We Are But Men [Open]

[Cam]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,400,true]

[bg=703410] OOC // Or, well, ‘We Are But Owls’. Forward-down-back-up-repeat. Forward-down-back-up-repeat. Forward-down-back-up-repeat. Loki’s wing strokes formed a beat, a flurry of orange and cream that molded the air to its whim as he slammed through the dead air of the desert twilight. He realized, with every stroke, that he much preferred a more humid head over this dry one that felt like it was sucking him dry like some sort of reptile. Whatever. A thermal caught him and pushed him higher into the dusk, his sharp eyes studying the landscape below. If only there were as many voles down there as there were rocks and little poky green thing - catcuts or whatever they were called. Loki didn’t remember - heck, he didn’t even care. Loki had left his group of Pure Ones earlier for a solo flight. Sure, he’d probably catch hell from that other Alba that was leading the group with him, but he wasn’t worried about it. He needed to get away from the stupidity of the filthier ones, that whining grass owl or the Minahassa that flew so badly that at one point Loki had considered ripping out his irritating impure gizzard himself. Why did all the other Tyto have such annoying voices? Ah, the mysteries of the world. But, oh! Something moved in his peripheral vision and he twitched his wings into a lazy curve so he could get a good look at it. Definitely an owl, and it had ducked into that little burrow thing there. Whether it was because it lived there, or because it was hiding from him, Loki didn’t know. He was bored, maybe this little bonepicking filthbag could amuse him for a little while. That’s what they were there for, anyways, right? So why not? Loki tucked his wings and dropped down until he was spiraling slowly a few feet above the den. He stayed like that for a while, watching for any other signs of life, trying to assess the resident - or residents - of the little cavern. He was quick to decide that he didn’t care how many owls were down there, and so he issued forth his greeting in a voice that sounded more like a seductive purr than a hoot. “Hello, darling! I know you’re in there!”

[Cleef]

Cleef had just landed next to his burrow after finding a group of Pure Ones flying around the desert. Since there was hardly any Barn Owls around the Desert Cleef didn't think too much about it, but he would try to keep an eye on them anyways. Who knows what they're here for and what trouble they could cause. thought Cleef as he walked into his hollow.

Cleef was grabbing his battle mask to move it near the entrance of the burrow when he heard a voice call down. Cleef lay his battle mask near the bottom of the entrance and called up "Yes, you know right, I am down here. Give me a moment and I'll be right up." Cleef walked to another area of his cluttered burrow and picked up his battle claws in his beak by their strings. He turned around and tripped over a rolled up map he had left on the ground "Ow" Cleef said as he hit the ground, claws falling out of his beak. Cleef regained himself and picked his claws back up. He then made his way back to the entrance, layed the claws near his mask, and walked back up to the top of the burrow.

Cleef came out of his burrow beak to beak with one of the Pure Ones he had seen in the group of them not to long ago. "What brings you to my, rather cluttered, burrow owl?"

[Cam]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,400,true]

[bg=703410] “Take your time!” he called back. Oh, in the name of the High Tyto, it was filthy in that burrow, disgusting. Loki couldn’t see much in what little moonlight filtered down inside the hole, but he could see enough, could hear the quiet clicking of beak and talon and a mild scuffling followed by a distant “ow” as, Loki could only imagine, the stupid impure featherball fell over and impaled himself on his own battle claws. But luck had never smiled on the unusually orange barn, and now this little top-heavy owl had popped out of it, stinking of worms and dirt and looking like he just decided to roll around on the ground. It was all Loki could do to suppress the shudder that ran through his feathers, the faint sensation of his lunch trying to claw back out of his gizzard. Oh, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. Maybe he should just fly away now while he had the chance, and not deal with this stupid burrowing owl. But that would be running away, and if there was one thing Loki did not do, it was run away. Except from, you know, anything that might mess his feathers up. “Oh, nothing in particular,” he replied, taking a step back to distance himself from the disgusting owl. Ugh, what if ‘unTyto’ was a disease? Like, one you could catch? That was mildly horrifying. “Just being friendly, you know. Thought I might drop by and say hello to the, uh,” it took him a minute to come up with an appropriate word. ”Locals.”

