Glider [OPEN]

[Anonymous]

Well ... so much for that! Windra had been so sure she would get a snack. Watching that deer stumble out of the woods, wounded in the leg and significantly cut down in strength thanks to that viscous looking bite on the neck: she suspected it was due to a wolf, if nothing else. Were cougars prominent in Sevenwinds? Did they even exist anymore? Possibly not. All the great natural areas had been taken over by pollution and perverse humans bent on destruction and control. If the great cats still lived, she did not doubt that they had been transformed into something more brutal and gruesome. Who knew if wolves were even there anymore? I mean ... if one race goes, so does a whole bunch. Parrots were gone. Mice became monsters. A lot of shit went down in what seemed to Windra as a short time.

But this was considering that Windra had only been born sometime over a hundred years ago. And her first life was prevalent when New York City teemed with life. Suddenly thrust out of that dimension by the cold hands of death and brought back now ... was kind of a shocker. She often wondered why her memory of history remained. No answers came to her in the forms of great spirits or demonic rabbits. And where had her Soul Reaver powers? If revived, why did she not return to her original form? A great majestic silver dragon with a wingspan five times her body length, who could control the winds and cast twisters upon the immortal realm at a mere whim?

Instead, she became a vulturous dragon.

Not that she was complaining.

Life was lenient. She didn't have to fight anything. No killing was necessary for feeding, and once a carcass was found she would send out a call, and all the scavenging birds would beak from their roosts to join her in the feast. Windra may have had no other friends who looked like she did. Hell, she may be the lone survivor of a species meant to be dead or PIloted. But she found solace and comfort in the form of small red-necked birds with beaks like her's.

A mighty flap of her long, winged-membraned wings. She found a thermal, caught it ... Effortlessly gliding in the atmos, Windra circled aimlessly, boredom ... There wasn't much to do, but survey the landscape. Look for more deadthings. She was kind of hungry.

[Anonymous]

In the wee hours of the morning, just before the dawn's sun, GreenDay had landed on the outskirts of Sevenwinds, and Roose had disembarked with nothing more than his Nute, cargo shorts, pouchbelt and staff.  However, by midmorning, nowhere near any place inhabited by humans or humanoids, he'd found a very fresh, cool stream to have a dried-fruit breakfast by, water pure enough to drink, and sunshine and open sky here so relaxing, breakfast had been followed by a grooming session... which, of course, had required removal of Nute, belt and shorts.  Folded neatly, and being so near the color of nature, anything viewing the scene from overhead would most likely not have noticed them.  In fact, the sun felt so good on fur, scales and wing membranes, he'd simply sprawled on his back, colorful, freshly oiled feelers fully extended and relaxed over his thighs, wings loose, while they cast refracted rainbows about with the not quite so late-morning sunlight, limbs so splayed...

... well, anything viewing the scene from overhead would surely have thought him freshly roadkilled.  He even... well, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.  Just... just a short nap, yes?

And, to compound his position, in one of his rare moments of total abandon, he'd shut down all his senses, closed down and muffled his seelers, so nothing but the feel of sun on fur, scales, wings and... ummm... other parts... impressed his senses.  Of course, then he'd gone and fallen asleep, rendering that point moot.  And, well, leaving himself rather open and vulnerable, if anything were to fall from the sky, intent on... ahhh, hmmm... fresh organ meats.........

[Anonymous]

Had Windra not been a scavenger at heart, she would have dived at the opportunity. Coming upon the supine form lying on the ground below, however, gave her nothing but a light-hearted sense of awe at the strange beast's physique. Curiosity at the very most. After all, this ... thing gave off no ethyl mercaptan. Therefore, it was not in a state of decay. It certainly didn't look like it was in any stage of putrefication. And ... was it breathing, or was her fragile mind playing tricks, once again?

Better check and find out.

Not swooping in for a meal, Windra gradually descending in wide, circling arcs. In the very end her altitude had been reduced by a drastic 100 feet. She hovered maybe 300 above 'inconclusive prey', wings splayed out. The hovering pattern broke. She swirled again, more lenient this time. Long, striated neck tilting on an angle so that her hazel eyes were set always upon the strange monstrosity below, she made not a peep, not a call ... Why gather the other vultures, eagles, condors, when the thing might be alive and inedible? Vultures did not kill their food. They kindly waited for others to do the job for them. Now would be no different.

