Quite the Welcome [attn; Cal]

[Avyra]

His defensiveness shocked her for a moment. Tempest bristled her feathers for a moment at the raise in his voice, clicking her beak once. "I don't know. I guess. I don't mind too much. I want to be an Aes Sedai, sure, but I'm perfectly content waiting a touch and staying with my birds. They do help, with all the stuff that's been going on... it definitely helps to have a few friends who can't... well... feel the same. It forces you to have something to keep taking care of even after a tragedy. Life goes on for these birds." Tempest suddenly bristled again, spreading her wings and flapping them roughly, almost angrily, footing the glove a few times. "I think she wants back in. You aren't afraid of birds, are you?" She stood, not really waiting for an answer. Tempest shut her wings and let her feathers fall with an annoyed click of her beak. "Good. I mean, if you don't want to come, that's fine. I would like to get to know you better, though. Light knows you could need some friends around here."

[Cal]

Zuin stood with her. "I don't mind. I'll come with you. If you don't mind that is?" It wasn't a lie. He wasn't afraid of birds but he wasn't comfortable around them like he was around books. But he had gone this far so he could go on. It wouldn't kill him to try.

He had picked up on something in her voice, in the she had spoken about becoming Aes Sedai and about her birds. This girl had a past, and it hadn't been a pleasant one, he was sure of that even now having only spoken to her for a few minutes. He wasn't going to push her on whatever had happened, no so soon after having met her. It wouldn't be fair to her.

"Light knows I need friends, full stop" He muttered quickly to himself in what he hoped was a low enough voice that she wouldn't here him. It surprised him again, he really wasn't like this most of the time. He guessed it was just the weather driving him crazy. They didn't usually get weather this bad at home despite it being cold during the winters. Snow like this only came in the mountain path, not in the country side, especially where he came from which was one of the warmer parts of Andor.

[Avyra]

"Light knows I need friends, full stop," he tried to mutter. She looked back at him, not able to keep the grin from her face. "You might not believe me now," she said. "But you will need friends for the next few years of your life. Mine are the only reason I've gotten this far; I would have been kicked out the moment I was able to be set free had it not been for their support." She wasn't lying. Pretty much everyone in the upper ranks hated her. She only had the friends she had made as a Novice. The mews weren't far; it was basically a compound with an airlock and several cages on each side, all covered with wood. She slipped into the airlock, holding the door for him with her free hand, Tempest sitting calmly on her other. "They aren't in the best shape," she said, sighing. "Not many falconers in the Tower. I only know of one, and I've never seen her or her bird around here, so for now its basically mine until I finish my class on the subject." She opened one of the cages, motioning for him to follow her inside, and closed the door behind them. It was full of perches and swings, about ten feet by ten feet by ten feet. She unhooked Tempest, letting the falcon land on a perch to the side, where she watched them with a bobbing head.

[Cal]

He cursed himself in his head when he realised that she had heard him. He stayed silent though despite the fact that she had misunderstood what he had meant. For an Accepted she was nice but he wasn't going to take a risk by correcting her. Most likely she would just see it as a Soldier trying to seem better or more important than he was.

He stepped into the airlock behind her and followed into the cage, closing the door behind him. He didn't like the idea of the being locked in the cage, even one this big, but he reassured himself that he would be able to get out if need be, the Accepted could blast the door if it came to it.

He watched the bird as it flew to sit on a perch to their side and as it watched them. He watched it as it watched them and stared deep into those eyes. They were cold but not cruel he decided. He shivered slightly and looked away.

He laughed inside his mind. He was imagining things, put emotions to creatures. Birds were intelligent but they couldn't understand emotions to that level, could they? He didn't want to think that a bird had that level of understanding. If they did then it implied that humans were not totally unique in their complexity, the complexity which distinguished them for other life.

[Avyra]

Tempest watched them as they left, preening her feathers once the cage door was shut and she was alone. "I have three birds," Avyra said. "I don't like to bring Theta out in this weather. He's a kestrel; they're easily chilled because they're so small." She opened another cage, motioning for him to follow. This one was smaller than the first, and at first the bird inside wasn't obvious. Then there was a high pitched chitter, and down flew a tiny little falcon, which landed on Avyra's shoulder, staring at her with black eyes. "Theta," she said, offering the small bird a gloved finger. "You know we don't go there." The bird was beautiful, only about the size of a man's fist wit gold feathers, white underbelly, and blue gray on its head and wings. It also had that falcon mark under its eyes, to reflect the glare of the sun when hunting. As cute as it was, it also had the makings of a raptor; sharp little claws and a hooked beak. "He likes to hide and play tricks. He's very much a stinker. He also loves to bite, but I'm working with him on that." Theta gave a chitter, hopping onto a nearby perch next to Zuin, watching him with a tilt of his head, then fluffed himself up real big and stood on one leg, eyes narrowing. Avyra laughed. "He's in a good mood, it seems. They like to fluff up when they're happy."

