line to protect her. Of course it became readily apparent that there was no danger and that it was just Raikinu being Raikinu again. The little trainee would then gently stroke her bondmate and mentally calm her down. In turn, after giving the beige Kryka an unamused look, Lillua would settle down again. However it was very unlikely that anyone had been surprised by Lillua's. From an early age, the Kryka had realized just how young and small her bondmate was. Then upon making this realization, she quickly responded by becoming hyper protective of the child. Perhaps once Karah grew up, that tendency would fade or at least weaken a bit, but for now there was absolutely nothing anyone could do about it. After all, it was understandable to a degree.

Karah meanwhile would respond to the Kryka's antics by giggling and playfully saying. "Silly Raikinu!" Then to Lesa'ah, she would say. "Do you need some help Lesa'ah? I can finish mine once we get yours tidied up." Before the former woodcrafter could respond, Kette would ask the child to help her with a piece of wood and Karah would happily hand it to her before waiting for Lesa'ah's asnwer. Then depending on said answer, she would either return to her own pile or help Lesa'ah.

Regardless of which she ended up doing, she would turn to look at Sarasha and Laylar and ask. "Sarasha, after we finish, do you think you could tell us a story from when you were Trainees like us?" Her expression would take on a hopeful pleading look befitting a child showing just how much she wanted to hear them say yes. While Laylar wasn't in the room right now, she bet that he wasn't far and could come if Sarasha asked him to.

(Finally got Lillua's picture on Karah's profile if you want to take a look.)

Speaking of the 'ghosts' that had inhabited the common room, something in-between turned up. Taarka was a rare sight at any social occasion, but certainly here where his presence seemed all the more unusual. He wasn't a rider, and at the age of 27 could he truly still call himself a 'hopeful'? Whether or not he was welcome here, he turned up. He looked almost a spitting image of his father who had once socialized here with the other Kyriders including Laylar and Sarasha themselves, maybe jarring for the briefest of moments.

The carpenter and occasional lumberjack (where necessary) arrived with a heavy sack of lumber over his shoulder, carried on a sturdy back that had seen many more heavy weights over the years since his youth. Tied to his belt was a roll of thick fabric lined with leather. Inside it was a range of holstered, sharp knives... all stubby and certainly not weapons, except perhaps one little curved knife, but unlikely.

As he drew closer, he bore witness to the cluttering crashing mess caused by Raikinu. He paused in the shadow of the doorway, waiting for that mess and panic to be sorted. He took a moment to regard the Kyrka in the room, remembering each one of the younger from the clutch so long ago. Four years was it? really that long ago? for a moment the weary Serra looked a little more tired and then finally hefted the sack up on his back.

The mess seemingly sorted he crossed the common room in silence with a stony expression. Those mossy green eyes dared flit up at last to perhaps meet Sarasha's own as he drew nearer, wondering if he might find himself on the end of her talons for daring to approach. He'd covered what bases he could, he'd brought firewood from his own shop as a peace offering.

"Good evening, Alpha Sarasha... and to your bonded as well, Alpha Laylar" he bowed his head. He knew she could not pass a message on to him, as he had no Kyrka vessel by his side and Laylar was nowhere to be seen, so after greeting her he turned and carefully emptied the heavy sack of all its lumber and stacked it neatly and swiftly with practiced hands.

Mossy green eyes flitted to Karah. Still so young, but a rider nonetheless. Kette, too, but not quite so much as Karah. Then of course there was Lesa'ah, about his age he reckoned, but he knew nothing about her other than that. He tended to look more at the riders than their bonded Kyrka, tending to avoid them, perhaps out of respect...perhaps envy. Who knew? Done with the wood, if let, he'd roll up the sack and take one of the smaller logs for himself, for whatever reason, and would tuck it under his arm. He hadn't walked off just yet, however, he would turn his head to scan around the room, specifically around Sarasha, for Laylar but found no sight of him....tail flicking once to the side with thought.

