Safe Return II [Solo]
Posted: Tue May 21, 2024 10:52 pm
70 Ash, Year 123
[Closed - Solo]
[Part I]
While she harvested, Lia turned the other way, manifesting her fire and combining it with the sand to begin to fashion bowls. She went with wider, flat ones for the injured beasts to eat from, and she could sculpt deeper vessels with ease to contain the water for them. Just enough of a lip to contain the edge, rounded and folded over to protect their mouths… the bowls rested to cool in the shade of the cactus paddles, and Lia checked on Hilana’s progress. Normally not one to waste anything, the trimmings of the paddles were going into a bucket for the camel for later, and the rest of the cactus was being cut into small cubes. It would give them some more bulk to eat with the clover, and the natural stickiness of the juices of cactus cubes would help the clover stick. She didn’t have much that she could give them in terms of remedies for pain relief; she had no way to remove the spines from their mouths and tongues without them getting upset about it. Once the bowls had cooled enough, Hilana started putting her cactus cubes into them, and pulled out the satchel of calming clover from her saddlebags. She could add a good handful to each dish. She knelt in the sands and held both hands over the basin, her palm glowing with aether from her Elementalism Rune, and she created a miniature whirlwind in the dish to pulse and blend the cactus cubes and clover, adding in a bit of water to help mash it down somewhat. She wanted to make it as easy and painless on the pachycephalosaurs as she could, and the less that bothered their tongues and lips the better. She couldn’t give them star thistle; the herb would begin the process of mending the skin over the spines, and that would leave them prone to infection and make future extraction difficult.
She added enough water to thin the mixture out to make it easy for them to gulp and swallow with a minimum of stress and chewing so as not to irritate their mouths more. She was nearly done when she remembered the treat she had snagged for dessert for later, and retrieved the clay jar of comb honey from the saddlebags. It was scraped down between the two bowls, and what was left went back into the jar. It was for a good cause; the sugar in the honey would give the pachycephalosaurs energy as well as hopefully encourage them to eat. Once she was satisfied with the consistency of the mixture, she gathered up the bowls and carefully approached the reptiles. Athalia watched, still on Hayima’el, as Hilana’s careful, measured steps brought her closer to the exhausted, unwell dinosaurs and she laid down the glass bowls right by them so that they were within range without needing to move before backing up slowly. She stopped when she was beside the large piebald camel and her sister, not wanting to overly startle the pachycephalosaurs before she could coax them into taking in something.
She could almost relax when the male, and then the female, started to investigate the contents of their new bowls. “Pay attention to the temperature of the sand beneath that one right there,” Hilana pointed out the female for Athalia, who nodded. With her connection to fire and the cooperation of air, it could be recognized and maintained later. The sisters exhaled the breath they were holding when they saw the pachycephalosaurs begin to gingerly eat. That was a good start, and once the bowls were empty did the younger sister stealthily approach, treading lightly upon the sands, to replace the cleaned bowls with the vessels of water, once again retreating back to Lia and Hayima’el.
“That went well,” Lia murmured while the dinosaurs drank. The two of them could Manifest more directly in the bowl, drawing their aether through their Runes, and topping off the bowl levels. The pachycephalosaurs were dehydrated, which Hilana knew from a visual inspection of their skin, and from her observations with semblance.
“Couldn’t have gone better,” Hilana stood on tiptoe in order to retrieve a couple of lengths of rope. She couldn’t very well approach the dinosaurs in order measure their snouts and heads, but she could secure ropes well enough to hopefully be able to lead them. Besides, there was also the fact that they had mouth injuries, and a halter that put any pressure on their lips and tongue would not be helpful for them. With luck, they had had enough of the clover that neither would attempt a charge, but they were also quite possibly going to be defensive of their nest and eggs… so if she had to deter them with wind or earth, then so be it. Knots were tied to make the collars, the final ties made with sliding knots so that they could be tightened. A bumper knot would keep them from choking the dinosaurs. Other lengths of rope were secured to those on one end, and to the back bar of Hayima’el’s saddle with the other. She laid a hand on her camel’s right haunch. “Right, Hayima’el,” she encouraged him, and the piebald bull responded by shifting his front feet, turning himself until his back was towards the reptiles and Hilana lifted her hand. They were ten feet back, and the leading ropes were twenty feet long, so that would surely do. She knew her mask’s range was 25 feet, and Athalia was watching her, having twisted easily in the saddle to observe this process.
