Charles' rapid steps wove a path expertly through the forest, landing atop roots and stones as often as possible. After so long of attempting to be stealthy, it had nearly become second nature to him, and now he could nearly move at full speed without disturbing the forest around him beyond startling small critters along his path. While he’d still leave signs of passage - a certain amount was unavoidable, he figured - they were few and far between.

That was doubly good now considering he was about to go visit his siblings' nest. The last thing he wanted was for someone to be able to track him to their location.

‘It’ll be fine,’ he told himself as he glanced up at his siblings, ‘There aren’t that many people who seem to come out here.’

Even back in his old world, there were stretches of wildland that still didn’t get much in the way of human contact for months or more at a time. It was possible that the woman he’d met would be the only one for some time yet.

At least, he could hope as much.

Leaping over a bundle of branches, Charles pulled his thoughts back to the present. ‘What’d be nice right now is the ability to fly,’ he stole another envious glance up to his siblings. He still didn’t regret taking the path he had, but seeing what they could do, weaving deftly between the branches of trees with an elegance and skill that he couldn’t help but marvel at, left him thinking of what he wouldn’t have.

‘Maybe I’ll evolve flight later,’ he chuckled jokingly, before having the sobering realization he may very well be capable of that in the future. He shook his head, launching himself at the next tree, springing in rapid bursts across several low hanging branches over a natural gully filled with nettles and other annoying brush. While flaring his wings wide to catch air, he banked side to side to avoid branches too weak to support his weight. After a few seconds, he pulled in his wings, once more pushing off of trees towards the ground until he was clear of the worst of the underbrush.

One of his siblings swopped low, letting out a keening screech, “That was so cool!”

Charles’ was immediately glad that he couldn’t flush with embarrassment, though he couldn’t do anything about his gorget fluffing up. Pecky trilled excitedly, swooping backwards and making a tight circle around a tree they were coming up too, “Do it again!”

“Eh, uh, sure,” he blinked, shifting his path towards the tree. The other siblings had taken note as well, happily watching as Charles acrobatically darted across the ground and, with a single smooth leap, began the process of moving between trees once more. ‘Well, I guess this isn’t all that bad, either,’ Charles thought privately as the others began to flit between the branches he was moving towards. They were faster than he was, but with the tree-to-tree method he was still able to keep up.

After a few minutes Charles returned to the ground, finding his legs burned with the effort. Pecky swooped low once more, loudly crying out “More!”

Charles’ expression stiffened, ‘Oi, you pecking know this takes effort, right?’ He wanted to say, but managed to smooth his expression before he said anything.

“Let brother be,” came Gabby to the rescue, “He needs a break, since he can’t fly”

“Ah, right, flying is easier.” Pecky happily agreed.

“Yeah, flying is still best.” Owl nodded along.

Talon joined in then, “It really can’t be beat.”

…even Yak chirped in approval.

‘I have the strangest urge to slap some birds right now.’ Charles eyelid twitched as he seesawed between being grateful to Gabby and annoyed at the somewhat backhanded excuse. ‘Alright, you little bastards, how about this, then?’

Charles flooded his legs with essence, pushing himself forward with a burst of speed that vastly outclassed their own speed. He launched upwards, digging a furrow through the earth and cutting into the bark of a tree as he went. The blade-beak shot in nearly straight lines from tree to tree, every step clacking into bark as he went. The siblings startled before they scrambled forward, calling ahead with a mix of shock and elation.

The race was on again.

Admittedly, he might have found this somewhat childish. Obviously he’d be faster than them– ‘no, wait, that’s not the issue. I’m taking this way too seriously, right?’

That thought lasted just long enough for him to feel the slight pulse of essence race up his spine from behind him.

“Oh, motherpecking fluff!” Charles cried out in dismay as he felt each of his siblings light up with essence of some sort. Unwilling to lose, especially now that he’d opened the box so-to-speak, Charles pushed more essence into his legs, feeling the burn of exertion both intensify and somehow shift into being more manageable in some way. As though it were smoothed out, the flows of energy settled into a specific arrangement that he could almost trace with his senses.

He was distracted at that moment by Talon, darting closer and closer as wind whipped through the trees around her. The others weren’t nearly as fast, but all had in some manner managed to close the gap through sheer exertion.

‘Faster, or stronger?’ The thought piqued from having felt his legs. There was something there, just ready to form, at least according to his instincts. There was a loose formation already, but this was something more, concrete, defined in a way.

Charles pushed harder, relishing in the speed, the movement, but distantly considering the options.