As Taarka approached the trainee Kyriders putting together the woodpile, Sarasha fixed him with her scarlet gaze, not letting it break for the duration of him crossing the room. When his own eyes flicked to meet hers, her golden feathers puffed up imperiously ... yet she did not shriek or rise to stop him. For now, it seemed like she would tolerate the unbonded Serra's presence. Taarka is here, she thought to her bonded. Tell him he mustn't help them light the fire.

Laylar finally emerged from whatever corridor he'd been haunting. On his shoulder was a shockingly pink Tenki, bobbing her head with every step he took. Absentmindedly, he reached up to rub her little ruby-colored snout--she repaid the favor by grasping onto his hand and sinking her teeth into his index finger. The Alpha was used to this treatment from the dimwitted little creature, and simply suffered through.

"Taarka," Laylar told the woodsman, watching him stack the firewood next to the pit. "Let them finish the job." As if he needed reminding. Poor Taarka.

He isn't yet so old that he stands no chance at the next clutch, thought Sarasha. He's not Asak.

Laylar sat down cross-legged on the floor next to the gold, leaning back against her furry flank. He offered no greetings to anyone in the room, a quirk not uncommon among older Kyriders. For in a way, he had been with them the whole time, seeing and hearing them through the eyes and ears of his bondmate ... an uttered greeting simply slipped the mind.

It was then that Karah voiced her question. "A story, hmm?" said Laylar aloud. He didn't smile--he rarely did--but he sounded nonetheless bemused. "I'm sure I can think of something ... if you get this fire going."

Without so much as a nod to the trainees, Kirryllu Dewroot hurried past the young Serra who had dropped off the wood for the fire. He did not mean to slight any of them, but a side-effect from one of his nerve-calming potions often caused him to forget his manners. He had been out all day searching the forested mountains for novel or rare flora, and his Kyrka, Kaarikai, was exhausted from the hard day's work. Kirryllu entered a side room while Kaarikai curled up near Sarasha after an extended stretching session. He soon returned with a large cup full of water, and sat down with his back on the soft feathers of his Kyrka's haunches.

He took a long drink from the cup and set it down on the stone floor with a drawn out sigh. Patting Kaarikai's leg, he looked over the young Serra and their Kyrka which were gathered around the pile of logs. "Sorry about that, I should be back to my old self in just a few minutes," he tapped one of a number of small ceramic jars which were hanging from a baldric across his chest before continuing, "Kaarikai and I didn't manage to find much of note today, so I could use a good story." He looked to Laylar with a slight smirk.

Sarasha heard Kaarikai before the navy Kyrka had even entered the common room, and her jewel flickered with hypnotic patterns of purple and green with twinges of orange--a strange combination indicating excitement and nervousness. Kaarikai! The Alpha adjusted her weight suddenly enough that Laylar fell backwards with a little indignant noise, though he caught himself with a hand before toppling over all the way. Sarasha inched closer to Kaarikai and began to preen the feathers and fur at the base of the other Kyrka's tail. Soft crooning and rumbling noises could be heard from the big gold. Kaarikai, I have a proposition for you. Her words were for the navy alone.

Kette sidestepped hastily out of Kirryllu's way with a grimace. She made a face at the older Kyrider's back once he had passed--but even if he'd been looking her way, it's unlikely he'd have noticed. Finally she took the log from Karah, still scowling, and jammed it into the conical pile she was building in the firepit. "Now that one," she told the younger trainee. This was the most efficient way--getting to boss around someone smaller than her was just a bonus. "The sooner we get his fire going, the sooner we can ... listen to his story."

Laylar, overhearing the ornery trainee, chuckled softly. "I'm sure you can listen and work at the same time," he said. When Kirryllu returned and settled nearby, the Serra greeted him with a nod and a little wave. "Well, how can I say no to Kirryllu Dewroot? Let me think ..." Laylar shuffled to position himself against Sarasha again, while stroking the top of his Tenki's eyeridges.

"Sarasha was one of the most ... adventurous hatchlings in the clutch," he began, "and none too good-tempered, thought now she has mellowed with age ..."

Mellowed?! Kayna thought at Kette, incredulous. The young Serra tried to hide her snickering.

