As he rose, the world beneath fell into a blur. The ground’s twinkling lights shrank, a twin spectacle to the ceiling’s own. Legs thrust in a leap, and spread wings cleaved through air. Acceleration slowed until flight became dangling in empty space. Then, fighting against gravity’s steady and assertive hand, one downward flap after another propelled the bird along. A literal eye in the sky, his head bowed to follow any observations.

The results were simple and disappointing: the rubble a challenging maze from this height, the red rascal had fully taken advantage of that fact. Beak clamped stubbornly shut, East angled for a shallow dive. Whether he'd flown too high or too fast initially didn't matter; seeing if the trail was truly lost did.

Plummeting back to earth, jagged edges of rock rushed up to meet him. Air whistled a tune as it sliced past, softening to whispers as he leveled out his descent. An acrobat might have navigated soundly without a hitch; he jerked, wings stabbing down for just enough lift to avoid a serious case of scrapes on his underside. Once, twice more, and travel was at a closer but more comfortable height.

Proximity brought activity to the maze. The tip of a naked tail twisted away into a gap left by the collision of stone slabs. Was that still his culprit or another thief of the den? Either way, startling it further would accomplish little good than had already been done. He hung back, gliding, and chose sharp sight over a quick chase.

Over the cycles, East created many a private title for Orion: sparkling trap, monument to lies, a dusty hole clothed in hand-me-down crystal rags. This, though, was a new one—obstacle course. While much plainer of a description, it was not any more flattering. A bird he might be, but an aerial expert? That could be forgotten about. Too many close calls with stone walls had quashed what minor aspirations might have been. If it weren’t for his feathers and pure instinct, being bound to land as well as his gem wouldn’t bother him a bit. But as it stood, he wasn't, and so the invisible high road he’d have to take.

The target scurried left, rubble stirring over its furry back, and he followed. Right, and the same applied. The sharp turns rattled the most; too fast, too violent, and a beak risked a knock against a solid piece of ruins that could vibrate eyes in sockets. The rises and falls… they were a unique brand of annoying at their own times.

This happened to be one of them. Ancient structures, leftovers of a forgotten past, littered the area. Some, a hint of a purpose could be gleaned from the remaining shell. Others loomed like misshapen creatures, their identity shorn from them and resting in the form of pulverized rock. A gravity-defying tendril blocked his immediate path. Its suspended end dripped a trickling dust stream.

He inhaled and swooped low.

On the exhale, he soared up and barely cleared the other side. From there, the rest was smooth sailing with the occasional slight change of direction. It wasn’t long before the little thief at last crawled home, a quiet shadow not its own in tow. Feathers a faint breeze, he alighted a few paces away and watched as twitching whiskers poked into a tiny burrow. From his vantage point, it couldn’t be determined whether a quartz was being placed within.

Misfortune might be a mouse, but it appeared luck might have finally taken his side. The next step was to simply wait and see.

It did not take long for opportunity to arise. Fleet-footed and nervous as it’d entered, the mouse left, paws empty of loot and possibly seeking more to fill them. He watched it dart into the labyrinthine assortment of rubble, tracing what little could be discerned of its route, and sighed. The winding path was what he’d followed but in reverse.

A couple of successes, and now it thought it could steal the entire crop. Well, he could take another potential loss if that was indeed where it was headed; at least four were stored far from there and, while quick, he’d little desire to be a racing bird for the sake of a couple quartz crystals. Taking a trip inside of the thief’s coveting psyche held greater importance.

Absence of the homeowner an open invitation, East covered ground, planting talons directly next to the entrance. He scraped at its sides to widen the hole, then lowered his head for a peek inside.

This red mouse den held a few juicy little treasures.

A handful (at least, for a human-sized hand) of pearls, holes poked through them to make them into beads, lay scattered to one side and covered with a fine film of mud and algae, though their pale white shone through here and there.

A piece of mollusc shell, its pearlescent silvery surface gleaming, lay tucked away at the rear and to the right. Several rocks of varying sizes--raw gemstone hunks, for the most part--and a thin, tarnished golden chain lay curled in the center of the nest; the chain was woven through dried grass and short red fur to form a sleeping spot.

@East

This red mouse had been a fancy one. Its loot used more as interior decoration than a carefully sequestered treasure trove, color and gleam splashed every inch of the den. Even built into its bedding was a centerpiece, coiled chain links still faintly glinting past a darkened surface. He didn’t know much about Lesser standards of luxury, but if comfortably well-off were a picture, this would be it.

Despite the stash’s size, though, it lacked the sparkling quality of a stolen clear quartz. In seeing that absence he realized that he’d followed another thief scrabbling through the rubble, equally guilty, and left the original to plunder to its heart’s content. And this one, it’d doubled back—whether to its last heist location or to nearby prospects, he didn’t know. Either way, there might be zero where two had been when he finally mounted the return flight. It’d be best to recoup potential losses now while the chance was available.

Hunched over, he intruded further upon the hideaway with a cautious poke of the talon and then all four toes. Prods and fumbles withdrew first the shell piece, curved inward and jagged-edged. Quick taps rolled out the pearls which clattered upon the rocks as they fell outside. Feeling around for a gemstone that’d fit well in his grasp required more effort, but eventually what looked almost like a wedge, small and dusky purple, was taken. This, last, he set down close to the rest.

A squint surveyed the resulting haul. East fanned a wing out, observing the splayed feathers, before shaking silent disagreement at a thought and folding it to his side. Head cocked, his eyes returned to the gathered items. He bent down and picked up the shell with a decisive clack of his beak upon the shining surface. Attention fixed upon a cluster of the pearls, he dipped down and scooped up. Sight lifted to the lower edges of the ceiling, they slid backwards upon the shell but did not spill over the raised sides.

Only oil could have been cruder, but the solution worked well enough.

Keeping his head steady, a leg swept out. Talons traversed the ground; they fastened over the gemstone he’d plucked from the mouse’s home. Slow, a nearly audible creak to his limbs, he lowered to the floor. On the leap, muscles snapped rigid. He took to the air, carried pearls jostling against each other and his beak.

When he touched down in the stone quarry he had created, cargo intact and beak tired from its constant clench, his suspicions were confirmed: a set of twin crystals, formerly a triplet before the thievery, now sat a party of one. Not bothering to glance around for signs of a mouse lurking the area, action was swift. A step, hop, and flap of wings lifted him again. On the fly-by, his empty foot snagged the lone survivor for his own.

No point in storing these and coming back to an empty space later.

Without pause, mind already determining the next location, he continued on his course through the ruins.

-Exit

((Five quartz crystals, mollusc shell piece, small collection of pearl beads, and raw amethyst hunk added to inventory))