Post by Admin on Aug 9, 2009 17:56:45 GMT -5
Drake:
<<See anything good yet?>> Drake asked his companions. They were at the outskirts of Dallas, trying to find a good morph for blending in around the city. Drake had recently decided that he did not have a very good selection of morphs for that purpose, so he was determined to find something.
They had been combing the streets for a while now without much luck. Sure, they had seen a few stray cats and some rats, even a mangy looking chihuahua, but nothing that seemed worthwhile to chase. Drake was hoping to find something like a coyote, or a deer, or even a raccoon, but so far he had been unsuccessful.
Suji:
Suji was soaring, feeling the dry heat below her fill her wings. The vulture's mind was most interested in the occasional bit of road kill, and Suji didn't stop it from wandering: after all, if they saw something big enough, Drake could still acquire something dead, as long as it wasn't completely dried up. It wasn't a pretty thought, and she held off on suggesting it to Drake, unless she saw something worth it. All the same, roadkill would be the category of most blend-in-able morphs around. Common enough to still be getting hit by trucks.
<<I'm assuming you're not so interested in snakes, since you already have a lizard.>> She'd noticed a flattened black snake on the side of one of the roads. Suji kept looking towards the ground, when she felt the vulture's mind suddenly grow antsy... so uncomfortable that it replaced the sensation of hunger. It wasn't strong, but the vulture was sending her weird vibes. Allowing its brain to take more control for a moment, her laser-like eyes turned up from the roadkill and towards the sky.
In the distance were other relatively large, hovering birds. They were circling, two or three of them over one spot. Suji smiled inwardly. <<How would you feel about a bigger set've feathers?>>
Drake:
<<A bigger set of feathers?>> Drake asked, a bit amused. <<What do you have in mind, an ostrich?>> He spread his secretary bird wings to demonstrate their size. He knew what she was getting at, but he still found it a bit funny.
Since he had been walking around on the ground, Drake decided to take flight to see what she could see. As soon as he was above the building level he saw the buzzards circling. <<I guess that would be a pretty good choice. But how do we get one?>>
Suji:
Suji laughed. <<An ostrich would be fantastic, would go right along with that giraffe you've got. But point noted.>> But how do we get one , indeed? Suji spun lazily in the air, rising up like she was riding some invisible elevator. She wanted to get high enough to see what those other vultures were hovering over. Just a really nice thermal, or maybe food?
She wasn't looking forward to the idea of trying to tackle one of those things out of the sky, especially if it had friends around. So any other helpful information would be a boon. <<Maybe there's food down there, and we can just try to pin one...>> The other option that came to mind was some kind of cartoonish plan to carry a net up here and drop it on one of them. But if anyone below saw that, it'd look awfully strange. And she didn't want to have to kill one of the birds if they didn't have to.
<<I think they're over some kind of... ranch? In the distance?>> The angle made it hard to tell what it was, but she thought she could make out some cattle. At the same time, there was a huge industrial complex nearby, which made her wonder. <<At this point my ideas are kinda silly, you got anything good?>>
Fin:
Fin shot past Suji, his talons whistling through her primaries as he dove. He didn't try to snatch a feather. He had a feeling it would hurt and she wouldn't appreciate it much but he was having fun playing air tag all the same. <<You're it.>>
He braked in the air and spiraled away. They were pretty far out from the city at this point. Not far enough that they couldn't make it back in an hour or so but far enough that nothing was out here so Fin wasn't worrying as much about keeping his distance from Suji and Drake to preserve their cover. Not like they had much cover anyway. There weren't many bird left and certainly no secretary birds just flying around.
His black falcon was a dot against the bright blue sky as he rode a thermal higher into the air to prepare for another dive on something or someone. He was seemingly paying no attention to what they were out here for but he was slowly working his way towards the area where the nasty looking vultures were circling.
<<We could play dead but not sure I'd want to be under those talons. Attack one maybe. They're big but,>> he focused his vision on the far off vultures and then turned his head so that he could see Suji below him, <<Suji is bigger. And I'm faster so maybe together we can injure one, get it to the ground. Then you can acquire it.>>
Aida:
Aida felt tiny and rather insignificant compared to the others in her new faction. Each one had a capable flying morph and her Mockingbird felt puny when flying amongst them. The good thing about it however was that it was common in this area, in fact she believed it was the state bird. Aida felt comfortable knowing she could at least blend in, but she was due for a new morph, and she wanted something terrestrial to match.
At the moment she had her eyes set on an Armadillo, though this one was dead, and thus not acquirable. Aida's eyes spanned the area once more, looking for a living creature, but she only saw several rats, and a few snakes. It was as she was scoping the area out that she caught some of the thought speak being tossed about. Personally the idea of wrangling up a vulture did not appeal to her, especially in this tiny form.
<<I think I'll sit that one out...>> she added quietly, allowing the bird to drop a bit lower in the sky. Her small wings flapped harder to pick up speed, still looking for an armadillo. <<Will someone let me know if you see an armadillo someplace?>> Aida was not keen on socializing amongst people, but ever since her talk with Matthias she had made it a point to try and be more friendly.
Drake:
<<What am I, chopped liver?>> Drake asked in response to Fin's suggestion. It was true that Suji's morph was bigger and Fin's was faster, but that did not make his inconsequential. <<I got a few moves up my sleeves. Just because this bird is made fore the ground does not mean it can not fly.>> Drake wobbled back and forth like a toy boat in a bathtub. It was a lame arial maneuver, but that was beside the point.
Then he heard... Aida, was it... tell them too keep an eye out for an armadillo. He did not know why she would want to morph an armadillo when there were vultures as an option, but he was not about to comment on that to someone he hardly knew. <<Sure, I will keep my eyes peeled.>>
Drake:
<<Well Drake if you're in the air how can you be on the ground ready to acquire it?>> Fin had reached the top of his thermal and glided towards the vultures looking for another one. The flying out here was absolutely fantastic. There were thermals and thermals and then more thermals just when you were looking for another one. Ah, there was one now. He began his slow spiraling dance with wind and sky.
He looked down and spotted Aida's mockingbird but he did not see any armadillos. Not yet anyway. He was sure they would show up eventually. Then again he knew nothing about armadillos so he probably shouldn't be so sure of that.
The collection of buildings was also coming closer but he couldn't make out what they were just yet. <<So guys, I've never tried it but do you think we could acquire dead animals?>> Fin was looking at a rattlesnake that was quite dead but hey, rattlesnake.
Suji:
Suji felt Fin rocket past, and the vulture's mind gave an immediate startle. She didn't give chase: she was enjoying the riding, and this bird hadn't been meant to dive. It felt almost a bit too much like sinking, or falling. Could still be fun... but ah, riding the sky like rising waves was so much better.
She laughed at Drake's comments. <<Your bird has style, you can give it that much. But that little stunt further proves you deserve something a little... more powerful. Just as soon as we figure out how to corral one down here.>> To Aida: <<All righty, let us know if you need anything, and we'll tell you if we spot any armadillos.>>
<<I would think so,>> Suji commented back to Fin. <<I mean, we know we acquire DNA from tiny blood drops, without having to actually touch the donor animals. As long as it's... somewhat juicy, then its DNA should be intact.>> It was a little gross, but hey, he'd asked. <<Maybe only recently dead though, depending on how long it takes bacteria to move and really get to work. Couple days?>>
Drake:
Drake let out a mental sigh, then reluctantly gave way to logic. <<Alright, I will wait on the ground, but you better hate every moment of your vulture wrangling extravaganza.>> He angled down a little so he would end up on the ground near where the vultures were circling.
Then he proceeded to comment on the notion of acquiring dead morphs. <<I am not so sure. I think it might be more like at the blood bank. You know, where they can keep the blood taken from living people and use it later, but do not use the blood of cadavers. At least I hope they never did that.>>
Suji:
<<Yeah,>> Suji started. <<But the reason they don't let you use blood from dead people is because when you die, your lungs work a number one your carbon-dioxide levels. And it'd be hard to draw without a heart pumping anyway...>> Suji had excelled at high school science. That and history had been her strongest points, though she'd never received bad marks in the other subjects. Public school systems had grading policies that were easy enough to inflate.
<<But they do let you use organs and stuff. Like how you can put that you're an organ donor on your license plate. That was a fun question after the thrill of passing the driving test,>> she said dryly. <<They still use blood from cadavers to properly identify forensics and everything. That's why on all the crime shows they can verify who the victim was, if they find any more DNA later to implicate a suspect.>>
But that was all pretty technical, and not at all related to capturing a vulture. Or at least, not very related. She sounded like some weird science professor. Or worse, a know-it-all. <<Ack. Sorry for the lecture. Just saying, it's probably possible, from a purely theoretical standpoint.>> Groaning inwardly, she put her embarassment into getting higher into the sky.
Drake:
Drake laughed a little at Suji's mini medical rant. Even more so at her apology for it. He never would have thought they would get into such an intense discussion over acquiring dead animals.
<<Aaaany way. I think I see what the vultures were circleing, and why they have not landed yet.>> There was a coyote eating a young deer. Apparently the vultures did not think it would share. When Drake swooped overhead, the coyote jumped back and seemed unsure of what to do, but as soon as he passed it, it inched its way back to the meal. Now that he saw a real coyote, maybe he did not want to try to get close enough to touch it after all.
Aida:
Flying was nice, but if Aida took to the winds she wanted a predatory bird, not a scavenger like the vulture. There was more to her reluctance than she let on however, having been so close to death her whole life with cancer, it kept her from wanting to morph the omen of death. Vultures have long been known in lore to circle a dying animal, and that alone was enough to deter her from it. A nice armadillo would work, they were strong on defense, she could use some extra padding in that department.
<<Thanks Drake>> she responded but inwardly groaned, her old routine was slipping back into place. It was no wonder she'd only had one companion in Vancouver. Suji's response while kind, did not aid her confidence. We'll let you know, she spoke for the others as if they were a solid entity, a team against her. Aida was still the new one amongst them, and she realized Suji hadn't meant it that way, probably, but...
The discussion quickly took a turn, not one she wanted to add her two sense into, things in England got taught a bit differently. She focused her attention on the Coyote momentarily before looking elsewhere, she had a white tailed deer morph...and it did not bode well with her stomach seeing it dead. Aida turned sharply, soaring closer to the ground before lifting up again, flapping her tiny wings before she picked up a wind thermal.
<<Considering you have to be human to absorb a morph...we should probably try to scare the coyote far away....either that or lure a few vultures someplace else...>> she added quietly.
Suji:
Suji could see the coyote now. Coyotes weren't big, and they could probably scare it away easily enough. <<Aida's right, we could chase it off. Drake if you're going human I'm sure that could work, though on the other hand, Fin and I might be able to terrorize it enough to leave.>> It seemed sad though. The coyote was just trying to eat its meal... and while coyotes didn't do particularly poorly in human inhabited areas, those meals still probably came less and less frequently.
<<Luring one might work too, but that'll require one of us getting beaten up pretty badly. Enough to draw their attention away from the certain meal if they wait long enough. Not sure if anyone wants to volunteer for that.>> Suji looked over to Fin's morph, then back around at the others. <<Or Fin and I could try to bring one to ground. Probably the most dangerous option, unless that coyote is really aggressive.>>
Drake:
<<You guys just worry about that vulture,>> Drake said. Then, with a surprising amount of confidence he continued with, <<Leave the coyote to me.>> He spread his wings wide at his perch and let out a dinosaur-like squawk.