[Cal]

Zuin followed her into the new cage. So she had three birds. By the fact that the first two were different he would guess that all were differs breeds. It made sense, having different types of bird would keep it interesting. It would be like him only reading books on only one subject, eventually it would get boring regardless of how much fun it was ay the beginning.

The small bird which had landed on her shoulder was cuter than the big bird which, the falcon, which she had had early. It seemed less dangerous, something he was a little more comfortable with. Then Zuin noticed the claws on the small one. After all, maybe it was as dangerous.

The bird moved suddenly to a perch near Zuin and he started. He hadn't expected it to move, not to there at least. The creature was staring at him with those small, black eyes of it. They were no different from the eyes of the other bird. Smaller, maybe, but no less cold. Despite the cold eyes he couldn't deny that the bird, with its gold and white feathers was beautiful. But that didn't take the sting out of it's hooked little beak.

He was coming to realise that a lot of birds were dangerous, before he had know of falcons and hawks and that was all of the dangerous ones, or so he had thought. Now he was beginning to see that lots of birds were dangerous. He didn't doubt they could be trained but that didn't take away the fact that they were natural predators. He most certainly didn't trust this bird even if it was trained. He supposed that was just him though and his own biased views created from his childhood.

[Avyra]

"He's a member of the smallest falcon species," Avyra continued to explain, offering her glove to the bird, who hopped on happily. "They're incredibly energetic and love to eat mice and bugs." Theta bobbed his head, eventually focusing on something else. Avyra moved the bird up and down, and his head stayed in the same place, watching whatever he was fixated on. "They bob their head to reposition their vision," she paused. "And they can hold their head still while in a bumpy situation. Helps them spot their prey from a windy day on a branch." Theta suddenly spread his wings and swooped away, landing on a perch near the top of the mew. He bobbed his head again and flew back down, this time making his home on Zuin's shoulder. He bobbed his head and floofed. "That's not where you're supposed to be, Theta. You know this." She only got a head bob in return. Avyra, however, didn't seem to be too concerned. "You okay? Want a glove so you can hold him?"

[Cal]

Zuin only just managed to resist taking hold of the Source in his shock at the bird. He had felt himself entering what they called the Void, his emotions fading away. He had forced himself out of it before the struggle for control with Saidin had started but the fact that he had acted on instinct scared him. It shouldn't become so natural to reach for the Power. Yet at the same time it pleased him. He was obviously getting accustomed to using the Power if he was able to reach for it on near instinct.

He pulled his thoughts away from the Power and back to the bird sitting on his shoulder. He could feel its small talons digging into his shoulder. It didn't hurt but there was a certain pressure to it.

"A glove you would nice, thank you" He managed to get out. He wasn't scared of the bird, just unnerved by it. It was the eyes he decided, black eyes that never broke contact with his even as his shoulder moved and the birds head bobbed up and down.

The fact that it hadn't clawed him, only watched him surprised him. From what he had seen of hunting birds they had seemed violent and unpredictable. He was beginning to think that his fathers falconers had been bad at handling and treating their birds and that my have made them more aggressive than they would have been naturally.

Once he had a glove on his hand he waited patiently for the bird to move from his should down to his hand.

[Avyra]

Avyra quickly brought him one of the older gloves, unclaimed by anyone. However, he didn't seem to understand how to use it. "You have to offer the glove," she explained. "He won't go to it when he's got your perfectly good shoulder right there." Theta bobbed his head, squeaking pleasantly. Avyra reached up, holding her own glove slightly above his shoulder. "Step up." The bird stepped up, and let Avyra bring him down to Zuin's fist. She then held her glove slightly below his. "Step up." The bird settled in comfortably, fluffing his feathers then smoothing them again, bobbing his head. "They go to the highest perch available, you see."

[Cal]

Zuin watched as the bird flew from his shoulder to Avyra's hand and then into his hand. He could still feel the bird's grip through the leather glove but it was less sharp. There was still pressure but it felt less due to the glove.

He watched the bird as it settled itself on his hand. He had never been this close to a bird as this. Surprisingly he wasn't scared of it. He had though that he would be terrified but instead he was calm. He had seen a couple of these birds today and so far neither had tried to maul him. Something he was quite happy with and hoped would stay that way.

He couldn't constantly act like everything would kill him when evidence showed him that it wouldn't, at least not for no reason. Instead all he could do was act as he would bases on what he knew and hope for the best. If the Wheel decided to kill him off then so be it. There wasn't anything he could do about it. In the meantime however he intended to keep on going with his life. All he could do was try to live it as well as he could while he could. Nothing more and nothing less.

It was a happy realisation. He nearly laughed out loud at the thought of it. He would live life and hope. It was a thought that was most certainly not like him. Before he had been careful and planned, he was still like that but there was no point in being to cautious. All it did was hold him back.