Her Kingdom by the Sea

The air was thick with mist only disturbed by the occasional flap of massive feathered wings slicing the very cloud that dressed the jagged rocks below in a coat of malleable white. The world fell mostly silent otherwise, the gentle murmuring of ocean water so far below barely reaching up to the cliffs to wash its ever present yet so quiet to the mind's subconscious ear. The sun had still yet to make its present known, the world around dressed in an inky shade of deep blue with the subtle tinge of grey to the horizon so far away. The feathered creature of massive proportions flitted down upon a particularly jagged outcrop, its stance wide with a long curved neck peering down below. An eye of rotted green scanned the crevice below, said eye searching for a potential meal to appease him.

A vulture he may be, but he carries upon his broad shoulders a… Peculiar palete. The very thought of eating something long since dead made him sick. Why feast upon the filthy scraps left behind when he'd already grown a taste for fresh and warm blood? And so silently, the monster sat upon its perch, waiting patiently for signs of life within the mist just below.

@Vendrussel
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It was unusual to see other then seagulls around the waters. Occasionally other birds would venture to in a diving, like falcons or the occasional eagle from the mountain.. Yet the sight before her was of neither of them, and in general Vendrussel could not tell what type they were. She had seen a vulture, and only knew it had to be a bird. For it held a beak like a falcon, and yet talons itself like those of the hunting eagles. She squinted a blue-gaze from her distance, unable to get a closer glimpse due to her still rather recent injury. She was able to move around for only short distances, thanks to the help of her friend and a strange healer coming toward to lend a helping paw. Only with them was she even able to leave the den, and get a breather.

Yet, was unable to leave the isle.

She was curious, and couldn't deny it. An observing gaze was given as she settled down to the ground and crossed her paws.

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Quick & Tiny Language Guide!
é - eh sound
c - always soft c (ie ice)

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The feathered devil anticipated an unsuspecting sea bird, or perhaps one of their chicks, to find itself feasting upon this dreary morning. The vulture flexed his massive claws, their sharp points coming to scrape against the rock's surface as he waited, eye seeing and ears listening. He swiveled his hunched head slowly, taking in details of the misty cliffside as he swept over them. All at once his sickly green eye spied what to him appeared to be that of a larger animal collapsing in on itself.

Éi?

Its pupil shrunk and grew in rapid succession, adjusting itself to bare witness to the most amount of information it could garner from its distance. A form, blue even behind the veil of mist, laid upon the stony ground. The motion had seemingly halted, an invitation in the eye of the aerial daemon. Spreading his wings wide, the bird lifted into the sky once again, only this time with the potential of closing in on fresh meat rather than searching for it. Fresh dead was still better than rotting dead anyway. Finding another, albeit lower rock to land upon, the massive bird settled in closer to the object of his current interest, eying the form with a deep tilt to his gaze.

"Ki kirii kou?" Came the cracked voice of the devil himself, head still tilted curiously as he eyed his presumed meal before realizing the canine before him was in fact alive upon further inspection.

"Éa, co. kwakicé kovka co vouku…," The feathered beast muttered moreso to himself beneath his breath than to the potentially listening ear, "Uquei ki kovouk ii?"

The maned vulture's questioning comment was followed by a tittering simper, quiet but apparent as a calm grin spread across his half marred face. His claws flexed again.
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"So you speak." Though she could not understand the words, she knew the vowels that were. It was not the familiar squawking of the gulls she knew, nor' the cries of owls and falcons. Something altogether knew, and a language that couldn't even be known upon her tongue. Vendrussel knew a handful of languages, and though her best was within dragon-tongue and English.. She knew a bit of others, solely for the sake of past-communication. Her land was isolated, wolves preferring to themselves, and reluctantly, had to interact. To not repeat the bloody past, they gained knowledge to save themselves another war within the north. With so, she too, learned those languages.

She observed, the two looking at each other with an interest. It was a wonder if he would understand her own, speaking in wolf-tongue and in English in particular, "do you speak my tongue?"

