Nisip

They hatched last of the four eggs, even needing help getting out of the shell. They didn’t get to settle in the nest with the rest of their siblings before a pair of strong talons pulled them away from the warmth. They were wrapped up in some animal furs before being taken somewhere. As they were transported they could hear two voices conversing, with one of them seeming quite agitated while the other rather annoyed than anything.

And so Nisip was left at the doorstep of the Littlelake orphanage.

They would never find out that the reason for their abandoning was because of them being the runt of the litter and the frailest of the four by far. Both parents were heated royalists and didn’t want to accept that one of their kids could ever possibly be weak.

Despite the unusual start of their life, they became quite the active fledgling at the orphanage even being known as a bit of a troublemaker by the caretakers. Growing up, they were a nightmare to deal with as they almost never listened to the caretakers and would rather do their own thing.

Nisip developed a hoarding tendency at this age and would often steal trinkets and toys and stash them in a quiet corner where they thought no one would check. A bracelet or plush missing? It was quite certain who was behind it. Eventually the hidden hoard was found by accident when someone was searching for a lost earring. Despite getting a stern talking to, they never truly registered that what they were doing was bad as nobody tried to explain to them in a way they would understand. Despite that, they stopped it out of fear of being punished.

Most other fledglings avoided them for the most part as they were seen as odd and unapproachable by most of them. This didn’t stop Fennel from befriending them, though, and Nisip finally started to appreciate interactions with others.

Ever since they were able to go outside they found they had a strong interest in the critters big and small that inhabited the grasslands they grew up near. Urzica, one of the youngest caretakers there, decided this was the perfect opportunity for her to teach them how to read as Nisip would surely want to know more about the animals they were so fascinated by. It worked amazingly it turned out, and Nisip became entranced with reading.

They became more sociable as they got older, extending their social circle by a lot. They met Chirp who was always a blast to be around, and Cross (who scared them a little, but they would never show it), and Blackberry who they could share their fascination with, and many others who were willing to accept them for who they are.

Around this time, Nisip began to get more and more attached to Urzica as she was one of the only adults that were willing to help them understand and reach their full potential. Nisip might have even went as far as to think of her as their parent, and, in many ways, they were right. Urzica spent a lot of time with Nisip and it was clear they were very dear to them. She never knew why she didn’t adopt them…

As they grew older, they finally felt they found a family to call their own

They started school as soon as they were old enough. It was suggested that they should look for an apprenticeship already so they'd know what the want to do later in life but nothing called out to them so they decided to wait a bit more. THere was plenty of time for that anyway, right?

Nisip learned to fly rather quickly after they fledged. Now, one of their favourite activities has become soaring through the open sky.

Sadly their days of being carefree were soon over as it wasn't long before the allied kingdoms started invading the northern kingdom. This put Nisip under a lot of stress, seeing as almost everyone started to talk about it in their group and Littlelake was quickly being approached by the army. There were many avus who wanted to fight, including some of their friends but they dreaded the thought. They had nowhere else to go if the enemy forced them out of their home.

As the allied kingdoms approached, more and more gryphus went to fight in a desperate attempt at pushing them back. One of them had been Urzica, who never came back. Nisip waited for her almost a week and a half before giving up hope.

When they finally swarmed the town, Nisip ran and hid immediately, trying desperately not to get trampled by the hooves of their hippus enemies. They had been caught in a sort of stampede, and were unable to escape the hoard of soldiers running. They would always end up near trampled by one of the hippus, a tall and thin fellow with unnerving eyes. As the army advanced, Nisip bolted in a dark corner where they would end up staying put for about three days until they were finally found. Agarita, and old roo and Cross’s uncle, decided to take them in after that. While they had no physical scars from the event, the attack left them almost entirely non-verbal and made them constantly jumpy and defensive. It took a while for them to get better and even then it was certain they would never fully recover from it.

Despite Nisip’s distrust of the allied kingdom, the soldiers were always kind and seemed to want to help Littlelake which made them warm up to their presence a bit more. There were quite a few town meetings and they tried to attend most of them, even if a lot of the time without Agar’s approval. They spotted the roo from the stampede there almost every time and they decided to follow him around, mostly to prove to themself that he wasn’t a threat, as they would frequently have nightmares of those moments. They also convinced some of their friends to start spying on the enemy guards too, which was mostly just a game of who was spotted last.

They found themself once again drawn by scrolls and literature and, with any thought of them becoming a guard being lost forever, they decided they want to work at the archive in Baraahn. This is when they started to look for someone who could teach them how to write, as they wanted to be able to document some things themselves.

After turning two years old and finishing school, Nisip moved to Baraahn to pursue a scribe apprenticeship. Their mentor was an older hen working at the archive. She treated Nisip almost like a grandchild and they loved bonding with her.

They were quite skilled at writing and enjoyed working on whatever task their mentor gave them.

Since Nisip was now spending most of their time at the archives, they realized how empty it was there. They asked Grouse, their mentor, about it and she mentioned that no-one really documents events and whatnot so there is not much to be kept there. She told them that her dream was to be able to start a record keeping project of sorts that would preserve history and culture so “the young avus won’t forget their roots”.

With that idea in mind, Nisip started working harder to make Grouse proud.