The humongous bird was already watching her approach. Elita thought it must have sensed her long before it could see her. She got the impression it was waiting.
Its large head and neck were extended upwards, brown patterned feathers ruffled at the neck; its four legs curled underneath it. Its right wing was soaked with purple liquid. Blood, she assumed.
It stayed still as she entered the open space. The creature was lucky it didn't get impaled on one of the many trees it broke. She stopped when it had a clear view of her and she held out her hands in a calming manner, to show she meant no harm.
It analysed her with golden hawk-like eyes. Nothing in its movements or posture struck her as threatening, yet. And then slowly, it bowed its head, its eyes not leaving her as it lay flat against the ground.
It submitted. Elita took that as a sign to step forward, closer, and closer. Cautiously, she reached her hand out. . and placed it onto its beak, the tip of it sharp and curved. The smooth surface was littered with indents and scuffs, and curved lines from tip to end. She wondered if it was an indication of its age, like rings on a tree. Its nostrils were bigger than her palm—head easily twice the size of her, same as its wings. A peaceful, tranquil, feeling washed over her as she stroked the surface of its beak. It was silent other than its laboured breathing and the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears.
"Hello," she greeted shakily. She wasn't scared exactly. It was hard to pinpoint what she was feeling with so many emotions flying about. Unworthy—to name one of them. The creature was the most majestic thing she'd ever seen, and she did not feel deserving to be in its presence, let alone touch it. With that thought, Elita snatched her hand back. "I'm here to help you," she says as if it could understand her.
Her eyes darted to the bleeding limb. The wing was pulled tight against its body, and she was too short to reach it from the ground. Nervously she realised that to help it. . she would have to climb onto it.
The creature continued to watch her where it rested its head.
Elita knelt, placing her bag on the floor once again. She laid out the bandages and numbing cream on the ground, along with a rag, some water, and a healing salve. She threw the bag gently into the foliage behind her, the poison elixir and what was left of her narcotics going with it, swiftly followed by her bow and quiver.
She was now unarmed.
"I won't hurt you," she told it firmly, keeping herself small as she peered up into its eyes. El wanted it to see just how harmless she was. "These things will help you," she touched each item gently. "It might sting but. . .I would like to tend to your injury. If you'll let me."
It might have seemed silly talking to an animal, but she sensed it was smarter than most. That it understood her in a way.
And she was right. The creature shifted its left-wing, stretching it towards the ground, creating a makeshift ramp for her. The movement made her jump initially, not having expected it, but she quickly settled herself with deep, calming breaths.
"Ok," El nodded to herself and had a moment to process what she was about to do before gathering the items and shoving them into the deep pockets of her tunic.
She stood, ignoring how her legs shook, and headed round the side of the strange, four-legged bird.
It didn't lift its head, which she found odd. It seemed to be putting an awful lot of trust in her. She wondered if it could somehow sense her intentions. Or if it knew she was it's only chance of getting help.
Elita crawled onto the wing on her hands and knees. The feathers were silky soft against her skin. When she reached its back, she found herself rising with every breath it took. She couldn't help but brush her fingers through the fur on its body, so different to the feathers on his neck and wings. It was like two animals merged into one. It was clearly taken care of, its fur healthy and glossy. The bird gave a soft snort in response to her affection. She smiled.
After a moment, Elita forced herself to stop stroking it so she could get back to the reason she was here up there first place. She made her way over to the right wing. Sitting on her knees in front of it, she hesitated; the wing was still folded up and she couldn't locate the source of the bleeding like this. As if sensing her thoughts, the hybrid moved, stretching out the limb in a similar manner to the other one, but with much more difficulty.
Elita could see that most of the purple blood was located on the half of the wing closest to her. Streaks of it marked the lower part as well as the tip, but the bulk of it was the joint where it connected to the bird's body. Which was lucky because it would be easier for her to treat from here.
She made quick work of cleaning the area using water and a clean rag. The creature barely flinched. The only sign of it being aware of her touches was its long, pointy ear twitching. With most of the blood cleaned, other than the purple tinge staining its brown feathers, she could see four large scratches. They looked deep—no wonder the poor thing could barely fly—and painful. She hissed in sympathy.
El wondered what kind of creature was able to attack it. She assumed it happened in the sky, which she found odd because they'd never seen anything other than small birds, tiny insects, and this giant Falcon-horse hybrid with claws instead of hooves above them. So, it couldn't have happened locally. It made her curious just how far it must travel, for it to continue its way to the Mortallands instead of heading back home after the attack.
Lost in her thoughts, she continued to work on the wound. First, she applied a numbing cream. She noticed its ear stopped twitching after that. And then she smothered it with healing salve; her own recipe, mixed with Netherberry Leafs to kill off any bacteria, Spriggan bark, ground down and boiled to thicken the salve and create a protective barrier, and the bulbs from a Red petal bush to increase healing time. It was also where it got it got its colour from, albeit paler than the bulbs themselves thanks to the other ingredients, leaving it a washed-out pink-red.
She left the bandages since she didn't have enough to wrap the whole wing, and the salve should be enough to stop any dirt from getting inside so long as she topped it up every few hours.
"All done. For now." She began packing the items away in her pockets. Suddenly, the creature went ridged underneath her and she instinctively froze with it, knowing that with most animals sudden movements were bad, especially when they were spooked. They'd either run or attack, and neither of those options was ideal with her balancing on its back. "Easy," she hushed it calmly, hoping to soothe it with her voice. "Shh, shh, shh. . .Easy now. . ."
"Elita," a familiar voice reached her ears and her eyes darted to the tree line, finding her lover standing there. Suddenly it made sense as to why the hybrid was on alert. Torin appeared out of breath with worry crossing his features. "Sweetie. I need you to get down from there, ok? Slowly as you can."
"Torin," she kept her voice low and calm—the complete opposite of what she felt inside of her right now. The idiot was going to ruin this. Also, sweetie? Gross. El didn't mind terms of endearment but what was she, five? "Kindly, piss off, won't you?"
How's that for sweet?
"I'm not leaving you here with that thing," he argued, eyes fixated on the creature, who ruffled the feathers on its neck at him in response.
"It's not a thing." She had no idea what it was, but considering her stance on its back, she felt obliged to defend it. "You need to leave. It trusts me. This whole time it hasn't shown an ounce of aggression until you showed up."
"Elita, stop arguing with me for once and get the fuck down from there." He sounded angrier than she'd ever heard him. The tone sobered her, washing away her stubbornness and making her realise that, maybe, he was right.
Before she could put her thoughts into action, there was a rustling in the trees as a blurred figure rushed towards them. She easily recognised it as her best friend. Fuck. He came to a stop next to Torin.
"I knew you'd pull something stupid like this," was Atti's greeting, his chest rising and falling as he panted. "As soon as I saw it go down, I knew you'd come here. Stupid girl."
If possible, the feathers on the bird's neck puffed out even further. Apparently, it was offended on her behalf. She opened her mouth to respond, but her eyes spied a small movement by Torin's fingers. Slowly, he appeared to be reaching for the bow on his back, most likely having taken the bird's movements as a threat.
Elita held out a hand in his direction, eyes wide. "Torin, don't-" Too late.
The creature rose to its feet with her desperately grasping at its back in an attempt not to fall. Once it was full height, it opened its beak and released an ear-piercing squawk at Torin, who had managed to retrieve his bow and aimed it at the bird. Atti was barely a second behind him.
"You hurt her and I'll obliterate both your beady fucking eyes," Atti growled at it, stepping forward.
This is not good, El thought.