the pariah, the victor, the messiah [blade]

[Deleted]

dark blue, dark blue
have you ever been alone in a crowded room?

[/color][/font][/i]

She did not like to be watched. It was an uncomfortable sensation, to have eyes boring into you. Everyone could feel it, the itch at the back of their neck or the gentle heat at the base of their spine. She felt it as a prickling, a hundred thousand pins and needles that pierced her skin in a most uncomfortable manner. It was one of the reasons she hated the lower bank, the feeling she was always being watched, even if she was doing nothing but getting a drink of water. She ruffled her feathers nervously before dipping her head to drink, taking a long draught of the clear water, enjoying the cool sensation of the liquid running down her throat on such a hot day. Her feathers were not made for such heat, and they clung uncomfortably to her frame. It was bad enough to have feathers sticking to her skin, but to combine it with the sensation of being watched? She had to do something, free herself of the paranoia that churned in her stomach. Glancing around once, and then once more for the pair of eyes that may have been making her feel scrutinized, Pariah took to the sky, her wings churning the air frantically in an effort to create the necessary lift to first get her in the air.

After the first (nearly failed) attempt to launch upwards, the bird was free. She couldn’t be seen, not really, with her snowy body against the soft puffs of clouds that hung in the air. The prickling sensation faded, and her feathers slowly lost their grip on her body as the wind tussled them. Pariah swiveled her head over her left shoulder, checking behind her before looking down again, scanning the ground for any potential watcher, or perhaps even a bite to eat. When her eyes found nothing, she was content to stay among the clouds, drifting lazily and letting the air currents take her anywhere upon their whims.



speak

[/i][/color]
[/div]

[blade]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 550px; height:626px; background-image:url(http://i40.tinypic.com/k1q9n5.png)] It was one of the first times since joining Lawaii that Blade was in his human form. It was such a sunny, hot day that he didn't feel like bothering with his feathers, and he had reclined into an alcove near the river, laying flat on his back. His jacket, which was normally well-hidden in the territory somewhere, was bunched behind his head in the form of a makeshift pillow. His face-paint, which he normally put such compulsive care in to perfecting, was smudged with his sweat. Even as a man, his hazel eyes were flicking to and fro, never as indolent as the rest of him seemed to be. Blade called it a survival mechanism. His sister and brother had called it unnerving, but he would gladly point out the fact he was still alive and well, and neither of them were. The shapeshifter's eyes landed on the form of another bird taking a drink. He continued to watch, waiting to see if she would turn and see him hidden where he was, but Blade thought it unlikely. He kept his eyes on her even once she hit the sky, until her pale feathers dissolved into the clouds. Boredom is what drove Blade into stashing his jacket again, and shifting in a flurry of rusty-colored feathers. He puffed at his wings and ruffled his neck, fretting over the feathers until he felt content that they were flight-read. The hawk shuffled through the underbrush until he reached the bank, upon which point he launched himself over the water. A few powerful wingbeats later, and he was airborne. Whereas the female's camouflage lay in the clouds, his was against the ground and among the trees. He remained low in his flight, dodging between the branches and boughs of the towering evergreens. Once he was comfortable in his second form again, Blade ascended through a break in the trees and gained height, relishing the drop in temperature. After a while, he grew bored with his solo flight, and banked sideways to loop back towards where the owl had been. His flight was lazy at best, but he was fairly high in an attempt to spot the owl before she saw him. Eventually he saw her, flying for the sheer joy of it, it seemed. Blade shifted his wings inward and dove in a long, gradual arc. When he neared her, he widened them again, just above her, to cast a shadow over her back. "Little owl." He was in a better mood, and the tone was not condescending or cruel, merely a greeting.

[Deleted]

dark blue, dark blue
have you ever been alone in a crowded room?

[/color][/font][/i]

The bird felt the shadow before she saw it. It was a cool balm across her back, which was slowly being heated by the sun despite her blank plumage. Her first instinct was to dive, get as far away from this other bird as possible. The hunter in her simply did not allow her to stay near a potential threat for any longer than possible. Pariah didn’t even register the fact that her own wing flaps churned the air just as much as the other bird’s, and thus she probably wasn’t even that much smaller. Without thinking very much (or at all), she streamlined her body, and began her descension back to the earth. The part of her mind that was not panicking finally registered his words, which he had spoken before she dove. Little owl. Now that she thought about it, that was less of a threat, and more of a greeting, however strange. Finally regaining her senses, the snowy owl pulled upwards, stopping her descent rather rapidly. She hoped that the other bird hadn’t been following her, otherwise they both would take a nasty head knock as she began to propel herself upwards again, glad for the powerful muscles that crisscrossed across her breast, making the upward strokes less tedious than they should be.

“I’m sorry.”

[/i][/color] She was not meek in her apology as she leveled herself with where the other bird was, treading the air with her wings. “I tend to be rather jumpy when surprised.”[/i][/color] Pariah tried to keep the accusatory tone out of her voice for the sake for politeness, but the ends of the words were sharp with it anyways, ruining the otherwise melodic sound of her lilting Shiftertongue. Her dark amber eyes peered at the other bird, taking in as much detail as she could while hovering uncomfortably. Her wings were not meant for hovering, but for gliding, diving. She smirked as she surveyed the other bird, hoping he was having the same battle as she with the unruly winds that were buffeting them. She blinked and cocked her head slightly as she continued her surveying of the other bird. She didn’t intend to continue the conversation, and hoped to make it obvious with the resolute shutting of her beak, which clacked slightly as the two hard surfaces collided. Pariah adjusted her position with a few quick flaps of her wings, hoping to stay in her position slightly above the other bird. She preferred being able to see him easily, especially considering the stunt he had pulled when first meeting her. The owl sighed – birds these days were so rude.

[/color]

speak[/i][/color]
[/div]

[blade]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 550px; height:626px; background-image:url(http://i40.tinypic.com/k1q9n5.png)] His eyes followed her descent, and the predator in him told him to pursue--close his wings and arc in a dive. He could grip her by her wings with his strong talons, and proceed to wrestle the owl to the ground--By God, Phelan. He could just hear his sister's voice, stressed with exasperation. "You're a part of the Lawaii--you don't eat your comrades!" The thought sobered him some and reminded him of his original intentions--mere conversation. Blade often became lonely or bored, and the Lawaii gave him an outlet for both of these things. He tilted his wings to allow him to circle the owl, watching as she reascended and came to hover awkwardly. She was not made for it, Blade noticed, and she struggled some to stay where she was against the winds. He merely tightened the loop of the circle he flew in, spiraling around her. Manners, manners. He was trying to remember them but he struggled, instead finding his attention diverted to a flock of crows below them, roosting in the trees. Then his hazel eyes flicked back to the owl. "No... I'm... uh. Sorry. I did not mean to... make you, uh, afraid." Er, well. That was a lie, he guessed, because he hadn't not meant to startle her. He'd thought it had been a little funny to watch her flee. He let out a soft bird croon, and tore away from her to fly downward. "Little owl, you are a jager, aren't you?" Blade didn't really care if she followed. He just didn't want to fly himself dizzy, and he leveled out a few feet above the forest trees, his flight leisurely.