Ringing Mourning [Winged+Open]

[Quill]

Day after Hatching/Feast
I'dou and anyone else

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Taking a bath with a cast was impossible, especially when it was your dominant hand doing the washing. The body was easy, but that wavy brown hair was another matter. After a few drops fell on the cast, she gave up and put the messy wet hair in a ponytail. Maybe she should cut it off. The point of her hair was for dancing, but that was over. Twirling a loose strand, she decided she liked the soft hair tapping on her back. And imagine what it would look like when Molotoph was flying.

That day seemed pretty far off and as a result, A'ryllis did not think about it. Returning to her room, she looked around for Mo'na and her green Vestiyph, but they were not around. Molo was still around, sleeping at the feet of her bed. The green had her reasoning, all of them valid. Her green eyes blinked when Hers entered. And then she moved her head. One by one, her gray claws, now hardened tapped the ground as she stood. Then she wiped off the dirt from her legs, starting with the forest green front and then mint green front. After that, Molo's body feathers were next. Finally, she cared for the first feathers on her wings. Once she was complete, she sat down and looked at Hers. "Ready for the day!" she said, flicking her dark tail.

"Well, not much to do," she answered. "Not much to do. No lessons for now. And I'm not sure what our new duties are. I bet we'll know at our first lesson." A'ryllis was hoping Mo'na would be around. She had a few things to say to her; nothing much, just wanted to get to know her because as a candidate, she always felt a connection. Though she was curious, it was not worth exploring. 'Then exploration seems like the answer! I bet we can have fun without even leaving the barracks. Maybe find a tiny blue or that large black. Or the smallest black. Or maybe there's something bigger than that Dio!'

[/i] Excited, Molotoph headed for the door, almost running into a chair. A'ryllis rolled her eyes and followed the green.
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[winged]

I'dou personally had no qualms for having so neatly side-stepped the messy, emotional equation that had purportedly ended on such a sour note. The winglet did, in fact, feel as though she had successfully cheated the system by avoiding the unpleasantries that deviously rubbed her inescapable future in her face. Rising with some sense of accomplishment, the young woman completed her morning ablutions with a fairly clear conscience and a certain lightness of step that spoke of a well rested, confident individual.

Laraph did so very much wish she felt as chipper as her rider, but the gray couldn't seem to rouse long enough from her musings to brighten the scene with her hope sprung eternal. Said spring seemed to have jammed in a most unpleasant way, somewhere in the vicinity of her aching chest. Oh, that poor little blue...left alone and partnerless. She'd missed him, and guilt wore heavily on her for that. She did try, honestly, to hide it - but her lack of involvement even as I'dou chattered at her simourv, was unmistakable.

"Oh, what is it now?" A touch irritated that Laraph was playing the hang-dog, I'dou finished patting her face dry with the towel she'd been using to wash up, staring expectantly for the gray to spit out just what was bothering her. Layered underneath that spurt of annoyance was a not-so-obvious level of concern. Even in intimacy the woman couldn't quite seem to shake the rougher skin she threw on every morning. Laraph's guilt slowly but steadily trickled into her own psyche, and she was beginning to feel quite sorry for feeling content.

Oh, I was just wondering...do you think that little blue will be all right? The gray's slouch straightened just a tad, though she tried to hide her relief upon having her concerns addressed. "He isn't even YOUR hatchling, Lara. Nor is Hummiph - they're both fine, they're not china dolls." I'dou chided with a scowl on her face, even as she reached out to reassure the bothered fledgling with a consoling pat to the leg as she passed by to grab her jacket. A very confusing exchange for anyone not privy with the eternal love-hate relationship between the duo.

You're right. Having received the comfort she'd so innocently desired, the gray shook off her shroud of concern whilst she shook out her feathers in preparation for depature. Neither had eaten as of recently, and the two stomachs found communion in their shared hunger. I wish it were warmer, so I could bathe in the water. The gray stubbornly held on to her personal belief that she felt much cleaner with water than she did rolling around in the dust. It just felt nicer.

"You're vain." The direct words were flavored with humor, as I'dou flashed a fleeting smirk at Laraph, who warbled passively as she followed her rider out the massive entrance to their eyling. Coincidentally, her eyes followed the bright flash of feathers as another pair made their way out into the hall, and at once she reached out to the fresh mind just a short distance away. Hello! Where are you going? Careful not to spook the little green with too much enthusiasm, Laraph carefully lowered her head to get a better look at the hatchling. What pretty feathers!

