The Devil in the Desert: Part 2: Nokt

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Part 2 - Nokt

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“How exactly is this going to work?” Zhar asked in an unimpressed drawl.
The sun was setting on the opposite end of the horizon and the three were sitting in the dying light of the sun, enjoying its less harsher warmth. Mocha and Zhar were discussing the next tribute - the Nokt tribute. It was undeniably the hardest to plan out with the communication barrier between them and the Devil, who had just been sitting there polishing off a bone from the earlier hunt.
Zhar didn’t find it as uncomfortable to look at him, but he’d look at her in a way that felt like she was being sized up by a wild animal, which put her on edge more than she’d like to admit.
She continued on. “If I try to do any kind of maneuver with him, won’t he just think I’m trying to pull something on him?” She could just imagine trying to just lock talons with him, only to have him try to claw her eyes out in a wild and unbridled rage. It wasn’t truly hard to imagine, she had seen him do it in the arena.
Mocha gave a light chuckle, a teasing glint lighting up his eyes. “I think even he understands how it works between birds and bats.” It took Zhar a moment to figure out what he was talking about, and she immediately flushed with frustration and disgust at the insinuation.
“I’m obviously not talking about that,” she emphasised, not bothering to hide the shudder of revulsion that ran along her body. “I’m talking about the fact that he could cripple me if he thinks I’m trying to threaten him in any way.” She had seen the way he reacted when she pulled in front of him during the race. If he had any anger left over from that, she doubted he wouldn’t take the opportunity to vent it out during the tribute where she needed to rely on his cooperation the most.
Mocha chirped in amusement. “I’m sure you’ll be fine together. Regardless of how you view him, he’s not as wild as he first appears.” She gave him an incredulous look, and he met it with a confidence that made her falter slightly. “I mean it. You may not have realised just yet, but he is more intelligent than you give him credit for.”
They both turned to look at the chiro gnawing at the bone in a wild and feral manner. Mocha just smiled warmly. Zhar shook her head, entirely unconvinced, and began to preen her feathers in preparation for the night ahead of her.

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Zhar’s tail twitched with anxious energy. The moon was drawing up higher and higher in the sky, shedding brilliant light onto the dusty land around them.
“The most I could ask for,” Mocha began, gaze sliding from the Devil then to Zhar, “would be just one trick where you can prove your acrobatic skills.” She let out a hot puff of air, watching him turn his gaze to the moon. “I’m sure Nokt would accept any kind of dance you manage in this situation. Don’t be afraid to impress her though.”
Zhar shook her head. Of course Nokt was going to be disappointed. It’d be lucky for them to manage to get even half a trick done by the end of the night, and then they’d have to wait for another month to try again.
She was more nervous for this rite than she was for the death drop.
“Alright Dusty Devil, let’s do this,” she rumbled to the chiro, who merely looked up at her with his beady eyes, no sort of recognition of her words present in them. She held back a shudder and turned to Mocha, who finally nodded his fluffy head.

They began their ascent into the sky again. Mocha seemed to visibly prefer the cool night air from his perch atop the highest peak of the butte. The silvery light of the moon illuminated almost anything. Zhar remembered Tisiphone referring to this sort of scenario as a Thieves Moon - the night illuminated enough where everything is visible under the light of the moon. She could almost see each feather strand on Mocha’s face as he gazed up at them from the peak. As they grew further apart, she couldn’t help but notice the odd expression on his face, and wondered if he was just as nervous as she was. She shook the idiotic thought from her head, turning her attention to the chiro flying ahead of her, his dusty colours greyer under the blaring light of the moon Goddess herself. At least she didn’t have to worry about tossing about in the pitch black darkness of night…

“Alright, focus,” Zhar grumbled to herself. She looked towards the Devil who was already watching her, glowing blue eyes glinting at her as they circled around each other. Her skin crawled under his gaze. She narrowed her eyes and snapped her beak in determination. “Alright, we’ll try a talon lock, easy enough right?” She growled out to the chiro who simply watched her. “Surely even you know how to do a simple talon lock…”

