[X] Unexpected Encounter {Dzuna} [Inactive]

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Prince Caspian

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Played by Cara

"Cara has managed to...create a character that is both mythical and life-like. Impulsive, moody, and yet kind and good-hearted, Caspian is just beginning to show the makings of a true leader."
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[Damien Arrowing]

Long, winding strips of trees crisscrossed the landscape far below, visible in patches of darker green. The lighter green patches were sprawling fields, some of them those of farms. Damien frowned, his yellow eyes narrowing, as he surveyed the land. There were far too many signs of human development, far more than there should have been. The development was getting worse as Damien flew deeper into the heart of Narnia, and he could scant look in any direction without seeing some sign of the Telmarines. Though, he was flying quite high. On the ground, he would be able to find places free of the encroachment. Still, once he got into the area of large estates and farms, it would be hard to find anywhere, ground or not, where there wasn’t some sign of Telmarine activity.

Damien shook his head, wondering, not for the first time, why he had decided to go on this venture. He sighed. We need new recruits. The army is far smaller than is preferable, and we need help. I need to find help, he thought with a determined nod. It wasn’t often he had to remind himself of his purpose in this flight, but he still had to occasionally. Far below, the scenes discouraged him. What true old Narnian would dwell in such a place, anyway? You’d think they’d be caught by now, unless they’re quite small and inconspicuous, he wondered, thinking how very few places to hide there were.

The gryphon rolled his rust-red shoulders, stretching out the muscles of his forelimbs. He had not been on the ground for nearly a day, so long had he been flying. He had been making endless zigzags across Narnia from the Stone Table, and had still not found much to go on. Perhaps I need to go further a field. Surely there are more creatures outside of Narnia, just as there are many more gryphons out on our island. Perhaps there are more large creatures capable of making acceptable warriors beyond the borders, he mused. 

He glanced below once more and sighed in relief as the strips of trees grew thicker, until they began transforming into small forests separated by strips of field. Ahead, he could see the dark green areas become more extensive, indicating that the forest areas would soon be even thicker. Ah, much better. Now I stand a chance of actually finding someone! Damien thought with relief, even letting a small smile light his bright eyes. He was nearly over the Owl Wood.

[Dzuna]

   There was a reason humans dreamed of flying.

   Personally, Dzuna couldn't imagine being bound to the earth like the humans were; the two male humans that came and visited them were graceful and swift in their own rights, but even being able to run and swim like they were, the two stood no chance in a race against an airborne harpy. Perhaps they were not as large as their ancestors were, but it was just as well that over time their kind had become smaller to adjust to their surroundings, cramped compared to the open sky fifty feet overhead above the tops of the trees. Dzuna was an adventurer by nature, but even she didn't dare ascend above the line of the forest, knowing full well that their luck being happened upon by the two humans they knew so well had been pure luck.

   The thought had only crossed her mind as she leisurely wove through the trees, more maneuverable and graceful in flight than, say, her father or Javin whose wing spanned longer than her own. Thirty feet up, Dzuna was comfortably high up, not too close to the ground or the tops of the trees; for lack of anything else to do, she was venturing a little further out towards the edge of the woods, seeing the trees thinning out ever so gradually. As foolish a venture as it was, Dzuna was anything but naive; she never dared venture any further than the point where she could make out the end of the woods. The only time any of them were brave enough to fly above the trees was during a dark moon, when the creatures that bustled during the daylight hours had retreated into their safe havens of sleep and those of the night woke up, and the flock ascended above the forest.

   Alighting on a tree bough, Dzuna folded her wings to her back, feet clutching the branch supporting her weight, pausing to listen; the forest had become eerily quiet, even more so than usual whenever a harpy flew past. Frowning, she froze, listening intently; absolute silence. What had frightened the creatures of the forest so much that they had all ceased to make noise?

   As if answered by fate, the quiet was suddenly broken by a high-pitched, terrified shriek; Dzuna's muscles tensed, and she leapt off the branch and unfurled her wings, weaving through the trees. The only one who made that noise was Tika (or so the humans called the child), and the only other time she had heard the child harpy shriek like that was when she had fallen into the brook. Whatever was frightening the other dwellers of the forest was probably to blame, and at the notion that someone or something was endangering one of her flock, Dzuna bellowed out a shrill, hawk-like battle cry as she drew closer to the noises of distress.

[Damien Arrowing]

Damien narrowed his eyes, scanning the deep, thick forest far below. His sharp gaze picked up the subtle movements of fleeing animals, obviously having caught sight of the great predatory beast overhead. He was not looking for fleeing creatures, though, but ones that stayed put when they saw him. Surely most Old Narnians had heard of gryphons? If any had not, would they really be worth his time? Damien thought the animals that raced to their hiding places and scrambled for cover were silly prey, not worth investigating.

He began to see signs of other creatures though; larger things. He could see small, nearly unnoticeable breaks in the tops of the tree branches where large creatures had broken through the canopy in flight. They were larger than any eagle or owl could make, and some of the snapped branches looked fairly large; tough for anything smaller to accomplish. Damien did not doubt the flying abilities of such a creature; anything that large would have to break a couple boughs to get out in the open.

