((Now...entry time! I took you at your word when you said it wasn't possible to write too much for this. I hope I didn't overstep any bounds writing a few lines of Princess there at the very end...))
Before turning in for the night to rest up for the trip to the depths of the rainforest where the strangle vines grew, Chirp made her way to the buildings of the Headquarters. Continuing to bounce and flutter through the trees rather than take her chances with the more surefooted traditionally build Sams she eagerly eyed the structures. They fascinated her, and for a good while she simply perched in the trees and stared at them. But finally, as a young adult Sharian walked past her perch, appearing to be headed towards the buildings as well, she called out,
”Hello!” He paused and looked around for a moment, seeming somewhat confused. Noticing that he was mostly looking down, Chirp giggled.
”No, up heyre!” With a slight start he lifted his head to the trees, and she watched his eyes flicker from side to side before finally focusing on her. “Ah, greetings small one. Was there…something you were wanting?”
Chirp’s face settled into an expression that Charge would likely have recognized at once as meaning that whatever came out of her mouth next was going to be the last thing you expected.
”Well, we, all of us, the Samanayr-kin, we want to honoyr youyr Eldest and heyr joining. And so we have a list of nice things to get heyr. I’m going to get the styranglevine leaves foyr heyr and I was hoping that you would be able to get me a nice pouch to cayrry them back in. Please?”
The Sharian blinked a few times as he stared at this sweet little puffball of a Sam who was starring at him with her head tilted to one side, eyes wide and earnest. “Ah, you are going to…fetch…stranglevine leaves?” Chirp nodded, seemingly oblivious to the tone of his voice, which strongly suggested that she should reconsider attempting such a dangerous feat.
”Oh yes, I know just wheyre they gyrow! They’yre a delicacy you know.” Slightly nonplussed, the Sharian stared at her for a moment longer to see if she was serious, but she did seem to be. "Ah, well, yes... Why don't you...come with me and we'll see about getting one fitted to you."[/color]
As he resumed his course towards the buildings, Chirp leapt from her tree and fluttered after him. However, when he reached the building and held the door open for her, indicating that she should enter first, she was forced to land. The corridor inside wasn't wide enough for comfortable flight, not with the numerous other Sharians strolling down it. Watching her scrabble on the smooth floor, talons slipping and sliding without ever properly gripping, her guide tentatively offered, "Would you be terribly offended little one were I to offer to carry you?"
"Oooh, I'd like that! Everyything's so high heyre and I want to see it all!" Gently he lifted her, accidentally jerking her up at first as he was caught off guard by her slight weight. Slightly hollowed bones and a long fluffy coat meant that she looked larger and heavier than she actually was. To his apparent surprise she settled quite contentedly in his arms and looked around at everything with clear fascination as he quickly worked his way to a supply room used to outfit Expeditions and such. Setting Chirp down on a handy table he turned away to pull out a selection of carry pouches he thought would suit her. When he turned back around to offer them to her the bat mimic was gone. From a shelf high above a voice called out,
"What's this leatheyr hat thingie foyr?"
Shortly afterwards, having fetched the inquisitive Chirp back down with the aid of a ladder, the Sharian helped her to try on an assortment of packs and satchels, ending with her deciding to go with a snug fitting harness that was mostly buried under her fur. A small pouch was secured to the belly, openable by means of a key word so that she wouldn't have to fumble with ties or fasteners, her talons being quite unsuited for such. By the time the helpful Sharian had her back outside and ready to settle in for the night in preparation for her quest he was feeling more than a tad overwhelmed by her joyous, and numerous, thanks. Clearly the fluffy mare was quite excited. As he tossed her gently into the air to help her launch Chirp cried out one last thanks and fluttered off to find a nice tree to sleep in. Settling in, she was pleased to note that the harness and pouch were just as comfortable when upside down as they had been while rightside up. Nestling her chin into the soft fur of her chest and wrapping her wings around herself Chirp lulled herself to sleep with happy thoughts of the following morning.
