Cubefall?
It's some time later, after his talk with Tyler, that the strange magic window that's found everyone else finds Zak.
< Today, Milliways marks the Cybertronian holiday of Cubefall, the anniversary of the day upon which the Allspark first landed on the rocky world that would become Cybertron. Would you like to sample some possible reconfigurations ( Read more... )
< Today, Milliways marks the Cybertronian holiday of Cubefall, the anniversary of the day upon which the Allspark first landed on the rocky world that would become Cybertron. Would you like to sample some possible reconfigurations ( Read more... )
It's made him a bit homesick, in truth. But it was still fun to construct, and somehow cathartic. Not that Talaerion will ever admit to Greagoir that he's missed him, of course ( ... )
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The Warden closes the door and then hurries over to where the griffin is crouched. He carefully swings his leg over the muscular back, seating himself in front of the large wings and carefully wrapping his around Zak's neck.
"Like this?" he asks. There's really not much to hold on to, with a griffin. Everything up this end is slick feathers and Talaerion doesn't want to inadvertently pull them out.
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Talaerion is, thankfully, lighter than Zak's previous rider.**
The griffin makes sure that his rider's grip around his neck and his legs grip around his belly are strong enough to keep him on, and then he does his best to make sure the take-off is as calm and easy on his rider as possible. There is a lot of flapping, but once he gets to the proper altitude to catch a thermal, Zak shifts to soaring instead. It does, after all, make for a much smoother ride. And it's a rush. Very much like a roller-coaster, even if Zak's got no idea what a roller coaster is.
"You alright, back there?" Zaknafein asks. The thermals are strong enough to keep them up here for a while. "Where do you want to fly to?"
*This is Zaknafein's fondly held opinion since the first time he went to Sorcere for the months required by the Academy and promptly got ticked off by the condescending mage who was his teacher ( ... )
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"Better than all right!" he replies, raising his voice to be heard over the sound of the air rushing past them. It's an incredible feeling, and it's an experience that the mage isn't likely to ever forget it. He hasn't really thought about where he wants to go, though.
"Wherever you'd like," comes the answer. "Maybe over the forest? I haven't really spent much time out here before!"
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"Sure." He says out loud, and twists to catch a thermal that will take them over the forest. It is indeed a very big forest, a thousand shades of green. It seems to go on forever, from Zak's vantage point but when he tries to fly over it, he ends up on the opposite side of the lake. Then, after the second misdirection hits him he aims for the mountains. The mountains he tries to fly to and explore seem to have the same problem. He can't go past or over them.
"...The Bar moves in strange ways indeed." the disgruntled griffin offers. "There seems to be a spell to keep turning flyers around. How odd." He gives up and continues on the aerial tour.
Below them, the lake is a sparkling azure, surrounded by green on three sides and white dotted with green palm trees on its fourth which seems to lead off into a vast ocean. As he turns, the griffin passes over the Bar itself which... looks sort of strange from the air. Is that a tent on the roof?
Yes. Yes it isAs he ( ... )
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The flower gets his attention, though. "Why would they have that?" he asks, shocked. And then, in answer to Zak's question, "If you are ready to land, then by all means."
He does not wish to impose upon his companion's time or energy, after all.
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If he hadn't been in mid-air, he might have shrugged. Instead, the griffin switched to a different thermal, changing direction to soar over the white sand beach. He was in no hurry to stop flying and it did seem promising? Perhaps an island or two, he hoped? Ah, but no. It seemed that the spell to turn flyers around was in effect here too, when he tried to fly out to see how far the ocean went. He found himself back, soaring over the dock, bemused.
"I don't understand how most things here work, and I've been here for a good month, by now." The griffin shifted to begin the glide downward, aiming for the place by the lake, which he knew was the best spot to land... that he'd found so far.
"The scenery is rather limited, it seems, if we're not to be allowed to go past certain landmarks, but if you're willing to put up with the fact I'm Bound to a certain amount of territory, I'm willing to take you up on rides, for as long as this shape persists."
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He'd loosened his hold once Zak had reached an altitude where he could glide on the thermals, but now that he's descending Talaerion tightens that grip once more.
"I suppose the boundaries make sense, though. It's like that with spells, too. If you stretch them too big or too far, the magic can start to... fall apart. Milliways couldn't possibly go on forever..."
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The landing is not bad. Pretty good, actually. Not perfect, (and Zak regrets his lack of skill there), it's rather shaky, and he ends up going farther down what he's designated as a 'landing zone' than he'd intended to, but at least he hasn't knocked Talae off or into the water by accident, or landed face first in mud, or skidded into any solid objects.
It must be said that Zak wants to do things well, and is not satisfied when he makes mistakes.
At least he's improving?
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He unconsciously tightens his grip with thighs and calves as Zak lands, and when the griffin trots to a stop, he carefully dismounts. The mage is grinning like an idiot.
"That was awesome," he says. "Thanks, Zak. What can I do for you in return?"
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There is a light burbling sound. The drow-turned-griffin flushes under his ebony feathers. He seems to be hungry.
At least the demon bunnies can't be mistaken for shape-changed patrons, and he's seen some wolves eating them, so they must be edible, right?
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It seems that Talaerion is not one of those earthy "I love the forest and all the creatures in it" elves.
"They have to be smaller and faster than darkspawn, anyway. Aside from the shrieks, they kind of... lumber. If I can hit the rabbits regularly, the darkspawn should be no problem, right?"
A mage's staff never misses, unless the bolt gets blocked by something. Talaerion still likes the idea of his attacks hitting what he means for them to hit, however, not just something in the general vicinity. Besides, lobbing down a Fireball will be easier if he can get it exactly where he wants it.
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Zaknafein is not one of those earthy tree-huggers either. He's a drow (or was a drow,rather, since he's in griffin shape right now) and they're definitely not the type to find the wilderness appealing.
The griffin relies on instinct. He makes his way through the underbrush, deliberately making noise, snapping branches and running at the creatures... Efficiently scaring the bunnies and startling them straight into bolting like, well... bunnies. In Talaerion's direction.
Some of the demon bunnies that move too slow are savaged by a set of claws, or a viciously sharp beak. Zak has a feeling this shape will need a lot of meat, even if they do smell like they may leave a strange aftertaste.
The griffin seems to be enjoying himself. He also seems to be a very efficient hunter. Those claws and beak can do a terrible amount of damage.
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The elf slings his staff from its position across his back and follows the griffin into the woods.
While Zak is relying on his claws and beak, Talae relies on his magic. He hits some of the creatures with bolts of magical energy, others with ice magic that freezes them solid before he blasts them apart, and still others fall to large chunks of rock that the mage hurls at them. The head of Talaerion's staff brains one or two that get too close, and when they start to swarm, the elf puts out a blast of telekinetic energy that hits the creatures like a solid stone wall.
Once they're stunned, they make easy targets indeed.
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This outing seemed to be a good idea, since it was not only amusing and feeding him (the demon bunnies were fun to chase and scare and catch, and definitely tastier than mushrooms), but it also allowed the drow in griffin shape to gauge the threat level of the strange mage.
(Yes, it is not a good, or fair thing to do when he is supposed to be on good terms with this mage. But Zak is drow, no matter how his current shape may influence him... and any drow who wants to survive past the age when they're made to interact with their own kind knows to be wary... and to check out anything that could possibly be used against them... even their own allies.)
The threat level is markedly highFor all that Talaerion seems to be amiable, he seems to be terribly efficient with the killing spells (as Zak expected ( ... )
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