Zephyr's world was expanding quickly, at almost the rate his young body was exploding with growth. The fact that he was once content to remain nested within his fireplace was almost laughable now, with the wide world of Artorias' castle in view. His savior wolf had found for him some food, cleaned the soot and spider webs from his face, and eventually unleashed him upon the Hallows.

The fledgling argentavis had been told where the exit was - an oversized main door that led out into the courtyard. The prospect of going quite that far was still overwhelming, so he noted its position to explore more at a later time. Toddling across the stone floors across the spacious high-ceilinged grand foyer to the east, he made his way through into the next wing. Some of the wooden doors here were shut, and no matter how hard Zephyr scrabbled against them they would not open for a bird of his size. He slid his body onto the floor and tried to peek through the bottom crack to investigate within, but found his beak too fat for his far-set eyes to reach to see.

Abandoning the inaccessible room, he continued across toward the first opened door he was able to find. The chick was not entirely sure what this room's purpose was, but judging from its comfortable-looking furnishings, warm inviting lighting, and lack of any strewn personal possessions he figured it was a communal zone of sorts. He wobbled forward, giving the various bits of furniture a cautionary yank with his beak as he passed by. In places the floor changed too, growing thicker and warmer and colorful then the surrounding stone. It felt nice upon his talons, reminiscent almost of his nest, and Zeph made a note to ask Artorias for one of the special floors for his own sleeping area.

Reluctantly abandoning the very cushiony flooring, Zeph made his way back toward the expansive hallway. His talons clicked loudly as he sauntered past closed door after closed door until, another room appeared.

The chick hopped forward through the open doorframe, watching with wonder as the stone morphed into a smooth cold tile. Pits of various sizes were built into the floor, each with an odd hole-ish circle at the bottom that Zeph was certain would consume him if he moved too close. He hop-stepped closer still, avoiding the massive death pit and instead reaching for the odd contraption hanging over it. Though the bird stretched out his neck and pried open his beak, it remained frustratingly just out of reach. Relaxing his body with a sigh, he turned his head to survey the rest of the room. Small things that might have been food were on a nearby stand and -

-plop! He was under attack! Fluffed up in all his glory he raced unevenly away from the rogue water droplet, scurrying past the might-be-food stuff and out into the safety of the hall. It did not take long before Zephyr decided this wing of the castle wasn't that great at all. He hurried back past the closed doors and the soft-floor room, hooking a left back into the grand foyer and by the time his tired talon reached the stairs, heaving a full-body sigh.

How big was this castle? It would be easy to remain here where there was plenty of food traffic, SOMEONE would find the poor exhausted bird and take him somewhere warm with lots of food, right? Though he couldn't anticipate how long he might wait, and the longer he stood before the stairs the more his hunger grew. Giving in to his constantly roaring stomach, the bird continued on toward the west wing.

Already the first room was much better than any of the others on this floor, and though Zephyr's sense of smell was nothing compared to the wolves, he could tell there was food here somewhere. Hopping along the stones with his wet head forgotten, he moved through the grand room in search of the hidden feast. Emulating his wolf role models his beak tipped up as he waddled, waiting for the scent to guide him as it seemed it guided his furred family.

This room never seemed to end, and poor Zephyr was practically dragging himself across the ground as he made it to the doorway that smelled like heaven. It was much smaller than he'd expected the adjoining room to be and smelled more of fire than anything else food-ish. Confused, he continued past until a small dimly lit stairway came into view.

Zephyr was not good at stairs, this much he already knew. However there was very little the stomach-guided bird would not do for food. It took him mere moments to banish the instinctual fear of falling and for the hatchling had decided the risk was worth the reward. Zephyr turned himself so that he could move down backwards, beak stabilizing his descent.

This room was the best room of the house, surely. Ecstatic chirps peeled from his open beak as he waddled through, sniffing hard and trying to find a foothold to reach the higher-up morsels of meat.  

WORD COUNT: 858

"Zephyr"

Restlessness brought Lia from her room in the wee hours before dawn. Her body felt hot and she was uncomfortable in her skin. The cool night air in her coat was a relief, and her paws brought her down the stairs, and towards the great feast hall. The crackling of the fire there was beginning to feel like home.