The pachycephalosaurs were definitely more hydrated, between their meals and the supplied water. There was more awareness to them, and Hilana wasn’t about to underestimate their strength. The Vastiana eased closer, before using the wind to guide the ropes around each neck, careful not to catch on them, before backed up, holding the ropes to make sure they tightened. “Forward,” she told her bull, needing to get them off of the nest so that she could retrieve the eggs with the glass basins. She stopped Hayima’el when the ropes were taut and a step from the pachycephalosaurs would release the pressure. There was some resistance from them at first, unfamiliar with this feeling and the resistance around their necks. But the clover helped, and after a minute of traction, they gave in, making their way to their feet as Hilana watched. She moved her camel up two more paces, coaxing them off of the nest, and then a few more so that she was out of range of the tails. With the piebald bull holding the tired, hot dinosaurs off of the nest, she hurriedly took the largest of the glass basins and positioned it before the nest.
The Vastiana had to activate Semblance once more in order to clearly find the outlines and shapes within the earth, and she began to ease the basin through the sand, making sure to keep a thin layer of earth between the eggs and the glass, while doing everything she could not to disturb them. Reptile eggs were not bird eggs; reptiles did not rotate theirs. Doing so drowned the young; whereas chicks drowned if they did not get turned. With the eggs in place, and the dinosaurs fidgeting and shifting uncomfortably, Hilana tried to lift the basin and grunted. Faex, but that was heavy. She exhaled, braced herself on her knees, and tried to lift it again. Her shoulders and arms strained, and she knew if she was going to have problems, Lia would never manage. She remembered Sentinel Ævril’s trick, and Enmeshed the basin to reduce its weight. That made it a whole lot easier, and it would do until they got to the outpost where the green dragons could receive them and their parents.
"All yours," Hilana carefully passed the dinosaurs and made her way back to Hayima'el. The earth boosted her up so that she could give the basin to Lia without having to lift it too high and risk the eggs. "There's a blanket in that bag right there, if you want to get it out to help pad your legs," she suggested, and Lia leaned to quickly reached to do so while her sister kept an eye on the dinosaurs. "Don't move the eggs if you can avoid it, we need to keep them as they are. Else the hatchlings will suffocate in there," she explained, and Lia's eyes got a bit wide.
"Well, that makes it a bit more complicated, doesn't it?" she remarked, and with the blanket smoothed over her lap in folds, the sisters placed the basin into position. Lia focused on the temperature, then, bringing the warmth back to the eggs. It was a gentle increase, and once she got it to the level it was when they had been in the sands, she could keep it that way. It took some concentration, but she was Fire, and Fire was her. Hilana, satisfied, eased herself into the saddle, tucking her skirts to keep from interrupting Lia, and asking the shadows to keep an eye on the pachycephalosaurs.
"It does. But you're up to it," she smiled at her, clicking her tongue. Her heels touched Hayima'el's sides, and the camel began to move. As he walked, the pressure on the rope pulled the dinosaurs forward, and with grumbling groans, they followed rather than have the ropes exerting more pressure on their necks. One step at a time, and Hilana activated her Ring of Traversion to make the portal to the border where she remembered the green dragons had been accepting stray wildlife. As the portal hummed to life, Hilana walked Hayima'el through it, watching behind to make sure that the dinosaurs followed.
She released the powers of the Mask of Midnight's Mother that gave them their ability to hide and avoid attention, and while the dinosaurs startled and bellowed from their appearance, they didn't outright charge. They closed the gap, approaching the shelter of the trees. They couldn't cross it outright, not without getting trouble from the Sentinels, but they could come to it. "Hello," she called out a greeting to those at the outpost, speaking in Common. They may have recognized her, she had been this way with a few more Ecithian beasts before. "We found some of your pachycephalosaurs. They're hungry and somewhat dehydrated... and they've also got cactus spines in their lips and tongue. I don't have kinetics to remove them, I'm afraid... and here is their nest. We've kept the eggs as they were."
