Learning to fly | Open

[skyboundmisfit.livejournal.com]

Flying in the city was probably the best part about being on Stacy. And that wasn't saying much. Of course, even doing it in the city took some practice, getting used to a new, more humid environment, a lack of real updrafts. Add to that having to learn strange new landmarks and you had a very displeased Tobias. He wandered over the strange new landscape, swooping and diving as he scoped out the various large buildings and strange places that seemed to populate the place at random. He stooped into a sharp dive, flaring his wings as he slowed himself, finally alighting on a lamp post.

He paused there to preen himself, watching anyone who went by with that intent, predator's stare.

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[curriedscythe.livejournal.com]

Moving at a slow, unhurried pace, came a walking skeleton. Skeletons and plantsuits weren't a good combination, clinging in strange places, outlining the shape of the bones beneath.

He was also muttering to himself, in a voice that sounded less than human, and with echos of the tomb.

IT WAS A WALL. AN WALL. BARELY AN INCONVENIENCE. OW

[skyboundmisfit.livejournal.com]

Tobias tilted his head to examine the. . .walking skeleton. That was talking to itself. Not quite normal, but this whole ship was strange.

< A wall? > He finally asks, curiosity getting the better of him.

[curriedscythe.livejournal.com]

Death would have agreed that the whole ship was strange. As it was, he looked at the post that Tobias was resting on, although he didn't appear to notice the bird.

A WALL. he reiterates, politely. I COULD NOT WALK THROUGH IT.

He ponders for a moment, before looking around, and then up at Tobias. WAS THAT YOU?

[skyboundmisfit.livejournal.com]

Tobias smiled mentally and bobbed his head.

< Yes, that was me. > He shuffled around on his perch.

< Do you normally walk through walls? >

[curriedscythe.livejournal.com]

YOU WOULDN'T HAPPEN TO BE PSYCHICALLY INCLINED, WOULD YOU? and Death almost sounds wistful. He drums his bony fingers against the post, and glares as they make contact.

WALLS, DOORS, EVERYTHING. BUT NOW, I CAN'T and he taps his fingers again for good measure.

[caringcassie.livejournal.com]

Cassie had taken to the sky in an attempt to clear her mind. She was finally starting to adapt to life aboard Stacy, even if she still lacked any clear direction, which often left her feeling confused and worried. It was still more often then not very hard...

But this wasn't. There was nothing like flying and, even though there was a definite difference between flying here and flying on Earth, she still found the sensation to be both welcome and familiar.

She spotted the perched red-tailed hawk suddenly and adjusted her flight path to take her closer. Cassie definitely knew that hawk.

< Tobias! > she called, circling above him. She was glad for this chance to talk to him privately.

[skyboundmisfit.livejournal.com]

Tobias flicked his head around at the familiar feeling of Cassie's thoughtspeech. He looked about for a moment before settling his eyes on the approaching osprey.

< Hey, Cassie. > He replied, shifting a bit to face her.

< What's up? >

[caringcassie.livejournal.com]

< Nothing really. > Cassie responded as she found herself a place to perch near Tobias. < I just had the urge to fly a bit. You know, to relax and clear my head. And, of course, because I enjoy it too. > If she'd had human lips at that moment, she'd have smiled, but her current morph didn't allow for that action.

Cassie inspected Tobias with the osprey's sharp eyes. < What about you? I haven't seen that much of you since we arrived here. Are how you faring? >

[skyboundmisfit.livejournal.com]

He wasn't exactly sure how to answer that. His recent. . .experiences, coupled with being tossed into a whole new war, even bigger than the one they'd been in before was not doing his psyche any favors. He ruffled his wings in an approximation of a shrug.

< I'm surviving. >

[caringcassie.livejournal.com]

Cassie tilted her head, still watching Tobias, but his hawk form revealed nothing that could help. The response left her feeling a bit worried. Certainly, it had to be a rough adjustment, but...

< Just surviving? >

[lessafool.livejournal.com]

Aldrea had been moving through the city, picking a way through to the river and eventually to a park where she'd heard rumors of the one awake Hork-Bajir spending most his time. She'd stopped when she caught sight of one of the few things moving in the sky other than the generated clouds.

Tobias was a trackable motion, when nearby buildings didn't block him from view. She was surprised when he came to a landing after an impressive dive closer to where she'd been walking through. Coming closer, she could recognize him from the Observation Deck, soon after leaving stasis.

< Good day, > seemed appropriate enough a greeting. For one, Esplin figured he might have seen them already. For another, working "with" the crew meant not alienating them actively, even if he was so very tempted to play up that Andalite arrogance. No one really knew Aldrea, after all. < Have you been enjoying your flight? >

She might not be terrible invested in this conversation, but she was passably curious. Knowing more about the flow of air through the cavernous portion of the ship that held the "City" was worthwhile in pursuit of Jara Hamee.

[skyboundmisfit.livejournal.com]

< Hello, Aldrea. And yes, it was fun. Not quite like flying at home, though, > Tobias replied, shifting so he could look down at the Andalite. He fluttered his wings, tilting his head.

< How are you settling in? Doing alright, I hope? > Never hurt to be polite to the people ostensibly supporting your war effort, right? Besides, she seemed like a nice enough sort. Not quite like Ax, but certainly pleasant and friendly.

[lessafool.livejournal.com]

< Where was home? > Subtle language, indicating at least an outward appearance of accepting that "this" was their reality. They did, honestly. Everything had been obliterated, and they were working toward perhaps undoing that.

Settling in? She supposed in a sense she had been.