[Anonymous]

A bit of a wind sprang up, and it ruffled Roose's fur.  No, not the wind from wings, just a slightly chill wind, sign of a storm front moving in his direction.  Presently sunny late-morning sky, due for a change.  Perhaps later this evening?  Perhaps.  But, for now, just the slightest wee bit chilly, enough to make the leaves rustle.  And Roose?  Well, being away from home... missing Chorri... sleeping, without a stitch on... exposed... well, he twitched.  Not only with cold on sensative... parts, but with the focus of his dreams.  Yes, Roose slept and dreamed, soundly out of the conscious world.  No, not dead.  However, anything overhead would see him twitch, as if he seemed to suffer from some traumatic head injury.  Or, perhaps, lay dying from a brain tumor, this twitch his final throws.  Roose tended to sleep very soundly, even more so when he'd shut down his seelers.  Kinda like the guy had simply shut off his alarm clock, so as not to be disturbed.

Funny thing, though.  After his chilled dream shiver and twitch, his head lolled, tongue slipped out of mouth... and he drooled a little.  The light of his Eye had faded to the point where the sun shining on his face hid the fact it was lit.  So, too, the tilt of his head in repose.

And yet...

... being young, male, and very much in love... not to mention the drool... it quickly became obvious just what Roose dreamt of.  If anything flying overhead got low enough, or had good enough eyes, they couldn't have missed the real show.........

[Anonymous]

Okay, so at 300 she could see just a leeetle bit more. Well, what was necessary, in the very least. The beast was twitching, yet in his spasms the breaths came strong and regular ... now rapid, and more rapid. Nowhere near the level of agonal respirations: those would be the prophets of death. No. This was normal. Surmat. Maybe he was having a brief arrythmia, just prior to finally biting the hook? Or perhaps that dream was a little more fun than Windra could tell from her height and lack of connected mentalities. She aimed to get a closer look.

Descending to the lowest branches, somehow her thick body weight gained reserve on a thick branch. It did not break. However, it bent. By the time it finished creaking, the tip of the branch was on the ground. A sigh escaped the beaked maw of the Cathartes draco. She took one taloned step off the wood. It snapped back into the air behind her, leaves sent flying in whatever direction they pleased. No doubt the natural twang would wake up the alien - it was so loud. Imagine Windra's surpsie when it continued to snooze!

Now this dragon had a great sense of hearing and smell. And sight. She could see no blood, that was certain. However, heart beat? Just because no fluid was present did not meant that cardiac failure or trauma had no presence. One step was all that was needed to bring her close. The thick skull bent down, thick, callous scales brushing against the beast's warm form. Hint number one: warm bodies were live bodies. Right temporal region pressed against its chest. There! Steady thumpa-thump thumpa-thump vibrated through her mastoid process, though fast! Live. What a pity.

Windra was about to withdraw when something appeared in the corner of her eyes. When she pulled her head away the tip of her thick ebony beak gently came very close to grazing against ... um ... The dragon was back in a sitting position, skull in its rightful place, angled back slightly to stare at the alien and its - his - 'friend'.

Windra grunted. Through Roose's senses ... a tingling, amused voice rising from the depths and starting off faint, growing with intensity: mindspeak through to Roose's psyche. -: Trying to poke my eye out? :-

[Anonymous]

Chorri had strummed just a single twang on her dolo'kah... a single note, as the leaves overhead rustled in the sudden gust of wind.  Head in her lap... no one else around to see them... Roose had smiled up at her, as the instrument disappeared just as suddenly as it had appeared, to make that single note.  Of course, this was, under the circumstances, not anything odd (dreams don't have to make sense, do they?)... neither was his lack of Nute or pants.  After all, they were mates now, weren't they?  And they were in their private place, and... and Chorri placed her hand gently on his chest, rubbed fingertips and claws through his fur, as she worked her way down, smile on her face, bulge evident on her belly.  Love in her and his eyes, as his nearest ear heard the sound of their first child's heartbeat... as her hand finally reached.........

Well, since the anything flying overhead had actually laid her head on Roose's chest, to hear his heartbeat, she'd obviously come far closer than expected.  Oh, well...

... Roose, himself, however?

In his dream... one of his frequent dreams of Chorri... he'd heard the "voice"... the "words"... but, being as slow a waker as he was a sound sleeper, for a moment, he'd heard his mother's voice admonishing... "If you don't put that away, you'll poke your eye out..."

... and, well, those "words" resulted in a shift, his dream fading... faded away, broken apart.  Some rather vivid sensations and fractured images, followed by further twitching and a flutter of eyes.

What?  Uhhh... hrrrrrr....

