((Sorry about taking so many days to write this, it's been a particularly busy week)
Narduka |Sheerwing | Off the coast of an Aspidochelone|
A flash of color and movement skirted the surface of the water, marking the passage of a sheerwing at hunt. Narduka let her wingtips brush the waves as she raced past them to reach more open ocean. Her eyes searched the depths she flew, searching for shadows beneath the surface that would indicate the presence of other animals. The water was always fertile around an Aspidochelone– the presence of land allowed for a more complex ecosystem, which in turn fed life to the water below. It was one of the many reasons she had come to live among humans.
One particular shadow caught her eye, triggering an almost instinctive response. The sheerwing beat her wings to pull herself a few meters highers above the water, then folded them inward and dove. The fish darted away, of course, but years of experience allowed her to compensate for their movement, using the force of her dive to come up behind one in a single, lightning-fast jerk. Jaws snapped close on one silvery set of scales, while dozens of others swam quickly out of her reach. Narduka waited for the waters to calm after the outburst, then resurfaced to swallow her catch. She could chase the others, but with their headway on her it’d be a painstaking process. She was fast, very fast, but fish could be fast too, and would change direction faster than she could.
When sheerwings gathered in groups they’d work together to herd schools into a condensed area- their wings would fan out to make living cage, within which younglings could practice their maneuvering without losing the catch for the rest of them. Narduka had seen it before way back when she was a sheerchick. It had been many years, though, since she had last tried to join the breeding congregation, and few other species made suitable partners to herd fish with. There were, of course, the humans. From her place among the waves Narduka could see the commotion at the docks, where fishing boats prepared to set sail. Their nets offered a natural barrier to scare fish towards, making the catch easier for both her and the sailors. The sheerwing hung low in the water, tail swirling in lazy circles to keep her afloat, fans raised in quiet anticipation.
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SteampunkGriffin
Kaliko |human raider| crewmate of Mayze| Eastern Shore of an Aspidochelone|
Do the Aspidochelones dream of us, sitting and living and running on their backs? Would they care if their people disappeared? Their birds flown on, their trees withered? Kaliko lay in her back, running her fingers through the grass below her. She loved the gentle sway of a ship, but it was nice, every now and then, to sit on solid ground and know that below her was something truly alive.
She heard a soft thump, drawing her attention downshore where her the ship had been tied. Kaliko rolled to her knees and snatched up her boots from where she’d kicked them off, pulling them hastily back on. From there she swung lightly to her feet and trotted back to shore. She was distinctly aware of her feet feeling larger and heavier now, when moments before she could feel cool grass sliding between her toes.
She reached the tree the ship had been tied on, and sure enough there was movement aboard to suggest they’d soon be taking off. Her hands fumbled for a braided cord of hemp in one pocket, then pulled her hair together in a knot to keep it from whipping her face when she returned to the endless wind and rolling waves of the sea.
“Do we have a heading, commander?” Kaliko called from where she stood in shore. It made little difference to her where they went, but Mayze had not been her captain for long and she was curious as to how she’d respond.
