Overview
The Gale-Hawk is the steppe's own, and it is the colour of the dry grass, and it rides the thermal the way a thing rides that was made for the heat. It is the steppe's day-watch, and it is the reason the small animal of the open ground is watched, and the watching is the hawk's, and the hawk keeps it the way the steppe keeps its heat.
Habitat
The Gale-Hawk keeps the steppe — the wide, dry ground of The Grassy Steppe and the hotter step-country where the grass goes brown and the ground holds the sun. It is the steppe's day-watch, and the day is the hawk's, and the hawk keeps the steppe the way the steppe keeps its heat. It does not fly far, and it does not leave the thermal, and the thermal is the whole of the road, because the hawk that has left the thermal has left the heat, and the heat is the steppe's own. The nest is on the high perch — the rock, the dead tree, the wall that rises out of the ground — and the perch is the whole of the home, and the home is the steppe.
Appearance
The Gale-Hawk is the size of the large hawk, and the body is the colour of the rufous, and the rufous is the colour of the dry grass. The male is 61 cm from the beak to the end of the tail, rufous through the body, the wing dark at the tip, the eye yellow and set forward, and the female is a hand longer, the same rufous, the same dark tip, the same yellow eye, and the female is the bigger hunter, and the steppe knows it. The beak is the mark — hooked and dark, and the hook is the mark of the breed, and the hook is built for the kill, and the kill is the whole of the hunt. The eye is yellow and large and set forward, and it is built for the light, and the light is the steppe's, and the steppe is the hawk's. The feather is rufous, close and strong, and the wing is long and pointed, and the wing is built for the thermal, and the thermal is the steppe's, and the steppe's heat is the hawk's road. The flight is long and sure, on the thermal, with the wing barely moving, and the head is forward, and the eye is forward, and the hawk is the whole of its own weather. The male keeps the perch, and the perch keeps the female, and the two are the steppe's own, and the steppe's own is the hawk.
Behaviour
The Gale-Hawk is the day-watch, and the watching is the whole of the behaviour. It does not chase, and it does not fight, and it comes down the way a thing comes down that has already decided. The cry is thin and high, and it carries the way the heat carries, and the steppe knows the cry before the eye does. It rides the thermal from the hot ground to the cold sky, and the riding is the whole of the hunt, because the hawk that is on the thermal is the hawk that has already decided, and the deciding is the whole of the steppe's own. By night the hawk is on the perch, and the perch keeps the hawk, and the hawk waits for the heat, and the heat is the whole of the waiting.
Natural Weapons & Defenses
The talon is the whole of the answer, and the talon is the taking, and the taking is the day. The talon is four-toed and dark, and it closes on the small thing of the steppe — the mouse, the young of the small beast, the carrion — and the closing is the whole of the hunt. The hook is the defense, and the hook is dark and built for the kill, and the kill is the whole of the defense. The thermal is the defense, and the thermal is the steppe's, and the steppe's heat is the hawk's road, and the road is the whole of the defense, because the hawk that is on the thermal is not the hawk the eye can reach. The hawk does not fight the big thing, and the big thing does not find the hawk, and the not-finding is the whole of the defense, because the hawk that is the whole of its own weather is not the hawk the ground can hold.
Magic Alignment
Innate only — no school. The Gale-Hawk has the Thermal-Ride — the wing that rides the heat from the ground to the sky, and the riding is the whole of the road. It has the Light-Eye — the yellow eye that is built for the light, and the seeing is the whole of the hunt. The hawk has no word, and the word is not the hawk's, and the not-being is the whole of the hawk's own.
Society
The Gale-Hawk is the pair, and the pair is the whole of the family. The male keeps the perch, and the perch keeps the female, and the female is the bigger hunter, and the steppe knows it. The two lay the small egg on the perch, and the perch keeps the egg, and the egg is the whole of the next hawk. There is no flock, and the not-being is the whole of the hawk's own, because the hawk that is the pair is the hawk that is the steppe's own, and the steppe's own is the pair.
Culture & Lore
The steppe's folk count the hawk by the shape. A rufous shape on the thermal means the Gale-Hawk is hunting, and the small thing is counted. A rufous shape on the perch means the Gale-Hawk is home, and the steppe is watched. The old ones say the hawk is the steppe's own, and the steppe's own is the steppe's heat, and the heat is the hawk's, and the hawk keeps it the way the steppe keeps it. The hunter does not take the hawk, and the not-taking is the whole of the law, because the hawk that is taken is the steppe's own, and the steppe's own is the steppe. The herder watches the perch at the dusk, and the watching is the whole of the bond, because the hawk that is the steppe's day-watch is the one the steppe keeps.
Home
They keep The Grassy Steppe, the wide, dry ground where the grass goes brown and the ground holds the sun. The steppe is the hawk's own, and the hawk's own is the steppe.
Relations
The Gale-Hawk is the predator of the small thing of the steppe — the mouse, the young of the small beast, the carrion. It is the prey of the bigger bird of the sky, and the bigger bird does not find the hawk on the thermal, and the not-finding is the whole of the law. The steppe's folk keep their distance at the perch, and the distance is the whole of the law, because the hawk that is the steppe's own is the steppe's own, and the steppe's own is the steppe. The Forgotten of the steppe keep the hawk as the day-watch, and the keeping is the whole of the bond, because the hawk that is the steppe's own is the one the steppe keeps.
In the Story
In the current story, the Gale-Hawk is the shape on the thermal — the steppe Uaellaen writes about when the heat is the hawk's. The Forgotten keep their distance at the perch-line, and the distance has held for two seasons. This season the hawk came up the thermal with a cry that was not in the cry — a cry that is not in the heat, and the not-listing is the whole of the warning, because the steppe keeps its watch, and the watch has started to move. The hawk is keeping the perch, and the keeping is the page the camp has not been shown.