"... I remember when I first bonded her. I was, I believe, thirteen years of age, and I was so starstruck I think my own personality got consumed by hers for a time. One night she wanted Nuru liver--in the middle of the night, no less--and convinced me to sneak her some from the larder." Sarasha paused in her grooming of Kaarikai. It was hard for a fearsome beast like a Kyrka to look embarrassed, but she managed it. Laylar had never let her live this incident down. She buried her face in Kaarikai's wing for the duration of the story.

Karah would offer a friendly way to Taarka before turning her attention to the newly arrived Kirryllu. "Hello Kirryllu, I'm sure you'll have better luck tomorrow and if you do, you have to promise to show me...or at least tell me!" The little trainee shared the older Serra's love of nature as she had spent most of her prebonded days running around in the forest admiring nature rather then playing with other children her age.

She would have liked to talk a little more to him, but she still had to get her work done if she wanted to hear that story. So Karah would continue to help Kette fetching whatever logs she asked for with a smile on her face. She could continue to help her until the short Serra's work was finished before finally returning to her own.

It was then that Laylar started to tell the promised story and Karah would start to double time it so she could quickly finish. After all the best way to hear a story was cuddled up next to Lillua and would soon be doing just that.

Then when the story about the Nunu liver came up, the little girl seeing Sarasha's embarrassment would quickly say. "It's ok Sarasha, remember when Lillua and I-" She wouldn't get to finish what she was trying to say as the spotted Kryka would use a forelead to smush Karah face first into her fur to muffle her. The Kryka would then look completely nonchalant despite having a limb flailing little trainee held to her. The incident that Karah was going to mention to soothe Sarasha was the time when Karah was eight and the pair decided to try to surprise Laylar and Sarasha with breakfast in bed. Unfortunately it hadn't worked too well and instead the two of them managed to make a giant mess instead. In fact the lighter colored parts of the Kryka's fur had ended up stained pink for a few days.

After a about a minute, Lillua would let Karah go after having managed to get the latter to shut up about that story mentally. The two would then cuddle up again as if nothing had happened.

(I couldn't resist bringing some ham to this gathering. )

Taarka's eyes glowed with recognition and interest as Laylar appeared to them all. He straightened out his posture and turned towards the alpha, his hand going to his heart and then spreading its fingers in his direction with the quiet utterance of "The heart remembers", an old greeting his mother and father had used from their home settlement that indicated fondness, respect or familiarity. The less formal version of the greeting would simply be the gesture in silence.

His face dropped very slightly when told to let the riders finish the job. He knew he wasn't to be involved in lighting the fire. Feeling the wood block under his arm he realized perhaps the misconception "Oh no." he tapped at the block and stated very simply "This is for me." he explained with an unreadable stare. A nod was given to Karah at her brief greeting, though he was well aware this was rider socializing territory and that he'd remain, for the most part, invisible unless he interfered.

At the offer of a story he knew to get out the way and turned about only to see Kirryllu enter with Kaarikai. Taarka froze in place with curiosity as he watched the sentient beast approach the alpha female, squinting subtly as he watched their interactions with an air of eager impatience. Maybe... no, best not to get his hopes up, but he had been hearing rumors, but the same rumors had been heard before with no fruition. He nodded to the rider and turned to give the gathering space from himself, so they could socialize within their rightfully exclusive group.

Taarka found a large, oval-shaped hollow in the wall and made his way over to it on the far side of the fire but under the light of a sconce. Setting the wood block on his lap he detached the roll of knives from his belt and rolled them out on the floor beside him. Pulling out the larger knife of the small set, curved and sharpened, he looked over at Sarasha for a moment before starting to cut away thick pieces of the soft wood with a practiced hand, cutting it down into the very primitive and blocky outline of a Kyrka's head at first whilst Laylar told their story, only letting out an inaudible sound of frustration as Sarasha hid her face under Kaarikai's wing. Oh well, he could work off memory.

Kirryllu nodded mechanically in answer to the young Karah's request, the potion's effects still causing him to lack his normal manners. For now he listened to Laylar's story and nodded along as if he hadn't heard it dozens of times before. Even so, once the last of the potion's side-effects wore off, a genuine smile grew across his face as Sarasha hid her face under the feathers of Kaarikai's wing. The Kyrka, meanwhile, tilted her head. Proposition?

