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Post by 0 on Feb 12, 2017 23:11:58 GMT
Sifting through the air currents, floating neatly down the way, the sticky scent of forests dense with fruit was hard to miss on the western wind.
Leathered nostrils flared, one big flap bringing an enormous, soaring chiropteran into a gentle, gradual downwards slope.
Sunlight drifted through the clouds that held aloft the sky, shadows shimmering atop the pinstriped spine, spots flicking past amber eyes.
The bat's snout tilted down, watching as tall grass fell to short grass, the prairies giving way to forest steppe, the wide grasslands soon being consumed by full-blown forest, leaving only pockets of sun-scattered glades.
Only the smallest patches of snow hung from branches and speckled the ground below, the cold air warmed by the fresh smell of ripe fruit.
The bat swung herself lower, falling into a glide that crested just a few inches short of the canopy, leaves swaying in the wind that blew sidelong across her face.
Shadows fell, merging into one another, the horizon-nearing sun once more shrouded by thick, darkening clouds.
Ears twitched, listening through the wind in them to the buzz of insects below, the chirping of birds that sat perched between the branches.
Despite the arrival of winter, it was surprising how many trees remained fully leaved, with only hints of yellowing leaves to be found upon closer look.
Even the heavy odor of blossoms, tucked away within the foliage, laced the air.
An opening in the forest brought the bat further down, her glide turning to rapid flaps as she dodged the obstacles of the canopy, before breaking out into the open area of another clearing.
Bare soil edged the line of trees that wove back and forth out of the glade, the grass poking up in scattered tiers before waking up in brimming, seed-bearing wholeness further into the shielded locale.
A small pond sat at the foot of a pile of boulders, and beside it a tree of wide girth and in full bloom of white, fleshy-cored flowers among the deep green leaves, its dark branches bearing heavy green-and-red fruit that swung in the breeze.
The bat's thumb-claw hooked itself onto a low-hanging branch, the next wrapping around the bark as well until her feet caught hold, swinging herself about to hang upside-down.
One wing wrapped neatly around one half of her body, while the other stretched forward to prod at one of the plump round fruits.
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Post by ninjasoilder on Feb 13, 2017 1:43:26 GMT
Taige had been on the move for a while. This was a new land for him, so getting a bearing of his surroundings was a plus. The serval hopped on and in between rocks in order to keep a vantage height over what he could see. After all, height was key to knowing where things were and for lookouts. He eventually came across a pile of boulders. He didn't see the water because he was on the other side of them. Letting out a sigh, the serval began to climb up the rocks.
It took some time, but Taige soon got to the top of the boulders. Looking around him, he saw a few trees in bloom, one of which had fruit on it, and a pool of water. At least he found some water to drink. He climbed down the boulders to the water pond and began to drink from it once he could reach it easily.
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Post by 0 on Feb 13, 2017 3:08:05 GMT
The silvered black-and-gold bat's large ears twisted around, head soon following suit, when she heard bounding footsteps coming her way.
Eyes watched as a small, long-legged feline came into view, bouncing its way up the pile of boulders.
It pulled back into the tree's leaves when it looked around, before crawling back out into view when it crawled back down.
Grasping the nearby fruit with her jaws, the flying fox swung herself down to the top of the boulders, watching as the serval lowered its head for a drink.
Sprawled out like a vampire bat on the stony surface, she set the fruit down beside her and called out to it in a voice that was far too loud for their close proximity.
"Kamusta!
Gawin kayo ay nakatira sa paligid dito?
Gusto mo ng prutas?"
Lips pulling up in a smile, she nosed the fruit, which then bounced down the rocks towards the cat.
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Post by ninjasoilder on Feb 13, 2017 3:18:55 GMT
A Taige continued to drink, he soon heard something speak to him. His ears turned back to the sound of the voice, but he couldn't understand what they were talking about. However, when he looked he saw a fruit bouncing down towards him. He simply sidestepped to avoid it. "Hello? You dropped a fruit." He said to whoever was up there.
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Post by 0 on Feb 13, 2017 5:50:40 GMT
Ears tilted back as the stranger sidestepped the fruit and called back in her direction.
The bat crouched momentarily, wondering if perhaps the cat didn't like fruit after all, then lifted her body back into the nearby tree.
Again hooking herself onto a low-hanging branch, the bat crawled along its underside until she was over the pool of water, the cat at an angle a short distance below her.
Neck twisting around, she offered up another friendly face.
"No Filipino?" she asked, tone still a bit too loud, eyes falling in query.
"You live here?"
The nostrils at the end of her pointed snout twitched, staring intently at the long-legged feline; it was difficult for her to parse his scent from the overwhelming odor of fresh blossoms and ripe fruit, so she couldn't tell where he might have originally come from, if not from here.
The bat reached for another fruit with one of her thumbs, mouth curling around the slick greenish skin just before she yanked her head back, removing it from the tree.
Letting go with the claw, she dropped to hang from the branch, moving her wings so that she could hold the fruit in her thumbs.
A loud crunch snapped out from the bat's position.