He just blinked at her. She snapped her beak again, annoyance at his lack of reactions making her feathery scarf bristle.
Her tail flicked around, both tail fans flairing as she barreled towards him, talons outstretched. She kept her eyes focused on his claws, eyes narrowing as she flared her wings out to slow her body into his.
Suddenly at just a wing beat away, the Devil screeched at her and rolled his body away from hers. He spun in the air and doubled around to reverse the rotation around her.
Zhar snapped her beak as her talons caught air and she lost balance. With a few awkward wing beats, she regained her momentum in the air and rejoined the circle with the Devil.
“Okay, you got a bit confused, that’s fine. Let’s just…” She went in for yet another talon grab, but yet again he dodged her and rolled to continue circling.
She became more annoyed than she ever had been with him, snapping her jaw together with her teeth extended from her gums. He just seemed to glare at her with those dark and intense eyes of his, but instead of feeling discomfort, she simply growled out with an irritated scowl.
Again and again she outreached her talons in attempts to grab his, but his body was smaller and more lithe than hers, and he was able to dodge every attempt she made. He seemed to taunt her as he circled around her, staring silently.
Again and again and again and-

She finally stopped, wings beating heavily to suspend her mid-air as rage burned in her lungs. She inhaled, eyes burning as they trailed after the circling chiro. All at once, she let loose her fury through her beak - a screeching roar that deafened even her as it escaped her lungs, like a bolt of raw emotion drawing life.
She watched the Devil’s eyes widen as his beating wings stopped momentarily. Suddenly chittering noisily, he dived towards her, talons outstretched. The anger she had felt before cleared immediately from her mind as her instincts took over and she dragged her legs up to block. As soon as her claws opened, they were soon entrapped by the Devil’s, and with his momentum the two toppled downwards in the air. Zhar let out a surprised screech as the two rolled and curled in the cool night.
“What are you doing?!” She wailed in panic, struggling to tear his claws away from hers. The Devil was writhing around in the air and all but flinging them in circles wildly. She was getting dizzier by the second, and feared if he let go now, she wouldn’t be able to regain herself before crashing into the ground.
He was making an attempt on her life. Fantastic. Of course he was going to kill her. Stupid little bat with his stupid rabid nature and his stupid beady little murder eyes and his stupid nasty murder habits.

She didn’t know whether to struggle herself free of his iron grip, or just hang on for dear life. She tried to catch his attention by screeching more, but despite being attached to her, he didn’t react. She vaguely heard Mocha screeching to the two, but the wild chiro - despite his much smaller build - was flinging them about in such an inhibited fashion, she had a difficult time latching on to the tyto’s voice which was coming from her left- no her right- behind her?
She was vaguely aware of the ground looming beneath them, or beside them, or above them. Her eyes hurt from trying to focus on their surroundings, so she closed them and tucked her wings in closer to the chiro. Her head spun beneath her closed eyes, and she felt physically ill from the disorientating flight.