As Laylar continued his story, Kirryllu noticed Taarka, a Serra of similar age to him, sitting in an oval hollow away from the other Serra. As his regular senses returned to him, Kirryllu couldn't help but feel somewhat jealous of the hopeful Serra. Being a Kyrider was not without its perks, of course, but Kirryllu often wished he had less responsibilities, and could instead focus entirely on his studies and his own adventures. Of course he knew that would have been nearly impossible without a Kyrka of his own, and upon that realization felt instead a deep pity for the Kyrka-less Serra.

Kirryllu's attention was then turned to the young Karah, having recently been muffled by her own Kyrka for some unknown, but surely comical reason. He smiled at the young Serra, pleased to know that at least one of the younger generation shared an interest in the native flora of their shared home. Perhaps, he thought to himself, she could help him find some Spotted Frostflowers tomorrow.

Laylar bowed his head to Taarka in respectful acceptance of the unusual greeting. The Alpha had grown accustomed to it, as strange as it had been when he first saw Enay and Akuni do it. That was a long time ago, and remembering Taarka's parents made him grimace ever so slightly. Reddish eyes flicked briefly to the block of wood Taarka held under an arm, followed by a second nod.

Kette had finished assembling the conical log formation in the firepit, then reached for the pouch that contained her flint. As Laylar chattered on, the young Kyrider began to strike sparks into the wood.

Laylar paused in his story as he noticed Karah and Lillua giggling about something, a little smirk quirking the corner of his lips. Beyond that, he pretended not to notice, and continued.

"Well, at that time, the sanctum had something of an infestation of wild Tenkis. You couldn't walk two feet without seeing one flit by. Mostly they were tolerated--they ate insects and other pests ... and, apparently, Nuru liver. Maybe they were just particularly hungry that night. As soon as I got out of the kitchens with liver in hand, they swarmed me. Spirits, there were dozens of them, all buzzing and squeaking and trying to get a piece."

The fire finally flared to life as the sparks caught the kindling and sent creepers of smoke curling up towards the vent hole in the ceiling. Kette puffed on the embers a few times, but they didn't need much to convince them to begin lapping at the logs. Within a few minutes the fire would be roaring. Kette finally sat down next to Kayna, although the two didn't snuggle up against each other.

"Alarmed, I tossed the liver at Sarasha to get them away from me," Laylar went on, "and she didn't react quite so calmly as I. You'd think she'd been murdered with how loud she was screeching--damn near woke up the entire sanctum." Sarasha let out a low huff into Kaarikai's feathers. "For the next two weeks, I was stuck cleaning up after those pests, and I learned an important lesson: Sarasha isn't always right."

With the story over, Sarasha finally pulled her rumpled head from Kaarikai's wing and instead rested it on the other Kyrka's haunch, grooming her cheek on the navy's spikes. It's always that story. I can never escape it. With the story over, she made her proposition, her jewel swirling with the briefest flash of yellow--fear that Kaarikai might turn her down. For the health of the sanctum, I want you to clutch. Again, her words were reserved only for the navy Kyrka, though Kirryllu would be privy to the proposition second-hand.

Karah and Lillua would continue to listen to Laylar's story with the former doing her best to stifle her giggles. Neither had heard this story before and thus they were enjoying it immensely. Karah did feel a bit bad for Sarasha though which was why she was trying to stifle her giggles, even if she wasn't doing a very good job.

By now Kette had managed to get the fire going so Karah would smile and say. "Good job Kette, it's a really nice fire."

The girl would then further tuck herself into Lillua's fur as the story continued clearly getting very comfy and Lillua would gently run her beak through her hair. Once the story had concluded, Karah would fight the urge to go over to Sarasha and would instead settle for saying. "It's ok Sarasha! You will always be our magnificent and much beloved Alpha!"

(Fairly short, but I just couldn't think of much.)

Taarka was focused on his work while Kirryllu looked at him, though for a moment he caught sight of the man looking his way in his peripheral vision. He looked up, but by the time he did, everyone was focused on Laylar as he told his story.