<<Aida, want to help?>> he asked privately. He might have been prepared to scare the coyote away by himself, but it was always nice to have someone watching your back. You know, in case you fail miserably.
Aida:
The coyote already registered a fear in her mind, and the idea of one human taking it on wasn't one she liked. Aida knew coyotes typically avoided humans, but they were out in the middle of nowhere so this one probably wasn't as domesticated as the others, it had probably lost its fear of humans. Two people would stand a better chance of scaring it off without a fight, and she was going to voice this if someone decided to go that route.
The alternative, luring also didn't sound fun. Aida continued flying, keeping quiet and merely listening as plans were formulated. When Drake spoke up she was surprised, and then that only grew when he asked for her help. <<Sure>> she replied privately, her small bird morph zooming by with nimble agility. <<My morph is small...but it's territorial...very aggressive>> she added just to him, a weak attempt at some semblance of conversation.
The aggression was so unlike her, so it was something she repressed quite a bit while in her Mockingbird morph. Now however, it would probably come in use, and so she kept her senses alert and ready. <<Lead the way>> This was Drake's call so she'd follow his lead, even if she hardly knew him; they were teammates now.
Fin:
Fin circled down and landed near the dead rattlesnake. It looked quite dead and only slightly tasty to his falcon morph. The falcon would much rather hunt something fresh than eat something dead. It wasn't a vulture after all. But this question should be settled. He demorphed and reached out one finger to the mangled snake, the soles of his feet burning on the desert hard top and the sun beating down on his pale skin. If he didn't get back into morph soon he would get burned.
He tried to acquire the snake but he didn't feel the usual tingling accompanying the acquirement process. Well that solved that problem.
He remorphed, going into his kit fox this time. As much as flying was amazing, the fox was actually designed for these deserts and was local around here, at least he thought it was. And he had a feeling that if they ever wanted to find an armadillo they might need its nose.
Plus, he could be bait.
<<I could try to distract the coyote, as long as someone's got my back that is.>>
Drake:
Drake was getting ticked. First he had volunteered to help catch the vulture, but they would not let him. Okay, made sense. He needed to be on the ground to acquire it when they got it to the ground. So then he offers to get rid of the coyote. But no. Apparently Fin did not think he could handle that either. He had to be a fox to try and lure it away.
Drake did not know what it was, but some emotion he had never experienced before welled up inside of him. What was it? Crushed pride?
Whatever it was, it was messing with his rationality. I'll show you who can't handle it. With that, Drake leapt from his perch and angled directly towards the coyote. At the last second he flared his wings and let out an avian battle cry as he landed. The canine crouched back in surprise and bared its teeth. Drake ignored its display of aggression and ran towards it with his wings still spread in order to make himself look bigger.
The coyote jumped back again, not knowing how to deal with this type of situation, but this time it nipped at him a bit, although it did not get close enough to get any feathers. This time Drake went on an all out rampage, determined to chase it off, or trample it trying. It seemed to work as the coyote ran off and disappeared around the corner of the building.
Drake turned back around and started walking towards the dead deer. <<See, I could handl- >> Drake did not see that the coyote had come back for round two.
Suji:
<<Fin, the coyote has a meal right there and probably won't want anything to do with you, bait or not. Just let Drake demo->> But then her thoughtspeech fell off as she watched Drake entered into mortal combat with the coyote. She was so stunned she almost forgot she was flying, and dropped a couple feet.
Suji wasn't sure what was happening. ...why were any of them trying to deal with a coyote in morph? Especially when none of them seemed to be in any morph that would be better at the job than a human? It was like watching some horror scene in a bad nightmare unfold. Too far away to stop it, too ridiculous to understand why it was happening in the first place.
Suji saw the coyote returning, and pulled in her wings for a dive. The coyote was more aggressive now, apparently heartened after realizing that Drake's bird was not paying attention. Suji didn't get there as fast as she liked (in the flurry of feathers and fur it was hard to tell how much damage was actually done, to either side), but she got their fairly quickly. She didn't have the cry of an eagle or a hawk, but she was a very large bird, with very large talons.
In an effort to discourage the coyote, she raked its back with her talons, and flapped upwards again. If it didn't let go this time, she was going to try to drag it a bit on her next sweep. She didn't want to hurt it (it was just trying to eat some lunch) but there wasn't really a choice now. Especially not when the other morphs at hand were a fox and a mockingbird.
Aida:
Aida had been 'watching Drake's back' as he'd asked her to so when he took that dive out of no where she was hoovering nearby, keeping all eyes on the coyote. In the beginning it was reacting favorably, and so her heart settled into a nice comfortable rhythm...at least until it started heading back towards Drake. Aida's bird, tiny but aggressive, swooped in right towards the animals face, her beak aimed to pierce flesh.
Suji jumped in out of nowhere, but Aida continued her dive bomb at its's face seeing as Suji was raking her claws into it's back. Her bird let out a fierce cry that imitated Drakes fairly accurately--she was a Mockingbird after all.The coyote seemed to get the picture and began retreating at a whimper with it's new found injuries. It didn't bother Aida to hurt this animal if it meant helping a team member, one she barely even knew.
<<Drake...Drake...are you alright>>she asked, circling closely by, watching for any other eager coyote. The bird that had once been Drake had dislocated feathers, and probably various other injuries and didn't seem to be moving yet. The deers blood had seeped in around the area so she couldn't tell if it was his or not.
Drake:
<<Other than a broken neck and a deflated ego, I think I will be okay.>> Drake probably would have been crying out in pain, except he could feel no pain, save for a little in his neck. He was completely paralyzed from the neck down.
Needless to say, he began to demorph. <<Oh, oww. Ouch!>> he said as the feeling came back to him. A broken wing mended itself as the bones thickened, and the bite marks healed over as his bird skin became human. If it was not for this morphing technology, he would have definitely been a goner.
When he finished demorphing, he did not want to say anything. He was to embarrassed about what had happened. Even so, he still said, "Thanks for saving me," although it was so quietly that he was not sure if anyone even heard. Then he went to stand in the shade.
Suji:
For a moment Suji wasn't sure Drake was even alive, and that sent chills down her back. Dying to the enemy was one thing, dying to a defensive coyote was another thing entirely. Her heart skipped a few beats, until she heard Drake's thoughtspeak, and would have breathed a sigh of relief if she could have. She turned around in the air, and saw the coyote leaving. Aida's mockingbird, despite it's small size, had proved as a nice additional deterrent.
The vulture's hearing did pick up the dejected thanks from Drake, and Suji felt what might have been anger at him slipping away. He'd learned his lesson, and the unnatural angle of his secretary bird's body was still far too fresh in her mind. The vultures were still circling above, though one of the three was gone--maybe it had figured that the area was too hot down here and didn't feel like it was going to get a shot at the deer corpse.
<<We should probably all clear out until one of those things starts to land.>> Suji spread came to a soft landing in the parched tree that Drake was standing under. The tree was dread, but it still had a few thick, sturdy branches. Privately, she said to Drake, trying to keep her tone light-hearted. <<If I was a coyote, I would have been terrified. Promise.>> She laughed lightly, hoping that it assuaged some of his embarassment, rather than making it worse.
Fin:
Fin had sat down and watched Drake make his glorious stoop on the coyote. His tail had twitched and he had watched avidly a running commentary going in his head. Drake: Secretary Bird, I choose you! Secretary bird use wing attack! Coyote takes 50 damage! Coyote uses take down! Secretary bird take 100 damage. Secretary bird faints. Come back Secretary bird. Egyptian vulture go! Your enemy is weak. Egyptian vulture use Fly! Coyote sustain 150 damage. Mockingbird uses screech attack! Wild coyote is confused. It runs away! 1100 exp points for Egyptian vulture! 500 exp points for Mockingbird.
He walked over to where Drake was leaning against a tree. <<Good thing you can morph, I don't see a pokemon center out here anywhere.>>
Drake:
The combined comments of Suji and Fin caused Drake to let out a short burst of laughter. Drake doubted he would have been able to scare Suji away even if he had been in his giraffe morph. And Fin's comment about a pokemon center had taken him completely off guard.
"Thanks guys," he said once he gained back a little composure. "Sorry I acted like such a buffoon." Drake was actually a bit surprised they were not yelling at him and telling him how stupid he had been. He had honestly thought that he would have been able to drive the coyote away, but still, it was not a smart move on his part.
"So now we wait?" he asked, since he figured he was far enough away from the animal carcass.
Suji:
Suji inwardly smiled, though her insides still felt twisted. She was only passingly reminded of a time in the Chicago faction, when she and David (and Toby) had been flying over the city. David had spotted his twin brother, and even flown to the ground and began to demorph. That kind of rashness hadn't only put David it danger, it had put the faction at danger, maybe even all the Animorphs if he'd been captured.
This sort of impulsiveness, at least, wasn't at a moment when they were surrounded by Controllers. And Drake might have been successful in scaring the coyote away after all, if he hadn't stopped to announce his victory so soon. And he'd reaped the consequences of that, consequences that had looked far too close to death for Suji's comfort. So no need to harp on the situation. Suji shuffled her wings.
<<So now we wait,>> she affirmed. <<Fin, can you get back into that falcon morph? Unless you've got something better for keeping a vulture on the ground, not sure the fox is gonna do. My vulture might be able to, but I really wouldn't mind the help.>>
Aida:
Aida had stayed silent after the incident, not wanting to make Drake feel uncomfortable with talking, as well as not knowing how to say something that would help either. That left being quiet, something she was good at, so her Mockingbird swooped in and landed on the tree Suji was currently perched on.
Drake could have died, but he didn't, and for that she was thankful. Things had happened so quickly she hardly remembered reacting, as was normally the case in dangerous situations. All she knew was that he needed help, and she could offer some, and so she had. Aida didn't know why she accepted that concept so readily, but she had, and as Matthias had said once...she was a 'good soldier'. Is that all I am though?
Thought-speech cut off her train of thought. <<I think that one on the left is getting ready to land>> she added, watching one of the birds as its circling got lower and lower.
Fin:
<<No problem liege lady,>> Fin responded to Suji and began demorphing. He had enjoyed his brief stint as a fox. For once he had found an environment in which is was comfortable. He had even smelled other kit foxes around here. He wondered what his fox brothers and sisters were up to. Maybe he should come back and visit. One thing was good though, at least he had a morph that would blend in.
As he became human he saw the vulture start to come down to land and shaded his eyes with one hand to watch it. He wondered if the light, though fast, falcon was still the way to go. Then again if the thing took off he would be left on the ground anyway and useless. Still, Drake might need some back up down here. He tried to weigh his options and decided to go falcon. Mostly because he thought both options were equally good and bad and Suji had told him to go falcon so he might as well.
He slowly began to shrink into the falcon form as the first vulture touched down.
Drake:
Drake watched as the turkey vultures spiraled lower and lower. The anticipation was starting to get at him. Hopefully, if their plan worked, Drake would get to turn into one of those birds shortly. Sure, maybe they were not the prettiest birds he had ever seen, but they would blend in and they were still cool in their own way.
Aida was right. The one on the left had landed first. Now Drake prepared himself to run out there and acquire it as soon as Suji and Fin did... whatever it was they were planning on doing. "Just tell me when," he said quietly.
