#baronyofthesilverwolf

It's a good thing that Blossom warned him about the weight, and he is still surprised a bit.

"Now... what do I do?" He barely moves, as if frozen.

"Well, normally you'd take her out for a hunt. We can hood her, I'll show you how that works too. But right now? Talk to her, let her get used to the sound of your voice. I think she kind of liked that 'my name is Squire arcturus' bit"

He feels a little silly, but talks to the falcon. Art spends several minutes admiring her, telling him about himself... and then about the different bird constellations. "There's Cygnus, and Corvus, Grus, Pavo and Apus, Columba and Tucana... you might like Aquila the best, or maybe Phoenix?"

Blossom fights boredom, but Aura seems to enjoy the conversation or at least the attention.

"Of course, there IS also Centaurus... one of the largest constellations, after all."

"Please, the best star in this hold is me" The centaur says "Now, let's go outside with her, let you launch her so to speak."

He laughs at that, but it's a friendly sound, not a mocking one. "Are you sure I'm ready? What if she doesn't want to come back?"

"Don't worry, she's trained" A smile "Besides, YOU are going to have a snack waiting for her" She says taking a bag that smells rather.. uhm savory?

He swallows a bit. "I don't suppose those are, um, biscuits, are they."

The girl rolls her eyes "Nooo... it's meat. I've seen you eat a Burger, Art. You don't get to judge her"

"Yes, but it's cooked when I eat it." He grins. "Alright, let's go."

"Think of it as steak tar tar" Once more she takes a path where she won't be crowded or have to share the stairs. her little heart tends to race when the walls close in. Like the birds, she feels better in the open air

He follows her out, stepping carefully to avoid jostling the falcon.

Aura is a pro at this, even if Art isn't

And soon they're out, and suddenly Aura is looking about everywhere, super attentive to every motion

"She won't just go and attack anything she sees that's bite size, will she?"

"Now the commands I give..." She relates them to what is used to launch to fly, launch to hunt, to return, and so on

There are no nevers about right now... but

"Oh no, that's why you give a command with purpose, why there's more than one way to launch" She explains "Different command for 'seek out something and kill it' and another for 'go get THAT' specific, and yes, there's one for just 'fly and enjoy yourself'"

He listens, and then lifts his fist, giving her the command to fly!

And she takes off...

Art covers his eyes from the bright sun that peeks out between fall clouds, and tries to follow her.

Well, at the speed she moves, that's not easy. But then, Aura doesn't go in a straight line, fortunately, and as she circles he can stay in view. They're actually getting away from the garden area, from the main hold

Indeed they would be, as the Aviary is set away from the hold, as are the kennels and stables.

Blossom trots along side and explains "Sometimes we hunt voles and such in the garden area? But Thistle's whining about Nevers has discouraged that" A huff "Don't worry, Aura knows this area... and around here she'll probably find..."

The hawk circles over a tree

"What's she looking for? A squirrel?"

"Probably that or a chipmunk, but she won't attack. See, she's telling you that IF you want it, there's prey there. She doesn't call out because a hawk's cry will have whatever it is BOLT to cover."

"What should we tell her to do?"

He tries to spy in the tree what she might be looking at.

"What do you want her to do? KILL? Return? FLush it out?"

"Oh, let us flush it out and see what it is."

"Then make this hand gesture, or just yell Flush. Remember, she can see further than you. So your hand gestures are pretty visible to her" She shows

"Like this?" He makes a tentative gesture.

"More firmly, you'll confuse her if you half ass it. Like if I were to tell you 'uhm.. attack?' instead of 'attack'"

He repeats it, this time firmly and with confidence!

And when sidhe are confident, they're really on their game!

Aura goes from circling path to arrow shooting so straight and true at the prey that Art feels like a comet just changed course

And it is not a squirel that is flushed out, but a grouse!

'Hey, those are good eating. Change the command to kill and we have something for Marigold to cook!"

He watches it flutter, and hesitates. Then, he raises his glove again. "Aura, return!"

And Aura is a thing of beauty as she twirls about and arches up fancily, as if showing off, and then lands on his glove

"Why did you DO that?" Blossom says "That's GROUSE... a real treat."

Aura looks at Art, then glances at the small bag with the meat then back at him. She did well yes?

"I... I didn't think it was necessary. The grouse had rather pretty plumage, didn't it? I've never seen one before." He reaches into the bag and finds... something within, which he offers to Aura with a murmur of, "You did well, pretty thing."

The meat is of.. dubious identification, so ignore that. Aura snaps it up happily. She got her meal, she's fine with pacifism if it means she still gets fed

Blossom groans "Not necessary? Where do you think food comes from? We could have saved Marigold a grocery trip. We could have used those feathers for decorations. "

"I'll go shopping, and will find you some feathers, if you wish."

The little girl mutters something under her breath. She often says she's too classy to be rude like Briar, but he might hear a few briar worthy words if he strains "WHy did you pick birds over horses and hounds again?"

"Because they are lovely, and I envy their command of the sky, and their freedom. If they have freedom to kill as they wish, then surely, they have freedom to not to... would they not?"