The blocky, basic shape of Taarka's Kyrka bust was already finished, though it barely looked like much yet. He pulled out a strange, cup-shaped blade and started carving the wood into a more refined shape, curly shavings falling to the ground or into his lap as he worked and worked with calloused hands. He looked tired, and the fire-light and warmth made it all the more enticing to sleep.

Either way, he listened in on the story, eyes drifting up to peer at Laylar as he embarrassed Sarasha. The corner of his lips twitched upward for mere seconds as the alpha female hid her face. He was watching the alpha pair when his knife slipped and stabbed into the side of his thumb. He let out a hiss of sharp Serran curse and sucked at his bloody thumb. It was nothing serious, but ouch. He huffed and continued working, occasionally wiping the blood off on his pants when it reformed. The carving started to take on the more refined shape of a hooked beak and jaw structure.

Laylar finished telling his story as Kirryllu took the final drink from his cup. Thirst quenched and side-effects finally worn off, he chuckled at the end of the story, remembering the Tenki infestation like it was yesterday. Kirryllu couldn't help but notice a sudden shift in Kaarikai's demeanor as Sarasha lifted her head from under the navy Kyrka's wing.

The jewel on Kaarikai's head flickered from color to color across the visible spectrum as the Kyrka communicated with her alpha. I... I suppose that's a good idea... she answered. In reality, Kaarikai was more than a little unnerved at the notion - but just like her bondmate, she knew wisdom when it was spoken. The Kyrka remained silent for some time after the answer, and looked worriedly at Kirryllu when his own eyes widened at the revelation of Sarasha's request. At last she continued: ... I agree.

Kaarikai could not bring herself to look either at her alpha or bondmate after agreeing, and instead stared into the fire as Kirryllu's own demeanor changed to match his Kyrka's. At once he wished he had still been under the emotion-numbing influence of his flying potion, but for now he did the best he could to keep his mouth closed. He was of a similar mind as Kaarikai; while he knew it was a good idea for her to clutch, it would be her first time, and he worried how she might fare in the wilderness without him to guide her.

Worried ochre streaks appeared briefly in Sarasha's jewel upon hearing Kaarikai's weak response. Clutching was not easy, and it didn't always end well; although the competition between males was more for show, with aerial stunts and dances, altercations were known to break out. A couple decades ago, a male Kyrka had injured a competitor so badly that he perished--a grave omen that marked the beginning of the decline in Kyrider numbers. But Sarasha knew that with the current batch of trainees almost fully grown, it was time for the next clutch. They had little time to waste. The Alpha did not press the other female any further, though she did scoot closer to preen the feathers of her navy blue wings.

Some of Sarasha's worry leaked over into Laylar in the form of weak anxiety, though he did his best to ignore it. He continued to rub the pink Tenki's head--the little creature was now asleep perched on his thigh. "Sarasha has never liked them since, but in truth, it endeared me towards them, so I've kept one ever since."

Kette lifted her hands to warm them by the now-roaring fire, which filled the room with flickering bright orange light and radiant heat. Kayna fluffed his dark fur appreciatively and settled down onto his stomach, head still raised as he watched the curious interaction between Sarasha and Kaarikai. Something's up, he thought. I don't know what, but something.

Kette stole a surreptitious glance at the Alpha, who was now casually combing her beak through Kaarikai's wing. Maybe there's a conspiracy.

Laylar looked over at the trainees. They seemed so young, like they were fruits not yet ripe. But hardship would have to shape them sooner rather than later. "You have trained hard, and while you may not yet feel ready, the time has come for your trial ... if you succeed, you will become Kyriders. If you fail ... well, do not fail."

Kette's eyes widened. She did feel ready! The trial for every new clutch was different, tailored for the trainees and the needs of the sanctum. Once it had been to dispatch a frostmaul forward party that was forging into farmlands to the west, and another time was to fetch an artifact of great power from a ruin high in the mountains. With wonderment in her eyes, she leaned far forward, waiting for the Alpha to tell them what it would be this time ... but he waited, his eyes lingering on little Karah.

Karah continued to listen to Laylar, but her little ears ended up picking up something that she probably shouldn't hear. "Taarka what does *insert Taarka's curse here* mean? I never heard that word before." Oh boy, Taarka had some explaining to do.

