Skin to Feathers

[Admin Courtney]

Talon glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was walking down the path of the forest. When the coast looked clear, he stepped off the path and stripped down to his briefs, ignoring the slight chill in the air. Even though the trees blocked out most of the autumn wind, they also blocked out most of the warm sun. Once he had stripped down to almost nothing, Talon closed his eyes and began to concentrate. He had to shift in the forest along the path so he would have a sort of take-off ramp when he took flight.

He felt the change begin immediately. He spread his arms out and heard crunching noises as his bones shrunk and re-shaped to fit that of a hawk. The sound it made was disgusting, but surprisingly not painful. Instead a numbing sensation formed all over his body as brown feathers grew all over his body and he shrunk rapidly. Soon his arms were replaced with wings, and his feet were talons. On the inside he grinned, but on the outside his face was stern. His piercing hawk eyes took in everything from his new height and he shook out his wings. He could not wait to feel the air beneath his wings, and so Talon wasted no time taking off, flapping his wings insistantly until he had enough lift to take him higher over the forest. He flew along the path first, getting used to his new body. It always took him a minute or so.

[anna411]

Persy sat with her back to a tree, breathing in the cool quiet of the forest. Her first few days at school school had been so hectic, what with unpacking and meeting people being in a completely new place. Finally she could relax and go to her quiet place. Looking around, she saw a squirrel on the ground a few meters away, nibbling on a nut, the wind ruffling its reddish fur. That was something weird she had had to get used to in this continent, that squirrels weren't black but red or gray, and that there were so many more of them. She called her over and the squirrel jumped on her shoulder, nuzzling into her hair. Persy smiled at the familiar comfort of feeling trusted by this little life form that spent so much of it's life hiding from danger. A minute passed and another squirrel came along, sniffing Persy's hand and then bounding away. Suddenly she felt the animal stiffen, and could tell that she didn't want to be out in the open anymore. Persy wondered why but told the squirrel to go, and watched the red streak disappear under a fallen log. She looked up to see a shadow pass above, the danger the animal must've sensed.
A hawk! She hadn't seen one in so long. Her old school had been by a city, and there weren't really any animals other than mice and pigeons there. She watched it loop once, twice, in the sky soaring beautifully in the clear blue above the tree branches. She could feel his presence at the edge of her mind, among all the other forest creatures, but he felt different, strange... clearer, more intelligent almost, but at the same time impossible to get an impression of. She called him over, and waited, expecting to see the shape in the sky turn down toward the forest. But... this was strange. It was as if he didn't hear her. She called again, expecting to feel the tiny bit of tiredness that came with her power, but that didn't come either. And the hawk just kept circling and looping in the sky above, as if she didn't exist. It was Persy was talking to a tree or a brick wall. A LIVING brick wall. She didn't understand this. Everything else forgotten, she stood and stared at the beautiful shadow in the sky.

[Admin Courtney]

As he soared on air currents, testing out his wings before he went very far, Talon decided he would fly over the lake and see if there were any good layers there for him to lazily soar on. It was definitely a lazy flying day. He closed his beady bird eyes and let the air wash over him. He did not have to worry too much about flying around here; no other bird was going to come near a hawk, so he was not likely to crash into anything. As he leaned to the left to head to the lake, he felt a strange sensation. It was as if the tiniest voice in his mind was calling him back to the forest.
No, I want to fly by the lake, he thought, fighting the voice off. It stopped for a moment and he circled again, wondering what had just happened. Why was a part of him wanting to go back to the forest? He skimmed the trees, his talons dragging lazily along the treetops. A startled song sparrow that had been hiding out of his sight in the thick of leaves in one oak tree gave a startled cheep and dove to the forest floor. Talon paid it no attention; even though some hawks might snack on smaller birds, the very thought made Talon feel sick. No, he preferred rodents, like rats of mice. He was known to steal a mouse or two from the biology lab. Why waste a mouse by trying to get it to find cheese faster than another when it could be a delicious bird-snack?

