Summer games 2023: Talon Toss - Liv meets Boneless Pizza

The sun sent warm rays from the sky and excited chirps and chatter could be heard all around her. This year's summer games had begun. Stryx had come from all over to compete in various contests. And even if Liv wasn't exactly a fan of such gatherings, she couldn't resist the challenge either.

She was just walking over the top of the hill where the log tossing was taking place, head held high. A few Stryx were before her in schedule, but then it would be her turn. So she used the waiting time, stretching her wings and tensing her claws to warm up her limbs.

Suddenly, a Microstryx darted out of the crowd, so close its fluffy tail feathers nibbled at her nose. A rumble rose in her throat as she snorted, shaking her head to banish the uncomfortable feeling. Then she glared furiously after the Microstryx, but the small figure had already disappeared into the crowd. Instead, her eyes fell on something else.

Under a tree, a little apart from the others, sat a Gryph. He had a dark color that Liv couldn't quite identify in the shadow. But in places his body glowed in a bright red. He also looked quite... disheveled. As he moved, she caught a glimpse of his chest. Between the red glow she thought she saw bones. Was that some kind of accessoire or...? No. It was his own rib cage poking through his feathers.

Corruption, she thought. The characteristics were clear. No wonder he kept such a distance from the others. Or the others from him.

But Liv was undeterred. From her flock she was used to dealing with this disease.

Without further ado, she walked to the Gryph and stopped in front of him. He was taller than her, so she had to look up at him. Nevertheless, she didn't have to draw attention to herself, he noticed her right away and turned his head to her. More than two eyes blinked at her.

"Hi," she spoke to him and tilted her head. "You look like you could belong to my flock, but I've never seen you before. And I guess I would remember you. You're from somewhere else, right?"

Another blink.

"Looks like it," he then croaked. His voice sounded rough as a boulder.

"What are you called?", the brown Harpia wanted to know.

"Boneless Pizza."

She narrowed her eyes slightly when she heard this answer. "That's an... interesting name. I'm Liv."

"Nice to meet you, Liv," the Gryph rasped.

The female Harpia was already opening her beak to say something else when suddenly a loud voice sounded over the hilltop, announcing which participants were to arrive next. Liv was mentioned with them.

"Well then," she said, "I have to go. See you around." He nodded in reply, but she turned already and walked over to the stack of logs for the Stryx to use. This had become a brief but thoroughly interesting meeting.

At the log stack, a few humans scurried around, surveying the incoming Stryx and assigning them an appropriate log based on their size and strength. After all, no one could expect a small Hawk to cast the same trunk as a Royal Gryph.

A black-haired person circled Liv, who kept a suspicious eye on them. This person should not touch her without being asked, otherwise they would risk one of their hands.

Luckily for this human, they didn't get too close to her though. After contemplating, he ran to a heap of larger logs and recommended one of them to her. Deciding to take this recommendation, Liv rolled the log away from the others and began examining it more closely.

This log had definitely been used by others before, but it made up for this with it’s robustness and the bark was thick and rough. It would work for this task.

Gradually the time when it was her turn was getting closer and closer. So the Harpia grabbed the trunk with her claws and carried it to the starting point with a few powerful flaps of her wings. A thick rope was strung on poles several meters above the ground. So even flying Stryx could see the line at which they had to drop their load.

While Liv was still looking at the construction, she felt a burning gaze on her back. As she turned, she could make out Boneless Pizza's glowing eyes in the background of the crowd. He nodded to her as if wishing her good luck with this gesture.

Then the time came. It was Liv's turn.

She rose into the air again, the trunk between her claws, this time higher than before. Once satisfied with the height, she dropped into a rapid dive, the weight of the wood sending her toward the ground even faster than usual. With the momentum gathered from the dive, she flew a curve, firing at the border marker and just before the rope she let the log go.

Through the combination of momentum and muscle power, the wood actually whirled through the air for quite a long time before it hit the ground with a dull thump some distance away.

Extremely pleased with her performance, Liv landed, folded her wings and faced the judges with her head held high. Now what would they say to that? Surley they would be impressed, right? They just had to. As well as Boneless Pizza.

 

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