Chimera Fields Til we strip down to our skeletons again

FitzDutiful wasn't travelling far. He very rarely did these days. Ever since the birth of his two children he had barely left the den for longer than he had had to. He made sure to still patrol his borders at the least every two days and relied on Bindi far more than he should do. If she hadn't been there, he didn't know what he would have done. Right now, he was taking a walk to Chimera Fields, the lands that took up the space between himself and the Bay.

He wasn't doing much, more making sure that there was no intruders near by. This land bordered onto his own and he didn't want another pack setting up this close. And so, on a cloudy afternoon fairly late on while Bindi or Ryuu watched his children, he was a few kilometers away from his borders checking upon the lone wolves, or pack wolves, that had passed this way recently. His tongue darted over rocks to take in the older scents and smells. Just to be sure.

Hope you don't mind me! :D

As the days warmed and became longer, so too did Shiv's trips from the Heartwood. Nearing the end of winter, she had taken to keeping within the borders of her forest, none too eager to brave the frosted winds that spring brought. However, today was pleasant and mild, the dark clouds keeping the sun at bay. The magpie flit from place to place in the fields, wondering if the season for bees were upon them yet. She quite enjoyed bees — minding she avoided their butt.

It was when she looked up from her pecking and prodding that Shiv's attention was shifted to a lone figure trailing through the grasses. White and large, with two dark ears that she studied with fascination before hopping forward a few paces. With three beats of her wings, the magpie took off from the ground and glided over to the stranger, alighting before him with a theatrical bow. "Wolf looking for bees, too, yes?" she trilled.

Not at all!

A bird came and landed in front of him. For a moment, FitzDutiful thought about pouncing on the bird in the hopes of gaining some food. He had never successfully caught a bird before but he knew that some wolves had. Some were natural fishers, others hunters and more still, bird catchers. Just as he was about to ready his stance it did a theatrical bow and he was reminded of the owl that had helped him look for Raissa. Was this another talking bird?

It appeared so for it asked him whether he was looking for bees too. "Bees?" His voice was showing the discomfort of being talked to by potential prey. It was an odd situation and he was glad it had never happened with the caribou that lived nearby. A wolf couldn't live for long as a vegetarian and yet he was sure he would have trouble eating something that had spoken to him. "No, I'm not looking for bees. I've heard they sting and are more trouble than they're worth. I take it you are?" FitzDutiful wondered what a magpie would want with a bee.

If she could read minds, Shiv would have flown away the second she knew of the stranger's intentions as soon as he had spotted her. She wasn't fond of the wolves who thought of her as a meal, thinking them on the same level as she and other corvids when it came to the food chain. They sometimes led them to food and, in return, the wolves often left tasty leftovers for the birds (and coyotes, annoyingly) to scavenge from. A fair trade, if she did say so herself! She didn't even mind providing a grooming service if a wolf wanted, given they offered her some meat in return.

However, it seemed the man wouldn't need her services today, instead seeming rather interested in her search for the bees. She didn't catch his obvious unease, and gave a chirp of delight at his question. "Yes, yes!" she said, jumping into the air for a moment before tilting her head back to look up at him. "Bee can sting but Shiv only have to stab them!" To demonstrate this, she then bounced forward and pecked at the wolf's toe with her sharp beak.

It appeared that this bird was energetic whereas Comet had been fairly subdued. Maybe birds were more interesting than he had ever suspected. He would have to talk to Chaska some time about birds and make sure there weren't any stories or legends that would cause harm to one who didn't respect birds. It might be worth letting his entire pack know that birds were maybe off limits as a food source. Unless there was a dire emergency. Then it was fair game.

The one in front of him jumped in to the air and FitzDutiful flinched. Maybe he had misjudged this one - it was possible that his eyes were going to be pecked out. Instead she went for his feet. "Ooww!" he roared, pulling his foot close to his body, nursing it. "What on earth did you do that for?!" he questioned to her, his skin pulling back as he spoke and displaying his scarily sharp teeth as the grimace took hold.

His reaction made her lower her body to the ground in fright, glancing cautiously at his now bared canines before trying her best to appear sheepish. It was hard, with a solid beak and all that didn't allow her to smile and beady, black, emotionless eyes but she still tried, damnit. Her heart began to beat rapidly, hoping the wolf didn't see fit to suddenly crush her. He was a large wolf, with paws to match.

She let out a series of shrill chirps in reply, as if in laughter, before tapping her beak on the ground. "Sharp, yes?" she inquired up at the obviously disgruntled male.

The bird, Shiv, he assumed from previous words she's said seemed scared of his reaction and in a very sadistic way it pleased FitzDutiful. He was fed up of things taking advantage of him and it hurt enough for him to want to swipe at the wretched thing. This is why birds were for food, not for friends. Shame soon swept through him, however, though it was replaced with annoyance when an almost shrill laughter came as she tapped her beak on the loud. The sound hurt his ears.

Still, it probably wouldn't take much to crush her and he had never met something significantly bigger than he was. Maybe it was a way of not being scared. "Yes, very sharp." he said, following it up quickly with "Don't do it again to FitzDutiful."

He felt like he was talking to a simpleton a bit. He wasn't entirely sure if she grasped the complexities of speech for her words were simpler than he was used to. "Where are the bees you look for?" he asked.

Apologies for the wait! D:

Her chest swelled with pride as he agreed to the sharpness of her bill. She was rather proud of it — what with it being her namesake and all. Where eagles had sharp talons and seagulls had their shrill, wretched voices, she had her dagger of a beak. She could fend off any predator! Even a wolf! Though, when the male reprimanded her, she nodded meekly, scrawling down a mental note to not hurt this FitzDutiful again. That was, apparently, not how you made friends.

The next question caused her excitement to spike once more, and the magpie leapt away from the pale wolf with a couple of happy jumps. She landed before a particularly tall flower, raising her head to peer over the petals in search of these mysterious bees.

"In flowers, of course!" she exclaimed, turning to Fitzdutiful as if he were the simpleton. "Shiv sneaks up on them, then STAB!" In another demonstration, she quickly pecked at the unfortunately empty flower, causing it to lean forward before it suddenly whipped back again, hitting the magpie square in the face.

Don't worry about it!

The bird was sure excitable and FitzDutiful was finding it slightly tiresome. He was almost terrified that she was going to peck at his paw again but it seemed as though she had learnt not to do that for she went for a flower instead. A flower than promptly bit back.

FitzDutiful knew he shouldn't laugh but he couldn't hold it back enough and it appeared like a guffaw that he turned into a cough. It had been an eventful occurrence, that was for sure, but a howl went up on the mountainside and caught his attention.

"I'm sorry," he told the little magpie, "I must be going, that call was for me. I wish you well in your bee hunting experience and if you ever find yourself on the mountainside, stop by." When the pups were a little older, the two of them might enjoy the entertainment that had driven FitzDutiful to the brink of irritation.

She noted the odd sound he made when the flower punched her in the face, and promptly spun on one foot, setting the wolf in her sights. Her eyes narrowed, and she sucked in a breath to chastise him for laughing at her — because that was a laugh, no doubting it — before suddenly a howl echoed in the far mountains.

The two creatures turned in unison, before Shiv looked back to Fitz as he spoke. Her features fell, saddened that he had to leave so soon, but she was also delighted that he invited her to his mountain, so she would have a chance to [s]meet[s/] annoy him again! He left hurriedly, and the magpie watched him go before resuming her search for bees.