Suddenly, she felt his wings spread hers apart and felt the wind around them subside. She felt his claws leave hers and she almost cried out in panic. Her head spun wildly around and the sound of her beating heart was dimming every other sound around her. She flapped her wings in a wild manner despite being voluntarily blind. The wind had softened on her face, which tingled with adrenaline as she tried to steady her spinning brain.
Realising she hadn’t in fact died and her head was clearing from the effects of the overstimulating drop, she slowly tore her eyes open. Her vision shuffled from side to side and she found it difficult at first to regain her senses. She finally heard a flap to her left and glanced over to see the chiro gliding calmly beside her.
She was barely able to understand the fact that the Devil had managed to actually stabilize their crazed drop and guide her into a glide.
She drew in a ragged breath.
The Devil glanced at her, before giving a small chirp. The sound made her flinch, adrenaline running through her veins like lava. He spun around her body as she glided, circling around her. First above, then to her other side, below, and then returning to her left side again. As he breached each side of her, his wings connected with hers in an unfamiliar and almost disgustingly gentle touch, keeping her steady as he took charge. She just watched him, too stunned from the previous experience to really do anything. What had this started as? Right, tribute - to Nokt. Something about aerial acrobatics. What had Mocha said? More intelligent than she had previously thought? Why would the Devil risk both of their lives if he had just an ounce of intelligence? Was it just a sloppy mistake caused by his inexperience with others? Or was it just to scare her? Was this a dominance thing? Risk her life just to show his place above her in the hierarchy?
The Devil chirped at her again, shocking her from her thoughts. He was watching her carefully. For some reason, he reminded her of one of the lower members when they had upset their lover and was waiting at their feet like a hatchling begging for attention. She’s not sure why this thought crossed her mind. He wasn’t wearing any particular expression - he never really did other than when he was snarling at whoever had crossed the thin line of his patience. But there was also no malice in his expression. The tip of his wing lightly brushed against hers, and for a moment she felt as though she was being comforted by an older bird who knew much more than she did. She felt ashamed and silly of her previous squawking and wailing, clenching her jaw as hot embarrassment flooded her chest.

She was still stunned as he dipped around her. Deciding to follow carefully (her brain hadn’t come back to its senses enough to compel her to feel angry or defensive), the two twirled around in the air. Every now and then, Zhar watched the light shine off the Devil’s whiskers or fur, silvery strands glowing like they were ablaze with white flame.
This flight was perhaps the calmest she had ever seen him. She found herself enamoured by the completely different stryx she had been clutching on to just minutes before.
Suddenly, the chiro rose up into the air towards the beaming moon. Zhar seemed to instinctively follow him into the almost freezing night air, entranced, bewitched. The two twirled around each other as they rose up higher and higher in the sky before coming to a slow stop in the air. The two flared their wings out as they both leaned backwards, curling downwards and diving with each other one more time - this time in unison and harmony with each other. They spun around each other in their descent, slowly and with a calmness that she had never felt in the presence of the furry creature twirling around her before.

The two continued their dance in the air, performing twists and twirls around each other with remarkable synchrony.
Suddenly, the chiro flicked his body towards hers, claws outstretched. Surprised but not fearful, she raised her own talons as the two locked claws tightly. Zhar worried her giant talons might pierce the chiro’s much smaller claws, but he hung onto her confidently. Instead of pushing her back this time however, he carefully arched backwards, gently drawing her above him as the two began their last descent of the night. Spinning around, she couldn’t help but stare at the smaller creature latched onto her. The busy thoughts that had troubled her before were now absent - or perhaps quiet enough that she didn’t hear them over the sound of the wind rushing past her ears.
He wasn’t looking at her, too concentrated on the ground ahead of them.
Right, the ground.
She arched her head to peer at it, making sure she was aware of how quickly they were descending. Seeing movement from the beast beside her, she glanced down to catch his stare.
Now that they were beside each other in such close range, she could see even more detail to his face.
He was definitely a beautiful stryx. He had probably survived easily in the desert with that windy coat colour, but she had wondered how long exactly he had lived in the desert for. They had never come across each other - perhaps that was by his design?
His eyes, at this distance, seemed so intelligent that she had to blink. As if straightening a portrait on a wall, the idea of him in her mind seemed to shuffle peacefully into place as she caught her reflection in his eyes.

He suddenly tore his eyes away from hers, snapping her from her thoughts. The two pulled away from each other gracefully. Zhar had only just realised that any dives towards the ground had been controlled enough that she hadn’t even scraped her claws along the glittering sand.

Did he take her larger body scale into account when performing the tribute? She had no idea, but her unsurety about it was not followed by disgust or fear.
Just an unfamiliar but comfortable feeling in her chest.

