The lot of them were staying the night in the Armada. For some reason, he couldn’t share a room with Sirius, so he ended up in a guest room to himself. An elevated bed, a little fireplace. It was a pretty cool set up, actually. He sat by the fire for a little while as the last of the sun faded, and found himself restless. Restless, and hungry. He hadn’t snacked all day and his stomach was on strike.

He wasn’t even sure where Halo was. Staying with a Hallows friend instead of a guest room, so he couldn’t even beg his usual source, either. He had a pretty good idea where the pantry was. Maybe he could just… just a little… no one would mind, right?

He crept out of his room, and down the hall, past the foyer, and into the feast hall. He began sniffing wildly, knowing his nose would lead him true.


"Speech"

Zephyr found his room to be too far away from the food, and with way more stairs then he was equipped to handle on the way to the pantry. Rather then stay in the 'goose room' as offered, he'd taken to either smushing his small body comfortably against Artorias and Briar's closed door to wait for one of the wolves to wake up and deliver to him life-sustaining food stuffs.

On this night they had retired to bed early, bringing to the bird the realization that he was on his own finding snacks for the moment. He hopped down the long stairway into the main foyer backwards (as was his habit now) and found to his surprise, a wolf standing before him. This wolf was large too, a familiar sight that Zephyr no longer questioned in his canine family. Instead, he hobbled up toward the titan and squawked in alarm. "Hey! Hey!" The chick begged, stumbling upon unstable talons as he made his way toward the blue and black wolf. "Are you getting food? Can I come?" Perhaps he was too loud in comparison to the wolf's sneaky ninja pose, but stuffing his beak was way more important than being stealthy about it could ever be.

"Zephyr"

Basilisk startled at the noise. Rising a food straight in the air like a startled cat, turning even as he landed. Heart hammering in his chest, he realised he wasn’t busted for his midnight hunt for snacks. Instead, he was faced with a fuzzy bird the height of a house cat. He paused, mouth partly open for a moment, and realised this must be Zeph. He’d been told of Zeph, mostly in the lines of ‘friend, not food, don’t eat’ a shame, too. He would have made a great snack, if a little feathered.

“If you don’t tell anyone about this adventure, you can come” he said, giving the bird a stern look. He didn’t want another lecture from his grandfather. And he definitely didn’t need another about his eating habits. He grew like… a foot a day, okay? He got hungry. “Can you, uh... make it down the stairs on your own, or do you need a ride?”

"Speech"

The giant wolf gave a massive leap, shaking the very floor on which Zeph stood as he landed. A panicked croak broke from his beak and his talons fell out from beneath him. "You scared the pellet out of me!" He gasped from the floor. "I thought wolves can't fly." Zeph made a mental note to ask to sit upon the giant's black back the next time he took off from the ground.

The conversation easily reclaimed his interest as the wolf gave him permission to come along, bringing the hatchling back to his talons in excitement. He wobbled over to the wolf swiftly. "Ride, ride, definitely a ride!" His too-fast response came, already seeking a patch of fur to pull himself up by. The act of mounting a wolf was becoming much more natural, especially when he got to practice on every wolf he met. Clambering up onto the titan's back he settled in for the ride, pointing one talon out in front of him and peeping a short, "Onward, to the food!"

"Zephyr"

Basilisk squinted at the bird. “Yeah, same dude. You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that” he chided. “What's a pallet, anyway?” he asked after a short pause. “That wasn’t flight, that was a jump” he explained, wondering if this bird-thing even knew anything about wolves.

“Alright, alright” Bas said as the bird scrambled over, demanding a ride. He supposed it was easier when you were that short. He started to crouch, but Zeph was already grabbing his coat. Basilisk winced and grunted with each pull of his fur and talon in his skin. This bird was far too enthusiastic.

Any protest he had was lost when Zeph reminded him why they were here. Food. “Onwards! To the feasting!” he agreed, and fell into a long stride as he made his way through the feast hall. “You happen to know where they keep it?”


"Speech"

This wolf's stride was much longer and less careful then the trip he'd taken upon Lia's back, but Zeph was starting to get the hang of how to hold on. "A pellet is food once it's done being food." He explained, sounding uncertain of his own description. "I don't know why we spit them out, because you're not supposed to eat it a second time, but it's definitely still food.. ish." Shrugging his wings slightly he carried on, swiveling his head in all directions to try and determine the way to the food-place, everything looked different from up high.

