A pocket full of posies [Asher]

[Misty]

Misty trotted slowly along the edges of the meadowlands, pausing every so often to nibble on any particularly appetizing clump of grass she saw. She wasn't looking for grass though, just taking the opportunity to graze while she searched the grasslands for wildflowers and herbs. She supposed she could pretend that she was gathering the flowers for medicinal purposes; lavender seemed to calm some people when she was trying to heal them, peppermint seemed to make them perk up a bit and she loved the smell, and someone had told her that poppies could be used to make people sleep or alleviate pain. In truth though she was collecting the flowers because they made her happy, it was spring after all, what better time to pick posies?

Spying a few bright blue flowers she sifted into her much smaller human form, much more suited to gathering plants with those clever little fingers. Kneeling in the grass she plucked each flower, attempting to bind them together with a long blade of grass. Satisfied, she stood up on her bare feet, looking around for more flowers and idly chewing on the end of one of her pigtails. Not seeing anything nearby she shrugged carelessly, putting the bunch of flowers into the pocket of the blue dress she was wearing, shifting into her regular form and trotting off in a more or less random direction. She shook her mane happily as she stretched out into a canter, enjoying the feeling of running across the grass, her mane, tail and the feathery hair on her legs floating like clouds.

She slowed down after running for a while, her heart pounding pleasantly as she dropped to the ground and rolled in the grass, shifting halfway through and tumbling down a slope with a light laugh. She came to a stop and sat cross legged on the ground, plucking at the daisies that dotted the grass around her. Taking out the blue flowers she started making flower garlands like her human, Lizzy had shown her. Lizzy’s fingers had been small and nimble, she had been able to make lots of things from the flowers they collected, Misty wasn’t as good at first but with Lizzy’s help she’d been able to learn. She missed the farm, the retromorph horses had been treated like extended family, the younger ones like Misty had even been taught lessons with the children.

Looking proudly at the blue and white headband she had made she placed it on her head atop the blonde pigtails that she’s managed to tie. Some of the other Bellator said she looked silly with those pigtails, they said she should be trying to look more serious, more grown up, but she liked them. As long as she did her jobs what did it matter if she was serious or not? It didn’t help her tie bandages any better, it didn’t make her a better healer, in fact, many of the people she healed seemed to like her carefree nature, it made them happy, and happy people were easier to heal.

She sighed, lying back in the soft grass and staring at the clouds, she knew that she would need to head back to the rest of the herd eventually, she had responsibilities after all, but sometimes all she wanted to do was run and play, and not worry about her duties as a medic. She closed her eyes and hummed to herself happily, feeling the sun on her face, utterly unconcerned about being out in the open alone. What could go wrong in her own territory?

[Asher]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,454,true]