[anna411]

Persy saw the hawk turn away from the spot above her head and head in the direction of the lake, taking his mystery with him. "No," she thought. "I can't just let this go. And what if I never see something like this again?"
She brushed herself off, took a deep breath, and sprinted off in the direction the hawk was going, still catching glimpses of him through the trees flying past. She knew he could fly much faster than she could run, but the lake was big, and she was hoping he wouldn't fly all the way to the other side. She could maybe catch up to him there.
"So this is where this got me, this new school," she thought as she ran. "Chasing birds through as forest. Sounds like some old saying for an impossible task. Well, I suppose nothing's impossible when you go to a school for kids with superpowers..."
Her thoughts trailed off as suddenly the forest ended around her, leaving her on the bank of the lake, the wide space opening up before her. There was only a meter or so of longis grass until the water, stretching out in front of her. She stepped out of the trees and gazed out, breathtaken for a second by the view. She remembered where she was, and looked up to see the hawk above the water now, not too far away.

[Admin Courtney]

Talon shook the feeling off and glided on the air currents towards the lake. Some people might think turning into a bird would be easy, but even after he was changed it wasn't. He was such a clumsy flyer when he first started, and even now he was still trying to learn how thermals worked. But that required studying and science, and Talon hated both of those things.

As he dipped and dove and lazed in the air above the lake, he noticed there was some girl running, following his patterns in the air. Or at least, that was what it looked like. He watched her from above as he flew along, twisting his wings ever so slightly to change direction. It was fun, flying. It was the only time he felt truly free. If he had more control, he would live his life as a bird and ditch the human life. He would get lost in his hawk's mind forever. Maybe even forget his past. He could be reborn... If only.

He looked back to shore. The girl was still there, and she was definitely watching him. Feeling uncomfortable, he flew towards her, wishing he had chosen to fly today as a peregrine falcon. He could scare the crap out of her by diving. Peregrine's were the fastest flying birds. It would certainly be a thrill. Instead, he simply flew down to her and landed on a branch at the forest's edge, tilting his head at her and staring back. What did she want?

[anna411]

Persy saw the hawk dive back towards, and was startled to see it perch on a branch by her head. Did her call just take a while to reach him or something? But no, that wouldn't make sense. Well, she might as well try talking. To the bird. She sighed at herself and turned to face him him.
"Hi..." she lifted her hand in a half-wave, feeling stupid. "So... you did hear me? Or... were you just surprised that I followed you through the forest? That must be it, right? I mean, wtf, why is the weird girl chasing a bird? Then again, I am TALKING to a bird... I could be clinically insane here anyway..." She tried to smile at her pretty failed attempt at a joke. She knew it was either a random bird that couldn't understand her, which was most likely, or it could be... something else. She didn't know what. Who. There was something oddly intelligent in the hawk's gaze, like he very much could understand her. She decided to keep trying.
"I know you might just be a bird, but I don't think so." Was there a change in his eyes then? She wasn't sure. She spoke with more confidence. "I can feel your presence, in my mind," she tapped the side of her head, "I can feel all the animals. But you," she pointed a finger at him, "you're *different.* I don't know if you heard me when i called you, but it was definitely different. I don't think I can control you..." she trailed off, not sure where to go with this. Hawks couldn't exactly talk. But maybe... maybe he'd do something.

[Admin Courtney]

Talon stared at the girl, glad that a hawk's face could show no expression. He wasn't sure if he would be laughing at her or staring at her like she was crazy. Why did she think he had heard her from way up there? Was she clinically insane? Well, he was clinically depressed, so he supposed he could not judge her.

He stood there on the branch and decided to preen his feathers while she spoke to him. He listened to every word, but acted as if he wasn't listening to a thing. Of course, the girl wasn't stupid. A real hawk wouldn't just sit there on the branch so close to a human. They wanted nothing to do with people; they had their own things to do. But when she started talking about being able to feel all animals, he stopped preening and looked at her again. If he could show facial expression, his brows would be furrowed very deeply.

When she talked about controlling him, he squalked in shock and ruffled his wings in indignation. No one was going to control him! Was that what he had felt earlier? Her trying to control the animal side of him? He felt sickened at the thought. Then he remembered: he had heard her, but she had not controlled him. He looked at her as haughtily as was possible, and for a hawk, it was very possible. He stood proudly and regal, staring her down.