[Cleef]

Cleef noticed that the Barn Owl looked a little uneasy. "Well I suppose that makes sense. Though, I'm going to tell you, you won't find very many other Barn Owls in the desert............ unless of course you go a little to the East. There you'll find a band of Pure Ones scouring the desert for some reason. I can't think of many Tytos that they would find useful around here."

Cleef looked at the Barn Owl who seemed to be trying to position his beak upwind. "My apologies, I haven't been able to get to a source of water recently. In fact I was planning on finding one before you showed up. I understand that I look and probably smell unpleasant. Just helped an owl from some quicksand somewhere in the Southwestern part of Kuneer. It was some nasty and heavy stuff, but I managed to pull him out. Of course I couldn't do it without getting a little dirty myself, but he's still breathing so a little dirt's okay." Cleef preened a feather on his left wing that had a bit of mud still stuck to it.

[Sompom]

Tinker had been part of the rear guard of Pure Ones heading into the desert. Actually, he had been the entire rear guard. Perhaps the rest of the group hoped he would get eaten, that wouldn't be entirely surprising.
His lonely peace was broken when he saw another owl break from formation. None of the other owls seemed to take any notice which was a sign that the owl heading off on his own was probably of high-rank. Probably a barn owl. That made it a very bad idea to intrude on whatever it was he was so interested in, but Tinker was bored stiff and wanted some excitement, even if that excitement was him being yelled at.
Tinker slowed, hoping that none of the others of the group would see him, and landed near the entrance of a burrow he had seen the other owl crawl into. He heard the end of a sentence spoken from somewhere inside the burrow, there was another owl inside. Unless there were illicit activities going on inside, this was probably the residence of an owl.

[Cam]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,400,true]

[bg=703410] ”Oh, I wouldn’t be so fast to scratch off the Pure Ones, my muddy acquaintance. They often have more going on then one would think. Crafty beasts.” Loki chuckled at his own joke, a sarcastic humming sound that matched the disdainful glimmer in his eyes. Such fools. Although the fact that he brought it up meant that this little filthblooded owl knew that something was up, and that Loki himself didn’t belong here. He grinned, brought a leg up into the air and casually studied his talons for a moment. They weren’t particularly sharp, nor armed, but this sand was wearing them down and it was driving the poor fashion-minded Barn nearly mad. ”Anyways,”, he continued, ”You wouldn’t happen to know where an owl can find food in this fine place? I’m having a spot of difficulty finding anything that looks edible.” He heard something behind him, then, and with a casual stretch, managed to glance around quickly and - A curse on his slow, impure wits - it was that Sooty they had brought along as a distraction for anything that decided it might want to have itself a chunk of Pure One for dinner. Loki hoped beyond hope that the owl had enough sense to be hidden - if he revealed himself, then it would blow any shadow of a doubt this ground owl had about Loki’s identity right out the burrow entrance. Not that he even had a doubt.

[Cleef]

Cleef had just folded his wings back into place again and stood up straight. "I do know where the prey of the Desert like to hide. As long as you like lizard, snake, reptiles in particular are the main food of the Desert. If you get lucky you can sometimes manage to find a Jack Rabbit hopping around or near the water hole. Or, if you don't happen to have a fear of them," Cleef said this a little under his breath "you can sometimes find a "juicy", as they're sometimes referred too, Tarantula." Cleef shivered a little after saying this. Made hum feel a little sick I really need to work on this fear of spiders he thought to himself.

"Anyways" Said Cleef "I'll lead you to a water hole. We'll see if we can't find a Jack Rabbit and if I can't get myself looking a little better." At this Cleef chipped a piece of mud off of his middle talon on his right foot, it was hardened now. "Just follow me." Cleef took off but caught something out of the corner of his vision, he swiveled his head to where he had seen the "something". Could it be? Cleef thought Hmmm....those Pure Ones must of really planned this visit out.......they even brought him. Knowing the Pure Ones it was probably for some sort of bait or whatever. He isn't one of their favorites.

