He had brown hair and light tan skin. He was wearing a cloak made of feathers. She wanted to touch them and lifted her hand without thinking. He came closer to her so she could touch his cloak. He was excited that a female was as beautiful as she was interested in his cloak. Amber touched the feathers. They were soft.
She asked, "What is your name? Do you live up there?" She pointed up the mountain. He nodded and answered, "My name is Tom. I live on top of the mountain. I am the warrior of the flying tribe." Amber greeted Tom, "My name is Amber. He is Nick. Can you help us go up the mountain?" She wanted to go see what was up there. Tom thought about bringing her to his home.
She looked towards Nick to see if he had any objections. Nick looked at her in approval and nodded toward Tom. They had met before and had an understanding between them. They were both the strongest of their tribe and worked together to protect their homes. Nick would accept this flying beast man into his family if Amber wanted him. He could help protect her better than any of the 1 or 2-striped beast men.
Amber was unaware of the silent agreement between the males and just thought they were friends. She did not know that friends didn't exist in the beast world. There were mutual benefits from the two tribes living close to each other, so they respected each other. That was as far as they usually interacted.
Tom received Nick's approval and transformed back into his flying beast form. He lowered his wing to let Amber climb on his back. Nick helped her up. She was excited! She loved to be up high! Her sister had a fear of heights, but she loved it! She would always swing the highest at recess when she was younger. She was not afraid when her uncle took them hiking up the mountain.
Tom started to lift, and she looked at Nick and yelled, "Aren't you coming?" He yelled back, "I will follow you on land up the mountain." She nodded and thought maybe the bird could only carry one person at a time. She didn't know it was because they were both males. Males would only help other males if it was an emergency. They were usually independent.
Tom flew high up the mountainside and circled the mountain for Amber to see the bird village. He had never thought to show off to any female before, but he wanted her to like him. He showed her the waterfall on the side that fed into the lake. She was amazed by the water. He got close enough for her to touch the water without getting wet.
She giggled and played with the water. Then he lifted them to the top of the mountain where there were natural hot springs. Amber looked excited to try them. Tom lived on a ledge on top of the mountain overlooking the waterfall and hot springs. He wanted to be at the highest spot to see any possible incoming threats and to warn the village as soon as possible.
He slowed down as he approached the ledge and gently landed. He lowered his wing so Amber could slide down. She had been tightly grabbing onto his feathers and finally let go. She hoped she didn't hurt him or pull out any feathers by accident. She asked, "Did I hurt you?" She had a few feathers stuck on her clothes.
Tom transformed and responded confidently, "I am a triple-striped flying beast man. You can't hurt me." She showed him the feathers and asked, "What about these?" He responded, "Keep them if you like. They look good on you." Amber didn't know that he was courting her. Males would present all kinds of things to females to gain their interest.
Amber liked the feathers and thought she could turn them into jewelry. She had seen feather earrings and necklaces before and thought they were beautiful. These were brown and tan and white feathers. They matched her outfit!
Tom's ledge was not very well decorated. He only had a grass bird's nest against the wall of the ledge. There was a pile of bones in the corner and some feathers. Bird beast men usually ate other smaller birds and insects. He didn't have any fur to offer her. He asked, "Are you hungry? Would you like anything?" She shook her head. She had eaten a large breakfast and was not used to eating meat in the morning.
Breakfast at home was usually just a bowl of cereal or fruit with toast. Sometimes she would have eggs and bacon or a sausage biscuit with gravy. Pancakes were for special occasions. Her mom made pancakes in the shape of the first letter of their name for their birthday. She could order French toast or waffles if they went to a restaurant for breakfast, but that rarely happened.
She replied, "I'm good. I had a big breakfast. I would like to go see the water though." Tom looked happy to comply with her request and he led her down to the hot springs. They arrived at the hot springs at the same time as Nick made it up the mountain.
Flying beast men were faster because they could go over all the obstacles and could fly in a straight line instead of weaving through the path. Nick had never been up the mountain before because he was never interested in what was up there. He saw the hot springs steaming and quickly made his way to Amber.
He had to shield her against the hot water! He would not allow his mate to be burned or worse boiled! Tom saw Nick's protective stance and chuckled. He laughed out loud, "Ha, It's ok Nick. The water is not that hot, or we would all be boiled birds. The female is safe. Don't worry."
Nick looked at the water skeptically but went forward and placed his hand in the pool of water. He noticed it was hot, but not scalding. It felt comfortable. He nodded and Amber approached the hot spring. She felt the warm water and it reminded her of a hot tub in her world. She thought if only I had my bathing suit I could get in here and soak.
Tom approached Amber and asked, "Would you like to get in? It helps to relax sore muscles." She replied, "I would, but what would I wear if my dress gets wet?" Tom looked at her quizzically and responded, "We usually don't wear anything in the water when we bathe."
Amber blushed. She had been in a swimming pool and hot tub before, but never naked! They were outside and Tom was a stranger. She couldn't go skinny dipping in front of him. She thought this was a crazy dream!
Nick asked her, "Would you like to try it? I can go get you a new dress from our cave." She didn't want to make Nick go back to the cave and come back here just to change. She replied, "It's ok. I will take off this dress, just turn around so I can get into the water."
Nick and Tom turned around and Amber stripped down to her underwear. At least she had those and wouldn't be completely naked. She got into the water carefully after testing the temperature with her foot. The males heard her get in and turned around.
Tom had never seen such beauty in the hot spring before. Bird beast men were mostly males with very few females. They only had 1 in a thousand females in the bird tribes. This mountain had no bird females and about 50 flying beast men. They were all from different tribes. They were mostly hawks and eagles with a few parrots and toucans.
There were other bird villages throughout the beast world, but these had all gathered here and come to an agreement with the Cheetah village. His friends and brothers who found mates had left to go with the females to the Beast City or other villages.
Nick got into the hot spring and hugged Amber close to him. He was happy to see her relax. She was still covering her chest so as not to flash Tom. Nick took over and covered her chest. He moved her onto his lap so she could be more comfortable. Tom went into the hot spring hesitantly looking at Amber and Nick to ask permission.
Amber didn't know that by being naked and allowing Tom to come into the hot spring she had accepted him into their family. Males would be naked in front of other males and their mates, but females were usually only naked in front of their family and mates.
Tom looked happy that Amber didn't object to him joining them. He swam up to her and she looked at him wearily. He didn't get too close to make her uncomfortable. He asked, "How do you like it?" Amber replied, "It is nice. I feel so much better than before." He smiled and she was dazed at how handsome he was.