Roose rolled over onto his side a bit, to stretch, his face and blink of eyes aimed towards... ummm... towards...

...  "Ahhh... you're not Chorri...."

And he wasn't wearing his Nute, amongst other complications he was rapidly becoming more aware of.........

[Anonymous]

One pair of eyes met another, though the latter was elevated. The poor guy would have to crane his head a bit to catch them fully. Pupils contracted in response to the peculiar light granted by the sun shining brightly above, bouncing off a pool of water not too far from them - it had rained the previous night, after all. Rebound refraction hurt her senses a bit. Windra had to tip her cranium so that the muzzle faced in the opposite direction. Thus she viewed the peculiar male from a sideways glance ... and noted the awkwardness of the situation. Things had gotten ... um ... well, a little more lewd than she had planned. And Windra was a pretty lewd creature. She'd be cracking jokes if only she knew that the reaction would be amusement, and not her getting slugged in the anterior ebony beak.

-: Chorri? :- she queried. The spines along the cervical spines rose slightly, quivering. -: Nope. Don't think that's my name. Close, though. :- Momentary pause. -: Actually, not even within a mile of being correct. Some dream you were havin', eh? :-

She would have been grinning had her maxillary and mandibular muscles evolved to enable such motions. Instead, Windra tried to press humor into her mind voice. How well it went over would be determined by the male. Either way ... Wings tipped. She rose onto quadrupeds and turned away, back facing the beast to give him at least a little modesty. She wasn't without respect.

Though ...

-: Piece of advice? Friendly worms call friendly birds. Lucky you I don't like insects. :-

[Anonymous]

The idea of slugging anyone never entered Roose's head.  Well, in truth, the only one he felt like slugging was himself.  'Twill culture had no problems with nudity... not even with sex, but... poor Roose had woken far enough awake to realize, as his new "neighbor" spoke, that she was female.  Wings so blatantly exposed, he could feel the biological discomfort and the cultural awkwardness of being caught with the 'Twill equivalent of having one's pants down.  And, ummm, well, 'Twill culture may have had no nudity taboos or cultural prudishness, but, still...

Morning Wood.........

Some would call it a curse, others would crow with pride.  Roose?  Well, Roose felt pride in his body, even when it... misbehaved.  All he could think of, at first, dream-haze still lingering, was how much he wanted Chorri, and how much she was missing.  It wasn't often he had everything on show.  However, this female wasn't her... wasn't his intended mate... so his display was rather... ummm... rather...

... uncomfortable on the one hand, pleasant on the other.  Like airing out the house after a long Winter spent shut tight against the cold.  Of course, his feelers could be retracted any time, but... ahhh, hrrr... though he had some control over "it"... over that feeler's "core" bit, the surrounding "shroud" was stimulated in the same way as any normal male creature, so it was kinda... stuck.  Indeed, it had been "Some dream", as the female had noted.  Most Roose could do was stop his stretch, and keep his thighs together, till his heartbeat slowed.

A grin up at her, ears back...

...  "No... not food!"  *Yawn...*  "I licked myself once, when I was a kid, and it didn't taste good... *"

Roose suddenly woke all the way up, as he realized this "confession" had left his lips.  Hands clamped his muzzle shut, as tail quickly tucked between legs...

...  "I... can't believe I just said that.... *"  Ears flicked forwards, and Roose carefully sat up, legs crossed and tail's tuft draped over his lap, eyes glared wide at this female's back...

...  "Hey, what do you mean by insect?  I'm not... that... small... *"

His voice faded, hands hid face, eyes tight shut.  Head, shook side to side, as a deep sigh rose from chest to throat.  Well, at least he now had his wings securely folded against his back, their inner membranes finally out of sight.........

Tuft lifted, hands dropped to knees, and eyes glanced down...

...  "It's... hrrrrr... safe to turn around, if you wish...."

[Anonymous]

"I licked myself once," the creature was going on - the words fled his mouth so easily, he must not have thought about them, or perhaps didn't even care - "when I was a kid, and it didn't taste good ... "

The alien's strange digits covered the mouth that he did not want to open with those lines. And much to Windra's amusement, the statement had tickled her. She was laughing. Very hard. Thoracic cage was shuddering so much that one might misinterpret the movements as a preparation for an internal explosion of red mist. Laughing with such jubilation that was was starting to hurt her airway. She had to lean her head down, chin dipping onto the firm soil for support. And even then ... The laugh was odd coming from Windra. It was garbled - a series of craws and grunts. Mentally, however ... she could have been mistaken for the holly-jolly Ghost of Christmas Past.

