The Twister is, as always, loud. A chained and raging force of nature, unhappy with its lot, it polishes and shatters many Gembound and stones alike who dare exist too close. But some, like this oddly smooth bloodstone chrysalis, have formed for themselves a body of these winds, and a purpose of feather and bone.

A hooked beak prys away another section of the slowly splintering stone, and a dark face an piercing eyes peek from the hole, now large enough to allow a large and fierce bird to emerge; and promptly almost get blown over.

The winds make his heart race and instincts sing, and he opens his wings to greet them, only partially exposing his still damp feathers to the gale or rage before another instinct surges within him, and he calls his own small storm under his wings, opening them fully to pull himself into the air and chase whatever this desire is in his gem.

But, instinct without thought is nothing but desire, and he fails, falling completely prey to the angry force of nature that shaped his Gem- and may even seek to claim him back, he realizes with a terrified shriek. Trying to best keep himself steady, he instead throws himself sideways and begins to tumble and roll helplessly in the gale.


@ Glory

Seldom did Glory emerge from his cave, as every moment away from his home was another moment he wasn't spending on work. But it was impossible to take every minute of the day to forge - he had to eat, he had to drink, and he had to replenish his stock of materials every so often (despite the fact that most of his cave was, quite literally, junk). Now, he glided through the heavy winds as if they were nothing, cycles of living in Monoceros strengthening his wings enough to easy fly the roaring gales. In his talons he clutched a basket filled to the brim with charcoal.

He banked around the Twister, drifting just outside of their ferocious grip - any closer and he'd be sucked into the stream of winds. It wasn't a big deal - it was a shorter route back home, but as he soared past, a shriek of terror caught his attention. He pulled himself back, flaring his wings to hover in the air, head turning to try and find the source of the sound. Was someone being attacked? There hadn't been any evildoers in this cave for a while - not since Jayberry, if he remembered correctly. If it was her that had returned to make a gembound scream so horribly, he'd burn her with fire!

But as his eyes glanced over the tornado nearby, his heart sank when he saw a shape being tossed through the roaring gales. The scream hadn't been from a victim of a gembound's claws but of the Twister's winds! "Shit," he spat to himself and dove forward, skirting the edge of the vortex to settle on a nearby rock formation. He set his basket down and glared up at the Twister, judging the best way he could get at whoever it was - he would not just stand by and watch or run away!

Eventually, he opened his wings and with a few mightly flaps, he was rocketing forward, immediately feeling the winds pressing his side as he entered the Twister's barrier. He turned and began to ride them, following the path of the winds until he was flying in a circle, barely in control, barely hanging on, but he wasn't flung out of balance. He was able, then, to slow himself - just a little, enough for whatever the thing was he was trying to save to pass him.

He didn't know what it was, but the instant he caught sight, he dove, speeding forward, letting the winds catch under his wings to push him forward. As he approached, his legs swung up and talons opened to catch the bundle of feathers before the winds tore it out of his grasp.

@Nemo

Trying to find the edges of a wind, something to cup his wings around and only serving to disorient himself further, he lets out another shriek as he feel himself drop- and snaps out his wings in an attempt to get altitude once more, to buy himself time to... to what, exactly? He didn't have enough power in his terrifying wings, not yet, and the entire impressive span of flight feathers has yet to fully emerge, leaving him once again tumbling without direction or cause.

I don't want to break up here- or down there, he thinks, I am of this thing, I will not let it reclaim me! He pulls in another deep breath and this time, his shriek is not one of fear but more of a battle cry, loud enough to be heard barely over the snarling and screaming winds of the tornado, the burn of magic in his lungs giving him promise of more to find inside himself if he makes it out of this freefall of terror alive.

A blur- flashing golden in his periphery inspires him to try again, one last attempt at balancing himself out before he pulls in his wings, some pull of his mind telling himself to make it so the other won't be pulled to his tumbling eternity alongside him.

The surge of Magika- a name that flickers in his mind just as the chill of burning wind tears beneath his feathers and up his spine, Finally pulls his call to the winds around him, offering a small buffer of wind to stabilize him enough for Glory to be able to fasten their talons around his shoulder blades, and he lets out a grunt and huff of surprise and shock from the impact. A small moment of a Push away from the center of the Twister urges the two birds away, insistent that the two flee before friend becomes foe once more.

Talons grasped around a small creature's shoulder blades and Glory didn't waste any time, opening his wings as far as they would go, just barely catching a bit of the wind that the young one conjured. It didn't do much to pull them completely out, but it certainly helped Glory along as they rose back into the winds.

