2 Chirreb 4385: Ulgrane!

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

Purrzhon saw them first and growled a warning to us. "Indigo Ulgrane to the port bow."

Ulgrane are one of the more common sorts of sapient nonprime. Like most nonprimes, their exact shape and size varies a lot more than with Primes but most of them have two feathered wings, long torsos with eight legs and/or arms, long necks and beaked heads. They're wonderful fliers, swift and graceful and at home in the skies. You don't see them too often near the ground but they're infamous as sky pirates. Indigo Ulgrane have clawed truehands on their forward set of arms and long fanned feathery tails.

Trust looked to the port stern and Nightbloom looked to the starboard bow because I guess they're not really used to airships. I followed Mirhandrax around the curve of the ship's upswept wing so we could get a look for ourselves. "We may get a chance to do more than drill," Mirhandrax said grimly. Purrzhon stayed low and slunk along the back of the Winged Charger.

"I don't think so Vheshrame's got a treaty with the local ulgrane we are flying Vheshrame's colors aren't we?" I glanced back at the Charger's mane and we were.

"Your city allied with ulgrane?" Mirhandrax blinked at me.

"Yes we allied with a nendrai we'll ally with anything. Except Oorah Thrassen of course."

"You ally with the dangerous insane monsters but not the Prime city?" Purrzhon asked.

I shrugged. "Don't ask me I'm not the Duke I'm not even a noble." The Charger's wing swept down again and I could see the flock of Ulgrane clearly. There were eight of them, playing an Ulgrane racing game which involved having alternating sets of Ulgrane mark the course while the other half flew it. The Charger's pilot must have seen them because we were peeling further to starboard to avoid intersecting with them. A couple of the Ulgrane had elaborate patterns designed in their feathers including one with crackling white lightning bolts on his wings. "Hey that's Lightning hallo Lightning look at me I can fly now too!"

I zipped off to meet them. Mirhandrax called, "Wait," and tried to grab my tail but I flicked it out of his reach because I hate it when people grab my tail. Am I wearing a big sign that says "CATCH ME" that I only I can't see? Why are people always trying to grab me? It never works.

"What why?"

"They're dangerous monsters and might be hostile?"

Didn't I just go over this? "Noooo they're not hostile I know some of them c'mon I'll introduce you." I splashed water on my face to turn waterform and swooped off to meet Lightning. Mirhandrax yelled something else that I didn't catch and he didn't follow me.

Lightning saw me coming and the race broke up as the ulgrane veered off to meet me. They fly a lot faster than I can!

"Joy-in-Feathers! This is you? Turned purple and grown wings? This is how she-Orren mature?" Lightning teased me.

"I am Delight-in-Flight now and nooooo this isn't how Orrens mature and nooooo I don't have wings!" I checked my back JUST IN CASE and I didn't.

"And I am Chain Lightning now," Chain Lightning proclaimed proudly, swooping around me. "Surely you do have wings! Slow and invisible ones, mind, but enough to keep you from the hard dull ground. Why, you Fly Like a Bird."

"I'd rather Fly Like an Ulgrane do you have a pattern spell for that?" I twisted around in the air to follow him as he circled me.

He crowed with laughter. "What need would an Ulgrane have for such a spell?"

"To share with your unfortunate non-Ulgrane friends? I used my pattern spell on you! And it's holding up really well I expected it to have faded by now."

Chain Lightning preened, spreading his wings and gliding above me to show off the lightning designs on them to best advantage. "They are a titch blurred here and there. But as you are here now ... "

By then the other Ulgrane had caught up to us and were flapping about curiously. I'd met Intoxicating Sky before but the others Chain Lightning had to introduce me to. He told them all, "This is the Orren who did my wing-designs."

They all went 'ooooh' and then all the boys started clamoring for me to do designs for them while the girls smirked. Girl Ulgrane aren't as vain as the boys.

I waved my forepaws at them. "All right all right I'll re-do your feather pattern Chain Lighting and maybe two others but I don't have all day and I don't have that much cley to spare I'm on adventure. And you'll have to come back to the ship with me we need to keep moving."

"Your pilot agrees, I see." Chain Lightning waved a wing towards the Charger and I pivoted around to see that it'd flown a quarter mile away from us. "At least about the 'keep moving' part, if not the 'we'."

I squeaked and swam through the air after it at my best speed but the pilot must have switched back to full speed and I was only falling further behind. The ulgrane flapped lazily alongside me and Chain Lightning watched me struggle with one amused eye. "Ummm .... I'm not that fast you already noticed that maybe you could carry me back?"

He laughed again and plucked me out of sky with one big truehand.

Of course, the ulgrane didn't have any trouble catching up to the airship.

Comments

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Those ulgrane. I'm glad you're friendly with them. I've never liked them much myselves. Though it is of course convenient to have contacts within the ulgrane community, so that when their cousins rob skyships, we can ransom the sailors back conveniently.

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

Chain Lightning's pretty nice he helped out Dad-Dad's village once when the water elementals that keep their river were misbehaving and making the flow all erratic and nasty. I don't know the others so well but I'm sure they're fine!

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

So it's okay when a *dangerous monster* grabs you, but not a Gormorror? >:)

You let Purrzhon grab you when you're asleep, too, I guess.

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

That was different I asked Chain Lightning to carry me although it'd've been nice to ride on his back instead of in his hand.

... I really should learn to wake up faster but I've always been a deep sleeper. z.z

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

I'm sometimes a deep sleeper. I woke up once at a party after dozing off on a couch and found my friends had buried me in a pile of stuffed bunnies. O.o

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

That sounds beter than being carried around by your scruff!

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

It wouldn't be for me! I'm allergic to large amounts of dust, like is found in plush toy bunnies, and I would wake up from under them because I would be having trouble breathing!

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

Sure, Joy-in-Feathers spun a cocoon and slept in it for a while, and then after a few months, she popped out purple and winged and named Delight-in-Flight! };D

I guess these are friendly nonPrimes! But if the pirates include Ulgranes among their numbers too, they might be related in some way. So be careful mentioning that you're going pirate-hunting, unless you want these Ulgranes to possibly give their kindred Ulgranes advanced warning. Since they're faster than you, you'd never catch up to them if they got off the ship...

On the other paw, they might be friendly and willing to help, in exchange for lozens.

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

We could probably outfly ulgrane over the long haul they're can sprint very very quickly but compared to an airship but they can't keep that pace up for days or even hours.

That's a good thing to keep in mind though!

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

Ahhh, you are consistently adorable, Delight! And you really are taking to the skies quite well, aren't you? And you are taking whole waterform flight thing to heart, I see! And it's getting you into trouble appropriately, hehehehe... :)

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

What do you mean trouble I'm not in any trouble the Ulgrane are perfectly nice.

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

I meant the ship flying away and you needing the Ulgranes help to get back, and presumably what the other primes on the ship think!