ORIGIN

Full Version: I AM ALIVE

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Carcass cannot ignore Loki's screaming no matter how hard he tries. It's funny, though, and the vulture cackles down at the little bird. Even littler, now, that he's up high. He's glad he's up high when the little bird begins to smell funny - and then lets out a stream of smoke. Ew! it thinks, watching from above.

Carcass takes a moment to think, attempting to land near the rift but more or less crashing down in a pile of downy feathers. Reorienting takes another few moments, but then he's looking down at Loki from the rockface. The crystals around him are marvelous, but Carcass is more focused on Loki - who is still yelling below.

"Is safe! Up! Come up!" The bird shouts to the smaller one below. "You do it!"

He's excitedly stamping his feet side to side.

@Loki

Here it was. The moment of truth. The moment of courage. The chance for Loki to show what he was made of.

The crow tipped his head to one side, than the other, staring up at Carcass. Then he seemed to settle on "cowardice" as the thing he was made of, wings clamping firmly to his side. He hopped backward worriedly, afraid to try that whole flapping thing.

Then again... he wasn't a stupid bird, not even so soon after hatching. He leaned back and looked over the whole crystalline wall, with all the little faces and points, and decided to try a different way. Climbing! Well, climbing with wing-flaps, but it wouldn't be a whole dang flight where he might fall right on his face again.

He gave it his best shot: a sly trail of his beak tracing his intended path before he went for it, flapping as feet scrabbled at the crystal. He was trying to climb while using his wings for a boost, but he didn't really manage either.

Or, well, he started to. He got about halfway up before sliding, claws scraping stone; then he lost his grip and fell backward. He did at least manage to right himself before he hit the ground, and a panicked, instinctual flapping of his wings stopped him from hitting too hard. He stood back up and stared at the ground for a moment, blinking as he realized that the whole flapping-his-wings thing had kept him from getting too hurt. Then he craned his head around to peer up at Carcass. "Wings stop you FALLING?!" he cried, finally coming to this grand conclusion. He hesitaited. "You try?" he suggested.

If he couldn't get up, then apparently, Carcass should come down. Or more accurately: he wanted to know if wings could be used to glide, in general, or if this had been just a fluke.

@Carcass

Carcass watches as Loki promptly decides flying is too much and to climb instead. He begins to think Loki will make it - only for the little bird to slide back down.

"HEY!! Fall bad! No!" he's shouting at the other bird.

Thankfully it appears Loki won't suffer too much damage when his wings catch the drift and plop the crow down as gently as it could. As the little bird rights himself, Carcass lets out a sigh he was holding as Loki calls up to him.

"But--" Carcass was going to complain about having to come back down, but well he feels a little bit bad about leaving the other bird behind down there.

He huffs, looking down - trying to gauge how to get down best, and decides the wings are the best option. Moving back to get a running start, Carcass splays his wings out and jumps. To quickly glide down to the other bird. He misses his shot by quite a bit, stumbles slightly, but does not die. So that's a start. And yeah, Loki was right. Wings do stop falling.

"Safe!" He exclaims.

@Loki

Oh, that was frustrating. So he couldn't fly, but this big... brown... FLUFFBALL could just launch right down and glide, no problem, first try?! Loki puffed up with impotent fury. That fury had little outlet, so after a moment, he opened his black beak and just screamed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH," though it was more like a croak. But once he'd done it he did feel a little better, so he closed that beak with a snap and ruffled his wings as if to gather whatever dignity he had left. "Safe," he muttered after a moment, in agreement. He eyed Carcass for a moment, feeling a little bad about his jealousy, and then the Rift caught his eye again. He tilted his head, peering around the vulture. "What is... that? Not uhhhh. Crystal. Not wings," he offered, because those were the only words that'd really come to him so far. Oh! Lightbulb moment! "Not BIRD," he declared proudly, fluffing himself up a little more, because he and carcass? They were BIRDS, and he KNEW that now. ...Somehow.

He jabbed direction rift with his beak, then eyed Carcass again, with sudden suspicion. His new friend had hatched only just before, hadn't he-? Why would HE know what it was?

Hmph. Rather than admit to himself that it was a stupid question that he'd asked of his pal, Loki set off toward the Rift in rapid little hops. He dared open his wings partway there, making a hop into a brief, low, frantically flapping glide, before hastily returning to the ground to hop the rest of the way. (It was terrifying.)

@Carcass

Carcass' eyes look up when Loki points to... Something up there. He'd seen it earlier, though both birds' attention was quickly taken with flying instead. It's a good question, really, and Carcass has no clue what it is.