Powerful wings flapped frantically as Glory tried to spy an exit, trying to keep himself from losing control in the winds. He could see the rock formations through the dust and sand being thrown in the air and he decided on a point that he would veer away to fight the winds and dive back into the main cave.

As they approached, Glory steeled himself, eyes narrowed, and then pushed with all his might, throwing both of them out of the course of the winds. Immediately, he was thrown around as gusts of air slammed against his side and for a moment it seemed like he would lose it, that the winds would snatch them right up again and toss them back into the Twister, but Glory forged on, diving right into the winds that were collecting at the Twister's edge, a burn starting to set in his muscles as he fought with every fiber of his being, holding tight to the kid clutched in his talons, hoping that he wasn't holding too tight.

Eventually, at last, the winds began to die, at least back to the usual levels of Monoceros and the eagle sighed out with relief. He looked down at the young bird in his claws and called down, breathlessly, "Hey, you okay down there?" He didn't stop to hear the response, though, and instead glided down towards the nearest rocks, reaching forward to set the kid down first before promptly collapsing on the stone like a pancake, wings stretched uselessly at his size and wheezing heavily. "What in the hell were you doing?" he snapped when he managed to get his voice back. "Ain't anyone ever tell you not to play by the Twister?!"

@Nemo

No air to respond in his lungs, he stays quiet, trying to spy where they are headed with his own gaze and swinging his legs out to attempt to catch himself on the incoming ground, shocked when his spindly legs give out underneath him.

That doesn't seem like it should be normal, He muses, only a split second before a very flat, verbal "Ow..."

Nemo lays flat as well, trembling to feel the stone under his feet as he wheezes out a sigh of relief. On one talon, he feels horrible for the state his first act, and first act of stupidity, seems to have put this other predator bird in, but on the other talon he can't help but rankle in offense as he's scolded. Not entirely sure as to what the protocol is in situation where someone saves your life, let alone what to do for most of anything else, he lets out a soft wheeze before drawing himself up to a sitting position, wings tucked firmly at his sides as his neck feathers ruffle in agitation.

"Sir, or Madam, I may owe you a lot but I don't like that tone... I..." He sighs, and kind of slumps over, craning his head to look over his shoulder, dark feathers ruffling one again, this time in fear, as he watches the air scream and rage, his few flecks of white in his neck feathers giving him a very much disheveled air.

"I wasn't playing, I just... woke up..."

Now genuinely lost for what word he should apply to his birth, he shrinks back down to a very repentant pile of feathers, looking like a very sad and feathery loaf with a dangerous beak poking out of it.



@Glory

Glory continued panting for a moment, a slight wheeze in his breaths and his eyes went up to the bird as it spoke back. He had been expecting maybe a "thank you for saving my life" or a "wow that was so awesome!" like some idiot kids would say or, at the very least a "thanks" but na, apparently this bird liked to gently scold their rescuers. He might have been a little mad, but instead he let out a short, breathless laugh at their boldness.

"Ha...you know you're supposed to say 'thank you' when somebody risks their life to pull you out of tornado? I coulda died, you know. Or failed and I don't need a baby's death on my consciousness." He was starting to catch his breath and his muscles weren't burning so much so he scraped his way off the ground, stumbling into a standing position where he refolded his wings back in, after giving them a short flap to clear off whatever dust had gotten caught in the feathers.

He tilted his head and clacked his beak. "Ah, you just hatched? Well that's an unfortunate spot to hatch. You didn't fall in or anything? Just happened to break out in the middle of a twister?" And, really, that was unfortunate. Glory couldn't think of anywhere worse they could have hatched...except, perhaps, in the middle of the Crystal River...or maybe the ceiling in Fornax...or literally anywhere in Hydra...well, there were certainly better places to hatch.

@Nemo

A short, stuttering whimper of a chirp comes from Nemo as he continues to loaf, looking up at the bigger bird as he fluffs his feathers and regains his stability. "I am... terrifyingly aware of that. I tried to push us out when you grabbed me..." a full body shudder and he tucks his beak into his chest feathers. "Thank you. I owe you... quite a bit, saving me from my own stupidity and that absolutely terrifying storm."


