Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Almost got a title..really

For a time, no one moved. Everyone just stared in silence at the spot where the squid had been. After a while, Brazik decided to end it. Having no idea what had just happened, he chose to ignore it.
"Well," he said, "I think we're short a tent. It'll be tight, all five of us sharing one, but we can make do. Let's gather up the fabric and the rest of the provision's and get going,"
Most of the others seemed to come out of the trance-like state and started moving about, following his instructions. Isa, however, just sat there.
"What about breakfast?" asked Poji after a while. The others agreed and they sat down to eat before they left. Isa slowly stood up and walked over to join them. The shock of being attacked had not yet worn off of her. They ate in silence for a while. This made Brazik uncomfortable, so he decided to say something.
"You know what our objective looks like," he said. "We agreed that a squirrel or a badger, though powerful, would be too easy. As you all know, we've decided to go after a Phidgeon*,"
"We know all this," said Tether. "The question is where to find one. We've seen no sign of them since the flock we past yesterday afternoon. Many have already migrated south. I fear we may have waited too long."
"Nonsense," answered Simile, "It's barely Arkatz.** It's not nearly cold enough to have driven them away,"
"I'm confident we'll find one," assured the leader, "But when we do, we'll have to act fast to restrain it. Tether will attempt to get a harness onto it it, while Simile, Isa, and Poji try to rope it's feet. I will have the most dangerous job, attempting to clamp shut it's beak so it cant burn us,"
"My hero," intoned Simile sarcastically.
They finished their fruit and lifted off through the canopy.
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*A mere nuisance to the larger races, these large birds, cousins of the Pheonix, often try to roost in pixie colonies, starting dangerous fires in the process.
**The 6th month of the 8 month pixie year.

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