Suji:
Once Fin was morphed and the vultures seemed preoccupied with tearing into what was left of the deer, Suji lifted off of her branch. She got some height, all the while how she was going to do this. Fin's falcon was fast and agile, but they were on the ground. Her bird was bigger than these, but it wasn't exactly made for aerial combat. Neither were they, though, and if things went well, they wouldn't need to worry about that.
<<I'm going to try to pin one of them. Fin, just keep me covered if it starts to take off, I guess. Aida and Drake, if you could scare the other vulture away... it'll probably leave once I start making a scene, I don't suspect vultures are terribly loyal, but just in case. I suggest trying to acquire it sooner rather than later though, Drake, because I have a feeling this isn't going to tickle, and I'd really rather not hurt the thing more than we have to. Then again, if it bleeds on you, that might just be the easier way to go.>>
Suji dove. <<Here I go.>> It wasn't from a large height, and she fanned her wings as wide as possible as she swooped down on the turkey vulture she'd set her sights on. She aimed her talons for the place where its wings connected to his body, and dug in, attempting to use her weight to subdue the bird. It was like riding a mechanical bull, only if the mechanical bull was trying to bite your face with a sharp beak while bucking you off.
Fin:
Getting into the sky wasn't terribly difficult. There wasn't much air today so getting off the ground was no fun at all and involved a lot of flapping but once he got to a decent height he was able to take the thermals up. Then again he didn't want to go to high, just high enough to stoop.
As Suji swooped down on one of the vultures Fin dropped down on another. But instead of grappling with it he just plucked at feathers as he had pretended to do with Suji earlier only he actually took them out. The vulture he was targeting wasn't happy at all but Fin was past and away before it could reciprocate.
He circled up again and stooped again, this time on another vulture. Each time he hit one either with talon or beak, they got agitated and were driven further and further from the main fight. Fin kept harrying them, covering Suji and leaving the way open for her and Drake to concentrate on the one they had.
And from the looks of it they had their hands and talons full.
Drake:
Drake watched the two birds fight the other two birds. If only he had a video camera, he would have been able to sell it for big bucks to some nature show. Well, if nature shows still existed.
Nobody had said 'when,' but at this point he figured they were not going to. Drake ran into the frenzy of flapping wings, biting beaks and scraping talons. He knew he would be able to morph away any damage just like he had after the coyote incident, but that did not stop him from trying to avoid getting hurt.
"Hold... still." He was not sure if he said it to Suji or the vulture, but he eventually got his hand on the bird on the bottom. A flurry of black feathers flew in his face from the beating wings, but the bird eventually went into the acquiring trance. As he absorbed the DNA, it brought back memories of when he acquired his moth and koi fish morphs. Both of those had been live animals too. "Done!" he said, stepping away from the wild animal.
Suji:
Suji had to suppress the urge to snap at Drake for the 'hold still' comment. At least she'd managed to pin the vulture on top of its talons, so it couldn't quite rake at her, but she could feel its beak piercing and tearing around her chest and face. Just before the morphing trance set in, a well-placed strike actually lodged the turkey vulture's beak in her eye, which was instantly blinded. Blood quickly rushed out of the wound, and Suji yelped via thoughtspeak (something she'd feel embarassed for later).
As soon as Drake backed away Suji did the same, putting distance between her and the other vulture before landing sloppily and beginning to demorph. At least Fin had kept the other vulture from closing in, though she wasn't sure if it would have exactly stuck up for its buddy or not. Her black, pit-like eye was marred and badly mutilated, though the flesh healed as she began to return to her own body. The feathers slurped back into her skin, and the bare-flesh of the vulture's face melted and softened into human features.
Unable to stop herself, Suji tenderly touched the eye that had just been destroyed minutes ago. Her cheeks were flushed, and she looked at Drake. "Did you get it?"
Drake:
"Lets find out."
A feather pattern etched itself across Drake's skin, everywhere but his head. This soon erupted into a blanket of black feathers. His head shrank and his hair got sucked into his head. Then his mouth and nose became a single, elongated beak with a nose-hole that went all the way through. His ears disappeared and his eyes became those of a vulture.
Then the rest of his body continued to change. His arms became wings, his feet became clawed, and he sprouted tail feathers. Eventually the rest of his body shrank to match his head, and then he was a complete turkey vulture.
<<That was not so bad,>> he said as he hopped over to the deer carcass and ripped off a bite.
Suji:
Suji watched Drake begin to dig into the carcass. She remembered her own vulture's appetite, but she'd had plenty of practice with the morph, and had been able to shut down its desires easily enough. Seeing Drake act on them, though, brought them back in all their nauseating freshness. "Speak for yourself, you're not the one watching you dig in."
She looked around at Fin and Aida. "Success? Wanna call it a day?" She began morphing her own vulture again, though the image of a one-eyed bird kept rising to the top of her mind, making the morphing slower going than usual.
Fin:
Fin came in to land on the tree that they still hadn't gone very far from. His gray/blackish head turned first one way, then another in the bird expression of curiosity as he watched Drake dig into the deer carcass. He had never had a problem with the instincts of the animal before but then again he and all of his morphs normally had similar temperaments and normally agreed on what was fun and what was unfun.
<<You guys can go back if you'd like,>> he said figuring that both of them had probably had enough for the day (eye gouging, almost dying and all), <<but we still have an armadillo to find and I think my fox morph might actually be able to rustle one up.>>
Drake:
Drake froze still and let a hunk of carrion fall from his mouth as he realized what he had been doing. The instincts were so subtle that he hardly noticed they were there. If Suji had not made that comment, who knows how long he would have been there before he snapped out of it. Drake felt a wave of queasiness wash over him.
He tried to shake it off as best he could as he decided if he would stay or go. <<I think I will stick around for a little while, but I am going to test out this morph. In other words, I am not sure exactly how much searching I will really be doing, but I will be here if you need my help. I will be like your guardian angel. Of death.>> He said that last phrase as he spread his wings and flapped his way into the sky.
Almost immediately he could tell the difference between this bird and his secretary bird morph. It was much better at just hanging in the air and gliding. It also seemed a bit easier to move vertically. Another thing he noticed, although not too thrilled about, was that he seemed to be able to smell death from a mile away. This could take some getting used to.
Suji:
<<Oh, yeah, didn't realize that wasn't just a passing comment about armadillos.>> Suji would have smiled, but the vulture didn't exactly have lips. <<If you really wanna find one Aida, I'll stick around with you guys. It's a nice enough day for flying anyway.>> She tried not to let on how disturbed she still felt about the losing an eye ordeal. She'd had brushes with death before, but somehow that had been different. Not worse, but unsettling on a different level. Suji had only once acquired a morph from a live animal, and that hadn't even really been alive... well, she'd smashed a cockroach in her hand, so it was still kicking a bit.
But that had been nothing like Drake's acquiring the turkey vulture. It seemed strange to realize how dangerous the animals they turned into--even the ones that weren't strictly considered dangerous--could be. She felt a little sheepish, like some urbanite realizing for the first time what it was like to hunt for the food you ate, rather than buying slabs of meat from a grocery store. Kind of a wake-up call.
Suji lifted into the air.
Aida:
Aida's morph was unable to assist in something this big, her getting involved would only wind up in getting hurt for no reason, and probably getting in the way. She remained perched on the branch, inwardly grimacing as she noted one bird--Suji--getting her eye gouged out. Aida had to restrain the urge to fly out and help, she hated sitting there like a bump on a log. I need to get a more powerful bird morph..... she thought to herself.
Soon wounds were healed, and Drake began morphing, displaying his new morph. Her armadillo morph had almost gone unnoticed, and she made a mental note to just go out alone, they all seemed tired as was. When Fin spoke up she smiled inwardly, <<thanks Fin>> she told him privately. Had he not brought it up she would not have mentioned it.
<<Yeah, I think I spotted one in a burrow, it's armored side is sticking out....oh no it's moving...>> she muttered, her bird eyes watching the large creature hobble towards a patch of thorn bushes.
Fin:
<<No problem,>> Fin responded to Aida, a smile in his voice. He knew how she tended to hang back and so far Dallas seemed like quiet a collection of personalities. It would have been easy for her to get lost, to just fade into the background and he didn't want it to happen.
Outwardly he said, <<Well than that covers it. Let's see who would win in a battle between a Eeveeand a Sandshrew. I always liked them both though their evolved forms were pretty awesome too. And when they got Espeon in second generation my vote was permanently swayed towards Eevee. Though I'm sure Sanshrew is amazing too,>> he said as an afterthought, afraid he might offend Aida by suggesting that the pokemon based on her desired new morph might be less cool than the pokemon based on his own fox morph.
He flew down to the ground and demorphed and remorphed the kit fox. Now that he had the fox's senses at his disposal he too could tell where the armadillo was. <<Aida, maybe you should demorph so that you are ready to acquire. But first I must weaken it.>> This was all really starting to sound too much like a pokemon game.
Aida:
She hovered for a moment, springing from the branch before finally gliding down to the ground. Fin's brief narration of a battle between pokemon--which she realized was himself and the armadillo--made her laugh. She'd never quite gotten into it as a child, it had probably been more popular in the States than in England anyway. Despite this she still could recall several names, though that was due more in part to the fact that she had a photographic memory than interest.
<<I always liked Flareon>> she replied, it in a way was letting him know she didn't mind if he didn't quite prefer Sanshrew. Now that she was on the ground, and Fin mentioned demorphing she realized he was right, and quickly began taking her human form. Several minutes later she was standing human again, waiting for the scuttling armadillo and the fox to interact.
It was faster than she thought it would be, and she quickly realized that if it made it to those thorn bushes that they'd probably not be able to get it back out. Not many other animals could go into a plant like that and come out unscathed. Now that she was human, walking towards it would cause more harm than help, the thing would probably take off running even faster.
Drake:
<<So what is your guys' plan?>> Drake asked as he soared higher and higher. <<You going to scare it into a ball and roll it out of there?>> He was joking, but he did not know if they would take it that way or not.
Drake spotted the vultures that they had attacked just a little way off. He could tell they were itching to get back to the feast they had been scared away from. However, he did not think they would dare land again as long as they were near by.
Drake circled around, rising on the warm air. He was showing the other birds that he was not going anywhere any time soon, so they would just have to deal with it. That reminded him...
<<Do not forget to watch out for that coyote, too.>> He did not see it anywhere near by, but he would keep his eyes peeled.
Suji:
Suji soared with ease, though she gave Drake enough berth to test out his morph. The vulture that had been attacked was still able to fly, and though she didn't really blame it for they way it'd reacted to their capture, she did feel an inner voice still grumbling about the experience.
There was a short exchange about pokemon which Suji did not participate in, though it did quietly amuse her. She'd lived through the era like the rest of them, and had plenty of cards and the games and other paraphenalia, but it wasn't exactly a discussion she was interested in. Too many stressful things to think about, not enough time to just... relax.
So Suji did relax, at least as much as possible with looking for a coyote. If they could go home with two more morphs added to the faction's pool, then that was a good day. The sky enveloped her, and she tried to focus on that positive.
Aida:
Aida's eyes were not as keen as her birds--she had less than perfect vision--but she could still clearly see the nine-banded armadillo hobbling. It still seemed intent on the thorn bush, maybe all the commotion had scared it. She could no longer use thoughtspeak, but she hoped if she voice something that Drake would hear it if he wasn't soaring too high up, or that Fin would pass it along. "That one's too big to be the kind that roll up, look at the number of bands it has." Aida was no animal expert but she stored a bunch of random knowledge in her head--thanks to her photographic memory.