Nemo clacks his beak as well, a nervous habit of his now, and it's going to stick around for... quite an age, before he stretches his head back out from between his shoulders and looks up at Glory. "I technically hatched out along the far wall, and decided to... fly. Not my brightest idea," He admits, and ruffles his own wings in an embarrassed fidget, "But let it be known I've got room for improvement, and can kind of..." Here, he pulls on his magic once again, causing himself to be flipped beak over tail feathers with an ungainly squawk and flop before he scrambles and scuttles into a sitting position, attempting to regain his dignity with a quick second of aggressive preening of his chest feathers. "Well, okay, I can do better than that I promise. "

"I also wanted to coast around the tornado, not... go in it. But I kind of blew that." A smug grin as he belatedly notes his pun, and tilts his head to the side to eye the vortex over his shoulder. "But, anyhow... I apologize for my manners, but I never asked your name?"



@Glory

Glory pulled him up a little taller when the kid finally thanked him for saving them from the Twister. "You're welcome," he responded, proudly. "You are lucky I was there. I'm not sure who else would have been able to get you out." Well, there was Dread but Glory wasn't sure if the dragon was too keen on risking his life to save a newly-hatched bird that he didn't know. "Yes, and it helped! The wind you made assisted me with my balance on the way out! I guess I must thank you for that!"

Glory nodded wisely. Ah, that was understandable. A new child's ignorance and the inescapable desire for flight! Circumstance paired with innocence had created this unfortunate event. "Ah, of course! You're young - you will learn and grow strong! One day you may be able to fly the Twister without being caught - as I did today!" The sudden gust of wind that knocked the young bird over surprised Glory enough that he fluttered back. "Hey, watch it! Be careful with your magic, there! Don't want to go knocking off this rock do ya?" Yeah, it wasn't exactly a big space, just the closest rock that Glory could find before his wings cave way.

Glory, ignorant of humor and of the general world of puns, missed the bird's little joke and instead shook his head with a small laugh. "Well, now you know not to go anywhere close! The winds will pull you in before you can react." He puffed out his chest as he always did when introducing himself, feathers gleaming in the light. "My name is Glory! And you - have you decided a name for yourself?"

@Nemo

The mention of actually flying along with the Twister causes a split second spark of determination in his eyes, his feathers standing slightly on end before his eyes then darken with fear. "Hah, but I don't think me flying will ever happen again. But thank you for the vote of faith, I guess." Being again scolded for his magic, and pull of wind flattens his feathers in embarrassment against his head, and he looks up at the older bird as he speaks, digging into the rock with that little strength he has in his talons.

The lack of reaction to his pun is a tad disheartening, But I wonder if that type of humor just... isn't a thing? Or if I'm just not funny... that can totally be the case. Nothing special there then...

Nemo is thinking while the other speaks even more of the Twister, but the gleam of his feathers pulls his gaze back as the other rallies and introduces himself in all his glory. Heh.

Deciding a name.... The 'geier looks a bit worried at this, trying to sift between sounds and words he knows to find the one that will follow him forever. "My... name. My name is Nemo," He decides, something about the lack of weight behind the word making him feel safe with choosing it. It held no promise, no disappointment. It was Nothing. "My name is Nemo, and I have... a favor to ask. So that I can repay you properly in the future... I want you to teach me how Monoceros works. How this whole place works.... please... " He looks into Glory's eyes, drawing himself up taller and feeling something new burn inside him. Something other than terror, but a sibling to the feeling- excitement.


@Glory

Glory caught the little comment about never flying again, but thought nothing of it. He was, after all, just a kid that had just experienced something traumatic. Perhaps a little unsympathetically, he raised a wing and waved it dismissively. "Ah, don't worry. You'll learn to conquer your fears, I'm sure!" Because that was a little ridiculous to have wings but to never use them. Why would you not? Once control and strength were built, wings would never fail.

He waited patiently while the bird thought of a name. He understood the wait - names were something important. His had come to him quickly and easy - he was glorious, so that was the only right name for him. However, when the lammergeier chose his name, Glory couldn't help but stare at him quizzically. That was a very strange name to pick. He would have gone with something a little better, that played to the kid's strengths, not the promise of nothing. But he wasn't going to question his decision - he seemed to like it. "Well, if you're sure...Nemo it is then." It wasn't like it was his problem, anyways.

He blinked with surprise and a smile returned to his expression. "Ah! Of course! But there is no need to repay me - I did you a service of my own free will! If you wish to repay me, do it by being good and helping others when you can. That's all I can ask of you. In the meantime..." he pulled himself up tall again and nodded firmly. "Yes, of course! I like you, kid, so I'll help you out. But, uh," he paused, glancing around at where they were, "perhaps we should go back to my cave. It isn't far. You can hold onto my back - don't worry, I'm strong enough to carry you!"

@Nemo