Caged
Open starter ~ Fantasy AU ~
A little creature sat in its small cage. It was almost human looking, except that the lower half of its legs were of a bird, except the feathers on its chest and arms, on his head forming almost hair, except his clawed hands, except the two wings sprouting on its back.
The wings had been clipped, and it was trapped in this cage. Like a bird to be owned, which he was treated as. Sold for high prices, like right now. It didn’t seem bothered though, and the seller spoke of how affectionate it was.
Joshua hadn’t planned on going to the market. Being as rich as he was he could afford to have his servants buy anything he needed and have them bring it but he had heard word of an unknown creature that peaked his interest.
The tall male was known for collecting rare creatures, and either rehabilitating them and keeping them in his personal garden or trading them off for another species.
He walked up the celler, pointing causally at the cage. “What is it and how much?”
“It appears to be some sort of harpy, but no one really knows.”, the seller replied, shrugging. It looked like a male harpy, though just really small. It was as tall as a hand maybe, maybe around 6-9 inches. It was hard to tell.
The seller told him the price -pretty high in comparison to other creatures kept commonly as pets, since it was such a rarity. The little creature chirped as he saw Joshua advance, watching curiously.
Joshua hummed, walking closer to the cage. The price was steep, certainly, but he had paid more for his albino dragon egg. He kneeled down, listening to the chirps. “I will take it. I will also be buying your harpy oil.”
He stood up, fishing out his wallet and handing his gold card over. Those cards weren’t common- only the richest had them. If the merchant didn’t know his wealth before he would now.
“When were its wings clipped?’
The little harpy trilled when Joshua kneeled down, bouncing up and down. It didn’t have a lot of room to move around other than that, really.
The seller took the card, not surprised by it, ringing the prices up. “About three to four weeks ago, when it was caught. That’s what I’ve been told. It also seems to be able to speak, or repeat words at the very least.”, the man answered, giving the card back together with the key to the cage and the bottle of oil.
The harpy would need a bigger cage and a wing specialist to fix the clipped wings. When it started trilling and jumping he smiled softly, then fitted the key into the lock and reached in his hand. “On.” Joshua ordered softly.
His personal servant held multiple small bags- small but heavy. While the feminine looking creature was petite, they were much stronger than they appeared- being half elf allowed them that. They took the oil, recoiling slightly from the smell. They had a thin collar around their neck, but it was mostly for decoration.
The harpy chirped, hoping onto Joshua’s hand. He was lucky he hadn’t been mistreated too badly, other than what happened to his wings, and not having enough room or proper food. So he was as curious and affectionate like when he had been free still.
The creature was curious about Joshua, assuming he was a human like the seller, and the people who had owned him before.
emptynarration 