[center][H1][color=#f46b42]R [/color][color=#f17a57]Y [/color][color=#ee896b]L [/color][color=#f69071]A [/color][color=#fd9677]N   [/color][color=#fbb5a0]T [/color][color=#fca68c]W [/color][color=#fd9677]Y [/color][color=#f69071]F [/color][color=#ee896b]O [/color][color=#f17a57]R [/color][color=#f46b42]D [/color][/H1][/center]
[right][color=#ae9c9c][i][b]Durand Aviary[/b]
Night
Interacting with [/i][@Ambra][/color][/right]

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If one could ignore the monstrous claws capable of gutting a man with alarming ease, stryxes didn't make for half bad bunkmates. Their large frames offered ample cover, and their temperament towards strangers kept most dangers at bay. Once you earned their trust enough to get close, their plumage was softer than the finest pillow, and their wings a blanket worthy of kings.

Or so Rylan imagined. He hadn't actually dared to edge close enough to touch a single feather. 

He had been smacked in the face once or twice by a twitching wing, though. It turned out that either stryxes were capable of seeing very restless dreams, or just unconsciously predispositioned to slap the shit out of people hiding in their dens. Of those, Rylan could believe either.

But though they did shift in their sleep, stryxes didn't seem to be easily woken by unnecessary things. They paid little mind even to the harshest thunderstorm, and once they had gotten used to Rylan's company, were not bothered if he had to stumble over them to go make water. 

In short, if a stryx [i]did [/i]stir in the middle of the night, you knew something was amiss.

Both of the stryxes he shared the stable with stirred that night.

Rylan could hear the rustle of their wings and the snap of their beaks permeate his sleep, tearing at the thin veil that separated sleep and wakefulness. He groaned and resisted the pull of his consciousness, trying to chase a slowly waning dream - until realization finally struck him awake. Something was afoot.

At first, Rylan could not tell whether his eyes were open or not. His hand, the walls, even the stryxes; the darkness had swallowed them all. On some nights, Rylan could see the moon form a welcoming carpet at the stable door and dance upon the surfaces of pitchforks and pickaxes, but tonight he could not. The night was chilly and moonless. 

The stryx closest to him seemed the most agitated. Rylan could feel its muscles tense, and though he could not say for certain, he was fairly sure it kept staring at the abyss outside. There was [i]something there[/i], and judging by the reaction it garnered, it was unlike to be any of the Durands. 

The whisper of danger blew all sleep from Rylan's eyes. He was frozen in his place among the hey, afraid that his heartbeat was loud enough to lure in whatever stalked outside. The pounding [i]was[/i] loud enough to nearly deafen [i]him [/i]- and nearly render him breathless, too. Was it possible to choke on your own heartbeat? Every passing second made it sound more and more likely.

Rylan was just about to bury himself into the hay and wait for whatever it was to pass, when the stryx next to him tired of waiting. It stood up so suddenly that its wing knocked the the boy over onto his back. Eyes wide, Rylan scrabbled after the beast as if he had any chance of stopping it.

[color=#ee896b]"Where--- where are you going?!" [/color]the boy shrilled, outstretched hand unable to grasp anything but darkness. [color=#ee896b]"Get--- get [i]back [/i]here, you don't want it to know there's anyone here! And you can't... you can't [i]leave [/i]me, you know?! That other stryx is just a [i]fletchling[/i], an-- H-hey?!"[/color]

If the bird understood, it utterly ignored him. Rylan could barely make out its distancing outline as it stalked to the door. He hissed out breathless curses and scrambled after it. There was no way he was going to be left inside defenseless with only a babe of a stryx to keep him company. What if that something came inside!? It was best to stick to the predator's side, even if said predator was [i]a literal fucking birdbrain.[/i]

The scoundrel managed to find a pitchfork where he remembered them to be, and held one to his chest as if it was a shield. He was practically glued to the bird's side, every sense pushed to their physical limit - until a glow in the darkness brought his eyes rest. Rylan blinked, repeatedly. And each time his eyes opened to focus back on the source of the light, a chunk of his fear turned into confusion.

The light was coming from a torch. Monsters did not carry torches - at least, Rylan was fairly certain they did not. If they did, they perhaps weren't as scary as he'd thought.

Indeed, as his stryx companion stopped to spread its wings an angrily snap its beak at the dark figure ahead, Rylan realized the only thing scary about this particular stranger was his stupidity.

[color=#ee896b]"What do you think you're doing?"[/color] Rylan hissed, pitchfork pointed at the strange man's back. It wasn't quite like him to get to the point without a snide remark first, but this also wasn't quite a normal night. 

He didn't know who this man was or what he wanted with the two stryx he was bothering, but the way he cloaked himself and sneaked around at such an hour spoke volumes of his intentions. He certainly wasn't anyone from the aviary.

Now that the pitch black darkness had been permeated by a sudden light source, Rylan found himself nearly blinded by the brightness of it. He raised one arm to shield his eyes, pitchfork wobbly in his other hand. Not that he had anything to fear from a crook [i]this [/i]stupid. [color=#ee896b]"Raise the torch a little higher, [i]will you?[/i] Don't think the entire aviary's seen you yet."[/color]
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