Posts by P. Amphion

Being a bird, it should have come as no surprise that Amphion had a singing voice to be proud of. "Karaoke?" he asked eagerly, landing next to Donna and admiring her set-up with approval. "I love music. I wonder if anyone would sing a duet with me." He chuckled, then lowered his head to delicately browse through the songs she had amassed, flipping the pages with a gentle grip from his beak, not wanting to tear them. "Seems we have a nice selection here. This will be fun!"

Baking cookies? Was he serious? Amphion couldn't bake! Ah, but he'd try anyway. It would be entertaining, if nothing else, and he'd been known to enjoy entertaining his clanmates with his shortcomings. "If that's what you want me to do, that is what I shall do. Hope you're all ready to taste my cookies!" He grinned and fluttered away.

Amphion nodded dutifully to Jackdaw and held his head high. "Understood, Jack. I'll assist in our endeavours to the best of my abilities." This was a long time coming, and he was ready for it.

Content to hear the news, both good and bad, that left Jackdaw's maw, Amphion was settled into the sand, absorbing every word. "I'm excited to watch the events play ever onward," the magpie chirped with a smile. "I could host an agility training session, if you like. It would take me some time to set up, but perhaps some of us could make use of it. Not everything is about strength, yes?"

A chance to go out and visit allies was one he didn't plan to pass up, especially if he had a clear-cut reason to visit rather than simply flying onto their land with no explanation. But who would he visit? His mind processed the list of BloodClan's allies, rummaging for one that stood out to him. He'd heard interesting things about BlizzardClan's territory - maybe that was the one. "I'll visit BlizzardClan," he chirped in a sing-song voice, hopping over to inspect the baskets.

Amphion had been around long enough to recognize the scents of certain enemies, but he couldn't argue that his knowledge of Exiler scent was failing him at the time of this most unique encounter. He flapped over to Danilo - who he didn't know very well, but liked - and landed at his side. "You know, I'm wondering the same things, miss," the magpie twittered with a dash of mocking in his otherwise calm, respectful tone. "Well, I know where you are, but as for why, I'm lost. And I'm sure we'd all much more appreciate knowing who you are." Then he gazed up at the burning desert sun and added, "Actually, I don't care much about that. It'd be preferable for you to simply leave." Now that he was closer, he definitely recognized this foreign scent as an enemy's. Gods only knew which one, though.

Amphion landed abruptly at Hypo's side and studied the new stranger, scrutinizing his every flaw and perfection as he did with most every newcomer, like he was trying to gauge everything about them over the span of ten seconds just by staring through their pelt. Normally, he would have spoken by this point, but the stranger had yet to state their intentions, so he remained silent, staring.

Was this truly happening?
Amphion had once based his life upon one simple, rock-solid principle - death was forever. Yet he seemed to question this more and more everyday with counts of reincarnation and sudden reappearances after death skyrocketing into the eternal abyss. It confused him to no end, even threw him into a state of existential discomfort, but he definitely wasn't upset. No, for if Leo had remained dead, he would have been much further disturbed.
"I'm happy you're still with us," the corvid murmured, keeping his wings tucked at his sides and his head lowered in a respectful bow.

Oh. A drunkard. A drunkard who got lost in the desert, no less. The whole ordeal was entertaining to him, though he scarcely showed it, staring on with fabricated disgust in his black eyes as the wildly rambling stranger expelled whatever had been inside his stomach.
"Pleasant."
He stepped back away from the amusing display and collected his thoughts. So here was an odd feline named Oryx, claiming to be a Mad God.
Amphion was enthralled.
Neglecting to speak, he simply sat and watched, chuckling with each further development into this silly show of a greeting.

Amphion didn't know Laurel, so he had little to say in the way of welcomes, but seeing as his other clanmates were familiar with the male, he was happy to join in the cheery greetings. "Hello, hello, and welcome back, I suppose! I'm Amphion. It's a pleasure."

"I'd like to join this first raid," Amphion decided. he'd been there all along, truth be told, but he hadn't spoken up until now, deciding instead to listen to his clanmates' ideas. "My wings should come in handy in spilling blood into the river, if we decide to do so. I could collect prey animals, cut them open, and deposit them in a heap somewhere upstream so that they bleed out into the waters. I could also assist in dispersing poison."

Amphion was, by no means, built for battle. He was small compared to most opponents, and his lack of forepaws in place of wings left him down a potential weapon. He had to remain in the air, constantly, to keep himself able to fight. He was useless on the ground. He couldn't use his talons, and relying on his wings to serve as blunt weapons while his beak lashed out haphazardly was a risk he'd avoid taking if at all possible. However, attending Break's training session not long ago had helped to boost his meagre self-esteem, so there he was, surveying the area from above. No one, save for his clanmates, was likely to notice him as anything other than a stupid prey bird. Until he had gathered a plan of attack, or the circumstances beckoned his presence, he would watch and wait. After all, joining the fray mean nothing but bolstering the front line, and a front line too thick left the back ill-defended once it was breeched.