-: A little ... um ... more information than I wanted to know. :- Mentally she snorted. The dragon was getting a kick out of this. Raw entertainment! What a day this was turning out to be! Cathartes draco blinked at the query, however. Eyeridges fidgeted, making those bright hazel orbs narrow slightly. Windra didn't dare glance over her shoulder to graze him with a questioning stare. -: I'll take it that you've never heard that innuendo before, huh? Worms are insects ... :- Actually ... She sat upright and held a forelimb to her chin. -: Well, I think they are ... Anyways. Insects, worms ... It's a phrase. 'Hey, what big teeth you have there,', etcetera. :- Now she wasn't beginning to make any sense. Windra shrugged.

Safe to turn around? Was it really? She decided the risk was low. Thick bodice swiveled, talons scrabbling for a reserve ... 'Twill and Dragon came face-to-face (granted one was a few feet higher than the other). She was staring down the ebony-stained beak, curiosity compromised by the need to tread carefully. Windra had stumbled upon the creature at an odd moment. Perhaps the tension was too much, and it would be desired for her to fly away and let him calm.

Instead, shyness dragged itself out to replace the brash amusement. -: Top of the morning to ya. :-

Snort.

[Anonymous]

Staring at himself, and "hearing" her explaination, he had to admit, the worm "inuendo" wasn't all that wrong, just... well, did she have to laugh like that?  For a male of his kind, he was quite normal.  Besides, even if he was a bit small... say, compared to a male vulture dragon... nature had compensated by being overgenerous in others.  An obvious point to this female, since she'd already seen everything.  Made even more obvious when his tail flicked away, tuft no longer covering his jewels.  Everything else, retracted neatly away...

...  "Not quite the best morning I've had.  Sure will remember it for the rest of my life, though...."

Roose tried to look friendly with a smile and raised ears and seelers, though he couldn't help a glance towards his clothes and staff, juuust out of reach.  Sure, he could have reached them with his power, but... well, at the moment, it was best to keep his Eye's energy output low.  Wouldn't do to shread his own clothes!  Especially not the Nute his father had made for him.  But... this female had already seen everything.  So long as he kept his wings tightly folded, and didn't flash his back, the discomfort would stay low.  Besides...

... he'd never seen a creature quite like this, and he felt that inner curiousity rise, as his heartbeat calmed further.  So, still sat on his backside, digitigrade legs crossed, toes aflex, clawed hands on spread knees, flexible tail flicking beside him, he found himself looking up at her, right after her snort, his mane ruffled...

...  "I'm Roose, of the CityHome Hurro'Tau'ta...."

A bit formal, but being formal helped him focus...

...  "Thank you for not eating anything I may have accidentally offered...."

[Anonymous]

Dragon or no dragon, this 'Windra' bore many resemblances to the roleplayer. That would be: shy and quiet in the company of others, getting a feel of the atmosphere and tentatively testing the waters before opening herself to the public eye ... and when close friends graced her presence, she transformed into a playful, rambunctious child who often forgot her gender would affect other's thoughts on her. Roguish and about as unpredictable as a typhoon swirling into the mainland. Happy one moment; Near-suicidal the next. Someone / Call a doctor / I've got a case of a bipolar ...

Hence the reason she suddenly fell silent, despite Roose's best efforts to make everything light and fluffy. She'd realized that she may have stepped over the very thin line between right and wrong, crude and okay ... The sensation of guilt was an unwanted burden in her stomach. It made her heart ache. A sudden jab of sadness. This was a damaged dragon. Forever torn asunder from events int he past that came back, continuously, to haunt her. Healing? Damn near impossible. All she wanted was to live side-by-side with those that cared and respected her as a friend. To feel a sense of true love. No stress. No hate. No anger. No regret. No more. No less.

-: I ... uh ... :- Suddenly stammering. Her wings tipped. Windra tucked them to her sides. They pressed tightly against the warm feathered bodice - tension; anxiety. -: I'm ... Windra. :- Milenia-long vibrations of sadness radiated from within. She attempted to suppress them with great success. Her face became firm, muscles taut ... but voice, shaky, timid. -: Look I'm ... sorry if I offended you. I mean, that was kind of screwed up of me to say what I said, y'know? :-

Idiot. A scolding reprimand to herself. It would remain lodged in her brain forever.

