She slowly and methodically licked the blood from her left front paw, eyes half closed as she savoured the last metallic remnants of the liquid that had soaked into the fur between her toes. It was a taste that was undeniably alluring to her in a way that not even the effect of the psychedelic mushrooms she occasionally ingested could match. The remnants of the hare carcass lay at her feet, all bones and skin with just a few slivers of meat and cartilage remaining that she hadn't picked clean just yet. But her plan was to leave it out for the birds to clean up; their beaks wouldn't damage the bones as much as her own teeth would, and she wanted to keep them for her future projects. Especially the skull. Satisfied when the paw was thoroughly cleaned and spotless, Iðunn swapped to the right front paw, doing exactly the same motions as she hummed softly under a breath. It was a wordless tune, soft and gentle, almost like a lullaby a parent would sing to their child as they tucked them in for the night. It blended in almost seamlessly with the chitters and chirps of the critters and birds around her, almost fading away into the sounds of life around her. If one was not aware of her position, they may even assume it was a lonely song of a bird with no friends to harmonise with. When she finished cleaning both paws she sat back, the humming in her throat slowly fading into silence as her gaze travelled upwards to the foliage above her, eyes still half closed as she simply enjoyed herself and the peacefulness of the forest.

Aster headed south, away from the Wall and the lands she’d explored further north. There was nothing there but ice and hardly any food (at least, few that agreed with her stomach). Her favorite grubs and berries? Nowhere nearby. She missed blueberries.

The woods in the north chilled her to the bones. Aster had endured the cold to escape the ooze, but staying up north longterm? If she stayed here much longer, she risked falling ill, and falling ill in lands she hated and foraged poorly in tempted death. Maybe the summer months would be tolerable, but in spring, she wanted to return to a warmer climate.

As she flew, the birdsong soothed her nerves. As long as the birds sang, everything was okay. She trusted her navigation skills to guide her to a better forest. And she trusted the local birds to alert them all in the case of danger.

By chance, she looked down and spotted a brown wolf with a mostly-eaten carcass between its paws. Her stomach rumbled; her left wing dipped, almost of its own accord, and she slowly circled above the wolf until she landed on a nearby branch. Most of the wolves Aster had encountered liked or tolerated her, though she never forgot the danger of interacting with predator mammals.

“Hello! Your lullaby is quite soothing, almost as good as birdsong.” The blue jay leaned forward on the branch, her wings ruffling and betraying her impatience as she eyed the rabbit’s remains. “I’m Aster. Are you, uh, going to eat that?”

Her reverie was interrupted by a chirping voice off to the side and... up above? Eyes opening fully now, Iðunn looked around for the source of the voice, her gaze falling upon a small blue bird perched upon a branch. She canted her head to the side, eyes narrowing in curiosity at the small creature, not at all perturbed at the sight of it speaking in the common tongue. It was not too unusual to come across another creature that could converse well enough with a wolf, but to hear it speaking so fluently, more so than herself, well, it was quite fascinating. "Thank you, I have spent a long time perfecting my skills in singing," she said in a very thick Swedish accent, dipping her head in greeting to the small bird as she introduced herself. The name brought a touch of amusement onto her face, as the bird was blue, whereas the aster flower was more commonly found growing in shades of purple or pick. Perhaps the bird was colourblind, and couldn't tell the difference between those colours. "You may call me Iðunn." She purposefully didn't offer up her last name, feeling that it was best to not reveal too much information, even if the creature was just merely some type of blue bird. Iðunn's ears flicked forward curiously at Aster's question, watching the bird for a few moments before stepping back away from the carcass, motioning towards it with one of her now spotlessly clean paws. It had been her intention to leave it out for the birds to clean up the last remaining scraps anyway, so this was a fortunate opportunity that had arisen. But to see such a beautiful bird out by itself drew her interest, and she wondered if perhaps it had gotten lost, or chose to be all alone. She sat back on her haunches again, icy blue eyes locked on Aster, considering the pros and cons of potentially just grabbing the bird to offer as a more exquisite sacrifice. Creatures that were larger, or more unique, were considered a more powerful sacrifice, and her family needed all the help they could get out here in this strange place.

Aster tilted her head to the right. She couldn’t place the wolf’s accent, but she understood the other well enough. Iðunn was also polite; Aster waited a few seconds after the predator mammal moved way from the carcass, carefully eyeing the wolf’s body language, until she decided the risk was minimal.

