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Post by Noa on Apr 30, 2020 23:31:10 GMT -6
{What, not taking the little one this time?} Aster eyed Avander and wondered if the Wiurn might be jealous. "His name's Rhys. This isn't the first time I've mentioned it," Aster replied. It was true that he had been spending a pretty significant amount of time with Rhys as of late, but it hadn't felt as though he'd spent less time with Avander, at least as far as he could tell. That wasn't what this was, right? ... Maybe Avander was just having a little jest. Avander did do that. Aster didn't sense any undue ire from him, and their mental link had survived Avander's transformation intact, so there was probably nothing to worry about. "Anyway, the job I've got from the board this month calls for something heavier," he explained. "I'm hoping it won't come to a combat situation, but I'm not sure, and Rhys is really in no position to take on a Nyssa."
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Post by Noa on Apr 30, 2020 23:34:19 GMT -6
It spoke of how long Aster and Avander had worked together that Avander's demeanor changed completely now that there was an objective on the line. Aster felt him snap to attention, his focus sharpening. {A Nyssa,} the Wiurn repeated.
"Mmm. Well, apparently there's one terrorizing a... garden? I don't know. I think I dealt with something like this last year, but honestly, I don't remember much about it." The woman had been at the board, and she had recognized him, which had been a harrowing enough prospect that Aster was still kind of shaken. It wasn't that she was a scary old lady or anything; and it wasn't like he had been intimidated, but he really didn't like being grabbed, even if it was just by the hand.
She didn't mean anything by it, and consciously he knew that, but the sensation of coming into contact with her still sent a shudder down his spine.
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Post by Noa on Apr 30, 2020 23:36:56 GMT -6
She couldn't have known, of course. It wasn't like Aster wore a shirt that said 'Hands Off' whenever he went out somewhere, which... come to think of it, he wondered if this was something he could remedy. It might stop this from happening again, though it might also be taken as a joke.
Regardless, the result was that he had ungraciously shaken her off, agreed to help without really getting all the details, and gotten out of there as fast as he could so she wouldn't grab him again to tell him how thankful she was for his taking the job, or maybe how much she absolutely needed that Nyssa driven off, or whatever it was she was going to say. He didn't stick around to hear it. In the interest of beating as hasty a retreat as humanly possible, he had come away with only the barest minimum in job details.
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Post by Noa on Apr 30, 2020 23:44:15 GMT -6
At least he did know the location of where they were going. If he hadn't gotten at least that much, he would have had to go back, and that... didn't bear thinking about, at all. She was probably not still there, but there was the possibility that she might be.
{You don't look so good,} Avander pointed out helpfully. Aster sighed and shook his head, not even dignifying that with a reply. Underneath the quip, he could sense Avander's concern, but he shook that off too. It was just... It was just what it had always been. It had just been such a long time since he'd been grabbed by someone that he had kind of forgotten how unpleasant it felt.
He'd deal with it. And nothing would take his mind off it faster than actually getting to work. "Get down for me," Aster said, and Avander obligingly lowered himself to the ground.
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Post by Noa on Apr 30, 2020 23:47:34 GMT -6
Aster swung up onto his back, or really, onto his shoulders where his neck met his wing and foreleg joints, in one smooth motion. Avander was a lot bigger now than he used to be, but Aster was a good rider, almost impossible to unseat once he got on, even bareback. He was pretty confident that he could ride a creature he wasn't familiar with, though if they didn't already know directions, he wouldn't be able to steer very well. On Avander, who was trained to carry people by Aster himself, it didn't really matter what shape he took.
There would be a bit of an adjustment for both of them, of course, but already Aster felt kind of at home. Avander rose once Aster had found a good seat, and with a leap, launched the two of them aloft. Aster grabbed onto a handful of his mane, and grinned as they took off.
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Post by Noa on Apr 30, 2020 23:51:38 GMT -6
It wasn't something he did consciously, but whenever they flew, he just felt something in his heart take off with them. It used to be that flying on Avander was a bittersweet thing, a reminder of what he had lost. But over the years, he had gotten used to it, and in some ways this was better. He wasn't doing the work, for one.
And now, hurtling through the air at an increasingly breakneck speed, the other big advantage showed itself in full. Avander could fly faster than Aster would likely ever have been able to, and cover greater distances too. Aster steered him, sometimes with physical cues, other times with telepathic ones. It didn't take them long at all to reach the garden plot in question. Though getting there, as it turned out, was the least of their problems; as it turned out, there was nowhere for Avander to land.
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Post by Noa on Apr 30, 2020 23:57:41 GMT -6
{You didn't mention this,} Avander said. The tone of his voice was not quite accusatory, but Aster felt it all the same. He groaned, rubbing at his face. He didn't think this was going to be a problem either.
But in all honesty, maybe he should have anticipated it. The woman did say something about the Nyssa destroying... her garden? Her bonsais? Something like that. And Avander wasn't exactly small.
Aster did some quick thinking. "Think you can make some ice to smooth it out?" he said. Avander, doing tight circles in the air above the garden plot, craned his head back to look at Aster.
{Ice? Won't I slip?} Avander complained.
"Hmm, I guess that's true. Your claws weren't made to grip onto that kind of surface, huh?" Frowning, Aster thought harder, and another idea occurred to him, though he didn't think this would win him any points with the woman making the request.