[Anonymous]

Roose, like all 'Twill, had the gift for listening.  Even as different as he and this female... Windra... looked, compared to each other, they had life and emotions in common.  Walked the same ground, breathed the same air.  'Twill also had their unique sense, the ability to see patterns of energy.  From Cosmic Strings to quantum flux within living cells, they could read the universe like an open book.  Read hidden things.  Roose was young, indeed, not even yet mated, though he was ready, willing and very able.  So, though his interpretation skills were still developing, all the signs Windra gave made clear her sudden discomfort.  Really, she had no reason to feel the way she did.  If anything, Roose had more of a reason to give an appology than she did.  If anything, he felt responsible for puting her in this situation...

...  "No... don't appologize...."

Sound and movement... all-fours, stretch and yawn, careful not to expose or flash wings again... then up on two heavy-clawed feet, a short walk to pace close.  A reaching out, to touch...

...  "My fault..."

A tail's tuft brush to her folded left wing...

...  "I should have been more careful... not put myself into this."  Ears and seelers fell back, but smile stayed...  "I'm not offended, Windra.  I'm just... too young and brash for my own good."

He stepped back, movements naturally and unconsciously gracefull.  Upright pose not at all timid, despite his unclothed feral condition.  Yes, despite a bit of discomfort, he gave Windra a wild animal pose, like a meerkat on alert, evident pride in his form...

... "I have nothing to be ashamed of, do I?"

Roose gave Windra a charming grin, and a lash of tail as he stretched a bit, got rid of that last bit of sleep from his muscles.  Indeed, he exuded excellent health and conditioning, a slight musky scent.  Bright emerald eyes, saphire and gunmetal scales on forelimbs, legs and tail's underside, thick ruffled mane, svelt, sleek body with long limbs, teeth very sharp and white, fur very thick, soft and shiny, colored primarily black on back and cream on belly, with stripe, band and spot markings of titanium gray, copper brown and golden tan setting off his two primary colors...

... not to mention his other physical details.........

[Anonymous]

Common? Perhaps on some level. Some level ... but not all. But Windra was about as mentally and emotionally stable as a home that was recently savaged by a wild structure fire and somehow still remained on its foundation. Yes, you could walk in. You could roam about. You could touch the pillars and climb the stairs or snoop about in the kitchen to see if dinner's charred remains are still sitting on the large table reduced to black cinders. But maybe you would touch that odd stone on the ground. It would bounce off the tip of your foot and strike a wall. And then ... nothing. You would see nothing. Feel nothing. Hear nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Forever and ever and ever trapped, lifeless, beneath a building collapse's rubble.

Roose was moving towards her. It was clear in the alarm written across her face, glimmering in those baleful eyes ... that she hadn't the slightest clue of how to react. The adult in her yelled to back up a little bit so that the space between them grew just enough so that physical contact would not be made. But then there was the timid child ... and that side always one. Windra sat still. Stiff. And when those elongated fingertips eventually pressed against the soft scaled-ridges of her muzzle, Windra's eyes involuntarily slammed shut and her head ducked a little: bracing for the inevitable strike, the digging of claws underneath the scale-flaps?

Harm never came. That was funny. And a relief. And immediately Windra felt bad for feeling bad and afraid and the endless cycle of self-scolding went on once more. Windra, you see ... had very little confidence of the way she stood in the eyes of others. A burden, Cathartes draco proclaimed as her title. A useless burden. Such a trouble to have around, it would be so much better if she simply wasn't. Conviction of the world's hateful glare pinned against her lithe bodice ended all filtering trails of hope in a shadowed pool of darkness. A deaf ear turned to those faces of friends and co-workers. They might have loved her, but adoration was muted in the presence of Windra's 'knowledge' of the anger they threw towards her: an anger that did not exist.

The strange wince-flinch lasted until Roose's second to third sentence. He was taking the blame ... for what? There was nothing that the guy did but do what was natural to him! And yet it was comforting. Hazel eyes opened. They stared: confusion, compounded into a rather intelligent brain that hid its potential behind an infantile mask. When Roose stepped back Windra had time to look over his figure. This was indeed a strange monstrosity. Colorful - there was no doubt about that! And ...

Something never seen before. Not in this lifetime.

Awkwardness alleviated itself from the crude atmosphere; a quick evacuation. Suddenly calmed of her previous doubts and agonized mental cries, Windra's cranium lifted itself up with the help of thick, rigid sternocleidomastoid muscles. Alabaster beak, painted ebony, pointed towards her unusual company. -: Hurro ... Tau ...Ta, you said? :- She probably botched the words. They rolled out of her inept speech efforts with a rugged and incorrect feel to them. -: What is that? :-

[Anonymous]

Indeed, in many ways Windra and Roose were very different.  But they were both living creatures, both capable of sentient thought and mutual communication... all three points, oh so vital!  However, they had both grown up in different lives, just as surely as they'd grown up in different flesh.  Yet again, they shared this same moment in time and space....