Wings spread, Aster hopped off the branch and glided down to the rabbit carcass. “Thank you, Iðunn!” she chirped, fluffing up her feathers against the chill. “I wandered far north trying to escape the ooze, but I travelled too far from my usual home. Oh, how I miss millipedes and blueberries!”

Her left foot pinned a rabbit leg in place as she dipped her head, using her beak to pull the sinew away. The wolf hadn’t left much, but the blue jay didn’t need to eat much to fill her own belly. The slivers of meat hiding in the joints and around the tendons sufficed; as she stripped the bones clean, Aster made a neat pile of tendons, ligaments, and cartilage.

When she finished, she wiped her beak clean against the dirt and began preening the cold blood and flecks of gristle off her feathers. “Thank you, again! Are you headed south? Perhaps we can travel together—I make an excellent lookout, and, as you can see, I don’t eat much.”

The bird was swift to fly down and settle on the carcass, speaking of millipedes and blueberries, and an ooze. The latter caught her attention, and her ears flicked forward curiously. What was this ooze she spoke of? From the sound of it, it hadn't been good if the bird was trying to escape it. Maybe she'd take a quick gander southward to see this ooze for herself, if it was still around. "Is this ooze dangerous?" She wanted to know at least that before she made any plans to venture closer to where it was. Iðunn then watched silently as the bird began to eat away at the last remaining scraps of meat, setting aside a pile of bits that apparently weren't as edible for birds. Well she'd make use them; maybe dry them out to use for something nice to gnaw on, perhaps to keep Róta occupied and away from her offerings. She studied Aster closely with a keen gaze, considering the offer for the bird to be a lookout of sorts. It was tempting, but alas she wasn't about to travel too far south, and certainly not on such short notice. "Perhaps. But only to scout out any dangers." Her family had set up near the wall, and they were content to stick to the northern region where it was cool enough, as when summer came around they'd get too hot, having grown up far to the north where it was always icy cold weather. "Are you alone in your travels?" There was a glint in her eyes now, as if Aster had no fellow companions of her own, then she would make a good offering to the old gods for a blessing to keep her safe and untouched from any dangers when she did head southward. The blue bird would be a far greater sacrifice than a mere rabbit or chipmunk, as birds were far harder to catch, and so were considered a greater prize.

“The ooze?” Aster tilted her head to the right. Perhaps Idunn hadn’t encountered it before–if she stayed close to the coast, that was certainly a possibility. “Hmmmm, it’s a disease that has distinct physical characteristics. Affects all species, I think—even birds, even reptiles, even deer! How odd, right?”

“Hmm, well, if you have a scouting request, better ask it soon! I’ll have to move on soon if I don’t want to waste the meal you gave me.” Was that why the wolf looked at her so… intensely? Thinking about a particular spot Aster’s tiny bird body could squeeze in where wolves couldn’t?

“I left my family’s band a month ago, actually! But all blue jays stick together, you know? If I hear the call to mob a hawk, I’ll join! And if I make a call, they’ll help!” This was a true statement; Aster traveled alone, but corvids tended to support each other against other threats. “I guess wolves are different, huh? I’ve seen wolves fight, tear each other apart… for, what, exactly? A meal worth a few day’s energy? It’s not very sensible. Though I suppose hawks and owls act the same, so maybe it’s a quirk of the predator species….”

Her expression turned into a slight frown at the mention of a disease that was able to infect multiple species. If that was the case, then she would put her exploratory expeditions on hold, at least until she knew it was safer to go beyond where her family had set up, as for the time being they seemed relatively safe. "Yes, quite... is it still around?" Perhaps she would be lucky and this disease was already leaving now that Summer was well on the way, and she could brave heading down south to poke her head around. She thought about what she wanted to ask Aster, trying to decide what the most valuable piece of information would be for her to know before she set out. "Is there a pack close by to here?" Iðunn said simply. She didn't want to step on the toes of any potential pack wolves while she was out exploring, as her family was still getting used to this new land, and they didn't need the extra danger of dealing with an angry pack so soon after setting up camp. It would be best to know just how cautious she would need to be. Iðunn blinked in quick succession at the rapid fire of the blue birds next words, ears twitching with the effort of translating everything enough to get the gist of what Aster was saying. The common tongue was still difficult for her to understand, particularly when the other creature was speaking very fast, but she felt confident enough in her abilities to not mistranslate anything too badly. "Predators need meat to survive," she finally said with a shrug of her shoulders. And the old gods needed sacrifices in order to bestow blessings upon their followers. The strength of the blessing was only as powerful as the worth of the creature offered as the sacrifice. It seemed as if the blue bird was intending on leaving soon, so Iðunn figured it would be best to try and catch the bird before then, and to do that she needed to be fast. But too fast and the bird would spook, flying safely away and up into the air. She slowly stood up, stretching out her neck and legs as slowly and calmly as she thought was necessary to keep Aster from becoming wary. A precise strike would be needed to trap the wings beneath her paws, similar to how a snake would strike out to deliver a dose of venom. "Have you met any friendly hawks or owls?" Iðunn asked Aster, hoping to distract her by getting her to ramble on about birds, so that her attacking strike would go by unnoticed until it was too late.

