I read about them in the books Safrin gave us, he explained as the investigated the blaze. Maybe we can drop them on the smaller fires and soak the ground around the log so it can't spread further? The log itself was a lost cause, but Jigano thought that so long as they could keep the fire from growing beyond this one clearing that it would be enough.
The owl's silence on the matter of the jays was answer enough, and the fox-turned-raven felt a pang of sadness that they did not yet share that ability. I think it will come with time and practice, he said gently instead, and if they had been in their four-legged forms he would have bounced up to rub his cheek against hers in reassurance. For now, though, he could only wing after his jays, who chattered and then swooped to circle a particularly shady little glade, where three beetles were rooting slowly through the leaf-litter in search of food.
Jigano was born a predator, half-fox or more, and he had no compunction against using the beetles, anymore than he did when Isuma played with their smaller cousins - and often ate them, too. He dropped to close his long taloned toes around one, lifting off again with a grunt and a wheeze of effort, struggling to get airborne again with his cargo. So... should we not... try to stop this one? he asked, confused and a little concerned as he flapped mightily against his burden. The jays were too small to carry a beetle on their own, but he directed them to work together to lift the second, one at its head and the other scrabbling to get toes into its carapace at the rear. They were even more awkward than he was, but at the edge of his thoughts he felt two of his ravens find what he'd sent them to seek. It's a wonder... the whole forest doesn't burn down... every year... he managed, even his thoughts having difficulty flowing smoothly beneath his exertions. Gods least fortunate, but he needed to put on some muscle!
The owl's silence on the matter of the jays was answer enough, and the fox-turned-raven felt a pang of sadness that they did not yet share that ability. I think it will come with time and practice, he said gently instead, and if they had been in their four-legged forms he would have bounced up to rub his cheek against hers in reassurance. For now, though, he could only wing after his jays, who chattered and then swooped to circle a particularly shady little glade, where three beetles were rooting slowly through the leaf-litter in search of food.
Jigano was born a predator, half-fox or more, and he had no compunction against using the beetles, anymore than he did when Isuma played with their smaller cousins - and often ate them, too. He dropped to close his long taloned toes around one, lifting off again with a grunt and a wheeze of effort, struggling to get airborne again with his cargo. So... should we not... try to stop this one? he asked, confused and a little concerned as he flapped mightily against his burden. The jays were too small to carry a beetle on their own, but he directed them to work together to lift the second, one at its head and the other scrabbling to get toes into its carapace at the rear. They were even more awkward than he was, but at the edge of his thoughts he felt two of his ravens find what he'd sent them to seek. It's a wonder... the whole forest doesn't burn down... every year... he managed, even his thoughts having difficulty flowing smoothly beneath his exertions. Gods least fortunate, but he needed to put on some muscle!
