Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
  • Pages:
  • 1
  • 2
Night Life; Umber Quarter - Open Thread
Topic Started: Jan 24 2015, 03:02 PM (589 Views)
Vulpix Windchimes
Member Avatar

It was half past two AM when the sky opened up. The portal was dark and subtle, only noticeable to those who looked outside if they happened to be watching the handful of stars it ended up obscuring for the moments it took to open, then shut. There were no flashing lights, no booming voices, no announcement that the Gods of Time and Space had been flexing their powers. The point, after all, had not been to make the spectacle. The one passing through said portal did that all on her own, anyway.

A woman fell from the portal, plummeting toward the earth head-first and in a relaxed posture, eyes shut as she were sleeping away her free fall. Then, she burst into flame, ghostly fire coating her body and making her appear to be a bright purple falling star. She continued to hurtle toward toward the ground, until more fire seemed to spread out like wings behind her back and she began to pull out of her dive.

The fire extinguished, leaving behind feathers, fur, denim, and leather, all jet black. Wide, dark wings sent the revealed creature swooping close to the ground, then soaring upward again to land on the roof of a building. Green eyes burned from above a hooked, black beak on a feathered face, and her wings curled around her body like a cloak over her dark jeans, T-shirt, and leather jacket. She crouched on slender, fur-covered legs as a long, tufted tail flicked behind her.

Raven Corvidae, daughter of the Raven of Truth, she who walked in dreams, in shadows, and through flame, had arrived in Natura.

The shadow she cast suddenly shifted, and a small, black shape stepped out of it, round and bushy-tailed with small paws and bright eyes of the same burning green. "This the right place, sis?" the little creature asked with a flick of his tail.

"Better be," she mumbled in return. "Or I'm going to have to kick some divine ass." Hands with long talons gripped to the edge of the roof she was perching on as she stared out at the buildings. "Big fuckin' city," she observed as she took in what looked like numerous apartment buildings and what she was fairly certain, some distance away, was a library.

"Thank you, Miss Obvious," came a grumbling retort from her smaller, fluffier companion. "Now, can we get off the roof?"

Raven huffed, then almost seemed to smirk despite having a beak. "What's the matter, Salem? Afraid of heights?"

"You're the one who can fly, feather brain." He took a sidestep, and vanished into her shadow once more, just in time for her to spread her wings and pitch herself off of the roof. She landed with a soft fluttering of feathers into the nearby alleyway, then stood up and glanced around, her eyes gleaming as they easily pierced the gloom.

Now, where exactly in this place did a stray gryphonkin go when she needed to track down her mortal cousin?
Edited by Vulpix Windchimes, Jan 24 2015, 03:02 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Replies:
Curon Hifor

Malcom was very much passed out, mostly from all the confusion, embarrassment, and who knew what else going through his bodily system, so he was quite still--breathing at least--as the two spoke. However, just before the black-furred Eevee returned with anything resembling a tissue or cloth, Malcom woke with a start.

"W--wh--what happened?" He asked, readjusting his glasses as he sat up, not entirely certain what was going on at the moment. He appeared to be in his apartment at present, with Raven beside him, kneeling next to him. He wasn't sure what had just happened. "M--My apologies, Miss! I must have tripped on something!" He stammered before he scooted away from her a little bit--personal space for the lady, he could assure you--apparently oblivious to the state of his nosebleed. "How rude of me--please, have a seat on the couch--you shouldn't have to sit on the floor, miss!"
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Vulpix Windchimes
Member Avatar

Raven watched Malcom sit up and scoot away from her, stammering, and decided that she wouldn't tell him what happened if he couldn't remember it. The last thing she needed to do was trigger a repeat performance. She felt Salem's fur brush against her hand, and she glanced down to seen him holding a tissue in his jaws as he stood next to her. "I'm fine. The backs of chairs and couches are awkward with wings, so I'm used to standing or sitting on the floor." She took the tissue from Salem and held it out to Malcom. "Here, I think you hit your nose when you went down. Looks like it's bleeding a bit."

That taken care of, she scooped up Salem to place him on her shoulder and stood up again. The eevee obligingly both allowed her to do so and wisely made no comments. "Look, I should probably get out of your hair soon. It's pretty late right now, right? And you going down like that may have been fatigue, too. I don't want to keep you up any more than necessary." If he gave her those survival supplies, she could just take off, get back into her comfortable human skin, and maybe he'd still have a chance of doubting the encounter had been a reality in the morning.