The bigger armadillos were better for digging, while the smaller ones could not burrow nearly as well, but could roll up into a tight ball for protection. Aida was more intent on the digging one, it sounded like a skill that might come in handy later. Fin seemed to have a plan, she sure didn't, so she waited to see if he'd speak up about one...or else she might have to tango with that thorn bush, and that didn't look too pleasant.
Drake's reminder about the coyote made her look around nervously, they didn't usually attack humans...but that didn't mean they wouldn't. After its aggressive actions towards Drake she didn't count on anything.
Suji:
<<Not sure how clear it is down there, but I think your prize is heading into a thorn bush,>> Suji commented, feeling the air hoisting her along. They were odd looking things, a bit alien themselves, but it made them somewhat endearing. And they couldn't be useless, if they fit in around here.
<<Do you want me to try to dive for it?>> Suji was far enough away that she wasn't sure she'd be able to make the thing in time, even as slowly as it was moving. <<Otherwise, Fin, you might want to get on with your Pokemon catching.>> Those bushes are tall grass that I don't think you want to walk through, she thought to herself as a personal joke in the theme of the conversation. She didn't add it aloud though.
Hopefully Fin's fox morph would be good at coralling the creature into a position where Aida could acquire it.
Fin:
Fin looked at the armadillo, the thorn bush, the desert. It was just him and his inner fox...and Aida and Suji and Drake, but him and his inner fox. If an armadillo can run at 2 m/s and feels no fear what angle should the kit Fin run in order to ensure capture?
He looked back at Aida. He didn't know much about armadillos but most wild animals didn't like humans and this one would probably be no different. And since his fox was native to this area the armadillo would probably much rather deal with him than with a human so trying to scare it towards Aida would probably fail.
He looked around for a place that they would be able to pin it and saw that in all this scuffle the ranch had gotten much closer.
<<Aida, guys, maybe we can sort of try to herd it towards the ranch and that barn there. If we can trap it against a wall or something Aida can acquire it.>>
Aida:
Aida too felt that her human morph would hinder more than it would help in the case of the armadillo. Unfortunately if she tried running at it now it would definitely disappear into thorns....unless Fin managed to scare it off towards the barn, and then she could aid in keeping it moving that way.She gave him the thumbs up when she heard this thought speak, not wanting to talk aloud and draw attention to her human-self here of all places.
The intriguing looking creature definitely seemed to note all the fuss about itself because it was attempting to scuttle even faster despite its small legs. All it needed was to get to the thorn bush though and then they'd be in for a load of trouble. Aida silently already made a deal with herself that if it came to that she'd go through the thorn bush anyway, the fact that morphing was a healing process helped cement that little idea.
Drake:
<<I will see what I can do to help,>> Drake said in a genuinely meaningful tone. <<How about we see what this bird can do.>> Drake was almost over top of the little critter at this point, so he decided to try a trick move.
Drake pointed his vulture beak towards the ground and pulled in his wings to try and do one of those fancy dives that all of the other soaring bird morphs seemed to be able to do. Drake definitely got closer to the ground pretty quick, but it was not so much a dive as it was a voluntary fall. When he was about a story or two above the ground, his instincts went a little crazy and he flared his wings involuntarily.
Nothing bad happened to Drake, but the sudden appearance of a vulture with outspread wings did not help much with their armadillo problems. The animal seemed to redouble its efforts and scurried into the thorns. <<Sorry guys. My bad. I guess I still need more practice with this morph,>> he said sheepishly.
Suji:
Suji groaned a little when she saw the armadillo disappear into the thorn bushes. <<Yeah,>> she thougthspoke to Drake, <<Vulture's are not-so-good with the diving.>> Something she probably could have warned him about earlier... but maybe it was just as well that Drake had tried it out. Being told something and experiencing it were two different things entirely.
<<I've got a morph that would be pretty undisturbed by the thorns,>> she offered to the group, <<But it's not exactly good for precision work. Think you'd just end up with a bloody mess of armadillo. Which might be okay for acquiring the blood, but I'd uh, rather avoid having to kill some wildlife.>>
Fin:
Fin watched the armadillo disappear into the thorn bushes. Well there went doing this the non painful way. If Fin had been human he might have rolled up his sleeves and in his best John Wayne impersonation voice said, <<Well now partna' looks like we got a stubbor' one, aye we do.>>
He walked up the the thorn bush and then plunged into it. He yipped as thorns scraped at his eyes, ears and sensitive nose but the move had its desired effect. The armadillo decided it didn't want to share the same bush as a fox either crazy or stupid enough to run into the wall of thorns and then cry about it.
He backed out of the bush and pawed at his face pitifully. <<That was a stupid idea,>> he said to no one in particular. <<Let's get this thing before it leads us into more trouble.>>
Aida:
Aida's expression changed to a grimace as the armadillo scuttled into the thorn bush. She was about to offer going in herself, as a human, it'd be easier to scare it off and she didn't mind--well she did, but it was for HER morph axillary anyway--getting a bit cut up. Suji's offer, while a nice gesture, did not appeal to her, she too did not want the poor thing dead on her behalf.
Just as she--for the second time--was about to offer going in herself, Fin jumped up at the task. Aida grimaced at the yelps that escaped Fin's morph, and she wished it had been her instead now. When he was back out she looked down at him, trying to suppress her unhappiness at seeing him hurt, and instead nodded once. It would be very bad if his sacrifice was for naught, and she cast a lingering glance his way before turning to go after the armadillo.
Aida felt very vulnerable in her human form right now, and was tempted to morph back until they cornered the animal, and that was when she heard it. "What...whats that noise?" she asked softly, it sounded almost like a snort, and then the clatter of hooves? Was it a horse? It was then that a group of large, feral hogs appeared, and there was the biggest one in the front, his long threatening tusks lowered at them.
Her jaw fell open in shock, and she slowly began backing up, trying to get back to the tree before the thing decided to charge.
Drake:
Noise? What Noise? Then he saw them come into view. <<Rhinoser- Wait, are those pigs?>> They were huge! How could he have missed spotting such large creatures? But then again, he had been focused on that armadillo.
<<I would get out of there if I were you, Aida. You too Fin.>> Drake was sure he did not have to tell them, but he did anyway. What were you supposed to do in a situation like this? Drake did not have the slightest idea.
Suji:
Admittedly, Suji's first thought had something to do with how much bacon you could get out of a thing like that. Fresh meat was not something she'd really been treated to much in the past months: most stuff tended to be canned, and the Yeerk Empire hadn't really focused on agricultural centers in its invasion. There weren't many big pools in rural areas, and farmers weren't the initial targets for hosts. In a place like Dallas cattle ranches might survive here and there, but New York had been nothing but non-perishables for the entire stay, and they'd had to keep a very low profile in Vegas after the Hoover Dam mission.
But, it was a wasted thought. After all, she doubted any of them knew how to butcher a pig, let alone an enormous one like that. And getting it back to the Temple would probably be impossible.
<<Aida, stretch your arms above your head--it will make you look taller and less like a target. Get into that tree when you can. Don't make sudden movements, but go quickly.>> In truth, Suji had no idea what advice to give--but the tree was Aida's best bet for not getting gored, and she doubted that standing still a-la Jurassic Park was going to do the trick. <<Fin, back off a good distance and then go back to your falcon when you can.>> But she gliding towards the ground now, a decent distance from the scene. And she was demorphing.
Suji didn't pause at human. She knew exactly what came next, and her heart raced harder. It was not a morph she'd gotten to use much since acquiring it. Her heartbeat slowed, though, as the morphing took hold: not because she was less excited, but because it was becoming the heart of a large repitilian.
And large didn't really begin to cut it. Suji's body was distorting, elongating, and she fell forward as spine no longer supported bipedal a form. She was stretching out to twice, and then three times her height--and then a bit more. Her skin hardened into nature's equivalent of armor, and her jaw was lined with hundreds of jagged teeth.
It was finished quicker than her usual morphs, though perhaps not noticeably. The difference, and Suji would never admit to it, was that she enjoyed the crocodile's mind. It was cool, tranquil, and focused. An ambush predator, and the king of the waters in whatever area it decided to call home. Everything that came into its reach was fair game as prey. She could smell the tang of the deer carcass, and felt the crocodile's cold interest perk--it took food where it found it, and was not above stealing the prey of others.
But no. She was in control here. Suji began to move her massive form towards the group of boars.
Fin:
Fin was busy pawing at his snout and ignoring the fox's distress and panic signals. It's just some stupid thorns you wimpy little fox, he thought at it as it screamed at him.
That was when the boars came into the picture and Fin started apologizing to his fox as he ran away. Ah, right you were chap. My bad, my bad.
Suji's orders to get away and demorph came through and he resisted the urge to send back, <<duh>> and instead settled for diving right back into the bush that he'd just come out of.
It was just as thorny as ever and it scratched at his fur and ears but since he had made a hole in the bush the first time he stuck to the small tunnel and avoided any more serious injury.
<<Oh hello friend armadillo, decided to hide too I see.>> He said as he squeezed in next to the armadillo who had also had the bright instinct of diving back into the bush. If the boars decided to charge the bush they might be in trouble but they shouldn't charge the bush.
Fin crawled forward so that he could see out of the bush and watched 4 boars make their way through the desert. How they had snuck up on two vultures Fin would never understand. <<You guys are slacking,>> he said as the good vulture aka Suji because she was the white one, landed and demorphed.
<<That seems like a bad idea liege lady,>> he began to say but then shut up as she turned into a dinosaur.
Or at least it looked that way until after she finished and he could she that she was just an alligator...a very very big alligator.
<<I feel like you should have that morph Drake,>> he said conversationally to the bad vulture circling above them. <<You know, Drake, dragon. Oh, by the way, I think I'll just stay in my bush. I don't want to have to pass through human and I even have some company in here.>>
Aida:
No one had to tell her to get out of there, she was already moving backwards, her eyes focused on the animals before her. Oh I'm so sorry for ever eating pork shish kabobs.....please don't skewer me... she thought, noting their sharp tusks. Moving backwards felt unnatural, and she could only hope she was moving back towards the tree. Suji's comment on stretching her arms up sounded odd but she did it anyway, feeling idiotic as she continued venturing backwards.
The animals did not seem threatened yet, but they had definitely paused when they noted the small fox and a human nearby. Then before she realized what was happening a large crocodile appeared and she began moving more quickly, seeing the bores were getting antsy now, or was that curiosity? Aida couldn't tell but soon she felt something hard behind her and she scrambled up the tree, barely getting a leg hooked over a branch when she hear the hooves again. She didn't have a good enough position in the sad-mistake-fore-a-tree-more-like-firewood, to turn around and see what was happening.
Drake:
When Drake saw what Suji was turning into, he considered going down there and morphing his giraffe to help out. But he ultimately decided that he should stay in the sky so that no other surprises would sneak up on them. Besides, if one of those massive swine managed to knock him over, he could be done for.
<<That is definitely not a Drake morph,>> he said in reply to Fin's comment. He did not go into detail about why, but he had a good reason. He had some bad memories associated with that specific crocodile. Still, he watched anxiously to see how Suji planned on using her morph against the boars. At least Aida had managed to get into the tree safely.