"A thing!" Carcass supplies helpfully. Yup, a thing.

For a new'born' bird, Carcass already has an ego streak. He eyeballs the smaller bird for a moment - he's just better! Yup. Clearly Loki is just bad at everything. The thought is stuttered for a moment as Loki makes his way up to the Thing, Carcass nearly falls over with jealousy! Loki can't do that! Carcass is supposed to be the better one!

He pulls his wings out, tries to fly - and promptly crashes on his face. "HEYYY NOT WORKING!!" He yells, pulling himself back up on shaky legs.

He opts for climbing up like Loki had done.

@Loki

It was mischief that offered him an idea: to use his smoke to propel him up. Surely if he made it more like wind..? He didn't really know how to do this, but the idea stuck with him, and he eyed the fallen Carcass with satisfaction.

It wasn't that he wished Carcass harm. He liked his friend--he really did. But he wanted to win, here. Somehow. Even if it wasn't a competition at all. He crouched, spreading his wings again (with some trepidation), then tried to call on his smoke. Instead, a short gust of wind swept up behind him.

It wasn't a graceful flight. Loki was propelled upward, yes, but in a tumble of ungainly feathers, his legs at one point flailing above his head. He landed on his belly, then scrambled upright, eyes wide, and turned to look to Carcass.

All he managed was a startled "SQUAWK?"

@Carcass

Loki had certainly won their little 'contest', that's for sure. The smaller bird makes it up to the rift before Carcass does, the vulture cursing his 'useless' wings in his head. The thoughts are forgotten quickly as Carcass stands beside Loki as he lands.

Carcass looks to the ground, and to Loki. Again.

"YOU DID IT!!"

Cheering on Loki is better than admitting defeat, yup. ...Even if it's the exact same thing. Now that the two are at the rift, Carcass can get a better look at it. He's still not sure what it is. At all.

"What is it?" He questions, looking back to the other bird.

@Loki

"WE DID IT!" Loki echoed, wings spread--but he seemed to feel this was some great feat of teamwork, somehow.

Anyway--the Rift. That's what Carcass was peering at; it was why they had come up here, and so Loki dutifully folded his wings (it took him three tries to get the black feathers settled across his back) and plodded over with little scratches of claws-on-rock.

"Um." He leaned in, squinting.

It was a shimmering, round-ish sort of thing. Loki didn't know the term for "oval," but that would've been it, right? He tried to poke at it with his beak, but--he couldn't really interact with it. Then a foot. Same deal.

"Huh."

He puffed up, squinting and considering.

A mischief-maker like Loki could never admit full-on ignorance. Not now, five whole minutes after hatching, when he should be worldly and wise. And so, the confused croak that escaped his beak became a cough to hide his bewilderment, and he embarked on what would possibly become a long and dignified tradition of utter bullshitting.

"It's a magic hole," he decided.

The problem was, he was right. He was just trying to find something that made him sound like he wasn't a complete idiot. It looked magic. It was clearly a hole. Therefore: a magic hole. "You can put things into it. But not yourself," he declared.

To demonstrate, he picked up a pebble in his beak, and tried to lob it in. It clattered off. "But you have to know how the magic works." This attempt to hastily cover his obvious mistake was given with a completely straight face and serious tone. The only giveaway was how far out his chin and head feathers were standing from his skin: he was trying to look serious and authoritative, but the feather-ruffling had crossed the line from "puffed up and important" into "really worried someone will call him on his shit" sort of territory.

It was anxiety-fluff, really.

And it solved nothing of the "magic hole."

@Carcass (also will tag and look at rift rolls soon!)

The rift swirled, shimmering and beautiful. A "magic hole" it might have been--but for right now, it unfortunately remained dormant.

On the plus side, it seemed to be safe. Nothing whirling out meant nothing hitting the fragile fledglings; at least it was pretty to look at.

@Carcass

....Nothing happens as Carcass looks into the Rift. Okay, well. Maybe it just doesn't like them? Is the weird swirly thing shy? Is that possible? "I don't think it likes us very much." Carcass says. It's the only conclusion he can come to.

Maybe the magic portal is alive and they just scared it very badly with their entrance. Or something. He trusts Loki's definition of what the portal is anyway. It makes sense! Carcass ignores the fact that both of them have just hatched and neither of them know what it is.

"Maybe we have to come back later?" Maybe they have to get to know the weird swirly thing.

@Loki

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