~~~~~~
The sun was just barely up and most of the gathered kin sounded to still be fast asleep when Chirp began to stir. One eye peeked open, then closed again as she stretched each wing in turn, then let go. Her downward motion was swiftly translated into an upward glide on the first rising thermals of the day. Those hotsprings were nice; they kept warm air moving and rising for much more of the day than it otherwise would be. Chirp waited long enough to snag a quick breakfast of fruit from the treetops, and then she was off, swiftly winging her way towards home, just skimming the treetops to provide a more difficult target for any early rising hunting birds.
Normally Chirp would fly down amongst the trees themselves, darting through the widely spaced trunks, but stranglevine grew on the very uppermost branches. Or at least that's where the majority of the tendril-vines would be, though the base of the plant would be further down, usually on the very top of the host tree's trunk. And while Chirp knew of one patch of the stuff, if she flew up here she might just spot another. Then she would be able to gather her prize and return sooner to the celebration. As she flew, the mare fired off a constant stream of high pitched chirps, mapping out the treetop 'floor' below her. Stranglevine had a distinctive echo, especially among all the leaves of the highest canopy. It was thick and solid sounding, more like an animal than a plant. And she didn't want to fly into a patch of it all unawares.
At midday Chirp landed for a rest and meal, not having seen any signs so far of stranglevine. It really wasn't that surprising she supposed. This was still close to the Hotsprings, and most likely was kept clear. Most Songs did eliminate it if they noticed sprouts starting, though it usually took Sharian aid. Ground bound Sams didn't worry about it so much, since only the best climbers would ever reach the heights at which the vine grew, but fliers had cause to be wary.
Her belly happily filled, but not so full as to make flying a challenge, Chirp took to the skies once more. As she drew ever nearer to where she
knew the stranglevines grew, the mare began to review all she had ever heard about them in an absentminded way. Let's see, big cluster of dense, woody growth at the base, that was how you first spotted them because it would be greener than the real tree bark. Lots of leaves there, but those weren't the ones she wanted. Not really a useful fact since she didn't plan to get close enough to see the base of the plant anyways. The vines were the part she needed to concern herself with, weren't they?
For a moment Chirp paused that line of thought, ears swiveling towards where her echolocation had bounced back a different note than the rest of the trees. No, not vines afterall. Just a snake down under the branches. Settling back into a sort of autopilot she resumed recalling what she knew about the vines she sought. The tentacle like vines were the most important part of the plant. They
moved, and fast too at times. Motion set them off; the vines were supposed to be hairy, with all the little tendril-hairs detecting motion. Slow motions made them creep towards the source, but rapid motion made them strike like a snake. Not so many leaves on the vines themselves, but those were the ones to get. The big, broad leaves were considered a great delicacy. Chirp had never tasted one, but they were supposed to be sweet and spicy and really good. Not to mention hard to get, and so even more desirable to some. Whispers in the dark, whispers that little foals weren't supposed to have heard, said that it made those who ate it 'frisky' as well, whatever that meant.
As Chirp continued to fly the sky ahead began to darken ominously. Her wingbeats slowed as she looked up at the building clouds. Up here above the canopy rain would bother her more than below where the leaves shielded her from the worst of it. Perhaps she should land and wait it out? But time was so short...the joining would be happening soon! Maybe she'd just drop down below the canopy after all. She'd go low enough to be out of reach of any new patches of vine and then go back up when the rain stopped. Storms in the rainforest were seldom that long lasting, just frequent.
Action followed thought almost before she'd finished thinking it as Chirp spotted a break in the canopy ahead where some ancient forest giant had recently gone down. That would make a good place to descend. Moments later a shrill, high pitched shriek rang out over the forest, followed shortly by a shuddering Chirp rocketing back into the sky with all possible speed. Some huge spider had decided the gap made the perfect place to spin a web. Huge...just...huge! As big as her head! And she almost hadn't noticed the web in time in her distraction as fine as the threads were. No, no, she'd just fly on above the trees and hope for a light shower instead of a heavy storm...