<<See anything good yet?>> Drake asked his companions. They were at the outskirts of Dallas, trying to find a good morph for blending in around the city. Drake had recently decided that he did not have a very good selection of morphs for that purpose, so he was determined to find something.
They had been combing the streets for a while now without much luck. Sure, they had seen a few stray cats and some rats, even a mangy looking chihuahua, but nothing that seemed worthwhile to chase. Drake was hoping to find something like a coyote, or a deer, or even a raccoon, but so far he had been unsuccessful.
Suji:
Suji was soaring, feeling the dry heat below her fill her wings. The vulture's mind was most interested in the occasional bit of road kill, and Suji didn't stop it from wandering: after all, if they saw something big enough, Drake could still acquire something dead, as long as it wasn't completely dried up. It wasn't a pretty thought, and she held off on suggesting it to Drake, unless she saw something worth it. All the same, roadkill would be the category of most blend-in-able morphs around. Common enough to still be getting hit by trucks.
<<I'm assuming you're not so interested in snakes, since you already have a lizard.>> She'd noticed a flattened black snake on the side of one of the roads. Suji kept looking towards the ground, when she felt the vulture's mind suddenly grow antsy... so uncomfortable that it replaced the sensation of hunger. It wasn't strong, but the vulture was sending her weird vibes. Allowing its brain to take more control for a moment, her laser-like eyes turned up from the roadkill and towards the sky.
In the distance were other relatively large, hovering birds. They were circling, two or three of them over one spot. Suji smiled inwardly. <<How would you feel about a bigger set've feathers?>>
Drake:
<<A bigger set of feathers?>> Drake asked, a bit amused. <<What do you have in mind, an ostrich?>> He spread his secretary bird wings to demonstrate their size. He knew what she was getting at, but he still found it a bit funny.
Since he had been walking around on the ground, Drake decided to take flight to see what she could see. As soon as he was above the building level he saw the buzzards circling. <<I guess that would be a pretty good choice. But how do we get one?>>
Suji:
Suji laughed. <<An ostrich would be fantastic, would go right along with that giraffe you've got. But point noted.>> But how do we get one , indeed? Suji spun lazily in the air, rising up like she was riding some invisible elevator. She wanted to get high enough to see what those other vultures were hovering over. Just a really nice thermal, or maybe food?
She wasn't looking forward to the idea of trying to tackle one of those things out of the sky, especially if it had friends around. So any other helpful information would be a boon. <<Maybe there's food down there, and we can just try to pin one...>> The other option that came to mind was some kind of cartoonish plan to carry a net up here and drop it on one of them. But if anyone below saw that, it'd look awfully strange. And she didn't want to have to kill one of the birds if they didn't have to.
<<I think they're over some kind of... ranch? In the distance?>> The angle made it hard to tell what it was, but she thought she could make out some cattle. At the same time, there was a huge industrial complex nearby, which made her wonder. <<At this point my ideas are kinda silly, you got anything good?>>
Fin:
Fin shot past Suji, his talons whistling through her primaries as he dove. He didn't try to snatch a feather. He had a feeling it would hurt and she wouldn't appreciate it much but he was having fun playing air tag all the same. <<You're it.>>
He braked in the air and spiraled away. They were pretty far out from the city at this point. Not far enough that they couldn't make it back in an hour or so but far enough that nothing was out here so Fin wasn't worrying as much about keeping his distance from Suji and Drake to preserve their cover. Not like they had much cover anyway. There weren't many bird left and certainly no secretary birds just flying around.
His black falcon was a dot against the bright blue sky as he rode a thermal higher into the air to prepare for another dive on something or someone. He was seemingly paying no attention to what they were out here for but he was slowly working his way towards the area where the nasty looking vultures were circling.
<<We could play dead but not sure I'd want to be under those talons. Attack one maybe. They're big but,>> he focused his vision on the far off vultures and then turned his head so that he could see Suji below him, <<Suji is bigger. And I'm faster so maybe together we can injure one, get it to the ground. Then you can acquire it.>>
Aida:
Aida felt tiny and rather insignificant compared to the others in her new faction. Each one had a capable flying morph and her Mockingbird felt puny when flying amongst them. The good thing about it however was that it was common in this area, in fact she believed it was the state bird. Aida felt comfortable knowing she could at least blend in, but she was due for a new morph, and she wanted something terrestrial to match.
At the moment she had her eyes set on an Armadillo, though this one was dead, and thus not acquirable. Aida's eyes spanned the area once more, looking for a living creature, but she only saw several rats, and a few snakes. It was as she was scoping the area out that she caught some of the thought speak being tossed about. Personally the idea of wrangling up a vulture did not appeal to her, especially in this tiny form.
<<I think I'll sit that one out...>> she added quietly, allowing the bird to drop a bit lower in the sky. Her small wings flapped harder to pick up speed, still looking for an armadillo. <<Will someone let me know if you see an armadillo someplace?>> Aida was not keen on socializing amongst people, but ever since her talk with Matthias she had made it a point to try and be more friendly.
Drake:
<<What am I, chopped liver?>> Drake asked in response to Fin's suggestion. It was true that Suji's morph was bigger and Fin's was faster, but that did not make his inconsequential. <<I got a few moves up my sleeves. Just because this bird is made fore the ground does not mean it can not fly.>> Drake wobbled back and forth like a toy boat in a bathtub. It was a lame arial maneuver, but that was beside the point.
Then he heard... Aida, was it... tell them too keep an eye out for an armadillo. He did not know why she would want to morph an armadillo when there were vultures as an option, but he was not about to comment on that to someone he hardly knew. <<Sure, I will keep my eyes peeled.>>
Drake:
<<Well Drake if you're in the air how can you be on the ground ready to acquire it?>> Fin had reached the top of his thermal and glided towards the vultures looking for another one. The flying out here was absolutely fantastic. There were thermals and thermals and then more thermals just when you were looking for another one. Ah, there was one now. He began his slow spiraling dance with wind and sky.
He looked down and spotted Aida's mockingbird but he did not see any armadillos. Not yet anyway. He was sure they would show up eventually. Then again he knew nothing about armadillos so he probably shouldn't be so sure of that.
The collection of buildings was also coming closer but he couldn't make out what they were just yet. <<So guys, I've never tried it but do you think we could acquire dead animals?>> Fin was looking at a rattlesnake that was quite dead but hey, rattlesnake.
Suji:
Suji felt Fin rocket past, and the vulture's mind gave an immediate startle. She didn't give chase: she was enjoying the riding, and this bird hadn't been meant to dive. It felt almost a bit too much like sinking, or falling. Could still be fun... but ah, riding the sky like rising waves was so much better.
She laughed at Drake's comments. <<Your bird has style, you can give it that much. But that little stunt further proves you deserve something a little... more powerful. Just as soon as we figure out how to corral one down here.>> To Aida: <<All righty, let us know if you need anything, and we'll tell you if we spot any armadillos.>>
<<I would think so,>> Suji commented back to Fin. <<I mean, we know we acquire DNA from tiny blood drops, without having to actually touch the donor animals. As long as it's... somewhat juicy, then its DNA should be intact.>> It was a little gross, but hey, he'd asked. <<Maybe only recently dead though, depending on how long it takes bacteria to move and really get to work. Couple days?>>
Drake:
Drake let out a mental sigh, then reluctantly gave way to logic. <<Alright, I will wait on the ground, but you better hate every moment of your vulture wrangling extravaganza.>> He angled down a little so he would end up on the ground near where the vultures were circling.
Then he proceeded to comment on the notion of acquiring dead morphs. <<I am not so sure. I think it might be more like at the blood bank. You know, where they can keep the blood taken from living people and use it later, but do not use the blood of cadavers. At least I hope they never did that.>>
Suji:
<<Yeah,>> Suji started. <<But the reason they don't let you use blood from dead people is because when you die, your lungs work a number one your carbon-dioxide levels. And it'd be hard to draw without a heart pumping anyway...>> Suji had excelled at high school science. That and history had been her strongest points, though she'd never received bad marks in the other subjects. Public school systems had grading policies that were easy enough to inflate.
<<But they do let you use organs and stuff. Like how you can put that you're an organ donor on your license plate. That was a fun question after the thrill of passing the driving test,>> she said dryly. <<They still use blood from cadavers to properly identify forensics and everything. That's why on all the crime shows they can verify who the victim was, if they find any more DNA later to implicate a suspect.>>
But that was all pretty technical, and not at all related to capturing a vulture. Or at least, not very related. She sounded like some weird science professor. Or worse, a know-it-all. <<Ack. Sorry for the lecture. Just saying, it's probably possible, from a purely theoretical standpoint.>> Groaning inwardly, she put her embarassment into getting higher into the sky.
Drake:
Drake laughed a little at Suji's mini medical rant. Even more so at her apology for it. He never would have thought they would get into such an intense discussion over acquiring dead animals.
<<Aaaany way. I think I see what the vultures were circleing, and why they have not landed yet.>> There was a coyote eating a young deer. Apparently the vultures did not think it would share. When Drake swooped overhead, the coyote jumped back and seemed unsure of what to do, but as soon as he passed it, it inched its way back to the meal. Now that he saw a real coyote, maybe he did not want to try to get close enough to touch it after all.
Aida:
Flying was nice, but if Aida took to the winds she wanted a predatory bird, not a scavenger like the vulture. There was more to her reluctance than she let on however, having been so close to death her whole life with cancer, it kept her from wanting to morph the omen of death. Vultures have long been known in lore to circle a dying animal, and that alone was enough to deter her from it. A nice armadillo would work, they were strong on defense, she could use some extra padding in that department.
<<Thanks Drake>> she responded but inwardly groaned, her old routine was slipping back into place. It was no wonder she'd only had one companion in Vancouver. Suji's response while kind, did not aid her confidence. We'll let you know, she spoke for the others as if they were a solid entity, a team against her. Aida was still the new one amongst them, and she realized Suji hadn't meant it that way, probably, but...
The discussion quickly took a turn, not one she wanted to add her two sense into, things in England got taught a bit differently. She focused her attention on the Coyote momentarily before looking elsewhere, she had a white tailed deer morph...and it did not bode well with her stomach seeing it dead. Aida turned sharply, soaring closer to the ground before lifting up again, flapping her tiny wings before she picked up a wind thermal.
<<Considering you have to be human to absorb a morph...we should probably try to scare the coyote far away....either that or lure a few vultures someplace else...>> she added quietly.
Suji:
Suji could see the coyote now. Coyotes weren't big, and they could probably scare it away easily enough. <<Aida's right, we could chase it off. Drake if you're going human I'm sure that could work, though on the other hand, Fin and I might be able to terrorize it enough to leave.>> It seemed sad though. The coyote was just trying to eat its meal... and while coyotes didn't do particularly poorly in human inhabited areas, those meals still probably came less and less frequently.
<<Luring one might work too, but that'll require one of us getting beaten up pretty badly. Enough to draw their attention away from the certain meal if they wait long enough. Not sure if anyone wants to volunteer for that.>> Suji looked over to Fin's morph, then back around at the others. <<Or Fin and I could try to bring one to ground. Probably the most dangerous option, unless that coyote is really aggressive.>>
Drake:
<<You guys just worry about that vulture,>> Drake said. Then, with a surprising amount of confidence he continued with, <<Leave the coyote to me.>> He spread his wings wide at his perch and let out a dinosaur-like squawk.