[anna411]

The hawk could definitely understand her, Persy thought. She could see the way he watched her as he preened, and now, how he was trying to look haughtily offended when she mentioned controlling him. Maybe that had been a bad turn of phrase.
"Now don't you look at me like I'm some some sort of villain. I didn't say I wanted to control you. And, as you can see, I can't. Beruhigen, my fowl friend. Calm down.
"Now, I'm going to use logic here. Seems to work better than expecting birds to talk to you. You can speak English. You can understand me when I speak English. I felt your presence in my head, so you can't be some sort of illusion. You do have the mind of a bird right now, if a strange one. Well, birds don't speak English. When I called you, that wasn't English. That was my power. I know that because I've been to countries with languages I don't speak and I could communicate with the animals there. So I don't think you're a bird at all. You're part bird, but you're part human too. And, oh look, we're in a school for kids with superpowers. So don't get all ruffly at me, hawk. You're just a teenage guy with a power. Maybe you can inhabit the bodies of animals with your mind. Or maybe you can just turn into a bird. So I say you turn back and we talk. It could be really interesting."

[Admin Courtney]

Was his hawk hearing going bad on him? What in the world was a beruhigen? He blinked at her as she spoke, but otherwise did not respond. He could not respond; he had a beak, not a mouth. He squacked at her again, this time to prove that no, he could not speak English. Not as he was, anyway.

As she continued to speak to him, he got bored sitting up there on the branch. Deciding she probably wasn't going to hurt him, he gave in and began to change back into a human. She had figured out he was really just a human, anyway. He had nothing to hide. And when he had shifted back into his human self, that was proven. His clothes were still in the bush in the middle of the forest; he sat on the branch above her, wearing nothing but his briefs.
"Sup," he said, stressing the 'p' at the end of the word and making a light popping sound.

[anna411]

Persy realized as she finished her sentence that with a strange sound, the bird was morphing, bones elongating, beak shrinking, feathers dissolving into skin. In a few seconds, the hawk was gone, and in his place sat a skinny guy about her age, with mussy short blond hair and a very sullen facial expression. Oh, and he was practically naked. Very much practically naked. And those were definitely abs. And was she blushing? Persephone Gottshalk SO did not blush. She gave herself a little mental pep-talk. "You. Are one of the richest girl in Germany. You have power. You also have superpowers. You are not about to go all dreamy over this guy with unwashed hair that stinks of cigarettes. You know better than that. Remember Mike? Come on, girl, pull yourself together. No, don't just stand there and gawk, say something clever. At least say hello again. Come on, you can do this."
"..Heyy. So I was right. You, um, need help getting down?" She awkwardly offered up a hand. So much for clever. *Boys.*

[Admin Courtney]

One of his favourite things about de-morphing was the look on people's faces when they didn't expect to see so much of him. Talon smirked down at the girl's reaction, resting his hands on the branch on either side of him, his legs swinging comfortably off the edge.

"Congratulations," he said sarcastically. "You were right; I'm not a real hawk." Unfortunately. Sometimes he thought his life would be so much easier if he really was just a bird. "I'm actually pretty good up here. It's a nice view. Not as nice as from up there..." He glanced up at the sky pointedly, already missing it. He looked back down at her. "But some chick was using her powers to call me, and it was really distracting. What exactly can you do?" he asked, curious as to how her powers had affected him.

[anna411]

He obviously thought her confusion was just hilarious. Wonderful. The way he spoke of flying, though...
"Hmm... you miss it, don't you? Being a bird. I can tell. You get that happy look in you eyes... als ob sie verpassen hause..."
It reminded her of how she felt when she left Germany, but she didn't say that aloud. Persy wasn't into talking about her life.

"My power lets me communicate with animals, and get them to do things. It's not exactly control. The best way I can describe it is making them WANT to do whatever I'm asking them to do. Mostly I only ask for small things, like coming over or bringing something. And animals usually automatically trust me, unless there's something obviously threatening, like one of their common predators being right there. But even then I can usually gain their trust enough, it just takes a little more strength. Like, look." She called over a mouse hiding under a bush nearby and it scampered onto her outstretched palm. Persy petted it softly and then let it go back into its hiding place.
"And now about you? Do you only turn into a hawk, or any bird you want? Or any animal? Hmm... do you get bird instincts, like navigation?" she asked him. She was curious too.