The encounter with the spider kept Chirp's mind occupied for most of the rest of the flight, temporarily driving out any thought of planning how she would obtain the leaves once she reached the plants. Ick, ick ick! She hated spiders, so scritchy and scuttly.. Even little ones grated on her ears, never mind the shock of that giant thing. That was one thing about living in the jungle that she was still getting used to. The creepy crawlers grew so big here! She might look like a bat, but she didn't eat like one. Not even a fruit bat; she'd seen them eating and they always went for the all but rotting fruits on the tree it had looked like.
She was still distracted with the image of that spider, and more importantly the
sound of it as she drew near to the stranglevine patch. Now, when approaching a known hazard like this it is generally considered best to do so while fully focused on the task at hand. Not to recognize the location and begin to absently glide down to a nearby tree while hoping that the rain will hold off just a bit longer so you can get settled in for the night before going after the plant in the morning when it's cleared up again. One important thing to remember about stranglevine is that
it spreads.
One would think that with as much happy exploring as Chirp did, that she would be well accustomed to watching out for dangers, especially on a mission like this one. Such was sadly not the case. Oh, she might have started off well, but it hadn't taken long, just the day's flight, for her to settle back into her carefree and happily oblivious nature. The downdraft from her wings was already rustling the leaves, and she was stretching out her legs to land when she finally noticed that something sounded...wrong. Her long ears swiveled towards the wrongness. Something was moving against the wind, coming...towards...
Chirp's eyes went wide and she frantically began beating her wings, furiously trying to reverse direction. She had all but stalled in the air in preparation for landing, and everything was heavy and moist with the impending storm. Time seemed to stand still for an eternity as she fought for height, too frightened even to scream. She felt as though her wings would snap with the bone-wrenching effort as she listed to the sound of a stranglevine runner rushing up through the leaves. And then between one heartbeat and the next time returned. A strong breeze, a forerunner of the advancing storm, filled her wings, lifting her up and back just as the vine snapped out, grasping the very tip of her tail for a moment before the wind tugged her free once more.
Heart pounding until even she could scarcely separate the beats, Chirp let the wind carry her up and away for a long moment. But the storm was still threatening, and she was dead tired. While that was still better than being strangled dead, she dearly needed to land and rest. Nervously Chirp eyed the trees rushing beneath her, leaves rattling and shaking in the rising wind. This storm was looking to be a bad one. Fighting back against the wind she tentatively dropped down to a level where she could skim the treetops and probe for more vines, seeking a safe place to land. The wind had carried her a fair distance back from the stranglevine patch though, and the forest below sounded safe enough. In fact...she thought she heard Samanayr voices below. Pulling her wings in she dropped with more speed than grace, plummeting down through the thin, whippy branches of the upper canopy, fanning them out again when she reached a small clear patch in the tangle.
Once she had managed to grip a branch the young mare flipped over and hung upside down, panting and quivering and too exhausted to seek either food or the source of the voices she had noted earlier. However, as it turned out, she didn't need to seek them out. It didn't' seem like more than a moment or two when the first notes of a Song of Anger were rising fiercely through the air, only to be cut off with a yelp and the sounds of long, hooked feet scrambling for a grip. A rapid argument in the old, musical native tongue followed, but Chirp was too tired to grasp what was being said, and started to drift off again. She woke again some time later to the sound of someone approaching.
Tiredly clicking a few bursts of sonar at her visitor Chirp painted a sketchy image in her mind of an Aboreal gracefully walking along the branch. Slowly she opened one eye, just in time to see them reach her and swing around to hang upside down on the branch right beside her. The rich chestnut mare with tinges of gold and pink, like flowers in her fur, watched Chirp carefully, but with concern tingling her expression. She whistled an uncertain greeting which Chirp managed to softly respond to, before speaking in hesitant, halting tones.
"Byrings you...what...to ouyr lands? Happy my stallion is not. Hayrm you...do not mean?"
Rousing a little more Chirp took note of the fierce looking golden male bristling at her from closer to the trunk of the giant tree she had perched in. Sighing softly she shook her head.
No...no...I have a Song to yretuyrn to, not so fayr fyrom heyre. I am Chiyrp of the Hayrmonic Echo, of the Song of the Vayriegated Mimics. I only seek styranglevine leaves, foyre the fiyrst and gyreatest of the Shaiyrian who have done so much foyr ouyr kin. The stoyrm dyrove me down. Only let me yrest and I will move on fyrom youyr tyrees..."