<<Aida, want to help?>> he asked privately. He might have been prepared to scare the coyote away by himself, but it was always nice to have someone watching your back. You know, in case you fail miserably.
Aida:
The coyote already registered a fear in her mind, and the idea of one human taking it on wasn't one she liked. Aida knew coyotes typically avoided humans, but they were out in the middle of nowhere so this one probably wasn't as domesticated as the others, it had probably lost its fear of humans. Two people would stand a better chance of scaring it off without a fight, and she was going to voice this if someone decided to go that route.
The alternative, luring also didn't sound fun. Aida continued flying, keeping quiet and merely listening as plans were formulated. When Drake spoke up she was surprised, and then that only grew when he asked for her help. <<Sure>> she replied privately, her small bird morph zooming by with nimble agility. <<My morph is small...but it's territorial...very aggressive>> she added just to him, a weak attempt at some semblance of conversation.
The aggression was so unlike her, so it was something she repressed quite a bit while in her Mockingbird morph. Now however, it would probably come in use, and so she kept her senses alert and ready. <<Lead the way>> This was Drake's call so she'd follow his lead, even if she hardly knew him; they were teammates now.
Fin:
Fin circled down and landed near the dead rattlesnake. It looked quite dead and only slightly tasty to his falcon morph. The falcon would much rather hunt something fresh than eat something dead. It wasn't a vulture after all. But this question should be settled. He demorphed and reached out one finger to the mangled snake, the soles of his feet burning on the desert hard top and the sun beating down on his pale skin. If he didn't get back into morph soon he would get burned.
He tried to acquire the snake but he didn't feel the usual tingling accompanying the acquirement process. Well that solved that problem.
He remorphed, going into his kit fox this time. As much as flying was amazing, the fox was actually designed for these deserts and was local around here, at least he thought it was. And he had a feeling that if they ever wanted to find an armadillo they might need its nose.
Plus, he could be bait.
<<I could try to distract the coyote, as long as someone's got my back that is.>>
Drake:
Drake was getting ticked. First he had volunteered to help catch the vulture, but they would not let him. Okay, made sense. He needed to be on the ground to acquire it when they got it to the ground. So then he offers to get rid of the coyote. But no. Apparently Fin did not think he could handle that either. He had to be a fox to try and lure it away.
Drake did not know what it was, but some emotion he had never experienced before welled up inside of him. What was it? Crushed pride?
Whatever it was, it was messing with his rationality. I'll show you who can't handle it. With that, Drake leapt from his perch and angled directly towards the coyote. At the last second he flared his wings and let out an avian battle cry as he landed. The canine crouched back in surprise and bared its teeth. Drake ignored its display of aggression and ran towards it with his wings still spread in order to make himself look bigger.
The coyote jumped back again, not knowing how to deal with this type of situation, but this time it nipped at him a bit, although it did not get close enough to get any feathers. This time Drake went on an all out rampage, determined to chase it off, or trample it trying. It seemed to work as the coyote ran off and disappeared around the corner of the building.
Drake turned back around and started walking towards the dead deer. <<See, I could handl- >> Drake did not see that the coyote had come back for round two.
Suji:
<<Fin, the coyote has a meal right there and probably won't want anything to do with you, bait or not. Just let Drake demo->> But then her thoughtspeech fell off as she watched Drake entered into mortal combat with the coyote. She was so stunned she almost forgot she was flying, and dropped a couple feet.
Suji wasn't sure what was happening. ...why were any of them trying to deal with a coyote in morph? Especially when none of them seemed to be in any morph that would be better at the job than a human? It was like watching some horror scene in a bad nightmare unfold. Too far away to stop it, too ridiculous to understand why it was happening in the first place.
Suji saw the coyote returning, and pulled in her wings for a dive. The coyote was more aggressive now, apparently heartened after realizing that Drake's bird was not paying attention. Suji didn't get there as fast as she liked (in the flurry of feathers and fur it was hard to tell how much damage was actually done, to either side), but she got their fairly quickly. She didn't have the cry of an eagle or a hawk, but she was a very large bird, with very large talons.
In an effort to discourage the coyote, she raked its back with her talons, and flapped upwards again. If it didn't let go this time, she was going to try to drag it a bit on her next sweep. She didn't want to hurt it (it was just trying to eat some lunch) but there wasn't really a choice now. Especially not when the other morphs at hand were a fox and a mockingbird.
Aida:
Aida had been 'watching Drake's back' as he'd asked her to so when he took that dive out of no where she was hoovering nearby, keeping all eyes on the coyote. In the beginning it was reacting favorably, and so her heart settled into a nice comfortable rhythm...at least until it started heading back towards Drake. Aida's bird, tiny but aggressive, swooped in right towards the animals face, her beak aimed to pierce flesh.
Suji jumped in out of nowhere, but Aida continued her dive bomb at its's face seeing as Suji was raking her claws into it's back. Her bird let out a fierce cry that imitated Drakes fairly accurately--she was a Mockingbird after all.The coyote seemed to get the picture and began retreating at a whimper with it's new found injuries. It didn't bother Aida to hurt this animal if it meant helping a team member, one she barely even knew.
<<Drake...Drake...are you alright>>she asked, circling closely by, watching for any other eager coyote. The bird that had once been Drake had dislocated feathers, and probably various other injuries and didn't seem to be moving yet. The deers blood had seeped in around the area so she couldn't tell if it was his or not.
Drake:
<<Other than a broken neck and a deflated ego, I think I will be okay.>> Drake probably would have been crying out in pain, except he could feel no pain, save for a little in his neck. He was completely paralyzed from the neck down.
Needless to say, he began to demorph. <<Oh, oww. Ouch!>> he said as the feeling came back to him. A broken wing mended itself as the bones thickened, and the bite marks healed over as his bird skin became human. If it was not for this morphing technology, he would have definitely been a goner.
When he finished demorphing, he did not want to say anything. He was to embarrassed about what had happened. Even so, he still said, "Thanks for saving me," although it was so quietly that he was not sure if anyone even heard. Then he went to stand in the shade.
Suji:
For a moment Suji wasn't sure Drake was even alive, and that sent chills down her back. Dying to the enemy was one thing, dying to a defensive coyote was another thing entirely. Her heart skipped a few beats, until she heard Drake's thoughtspeak, and would have breathed a sigh of relief if she could have. She turned around in the air, and saw the coyote leaving. Aida's mockingbird, despite it's small size, had proved as a nice additional deterrent.
The vulture's hearing did pick up the dejected thanks from Drake, and Suji felt what might have been anger at him slipping away. He'd learned his lesson, and the unnatural angle of his secretary bird's body was still far too fresh in her mind. The vultures were still circling above, though one of the three was gone--maybe it had figured that the area was too hot down here and didn't feel like it was going to get a shot at the deer corpse.
<<We should probably all clear out until one of those things starts to land.>> Suji spread came to a soft landing in the parched tree that Drake was standing under. The tree was dread, but it still had a few thick, sturdy branches. Privately, she said to Drake, trying to keep her tone light-hearted. <<If I was a coyote, I would have been terrified. Promise.>> She laughed lightly, hoping that it assuaged some of his embarassment, rather than making it worse.
Fin:
Fin had sat down and watched Drake make his glorious stoop on the coyote. His tail had twitched and he had watched avidly a running commentary going in his head. Drake: Secretary Bird, I choose you! Secretary bird use wing attack! Coyote takes 50 damage! Coyote uses take down! Secretary bird take 100 damage. Secretary bird faints. Come back Secretary bird. Egyptian vulture go! Your enemy is weak. Egyptian vulture use Fly! Coyote sustain 150 damage. Mockingbird uses screech attack! Wild coyote is confused. It runs away! 1100 exp points for Egyptian vulture! 500 exp points for Mockingbird.
He walked over to where Drake was leaning against a tree. <<Good thing you can morph, I don't see a pokemon center out here anywhere.>>
Drake:
The combined comments of Suji and Fin caused Drake to let out a short burst of laughter. Drake doubted he would have been able to scare Suji away even if he had been in his giraffe morph. And Fin's comment about a pokemon center had taken him completely off guard.
"Thanks guys," he said once he gained back a little composure. "Sorry I acted like such a buffoon." Drake was actually a bit surprised they were not yelling at him and telling him how stupid he had been. He had honestly thought that he would have been able to drive the coyote away, but still, it was not a smart move on his part.
"So now we wait?" he asked, since he figured he was far enough away from the animal carcass.
Suji:
Suji inwardly smiled, though her insides still felt twisted. She was only passingly reminded of a time in the Chicago faction, when she and David (and Toby) had been flying over the city. David had spotted his twin brother, and even flown to the ground and began to demorph. That kind of rashness hadn't only put David it danger, it had put the faction at danger, maybe even all the Animorphs if he'd been captured.
This sort of impulsiveness, at least, wasn't at a moment when they were surrounded by Controllers. And Drake might have been successful in scaring the coyote away after all, if he hadn't stopped to announce his victory so soon. And he'd reaped the consequences of that, consequences that had looked far too close to death for Suji's comfort. So no need to harp on the situation. Suji shuffled her wings.
<<So now we wait,>> she affirmed. <<Fin, can you get back into that falcon morph? Unless you've got something better for keeping a vulture on the ground, not sure the fox is gonna do. My vulture might be able to, but I really wouldn't mind the help.>>
Aida:
Aida had stayed silent after the incident, not wanting to make Drake feel uncomfortable with talking, as well as not knowing how to say something that would help either. That left being quiet, something she was good at, so her Mockingbird swooped in and landed on the tree Suji was currently perched on.
Drake could have died, but he didn't, and for that she was thankful. Things had happened so quickly she hardly remembered reacting, as was normally the case in dangerous situations. All she knew was that he needed help, and she could offer some, and so she had. Aida didn't know why she accepted that concept so readily, but she had, and as Matthias had said once...she was a 'good soldier'. Is that all I am though?
Thought-speech cut off her train of thought. <<I think that one on the left is getting ready to land>> she added, watching one of the birds as its circling got lower and lower.
Fin:
<<No problem liege lady,>> Fin responded to Suji and began demorphing. He had enjoyed his brief stint as a fox. For once he had found an environment in which is was comfortable. He had even smelled other kit foxes around here. He wondered what his fox brothers and sisters were up to. Maybe he should come back and visit. One thing was good though, at least he had a morph that would blend in.
As he became human he saw the vulture start to come down to land and shaded his eyes with one hand to watch it. He wondered if the light, though fast, falcon was still the way to go. Then again if the thing took off he would be left on the ground anyway and useless. Still, Drake might need some back up down here. He tried to weigh his options and decided to go falcon. Mostly because he thought both options were equally good and bad and Suji had told him to go falcon so he might as well.
He slowly began to shrink into the falcon form as the first vulture touched down.
Drake:
Drake watched as the turkey vultures spiraled lower and lower. The anticipation was starting to get at him. Hopefully, if their plan worked, Drake would get to turn into one of those birds shortly. Sure, maybe they were not the prettiest birds he had ever seen, but they would blend in and they were still cool in their own way.
Aida was right. The one on the left had landed first. Now Drake prepared himself to run out there and acquire it as soon as Suji and Fin did... whatever it was they were planning on doing. "Just tell me when," he said quietly.