[bg=45505d] It was a perfect day; neither warm nor cold with only a small wind causing the trees to sway. Perched on a branch, the eagle watched those around him soar through the air. They dove and rose, playing with each other and chasing their friends around the trees. But they weren’t retromorphs. Those birds were perfectly normal creatures, their heads full of normal thoughts. Normal thoughts, however, were not necessarily a good thing. For a bird they were scattered and almost confused. They never focused on one thing for a long time and the thoughts kept on changing and shifting. Asher could feel their minds within his and he closed his eyes, trying to force them away. Come on, he thought to himself. Control it. Cast them out. Focus Asher, focus. The voices faded slightly but all of a sudden they were back as he lost concentration. “Damnit,” he cursed, his feathers ruffling with anger. With a screech the large eagle took to the air, heading away from the mountains, towards Nilda and Bellator grounds. Asher was not sure how long he flew, but his wings followed the constant pattern. Up, down, soar. He kept going, over the Nilda lands, staying high enough so he would not be perceived as a threat. He knew how territorial some animals could be and he also knew how suspicious everyone was within the dome. No one knew who they could trust and there was nothing wrong with that. Even Asher was wary of everyone. But it was different for the retromorphs. The shifters had been there longer, they were human and used to a different way of life. The retros had no idea what being human was like, and they were up against humans. They were already at a disadvantage, unable to read the human language. Whatever supplies the keepers left to them would be next to useless if they could not work out what it was. The Bellator grounds appeared soon and Asher almost frowned. He had never really been into their land before, had not had a chance to look around it and search out good trees and hiding holes. Horses were usually peaceful creatures and they were not known to kill birds. Then again, they were also human too and humans killed birds for fun. It was a stupid sport, shooting, but Asher had never been a target. He’d only heard what it was like from the private thoughts of those around him. They were so invasive. They poked into his head and moved around like a virus trying to take hold of him. He needed to get a hold of the power. If he could work out how to use it he would not be consumed by headaches every hour of the day. He was getting closer. He could block the voices out when he concentrated. He also knew how to send messages to others with his power. But he still could not completely block out the noise. With time it would get better. That was all he could hope for. Time. Flying over the herd grounds the eagle saw a figure lying down on the grass. The girl was human, but Asher could sense that she was a Bellator, simply in her human form. As he approached her thoughts smacked him across the face and he screeched softly, blinking a few times. He thoughts were the only ones aside from his that he could hear and so instead of pushing them away he allowed them to flood his mind. She seemed to be thinking about duties of being a medic in Bellator. She was completely at ease laying there, her eyes closed, humming a tune he could hear in his own mind as he approached. She didn’t think anything would go wrong. Perhaps this day can be improved, Asher thought, as he began circling the blonde figure on the ground. Asher gradually sunk lower and lower to the ground, approaching the girl below him. She was evidently younger than him, and she seemed even more so due to the pigtails holding her human feathers away from her face. They were such strange feathers, Asher had always thought. They almost weren’t feathers at all, and that was probably what confused him the most about the humans. They couldn’t fly. Walking was a terrible way of getting anywhere; flying was much faster. Closer to the ground, Asher’s wings were thrown back and his legs thrust forward, ready to land softly on the grass. He landed just beside the female’s head, a little to her left, his head cocked to the side. Nice out here isn’t it? Asher sent the thought to the female, the words of shifter tongue forming effortlessly in his mind and pushing out towards the blond. He would be her little experiment for the day. She would help him work out his strange powers, and perhaps he could help were too. w o r d s , eight hundred and twenty four t a g , misty m u s e , feelin' way too damn good by nickelback n o t e s , he knows nothing about social etiquette...

[/color][/blockquote][/size][/td][/tr][tr][td][/td][/tr][/table][/center]

[Misty]

Misty watched curiously as a bird circled high above her head, wondering whether it was another retromorph or just a normal bird enjoying the day. Sometimes she wondered what it would be like to fly, would it be like running on air? Would it be like swimming through clouds? Someone had told her once it was colder up there, not warmer, would the sun still warm her back? She didn't know, and for the moment she was content to keep all four hooves on the ground and leave the air to the birds. She had to admit though, flying looked like it was incredibly freeing.

As the bird got closer she noticed the shape of the wings and the fierce beak, it was a predator. A small part of her whispered that this was a bad thing, predators sometimes tried to eat horses, but she ignored the reflex to run. If it came to it she could shift back to her natural form, and no matter how big the bird was she doubted it would be able to match her size. As the bird came in closer she lifted her head, smiling as she got a closer look. The bird was very striking, she didn't think she'd seen one like it before. She guessed it was probably another retromorph when it landed beside her, but she wasn't prepared to hear something inside her head.

She shot to her feet and blinked in shock, again fighting the instinct to shift and run away as fast or her hooves could carry her. She watched the bird for a few moments, guessing that the unfamiliar thoughts had probably come from him. "That was wierd, I'm guessing it was you who spoke in my head?" She cocked her head slightly, studying the bird as if she could figure him out just by looking, "It is a nice day, I'm guessing it's nice up in the sky too... or not, I really don't know... Can you even hear me? Can you speak normally?"

"This is pretty wierd," she confessed, "Here I was thinking I'd gotten used to everything unusual in this place I start hearing voices in my head." She chewed on one of her pigtails thoughtfully, digging her bare toes into the soft soil as she watched the bird. To be honest, voices in her head didn't worry her as much as they probably should, normal was relative after all. She could heal a cut just by concentrating on it, she could turn herself into a human, how were voices in her head any different? With a shrug she sat down cross legged in front of the bird.

She started picking up some of the flowers she'd scattered on the grass when she stood up, and, feeling somewhat foolish she passed one of them towards the bird, meeting it's eyes calmly.

