#silverfoot

Scout’s purpose as a Trico was considerably lessened with her new armor.

Usually, armor was made of a strange, dark metal imbued with magic. It went across the back like a saddle, and had a helmet. Scout’s armor, in comparison, was made of a combination of the magical metal and gold- making it very heavy, and very flashy. Hers covered her near completely: she wore it on her legs, on her stomach, and across her back and neck in addition to the helmet. She hated the helmet. She could hear the Master’s voice, and it wasn’t fond of her.

She was nearly not alone. Silverfoot, the big Trico who had brought her to the armory, wore similar armor to hers. There was no gold in his, however; this was the key difference in their armor, as he could truly soar. But he was confined to “Scout-sitting” instead of Collecting or some other job due to his closeness to the terrible Master-killing curse.

Scout was quite alright with that. The Nest was lovely, and she enjoyed exploring and finding barrels. Silverfoot, too, enjoyed the lack of responsibility in watching Scout- he told her stories of his adventures outside of the nest, and taught her how to avoid trouble. Scout was rolling in a puddle while Silverfoot stayed close on a platform above. “You would love the ocean.” He said rather suddenly. Scout rolled to her feet with a head tilt. “What is the ocean?” Silverfoot stood up, hopping down to stand at the edge of the puddle. “It is a place far away from here, at the end of the land. Beyond it is a stretch of water to the ends of the earth, and that is the Ocean.” Scout jumped up. “How far could the end of the land be?” “You would cross the land for seven days and seven nights, until you felt as it you could never fly again. Just beyond that point is where the ocean lies.” “Is it pretty?” Scout asked. “It is beautiful.” Silverfoot said. “One day, Master willing, I shall take you there.” “Master willing…” Scout murmured. “How would I get there? My armor is too heavy for me to fly.” Silverfoot shook his head. “Little Scout, that is a matter of time. Your wings are still small, and you are quite little. But given time and practice… I believe wholeheartedly that you may be able to fly, even with that armor.” Scout hunched up. “How would I?” Silverfoot simply flapped his wings. “You would train yourself. It is the same as the Tricos in the mines and armories. You do not think they were pulling around those enormous carts at your age, do you?” Scout pawed at the puddle, watching the ripples. “I suppose I did not.” Silverfoot shuffled in place proudly. “Then it is simple. As the Tricos of the armory train to pull carts, you will train to fly. As they start with small carts, you will learn to run.”

“How does learning to run help me learn to fly?” Scout asked, her little wings stretching.

“It builds your strength. Once you can carry the weight of your armor, then you can learn to climb. Once you can climb, then you can jump. Once you can jump, you can glide, and once you can glide, you may fly.”

Scout nodded. “That makes sense. Where should I run?”

Silverfoot looked about, spreading his own wings. “You should run to the end of the field and back- that will be a good start.”

Scout was already a mediocre runner- a bit slower than most, but faster than another Trico might be in her armor. However, she did have one great disadvantage- her armored feet had little traction on many surfaces. And so when she turned, she slid slightly, losing her balance and falling on her side most ungracefully.

She looked up to find Silverfoot running toward her, stopping and sliding as well but keeping his balance. “Are you injured?”

Scout slowly pushed herself to her feet, ignoring what felt like the taunting of the Master in her head. She wouldn’t be flying anywhere, anytime at this rate. “I am unharmed, Silverfoot.”

“Excellent. Would you like to continue, or do you wish to rest?” He straightened himself up, puffing out his chest and holding up his wings. 

Scout, subconsciously, did the same. “I wish to continue. I am to run back across this field, correct?”

Silverfoot nodded. “Indeed you are.”

did some redraws of my warriors oc’s. the first is Silver paw who later becomes Silverfoot. the last picture is her first litter of kits. Lionkit, Tigerkit, Goldenkit, and Riverkit. I’ll definitely make goldenkit less of a highlighter yellow next time i draw her, but i dont want to go back and fix it now.

Scout knew she was different from her earliest memory. She was not happy to sit beside the fire in the nursery and wait for the day she got her armor- rather, she wanted to learn something. There was somewhat of a legend among her littermates of a figure who did not actually exist. But Patch knew it existed, because how else would her feathers be gold? Guards were not kind- they only existed to serve the Master, whoever that was, and the young tricos were taught to fear them early on. But to Scout, the guard with golden armor existed. The legend stated that the guard had come in and sat by the fire. Scout then, had apparently wandered up to it and laid over in it’s lap while the guard petted her and turned her feathers gold. Every time clanking footsteps echoed down the hall, she would look up and hope it was the golden one. But it never was. This what what Patch wanted to prove- that this different guard existed somewhere in the nest, and it was her friend. She learned to climb early on- her end goal was to escape the nursery cave, even if she couldn’t fly, and find the strange guard. Some of the other baby tricos followed her lead, and she often raced them to see who could climb the highest (much to the chagrin of their mothers).

Scout had finally caught herself on the highest perch in the nursery- all of the other Tricos looked so small from here, she felt like the Master! But then she head the footsteps of the guards, and she felt clever- they were as tiny as the butterflies that followed the barrels! As Scout marveled at how big she felt, she soon realized that the guards weren’t alone this time- An enormous armored Trico had followed them, his eyes glowing a similar color to the trico mothers’ whenever there was a climbing contest going on, or if a baby was considering roughhousing a guard. The adult screamed out, and Scout realized that they had been sent to summon her- never a good sign. She looked up toward the opening in the ceiling- surely she could climb up and out, and escape whatever was happening. The guards were climbing the little footpaths along the perches to where she stood. She backed up, sizing up the jump she would need to make. The big trico was leaping up toward her with ease, but even he was having to take strategic leaps. Scout ran up to the edge and jumped, using what little wings she had to glide and land on a small ledge. From there she saw another ledge further up- it would take a powerful leap to reach it. She took a few steps back again, and leaped as high as she could, adding a little flap of her wings for an extra boost. For a moment, her feet connected to the platform, and she felt as if she may have a chance to escape. But then the stone gave way, and she plummeted to the floor of the cavern, where the guards were waiting.

~

She awoke on a stretcher of some kind. Te guards from before were carrying her into a huge cavern in the lower part of the nest. From descriptions, she guessed it might be the armory. Huge tricos were bringing heavy wagons around, filled with armor and scrap metal to be brought elsewhere. Scout wondered what she was doing down here- surely she wasn’t being put to work?

The soldiers rested her on the ground, and several of them abandoned their jobs to investigate her. She tried to get up, but the big trico who had chased her through the nursery placed one careful foot on her back as a warning. “Do not move.” He snarled. “They’re trying to get your measurements for your armor.” “My armor day is not for a long time.” Scout responded. “Your armor day has been moved. You, little one, need special armor before your magic develops.” “Why is that?” “The Master says you are cursed. You do not question the Master, do you?”