Amphion listened closely to Leo's reply, taking interest in his each and every word. "I can appreciate that. I was born in a very cold place, so I'm still struggling to adjust to this old desert," he hummed, bobbing his head as he thought. "The cool nighttime breeze is my only solace sometimes. Even the oases are often warm. I miss the sight of snow and ice sometimes." He turned his head away, settling back into the sand. "Where do you come from, Leo? What was your birthplace like?"

He'd heard about ScarClan often, recently. Breakdance also hailed from there, if he wasn't mistaken (which he very well could have been). He was often curious about the clan's history and current state, but he could sense that Leo felt sensitive about the topic. He was quite happy to move on when he, in turn, was asked a question. "Why did I leave, indeed?" he wondered, staring up at the moon, letting it's light dye his beady black eyes silver. "I felt this unmistakable urged drilled deep into my skull, telling me I needed to flee and see more of the world, as much of it as I could drink in. I felt like I'd drop dead if I ignored it, so I fled home, flying as far away as possible. Then I travelled for many months, saw many things, and ended up here. Yet again I am uncertain why BloodClan was my choice. Perhaps because it was the most different from my home. It offered the most unique experiences, so my instincts rooted me in, and now I'm stuck here." He smiled up at Leo, uncaring that the blind feline couldn't see his warm smile. "I definitely don't mind, though." A content chuckle left his beak.

Amphion learned an important lesson today.
He couldn't bake.
For his weekly task, Jamison had instructed him to prepare cookies for everyone. He'd been up to the task, but his determination sold him short.
He hadn't given up yet. He knew this would be a difficult mission, so he'd collected a wide batch of supplies to aid him in each attempt. he was on his third attempt at that point. Feathers were singed where he'd received minor burns and there were burnt crumbs sticking to the plumes around his face from his taste tests. His beak was hanging open and he huffed as he worked his small body to the best of his abilities in the desert heat. He pulled dough from a bowl and carried it over to a tray, only to find that it had stuck to his talons. Again. He shook it off and watched it splatter into the sand with apathy running rampant in his expression.
"Okay. I give up now."
He took on the rim of the large bowl of dough and called out, "Anybody want to snack on some fresh cookie dough?"
After all, the dough was just as good as the cookies themselves, right?

Amphion was next to arrive. He flew over to Horizon and landed beside him. It was natural to elect to rest at a familiar face's side. The time to branch out and meet other faces would be upon him shortly enough, after all, if things went as planned. "I'm Amphion, I'm a BloodClan third-tier. I look forward to my stay."

Amphion nodded, the pesky smile ever refusing to leave his face. "Indeed. I'm content with my choice, and it pleases me that you enjoy it here too." He stretched out his wings, which were a tad cramped from laying dormant in the sand for so long. He couldn't help but glance fondly at his feathers as he did so. He was beyond grateful to have their loyal service. He'd be so lost without flight, and he didn't envy those who would never experience it, even if they had their eternally useful forepaws. He often struggled with his lack of hand-like appendages. Wings were useless in this regard, and he needed his talons to stand on.
His train of thought differed vastly from the words he spoke, though. "Say, you don't only speak English, right? I'm a bit of a language enthusiast, so I'd be curious to hear more about that." The bird was trilingual himself, but he'd always wanted to learn more. To be able to communicate effortlessly with the whole world over, that was one of his biggest dreams, albeit one he'd likely never accomplish in his meagre lifetime.

This was it, the decisive encounter. Amphion was there, a determined glint in his eyes and a fresh vibrance to his feathers, as though the day of the battle and the accompanying adrenaline had rejuvenated him. "I'm ready when you are."

Wings pumping, heart racing, shoulders aching, these were all sensations that Amphion was painfully aware of at the time. The young magpie forced himself through the air, hauling the heavy basket with him. He had to give Jamie credit, there was a lot of stuff in those damn things, filled to the brim with weapons and baubles and other assorted treats. The handle was held firm between his talons, but risked dragging both it and its transporter to the ground. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
Finally he made it to the border of the allied clan and gently lowered the basket to the ground, immediately toppling into it himself once its weight was safely upon the ground. He was tired from the flight, but now that he was there, and he was about to meet some allies, he was feeling better. He pulled himself out of the basket, careful not to hurt himself on any of the sharp weaponry tucked safely within nor crush the more delicate of offerings, and stood up.
He whistled a few times, then called, "Hello, hello! Hello, hello!" He whistled some more, then called, "Gifts from BloodClan! Gifts from BloodClan!" Something about acting like a stupid parrot never got old.

Nobody disliked gifts, or so he was fairly certain. And receiving gifts in hand with chatting with allies made for a lovely few minutes out of Amphion's day. He flapped over on light wings and landed near Apex, and stretched up to peer into the basket. "This is lovely. Thank you, Calina." He was happy to have caught the kid's name while listening to the chatter of his other clanmates. He couldn't help but think he really could have used a weapon, so he took one of the small blades and returned to the air to test it, handling it somewhat awkwardly in his talons. What could he say, he'd never used a blade.