I'dou hadn't managed to quite clear the doorway before Laraph was at it again, making acquaintances before she had a chance to intervene. Exhaling with a rather blustery, long-suffering sigh, I'dou managed to peer at whoever it was that her chatty other half had managed to zero in on, and hesitated when she somehow recognized the face. She hadn't made many efforts to get to know the newer batch of candidates (hell, she didn't even know all her class), but there was something that sparked recognition.

Still not quite sure what it was, her gaze roamed a little to land next on the arm cast the other female sported. Ah, now THAT she knew all too well. Seeing as Laraph didn't seem particularly inclined to move on ahead, the winglet risked it to address A'ryllis. "Was it a raging red, or did you just fall and break it like some idiot I know?" Self-deprecating humor - made better when the target was likely unknown.

[Quill]

She worried about Molotoph but only for a second. With the green's curiosity, she poked her head in each room and paused for a second before sticking it out and turning to make sure Hers was close by. Every corner had to be inspected before the green deemed the hall safe for her to follow. We'll have to wary of ascursed blue. He could be in any of these rooms, but don't worry. He won't hurt you again. She checked another room and then heard a voice invaded her brain. Who's that? she asked, getting low to the ground as her dark tail swished along the dusty ground.

A'ryllis followed and as the winglet's leg brushed against her body, the green calmed. Her personality did a bit of a switch, immediately becoming interested when she noticed how big the new creature was. And she looked a bit like her mother though the green needing Eceph for anything was impossible. She had A'ryllis. No where, large gray creature. Mine doesn't need to be held in her room, so we're on an adventure. Her green eyes glowed when the creature spoke to her own. Then Molo approached the Laraph, peering at the large claws and wings. Mine, she's larger than Dionyph.

"She is." She stopped and looked at the grayrider. She was, of course, unfamiliar, but everybody was unfamiliar. There were so many winglets that it was impossible to know it all. A'ryllis wanted to get to know her own first, but it does not hurt to get to know the older winglets. Who knows? They might have some wisdom to stop her from getting hurt like she did. Then A'ryllis noticed the older winglet's gaze. She felt uncomfortable, but when she spoke, A'ryllis felt better. "Hah, neither and both. It was a blue. A large one but one all the attitude of a silly red. Of course, I might have taken it like an idiot. Does maulings happen all the time? Oh and I'm A'ryllis and this is Molotoph."

[winged]

Bemused by the much smaller green's fascination, Laraph politely stood still beneath the chick's scrutiny. My name is Laraph, what's yours? Training one gentle albeit enormous brown eye on the hatchling, the junior queen conveyed her indulgent observations to her rider. I like her, she is very not afraid. The gray's words bubbled with infectious cheer, softening the edges of I'dou's smirk until it toed the line of a genuine smile. A promising start to the day made her all the more susceptible to her simourv's whims; when she wasn't making an active effort to contest the Undeniable nature.

Very not afraid, hm. Blue-grey eyes clouded with the interalized snippets of conversation she traded with her gray, I'dou's eyes shifted from the curiously investigating Molotoph to her reserved companion. She'd gotten her fill of the girl's first impressions with her first wave of hard scrutiny, now her gaze roamed slightly as details that went previously unacknowledged stood out against the basics that I'dou had sketched in her mind about this individual. Female, winglet. Her face exuded a youthfulness that the Alpha thought a clever (albeit unintentional) misdirection, in direct comparison with the womanly figure undisguised beneath the other's clothing. She was quick to quash several undesired thoughts, stifling them under a number of distractions. Several of them including a shuffling of position, a cough to clear a throat hardly in need of clearing, and other such fidgety gestures. A'ryllis' own momentary discomfort was happily distracting, her words even more so. "A blue?" Faint surprise rung true in the winglet's voice, brows wrinkled slightly in confusion. "They're not usually the vicious type - something must've pissed it off." It was considerably difficult to imagine an Oth-type rampaging across the sands.

Perhaps he was upset because he could not find His. Insightful as always, Laraph softly interjected her thoughts on the matter, some degree of sadness mellowing the brightness that Molotoph had sparked. Oh, what a sad thought! A distracted pat to her leg from I'dou in a preemptive effort to soothe Laraph elicited a quiet croon from the gray. "Seems to be the case. Eceph's last brood had a rampaging red." The smirk crept its way back onto the woman's lips, although not in full force. I'dou was at least slightly considerate of the newer winglet's feelings - it was commonplace now for the female to presume the other felt intimidated by her presence. She didn't necessarily agree with the idea, but facts were incredibly hard to ignore. "I'dou, and this is Laraph." A sturdy pat to the gray's leg followed the brief introduction, one which Laraph found generally perplexing. She did not think she needed to be pointed out with a physical gesture, she was very big after all.