such cruel devices. [Bre!]

[Cy]

[/I][/color]

If there was anything T’ia had learned during her months with Shovaph at her side, it was that the green was an obnoxiously stubborn creature. Of course, in the same light, if Shovaph had learned anything during her months with T’ia as her bonded, it was that she could dig her heels in equally as deep. With a frustrated sigh, the former dancer folded her arms over her chest and stared boldly up at her simourv, meeting that fierce gaze of dull brown without the slightest flinch. “You are not a baby anymore, Sho.” At the implication that she was at the moment behaving like a baby, the petite green ruffled her feathers angrily and her gaze managed to darken. She said nothing though. She retained the courtesy to allow her bonded to finish speaking. “You are plenty old enough, and strong enough, that I do not need to butcher anything for you.” There was finality in the tone as she tipped her chin up defiantly, narrowing her gaze.

Shovaph was not at all pleased or impressed with this familiar show of rebellion from her life partner. T’ia had too much to learn. How did she ever hope to be a queen some day!? That’s what they would be, but not if the human continued to act like such a petulant child. And to the haughty green, that’s all there was to this fiasco; T’ia was refusing to bend and it wasn’t good. All that effort to learn how to cut meat in the first place and it was being wasted by this complete laziness. That’s all it was, too – complete laziness!

‘It is filthy and horrid. I will not stoop to gnawing; there is nothing dignified in that. If you will not cut it for me, then find someone else to do it.” As far as she was concerned, that was the end of that story and she could not possibly be argued! She was taller than her human partner and so the defiant tilt of her beak was more powerful as she looked condescendingly down her nose at the former dancer. How did the woman not understand the principle of this matter? The image of chewing and tugging at meat like some kind of – well, some kind of savage animal – it simply wouldn’t do. What if someone came in and saw her? She’d be beyond mortified and it was not a risk she was willing to take, regardless of the ache in her stomach. She was a majestic creature, a proper lady, Eyrie born and raised; she was no wild thing to be taken for granted like this. If K’huna were there, he’d be a gentleman and butcher the meat for her.

T’ia was most certainly not their teacher though. She was no gentleman and she was still miles away from being a lady reaching the standards that the prissy dwarf held, so she kept her arms crossed and she leaned back against the wall. Her shoulder blades pressed against the stone while her hips sloped outwards, spine curved and legs crossed casually at the ankle. Like some scolded kid, her full lips pouted and frowned. She wasn’t beaten though. ‘No,’ she returned among her thoughts, a simple and yet solid refusal. With an upset warble, Shovaph narrowed her own eyes and lifted her head higher, looking away from her bonded. Her stomach didn’t hurt too bad yet. T’ia would break on this matter long before she did, she was sure of that![/ul][/size]

[Bre]

Tap the primal circuit . . .

Hello Shovaph! Ignoring the tense body language of the other green and her rider, Romaph's cheery voice pervaded all neighboring simourv minds as she came sauntering down to the feeding pens. Her rider strode in front of her, quick enough to keep pace with her growing hatchling. She ignored T'ia and Shovaph. It wasn't because she meant to be rude, but she was on a mission. Her lovely simourv needed to be fed again. Carcasses were available for the winglets, their simourvs too young for the flight required for a safe kill, so the runner dragged out one of the deceased beasts. The dead flesh and bone weighed about a million pounds, but the lean young woman was strong and determined. She wanted the carcass to sit just so in order for her to tear it to shreds with her belt knife. Romaph could eat big hunks by then.

However, Romaph had no patience for her rider's dedication to caring for her. She hauled the carcass up in her beak, adding a few extra broken vertebrae to its neck. Playfully, she tossed it into the air, tearing off a long strip of meat as it fell back to the ground with an uncomfortable crunching noise. She snapped up the yummy meat and leaned down to grab another bite from the broken and battered pile of bones. Unfazed by the noise, M'rion looked like an irritated mother with her hands on her hips. The only thing that broke the amusing image of maternity was the lopsided way that she grinned. Even if she had kids of her own, that smile of hers was unlikely to change. "Until you can hunt like the big boys, I have to help feed you, ya' great git;" she teased the green, swatting at the young simourv's beak to make her give up the kill.

I'm not a boy, though, rider dearest; Romaph replied, voice loud and unchecked. Why in the world should she mind if Shovaph heard? She flipped the carcass out of M'rion's range with another sickening series of crunch, but that toss allowed the greenrider to gain control of the body once more, quicker and more agile than her energetic green. She quickly started slicing off strips of flesh, tearing back the hide, and threw them towards Romaph, who snatched them up with ease. The winglet was laughing as she worked, aware of T'ia and Shovaph's presence but all too happy to just spend some time with her simourv. They were one and the same, the small differences between them making them an even better team. Even if it was just a random game, it felt good to be together. M'rion's doubts about Romaph had long ago fled her mind.

. . . the current lets you know you’re alive.

[Cy]

[/color] she returned simply, courteous and yet hardly friendly. Glancing over her sibling, she studied the vibrant shade of the other simourv, quietly ruffling her own feathers at such a notice. She refused to be miffed by this though; she, herself was a lovely colour, more lovely than any of her family! Better than Romaph, then Liliph, then Valenph and Muraaph – she was the very best, and she'd be a queen before any of them could even begin to wrap their minds about reaching such heights! She just needed to get her lazy and petulant bonded to stop being so lazy and petulant. T'ia needed to start cooperating, they were getting nowhere fast like this.

