Rahm hummed as he sorted his scrolls into a neat pile, searching for a specific one. He recognised them by the dark notches on the side, but the one he was looking for seemed to be missing. He frowned, looking under the table. Nothing.
"Looking for this?" A harsh voice scrawed, and Rahm whipped around. A raven perched on the windowsill, a map clenched in its matte beam. Rahm held out a paw.
"Yes," he said shortly, noticing the marks on the side of the browning parchment. "Give it here."
He didn't like people touching his maps.
"Ah aha ah," the raven chuckled. "First you have to listen to the news I have. "
Rahm sighed, lowering his paw. He hated ravens. Always spreading rumours.
"Fine," he said, sitting down. The raven burbled in glee.
"Good good. So, me and my mates flew over the mountains, yeah? Like we do most weeks. Anyways, we get over there, and the watering holes are black. Like, rotten flesh black. And they stunk! Phewe! Nearly fell out of the sky! And we couldn't see anyone. They were all gone. And there were locusts everywhere, nibbling and rustling and humming- it was creepy. The land was dead as- as- as a dead thing. The sky was all smoggy, and it smelled too. It was bad! We hightailed it out of there as fast as we could, and here I am."
Rahm stared at the raven. Their stories weren't usually that fantastical, but maybe they actually gained some brain cells. But still...
"Why haven't the magpies said anything?"
The raven shrugged. "You know them. In one ear, put the other. They probably saw it and forgot about it all at once. And goodbye riddance, il never get the funk out of my feathers."
Rahm scoffed, swiping the map from the ravens indignant beak.
"I'll think on it," he said. "Goodbye, mr raven."
As the birds wingbeats faded away, Rahm let himself think over its words.
"The land was dead," he murmured to himself, map clutched in his paw, forgotten. The words stirred a memory in him, of a time long forgotten- and he too, had forgotten it.
Blackened grass and rotting water. Locusts.
He went cold, and dropped the map.
May the Elders save them all- if they could.

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Alaqirr tapped his foot on the ground impatiently, mumbling to himself. The dirt trail he was following forked up ahead, one continuing straight and the other curving in another direction- deeper into the woods. He lashed his tail restlessly, glancing from trail to trail and rubbing his white-furred chin thoughtfully.

"Maybe I should just set up camp..." Alaqirr murmured.

For the life of him, he couldn't remember the directions the other traveller had given him. The stranger had spoken quickly, wringing his hands and jumping at any of Alaqirr's movements. Rambling about ravens and the mountains or something. Alaqirr couldn't help but scoff. He had no reason to buy into the raven's tales of some kind of earth-shattering, apocalyptical plague brewing to the north. While the mountains may keep out man and beast, he figured that a curse or pestilence could bypass the stone barrier quite easily. Besides, who's to say the ravens weren't exaggerating?

Alaqirr shook the thoughts from his head and returned to deciding which trail to take, finally settling on the path that continued straight.

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Mala made her way through the forest quietly, her bow notched as she hunted for her prey. Her sharp eyes caught movement and she crept forward, watching as a traveler went down a fork in a road. She watched him silently. She was barely visible in the darkness of the woods, but if you looked carefully you'd be able to see her dark form.

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Tamiel bounded through the forest, heading home. He wondered what would await him. Would Rahm have his head in his maps, or would he be eager and waiting with a story?
He reached the road and stopped, making sure that no one was smoking before he finished the trek home. His wings shifted in anticipation.
Aw- there was someone. A lean form loping down the road towards him, head down. Tamiel sighed. He liked to talk, he really did, but right now he just wanted to go home to Rahm.
A tiny, almost imperceptible movement in the foliage behind the traveler made him perk his ears up, wings stiffening.
The form of a bow, and a crouched hunter lurking in the shadows. tamiels golden eyes glinted. he had no idea what was about to happen, and he loved it.
The tiger sat down in the middle of the road, wings askance, not bothering to hide his presence. This would be interesting.

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Mala shifted slightly, her horse half shifting only. Her human half staid completely motionless as she watched the traveler

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Qirrs ears flicked backwards as he heard a movement in the forest behind him. He slowed down and then paused, one foot still up to take a step, tail straight out behind him and twitching slightly with anticipation. His silver eyes shone in the sun as he scanned the area around him, glossing right over the figure of Mala without realizing she was there.

"Hmm, probably just a banch falling..." Alaqiir spoke aloud unconsciously.

With nothing drastic happening and no immediate danger presenting itself, he turned back to the trail. The catfolk jumped when he saw the elegant winged figure sitting a-ways in front of him, Qirr had been so absorbed with the sound that he'd not even seen nor heard him approach. He curled one of his left whiskers with his finger nervously, before addressing the other traveler.

"Oh! Sorry about that, didn't even see you-yeah?" He laughed.

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Tamiel tucked his paws closer underneath him and eyed the stranger.
"It's fine," he murmured, not really paying attention. his ears were swiveled and facing the underbrush. "where are you headed?"

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"Ah, if only it were that simple!", Alaqirr responded animatedly, "Well, I guess what ever inn or group of folks comes up next, or maybe a nice clearing."

He smiled, "I assume you're either heading home or heading out?"

(Alaqirr probably does drama club lol)

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Mala grinned as the traveler glossed right over her. She loosened the arrow in her bow that had previously been drawn taught.

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"Heading home, actually," tamiel said, settling his wings higher on his back. He eyed the stranger. "Say, would you want to come with me for a while? If you're looking for a place to spend the night, you can stay at my place. And my-" he coughed, cutting himself off. Rahm didn't like to be mentioned to strangers. Their either hadn't heard of him, hated him, or adored him. He didn't like either of those three options.
"My mate makes maps, if you're wondering where to go?"
Tamiel s eyes turned to the huntress again, noticing that she had relaxed her grip. He relaxed too.

(Hey, should I make an ooc thread and link it to the main post?)

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(That sounds good, if you want to ^^)

Alaqirr bowed, remnants of years upon years of training and classes, he realised what he was doing probably not as customary here as he thought and shot up again sheepishly. He rubbed the back of his neck and replied,

"Er- Thank you kindly, sir. I swear I'm not as much trouble as I appear to be," he chuckled.

He held out a hand to shake in greeting, the few bits of actual metal studding his leather sleeves and his tunic tinked together quietly.

"I'm Alaqirr, but you can just call me Qirr if you'd like."

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Mala stepped out from the forest, her dark hair braided tightly to keep it out of her face.

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Tamiel chuckled, extending his paw awkwardly to shake Qirrs hand.
"Pleased to meet you," he said. "We can go now, if you like?"
He jolted up right as the huntress stepped out of her hiding place, coming towards them.

(Ok, I'll make it now)

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"Sure!" There was an uptick in the nature of Alaqirr's voice as Mala rose out from the forest behind him. He whirled around, the fur around his neck stood on end as he unsheathed his claws and reached for the hilt of a small dagger in his boot. He wasn't surprised he didn't notice her until now, she carried a bow and had probably lived her whole life, meaning she was obviously better acquainted with the land and better trained than he- and, let's be honest, he never was the most attentive catfolk around.

He froze, crouched, waiting to see what the huntress would do next.

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Mala bowed her head to the two, drawing her fist up to rest over her heart, a symbol of respect in her family and culture. "I'm sorry for causing a disturbance" she said, her voice low, closer to a males instead of high like most females.

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