'Twill nature had been shaped by many events, but a time had come in their ancient history when a very major social, technological and evolutional paradigm shift had occured.  A world of, shall we say, pre-'Twill, where population pressures and technological conundrums had threatened them in the same way they threaten us, today, yet... a world where the 'Twill's ancestors had advanced medical technology way beyond what we know.  Fifty... sixty thousand years ago, a decision made, to carefully and precisely alter their specie's genome into a stable configuration, so it could be introduced, spread, and breed true.  Changes to their nature, a drawing out of hidden potentials, certain anatomical additions and modifications...

... all to fit a goal.

... all to save their future and their world.

The 'Twill Eye.  Seelers.  A male's genital feelers.  Even the faster maturation of a male's wings.  Stronger, tougher, more resilient... immunity to disease, faster healing and regeneration.  Potential for a better life.  A built-in sorce of power, to shift technological direction towards ecologically sound use of resources.  Choices... built-in means of birth control.........

Roose, just one young male individual of a species so radically changed by this paradigm shift, he could stand before this alien creature, on an alien world, and communicate with her.  Had arrived on this world aboard a ship that slid along Cosmic Strings, drank the energy of stars, and worked directly off his mind and will.  A ship with a soul... a Spirit Within.  His own soul and spirit, free and wild.  The world of his birth, restored to its natural state, unspoiled.  Past offenses, now long gone.  Wiped into dust and burried ruins, overrun by a cultivated wilderness.

Goal, reached.........

Yes, indeed, something never seen before.

Only natural, then, that he should feel the way he felt, though time had passed, and the past had been forgotten.  The present, a vivid moment of Now.  History fallen beyond record.  His own life, the lives and memories of his entire CityHome, all the way back to its Founders, all he really needed to know.  Only that history mattered, in the here and now.  What had shaped his own life and outlook...

...  "Hurro'Tau'ta...?"

The very name in question triggered memories and feelings and desires... being who he was, it showed through his whole body when he respoke the words...

...  "It's Home... where I was born and raised...."

[Anonymous]

Past offenses: for Roose, his slate was wiped clean. The grass would grow and the sun would shine. Rain would pour to cultivate the land. Purity unlike any other. For Windra, all her past, all her history ... Words and happenings carved in stone: ink blacker than the blackest night; slate form the newest tombstone, fresh off the mason block. This red-faced dragon had done things in the ages of old that have made her look on in regret and sorrow. So many inflictions marred upon her soft, fragile hide: bruised ego, scarred soul. How many ages had she spent on the run from the dangers lurking without, fearing for her life - nay, her soul? It was one thing to have a bank robber aim the barrel of a 12-gauge shotgun at the center of your vulnerable forehead. It was another thing entirely to watch a beast with descending tentacles stare you down with jaws eager to slurp down the spiritual essence that powered all.

By all rights, Windra shouldn't be alive today. Not in this form. Not in this place.

But here she was, tentative and cringing. Wings slooped; white feathertips glistening in the bright sun. Cranium barely raised; trapped between caution and confusion, hurt and eagerness. Roose response may have made sense to him and him alone. But she did not understand what Home was. Not his home, at least. And not her's either, come to think of it ...

-: Okay. Your home. :- Her words were slowly getting stronger. A regeneration of confidence, perhaps? -: But uh ... Here on Earth? On Mars? In West Bumblefuck? Where at? :- She had an itch to nudge the alien in the gut, just for shits and giggles: Windra suddenly wondered if he would giggle like the Pulsbury Dough Boy.

[Anonymous]

Chill wind blew, for a brief few seconds before it calmed again.  Roose felt the cool, but he'd been raised in a land that had four distinct seasons... as a child, he'd streaked "nude" through much colder weather, without harm.  If anything, he loved it when the wind blew crisp and cold, as much as he loved the feel of warm sun all over his body.  Made him feel so alive and vital, both the tingle and the sigh....

A contrast....

Yes, Roose had lived a life very opposite Windra's.  He knew loss, yes... unavoidable, when your Home was a City, and you knew everyone who lived there, young... and old.  And, well, right now, and for the rest of the year he'd be away from Home, he had the loss of his love, Chorri.  The loss of a fatherhood he could be enjoying, had they... had his maturation not brought the Curse with it.  That boost to his Eye's power, and the instability of that boosted energy, a danger if he lost control in the fit of his passions.  Away from his intended mate for a year, the loss of her warmth and female company heavy on his heart.  No, not a heart so deeply hurt as Windra's, but a heart than ached, even so.  A heart that had known sorrows... yet also joys and laughter.  And... most important... Love.  Hope, and a future.  A contrast....