Suji:
Once Fin was morphed and the vultures seemed preoccupied with tearing into what was left of the deer, Suji lifted off of her branch. She got some height, all the while how she was going to do this. Fin's falcon was fast and agile, but they were on the ground. Her bird was bigger than these, but it wasn't exactly made for aerial combat. Neither were they, though, and if things went well, they wouldn't need to worry about that.
<<I'm going to try to pin one of them. Fin, just keep me covered if it starts to take off, I guess. Aida and Drake, if you could scare the other vulture away... it'll probably leave once I start making a scene, I don't suspect vultures are terribly loyal, but just in case. I suggest trying to acquire it sooner rather than later though, Drake, because I have a feeling this isn't going to tickle, and I'd really rather not hurt the thing more than we have to. Then again, if it bleeds on you, that might just be the easier way to go.>>
Suji dove. <<Here I go.>> It wasn't from a large height, and she fanned her wings as wide as possible as she swooped down on the turkey vulture she'd set her sights on. She aimed her talons for the place where its wings connected to his body, and dug in, attempting to use her weight to subdue the bird. It was like riding a mechanical bull, only if the mechanical bull was trying to bite your face with a sharp beak while bucking you off.
Fin:
Getting into the sky wasn't terribly difficult. There wasn't much air today so getting off the ground was no fun at all and involved a lot of flapping but once he got to a decent height he was able to take the thermals up. Then again he didn't want to go to high, just high enough to stoop.
As Suji swooped down on one of the vultures Fin dropped down on another. But instead of grappling with it he just plucked at feathers as he had pretended to do with Suji earlier only he actually took them out. The vulture he was targeting wasn't happy at all but Fin was past and away before it could reciprocate.
He circled up again and stooped again, this time on another vulture. Each time he hit one either with talon or beak, they got agitated and were driven further and further from the main fight. Fin kept harrying them, covering Suji and leaving the way open for her and Drake to concentrate on the one they had.
And from the looks of it they had their hands and talons full.
Drake:
Drake watched the two birds fight the other two birds. If only he had a video camera, he would have been able to sell it for big bucks to some nature show. Well, if nature shows still existed.
Nobody had said 'when,' but at this point he figured they were not going to. Drake ran into the frenzy of flapping wings, biting beaks and scraping talons. He knew he would be able to morph away any damage just like he had after the coyote incident, but that did not stop him from trying to avoid getting hurt.
"Hold... still." He was not sure if he said it to Suji or the vulture, but he eventually got his hand on the bird on the bottom. A flurry of black feathers flew in his face from the beating wings, but the bird eventually went into the acquiring trance. As he absorbed the DNA, it brought back memories of when he acquired his moth and koi fish morphs. Both of those had been live animals too. "Done!" he said, stepping away from the wild animal.
Suji:
Suji had to suppress the urge to snap at Drake for the 'hold still' comment. At least she'd managed to pin the vulture on top of its talons, so it couldn't quite rake at her, but she could feel its beak piercing and tearing around her chest and face. Just before the morphing trance set in, a well-placed strike actually lodged the turkey vulture's beak in her eye, which was instantly blinded. Blood quickly rushed out of the wound, and Suji yelped via thoughtspeak (something she'd feel embarassed for later).
As soon as Drake backed away Suji did the same, putting distance between her and the other vulture before landing sloppily and beginning to demorph. At least Fin had kept the other vulture from closing in, though she wasn't sure if it would have exactly stuck up for its buddy or not. Her black, pit-like eye was marred and badly mutilated, though the flesh healed as she began to return to her own body. The feathers slurped back into her skin, and the bare-flesh of the vulture's face melted and softened into human features.
Unable to stop herself, Suji tenderly touched the eye that had just been destroyed minutes ago. Her cheeks were flushed, and she looked at Drake. "Did you get it?"
Drake:
"Lets find out."
A feather pattern etched itself across Drake's skin, everywhere but his head. This soon erupted into a blanket of black feathers. His head shrank and his hair got sucked into his head. Then his mouth and nose became a single, elongated beak with a nose-hole that went all the way through. His ears disappeared and his eyes became those of a vulture.
Then the rest of his body continued to change. His arms became wings, his feet became clawed, and he sprouted tail feathers. Eventually the rest of his body shrank to match his head, and then he was a complete turkey vulture.
<<That was not so bad,>> he said as he hopped over to the deer carcass and ripped off a bite.
Suji:
Suji watched Drake begin to dig into the carcass. She remembered her own vulture's appetite, but she'd had plenty of practice with the morph, and had been able to shut down its desires easily enough. Seeing Drake act on them, though, brought them back in all their nauseating freshness. "Speak for yourself, you're not the one watching you dig in."
She looked around at Fin and Aida. "Success? Wanna call it a day?" She began morphing her own vulture again, though the image of a one-eyed bird kept rising to the top of her mind, making the morphing slower going than usual.
Fin:
Fin came in to land on the tree that they still hadn't gone very far from. His gray/blackish head turned first one way, then another in the bird expression of curiosity as he watched Drake dig into the deer carcass. He had never had a problem with the instincts of the animal before but then again he and all of his morphs normally had similar temperaments and normally agreed on what was fun and what was unfun.
<<You guys can go back if you'd like,>> he said figuring that both of them had probably had enough for the day (eye gouging, almost dying and all), <<but we still have an armadillo to find and I think my fox morph might actually be able to rustle one up.>>
Drake:
Drake froze still and let a hunk of carrion fall from his mouth as he realized what he had been doing. The instincts were so subtle that he hardly noticed they were there. If Suji had not made that comment, who knows how long he would have been there before he snapped out of it. Drake felt a wave of queasiness wash over him.
He tried to shake it off as best he could as he decided if he would stay or go. <<I think I will stick around for a little while, but I am going to test out this morph. In other words, I am not sure exactly how much searching I will really be doing, but I will be here if you need my help. I will be like your guardian angel. Of death.>> He said that last phrase as he spread his wings and flapped his way into the sky.
Almost immediately he could tell the difference between this bird and his secretary bird morph. It was much better at just hanging in the air and gliding. It also seemed a bit easier to move vertically. Another thing he noticed, although not too thrilled about, was that he seemed to be able to smell death from a mile away. This could take some getting used to.
Suji:
<<Oh, yeah, didn't realize that wasn't just a passing comment about armadillos.>> Suji would have smiled, but the vulture didn't exactly have lips. <<If you really wanna find one Aida, I'll stick around with you guys. It's a nice enough day for flying anyway.>> She tried not to let on how disturbed she still felt about the losing an eye ordeal. She'd had brushes with death before, but somehow that had been different. Not worse, but unsettling on a different level. Suji had only once acquired a morph from a live animal, and that hadn't even really been alive... well, she'd smashed a cockroach in her hand, so it was still kicking a bit.
But that had been nothing like Drake's acquiring the turkey vulture. It seemed strange to realize how dangerous the animals they turned into--even the ones that weren't strictly considered dangerous--could be. She felt a little sheepish, like some urbanite realizing for the first time what it was like to hunt for the food you ate, rather than buying slabs of meat from a grocery store. Kind of a wake-up call.
Suji lifted into the air.
Aida:
Aida's morph was unable to assist in something this big, her getting involved would only wind up in getting hurt for no reason, and probably getting in the way. She remained perched on the branch, inwardly grimacing as she noted one bird--Suji--getting her eye gouged out. Aida had to restrain the urge to fly out and help, she hated sitting there like a bump on a log. I need to get a more powerful bird morph..... she thought to herself.
Soon wounds were healed, and Drake began morphing, displaying his new morph. Her armadillo morph had almost gone unnoticed, and she made a mental note to just go out alone, they all seemed tired as was. When Fin spoke up she smiled inwardly, <<thanks Fin>> she told him privately. Had he not brought it up she would not have mentioned it.
<<Yeah, I think I spotted one in a burrow, it's armored side is sticking out....oh no it's moving...>> she muttered, her bird eyes watching the large creature hobble towards a patch of thorn bushes.
Fin:
<<No problem,>> Fin responded to Aida, a smile in his voice. He knew how she tended to hang back and so far Dallas seemed like quiet a collection of personalities. It would have been easy for her to get lost, to just fade into the background and he didn't want it to happen.
Outwardly he said, <<Well than that covers it. Let's see who would win in a battle between a Eeveeand a Sandshrew. I always liked them both though their evolved forms were pretty awesome too. And when they got Espeon in second generation my vote was permanently swayed towards Eevee. Though I'm sure Sanshrew is amazing too,>> he said as an afterthought, afraid he might offend Aida by suggesting that the pokemon based on her desired new morph might be less cool than the pokemon based on his own fox morph.
He flew down to the ground and demorphed and remorphed the kit fox. Now that he had the fox's senses at his disposal he too could tell where the armadillo was. <<Aida, maybe you should demorph so that you are ready to acquire. But first I must weaken it.>> This was all really starting to sound too much like a pokemon game.
Aida:
She hovered for a moment, springing from the branch before finally gliding down to the ground. Fin's brief narration of a battle between pokemon--which she realized was himself and the armadillo--made her laugh. She'd never quite gotten into it as a child, it had probably been more popular in the States than in England anyway. Despite this she still could recall several names, though that was due more in part to the fact that she had a photographic memory than interest.
<<I always liked Flareon>> she replied, it in a way was letting him know she didn't mind if he didn't quite prefer Sanshrew. Now that she was on the ground, and Fin mentioned demorphing she realized he was right, and quickly began taking her human form. Several minutes later she was standing human again, waiting for the scuttling armadillo and the fox to interact.
It was faster than she thought it would be, and she quickly realized that if it made it to those thorn bushes that they'd probably not be able to get it back out. Not many other animals could go into a plant like that and come out unscathed. Now that she was human, walking towards it would cause more harm than help, the thing would probably take off running even faster.
Drake:
<<So what is your guys' plan?>> Drake asked as he soared higher and higher. <<You going to scare it into a ball and roll it out of there?>> He was joking, but he did not know if they would take it that way or not.
Drake spotted the vultures that they had attacked just a little way off. He could tell they were itching to get back to the feast they had been scared away from. However, he did not think they would dare land again as long as they were near by.
Drake circled around, rising on the warm air. He was showing the other birds that he was not going anywhere any time soon, so they would just have to deal with it. That reminded him...
<<Do not forget to watch out for that coyote, too.>> He did not see it anywhere near by, but he would keep his eyes peeled.
Suji:
Suji soared with ease, though she gave Drake enough berth to test out his morph. The vulture that had been attacked was still able to fly, and though she didn't really blame it for they way it'd reacted to their capture, she did feel an inner voice still grumbling about the experience.
There was a short exchange about pokemon which Suji did not participate in, though it did quietly amuse her. She'd lived through the era like the rest of them, and had plenty of cards and the games and other paraphenalia, but it wasn't exactly a discussion she was interested in. Too many stressful things to think about, not enough time to just... relax.
So Suji did relax, at least as much as possible with looking for a coyote. If they could go home with two more morphs added to the faction's pool, then that was a good day. The sky enveloped her, and she tried to focus on that positive.
Aida:
Aida's eyes were not as keen as her birds--she had less than perfect vision--but she could still clearly see the nine-banded armadillo hobbling. It still seemed intent on the thorn bush, maybe all the commotion had scared it. She could no longer use thoughtspeak, but she hoped if she voice something that Drake would hear it if he wasn't soaring too high up, or that Fin would pass it along. "That one's too big to be the kind that roll up, look at the number of bands it has." Aida was no animal expert but she stored a bunch of random knowledge in her head--thanks to her photographic memory.