[Closed - Solo]
[Part I]
While she harvested, Lia turned the other way, manifesting her fire and combining it with the sand to begin to fashion bowls. She went with wider, flat ones for the injured beasts to eat from, and she could sculpt deeper vessels with ease to contain the water for them. Just enough of a lip to contain the edge, rounded and folded over to protect their mouths… the bowls rested to cool in the shade of the cactus paddles, and Lia checked on Hilana’s progress. Normally not one to waste anything, the trimmings of the paddles were going into a bucket for the camel for later, and the rest of the cactus was being cut into small cubes. It would give them some more bulk to eat with the clover, and the natural stickiness of the juices of cactus cubes would help the clover stick. She didn’t have much that she could give them in terms of remedies for pain relief; she had no way to remove the spines from their mouths and tongues without them getting upset about it. Once the bowls had cooled enough, Hilana started putting her cactus cubes into them, and pulled out the satchel of calming clover from her saddlebags. She could add a good handful to each dish. She knelt in the sands and held both hands over the basin, her palm glowing with aether from her Elementalism Rune, and she created a miniature whirlwind in the dish to pulse and blend the cactus cubes and clover, adding in a bit of water to help mash it down somewhat. She wanted to make it as easy and painless on the pachycephalosaurs as she could, and the less that bothered their tongues and lips the better. She couldn’t give them star thistle; the herb would begin the process of mending the skin over the spines, and that would leave them prone to infection and make future extraction difficult.
She added enough water to thin the mixture out to make it easy for them to gulp and swallow with a minimum of stress and chewing so as not to irritate their mouths more. She was nearly done when she remembered the treat she had snagged for dessert for later, and retrieved the clay jar of comb honey from the saddlebags. It was scraped down between the two bowls, and what was left went back into the jar. It was for a good cause; the sugar in the honey would give the pachycephalosaurs energy as well as hopefully encourage them to eat. Once she was satisfied with the consistency of the mixture, she gathered up the bowls and carefully approached the reptiles. Athalia watched, still on Hayima’el, as Hilana’s careful, measured steps brought her closer to the exhausted, unwell dinosaurs and she laid down the glass bowls right by them so that they were within range without needing to move before backing up slowly. She stopped when she was beside the large piebald camel and her sister, not wanting to overly startle the pachycephalosaurs before she could coax them into taking in something.
She could almost relax when the male, and then the female, started to investigate the contents of their new bowls. “Pay attention to the temperature of the sand beneath that one right there,” Hilana pointed out the female for Athalia, who nodded. With her connection to fire and the cooperation of air, it could be recognized and maintained later. The sisters exhaled the breath they were holding when they saw the pachycephalosaurs begin to gingerly eat. That was a good start, and once the bowls were empty did the younger sister stealthily approach, treading lightly upon the sands, to replace the cleaned bowls with the vessels of water, once again retreating back to Lia and Hayima’el.
“That went well,” Lia murmured while the dinosaurs drank. The two of them could Manifest more directly in the bowl, drawing their aether through their Runes, and topping off the bowl levels. The pachycephalosaurs were dehydrated, which Hilana knew from a visual inspection of their skin, and from her observations with semblance.
“Couldn’t have gone better,” Hilana stood on tiptoe in order to retrieve a couple of lengths of rope. She couldn’t very well approach the dinosaurs in order measure their snouts and heads, but she could secure ropes well enough to hopefully be able to lead them. Besides, there was also the fact that they had mouth injuries, and a halter that put any pressure on their lips and tongue would not be helpful for them. With luck, they had had enough of the clover that neither would attempt a charge, but they were also quite possibly going to be defensive of their nest and eggs… so if she had to deter them with wind or earth, then so be it. Knots were tied to make the collars, the final ties made with sliding knots so that they could be tightened. A bumper knot would keep them from choking the dinosaurs. Other lengths of rope were secured to those on one end, and to the back bar of Hayima’el’s saddle with the other. She laid a hand on her camel’s right haunch. “Right, Hayima’el,” she encouraged him, and the piebald bull responded by shifting his front feet, turning himself until his back was towards the reptiles and Hilana lifted her hand. They were ten feet back, and the leading ropes were twenty feet long, so that would surely do. She knew her mask’s range was 25 feet, and Athalia was watching her, having twisted easily in the saddle to observe this process.