 

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The two landed on the cool sand below the butte, just atop a small sand dune. Zhar didn’t realise she had been out of breath until her lungs started heaping in air rapidly. She watched the Devil who also seemed to be panting, though it wasn’t as forceful as hers. She attributed that to their difference in size, her pride not wanting to face the fact that the smaller (and perhaps much older?) creature was in better shape than her.
Mocha landed beside them, feathers fluffed up in an atrocious manner that he didn’t even bother to calm down. He was sputtering and rambling out in such a flustered manner that Zhar was only able to catch about half of what he was saying.
“That was incredible…! The first half…! I wasn’t worried at all! But… and then when you…!” She blinked at the chittering ball of energy that had all but barreled towards them and was now twirling around them in an excited fashion.

Finally calming down slightly, the fluffy tyto puffed up proudly. “You both did excellent! I’m sure you dazzled Nokt herself!” Zhar couldn’t help but smile at the unexpected liveliness of the second-hand as he gushed at the marvel they had presented him.

“We should head back to camp to rest before tomorrow!” The tyto said, feathers still puffed and expression still proud. “I’ll begin a fire, take a breather. And another well-done for your amazing acrobatics!” With that, he was flapping up to the butte where they had laid their camp out. Zhar couldn’t help but let out a breathy laugh, taking in a deep breath to set her mind straight from the chaotic presence of the second-hand. She caught notice of the Devil staring at her and stared back. As he blinked and turned to go, she rushed forward, sand shifting beneath her feet and making her slightly clumsy.

“Wait!” She called after him, making him pause and look back at her. The blank expression that had previously discomforted her now reigned in a soothing presence in her veins.
“Th-... thank you.” The words tasted unfamiliar on her tongue, and she nervously flicked her tongue around her bare gums. “For…” Then again, what was she thanking him for? Saving her life? After he put it in danger in the first place?
No, his expression seemed innocent in some fashion, and he had apologised (sort of) for what he had done. Respect for him dwindled like a small ember in her mind. “Just… thank you.”
She bowed her head, then glanced up at his reaction. He merely stared at her, before snapping his head to the desert, fur bristling . She too, now picking up on his sudden mood change, turned towards the desert.

There was a rumbling sound far off in the distance, the sand beneath their feet shivering. The Devil let out a low and guttural growl that made his illuminated whiskers shudder fearsomely. There was a movement in the sand not too far away from them, the sand dune twisting and collapsing as a sharp ripple dragged through the sand like water.
Fear gripped at Zhar’s lungs, before she was suddenly shoved onto a large rock just beside them by the Devil.
“What are-” He covered her toppled body, silencing her. A snake-like ripple moved closer towards them, and her heart began to thump cautiously in her chest. A rattling line of spikes jutted out from beneath the sand, disturbing a layer of dust as the thing - whatever it was - writhed its way towards them.
However, just as quickly as the approaching thing beneath the sand had appeared, it disappeared. The rumbling stopped and the sand calmed until it was just the sounds of the cool night around them again. Zhar felt paralyzed, muscles tensed up as she steadily poised herself to take flight. The Devil didn’t move for a long while, ears flicking around and nose twitching violently as he scanned their surroundings.
Finally, the Devil loosened and turned towards her. She was already anxiously staring at him, awaiting whatever instruction he was to present to her. He blinked at her calmly, checking her over and sniffing her a few times, before chittering in a manner she couldn’t help but find endearing now - it made her feel looked after. He shook whatever dust had collected in his fur, and launched himself off the ground. She followed him up to the butte, where Mocha was humming to himself while finally preening down the fluffy mess of his body. A fire in front of him illuminated his body and crackled with promising warmth. He turned to the two of them as they connected to the rocky ground again. “There you two are! I was beginning to worry whether you had been too tired to fly up here.” His tone was light and fluttery - warm. Zhar sat by the fire while the Devil returned to his post from the previous night, looking over the desert towards the horizon. Zhar stared at him, now understanding exactly why he had been so cautious and watchful the previous evening.

“Mocha,” Zhar said, drawing her attention of the small tyto beside her. “I think you should know something before the last tribute.”