‘Well, that’s odd…’ Charles once more reminded himself that, above all, this was a world with magic and he’d probably never stop being surprised and shocked if he didn’t eventually just start rolling with it. With that in mind, he pushed hard against a tree, letting his explosive power propel him onwards. He grimaced at the options, speed seeming like it’d actually be better on the ground and general travel, while strength would be better for battle and for moments like this, where explosive power was more useful.

Yet, before he made the choice either way, he felt a strange twinge in his breast, a warmth that somehow pulsed outwards, touching on the ambient essence in the environment. In his mind, his thoughts somehow took on a perfect clarity, letting him trace in exacting detail where the essence moved in his body. What had previously felt like clearly defined lines suddenly became wide, distorted areas, essence flooding through tissues in the loosest of flows. Charles knew then that his use of it was vastly inefficient, and moreover could tell how to improve it. Yet, what pulled at his attention was that this all had a very familiar sensation to it, one that for all of his essence sensing practices he’d never quite realized.

‘This pulsing sensation is… Alterra? Is this something she gave me? Something to do with the essence?’ Charles’ mind stuttered for an instant, forgetting the race that was ongoing for just a moment.

That moment was enough for Talon to overtake him as he fumbled his next launch.

“Victory will be mine!” Talon crowed triumphantly, leaving Charles wide-eyed and gaping in surprise behind her, buffeted by winds in her passing.

‘Wow, that’s crazy fast,’ Charles shook his head, ignoring the now protesting muscles in his legs in favor of trying to keep up.

The sensation of clarity faded frustratingly, leaving Charles with the lapse in attention. Shaking his head, he thrust himself from tree to tree. Gritting his beak, his eyes never left Talon as she flew through gaps in the branches, the short wings of his siblings perfectly adapted to high speed flight in a dense forest. Even so, he was never far behind, but Charles knew he wasn’t going to overtake her. Surprisingly, he could keep pace with his other siblings, even overtake the majority of them.

Though, by the time they stopped, he was heaving breaths and keenly felt the ache in his legs.

“I didn’t expect you to be so quick!” Pecky chirruped happily, “Are you worn out? You look worn out?” She posed the question innocently, but Charles could see the mischievous glint in her eye.

Charles blew a sharp squawk at her, good naturedly, “Very.” He answered simply, even the essence he passively spoke through quivering with exertion. ‘Huh… maybe I should use this as a way to train essence use and management?’ He contemplated the merit as he slowly lumbered after them, the siblings now having slowed, happily landing on branches ahead of him as they waited for him to catch up.

Talon came to nearly a hover above him with a few gentle applications of wind essence, before landing atop his back.

‘Heavier than I expected,’ Charles set a questioning eye upon her with a grunt, wondering why, of all places, she needed to perch on top of him.

“The nest is up ahead,” she pointed forward with a wing by way of explanation, “be careful of your footing, much of the surroundings are overgrown.”

Charles nodded, breathing deeply of the essence around them to shore up his stores. Admittedly, it was a pittance with every lungful; Charles wasn’t very good at manipulating essence outside of his body in a way to absorb it. Something in the ambient essence was different, but he could manage to absorb some of it.

‘Wonder if eventually I can get all the essence I need from the environment. That’d be kinda nice. I’d probably still need to eat, though, right?’ He climbed over a particularly large gnarled bundle of roots, the highly uneven terrain still no particular bother for his body. In his past life, this trek would have been exhausting, but now he could keep walking through the forest with impunity. Maybe after hours of doing it, he’d begin to really feel the exertion, but right now it felt like a nice, relaxing wind down after the immense effort he’d spent in the race through the trees.

Not long after, he began to notice that the growth in the area was vibrant, denser than he’d come to expect.

And for that same reason nearly stopped cold before he realized that this feeling of growth was different from the Daurghast. ‘Whew, thank Alterra, I was afraid that we were enclosed by the Daurghast for a minute there…’ He’d mentally mapped the area, and they’d gone a fair distance north from his nest. In fact, they were far closer to the mountains than he was, only an hour or two of good hiking to get to the foothills nearly straight east of them.

Still, the sheer quality of growth was somehow different, yet the same. It took Charles a bit longer than he’d like to admit to realize that it was the essence itself that took on a different sensation. It was older, saturated, more so than his neck of the woods. It reflected in the plants all around, and he noted the trees steadily seemed to grow even more monolithic, broader, and with an experimental swipe, he realized they were also sturdier. It took a lot more effort to put a claw through the bark.