The powerful gryphon angled his wings down and tucked them closer to his body, diving gracefully towards the tops of the trees. If some large, flying creature was lurking within, there could be a chance that it was a possible ally. As he descended, Damien noticed something else within the trees. Below the tops, on one the larger branches, something was perched. He could not make it out clearly from his position, but its birdlike features were not quite right. Something was out of place with this creature. Damien could not see its face, but he sensed that might be one of its oddities.

He circled around four times, searching for the best point of entry for his bulky body. Seeing a nice gap in the larger branches, Damien folded his wings nearly shut and launched himself into the dense forest below. The green darkness swallowed him immediately, faint beams of sunlight illuminating the rust red and iron blue of his wings. Damien spread his wings further when he reached a gap in the branches of the trees, hovering. He had stopped right before the creature, which promptly shrieked at the sight of him. Damien's yellow eyes widened as he saw what was indeed a Narnian. Whether it would be a cooperative Narnian or not was a question he had yet to discover the answer to.

Before the suprrised gryphon was a young harpy, whose parents or flock must not be far. Damien had encountered harpies before. Back on the island, they had often competed for territory with his own flock. He had slightly mixed feelings about this one, but decided that he would have to work with these harpies. Those of the island did not have a homeland at stake.

It was during these thoughts that Damien heard something hurtling towards him from the forest nearby. His head snapped around and he saw a much larger harpy surging at him, a look of fury on her face. She let out an angered battlecry as she began her attack. Damien, much larger and less agile in the trees, could not retreat through the narrow gaps in the branches, and was unwilling to fly up and retreat.

"Wait! I did not attack your young one! I am not trying to harm you or steal territory! Do not attack me!" he cried, doubting it would be so easy.

[Dzuna]

   Tika was still only a child, not even old enough to have received her markings yet and barely able to fly, and had scrambled behind the nearest tree to hide; Dzuna didn't doubt that the rest of the flock had heard the little one cry as well as their leader's own battle cry, and were likely to be on their way. Even if it was Dzuna's responsibility to protect her flock, the odds that the rest were going to do nothing thinking that their youngest was being threatened were slim to none. The creature backed away, and much to Dzuna's shock and surprise replied in the same manner as the humans that visited them in the woods. She hesitated for only a moment as she landed on the ground, feet-first, stunned not only by the sight of the huge creature she had never seen before, but at the human words it spoke. But, still.... it had intruded on their territory and threatened Tika.

   Dzuna's wings snapped open, unfurled to full span, her feathers ruffled and fluffed up to appear larger; even if she might not be the size of this thing before them, her smaller wingspan and familiarity with the forest gave her a large advantage in this setting. However, this creature was considerably larger than she was, and Dzuna knew better than to attack right off the cusp before having any idea what the thing could do; wary, her stance shifted to widen, feathers fluffed, and prepared to take flight if need be, she advanced a few paces with a hiss.

   ”How dare you intrude on our territory!” She shrieked at the creature, though whether or not it (he? she?) understood the harpies’ bird-like communication was up for discovery, ”What if you lead those humans into our home?! How are we to know that you are on our side?!”

   Hearing the flutter of wings behind her, Dzuna was well aware of her flock’s presence in the trees behind her, and Tika’s frightened cries were soothed by her mother’s chirping. With her child in her arms, Keevah took to the trees with the rest of the flock; Dzuna knew her flock’s distinct calls and sounds by heart, down to the cautioning chirp directed at her, no doubt belonging to Javin. Inasmuch as the black-feathered harpy male bothered her, Dzuna did know that he would be one of her more reliable allies faced with this large creature.

[Damien Arrowing]

Damien tensed as the harpy hurtled towards him, but then paused at his words. His breath caught in his throat as he held his breath, waiting to see what she would do. A large pang of disappointment rose up in his chest when she decided to continue the attack. The gryphon did not want a fight with harpies. He had fought them before, so the advantage in experience was with him, but he was uncertain how he would perform in such a narrow environment. He had only ever fought harpies in the open in the past.

The gryphon's eyes flashed back and forth when he noticed movement in the trees beyond them. The other harpies; the rest of the flock; were joining this one. Damien sighed in annoyance, as he realized he had upset the leader herself. This situation was getting more and more tricky and difficult to remove himself from. Damien didn't want to remove himself, though. He wanted to resolve the conflict. His attention was drawn back to the harpy leader when he noticed she had started to speak.

Because of his interactions with harpies, and because of similar vocalizations in their native tongues, he knew bits and pieces of their language. He was better at understanding than speaking harpy, however. Though he caught most of what the leader told him, he hesitated, unsure of how to respond at first.

Damien thought for a few moments to remember what he could, before turning back to the harpy. "I friend. Not harm you. Not bring humans here. I look for your help, he sputtered out at last, knowing it would sound terrible, yet understandable, to the harpy ears. He sighed in relief, realizing he was lucky to remember so much.

Damien focused on the harpies, both their leader and the flock itself. He was anxious to see how they would respond to him. Would they be surprised that he knew any of their language? Most likely. Hopefully that surprise would work to Damien's advantage. He hovered silently, as nervous as if he were being put on trial for a crime he didn't commit.