"I'm Misty, what's your name?"

[Asher]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,454,true]

[bg=45505d] Asher allowed the female to speak, listening carefully to her words. Tilting his head to the side, he silently praised her knowledge. She was the first one not to be completely thrown off by his strange talent. Most of the other creatures he met either ran or flew away or simply questioned him profusely. At least no one called him a freak. Truth be told, they were all freaks in that dome of theirs. Asher barely noticed himself nodding along to the human’s words, allowing himself to affirm her responses. He made no response to her almost fleeing the scene however. She had not left, and so he would ignore her apparent fright. So far she seemed to be a perfectly sane young girl. But was she a girl or a beast? They were in Bellator territory so it was more likely that her natural form was that of a horse. So why then was she wasting time with her two-legged form? You ask a lot of questions, Asher thought back, once again using his telepathy to send her the message. Whilst he could speak shifter tongue to her out loud, he found it would simply be easier to use that language through thought. That way he would also be able to practice his transfer of thoughts. He seemed to be getting a lot better at that particular talent, but he still needed more practice. Sometimes his words still got lost somewhere in between his mind and his target’s mind. They ended up muddled and muffled or simply completely silent. Concentration was key, but Asher knew of shifters who could do such things without a second thought. He needed to mould his power so it would bend to his will, work when he was not even asking it to. It was me who spoke in your mind, yes. And yes it is lovely up in the sky, but I thought I’d come down and see how it was here. Asher paused and it was clear that if he were in his featherless form he would be smiling. Yes I can hear you and yes I can speak normally. However in this form it’s simply easier to speak this way and I need all the practice I can get. Telepathy is a relatively new power to me, you see. Flapping his wings slightly, Asher moved closer to the blonde female, looking up at her with his beady eagle eyes. The wind ruffled his feathers and every now and then he moved his head in frustration, straightening his wings out to reveal his large wingspan. It was not a threat, but simply a way to stabilise himself in the wind. A laugh escaped his beak, but Asher realised it would simply sound like a squawk or chatter to a human ear. Regardless, he dismissed that fact and silenced himself slowly. Sorry. If you’d like I can stop communicating this way. Tilting his head to the side once more, Asher tried to convey some kind of apology through his face, although he didn’t know what it would look like to his companion. It calmed him somewhat when she sat on the floor, confirming his thought that she would not be leaving. Her thoughts rolled into his mind but he began trying to push them out, not wanting to invade her privacy. All of her thoughts seemed to be about a variety of things. She thought about being able to heal wounds with her thoughts and Asher attributed that to a power of her own. Clenching his beak closed, Asher concentrated on pushing the thoughts away. Slowly, but surely, they faded into absolute silence, her thoughts no longer moving through his head. At this he allowed himself to sigh, exhaling the breath he didn’t realise he had been holding. Asher was pulled out of his thoughts suddenly as he saw her hand move towards him, holding what appeared to be a flower. Their eyes met and Asher nodded slowly in thanks before taking the flower carefully with his beak. Closing his eyes, Asher flipped his head up, opening his beak and tossing the flower in the air. It was carried slightly higher by the wind and as it moved he forced his figure to change. Slowly he grew, his feathers disappearing and his wings turning into arms. The human figure that then sat on the grass reached up and grabbed the flower between his fingers, a smile falling across his face. Asher managed to catch the girl’s words and he nodded once more. Running his free hand through his hair, he then held it out towards her in a greeting he had learnt from a human. “I’m Asher. And I believe this is the way the humans greet each other when in this form?” w o r d s , eight hundred t a g , misty m u s e , secret by maroon 5 n o t e s , he's so beautiful in human form -drools- haha he's still trying to understand human customs

[/color][/blockquote][/size][/td][/tr][tr][td][/td][/tr][/table][/center]

[Misty]

Misty watched the bird curiously as he kept speaking in her head, it was a little unnerving, but more different than unpleasant. Nonetheless, the bird seemed to think he'd offended her in some way, and she smiled reassuringly. She smiled even wider when he took the flower carefully, watching in curiosity as he tossed it into the air and caught it as a human, confirming he was a retromorph like her.