“If there’s a pack in the north, I haven’t encountered it!” Aster chirped, happy to help. Information in exchange for a meal worked out in her favor, after all, especially if the information helped keep the helpful wolf safe. “I don’t know about the Ooze being around, though—maybe, I’ve been hanging around the cold and the coasts.”

Aster paused in her chatter as she watched Idunn stretch. Wait. Was this a rouse? Wolves typically didn’t care about hawks or owls, either… not like birds of prey bothered the ground-dwelling apex predators. “Why would I stick around to find out? Hawks and owls eat my family, I’m not letting one eat me!” Aster communicated with wolves because wolves usually didn’t bother hunting songbirds—not unless they were desperate, anyway, and Idunn didn’t seem desperate…?

The blue jay jumped up and down, fluttering her wings as she warmed up her body for the flight. Was she just being paranoid? Or had the air suddenly become… tense?

~Not rolling for a fight, and pp granted to have Aster escape. This is just flavour for the thread :p

Aster's words put Iðunn at ease, just a tad. At least she didn't have to worry about overstepping any bounds, and maybe that meant she could set up some traps without the caught prey being nabbed by other wolves in the area. And the knowledge that there wasn't any of this ooze around in the north was a comfort; it was one less thing to be concerned about, even though there had been that one lynx that seemed infected. Hopefully it had just been an isolated incident. She would just make sure to be safe upon heading further south where it was warmer, and keep an eye out for any creatures that seemed to be infected with those strange crystals. Iðunn waited until the blue bird was busy talking about the predator birds, and only when she noticed the bird become a little jumpy did she pounce forward with her front legs outstretched. It wasn't too far of a distance to cover, and she only wanted to step on the wings to prevent Aster from flying up and away. But the death would not come immediately, no, she'd pluck out the primary flight feathers to ground the bird, and then carry it closer to home where she could perform a proper sacrifice with a living creature. That should definitely be a good enough offering to ask the old gods for a blessing of protection for when she decided to head down south.

Aster shrieked in alaram. She jumped straight backwards—feeling Idunn’s nails brush her left wing’s feathers.

Then she jumped again, beating her wings as fast as she could to take to the air. “What the hell!” Aster was terrified, but she was also a little bit angry. She’d never been tricked like this before, and she’d narrowly lost her life due to underestimating the wolf’s aggressiveness and intellect.

She climbed higher in the air, but couldn’t resist shrieking an insult at the wolf from above. For getting away, she deserved the last word, right?

“May bird poop land on your head every day for the rest of your life!”

// out probably !

~~Mention of minor swearing in this post

The blue bird shrieked a piercing note that had Iðunn flinching momentarily, and it seemed that moment was all it needed as she felt the very tips of her paws touch the feathers of the left wing before Aster hopped away and took off into the air. A low growl slipped from her clenched jaws as she stared straight up at the bird, tail twitching in agitation as she frowned. Fuck! She'd been so close. If it hadn't been for her moment of hesitation she likely would've gotten the bird, and she was more angry at herself for letting the blue bird escape than the bird actually escaping. She simply glared up at Aster when she shrieked out an insult before flapping her wings and flying away, leaving Iðunn standing by herself next to the picked-clean carcass of the hare. Once the bird was out of sight she sighed softly, before bending down to collect all the small bits of tendons and ligaments along with the bones onto the cleaned pelt. She deftly lifted the ends of the pelt and grabbed the open flap in her maw so she could carry it without fear of dropping anything as she slowly made her way back home. The sacrifice would just have to wait, then. A pity.

~Exit