Gyrfalcon's Keep tell me of progress to strengthen my blood

@bartok

Loud were the cries of protest that uprooted the nest -- squalls of horror and protest alike as the slender waif slithered through Gyrfalcon's Keep. About her the birds lit like white flames on the pale horizon, their shrieks of murder and clamor doing nothing to halt her murderous glissade.

One such nest-mother, revolting from her clan's flight, swirled about Caiaphas with heckling fury -- her wicked talons outstretched as she swooped in and out like a frenzied kamikaze. Caiaphas ducked her head enough to manage preventing an eye loss, but it was not enough to avoid the blow entire -- with a yelp her own Caiaphas snapped after the hastily retreating bird, her hackles roused by the encounter.

part 2 of our thread marathon for eternity. are u ready for these portal cakes !?,!?

the brisk skies were clamorous with an orchestra that bespoke, with a strident, grueling racket, of massacre. dumpy clouds scrubbed the sky to a raw, rosy color, a blush mantling the horizon's cheek as afternoon made the transition to evening.

the ebon raven clutched his outpost on a small, raw-cut slab of rock that had long since trundled sidelong the keep, preening his inkjet feathers, picking out grit and bits of meat from therein. scavenging opportunities were fewer but the creek of the keep kept him sated for the time being, and he was content with the small supper he had made out of a vole in the early moments of evening.

a commotion in the distance stole his attention – a cloudburst of distressed gyrfalcons taking over the skies, appearing to be spurred by something imposing on their roosts. curiosity rocked him.

he flitted in the direction of the fuss, letting the crisp wind carry him effortlessly. he made a berth of the furious colony, scanning the landscape for the source of their monumental upset.

it came as mostly no surprise to the raven that the crook behind the furor was none other than the siren queen. a romantic blast to the past consumed him as he recalled the putrid, unhealthy miasma that clung to his feathers, and the rows of teeth that nearly extricated his gullet. he was almost certain he wanted no part of whatever she was up to, but... then again, he was almost certain that with caiaphas skulking about the sound, he would never again behold a dull day.

he gave a guttural wailing cry, taking half-hearted dives at the falcons – cheap shots that flooded his gizzard with infinite glee. he heard a rallying screech and watched with amusement as one particular nester made a threat on caiaphas' present existence in the world, plummeting at her with the fury of a woman scorned and retreating again after connecting her mark. caiaphas let out a frightened yelp and clenched air around her skidaddling attacker.

feeling slightly redeemed for his own coywolf trauma, the raven made a rush at the gyrfalcon responsible for the siren queen's emotional uprooting. he grabbed at her wing with his beak and pulled her into him, tucking his sharp talons into her paunch and vaulting her back off, sending her spiraling and disoriented through the sky.

feeling quite pleased with himself, he puffed his chest-feathers and landed in a tree that approximated the slope where caiaphas stood, surely frenzied from the violation of her person. he clutched the branch tightly and weaved up and down with happiness, shaking the branch. "don't play with dogs. don't play with dogs!" he bombasted with great spirit.

god ur writing.. just.. *-*

The cacophony that took to the skies and swarmed them was rife with devastation -- overhead the birds mulled with lamentation, their dab eyes cocked downwards as they circled the skimming wind.

The gyrfalcon's last violation of her pearly hide gave her renewed vigil -- she kept a sentry gaze on them as they whirled about, a pale cloud among the gleaming cirrus.

She was surprised then to see a dark shade advance their sailing colony --his advancement made conspicuous by the guttural war-cry he uttered. Caiaphas watched with delight as the black-plumed fowl scattered the masses, inflicting cruel reprisal with his sprawling talons upon the brazen gyrfalcon that had accosted her.