But at the mention of the Sharian the stallion's demeanor had changed. Gone was his fierce glower. Spreading a pair of wide, golden wings he gracefully leapt from the trunk and swooped through the branches to land on Chirp's other side.
"You aid the kind ones? Welcome in the Song of the Golden Yrain ayre fyriends of the kind ones." His fierce green eyes gleamed regarded her more warmly.
"Yrest now, we guayrd. Come day, you tell of youyr seeking. We help. You sleep now." His mare's croon of approval from Chirp's other side, modulating into a strange wild yet restful lullaby, soon had Chirp fast asleep once more, an Aboreal dozing on either side of her.
When Chirp woke again though, she was seemingly all alone. But not for long. As soon as she stretched a single wing out, wincing at its stiffness, a flurry of motion above revealed a tiny filly who had been silently watching her. The excited peeping cries the filly made soon brought the adults of the Song of the Golden Rain back. In addition to the pair she vaguely recalled from last night there was an albino mare with them, long white Mystic strands swaying gently as she sedately walked along the tree branch as though she was on level ground. As before, the stallion made a showy flight to land beside Chirp, chest puffed up proudly, and a feather crest she hadn't noticed before gleaming blackly against his golden fur.
"Gyreet the day fayr-tyraveleyr," he intoned from above as Chirp swung back and forth, attempting to swivel herself back up to the top of the branch. It took her a moment to recognize the old greeting and reply in kind.
"Byright the sun, tyree-masteyr." She ached too much to be her usual silly self, which was probably just as well as this fierce stallion might not have taken to such behavior very readily. Oh, she'd been pushing herself too hard these past few days. Leisurely travels did not prepare one for nearly three days of hard flying. Around Chirp, three bodies relaxed every so slightly, pleased that their unexpected visitor recognized the old greeting and it's counter.
Moments later, as Chirp carefully stretched and settled, four sets of eyes widened. Up until this point they had not seen clearly that her wings were like those of a bat, connecting all four limbs and her tail. They had thought she had a set of forelimbs tucked up against her chest, hidden by the fluffy fur and the bat-style folding of her wings. The stallion swiftly recovered himself though and tried to pretend that he had not been just as fascinated by the odd visiting mare as his little filly. Clearing his throat he sought to reclaim control of the situation.
"You come fyorm afayr seeking dangeyr foyr the kind ones, Chiyrp of the Hayrmonic Echo. We wish to know why. Come and eat with us and tell youyr tale." Chirp blinked slightly at his imperious tone as the albino Mystic silently laughed and the chestnut mare rolled her eyes. Ignoring them, the golden stallion leapt once more into the air and made a great show of swooping off again, presumably to wherever the Song ate. His mare gently nudged Chirp to follow, and led the way through the branches to a sunny dip in the canopy, around which baskets of fruit that they had gathered were tucked away. Easily flicking the lid off of one with her hooks she pulled out a sweet smelling fruit and offered it to Chirp, who gratefully accepted.
In between bites of her meal Chirp was introduced to the Song; showy Shriek of the Triumphant Flight, the stallion, sweet but stubborn Glory of Returning Youth, his lead mare, and the silent Mystic of the Unspoken Truth. The little filly, affectionately referred to as Bumbles, was her daughter. All four were highly curious as to what had brought her here, though Shriek was doing his best to hide it, clearly not thinking such things suitable for a stallion of his position. Once introductions were taken care of Chirp began to relate her tale. She told of how the Eldest and greatest of the Sharian race was finally to be joined with her life-mate. Of how a Kodyla mare had organized the guests to seek out rare and exotic gifts to honor the Eldest with. She had to pause to explain as best she could what a Kodyla was, though she wasn't exactly sure herself. But little Bumbles seemed quite taken by the notion of long, long silky fur and wanted to know if her fur might ever grow out that way, tiny little wings flapping excitedly at the thought.