Clicking her beak at the disgustingly rambunctious display put on by her sister, she returned her gaze to T'ia – but the dark-skinned dancer wasn't even paying her any mind! Her head was turned away, curious eyes watching her lesson mate as the girl played with her own simourv, all grins and teasing. She recognized the girl, more than just the M'rion that tackled each lesson with an exuberance that could be admired but as a girl that had been plucked up from the crowd whereas all of the rest had been chosen. Except for that blind man, he'd been found in the audience as well. It seemed almost peculiar, two people right in the Eyrie getting overlooked by the simourv. She'd heard the whispers about the two; as engrained in the gossip vine as she was, of course she'd heard. While some were simply overjoyed at having a refreshed population of riders to help protect Pohono, not caring at all where at least two of them had come from, others found fault in it. Her own opinion was of the mundane, neutral but curious, but it was the sort of thing she'd never really understand. Nobody knew for sure how the simourv chose candidates, so it'd be impossible to guess at how two could slip under the radar. Sometimes, this notion of impossible-to-reach information killed her.

She didn't allow this to distract her for too long before her gaze was drifting to the energetic Romaph as she tossed and gnawed at the carcass, soon snapping her gaze back to her own beloved bonded – beloved despite how stubborn she could be, a statement that could easily go both ways. It was clear what she intended to say in the smug twist of her lips and rise of her brows, and Shovaph released a mental snort at it. Romaph was an uncivilized and immature nitwit, of course she'd have no problem stooping to such low levels! She wasn't Romaph. Surely T'ia must understand this? But the woman just continued with that look. Oh, how infuriating she was!

With a sniff, she whipped her tail left and then right before she picked up her nose, moving to stand and turning to approach the bonded of her sister. 'Romaph's. She prompted, composing herself as best she could to ignore the crude way that they played with their food. It was almost enough to make her lose her appetite completely, quite the feat when considering that she was obnoxiously hungry all the time. At least she could say that Hers wasn't so barbarian. 'Do cut some meat for me, please.' She requested as politely as ever, the etiquette held in her form rather than in the crisp clip of her tone, dull eyes focused on the human – whom she was coming to notice now was a little on the dirty side, ew – and making a pointed effort to avoid having to look at her sibling.[/ul][/size]

[Bre]

Make this crushing power ceaseless . . .

M'rion continued with her work when Shovaph approached, but Romaph turned her head to regard her sister with a cheerful wave of her long tail. However, both of them shifted when the green chose to speak to M'rion. The winglet looked up, knife pausing in its cutting. She was surprised to have the other simourv speak to her. She was only used to Romaph's voice in her head. While a highly energetic and forward individual, the green wasn't entirely sure she approved of another of her kind speaking to her rider in such a manner. Despite her mild irritation, she quickly decided to forgive Shovaph. It wasn't like the other green had said anything mean or upsetting. She nosed the bloody carcass, wanting more meat. In her stage of growth, she required a great deal of food to be satiated. Nuts were good too, but meat weathered all the seasons.

With one more blink, M'rion turned back to her job, cutting off slices to feed to her eagerly awaiting simourvling. She spoke as she worked, keeping her eyes on the blade inches from her swift, darting fingers. "I got this carcass for Romaph. T'ia should cut up another one for you;" she said. Her voice was rather sharp, checking Shovaph. The green was out of line and she was going to make that clear. The work she did was the work that was worthwhile. She wasn't going to feed anther simourv who had their own rider to do it for them. Refusing to look up, M'rion continued with her cutting. When she wanted to make a point, she could be horribly stubborn. She wasn't afraid of offending Shovaph or even T'ia. That was half the point. Manners didn't matter to her. She didn't care how politely she was asked. She wasn't feeding the lazy green.

. . . you could capture the world.

[Cy]

[/i] now she'd been refused! Pesky humans. Pesky humans, the lot of them. She glanced to Romaph, her beak stained in the sticky blood of the carcass that she'd nosed and, if Shovaph were able, she'd have sneered. It was despicable. Phased by this rejection, she darted her attentions to her bonded, who had turned to face the room more fully, shoulder leaning against the wall and her arms crossed over her chest, and all T'ia could manage was a sympathetic shrug of her brows before shifting her dark gaze over to her classmate, studying the way she focused down on her work and the nimble movements of her fingers as she sliced. She didn't feel it necessary to continue aiding Shovaph in this task. The dwarf refused too much, she needed to learn to do some things on her own – but at the same time, watching someone else deny the green what she wanted made her heart twinge. Finally, with a roll of her eyes, she shrugged off the wall to move forward, bracelets clinking together as she swung her arms down to her sides.

“What were you before you were a winglet?” She abruptly inquired, filling up the room with the sound of her voice and leaving the intended target of her question to be assumed. With quick eyes, she selected a carcass and hauled it to a cutting station, smacking it down with little care before moving to pluck up a knife for the task. With practice and guidance from the Alpha wingletmaster, her ability for butchering had improved tremendously from the amateur that she'd once been at her first lesson. There was still much room to grow, as always, but the blade no longer seemed like a stranger in her grip as she searched for the first place to cut. Shovaph, with a tiny huff, a noise blending her pleasure at getting her way and her disdain for having to work so hard to get it in the first place, picked herself up, beak tilted up into the air, and moved over gracefully to settle herself beside her bonded, now observing the process of preparing her meal with a critical eye. Pointedly, she ignored the offensive others in the room.[/ul][/size]