As the bird flitted off to a nearby tree Caiaphas swung about, watching as the grieving birds milled overhead. Their absence allowed Caiaphas the opportunity to prowl about their sticky nests for their eggs, a task in which she fell upon with slavering anticipation.

nein du (╭ ՞ ਊ ՞) ﾉ i'm still finding typos in my last post, and the little notification rats me out when i'm trying to sneakily edit them out. remind me not to reply when i'm operating on an hour of sleep pls

it was then decided bereft of any manner of uttered edict that the duo found an unexpected, novel dynamic established between them. caiaphas crept off to ransack the aeries, a quest for which her perseverance was unremitting.

as she did her pillaging, bartok scattered the plague above, his opaque form eclipsing the roaring of falcons like he was some death clanger amongst the most divine of divine messengers. frequently an outlier would mark caiaphas for blood and set fiercely to the task of gouging her eyeballs from their sockets, but bartok took immense joy in barreling impetuously through their trajectories and picking them off with his flair for aeronautical gymnastics, locking his talons in theirs and swinging them about like raggedy anne in an F5 twister.

As the dark bird flared above her in the manner of a compact fighter jet, Caiaphas slithered through the twigs and spit with her fierce yellow eyes peeled for the bulbous sheen of fresh-laid eggs.

It was not difficult to spot them -- what was proving challenging was carrying them out. Caiaphas, in a stroke of rare brilliance, ate what she could before piling them into a rather ramshackle nest she had dislodged during her climb. They piled precariously atop one another and Caiaphas filled the nest until it was lodged and bent under the weight of each egg.

With great care the waif picked one edge of the nest in her triangular jaws, transporting the bevy with more care than even a mother could muster. A few eggs tragically were thrown overboard along the way, yet once she was out of the Gyrfalcon's hive she slowed her pace considerably to one of an ambling walk. The ingrate kept her gaze skyward, fulling expecting a black winged visitor to heckle her shortly.

i did it again lmao, ive reposted like 3 times

he grew intolerant of being subjected to repeated pecking and mouthing of keen-edged, furious beaks, as well as fatigued of the screeching that made shrill contact with his eardrums and stuck there as high-pitched, undiminishing ringing thereafter.

pissed off by the violation of his tympanum, bartok swiftly unclenched the falcon's talons, summing up his opinion of the rat with wings with a violent punt that would swell any jujitsu master with pride, transforming his match into a tumultuous rocket whistling through the skies. "stupid head," he screeched, flapping upwards and releasing a spurt of bird droppings after the raptor.

he turned his sights back towards where he left caiaphas, watching with interest as she guardedly removed herself from the nesting grounds, toting with her a large basket that dwarfed her, stacked precariously with eggs. it was wilted and slouchy under the weight of her bounty, eggs tumbling from the structure and by proxy her possession, smashed unceremoniously on the rocks with membrane oozing from the fractures.

several birds swarmed her and bartok did his personal best to scatter them as she distanced herself far enough away to slake their fury. he enfolded a mangled wing, his ability to fly coordinately somewhat handicapped from a vicious onset by one of the antagonized male falcons with whom he had the misfortune of engaging.

"bartok turn over new leaf. bartok warrior now. dog is okay?" he asked with a shade of concern edging his croaky voice. he landed in a tree – taking care to offer her a wide berth as to comfort himself and pledge the continuation of his existence because she was most assuredly on parole – and leaned in, tilting his head and spying her every move with maroon, beady eyes. "egg eggcellent for fur," he cackled at his own cleverness, "dog require all the eggs." he added, swooping from his perch and grabbing at tussocks of her nape-fur with his scabby claws.

Her grip on the nest was hazardous at best -- as such she often had to replace her handle on the unstable load. So preoccupied was she by her shaky load she scarce noticed the avian comrade's unfortunate tumble with an enraged male falcon. Never been one for appreciating the benevolence of others, Caiaphas continued the perilous ferry of her illicitly obtained goods.