The pachycephalosaurs were definitely more hydrated, between their meals and the supplied water. There was more awareness to them, and Hilana wasn’t about to underestimate their strength. The Vastiana eased closer, before using the wind to guide the ropes around each neck, careful not to catch on them, before backed up, holding the ropes to make sure they tightened. “Forward,” she told her bull, needing to get them off of the nest so that she could retrieve the eggs with the glass basins. She stopped Hayima’el when the ropes were taut and a step from the pachycephalosaurs would release the pressure. There was some resistance from them at first, unfamiliar with this feeling and the resistance around their necks. But the clover helped, and after a minute of traction, they gave in, making their way to their feet as Hilana watched. She moved her camel up two more paces, coaxing them off of the nest, and then a few more so that she was out of range of the tails. With the piebald bull holding the tired, hot dinosaurs off of the nest, she hurriedly took the largest of the glass basins and positioned it before the nest.
The Vastiana had to activate Semblance once more in order to clearly find the outlines and shapes within the earth, and she began to ease the basin through the sand, making sure to keep a thin layer of earth between the eggs and the glass, while doing everything she could not to disturb them. Reptile eggs were not bird eggs; reptiles did not rotate theirs. Doing so drowned the young; whereas chicks drowned if they did not get turned. With the eggs in place, and the dinosaurs fidgeting and shifting uncomfortably, Hilana tried to lift the basin and grunted. Faex, but that was heavy. She exhaled, braced herself on her knees, and tried to lift it again. Her shoulders and arms strained, and she knew if she was going to have problems, Lia would never manage. She remembered Sentinel Ævril’s trick, and Enmeshed the basin to reduce its weight. That made it a whole lot easier, and it would do until they got to the outpost where the green dragons could receive them and their parents.
"All yours," Hilana carefully passed the dinosaurs and made her way back to Hayima'el. The earth boosted her up so that she could give the basin to Lia without having to lift it too high and risk the eggs. "There's a blanket in that bag right there, if you want to get it out to help pad your legs," she suggested, and Lia leaned to quickly reached to do so while her sister kept an eye on the dinosaurs. "Don't move the eggs if you can avoid it, we need to keep them as they are. Else the hatchlings will suffocate in there," she explained, and Lia's eyes got a bit wide.
"Well, that makes it a bit more complicated, doesn't it?" she remarked, and with the blanket smoothed over her lap in folds, the sisters placed the basin into position. Lia focused on the temperature, then, bringing the warmth back to the eggs. It was a gentle increase, and once she got it to the level it was when they had been in the sands, she could keep it that way. It took some concentration, but she was Fire, and Fire was her. Hilana, satisfied, eased herself into the saddle, tucking her skirts to keep from interrupting Lia, and asking the shadows to keep an eye on the pachycephalosaurs.
"It does. But you're up to it," she smiled at her, clicking her tongue. Her heels touched Hayima'el's sides, and the camel began to move. As he walked, the pressure on the rope pulled the dinosaurs forward, and with grumbling groans, they followed rather than have the ropes exerting more pressure on their necks. One step at a time, and Hilana activated her Ring of Traversion to make the portal to the border where she remembered the green dragons had been accepting stray wildlife. As the portal hummed to life, Hilana walked Hayima'el through it, watching behind to make sure that the dinosaurs followed.
She released the powers of the Mask of Midnight's Mother that gave them their ability to hide and avoid attention, and while the dinosaurs startled and bellowed from their appearance, they didn't outright charge. They closed the gap, approaching the shelter of the trees. They couldn't cross it outright, not without getting trouble from the Sentinels, but they could come to it. "Hello," she called out a greeting to those at the outpost, speaking in Common. They may have recognized her, she had been this way with a few more Ecithian beasts before. "We found some of your pachycephalosaurs. They're hungry and somewhat dehydrated... and they've also got cactus spines in their lips and tongue. I don't have kinetics to remove them, I'm afraid... and here is their nest. We've kept the eggs as they were."
