Activity Rolls: Ailith Seaspray Hunting

The roadway looked very calm. Just like the one Dutch had shown her the other day. A vivid orange eye gleamed as she let her beak fall into a cruel smirk. Seaspray momentarily eyed the little hawk nearby, who was entirely focused on chasing a monitor lizard of some sort. Ailith, sensing eyes on her, straightened for all of a second to hiss at the much larger stryx before resuming her pursuit of the reptile. A wily foe for sure.

Seaspray set her stance. One wing dropped lower than the other as she took on a wounded stance, and let her expression fall into one of pain. Her tail flopped to the ground and she made sure to look as off balance as she could, waiting for her prey to show itself. Ailith didn’t even spare her a glance as the tiny brown hawk screeched in fury at the lizard, which was still outpacing her.

There! Just down the road, a lone human on a horse. Seaspray made extra sure to lower her feathery ear tufts. Last time, she’d forgotten to lower them and the humans had been slower to approach. She made a pathetic whining noise as the human drew closer.
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Avent pulled the reins of her horse. The animal seemed wary of the giant stryx, something she chalked up to the size of it. The bird was injured. Its wing hung in a broken manner as it made a pathetic whine.

“Stay,” she ordered her horse. Naturally, the moment she dismounted, the unruly animal bolted back the way they’d come. Avent groaned. Now she was with a giant, injured dragon with no way to escape if things went south. She turned back to the stryx in time to see its perk up, blue feathers rising from their injured positions. Avent gasped as it straightened up and approached slowly. Menacingly.

The stryx started to lunge, but was interrupted by a monitor lizard. Its eyes narrowed in anger as a brown hawk ran awkwardly in between the two, pausing just long enough to stare at what it had interrupted. It seemed to shrug as best as a bird could possibly shrug before charging back after its quarry. The larger one made a pleased warble as it took another step forward. At that moment, Avent’s instincts kicked in and she bolted, vanishing into the undergrowth. The stryx behind her growled as it chased.
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Seaspray cursed Ailith under her breath as she chased the human. If that blasted hawk hadn’t interfered, she could have captured this one! She perked her ears to scour for the sound of running. Distantly, Ailith could still be heard chasing the reptile. Secretly, Seaspray hoped she never caught it. Just closer, the brush rustled. Seaspray lowered her head, rolling one eye to peer between the foliage. Only a regular ground bird; a turkey. She stood back up, making sure to step directly on the bush as she moved further in. She sniffed the air as she kept listening.

There. On the left. 

 

She approached silently, catlike. Her senses narrowed as she drew ever closer to the bush, beak opening slightly to prepare for the final strike. Seaspray pulled her head back. She reared slightly. Her neck launched her head forward lightning quick, intending to grab her prey, only to be met with a wall of feathers as the idiotic hawk burst through, holding the lizard she’d been chasing. Like a fool, Seaspray had hyper fixated on only her target. This meant Ailith had been off her radar, which had led to the accidental ambush.

 

Ailith screeched in surprise. Her lizard fell out of her beak, skittering away again. She shot Seaspray a withering glare before giving chase again. Seaspray growled as she refocused on the bush in front of her, noticing the long stick attached to some of the branches. Following the stick, she noticed it led to a completely different plant.

Clever girl.
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Avent held her breath, noticing the larger stryx had spotted her stick. She’d been attempting to divert its attention long enough to run as it attacked the other bush, but the hawk had managed to provide more cover by accident. She’d dashed to the base of a tree, hiding amongst the roots and desperately ignoring the many bugs crawling below and on her. The giant stryx hissed to itself, perking its ear tufts upward. Avent only exhaled when she saw the beast lower the ears and stalk in a different direction.

She laid there while the blue dragon stalked around the area, seeming to know she couldn’t have gone far. Its pursuit was interrupted every so often by the hawk still chasing the lizard. For once, Avant’s luck seemed to be looking up. The hawk made the Rhakos’ search for her so much more difficult, meaning she’d been overlooked twice now. Avant silently sent a prayer to Galyx, asking the deity to let her survive this situation. She held her breath as the Rhakos looked at her again.
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Seaspray sneered when Ailith ran up to her feet, chirping at her. Her massive head lowered to the hawk’s level. Ailith subtly motioned to the tree she’d been staying near and scraped her feet on the dirt. Seaspray grinned, looking directly at the human. Her snack seemed to have realized she’d been seen, leaping to her feet and grabbing a nearby branch. How convenient. She drew herself up in a dramatic pose she’d copied from Dutch. From Ailith’s small squeak, the hawk apparently knew where the pose was from, and decided she didn’t have the same flair as the Mad King. Ah well. Not like the human was going to wind up being a problem.

In one swift movement, she leapt towards her prey and struck. The human had no time for a final cry for help, scream of terror, or even to run. The death was instant. Painless. Seaspray gulped down her latest snack. She then turned to snarl at Ailith for all the interruptions, only to find the hawk had taken off. Seaspray snarled, feathers bristling. She’d get her revenge on that little hawk some day. It was just a matter of time.