Once they were far enough the raven flitted about her; she regarded him in silence as he bobbed along an outstretched branch. She had never developed a fondness of the avian persuasion, yet this fowl was proving most earnest in his ambitions. She placed the unsteady heap at her paws as Bartok's crafty utterance met her ears. Having always been one acquainted (poorly) with dry humor, it evinced a brief smile from the wench. "Dog require all the eggs." She confirmed snootily, licking her lips as she reminisced on their creamy, membranous texture. She hunched downwards as she felt him flutter towards her, unsure of his intentions -- yet when he did not nick her with his hooked talons she visibly loosened her posture. "Bird want?" It appeared she had regressed most regrettably into the bird's clipped vernacular -- a stunted speech in which delighted her upon utterance.

her demeanor had turned remarkably agreeable. well, to an extent. maybe agreeable in a crusty type of way – likely the best she could do on such short notice. bartok was inwardly delighted that she had somewhat endeared herself to him. he did not often win the affections of wolves. they mostly just tried to tear him limb from limb. which to say it was understandable would be an understatement.

she laid the nest at her feet and the hoard tumbled softly onto the plat of grass. he was more at ease being in close proximity now that she wasn't so unnerved and so he hobbled to the structure of sticks and feather and tapped at the shell of one of the eggs that had evicted the nest.

she was quick to dig into her highly-valued jackpot, crunching into an egg and letting the rich mucosa dribble down her furred chin. at her offer, he balked. "ehhhh....." he trailed off, as if consideration were actually pending in his mind. on the contrary, curtly, he replied: "no. bartok not cannibal." he affirmed with a quick shake of his head. "you share with friends?" he rasped in an inquisitive manner, speculating if she even had any.

It was no lie Caiaphas was not disappointed when the dark-plumed avian denied her offer -- with a serpentine smile she digested both the eggs and his decline, pleased that the frothy yolk would be only hers to enjoy.

His query was given brief consideration, and she looked to him plainly, her expression mixed. "No." She revealed, a toothy grin delivered in his direction. Perhaps it had been a trick -- a scheme -- perhaps she had only wanted him close enough so that she could snatch him in her jaws and enjoy a nice side of split and protesting raven.

In either event, it appeared the sylph had nothing else to say. With her meal completed, she crossed her twiglike paws and stared at him, awaiting any sort of reaction to her rather clipped reply.

she denied having the intention to partition her meal amongst packmates, and in passing bartok wondered if her answer implied her being bankrupt in the investment firm of "friends," or if she was just "looking out for number one," so to speak.

no matter, he thought. he did not care if she wanted to eat them for herself or if she wanted to egg someone's house. his function as falcon-hitman had not particularly been done for her benefit so much as filled a personal need of his to absolutely beat the shit out of something dumber than him.

whether or not her intentions were to eat him had he agreed to partake, she could have devoured him bones and all in a flash and that was a risk he was aware he was taking by fluttering so near to her. "oh." he said simply, disposing of any further thought towards the subject of the eggs thereafter.

he began to patter absentmindedly through a bush that flanked them, plucking off some wild berries and squishing them with his talons, squeaking with glee as the ruddy paste ran down his claws. it was only after a few moments did he feel her eyes burning holes in him, and he turned around and tilted his head back and forth. "what? bartok go?" he inquired hesitantly.

She sucked the succulent and gelatinous substance from between her paws, savoring the salt that stung her tongue. She watched as the bird hopped over to a bush and promptly demolished a spread of winter berries -- perhaps he would be the first of his kind to discover the true nectar of the gods. She remained studying him until he had caught her.

Like any culprit caught red-handed, she looked hurriedly away, shifting her hooded gaze to the eggs. "Dog go." She corrected, rising to her pale limbs. "Bye bird." She was pleased to learn his name, or what he considered his name -- with a wry snigger she picked up her (considerably less) heavy cache and dragged it back to the shore.

caiaphas swiftly averted her gaze, and rose to petite paws, editing his commentary with a quickness. she elected to make her leave and bartok frittered a few steps as she bid him adieu. "bye dog." he called after her as she schlepped her loot home.

the raven returned to his beaking about the twigs and berries, consuming most and squashing others between his talons with joy, and did this for a while before returning to his tree-home.