Cleef hovered over and then landed in front of an owl that had accompanied him on several other adventures. Cleef looked at the Sooty owl "Tinker, I see you're also flying around the desert. How are your friends treating you?" Cleef smiled at the Sooty.

[Sompom]

"Eehh, umm. Good morning, Cleef." Tinker said, glancing concernedly at the barn owl. He didn't know the name of the barn owl. Probably something pompous. "I'm doing well, thank you for asking."

[Cleef]

(Occ: Sorry, Cam, I was going to wait for you but you're taking too long and I see an opening here. :/ )

Cleef noticed that Tinker was glancing over to the owl behind him in a peculiar manner. That confirms it. thought Cleef The owl is a Pure One Cleef winked at Tinker "Don't worry, he won't be able to tear your gizzard out without going through me." Cleef whispered "Let's just hope it doesn't come to that." He added under his breath.

"Right then!" Cleef exclaimed while turning around "We were heading to some water I do believe." Cleef then took off in the direction that he remembered the watering hole to be.

Cleef alighted near the water's edge and waded into the shallows. The water felt good and Cleef began scrubbing the mud off of his feathers. He heard a Thump thump on the sand and looked up. There sat a Jack Rabbit. Well my friend. thought Cleef Once that Sooty and Barn owl land you're going to be dinner.

Cleef went back to scrubbing the dried mud off of his feathers. The stuff was rock hard now.

[Cam]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,400,true]

[bg=703410] "Reptiles?" Loki all but sneered. Well, it was exotic, anyways, but the idea of all those scales and claws sliding down his gizzard, all cold with no warm fur or.. well, warm in general. He coughed into a raised talon. Jack rabbit sounded good, but... a 'juicy'- a what? If he'd had eyebrows one would have been raised. "That sounds like an excellent idea," he drawled, waving a polished talon in the air dismissively. He spread his wings, raised them for a downbeat-- "Tinker, I see you're also flying around the desert." Sprink. Loki carefully refolded his wings and adjusted a couple feathers on his breast before turning his condescending eye on the stupid sooty. His name must have been Tinker - Loki had never taken it upon himself to learn the name of the lesser owls unless it was diplomatically advantegous. And, apparently, he was doing well. Well, he'd fix that, once they got back to the rest of the group. He straightened and puffed out slightly, watching the pair exchange hushed words that he couldn’t quite make out. Keeping secrets from a superior? Hah! All the more reason to ensure that he was doing well later on. Loki watched them for a moment longer, then snapped his gaze away and extended his wings, following Cleef elegantly up into the air. It didn’t take them long to reach the water, and Loki landed neatly near the edge a few moments after his guide. He tapped the surface of the water with a talon and watched the ripples spread across the surface of the water. They faded, and Loki looked up to make some snide remark about not drinking your bathwater and what in the name of all that is pure and good is that thing? His eyes settled on the jackrabbit and it took him a moment to disengage from oh-god-its-gonna-eat-me mode to something less panic-riddled. What was it? He studied it for a moment. It looked like a normal rabbit, he supposed, something he hadn’t really seen a lot of but recognized nonetheless. So maybe it was similar, but it was lankier and bigger and all around a bit tougher looking. But Loki was a pure one and couldn’t be seen hesitating for a moment, especially not with the gaze of a subordinate and a stranger on his feathers, so with a few hard wingstrokes he launched himself forward at the odd creature.

[Sompom]

"Why couldn't Cleef be more careful?" mourned Tinker silently. The small owl had stuck him in a right fix, that was sure. The way the barn owl looked at him show that clear as midnight. However, Tinker had no choice but to follow the two as they went towards the water hole.
Tinker saw the Jackrabbit before he landed, but it would not do to take the kill from the barn owl. Better to go hungry than further irritate him.

