Thank the gods for that, he responded fervently, hoping that it would indeed be safe even should their efforts fail... but that was no reason to stop their efforts. Just in case, he told himself, trusting Amalia but still wary of the power of an unchecked forest fire.
It simply hadn't occurred to Jigano that she had never killed an animal that she had hunted before. Growing up as he had, it had been a secretive but normal part of his heritage to go hunting with his parents on occasion, learning to appreciate the gifts of his animal form as well as his more commonly-used human disguise. Had he known what he was asking of her he might have instead shifted his request to something less lethal; asking her to be their beetle-spotter full time while he and his compelled corvids did the dirty work, for instance. Without that knowledge, though, he focused instead on fighting the fire - a task they were well underway with!
His hearing as a fox was keener than that of a raven, who hunted more by sight, and so he relied on Amalia to help them quickly find their next beetle bombardment fodder, trusting her senses over his own. He followed her fearlessly, and was rewarded with additional ammunition to use against their fiery foe. The white raven followed her dive, claiming a beetle of his own and calling two of his ravens to join them while sending the blue jays back to hunting fresh game. His strength was far less than that of his sister's, and he struggled to keep up with her though his size helped to bolster his stamina as they flew back to the smoke-wreathed clearing where their previous efforts had stymied the fire's expansion in several directions already.
With a guttural cry of defiance against the flames Jigano guided his unkindness of ravens into a three-way bombardment of the back length of the log, the beetles flailing briefly before impacting the hard-parched earth and splattering their water over the smoldering grass and leaves, dousing the nascent fire and soaking the earth enough to prevent any more stray sparks from blooming fresh fire in that area. The third raven arrived a bit late, and followed Amalia's attack in much the same way.
Almost there! One more pass should do it! the white raven crowed, even as the chatter of blue joys sounded excitedly from beyond a nearby hill, calling them to their final grim harvest.
It simply hadn't occurred to Jigano that she had never killed an animal that she had hunted before. Growing up as he had, it had been a secretive but normal part of his heritage to go hunting with his parents on occasion, learning to appreciate the gifts of his animal form as well as his more commonly-used human disguise. Had he known what he was asking of her he might have instead shifted his request to something less lethal; asking her to be their beetle-spotter full time while he and his compelled corvids did the dirty work, for instance. Without that knowledge, though, he focused instead on fighting the fire - a task they were well underway with!
His hearing as a fox was keener than that of a raven, who hunted more by sight, and so he relied on Amalia to help them quickly find their next beetle bombardment fodder, trusting her senses over his own. He followed her fearlessly, and was rewarded with additional ammunition to use against their fiery foe. The white raven followed her dive, claiming a beetle of his own and calling two of his ravens to join them while sending the blue jays back to hunting fresh game. His strength was far less than that of his sister's, and he struggled to keep up with her though his size helped to bolster his stamina as they flew back to the smoke-wreathed clearing where their previous efforts had stymied the fire's expansion in several directions already.
With a guttural cry of defiance against the flames Jigano guided his unkindness of ravens into a three-way bombardment of the back length of the log, the beetles flailing briefly before impacting the hard-parched earth and splattering their water over the smoldering grass and leaves, dousing the nascent fire and soaking the earth enough to prevent any more stray sparks from blooming fresh fire in that area. The third raven arrived a bit late, and followed Amalia's attack in much the same way.
Almost there! One more pass should do it! the white raven crowed, even as the chatter of blue joys sounded excitedly from beyond a nearby hill, calling them to their final grim harvest.
