it's all in your hands...

[notachickenhawk]

Characters: Tobias and you!
Setting: Room 1-10 and surrounding rooms, Floor 32 ("Earth" forest), Floor 1 (Cafeteria)
Format: Either.
Summary: Tobias wakes up and attempts to figure out what's going on.
Warnings: None I can think of. Suspicious birdface?


[Room 1-10]

Tobias bolts awake, wings flapping, because part of his brain has sensed that this is an enclosed space and he needs to get out. He screeches and flips himself up off the bed, hawk instincts screaming at him that he needs to get out!

He flies towards the door, and lands on the knob, trying to turn it. Out out out he has to get out!

Someone might want to try to calm down the panicking bird with a green collar on.



[Floor 32]

Finally, he's found something that looks familiar. Tobias wheels off from the stairs to go head into the forest. He needs some food, and he needs to rest his wings. But something's wrong.

The instant he leaves the staircase, he heads into a dive. It's uncontrolled, and he screeches. Tobias flaps his wings desperately, trying to get himself to fly - but he crashes into the ground, stunned. It'll take a few moments to get himself back to enough of a mental state to try to hop back towards the staircase.



[Floor 1]

A quick peek at this level had revealed it was a cafeteria, and while he's suspicious this place seems built for humans. So Tobias had flown up to the level above and morphed human - finding himself in a skintight white suit. He's not even going there right now, but he heads downstairs (barefoot), squinting a bit at terrible human sight.

When he gets down there, though, he freezes. He hasn't been in a cafeteria in years. And yeah, this isn't a school cafeteria, but he doesn't know the rules. Someone might want to get him to move - he's blocking the stairs.

Comments

[notachickenhawk]

[He's curious, and reaches out with his mind.]

[Can you hear this?]

[seekinganswers]

[She feels the prickling at the edge of her thoughts and nods. It's a feeling she usually gets around Ivan, who was even more likely to read minds than she was - it's not a feeling she enjoys. Tobias will pick up a few stray thoughts and memories before Sheba clamps down on it and blocks him off - there's a brief flash of a training session in this very meadow, though her partner's face is obscured, a brief memory of a similar meadow on Weyard, and a general feeling of homesickness before there's nothing.

Nothing, that is, until she thinks back - very specifically allowing him to hear her voice.

I hear you, Tobias.]

[notachickenhawk]

[... Oh.]

[Sorry!]

I just wanted to see if that would work.

[He giggles a little, and then puts his hand over his mouth. ... Girls are weird.]

[seekinganswers]

I guess I had it coming.

[She chuckles. Fair is fair, but even though she doesn't particularly like having someone in her mind, there's very little chance of her putting an end to her habit of reading others' thoughts.]

It's useful, but there are some people here who can tell when you do it. So be careful if you ever try that on anyone else, okay?

[notachickenhawk]

Sure. No problem.

[He considers things for a moment, and then demorphs back to hawk form. Okay. No more morphing for a bit. Tired.]

[seekinganswers]

[She looks away again as Tobias shifts back into his usual form. Amazing power or no, it was still really strange to see. She looks back when he's a bird again and can't help but smile.]

Oh, and... don't go around telling people I can do that, please. I've been trying to keep it a secret.

[Failing, but trying nonetheless.]

[notachickenhawk]

<No problem. It's not like I'm real eager to spread my secrets around too.>

[He turns and preens a little bit.]

<We've pretty much got a standing agreement not to morph anyone sentient without their permission anyway, so it's not like I'm gonna do that.>

[Well okay he'd morphed Taylor, but Taylor couldn't exactly give permission... and the look on her face had been pretty much totally worth it.]

[seekinganswers]

Oh, you can morph me if you need to! I mean, some places, it'll be easier to get around as a human than as a bird. [She rubs at the back of her head.] Since some places don't let you fly.

[She'd know; she'd tried.]

And hearing what people hear can be useful... you'll need every advantage you can get around here. But like I said, be careful, because some people know and they don't like it.

[notachickenhawk]

<I've got a human morph I can use. Don't worry about it. But... hm. I guess it'd be more convenient than morphing a bug or something again. Being a bug sucks.>

[He lets out a tiny squawk. Bugs are the worst morphs.]

[seekinganswers]

Being a bug?

[She stares at him incredulously. That just sounds risky to her.] But what if someone stepped on you?

[notachickenhawk]

<Well yeah that's a problem. You can morph back but that'll give you away. Still, if it's a matter of capture or death...>

[Nope nope not remembering bug close calls nope nope.]

[seekinganswers]

There wouldn't be any way of escaping capture after being captured, huh... because of those Yeerk things.

[Capture or death. It's something she can sit down and think about - she's never died, just been captured, but there have been times when she's seen death as too difficult to avoid and had just given in. Her survival had been more coincidence than intent.]

[notachickenhawk]

<Pretty much. They don't know that we're not... what they think we are.>

[Everyone'd be in danger. Their families... well. Not his, really. But for everyone else...]

[seekinganswers]

Yeah, I guess they'd be pretty surprised if they managed to catch everyone they were fighting, and you all turned into birds.

[...Sheba, there is a time and a place for trying to lighten the situation, and this is not it.]

[notachickenhawk]

[He chuckles, and looks back at her.]

<Well they all can, but no. Only one of us is the species they think we are. The others are human.>

[She knows enough already, so...]

[seekinganswers]

Humans who can change shape... what, like werewolves?

[No, Sheba. Tobias is not from Garoh. No.]

[notachickenhawk]

<If werewolves could change into whatever living creature they touched, I guess? Except there's rules and time limits and it's really advanced science, not magic - though I guess it's about the same from our point of view.>

[seekinganswers]

What do you mean by time limits? [She knows she can't use her Psynergy limitlessly, but that has less to do with time and more to do with her own abilities.] If you run out of time, do you get forced back into your original form?

[notachickenhawk]

<Other way around. You get stuck.>

[He spreads his wings out. While it's an odd motion for a bird, it's something that would be pretty clear on a human - indicating himself.]

[seekinganswers]

Oh...

[She looks from one end of his wings to the other, then nods. She gets it now.] You seem... remarkably okay with being a hawk, Tobias.

[notachickenhawk]

<I've been this way for two years. And I wasn't that great at being human.>

[He shifts from talon to talon, a little uncomfortable.]

[seekinganswers]

[She doesn't know much about hawk language, but her knowledge of human body language has taught her that shifting from foot to foot usually means someone isn't totally comfortable in their current situation. So she smiles a little sympathetically and leans back.]

I see. I won't ask for details, then.

[notachickenhawk]

<Thanks.>

[He settles down a bit and resumes preening. It's more of a stress reaction than anything else, really.]

<Hopefully the others will show up soon.>

[seekinganswers]

You think they might? [Sheba looks thoughtful. The chances are high. Not too long ago, she though she'd never see anyone else from Weyard again, but here they were.] I'd like to meet them someday. If they're anything like you, they must be very brave and very strong.

[notachickenhawk]

<I hope so. Rachel's probably the bravest out of all of us. ... Bravest or most headstrong, it depends on the day.>

[... If hawks could blush, he'd be doing so right now. As is, he turns his head away and down a bit.]