But...

... Windra also stood here, in this place and time, alive, if damaged inside.  That had to mean something!

Roose had hoped to cheer her up, to draw out again what he'd first seen and heard from her.  Innuendo, she'd said.  With his previous exposure, and his present feral posing, he'd given her ample... ummm... ammo for comment.  But, instead, she'd asked about his CityHome.  And now...

... she wanted to know where that Home was.

He knew full well how to return Home, but... well, Home existed so far away from here, there really was no way to give precise directions.  However...

...  "Nowhere near here...."  A gesture of hand to sky, slow whip of tail, ears upright yet turned back, Eye glowing a bit more bright and blue in the middle of his forehead as weight shifted from foot to foot...  "About eighty-thousand light years in that direction, if you go straight through the galaxy's core...."

As for the Pilsbury Dough Boy?  Well, to tell the truth, Roose did have some ticklish areas, however... given his unusual anatomy, a beak-nudge in the gut would have stimulated an area sensative for... aheh... other reasons.  Still, it probably would have made him giggle.........

[Anonymous]

Upon Roose's answer, Windra mind-whistled and sat back on her haunches. The dragon was back to normal again, eyes wide and registering what had just been told to her. Eighty-thousand light years away ... What a distance! Up amongst the stars of the great galazies, swinging past the dangerous black holes and the blasts of supernovas that superheated time and space to perform tasks such as scattering nebula dust here and there. Old Earth had a couple dozen galaxies hanging in the endless night skies. Now, millions of years later, there were probably thousands. She wondered on the theory of the universe expanding, and pondered how hard it must be to get from point A to point B and back again. And what was out there ... now, in this day and age ...

-: So you just flew in from outer space. Boy, your arms must be tired! :-

It was a horrendous joke and she knew it. Still, if it earned even the smallest of grins, Windra would be proud. Thick cranium twisted upwards. There were no stars now. It was too bright with the sun in the way. Speaking of which, wasn't Earth supposed to be drawing closer and closer to the sun anyway? Or something similar? She forgot.

-: I take it you got here on a ship, then ... ,:- mused the dragon. A sigh exhaled very realistically from that parted beak. Her breath smelled faintly of old carrion. -: Man, I would kill to go exploring out there. Since my revival, I haven't been able to teleport ... Or do anything like I used to. Flying's too much of a risk anymore. It's fine if I glide once in a while, but I can never stay high up for too long. Too dangerous. :-

[Anonymous]

Horrendous would aptly describe Winda's joke.  So horrendous, Roose could only grin in confusion, as she continued to speak.........

Yes, the young 'Twill had traveled far from Home, one side of the galaxy to the other, in what amounted to a few days out of the four months he'd been away.  Most of his time spent not "flapping his arms"... no, most of his time spent as it was being spent now, on this world and on others.  Exploring.  Learning about people he'd only read about in his studies.  Meeting new people, as well.  Living for a time with them.  He'd made friends.  Breathed different air.  Walked on different ground, while he'd experienced the feel of different gravity wells.  His own weight, more or less than Home.  Oh... and eaten native foods!  New tastes, new textures.  Yet strange, in a way, how so many new things could hold familiarity.  Could remind him of home.  Even the bad jokes.........

A snort....

A bit late, perhaps, but... what is that phrase?... Better late than never.  So, hands to muzzle, a twitch of reaction caused him to step a few paces back, tail stiff, eyes wide...

...  "Ahhh... hrrr... at least I haven't worn out my wings."  A very slight shuffle against his back, as a reminder...

...  "Yes... yes.  GreenDay brought me here secure and protected.  The Spirit Within is still asleep, my journey its first... so I'm unable to call it here.  When enough time's passed, the Spirit Within will waken, and we will fully link.  For now, a long walk or a short flight would be needed... but you said flying was a risk...."

Roose used a moment of thought to step over to his folded clothes.  Recovered his Nute, and slipped it on...

...  "If you don't mind the walk... or the risk of a low flight... we could be there by lunch.  We could also meet later... perhaps a few days from now?  When I'd have much more time to share hospitality with you...."

