Return of Spring and the Lady (Discontinued)

Homeward bound, it seemed as if rest was a well faded dream. Upon arriving in Wildgard after a long winter in a distant wood. This frontier of war and treachery was still very much home for the Muridae. Once Rat-land, always rat-land. Town square seemed as welcoming as ever, but one Structure in particular drew Gypsy like a moth to a flame. She marched confidently with a bounce in her step. Until she stood at the doorway of the White Temple.

With a great muddy grin and tattered clothing, the Young Rat Kinto beamed at Lady Kirsten. she said nothing, just stood there in her Black and Yellow Garb, Staff in hand, bow strung over her back, and travelling Satchel on her hip. Not far behind her, Rachel trudged along, wearing nothing but a sodden loincloth and a Canvas bag slew over her shoulder.

The young rat's tail flopped this way and that, she propped her staff up against the door frame on the outside and padded in. Scanning the immediate sights she looked back to Rachel, who after all this time, was still reluctant to engage in any sort of Social activity. Rachel shifted her feet and her tail coiled hesitantly.

As the White Lady Spoke, Gypsy had already lifted her foot to go in search of said food, then slowly closed her mouth and put her foot down. Ears dropping slightly. Though she didn't complain, which was a big step for the overgrown child. "Thank you!" She chirped. Remembering to keep good manners in the presence of the Lady. She sat in place in the middle of the room, cross-legged. "I'm beat!"

Rachel poked her head in the door silently, refusing to let go of her weapons, like the Skirit she was raised to be, she always had issues with Gypsy's fondness of the Temple. She grumbled and Propped her axes with Gypsy's and scampered inside on all fours, Finding a comfortable spot to hunker down. "Yes. Thank you for the warm welcoming..." She matched Gypsy's level of respect for the strange woman, though she could never understand why. Clicking her teeth in distaste, it was all she could do to honor the wish of her younger cousin.

From in the air above the temple, Otus saw a glinting object on it's roof. He was going to simply pass over town and go hunting in the Lomash plains for some food as there was plenty of small creatures out there. However, the shining object entirely grasped his attention and he spiraled downards on silent and graceful wings. He circled one, then almost a full two circles, then swiftly dove down to the. He clutched at the object with his clawed feet, finding that it was an old discarded throwing dagger. However, when he closed the talons of one foot around the dagger, he missed the handle and it cut deeply into him as it took the weight of impact.

He screetched and quickly beat at the air with his wings, trying to frantically balance himself on his uninjured foot. Except, he couldn't. He had come in too quick, and now with his balance lost, he quickly carreened over the edge of the roof. He landed squarely infront of the doors to the temple with a loud thump. Otus landed at an awkward angle as his wings were still flapping at the air, and one had bent behind him. The loud snap along with his yell of pain made it very apparent that the kinto had just broken his winged arm.

He rolled over into a kneeling position so it wasn't beneath him any more, and clutched it to his side with his good arm. His feathers stuck up uncomfortably in many directions, and the dagger that had disracted him now lay forgotten at his side. "Shit... I, auuugh.... Damn it!"

The Lady Kirsten straightened swiftly and looked towards the doorway...Shocked at the sight of the injured kinto, she sprinted swiftly to the entrance and knelt immediately, ignoring the blood that seeped into her robes. Reaching out with gentle hands, calling upon her Goddess and taking hold of the poor creature. Her hands glowed with a soft white light as her voice spoke,

"Sword cut, spear stab, mace smash, arrow jab, let the white light of healing descend on thee....." She spoke the entire spell of healing and watched as the grace of the White Lady healed the wound on the kinto's talon and eased away the pain of the injury. She then heard the crack of bones being set by the power of the Goddess, and knew the bones were healing under her tender touch.

Gypsius rattled like a banner in the wind, her pale and cold paws clinging to her cousin. Her eyes were closed tight for a long while, but even in her panic she remembered what her Mischief had taught her. She bravely scowled at Rachels' back and nodded, standing straight and gathering all the bravery she could muster, she bounded to the White lady's side, the white blur of her robes was almost faster than the rats' inhuman speed on four legs. Before Gypsy could reach the cause of the commotion, she realized it was not a foe. Skittering to a stop and bumping into Lady K lightly. "Can I help?! I can heal too!" Her paw was already outstretched and beginning to glow when she heard a familiar warning screech behind her.