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”I speeak... Vut you call, common, yesss?” The devil spoke with an odd inflection, its words broken up into smaller sections to keep it simple. It had been quite some time since he’d used that tongue, so while he knew the words to this song, they were stilted at best while he would adjust. Along with his rhetoric, the bird twisted its head to a near unnatural angle with a haste that caused a snap from within its flesh. He was taking in the blue toned dog’s features, sorting key notes and filing them away for later. It wasn’t his first time interacting with her kind, far from it even. He knew well how they could bare their fangs at a moment’s notice, not that he found himself experiencing anything other than amusement. Why was it that this wolf remained earthbound? Most were fairly reactive to his presence, especially those he could consider local. Thinking on it a touch more, the avian did recall a small pack of wolves making their arrival more and more apparent in recent times, what with the slowing trickle of prey in his domain.

”You… Are new, here, yesssss?” The creature questioned, his neck recoiling in on itself and into the mane that ringed his shoulders, like a snake in a bush ready to strike at the right moment. Its glassy eye was seemingly locked upon the shewolf as he moved about, tracking her as if it were functioning. The bird clicked its tongue at her decidedly, as if the answer to its question presented itself to him despite mere seconds passing.

”Iss it why, you do not stand, for mee, kovka?” The feathered beast then asked, its tone offering nothing but a kind smile to follow up its utterance. Light plumes of mist had risen from the sides of his mouth as he spoke, their wisps haloing his form.
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She nodded, "It is uncommon to find your kind speaking my own tongue." She confessed with an amused tone, an eyebrow cocking upwards while looking at him with a cooling gaze — though internally mystified. At times she remembered few wolves having pet companions, woven together by destiny itself, and perhaps the dragons drew them together. She was not one of them, but with her knowledge about these spiritual beasts — none could speak to their partners. Silentless communication, where though the canines could never understand the spiritual partners, it was if they understood back. Maybe within this realm it was different ; the ancients warping it to a more promising time. How nice would that be true, but in the end all her babbling of changing the course of nature itself, Vendrussel would never truly know the truth. And what Gods, are in play.

"I wouldn't say entirely new, though it's been less then half a year since i've arrived to this region." Was he perhaps a bird that was native to this isle? For as long as she thought there only the seagulls and the birds of prey — non like him though. Yet it wouldn't be entirely surprising if Vendrussel had missed the bird, she was far too occupied by the war itself that loomed in the distance, and often her exploration left little to be seen at this desolate isle. Slightly embarrassing she would internally think, but never admit outwardly.

"But as you can see," her head turned toward the leg that lay flat, it smelled heavily of different meds, and she clung a stick closely to it, as a leverage of sorts. To keep it straight at least, so it can heal better. She did not want to heal into a crippled one, "I have a broken leg, and cannot move too much."

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"As uncommon… As a kovka thinking, before biting, Krau hlak ki," The beast's common tongue spoke methodically and enunciated, but shifted seamlessly back into a sharp and foreign dialect with equally sharp intent. His unscarred brow scowled if only for a second before easing up once again. The creature shook out his dampening feathers, sending a small spray of dewlets to scatter around him. His sickening green gaze returned to the wolf, his expression changing from that of a wide eyed animal with little thought past instinct to that of a creature with higher intelligence and motives. He mirrored the wolf.

"So you are… Part of zat pack zen?" The bird assumed as much, his body now adjusting to sit in a more proper, and comfortable, position. Head held high, wings finally tucked neatly, his physical inspection drawing to a close. While its brow held heavy upon his features, its shade hooding the seeing eye, a smile crawled across its beak.

"Khh krrk kovka? Ki kuquei kirii ii quikaikal…" He whispered again with a chuckle before returning to the wolf, "It is a shame zat you, have gone lame… Can you… Korkrée?"

It tilted its head in thought as he tried to find the right word, "Hunt?" The words came with a weight that fell heavy into the space between the pair.
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English wasn't her first language, and when she heard someone speak it illiteracy, Vendrussel had trouble digesting the words. A language she knew not of, mixing with a language she knew second-handedly. Though she would confess at her least her English was well enough to properly understand others, and speak it as well. She honed it enough especially while talking more at this land, where the language was quite dominant. She hadn't heard many others besides the similar tongue of Kei's Korean, and likewise her own dragon-speech language. It brought a wonder.. What was this birds?

"I am the Alpha of Dragonford Isles, we stake a claim at these isles and beaches." She gestured a paw to where they stood but made no indication of asserting dominance or displaying 'leave' motion. Though she did not know what type of bird it was — she imagined he wouldn't try to hold out a claim to it. As well.. Vendrussel was in no condition to truly try and fight, nor, did she want to.