She passed close by it on the way to the kitchen. Pausing as she approached the pantry. The scent that had been niggling at her nose was stronger here. It smelled like something feathered. She paused, lingering at the stairs. Was something down there? Perhaps she ought to go get Artorias…

She imagined asking the Aegis to hold her hand while she went down into the pantry, and snorted at herself. She took a deep breath, and marched on down. What she found, was a adolescent bird, its feathers more fluff then defined. Despite this, it was big, big for a baby bird. “Well hello there, how did you get in here?” she asked, more to herself. Was this some strange livestock she hadn’t realised the Hallows kept?

Speech

Beak upon the shelving, one talon waving desperately in the air while the other stood tip-claw, Zephyrus struggled against the betrayal that was his diminutive stature. If only he was big like Artorias, then surely he could manage a mouthful of the aromatic meat that surrounded him on all sides. The familiar sound of wolf steps was as exciting as it was startling, and in a combination of thrill and caught-in-the-act embarrassment, the chick released his beak from the shelf and dropped to the ground ass-first as the wolf rounded the corner.

His first immediate feeling was disappointment - this wasn't Artorias. The next was curiosity, his blue beak tipping to the side as he noticed this wolf's size difference in comparison to the Aegis. "Hello." He peeped, clearly a little uncertain. She wanted to know how he got down here and his brows furrowed slightly, trying to dissect her question. Was the door not supposed to be open? Was he not allowed down here? "I climbed down the stairs," and then, with a rumbling in his stomach, the raptor chick delivered the sad, starving orphan finish. "I'm hungry."  

"Zephyr"

Knock her over with a feather, he spoke! She paused in the act of reaching for the shelf, and did a double take, looking the bird over again. Paying more attention now, she caught the fresh scents of Briar and Artorias over this bird. Whoever or whatever he was, her Aegis and Queen had been with him, and recently.

“That’s some pretty good climbing, little one” She said, and had no defence against his mental attack. She moved closer to him, crouching. “Oh? Well how about you hop aboard, and we can see what we can scrounge up for you. Do you like meat, or seeds, or both?” she asked, already considering the Hallows resources. She did have that jar of honey Halo had gifted her with recently…

Speech

It seemed that being offered a ride upon a wolf's broad shoulders wasn't going to be as uncommon as Zephyr worried it may be, and his feathers puffed out in excitement as this warmly colored female crouched to offer him a ride. "I am a good climber." The chick confirmed, his tone clearly displaying his pleasure in being recognized. "See I just use my beak like dis-" Hopping up toward the crouched canine, Zeph reached as high as he could with his beak and grabbed a mouthful of soft fur. "-den I pwuuuuull" Muffled voice grew strained as he yanked, talon flailing for purchase to assist him up onto her back.

It was much easier to climb this smaller wolf then it was to climb Artorias, but by the end of it Zeph was huffing and puffing regardless. "Easy, see!" He exclaimed breathlessly. "Now where's the food? What's a seed?" No one had ever asked him what he liked before, his mama-owl had just pushed down his beak whatever meal she'd happened to catch that night.

"Zephyr"

The bird even sounded like a kiddo, all proud and puffed up as he spoke, causing her eyes to crinkle at the corners. He sounded so innocent in his youth. The way it was supposed to be. She held still as Zeph moved to her back, and took the offered ride. Pulling himself up by his beck. She grunted just slightly at the pull of her fur, but otherwise looked pretty unconcerned by it.

“Hey, that was pretty good! Keep your balance now” she warned as she climbed slowly to her paws. Careful not to unbalance her precious passenger. As she rose to her full (but not terribly impressive) height, she began to scan the shelves. Grabbing a small bag, and then putting things in it. She chose with familiar care, humming softly under breath. “hmm… no, no… ah. Yes” as she decided what to grab. “Here, tell me what you think of this?” she asked, as she placed a sunflower seed on her back in front of him.