The bigger armadillos were better for digging, while the smaller ones could not burrow nearly as well, but could roll up into a tight ball for protection. Aida was more intent on the digging one, it sounded like a skill that might come in handy later. Fin seemed to have a plan, she sure didn't, so she waited to see if he'd speak up about one...or else she might have to tango with that thorn bush, and that didn't look too pleasant.
Drake's reminder about the coyote made her look around nervously, they didn't usually attack humans...but that didn't mean they wouldn't. After its aggressive actions towards Drake she didn't count on anything.
Suji:
<<Not sure how clear it is down there, but I think your prize is heading into a thorn bush,>> Suji commented, feeling the air hoisting her along. They were odd looking things, a bit alien themselves, but it made them somewhat endearing. And they couldn't be useless, if they fit in around here.
<<Do you want me to try to dive for it?>> Suji was far enough away that she wasn't sure she'd be able to make the thing in time, even as slowly as it was moving. <<Otherwise, Fin, you might want to get on with your Pokemon catching.>> Those bushes are tall grass that I don't think you want to walk through, she thought to herself as a personal joke in the theme of the conversation. She didn't add it aloud though.
Hopefully Fin's fox morph would be good at coralling the creature into a position where Aida could acquire it.
Fin:
Fin looked at the armadillo, the thorn bush, the desert. It was just him and his inner fox...and Aida and Suji and Drake, but him and his inner fox. If an armadillo can run at 2 m/s and feels no fear what angle should the kit Fin run in order to ensure capture?
He looked back at Aida. He didn't know much about armadillos but most wild animals didn't like humans and this one would probably be no different. And since his fox was native to this area the armadillo would probably much rather deal with him than with a human so trying to scare it towards Aida would probably fail.
He looked around for a place that they would be able to pin it and saw that in all this scuffle the ranch had gotten much closer.
<<Aida, guys, maybe we can sort of try to herd it towards the ranch and that barn there. If we can trap it against a wall or something Aida can acquire it.>>
Aida:
Aida too felt that her human morph would hinder more than it would help in the case of the armadillo. Unfortunately if she tried running at it now it would definitely disappear into thorns....unless Fin managed to scare it off towards the barn, and then she could aid in keeping it moving that way.She gave him the thumbs up when she heard this thought speak, not wanting to talk aloud and draw attention to her human-self here of all places.
The intriguing looking creature definitely seemed to note all the fuss about itself because it was attempting to scuttle even faster despite its small legs. All it needed was to get to the thorn bush though and then they'd be in for a load of trouble. Aida silently already made a deal with herself that if it came to that she'd go through the thorn bush anyway, the fact that morphing was a healing process helped cement that little idea.
Drake:
<<I will see what I can do to help,>> Drake said in a genuinely meaningful tone. <<How about we see what this bird can do.>> Drake was almost over top of the little critter at this point, so he decided to try a trick move.
Drake pointed his vulture beak towards the ground and pulled in his wings to try and do one of those fancy dives that all of the other soaring bird morphs seemed to be able to do. Drake definitely got closer to the ground pretty quick, but it was not so much a dive as it was a voluntary fall. When he was about a story or two above the ground, his instincts went a little crazy and he flared his wings involuntarily.
Nothing bad happened to Drake, but the sudden appearance of a vulture with outspread wings did not help much with their armadillo problems. The animal seemed to redouble its efforts and scurried into the thorns. <<Sorry guys. My bad. I guess I still need more practice with this morph,>> he said sheepishly.
Suji:
Suji groaned a little when she saw the armadillo disappear into the thorn bushes. <<Yeah,>> she thougthspoke to Drake, <<Vulture's are not-so-good with the diving.>> Something she probably could have warned him about earlier... but maybe it was just as well that Drake had tried it out. Being told something and experiencing it were two different things entirely.
<<I've got a morph that would be pretty undisturbed by the thorns,>> she offered to the group, <<But it's not exactly good for precision work. Think you'd just end up with a bloody mess of armadillo. Which might be okay for acquiring the blood, but I'd uh, rather avoid having to kill some wildlife.>>
Fin:
Fin watched the armadillo disappear into the thorn bushes. Well there went doing this the non painful way. If Fin had been human he might have rolled up his sleeves and in his best John Wayne impersonation voice said, <<Well now partna' looks like we got a stubbor' one, aye we do.>>
He walked up the the thorn bush and then plunged into it. He yipped as thorns scraped at his eyes, ears and sensitive nose but the move had its desired effect. The armadillo decided it didn't want to share the same bush as a fox either crazy or stupid enough to run into the wall of thorns and then cry about it.
He backed out of the bush and pawed at his face pitifully. <<That was a stupid idea,>> he said to no one in particular. <<Let's get this thing before it leads us into more trouble.>>
Aida:
Aida's expression changed to a grimace as the armadillo scuttled into the thorn bush. She was about to offer going in herself, as a human, it'd be easier to scare it off and she didn't mind--well she did, but it was for HER morph axillary anyway--getting a bit cut up. Suji's offer, while a nice gesture, did not appeal to her, she too did not want the poor thing dead on her behalf.
Just as she--for the second time--was about to offer going in herself, Fin jumped up at the task. Aida grimaced at the yelps that escaped Fin's morph, and she wished it had been her instead now. When he was back out she looked down at him, trying to suppress her unhappiness at seeing him hurt, and instead nodded once. It would be very bad if his sacrifice was for naught, and she cast a lingering glance his way before turning to go after the armadillo.
Aida felt very vulnerable in her human form right now, and was tempted to morph back until they cornered the animal, and that was when she heard it. "What...whats that noise?" she asked softly, it sounded almost like a snort, and then the clatter of hooves? Was it a horse? It was then that a group of large, feral hogs appeared, and there was the biggest one in the front, his long threatening tusks lowered at them.
Her jaw fell open in shock, and she slowly began backing up, trying to get back to the tree before the thing decided to charge.
Drake:
Noise? What Noise? Then he saw them come into view. <<Rhinoser- Wait, are those pigs?>> They were huge! How could he have missed spotting such large creatures? But then again, he had been focused on that armadillo.
<<I would get out of there if I were you, Aida. You too Fin.>> Drake was sure he did not have to tell them, but he did anyway. What were you supposed to do in a situation like this? Drake did not have the slightest idea.
Suji:
Admittedly, Suji's first thought had something to do with how much bacon you could get out of a thing like that. Fresh meat was not something she'd really been treated to much in the past months: most stuff tended to be canned, and the Yeerk Empire hadn't really focused on agricultural centers in its invasion. There weren't many big pools in rural areas, and farmers weren't the initial targets for hosts. In a place like Dallas cattle ranches might survive here and there, but New York had been nothing but non-perishables for the entire stay, and they'd had to keep a very low profile in Vegas after the Hoover Dam mission.
But, it was a wasted thought. After all, she doubted any of them knew how to butcher a pig, let alone an enormous one like that. And getting it back to the Temple would probably be impossible.
<<Aida, stretch your arms above your head--it will make you look taller and less like a target. Get into that tree when you can. Don't make sudden movements, but go quickly.>> In truth, Suji had no idea what advice to give--but the tree was Aida's best bet for not getting gored, and she doubted that standing still a-la Jurassic Park was going to do the trick. <<Fin, back off a good distance and then go back to your falcon when you can.>> But she gliding towards the ground now, a decent distance from the scene. And she was demorphing.
Suji didn't pause at human. She knew exactly what came next, and her heart raced harder. It was not a morph she'd gotten to use much since acquiring it. Her heartbeat slowed, though, as the morphing took hold: not because she was less excited, but because it was becoming the heart of a large repitilian.
And large didn't really begin to cut it. Suji's body was distorting, elongating, and she fell forward as spine no longer supported bipedal a form. She was stretching out to twice, and then three times her height--and then a bit more. Her skin hardened into nature's equivalent of armor, and her jaw was lined with hundreds of jagged teeth.
It was finished quicker than her usual morphs, though perhaps not noticeably. The difference, and Suji would never admit to it, was that she enjoyed the crocodile's mind. It was cool, tranquil, and focused. An ambush predator, and the king of the waters in whatever area it decided to call home. Everything that came into its reach was fair game as prey. She could smell the tang of the deer carcass, and felt the crocodile's cold interest perk--it took food where it found it, and was not above stealing the prey of others.
But no. She was in control here. Suji began to move her massive form towards the group of boars.
Fin:
Fin was busy pawing at his snout and ignoring the fox's distress and panic signals. It's just some stupid thorns you wimpy little fox, he thought at it as it screamed at him.
That was when the boars came into the picture and Fin started apologizing to his fox as he ran away. Ah, right you were chap. My bad, my bad.
Suji's orders to get away and demorph came through and he resisted the urge to send back, <<duh>> and instead settled for diving right back into the bush that he'd just come out of.
It was just as thorny as ever and it scratched at his fur and ears but since he had made a hole in the bush the first time he stuck to the small tunnel and avoided any more serious injury.
<<Oh hello friend armadillo, decided to hide too I see.>> He said as he squeezed in next to the armadillo who had also had the bright instinct of diving back into the bush. If the boars decided to charge the bush they might be in trouble but they shouldn't charge the bush.
Fin crawled forward so that he could see out of the bush and watched 4 boars make their way through the desert. How they had snuck up on two vultures Fin would never understand. <<You guys are slacking,>> he said as the good vulture aka Suji because she was the white one, landed and demorphed.
<<That seems like a bad idea liege lady,>> he began to say but then shut up as she turned into a dinosaur.
Or at least it looked that way until after she finished and he could she that she was just an alligator...a very very big alligator.
<<I feel like you should have that morph Drake,>> he said conversationally to the bad vulture circling above them. <<You know, Drake, dragon. Oh, by the way, I think I'll just stay in my bush. I don't want to have to pass through human and I even have some company in here.>>
Aida:
No one had to tell her to get out of there, she was already moving backwards, her eyes focused on the animals before her. Oh I'm so sorry for ever eating pork shish kabobs.....please don't skewer me... she thought, noting their sharp tusks. Moving backwards felt unnatural, and she could only hope she was moving back towards the tree. Suji's comment on stretching her arms up sounded odd but she did it anyway, feeling idiotic as she continued venturing backwards.
The animals did not seem threatened yet, but they had definitely paused when they noted the small fox and a human nearby. Then before she realized what was happening a large crocodile appeared and she began moving more quickly, seeing the bores were getting antsy now, or was that curiosity? Aida couldn't tell but soon she felt something hard behind her and she scrambled up the tree, barely getting a leg hooked over a branch when she hear the hooves again. She didn't have a good enough position in the sad-mistake-fore-a-tree-more-like-firewood, to turn around and see what was happening.
Drake:
When Drake saw what Suji was turning into, he considered going down there and morphing his giraffe to help out. But he ultimately decided that he should stay in the sky so that no other surprises would sneak up on them. Besides, if one of those massive swine managed to knock him over, he could be done for.
<<That is definitely not a Drake morph,>> he said in reply to Fin's comment. He did not go into detail about why, but he had a good reason. He had some bad memories associated with that specific crocodile. Still, he watched anxiously to see how Suji planned on using her morph against the boars. At least Aida had managed to get into the tree safely.