Finally the conversation came around to the matter of Chirp setting out to the nearest stranglevine patch she knew of to gather some of the leaves as a contribution to the gift from all the kin. She left out the encounter with the creepy-huge spider and her near miss with the stranglevine though. When she was finished there was no sound beyond the background noise of the jungle and the soft sounds of the Samanayrs thoughtfully chewing their meal. After a time, Shriek spoke in a rather distant tone.
"You seek leaves foyr you?" Chirp shook her head, confused.
"You tell otheyrs wheyre vines ayre?"
Chirp gave the stallion a puzzled look, not sure why he was asking.
"Did you want help yremoving them?" The stallion's green eyes flashed as he savagely shook his head.
"No! They ayre ouyrs! We keep them in check, we know what otheyr plants they avoid, plant them, tend them, hayrvest the styranglevine to tyrade! You tell no one!" During his tirade the stallion had risen to his feet, wings flaring aggressively and hooks tearing at the bark of the tree he stood on as Chirp shrank away in surprise. It had never, never, never ever occurred to her that any of the kin might actually tend these plants. Actually, she had never heard of a Song growing anything for trade before, even safer plants. But after his outburst, Chirp didn't quite dare to ask why the leaves were so rarely seen still if his Song was growing them.
In a slightly squeaky voice she chirped,
"I won't tell wheyre I found them, only south of the Headquayrteyrs. South is veyry big you know..." The stallion glanced over at Mystic, who nodded placidly. Slowly Shriek deflated, settling his feathery wings against his sides with a satisfied flick.
"Then we get leaves foyr you. You come, we go gatheyr fyresh. Best theyre."
Soon Chirp was watching Glory and Mystic help their stallion to strap on an odd harness of braided vines that was tied to a huge cluster of dead branches. She was amazed by the fact that he could apparently still fly while hauling that mass, a fact which seemed to please him greatly. As their nimble hooks secured the harness on him, the stallion proudly explained how the hunt was going to work.
"I fly high, out of vine yreach, dyrag this below. Byranches yrustle leaves, make movement. Styranglevine stupid, not smayrt like Aboyreal. Not know is only dead byranches. Vines tangle on these, not let go so long as they still move. Once all vines gyrabbed on, my mayres dayrt in, gyrab leaves. You too if you want. When both sound all cleayr, I cut vine, dyrop bundle, fly home. We divide leaves, you use some foyr gift fyrom all kin. I take yrest, go with you, pay Song's yrespects to Eldest and make tyrade. All happy, all good, make good stoyry to tell next foals. All yready?"
Mystic gave one last tug on the vine harness, then both mares nodded. At a shrill whinny from their stallion the mares took off, vanishing into the foliage. With a nod to Chirp, he took off, straining briefly to haul the load, then winking at her. She sat for a moment, watching him soar off towards the vine riddled section of rainforest. She was glad Charge wasn't with her; she didn't think the flares of temper that lead to him walking through trees would go well with this Aboreal stallion who seemed to be trying to impress her. Stallions were so funny at times...
Belatedly she realized that she was about to miss her chance to actually gather any of the leaves herself, and launched herself into the air. On the second try at least. The first effort made her wing muscles scream at her for being too vigorous in the attempt. By the time she caught up with the Song, Shriek already had the vines firmly gripping his lure. They looked almost beautiful, all dark bluey green and still glittering with the last of the rain clinging to the millions of tiny hairs on their surface. But Shriek was loosing height as the vines slowly attempted to drag their 'prey' down to their roots. A reminder that these plants were deadly, no matter what they looked like.
From under the leaf cover she could hear the rapid rustling sounds that were Glory and Mystic darting around on the branches, plucking off leaves. As she closed in, Shriek grunted,
"Glad you could join us. Huyrry please." She wanted to circle, to make sure the vines were safely engaged after having so nearly been caught by one the night before. But Shriek was already noticeably lower than he'd been even when she'd caught up. And so after one barrage of sound she swooped in, plucked one yellow spotted leaf in her jaws, and then realized that she could neither open her pouch, nor pluck another without loosing this one. Circling away, feeling half blind with something in her mouth stopping her from sounding out the world with sonar, she tried to indicate to Shriek that he could drop the bundle.