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Post by ninjasoilder on Feb 13, 2017 16:38:31 GMT
Taige simply watched up where he heard the voice. When he didn't find anything, he turned around to go back to drinking water. However, this was interrupted by the voice speaking to him again, except this time in a language he could understand. He had to take a while to find out the one talking to him was a bat. He hadn't seen many of them, so this was unique for him.
"Sorry, no. As for if I live here, that is also a no. I came to here from a bit of ways away." He said. Not long after he spoke, he heard the crunch sound. He assumed that the bat was eating something, and he knew not to question it. He went back to drinking the water, ears pointed to the bat.
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Post by 0 on Feb 13, 2017 21:18:21 GMT
Gnawing on the plump fruit, the bat's ears remained perked to hear what the cat's reply would be.
Upon learning that the stranger wasn't from here, a brief frown from behind the object left the mammal's thoughts, but was quickly replaced by another smile.
The bat lowered the fruit from her mouth, balancing the object between her thumb and wings, as another question came to mind.
"Where you from?" she prodded.
Then the realization came to her that she had yet to give anything in return.
Perhaps she should hurry before the feline thought her to be too nosy.
"I from island -- uh...archipelago.
Pilipinas."
The giant golden-crowned flying fox took another bite of the fruit, juice running down from the branch as a wind came to rustle the leaves around them.
"Name Pekas.
Sunspot?"
Large eyes watched the feline below, ears twisting expectantly.
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Post by ninjasoilder on Feb 13, 2017 23:41:14 GMT
Taige finished drinking when she began to speak again. He tilted his head to her, finding her a bit odd in how she was jumping around with words quite a bit. "I'm not from here. To be honest, I don't know how I got here. I lived somewhere far away, and just wound up here one day. As for a name, my name is Taige." He said, not sure which name she gave was her name.
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Post by 0 on Feb 14, 2017 0:00:52 GMT
The bat bobbed her head in response to the cat's answers.
Taige-- the feline spoke fast, as should have been expected if this were his first language, and some parts of the sentences flew past her ears, but she was able to parse most of what was being said.
Polishing off the fruit, she let the chewed-up core slip from her thumbs, dropping with a splash into the pool of water below.
Her furless wings made a leathery rustle as she shifted in the branch, before spreading them wide and dropping down.
One loud flap was given to prevent her from splashing in like the fruit, before her wings were in a slow flurry as she began to hover expertly above the puddle.
Body tilted forward, as did the edges of her wing, scooping gulps of water into her mouth.
Once her thirst was quenched, the bat returned to her perch under the branch, looking again to the cat below as she wrapped her wings tight round her body.
"What it like?" she continued, tongue catching a few stray drops from around her lips.
"Your homeland?
Mine like here," she offered, brow crinkling at the memory, "but...warmer -- wetter."
More vibrant, her thoughts continued.
Noisy, dense.
Wild.
This forest seemed calm, orderly in comparison to her home.
At least it held a similar smell.
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Post by ninjasoilder on Feb 14, 2017 1:22:09 GMT
"My home? It's a lot like this place here, except I haven't seen anything related to spirits all that much here in the sense of Daemons." Taige said to her, seeing her drop the fruit into the water. He wondered what it would do down there, but didn't go after it. He simply stayed where he was at. "I imagine an island is like that." He said.
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Post by 0 on Feb 14, 2017 2:21:19 GMT
The bat blinked in confusion at the mention of spirits, followed by another word she didn't know the meaning of.
"Er--yes," she stammered in reply to his musings on what an island must be, still at a loss to his previous sentence.
She stared hard at the feline, trying to drum up some new lines of query, but all she could think of was to press forward on the word she didn't understand.
"Daemon is group?"
After asking the question, she lifted her nose upwards, the end twitching.
A new wind had come along, brushing through the fur along her cheeks, slipping in from the sky as it lifted petals and seeds in a different direction from before.
There was a different odor on it, not of blossom or fruit, or at least none that she recognized.
The bat slowly began to unfold her wings, preparing for flight.
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Post by ninjasoilder on Feb 14, 2017 2:39:35 GMT
"Well, the Daemons I've met so far deal with souls and things related to souls, but I'm sure there's ones for everything." Taige said to her, not sure what she wanted to know from him, since his knowledge was lacking too. However, when he noticed her start to unfold her wings, he tilted his head. "Leaving already?" He asked.
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Post by 0 on Feb 14, 2017 2:58:13 GMT
The answer to her question was even more confusing than not knowing.
The bat had no idea how to follow up, and the look she gave him clearly conveyed her befuddlement.
She shook the expression away, however, at the cat's next question, to which she nodded.
"Yes.
I follow wind.
Makita kung saan ito napupunta?"
Her nose curved a line in the air, mimicking the motions of the twisting breeze.
The bat's ears fell forward, lips curling up in another smile, as her eyes watched the rustling leaves.
"Nice meeting, Taige.
Bye."
With nothing further, the bat swung herself out from underneath the branches, rising to meet the paling darkness of the evening sky.
Wide wings catching the updraft, she was quickly pulled away, the feline disappearing behind a collage of trees.
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