Yes, I am posting twice in a row! 

Silvia~

The animals all lapse into a deep silence, minds wandering. I myself even ponder on Cress's legend...The Lake of Silence...And darkness...

I think of the only lake I've ever seen: Mantapple Lake. It was the lake over which I was born--I could see its rippling, cool waters from my nest in the highest pine tree. I do not frequently look back on my childhood, as it makes me feel vulnerable, but this is a dire case. 

In my memories, I find nothing silent or dark, just the lake and its peaceful breeze with deer and ducks and other animals sometimes pausing their life to take a drink from it. But there is one figment of memory I am drawn to--a small stream that trickled out of the lake. I start to recall the forest on the far side of Mantapple lake...The forest the stream ran into. 

Now, I never went to the far side of the lake. My mother always told me to stay away, as there were many, many dangers in that forest. What had she called it? Right, the Tenebrisious Forest. At night when I was just a hatchling I would listen for the screeches and yells and howls that came from it. But somewhere around my first season, the noises stopped. And the Tenebrisious forest became silent.

Perhaps the Tenebrisious forest is where the Lake of Silence is! Or maybe it's where all of us die from a vulture's long ago memories. Well, it's better than sitting here with our mouths open. I flap my wings to shake my, erm, comrades from their stupor.

"I might know where this...Lake of Silence...is," I announce.

All the animals: the snow leopard Elissa, the grizzly bear Burr, the tiger Khan, the snake Cress, the panther Starsinger, and the cheetah Fere, look up at me. I shake my feathers out and meet the eyes of the expectant animals staring at me.

"It's most likely in the Tenebrisious Forest."

Top.

To the top...top...top...top...

Elissa~ "Tenebrisious Forest, eh?" I ask. Silvia nods. "Pointers on where this is?" Ferè queries. Silvia nods again. "I was hatched over it. I know the route to it from anywhere by heart." Khan dips his head slowly. "Some kind of hatchling thing, I presume," Cress hisses. "If you know the way so we'll, vulture, then lead us there." We all murmur agreement. Silvia rustles her wings. "Alright, then. Follow me." She unfolds her wings, flaps them once, and takes to the sky. "We'd preferably follow you if we could see you, no less keep up with you!" Starsinger calls up to Silvia's fast receding shape. Silvia stops, turning around and flying back. "Yes, of course, I'm sorry," she mumbles. "I'll stay lower." The six of us trot after her, our group a little odd looking- four different big cats, a python, a bear, and a vulture. We walk along in companionable silence, the Sun setting on a distance horizon, throwing beautiful rays of color through the darkening sky. Silvia leads us into the dense forest that branches off of Outlook Rock, where she must have come from. "Welcome to the Tenebrisious Forest," she says wearily. "Now let's find somewhere to shelter that's safe enough that a manticore won't eat us in our sleep."

Silvia~ 

The Tenebrisious Forest...It's silent as ever. I'm roosting up in a pine tree after finding the other animals a cave to sleep in. Hopefully, there's nothing hiding deep inside. I checked it pretty thoroughly, but still--I've never actually had practice scouting on the ground before.

Memories flood back from my chickhood as I idly stare out of my tree and into the dark mouth of the cave: Me eating regurgitated food from my mother, staring out over the lake, my first flight--I try to stop them, but they keep coming. I feel my stony face begin to soften...

The leopard Elissa walks out of the cave with her face covered in spierwebs. She looks angry at me. I swiftly tuck my head under my wing and try to regain my composure, hoping she hasn't seen my eyes.

"You had to choose the dirtiest cave, didn't you," Elissa growls. After a moment, I lift my head and smile at her. 

"Birds don't do cleaning," I grin, and turn my back to her. I hear her breathing grow farther and farther away until I'm sure she's back in that cave. I spin around and continue gazing into the dark opening in the earth.

Hearing the animals starting to get to know each other, the life of a vulture suddenly seems sort of...lonely.

RRRRRGH! My whole post just got deleted. Oh well, let's start again. Heehee, Unsolveablez says oipc, an anagram of my mother's name.

Burr~

Well we have got ourselves some clues! Let's go on down to this Lake Of Silence!

Having said that, having projected that aura of jolliness, I can now say I don't want to go. I don't like any of this mission. I mean, one of us will DIE along the way? To me, death is the worst thing in the world, and to see it bestowed on anyone....EEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Also, there is somethng very, very wrong with this silent lake. 

From a very young age, bears are taught that silence is the worst thing. Our dens are loud and playful, and if they aren't, something is terribly wrong. When a human comes along, if it makes noise from afar, we aren't afraid, we don't attack. If they are quiet, well.... I'll let you finish that sentence. This is why death is the worst thing. An infinite silence. So this lake.... It is a bear's worst enemy. 

On a more cheerful note, that snake is really creepy. Does she even want us to trust her? If she did, I would trust her. But she doesn't seem to care! I wonder if deep down she feels hurt that we don't like her. But she seems almost evil.

.                             .                                 . 

We set out for the lake the next morning, hoping to be there by night and test our moon theory.