Once the little cursing incident had been dealt with, Karah would then notice the briefly displayed ochre streaks in Sarasha's jewel. Remembering what that color meant, she would promptly ask Lillua for a favor.

"Alpha Sarasha, what's wrong? Karah noticed that you had briefly had ochre streaks in your jewel and is now worried about you."

Soon after this Laylar would mention the final trial that remained between them becoming full fledged kyriders. Karah would flash a concerned expression to Sarasha as she was still worried about her before saying. "Lillua and I are ready to become great kyriders! There is no way we can fail as long as we have each other!"

However Lillua didn't seem nearly as confident, in fact her own jewel would briefly turn completely ochre, though luckily her little bondmate wouldn't see it. The fact remained that the spotted kyraka was very much aware of just how young and small her bondmate was. So as a result, she couldn't help but be worried about her in the coming trial. Of course she wasn't about to let Karah know this.

"Yeah, we will do so amazingly well that you will have wished you had made us kyriders sooner." This was directed to both Sarasha and Karah, but only Sarasha would know about Lillua's true worry.

Taarka tensed and looked up as he heard the word repeated, there was an almost panicked glint in his eye as he cast a look to the alpha Serra and then back to the little girl. He frowned grouchily "It's a bad adult word. You're too young to use it" he responded as he scraped out the very distinct shape of nostrils and eyes beneath the woody eyebrows that had started to take shape.

He stared a little at Karah, surprised she'd even noticed he was there, let alone listened to him long enough to hear him swear. Fantastic. "Uh...anyway, youngling, pay attention. This is important" he said quietly. As envious as he was of the other riders and how he wished he could go with them even without a Kyrka at his side, he didn't at all wish any harm on them. He knew the Kyriders needed to survive and thrive in numbers. He only worried. Karah was such a young thing, his parents had been much older when they'd perished, it could happen to anyone but more likely the little ones.

It was with some surprise that he found himself listening on, not with envy but with concern. He shook his head to himself and looked down at his work, etching out the fine details of the ears with a different knife now, carefully making the outline of the feathery tips while he listened to Laylar, waiting to hear the task they'd all be set.

((Sorry for the long delay in replying! I've been struggling with writing lately, but I'll try to keep up and get back in the rhythm again.))


"We're fine, Karah, thank you," Lesa'ah told the girl, giving Raikinu a stern look as she snatched a log out from under her Kyrka's beak to arrange it more tidily. She kept fussing at the pile as the others brought their wood, stepping back to let them deliver it--and using herself as a barrier to keep Raikinu for diving for more of the fallen logs and getting in their way. Once everyone had dropped off their wood, she returned to the pile, trying to straighten it up and stack it more neatly than usual, in mute recompense for her Kyrka's mess. She listened to Laylar's story with one ear, still too embarrassed to truly enjoy it.

After Lesa'ah batted her away for the fourth time, and Laylar started up his story, Raikinu turned away from the woodpile and her cranky bondmate and shifted closer to the others so that she could listen to it more closely. She wasn't embarrassed in the least, and her amber-colored jewel was shot through with green and white. As Laylar finished his story, she gave a high, delighted trill, laughing openly without fear of Sarasha's displeasure.

Hunched over the woodpile with her tail kinked behind her, Lesa'ah only turned towards Laylar when he began to speak of their training. Her eyes went wide as he continued onward, telling them it was time for their trials. No, she didn't feel ready--there was so much left that she and Raikinu hadn't mastered, not perfectly and flawlessly the way she wanted them to--but she knew better than to say it. Just like Taarka, though, she glanced at Karah in concern. She might not feel ready, but she was an adult, and she and Raikinu could manage. Kire was almost her age, too, and Kette had an air about her that made it easy to forget how young she was, despite her small stature, but Karah was still palpably a child.

The adults' concern didn't register on Raikinu, who had let off an excited string of chirps at the announcement. We're ready, we're ready, she announced to the room at large, including all of her agemates in that 'we.' Whatever challenge you give us, we can meet it! She was too excited to stay still, shifting from one foot to the other, and her jewel blazed a vivid violet.