She looked at his hand with slight confusion, she'd shaken hands with humans before, but she never really understood it, no matter how much Lizzy had tried to explain it. Still, she held out her own hand, accepting the greeting with a slightly bemused smile.

"I am pleased to meet you Asher, and to shake hands with you. Humans have the strangest ways of greeting each other," she laughed softly, "Animals are much easier. Humans think it's weird when we sniff them, but it's better than trying to grab their hands with out hooves."

She could only imagine what a human would think if she tried to greet them like that when she was in her normal form. She would never try it, even if the thought was amusing, she might squish a human by accident. They really were quite small and fragile creatures, at least compared to her. Thin skin, small teeth, no hooves, just strange little hands and feet. Admittedly the hands were useful, the clever little fingers were more suited to tying bandaged than her hooves would be, but she wouldn't want to be stuck as a human forever.

She sat back, looking at the sky thoughtfully, "I can help you practice the thought speaking if you like? I know it took a lot of practice to learn how to use my healing. The first couple of times I tried to heal someone else it made me so tired I nearly fainted. The thought speak, tell-path-ee you called it? It's an interesting ability, did the keepers give it to you like my healing?"

[Asher]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,454,true]

[bg=45505d] Shaking hands with the other retromorph felt simply strange to the male. Asher was not used to having hands, nor was he used to the common greeting. But at least he was getting better at it. Previously he was unable to so much as walk on his human legs, without the aid of his wings or tail for balance. Now, however, he could run and jump with them faster than he thought would ever be possible. It was less of a mystery to him, the workings of the human body. There were still a few complexities that he was adjusting to. The hair always confused him. Fur concentrated in one area on the top of the head; and it felt very strange. Feathers were much more attractive to Asher and he hated the rubbery feeling of skin. There were no aerodynamics to the human body at all; it was not built for soaring above the clouds. The only time he had seen humans fly was in those large metal containers. He’d been forced onto one when being taken to the Menagerie. A strange thing indeed; an aeroplane. “Humans have strange ways of doing many things,” Asher replied, laughing softly with Misty. “Likewise, I don’t think shaking wings would work out too well.” A smile spread across his face and Asher once again ran a hand through his hair. The human clothing clung to his skin, his shirt only just the right size. The jeans, he had learnt to call them, made it difficult for him to sit down comfortably, and he wondered why humans would ever choose to cover themselves in such things. Shoes, he understood, for he had learnt how fragile human soles were. They cut and bled easily and the shoes protected them from the pain. His hoodie was unzipped, the hood hanging behind his neck, his sleeves rolled up due to the warmth. He didn’t need his leather jacket, which had been left back in the mountains. Misty’s clothes also puzzled him, although he thought they looked quite pretty on the young girl. Her human fur was hanging on either side of her head in a particularly strange way, but Asher, being a quiet bird, did not question the other retromorph. At Misty’s words, Asher’s smile grew and he turned to look at her, trying to work out if she had meant it. “You have healing? That’s interesting. And yes, it’s telepathy. A strange human-type word. And the keepers did in fact give it to me. I don’t understand how they do it…” Asher drifted off, his words becoming silent, carried away by the wind between them. Instead he began to focus, letting his mind open once more, allowing Misty’s thoughts to merge with his. He once again heard her voice inside his mind, her scattered thoughts drifting through the space between them. I can hear what you’re thinking, Asher thought across to her, tilting his head to the side and leaning back, his arms on the grass beside him to supported the human figure. It’s a strange kind of feeling. I can’t yet control what thoughts enter my mind, but I managed to block yours out before. It’s hard being around too many birds. I like quiet and I can’t get that with a thousand minds all joining mine. At least your power is helpful. Asher’s silent musings continued to cross the space and float into Misty’s mind, joining the pair together in an almost unexpected way. Ash had not thought he would find himself in such a situation when he left the mountain range that morning. But he didn’t regret it. As long as no one was trying to kill him and as long as he didn’t have hundreds of voices in his mind, he was content. And once more, he had a willing test subject. w o r d s , six hundred forty one t a g , misty m u s e , loop by heidi n o t e s , sorry for the wait. studying sucks

[/color][/blockquote][/size][/td][/tr][tr][td][/td][/tr][/table][/center]