The door in the distance caught his eye and he batted his wing against the wolf. "There, there!" Zeph pointed. "That's where they keep the food, but you need to 'jump' over that wood thing first. Don't ask me why, I don't make the rules." With a wicked I-am-so-smart grin upon his beak, the chick hunkered down into the scruff and preemptively grabbed a beak-full.

"Zephyr"

“Shit, you're talking about shit?? If you shit on me dude…” he warned, turning his head slowly backwards to squint at the bird, and almost walking into a doorway. He then made a gagging sound as Zeph explained that they spit it out. What on earth was he talking about? Birds didn’t spit instead of shit. He’d stepped in bird shit before.

As Zeph patted him with a wing and pointed in the right direction, Bas looked at the indicated spot, and squinted. He had to jump? Weird, but, alright. He picked up speed, his stride more graceful then it had been only a season ago and he leapt. He lept like he had springs in his feet, sailing them far over the threshold of the door, and almost crashing into the following wall as he suddenly had to slam on his brakes. “Alright, we’re through… this isn’t food” he glanced about the kitchen, and then found the stairs down. “Oh, here we are” he said, the scent of food guiding him. “Hold on birdo” he said, and leaped down the stairs.


"Speech"

Basilisk's tone grew into something Zephyr could not pinpoint, but he did get the impression that the wolf would not appreciate him burping out a pellet onto his back. "I won't shit on you." He promised solemnly, unwilling to risk ruining his budding relationship with this new ride. The wolf gagged, and Zephyr's internal stream of questions grew. Did wolves not shit? or was it the location? Where did wolves shit? These were all questions that seemed dangerous to ask the easily-disgusted boy, and Zephyr made a mental note to ask Artorias instead, later.

Suddenly, the pair were airborne. Zeph's cries of glee echoed throughout the expansive room, his stubby wings lifting to catch the air as the wolf soared. Jumping was the best, and suddenly the chick realized why wolves did not need wings to fly. "Again, again!" He called, forgetting the food entirely as they entered the kitchen.

The wolf indulged him, leaping DOWN this time and bringing from the hatchling a much less joy-filled (and much more terror-filled) scream. His beak slammed into the wolf's scruff, his wings coming around the dark-furred neck in a tight embrace. Zeph didn't even notice Basilisk's paws hitting the ground, asking in a shaky voice, "Are we there?"

"Zephyr"

Zeph had clearly enjoyed his first jump, but the second seemed to scare the shit out of him - not literally, thank goodness - and basilisk was laughing as they landed safely down into the cellar. He pranced slightly as he looked through the unfamiliar place, feeling rather proud of himself for that fantastic jump - and with the extra weight of the bird on his back.

“Where there, you can release me down” Basilisk said as he began to follow his nose through the food storage. When he found what clearly smelled like delicious cured meat, he began to grab some off the bench. Once he had a decent armful, he lay down on the floor, curling in on himself so the bird on his back was facing him. He piled the food in front of them both, and hooked a piece of meat with a claw, dragging it towards his mouth. “Mmm. finally. I’m hungry enough to eat an elephant”


"Speech"

Basilisk had told him it was safe to come down (and he didn't feel any more wind in his feathers) so Zephyr cautiously peeked his head out from the fur. They were back in the food cupboard where he'd first met Lia, surrounded by temptation and with no adults to stifle their indulgence. "Get some of that squishy yellow stuff!" He pointed the honey out with his wing while the boy scavenged an armful of snacks.

Hopping over to the wolf and his hoard probably should have sent off some danger-instincts in the chick's brain, but all he could think about was his coming meal. He took a seat on the opposite side of the pile and luckily, the titan was set to share as he'd promised. "Ooh, which one's elephant? Is it your favorite? Ooh, which one here is your favorite??" Zeph's roaming beak nudged and tapped upon each snack in the pile, seeking out the best of the bunch.

"Zephyr"

Basilisk grabbed the ‘squishy yellow stuff’ as he was directed, and added the honey to their pile. “Oh, no. no elephant meat” He apologised as he stuffed a morsel into his mouth, barely chewing before he swallowed. “‘ish jush wut you say” he say he said around another mouthful of food. “‘cause on account of them being so big” he explained.

He paused then, grinning at the bird. “My Grandpa said he took down a mammoth once. Biggest thing he ever saw.” he paused for emphasis. “Almost as big as this castle ” he pointed at the cellar walls around them - and the castle beyond.


"Speech"