What about second breakfast? [Open]

[skyboundmisfit]

Tobias was hungry and a bit cranky. He was tired of eating ship-mush. No flavor, worse texture, and hard to get down with a beak. On top of that, while it might have the right nutrients, it just wasn't satisfying for either Tobias or the hawk-mind that nagged at him constantly. Real food. Real meat. And it was right there, scurrying through the underbrush in hydroponics without a care in the world. of course, he couldn't get it because the ship didn't want him to hurt its precious little bundles of delicious protein. Still. . .maybe this time he'd get lucky and find one without a tag.

He banked, then dove on his target. He could practically taste the warm, delicious meat as he extended his talons and--

--was caught in mid-air by a tentacle that gently deposited him in a nearby tree while Stacy admonished him.

||Please do not attempt to harm the tagged wildlife, Tobias. ||

< Fine, fine. Sheesh. > Denied, he ruffled his feathers and settled for looking grumpy.

< What's a bird got to do to get some real meat around here? >

Comments

[keep_surviving]

It was at this point that a fledgling crow appeared upon one of the lowest branches of a tree not far off.

Warbling to itself, it walked up and down the branch, eying another just a jump away. Using its wings to gain height, it managed to flap up to the slightly higher branch. His balance was unsteady, but once there he fluffed out his feathers and croaked proudly.

[skyboundmisfit]

Tobias tilted his head to watch the crow. Eating other birds usually wasn't his thing and besides. . .if there was one crow around, there were probably others. And they were jerks in groups. He fluffs his feathers and preens beneath one wing as he watches the crow, hopping along his perch to get a little closer.

[keep_surviving]

The crow doesn't notice Tobias, probably because it's so young and it's far too interested in exploring everything. It investigates the branch it's sat on thoroughly before deciding it wants to have a look at what's on the ground.

It takes the fledgling a moment to psych itself up, wobbling on the branch and extending it's wings, judging the distance before hopping off and gliding all the way down, its landing a little bumpy. Seems it can't fly yet but the bird still seems rather proud of getting down from the tree unaided and unharmed.

[skyboundmisfit]

Tobias lazily flaps from his branch to another one. He doesn't really need to be closer, but he's interested in seeing what this crow is going to do now that it's managed to get itself down to the ground.

[keep_surviving]

The crow spends a few moments just walking about, surveying the area, then he hops over to some flowering plants to inspect them.

He soon discovers there is much fun to be had in tearing up the petals with his sharp beak and proceeds to behead several of the defenseless flowers, cawing with glee.

[skyboundmisfit]

Finally, Tobias hops from his branch and swoops over the little crow. He's not intending on eating the thing, just giving it a bit of a surprise and hopefully teaching it not to get too complacent, especially on the ground. That can be deadly, after all.

[keep_surviving]

The crow gave a start and begins flapping and squawking at the massive bird that just swooped over him. Backing up and fluffing up his feathers, he eyes Tobias carefully.

[skyboundmisfit]

Tobias nimbly alights on a branch over head.

< You should be more careful, > he admonishes the crow with a touch of amusement. Not that it can really understand him. Though crows are pretty intelligent creatures.

[keep_surviving]

The fledgling slowly relaxes his tensed position, feathers returning to their normal state as he tilts his head to one side. Once calm again, he tilts his head completely to the opposite side before casting looks about them.

Cautiously, he takes a few steps towards Tobias branch, head tilting this way and that. He gives a single croak, his question clear. Why?

[skyboundmisfit]

< Because some things out here might want to snack on a little crow. > Was he really talking to a crow? Crows were smart but talking to one seemed a little far-fetched. Admittedly, he was on board a sentient starship.

[keep_surviving]

The crow fluffed up his feathers in alarm and began hopping back and forth, looking around for a low branch he could jump onto for safely. Using his wings for extra lift, he managed to perch on one of the lower limbs of Tobias' tree.

From there, he let out a few short, curt caws that seemed to be him calling for his mother but when there was no response he looked up at Tobias once again.

sorry for the lateness, was sick over the weekend.

[skyboundmisfit]

< What? Don't look at me like that. > Tobias turned his head away pointedly. He is not going to babysit a crow. Nope. No way. Not happening.

no problem

[keep_surviving]

The crow starts to beats its wings and begins calling up to Tobias again and again, desperate for his attention.

[zouichi]

"Maybe you can raid the diner or something," said Zouichi, looking up at Tobias. There were weirder things on the ship than talking hawks, he supposed.

[skyboundmisfit]

< The diner? I didn't even know we had a diner. > Tobias looked down at Zouichi.

< This ship conspires to keep me from my natural diet. >

[zouichi]

"We do now," he said. "Hit Girl runs it. What's your natural diet?"

[skyboundmisfit]

< Small mammals and reptiles, usually rodents, squirrels, rabbits. That kind of thing. > Tobias bobbed his head, not really able to convey the sense of a shrug in this body.

[zouichi]

Zouichi didn't know that Tobias was trying to shrug. Therefore, he thought the bobbing was adorable.

"Maybe you could buy some feeder animals during the next shore leave, and release them into the City." Actually, maybe that was a bad idea, although Zouichi wouldn't mind seeing a squirrel around now and again. "Emergency Rations seems to know where to find small animals to kill and bring back, but I don't really follow her around to see where she's getting them."

[skyboundmisfit]

< There's an idea. But hawks don't really carry money very easily. Maybe I'll get Ax to do it for me or something, instead. > Tobias pauses and blinks. Wait. . .

< Emergency Rations? >

[zouichi]

"Howard's cat. Don't look at me; I didn't come up with her name."

Yes. He wanted to name her spot.

[skyboundmisfit]

< I'm not judging. I eat squirrels. > Tobias sounds pretty amused. When you eat other animals you get less squeamish about that sort of thing in general.

[zouichi]

"Yes, but do you eat pet squirrels?" Not that Zouichi would even eat a non-pet cat. But then, he didn't have to make those kinds of survival decisions. Howard did. Or had, anyway.

"Anyway, she's obviously figured out some way of getting at the untagged animals."

[skyboundmisfit]

< . . .Well yeah, if I'm hungry enough, I suppose. > Pets weren't exactly sacrosanct. You ate what you could find, sometimes.

< I'll have to see if I can figure out what she's going after. >

[zouichi]

Zouichi paused.

"Don't eat my parrot."

sorry for the lateness, was sick over the weekend.

[skyboundmisfit]

< What? I'm not going to eat your parrot! I haven't even seen a parrot. > Tobias tilted his head to look at Zouichi.

np

[zouichi]

"Ever?" he asked doubtfully. "Then how can you promise you won't eat mine?"

[changelingdude]

Speaking of food, Tobias may be amused or confused by the sight of a green hawk flying off in the distance with a bag of...some kind of alien snack food. It had a tentacle on the front holding a ball of something and the text was unreadable.

The green bird was casually gliding along like this was normal business though.

[skyboundmisfit]

Green bird with alien snack food. Weird, but not the weirdest thing he'd ever encountered, believe it or not. He flapped his wings and launched himself into the sky, working hard for a moment to gain altitude and glide towards the bird.

< If it has tentacles, why eat it? >

[changelingdude]

The bird bobbed a little and looked around before spotting Tobias. With a shrug he turned the bag in his talons. On the back was a bunch of alien gibberish and a picture of some green discs which one could assume was what could be found inside the bag.

[ringoutyourdead]

On the list of things that Sabriel has seen since arriving on the ship - including literal trolls and worst of all, an undead as an ally - talking birds are far from the strangest. After all, she has a talking cat, who seems to share a general temperament with the bird.

"May I ask what you need help with?"