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Post by Noa on May 1, 2020 0:05:32 GMT -6
"Try blasting it," Aster said. "Sing."
{Blasting it?} Avander hadn't expected to be this incredulous today, Aster could tell. {Aren't we supposed to be saving this woman's property? She upset you or something earlier, right... Is this revenge?}
Aster frowned at Avander. "No," he said. "But our alternative is to land somewhere else and get here on foot, and even then I don't know if you'll... Well, I mean. If the Nyssa hears it, maybe it'll feel a little intimidated," Aster finished, a little lamely. It was true that they could land elsewhere and come here on foot, though it was also true that Avander might have trouble picking his way through the debris. But that latter point would remain the way it was whether Avander cleared himself a little landing patch or not, so maybe it was a moot point.
"You see anywhere better to land?" Aster said, in case Avander had spotted a place to set down.
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Post by Noa on May 1, 2020 0:09:16 GMT -6
{Well, no...} Avander held out for one more dubious moment, but the flying in circles was wearing on him too. Aster felt him give in to the idea, then had the bizarre experience of being on Avander's back as the Wiurn took the deep breath necessary to produce his sonic blast. That was all the warning Aster had to cover his ears before Avander let loose with it.
The debris of the ruined garden hardly stood a chance. It flew up and out in all directions as if it had been nothing more than confetti. And it was a good thing that everything there was already broken, because if anything had survived the Nyssa, it most certainly would not have survived in the face of this.
But at the end of it there was a cleared space for Avander to land. And for what it was worth, the sound had echoed pretty far.
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Post by Noa on May 1, 2020 0:12:10 GMT -6
"There, it worked," Aster said. Avander didn't need to be told that either; the Wiurn was already landing, though a bit awkwardly, as he only had a small area on which to place himself. He would have preferred a longer run-up, Aster knew, but sometimes you just didn't have any other options.
Aster slid off his back as soon as Avander got all four feet on the ground. {So where is it?} Avander asked. Aster was wondering that himself, honestly. A Nyssa was pretty big, and not all that bright, so it wasn't like it could hide that well, could it? But then, this was a garden, so if there was anywhere where a Nyssa might be well hidden, this would be it.
Aster scanned his surroundings, and quickly narrowed their most likely options down to a small copse of trees not far from where they were. "That way," he said.
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Post by Jack on May 2, 2020 13:13:50 GMT -6
The sound of stomping drew nearer, and a howl sounded in the distance. What could be done?
[Nothing happens]
[1-6]
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Post by Noa on May 4, 2020 19:05:57 GMT -6
Avander looked in the direction that Aster had indicated, but his ears went back at the sight of the copse. {We're going to find it in there, huh?} He seemed none too eager at the prospect, and Aster could guess why. A Nyssa in a grove of trees had near perfect camoflauge, and when those guys hit, they hit hard. They weren't very fast, so in some sense they faced many of the same problems as Grunty had when he was trying to hit anyone, but if they got a solid strike on you, that might be it for you for a while.
Avander was sturdier than that, of course. But that wasn't to say that he was eager to experience it firsthand either. Even for him, being struck by a blow from a Nyssa was going to be an unpleasant prospect, even with his thick hide and his new size.
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Post by Noa on May 4, 2020 19:09:03 GMT -6
Aster would have spared him the prospect if he could, but somehow he doubted they were going to be able to avoid running that particular gauntlet. "Unless you have an idea for flushing it out, I'm afraid that's our best bet," Aster said. And while he didn't think it was impossible to do, necessarily, he also didn't think it would be easy if they decided to try that route. Nyssa weren't exactly flighty creatures by nature. He didn't own one, but the general idea he got from looking at them was that they probably didn't like to move. They weren't the brightest things according to the encyclopedias here, but they must be able to instinctively sense when they had certain advantages, and staying well camouflaged, potentially for an ambush, seemed like it would be on a list of one of those advantages they could more or less tell that they had.
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Post by Noa on May 4, 2020 19:12:07 GMT -6
{I could try singing again,} Avander said. {Or a real roar.}
Aster dismissed the idea initially, but then he thought about it a little more and reconsidered. The sonic blast had already announced that they were here, so it wasn't as though they had the element of stealth or surprise on their side anymore. Not that they had it to begin with necessarily. Avander's size conferred many benefits, but one thing it did not do for him, even when he had been relatively smaller as a Sarane, was give him any measure of stealth in the air. He wasn't the right colors to blend into the sky in either incarnation, and because of how big he was, he was impossible to miss. If he were much smaller, he wouldn't have been able to carry Aster, but there were other creatures that were at least better hidden by their coloring, if nothing else.
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Post by Noa on May 4, 2020 19:16:20 GMT -6
Then again, he didn't know if Nyssa ever looked up. If they had natural predators, they probably didn't come swooping in from above. But that wasn't something he wanted to bank on, and anyway the necessity of the sonic blast from earlier rendered that line of speculation moot anyway.
So the thing knew they were here already. They had nothing to lose from issuing a challenge, so to speak. This was, from the sound of things, not a trained creature, so a fight against it wouldn't be the same close calls affair that he and Avander experienced at the Pit. "You know what," Aster said, "go for it. Even if we don't flush it out, if we can get it to answer, we might be able to see which one of the trees it is."
{Roger that,} Avander said, and began taking in another deep breath in preparation for his roar.
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