Letting him decide what he thought of that, she made her way back up the stairs to the kitchen, mindful of her young passage as she did so. Once there, she began to lay out some jars and packages on the bench. “Let's do some experimenting, and see what you like best, yeah?” she suggested. She started with rolling up a ball of the soft parts of meat, and dipping it in a little bit of honey. “Open up and i’ll toss it in” she said with a grin.

Speech

The compliments kept coming and Zephyr's grin widened, planting his talons into the space where her shoulder came up against her spine so he could balance. He wanted to impress her, but every time he tried to stand up straight he lost his nerve and buckled back into the fur. The chick redirected his focus instead upon the shelves they were raiding, attempting to sniff it as he saw the wolves do.

She placed a small food item upon her back where he could reach it, and just seconds after she was clear of the way Zephyr's opened beak was slamming down upon it, grabbing it tightly in its hooked tip and throwing his head back to swallow it. "Too small." He declared with a frown. Suddenly she was walking again, and Zephyr had to grab a beak full of her scruff to stay upright as she climbed up the stairs.

This room was still decently boring to him, but if this is where she needed to be to procure tasty meals then he could accept it. As she passed by a countertop, Zephyr took a big leap off from her fur and onto the hard surface. He stumbled slightly but managed to not dent his beak upon the granite (which was more of a win than he'd expected.)

"Okay!" Stamping his talons and shrinking down into the counter, he gaped his beak open and awaited the promised tasty meal.

"Zephyr"

She startled a little when he leaped on the counter, but he found his balance, and didn’t go tumbling off. Lucky, too, she wasn’t sure how well she would have been able to catch him. She wasn’t sure what parts of him she could even safely grab without hurting him.

With the bird on the countertop watching her, she finished her first treat, and watched as he shrunk down and tilted his beak up. Just like a baby bird in a nest only… much bigger. “Catch!” she said, and very lightly tossed it into his beak. She watched just long enough to ensure he wasn’t about to choke, and then got started on her next thing. She diced up some rabbit meat and lightly seasoned it with corn. “Tell me what you think we go, and we can start to make something you really like, yeah?” she said as she tossed this next meat bundle.

Speech

The food swung toward him and the eager chick devoured it as quickly as it fell into his awaiting beak. "Mmmm!" Zeph's stubby wings gave a few happy flaps in turn, and then he was waddling back across the counter to see what she was preparing next. "What is this? No fur, no bone?" It wasn't a criticism, but curiosity. Wolves seemed capable of much more than his mother owl had been, was it because wolves had such different mouth structures, so they needed a wider variety of food.

Another bundle was tossed and Zephyr opened his beak wide to swallow that one too. "The food here is really good." He complimented excitably, marching in place upon the countertop. "What do they call you, food bringer?"

"Zephyr"

She glanced Zeph up and down again at the words, and considered him. It was possible he needed some fur and bone in his diet. Unlike wolves, which ripped open their food, he would be accustomed to swallowing things whole. “I’ll catch you some mice today, so you can get some skin and bones too, okay?” she suggested.

Now that she had likely taken the worst of his hunger off, she grabbed a scoop of honey and scooted closer to him. “Stick your tongue out” she requested, and if he did so, she would drop a dollop of honey onto it. “I’m glad you like it so far. I’ll keep experimenting over the next few days, and see what else you like” she promised him. “I’m Lia”

Speech

Were all wolves so kind and thoughtful as the ones who lived in this castle? By the look of the creature it should be a much more ruthless beast, but so far Zephyr himself had posed more of a danger than any of the wolves he met - excluding Artorias, who could bisect an eagle as if his teeth were ten feet long. "How 'bout squirrels? I like their tails." He countered helpfully.

The fire-kissed wolf was moving towards some yellow squishy stuff next and Zeph's eyes grew wide, already wondering what texture such a paste-like food could have. He stuck out his thin tongue as told, waiting. It did not quench his hunger and stir his stomach as the chunks of meat had, but the flavor upon his tongue was enjoyable. And sticky. Slapping his tongue around his beak, he continued. "I am Zephyrus or Zephyr or Zeph or 'ward'. Can you put this yellow stuff on the squirrels?"

"Zephyr"