[Cleef]

Cleef heard two soft slushes as the two other owls landed on the sand at the waters edge. Cleef looked up and watched as the barn owl, whose name Cleef hadn't gotten yet, stared at the jack rabbit for a moment with wide eyes then awkwardly lunged and killed it. "Pretty good kill for your first jack rabbit." Cleef said. "They are a little more leaner than the rabbits of the forest, but they will fill you up just the same." Cleef scrubbed the last of the mud residue off of his feathers, kinda swirled the water around him towards the center of the pool (who wants to drink dirty water?), and then climbed out of the water.

Cleef preened a few of his wet feathers then looked over to the barn owl and his fresh kill. "So you're visiting the Desert of Kuneer to say "Hi" to the locals. If I may ask, why is it that you choose the Desert and why is it that you are alone? A Tyto like you doesn't necessarily visit the Desert to often and, by the questions you asked and the expressions you gave when I answered them, don't know too much about the desert, it's kinda curious you would come here without a guide."

While Cleef waited for the Barn owl to give his answer he saw a tarantula crawling in the Barn owl's direction, but before Cleef could say much the Barn owl began to reply. All Cleef could do was exchange a quick glance to Tinker and then look back towards the Tyto. Thankfully the thing stopped and Cleef could listen with a full ear to the Tyto's reply.......for now.

[Cam]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,400,true]

[bg=703410] OOC // Sorry about the length. Loki struggled with the rabbit for a moment before finding a good purchase on it and taking it the short distance back to the other owls. He dropped it unceremoniously in the sand near the water, sending up a small cloud of dust, and took a moment to rearrange his feathers before turning back to the other owls. ”So, eat up,” he choked out after a moment, mildly disgusted with himself for providing food to two... well, impure owls. He tore a chunk off himself and gulped it down before eyeing the desert owl. ”I was in Ambala and thought it might be fun to drop by,” he replied, saccharine. ”I heard the people here were nice. Thought I’d go see.” Oh, he could almost yarp, he made himself so nauseous. Where were these words coming from? Certainly not his mouth. The rabbit turned sour in his stomach. “So what’s it like, living in the desert? Any interesting news?”

[Cleef]

Cleef hopped over to the opposite side of the rabbit that the barn owl was on and snipped a piece of the meat off of the hide. He swallowed it thinking Okay supposedly this owl is coming from Ambala alone.....hmmm.....he has "heard" that the residents are nice, which is fairly true, and thought that he'd stop by and meet a few......question is..........STOP! Cleef finally shouted to himself in his mind Why should I assume that this owl is a Pure One? I don't know him and I can't judge him just because he's a Barn owl. Why, I've heard of, and met, many good Barn owls. So, if this owl is coming from Ambala then I might as well take his word. I can keep my guard up and keep in the back of my mind that he's a POTENTIAL Pure One. But other than that he's coming from Ambala. Cleef didn't know for sure where this stereotyping had come from I suppose the Pure One's just have me worried. They where heading into the direction of my parent's burrow. Maybe I should check on them.

Cleef quickly tried to think of some news of the Desert as the last bit of the morsel slipped down his throat. "Well" He said "I can't tell you much of what it's like living in the Desert, due to the fact that I travel a lot because of what I've dedicated myself to do. On the news subject I also don't know much besides of what I've already told you. A party of Pure Ones are in the desert and an owl has been given a second chance at life. But, if you really want to know other happenings I could take you to the nearest Grog Tree......or cactus in the Desert's standards." Cleef smiled at this, this little smile helped ease his worries a little. Plus, if I'm correct on our location, Cleef looked up at the sky the nearest Grog tree is in the directions of my parent's burrow. I could make a quick stop there and catch up with these two owls.......that is, if this owl wants to go. Cleef plucked off another piece of meat and motioned for Tinker to come join.

[Sompom]

Tinker hopped forward tentatively. Taking a small chunk of the least desirable meat. He was still unsure of the opinions of the barn owl, and wanted to be sure not to irritate him. After the first bite he sidled towards Cleef and hissed "Mind what you say!" Then quickly took another bite.