He raised one eyebrow at her single leaf, then shrieked a brief note. Soon after two replies came back, indicating that his mares were clear. With one strong swipe of his hooks he severed the rope holding him to the ensnared bundle, which swiftly vanished from sight as the vines at last completed their contraction. A few more cuts sliced the rest of the harness off and he gave Chirp a look of arrogant triumph before spinning in place and returning to his home. Chirp followed, feeling very silly; all this way and she hadn't even thought to open the pouch before heading out.
Upon reaching the Song of the Golden Rain, she found much rejoicing. Their gathering had produced far, far more leaves than her single paltry leaf. Yellow and blue-green leaves were piled high in their bags of stitched leaves. Feeling small Chirp landed beside them, only to be buffeted by one of Shriek's wings triumphantly.
"Not suyre you would take any. Pity alyready have stallion, would like you foyr my Song. Byrave mayres good, make byrave foals. We celebyrate today! Tomoyrrow we yretuyrn to this...Headquayrteyrs."
Chirp wasn't quite sure why they were celebrating their harvest, but she was fine with waiting another day before making the flight back. She was fine with waiting more than a day actually... It was only a day's hard flight back, and they had been given a month to return with their prizes. But...she would like to join in the celebration. And a soak in those wonderful Sharian made hotsprings would help ease the aches. Surely she could make it back. They didn't need to fly so fast as she had flown on the outward leg of her journey. She'd been so excited then. Well, she was still excited now, just sore and excited. Which made it hard to be quite so very excited.
While the Song celebrated Chirp excused herself to work the stiffness back out of her wings. Just collapsing like that in the rainy weather after a hard flight hadn't been a good idea. Her father had tried to drum that into her head, but it kept slipping, no matter how many times she wound up like this. At least she remembered how to work it out again once it happened. By the end of the day she was starting to feel better, though she'd have to take it slow and easy still in the morning. Give her wings a good warming up.
Night brought with it another storm, though much gentler than the last, leaving her stiff again in the morning. But Shriek was wide awake and bouncing as eagerly as a young colt being allowed to go swimming in the hotspring for the first time. He clearly had been up for some time and had already said his goodbyes to his mares who were nowhere to be seen. Sitting beside him was one of the baskets holding the stranglevine leaves. The rest were clearly bundled in the packs on his back and sides.
"These leaves youyrs, make good gift, yes?" He watched impatiently as she opened her pouch and tucked the gift leaves inside, then tossed his head and snorted eagerly as she closed the pouch again.
"We fly?"
The trip back seemed to go much faster than the trip out had. Shriek spent most of it excitedly telling her about what the Sharians had done for his birth Song, and how they had saved one of his foals after a nasty tumble through the trees resulted in a broken leg. But the only Sharian he had seen had been hermits and travelers. He had never ventured into the heart of their territory and the hotsprings they had built there as a gathering place for Samanayrs of all kinds. Chirp learned how she was one of the few non-Aboreals that he had ever seen, and the only one his current filly had seen. He told her his favorite fruit, how many times they had gathered leaves before this, how a certain species of orchid put out a scent that somehow repelled the stranglevine, how after a good rain was the best time for harvesting leaves because all those little hairs were confused by the clinging water.
When she would have stopped for the night he was all for pushing on and reaching the Headquarters that same day. But Chirp wasn't going any further tonight, and simply landed anyways, choosing what looked to be a well tended fruit tree to spend the night in. Dinner, bed, and breakfast all in one place. After a moment Shriek followed her down, clinging to the branch above hers and watching her anxiously. As she'd half expected him to all day, he finally began asking questions about what to expect when they arrived. Neither of them went to sleep until late as she warmed to the subject of describing the wonders ahead.
A day of more gentle exercise had done Chirp's wings wonders, and she felt much more like her usual self in the morning. After a good breakfast of sweet, juicy fruit she was ready to go. Checking her pouch one last time she went to find Shriek. He was perched on the highest branches that would bear his weight, staring out in the direction that they'd been flying in. When she darted around him he spooked slightly, almost loosing his grip.