"The best I can do is try to fish, but even that is difficult." A sigh escaped from the wolven dragoness, her paws crossing gently and looking toward his green-appled gaze.

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"Alva?" The bird cawed in bewilderment before bursting into a short fit of laughter, "Alva, vith a lame leg. Ssssad, indeed…" The brown feathered avian leaned down, slowly but surely becoming eye level with the laying wolf, yet still remaining out of immediate range should she try to lash out. Not that he suspected she would given her current state. A growing smirk began to split his features as ideas bloomed in his garden of thought.

Ca, ii ciik khh kiiva kala…

The winged demon stuck his tongue out, the sickly grey mass dragging across the crack in his beak with a newfound glee. Its eyes arched to mere crescents as he smiled down at the vulnerable 'leader' before him. A plan had hatched in his mind like no other prior. Keep thy friends close, and thy enemies closer. The bird hopped down fully, its massive claws scraping the rocky earth beneath them as he fell into a deep bow. Wings a near wolf length each splayed out in the sudden display of respect towards her majesty.

"I am, sssorry for, my laugh. Maybe ve could, help… Each ozer…?" The devil offered, not without his own motives, "I feed you now, you feed me later, téki kovka. Ve vork, as one." The bird licked its beak again, hunger stirring in his belly at the thought.

"It, could be good, alva," The vulture assured with a grin in its voice.
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This bird was offering a deal. She couldn't help but raise a brow in question, a silence filtering between the two as she hummed in a thought. It wasn't entirely bad, especially as the large predator could swipe a few fish for herself to feed on. It would help ease the cache' pile for others, such as the child @Jósteinn that roamed the isle.. She hasn't seen him that much, and will admit internally Vendrussel felt a bit guilty on neglecting so much — as they danced on chaos for quite some time, and only recently, in it's prime, gained the smallest of peace, At least for herself, as she wondered how long it would be for Kei to come back with either news of loss, or a hope to throw off enemies. 

"What are you able to hunt?" She did not immediately throw off the bargain, and her voice tinted with the slightest calmness as she was warming to the idea, but questioned.. Can he hunt only fish, or even more? She was more the willing to accept however, and was surely to answer yes in moments time.

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The question drew forth a laugh from the scratchy throat of the avian, a devious grin spreading further across its face as it leaned in with interest. "I hunt bird, I hunt rabeet, I hunt… many many krée… Anyzing can be… Krée if you try, hard enough," He clicked as he spoke, mouth watering at the idea of the hunt. He began to walk along the stony floor, his talons scraping with each step. Its massive wings folded neatly behind himself once more, their lengths crossing as the bird found himself in thought.

"I have… Collection. Many skullss, skulls of ki krée… Téki é tai, big and small. Ét ciik… Is… Ah," It started strong, but words began to lose themselves as the bird tried to recall them, "One is… Big... Cat." The hunched bird smiled at that, pride following his long passed accomplishment. He knew when to hold his tongue though, surely giving knowledge of his capability to take down the natural enemy of dog would earn him the queen's favor, rather than the grim alternative. Though what didn't immediately kill her wouldn't make her any weaker. Her leg was already doing the brunt of the work in that regard.
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She wondered if that was the language of vultures, the way he pronounced and clicked. As English was not her original language, Vendrussel would take his words and often repeat within her mind to properly understand ; translating it in the thought that it was right. As she knew a handful of languages due to the region her clan was in, her grasping of understanding it quicker then some was relatively right. Though she couldn't grasp what language he was, at least as time he spoke — she could understand his words a bit better, just slowly.

It'd have to take some time to be able to go back and forth — especially if the duo would connect in spirit for time being, a mutual bond between through hunting, "then a deal has been made," she said, a smile slithering to her face, "I am Vendrussel."

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The devilish bird tittered at the acceptance, a metaphorical faustian deal forged between the pair with ease. He shook out his feathers and stepped closer to the wounded wolf, more loosely confident now that the canine had shown interest in him in the way she had. He extended his inky black talons to slowly cage a blue paw within their grasp. The urge to pierce the soft pawpad just beneath was strong, to draw blood and form a blood pact to truly bind himself to the apex predator, but it resisted for now. Instead drawing the paw up carefully and preening the wispy fur upon it with his beak.

A display of respect.

"Ciraé aci," The vulture crooned with a dark smile, "Your kind calls me Scourge. It is... A pleasssure..."

Exit(?)

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