Rachel often had to react swiftly on instinct when raising a loud, rambunctious Kinto like Gypsius, she was swift and had a tendancy to scamper off to danger and great speeds. "GYPSY!" She called, as her tail thumped to a stop on the floor of the Temple. It was the Sound of a mother's stern warning, but full of care and fear as well. Gypsy craned her neck to look at her and she slowly shook her head from side-to-side. "Give the Injured space, how many times do I have to tell you?" She sighed. "Look, Think, Analyze, and THEN act. Have you forgotten?"

Because of his panic, Otus didn't notice the rat kinto at first. He had been too busy stuck in his fight or flight response to notice much else of what was going on arond him. However, the second his eyes landed upon her, his entire body froze. The only movement was that of his heavy breathing. The instinct within that drove him as a bird of prey was what immobilized him, since rodents were what owls hunted most often. However, this wasn't just a rat. It was a kinto, just like himself. So Otus was suddenly stuck between the instincts of a predator and of prey at the same time. Otus would never actually attack another Kinto without good reason, but the wild nature within him certainly made him want to at times. The young kinto just seemed so oblvivious and undefended... She would be easy to pin down if caught off guard... All he would have to do is act more calm and get a bit closer, then- 'NO! Stop it! This is a kinto-! a SKIRIT! Not just an ordinary rat!' he yelled at himself in his mind. Having been raised by the wilderness, he often had moments where he fought with his own animal driven insticts. Though he shared the same physical qualities of other kinto, being half man and half animal, in truth he was much more owl than human in many ways.

He snapped himself out of his thoughts when he realized just how long he had been frozen in place for. He quickly looked away from the young rat and down at the ground, ashamed at his own thought process. He acted almost as if he was scared the other kinto had read his mind. He tried to arrange his thoughts in a sensible manner so he could actually reply to the woman who had helped him. He looked up at her from the ground, his yellow eyes still fearful, but now sparked with curiousity. He looked at her more closely now that he wasn't entirely overcome by fear. Of course, he didn't trust her too much yet. She was a magic-user after all. Otus really didn't like magic much. However, he scrutinized her for a moment, and came to the decision that she wasn't all that bad. She seemed to be non-combatative and was... elvish? Something like that probably, though her ears seemed small. He didn't care. Either someone was Kintu, or something he didn't care about.

"Well... it wasn't... painful, really... I just... Tha- That was new to me..." he stammered, trying to find the right combination of words. His voice was dry and somewhat hoarse; he didn't really talk much. Usually it was just screeches and chatters as he had little use of language when he spent all his time alone. He turned his gaze back over the rat kinto, then over to the door of the temple. He felt uncomfortable in human-type dwellings, but he wasn't sure how to be polite in this kind of situation. People's customs confused him and he tried to not cme off as rude, or even more commonly, just stupid. It was just another reason he avoided contact with others. Was he allowed to refuse? What kind of phrase should be used to accept it? ould he need to do something with the weapons strapped to his back? What about his dirty claws, since he had no shoes to remove? His head reeled, trying to desparately figure out what to say or do. Otus' breathing went from being heavy and deep to being short and fast, his chest rising shallowly up and down in rapid sucession. His gaze darted back to the healer and his panic was very evident in his face. He tried to say something more, but instead his mouth merely hung partially open, and not a word passed his lips.

Focused on the bird kinto in front of her, Kirsten smiled gently, "Easy now. Its alright. No one will harm you here. And no one will make you do anything that you're uncomfortable with. I am glad that I could help you, young one. If you are worried about entering, you need not be. You can come in, or go, or even just remain here on the front step, so long as you shift aside a little so no one else will trip on you."

The calm voice and soft look in her eyes should be reassuring the young creature, Kirsten was concerned now, that perhaps he'd been abused at some point. The thought made her ache. Why can't people just accept that different outsides did not mean less intelligent, or violent...or whatever. It just meant they were different.