[Admin Courtney]

Talon's expression clouded over when she mentioned he looked happy. He hadn't meant to. She distracted him, however, when she began speaking another language. "What?" he asked, brows furrowed in confusion. "Er, I don't think that was English..."

He looked at her interestedly when she said she could communicate with animals. It now made sense how he had felt some sort of presence calling to him. It had been her all along. But when she said she could 'get them to do things', he felt annoyed.
"Why would you get them to bring you something against their will when you can just get it yourself?" he asked, his annoyance evident in his tone. He couldn't help it; he didn't like maniupation of any kind. Just the other day some younger chick used her power to maniupate his emotions and made him fake-happy. It was terrible and he had flipped out on her. He had possibly been too harsh, but it bothered him tremendously. Why couldn't people just leave him be?

"I can turn into any bird I want, but I have to know a lot about the bird first. Like exactly what they look like and stuff. Most of the other stuff comes naturally. I couldn't turn into large birds at first, when I was younger. It was like I had to grow up as a bird first." He wondered if that would continue to happen as he began to grow old. But then he remembered he didn't plan on growing to be that old, so he would never find out. That suited him just fine.

[anna411]

He was sad again. That seemed to be the expression his face was most used to wearing, glum moroseness, no light in his eyes. It made Persy upset, that someone with such an amazing power could be so depressed. But maybe that was the only thing that kept him going, she thought, the ability to fly away from his human problems, at least for the moment.
"Sorry, I switch to German on accident sometimes. It's something I try not to do, but I can't help it." She didn't actually tell him what she'd said, though. She had a feeling he wouldn't take too kindly to it. He looked like the kind of guy that acted like he never missed or needed anything, except maybe a coat right now. Persy practically saw him shivering, and the weather forecast this morning had predicted a high of eight degrees. That was ridiculously cold to be only wearing... um... underwear. She cursed her face for being able to blush.

"And stop accusing me of things. I do not make anyone do anything" she made air quotes with her hands 'against their will.' I'm never cruel. Ever. I can feel what animals are doing and I almost never even call them over if they're occupied with anything. I would never put an animal in danger or make them leave their babies or something like that. And bringing things was just a random example. I don't just walk through the forest making animals run around at my beck and call. But, for example, I was skiing once with a friend and she fell and hit her head and was unconcious, getting stuck under a fallen tree. I used my power to get a deer that was nearby to shift the tree so I could get her out. She could have died otherwise. Are you saying it would have been more important to give a deer a few more minutes to eat some leaves?
"And I help animals too, if I can. I've pulled dogs back from running across busy roads, things like that. It's not all one-sided." She realized she was pretty much ranting, and made herself stop. She talked way too much, anyway.

"That's interesting, the growing. What's the biggest bird you can do?" She asked.

[Admin Courtney]

German. It was then that he realised there was a slight accent to her voice. "Huh. That's pretty cool, I guess. Except that I had no idea what you were saying. I only speak English." Of course he knew some French and some Italian from his language classes at the school, but he didn't study enough for anything to really stick.
A cool breeze drifted through the chairs, biting at Talon's exposed skin. He glanced around, but his clothes were in a bush long the path in the middle of the forest, not anywhere near where they were now, by the lake. He would just have to suck it up. It wasn't like he would freeze to death. Unfortunately. The only think that bothered him was that his cigarrettes and lighter were in his pants pocket, and he was beginning to seriously crave a smoke.

"Wow, okay, sorry," he said, backing off. She was so defensive and he wasn't in a very argumentative mood today. He was having what his therapist would refer to as a 'good' day. He was not particularily happy, but he wasn't completely moody and solemn, either. "As long as you don't take advantage of animals and stuff, it's cool. Were you trying to use your powers on me?" he asked with a frown. He wondered what she had been trying to make him do.

He shrugged casually. "I've tried an ostrich once, but they're no fun. They can't even fly. What good is a bird who can't even fly?" he complained. "It's the smaller ones that are the most difficult to change into. They require more concentration. Probably because I have to go from me-sized to hand-sized," he said, gesturing at himself.