< There are acceptable areas on ship, > she said, thinking over anything other than the halls. < The illusion of sky is at least better than the reality of confinement. > Claustrophobia on a different level, given the nature of the ship's build. Feeling like she was being partially digested all the time was downright uncomfortable. < What about yourself? >

[skyboundmisfit.livejournal.com]

< A meadow. A meadow at the age of some woods. That's all. > He could see it in his mind's eye, clear as day. Home. Home that might well be gone for good now. He'd miss it, as a real home. Not like the house he'd lived in before.

< I'm managing. There aren't real thermals or real wind here so the illusion of the sky is even less effective for me--I can tell as soon as I start flapping it's not actually real. But it's better than all those hallways. >

[lessafool.livejournal.com]

She seemed to understand. A meadow, anything as open as that, was reminiscent of native habitats back home. The slight nod of her eye stalks, a more sweeping motion, was agreement of her own sort. She can understanding calling a place like that home, especially considering his form.

A light shudder that left her shifting weight as the disgust she felt for the halls rolled through her. < They're unpleasant, > she agreed. < The air moving through them is a little too close to feeling like something's breathing. Everything in them feels more constrictive than I like. >

The City and Hydroponics felt less so, and the Hangar based on sheer necessary vertical space.

[chosenlightchld.livejournal.com]

Tailmon blinked, looking up into the sky as she noticed a bird flying around. It didn't seem like any of the alien birds that would be there in hydroponics. It was just a normal, earth bird.

Hikari seemed to notice that Tailmon was looking at something, as the human turned to look over at her partner. "Tailmon, what's wrong?"

Tailmon looked up and pointed over at that bird. "That bird there. Something's weird about it."

Hikari blinked, looking over at the animal. "It looks normal to me."

"That's the point. It doesn't look like it would've been in hydroponics."

Hikari blinked. "I see. But what exactly can we do about it? You're really going to think that a too normal bird is the weirdest thing here?"

[skyboundmisfit.livejournal.com]

Tobias had better ears as a hawk as well as better eyes. His gaze shifted to the pair. He fluttered his wings and readjusted himself on his perch, considering a response.

< Right. The talking purple and white cat with gloves thinks I'm weird. > His mental voice was more amused than annoyed, though he was staring at the pair pretty intently. That might just be because he's a bird of prey, though.

[chosenlightchld.livejournal.com]

Hikari and Tailmon both blinked as they looked up at the hawk. "... Okay, it's a telepathic hawk. See Tailmon, perfectly normal for this place."

Tailmon just shook her head. "I knew there had to be something about you. A plain, normal bird from Earth probably wouldn't have been out here after all. So, I take it you haven't been out of the pods that long, have you?"

[skyboundmisfit.livejournal.com]

< A few days. I think. > He wasn't sure. Time passed strangely in this place. He was about to correct them, say he was technically a human in the body of a hawk, but then he paused. They couldn't really be sure of anybody on board, could they? Better to let it slide.

[chosenlightchld.livejournal.com]

Hikari nodded. "Yeah. Time's a bit hard to tell here. Have you been adjusting to the ship alright?"

Tailmon moved forward, stretching a bit. Though she didn't say anything else just yet. She could wait until the hawk answered Hikari's question.

[pretty_lethal]

Rachel really, really hated mazes at this point. And the next person to offer her cake was getting punched, most likely.

Fortunately she wasn't let out that far from the city, this time, and thus not that far from 'home', so it didn't take her long to get there. But honestly, after being stuck running mazes for so long? She wasn't sure she wanted to walk that much, or go straight back to talk to Marco or Ax. Though she was feeling pretty irritable after all, so maybe she could vent that way.

Still, she paused in the city after walking a short distance. Actually, she felt like she was up for a fly more than anything else. So she closed her eyes a brief second, and began to think of the eagle.

((ooc: Tags that are not very good... hooray?))

[skyboundmisfit.livejournal.com]

He had been sitting quietly, watching the sparse foot traffic and speaking to an occasional passer-by. And then he saw her. Her. Rachel. Marco had said she was on board but he hadn't really been sure if he could believe it until she was there, in front of him. He launched himself off the street-lamp with an awkward flap of his wings.

< Rachel! > He was already morphing by the time he hit the ground, human flesh and bones replacing the hawk. Of all the things hawk bodies were good at, hugging wasn't one of them.

_{[[OOC: we can have not very good tags together. &hearts]]}

[pretty_lethal]

Rachel's concentration was broken pretty quickly by a voice in her head, stopping the morph before it had even begun. His voice. He was here. She opened her eyes, moving them quickly to try and spot him against the city-- which was easy enough when he was coming for her.

"Tobias?" she echoed his own call, quickly breaking into a jog to close the distance between them. "When the hell did you get here?"

If nothing else, though, it was a pretty nice surprise.

((ooc: ♥))

[skyboundmisfit.livejournal.com]

He stumbled, ungainly on unfamiliar human legs for a moment (thank God he could still morph a semblance of clothing), before he almost careened into her, hugging Rachel as tight as he could.

"You're here. You're really here." He squeezed her again, finally replying.

"I--a few days, a week? I came out of the pods. . ." He wasn't sure what else he could say about that.

"You--you're really here, right? This is real?"

[pretty_lethal]

Rachel didn't mind his being clumsy (honestly, she was used to him being unsteady as a human, by now, even if it kind of sucked), and instead just hugged him back, smiling a little bit as she held the smaller boy.

"Yeah, I'm here. Honest," she laughed a little bit, pulling away just enough to get a look at him. "Sorry I missed you showing up. But hey, pull yourself together already." A pause, and then she adds, quietly, "I missed you though."