The haste was, admittedly, partially due to guilt, though. After all, there was teasing somebody to get a fun reaction out of them, and then there was inducing fainting spells.
Edited by Vulpix Windchimes, Mar 8 2015, 07:21 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Curon Hifor

"Get--? N--No! You must not, miss," He said, getting back to his feet as he idly wiped his nose of the blood coming out of it. "I--it's far too late to be traveling properly, and plus, you are probably quite tired as well! I implore you, it would be an honor to have you stay here for the night. You can sleep in my bed and I shall sleep on the couch," He said, rather hastily before he bowed to her respectfully, wanting to be as good of a host as he could. After all, he was the one that invited her into his apartment, and it would be rude to have her leave so soon! "B--besides, there's a few things you might need out there that I don't have here at the apartment, and I want to make sure to get them for you in the morning!" Yes, that was exactly the reason--no other reason could exist to have her stay here for the night! BAD. Don't think things like that! Improper...

"B--besides, you only just came to this world, right? You'll need all the time you can to adjust--the PokeBrace can tell you about everything you'll need to know about Natura Central and the immediate surroundings--s--so it would be better if you studied them before leaving right?"
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Vulpix Windchimes
Member Avatar

Well, shit. He really was the 'good host' type, thorough and through. And bowing to her now of all things. Now she was trapped.

Raven considered a number of excuses, and the first one that came to mind was to claim that she was nocturnal, and so would be just fine. That wasn't even a lie, exactly. Her father had designed her to function most effectively in the darkness of night, and so it'd actually be the most easy lifestyle for her. It was the fact that she intentionally tried to conform to human norms that kept her working on a diurnal schedule, that and her determination to not squander the fact that she could go out in honest-to-Gods sunlight if she wanted to. The problem with that was, it only negated the 'her being tired' part of his argument, and she'd previously made the mistake of asking about being able to find a place for the night in the future, which he could no doubt use to call her on her bluff.

There was mentioning that she was looking for someone and wanted to go now to start the search, but he'd likely keep insisting on making sure she was prepared if he realized how important this was. Besides, she did not want to play that card, not when she was looking like this. When she appeared human and could claim she was looking for her twin sister, sure, but not while she looked like the one-of-a-kind freakshow she was.

Okay, so, maybe she should just take the offer. What was being in someone's debt a little more than she already was? She was already raiding his apartment for tech, and she couldn't owe Malcom any more than she currently owed Palkia and Dialga for ripping open the hole to this world in the first place. Still, as amusing as he'd been to tease before she realized that she could make him outright pass out, which was very much not fun, she didn't want to necessarily give him any genuine ideas, if he really did have that sort of taste in women, not that she could really tell at this point whether he did or if this really was how he treated all women. She may have liked humans, but he wasn't her type.

So, that meant a conditional yes. Yeah, that'd work. Raven breathed a small sigh through her beak. "Look, Malcom, I don't know how things work here, but there are lines regarding hospitality where I come from, and taking your bed when I'm not injured in some way would be crossing one." A little white lie to place the blame on herself and her culture, not him, which had a very low chance of biting her in the ass, given that she fully intended that he never find out anything about where this feathered stranger had come from. He hand came up to scratch the ear of the eevee on her shoulder to keep him from saying anything to ruin it. "Plus, I don't really need as much sleep as you do, assuming you're like the humans back home." That one wasn't a lie, but the difference wasn't as large as the words would likely imply, and the fact that she needed more food to keep her body functioning balanced it out. "But if you're really gonna insist I stay, you can keep your bed and me and Salem can crash on the couch."

There. A compromise that established a boundary, and that he would hopefully be too nice of a guy to argue with her about.
Edited by Vulpix Windchimes, Apr 11 2015, 11:21 AM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Curon Hifor

He bowed his head again, rather hastily. "Y--yes, that would be fine, if you so wish, miss! I wouldn't want you to violate any of your cultural rules, after all!" He said defensively. Whatever ploy she had concocted obviously worked like a charm for him--he was very conscious about not offending people, especially newcomers and visitors! He looked down at his watch again and let out a small gasp. "M--my pardons, it is getting a little late. Did you want me to fix anything for you before you turned in for the night?" He said, unable to suppress a yawn at the very end of his sentence. It had been a rather long day, and the next one was looking to be quite a long one as well--but that would have to wait so long as he was entertaining a guest, of course!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · Natura Central · Next Topic »
  • Pages:
  • 1
  • 2

Black Water created by tiptopolive of the Zetaboards Theme Zone