Yes, Roose had work to do here in Sevenwinds, but he would not let that keep him from offering Windra something that would cheer her further... her choice, today or several days hence, to give him time in the next few days to contact others who lived here, so he could learn about this place, and decide what needed further doing.........

[Anonymous]

Roose was talking about things WIndra didn't fully understand. A Spirit Within? What was this, a movie? Like ... Final Fantasy? No, maybe he wasn't pulling her leg or being strange. The way he talked, his mannerism, how he held himself without an ounce of doubt ... This was an odd creature, born to a sun thousands upon thousands of years away into the spacial ooze that split planet from planet. His customs were his own. Though she had to admit that she was quite curious about it all. And GreenDay? What the heck was GreenDay? A band? A plane? A boat? A friend? " ... GreenDay brought me here safe and secure and protected ... " Maybe it was a comrade, somebody who had 'beamed' Roose down. Like Spok and Captain Kirk.

But when the words dissolved into something she could make sense of, Windra nodded. -: The atmosphere isn't hazardous or anything like that. It's just ... Well, if you haven't noticed, I'm a dragon. :- A wing outstretched to prove the point. White vulture-feathertips spread themselves wide. -: My kind aren't exactly looked upon with a great deal of ... adoration anymore, you could say. Ever since Aedolis and ... and ... :- It pained her to continue. Windra came from no birth planet. She did not share any biological ties with the mythological flying lizards of Earth. Yet they were sister and brother nonetheless. To see them fall, become distorted, evolve into mechanisms of cruelty and control ... What a way to vomit in the face of nature's power. Windra rumbled. -: To fly for a prolonged amount of time would result in my being seen. And that would entail Aedolis' fiends to try and capture me, or the folks down below to shoot me down while they have the chance. :-

And that was the bitter, bitter truth.

The offer Roose gave her was something ... out of the blue. She stood, awed, mouth agape. Not quite understanding ... Not quite comprehending ... the magnitude of what had just been given to her. Windra shook her head after a few moments to 'clear the bugs from her head'. Hazel eyes studied the alien. Was he joshing? That would be cruel and unusual, to bring her hopes up and dash them quite blatantly. Suspicion, mixed with the flicker of desperation. Was he actually inviting ... ?

But something twitched inside her mind, and invisible ears made her turn cranium to focus on a peculiar spot on the horizon - the resting point of a civilization not yet thriving on technological mayhem. Windra frowned and her muzzle dipped.

-: Perhaps at another time? :- she pressed. Her skull was clouded with something that could not be placed. A familiar essence on this planet - somebody, or something, that had once been a part of her life for a brief moment before death separated them. -: I'm compelled to ... search ... :- She left the word hanging to spite giving too much away. -: Though ... Roose? ... I will hold you to your offer, good one. Perhaps in a few sevendays. You'll hear my broadcast should I fall within your range. :-

[Anonymous]

With his wings fully covered now, Roose felt the remaining discomfort fade away.  His lack of pants didn't matter.  Wings covered, he shook himself, mane and fur ruffled.  Attention drawn to Windra's words... to her mental voice... to her pattern.  Yes, he'd noticed her nature.  And her words?  Informative.  Words he would remember and information he would use in his investigations here.  And his offer?  Well...

... he didn't miss his offer's impact.  Not on her expression, and not on the arcs and precepts of her pattern.  Her shake of head.  Her eyes... the way they examined him.

Then....

A flare of something distant.  Roose turned his own head, eyes and other perceptions focused on the same spot she looked towards.  His seelers flicked, Eye flared a bit brighter... a few steps in that direction, as Windra spoke further.  Another time?  Compelled to ... search?  He understood, if not in detail, then in essense.  Tail's tuft held up like a question mark, for a moment still.  Visible inhale and exhale, clawed fingertips lightly drawn through chest-fur, as he adjusted his Nute.  Then, he turned to face Windra, swept a deep bow, tail high and muzzle low, till the alien script running down the spine of his Nute could be seen...

...  "Another time... I promise."

Decision made and cemented in his mind, Roose swept up from his bow, hopped back over to his remaining possessions, and retrieved something from one of his beltpouches.  So, still wearing only his Nute and a smile, he paced back to Windra, and presented her with that something, cupped in the palm of a scaled hand...

... a small blue-green crystal that caught sunlight and caught the eyes...

...  "Take this, and keep it with you.  When you broadcast, focus on it.  Wherever I am, I will hear you...."

Roose couldn't help the feeling Windra's look and pattern distortions wove through his senses...

...  "If... if you wish company in this first part of your search, I would offer a few hours, so you won't feel alone...."