“Sturdy,” he noted aloud, nodding to himself as Talon made a noise that sounded like agreement.

“All of the trees here are, and they get sturdier deeper in. Our parents are from deeper in the Evergreen, but we aren’t ready for that yet.” Talon explained while continuing to point out where their nest should be.

“Not ready?” That’s interesting,’ he added mentally, but waited to hear the reason before he made any guesses.

Talon summed it up, “It’s very old, and very strong. There are things that live there that are beyond us. You could probably live on the outskirts, a little deeper than us, but… even Eldest should be careful if you decide to investigate within.”

Charles blinked in surprise at that, but nodded, “Well, that’s fine. I have my own nest for now, that does me just fine.”

“Yes, you’ll have to show us sometime!” Gabby chimed from above, “I want to see what you have around you, and maybe treat us to some food.”

“Yummy food!” Yak chortled, “Brother’s treat.”

“Does that mean I’m getting treated today?” Charles trilled back with amusement.

The siblings paused, looking at one another assessing and at their respective sizes.

Then they looked at the two meter tall predatory bird that outclassed them handedly in height and weight.

“Maybe we’ll feed ourselves,” Owl cleared his throat, “obviously it wouldn’t do to impose upon our host.”

“Totally… it’s not like I looked forward to getting fed, err, I mean, being treated to a generous meal,” Pecky mildly complained.

Pointedly ignoring her slip-up, Charles glanced back at Talon, “I can hunt for myself, but can you find me something big enough?”

At that, they all perked back up.

“Hmm… I suppose getting food first would be a good idea.” Talon muttered, glancing around before seeming to decide on a course. With a flap of her wings, she pulled herself upwards, a well of essence laden wind pulling her with remarkable grace.

“This way, there are some prey that are too big for us usually here,” Talon flitted to the side as Charles began to trot after her, moving back into stealthy movement. The others fell into line, likewise becoming much quieter.

Though, not without some excitement, namely as they chattered about potentially sharing in whatever meal Charles caught.

‘Yep, seems siblings don’t change no matter the world.’ He chuckled to himself, only to sigh sadly as the painful prickle of his human sister came to mind. In spite of everything, he really did hope that she was alright, and that his parents were fine. For all that he’d come to this world, he didn’t really think of them that often.

And with a press of will, he decided that would continue for the time being.

‘Focus on food, first.’ Charles opened up his senses as fully as he could, his sense of smell and sight sharpening with the pulse of essence in him. His legs still ached, but he was far from unable to battle. If there were anything truly dangerous, he could still just as easily flee, and he wasn’t at all concerned that his siblings couldn’t escape, given that they could freely fly away.

In minutes, they’d crossed fully into the essence-dense old forest, and Charles could feel the essence in his lungs, the refreshing way it seeped into the rest of his body. He paused at that, before turning his attention inwards, realizing only then that he was in fact feeling better. The essence flowed even more smoothly into his body than in his home nest, matching what he’d felt the essence to have been like a short week or two ago.

‘Huh… is it essence density that I was missing then? Does it need to be thicker for me to breathe it in?’ Charles plotted the hypothesis in his memory before pushing on, still careful about his every noise and track. This was an area he was unfamiliar with, and in spite of themselves, his siblings had become uncharacteristically quiet here.

‘We’re on the hunt, like a family,’ he chuckled to himself, ‘I guess this counts as a family activity, anyways?’

The last thing he’d expect of hawks would be pack-hunting tactics. Was that normal at all? Or was that somehow his influence?

A track on the ground seized his attention then, shallow and otherwise nondescript amidst the mosses and other plants. If Charles wasn’t especially mindful of tracks on the ground, he would have missed it.

As he slowed and stopped in front of the track, the others slowed and flitted to branches overhead.

“Good eye,” Owl praised aloud, “looks like this is one of the things in the area.”

Charles leaned down, breathing in the essence that still just barely lingered on the print. It was potent, tasting like a coppery arrogance, mingled with a mint tinge of aloofness. ‘Huh… that’s oddly more than I was expecting to get. No clue what it is yet, though.’

He turned his gaze to the others briefly before beginning to track the prints. They were soft, too soft to get the best idea of what left them, but enough to know they moved stealthily. If it wasn’t for the fact that Charles had partly reinforced his senses with essence, he doubted he’d pick up hardly anything.

‘Time to see what else lives out here,’ Charles thought hungrily, ‘Hopefully it’s a little less tough on the beak muscles, ironbacks are a bit… well, tough.’