"Yready to go? We'yre almost theyre!" She could hear his teeth creak slightly as he tensed, starring out once more before nodding and leaping into the air.
Today Shriek was as silent as he had been talkative yesterday, and he seemed oddly anxious for one who had been so very excited the day before. But Chirp made up for it, chattering on about how she wished her Song, and his could have all made it to the celebration. But flying was so much faster than walking or leaping through the trees. And they'd just have to take it all in and tell stories so good they made others feel as though they
had been there! And wasn't this going to be so wonderful!
At the pace they'd been making it was nearly noon by the time they clearly heard the voices of the celebratory gathering, but not long after they were flying over the heads of some of the gathered Sams. A few looked up and recognized Chirp's rather distinctive appearance, calling out to ask if she had been successful. As she cheerfully confirmed that she had one of the gifts, several trilled their congratulations and thanks. She made sure to call back that she couldn't have done it without the help of Shriek and his Song. The cheers for him that followed seemed to perk the stallion back up.
When they reached the central pools they landed, Shriek on the ground; examining the hotspring with interest, and Chirp on a rock formation sculpted to look like a windblown tree.
"We made it! Isn't it wondyrful! I hate to fly off so soon, but I need to find wheyre to go to add these to the collected gifts! I'm suyre you'll have a wondeyrful time! Thank you so much foyr youyr help Shyriek! Thank youyr Song again foyr me when you go home! Bye!" As the stallion called out a brief farewell song Chirp took off again, leaving him to deal with several interested Samanayrs who had followed them. Before she got out of earshot Chirp heard him begin to tell the story of his bravery and daring in aiding her to collect the valued leaves. She smiled to herself; some of those mares had looked like they'd be happy to go home with him and be friends with his lovely Song!
Near dusk Chirp was not quite so happy. She had flown all over and hadn't been able to find a single sign of the mare who had sent them out looking for gifts. Surely she had to be here somewhere...didn't she? Maybe the Sharian would know? She needed to give them back their pouch anyways. And so, once more, Chirp found herself perched on a tree overlooking the building complex. None of those milling around, making ready for the Eldest's arrival, looked to be her helpful guide from before. But after watching for long enough for the sun to sink further down by about the length of Charge's horn, she spotted one Sharian who didn't seem to have her hands full of anything right then.
The Sharian looked up, startled, as Chirp's wings sent a strong breeze rushing past her head. After a moment she frowned slightly. "Aren't you one of the searchers? It has scarcely been a week, what brings you back so soon?"
"I have the leaves! I have them...but I don't know wheyre to take them... Can you help? Please? I need to find the mayre who asked us to help and then yretuyrn this pyretty pouch someone loaned me foyr my quest. But I can't find heyr. Can you help?"
Moments later Chirp was once more being carried through the halls, now even more full than before of bustling activity as the Sharians hastened to make ready for the tour that was to follow the joining. Chirp quickly lost track of all the turns, being far more interested in Sharian-watching. She'd never seen so much of the dragon-folk before! It seemed like no time at all before her guide was slowing and opening one of the many doors they had seen. "Princess darling, one of your searchers has returned," the Sharian called as the door slid inwards.
Craning to see inside, Chirp saw flashes of vivid color before spotting the Kodyla mare looking up at her, one elegant paw pinning the list to her fluffy cushion.
"Have lots of gifts come back yet?" Chirp chirped anxiously.
"I'm not too late am I?" Princess said nothing, merely watched regally, and with a slightly possessive gleam in her eye as the Sharian set Chirp down and gently removed the harness, unclipping the pouch and handing it back to her. For a moment Chirp only clung anxiously to the leather before finally trilling the opening phrase and gently tugging out the leaves one by one to lay in front of Princess.
"I byrought the styranglevine leaves. I hope the Eldest likes them.
Hopefully I didn't mess up anything in the Sam world or anything! I don't know it as well as I probably should >.>))
Cloak thanked Princess for what help she could provide. He had heard some of the lore before having grown up in the genearl area she spoke of. The map would certainly be useful. Before he set out he turned back to the hotsprings to talk to his mares.
