A Dangerous Ticket Out (SanctifiedSavage)

[emeraldknight]

@SanctifiedSavage

The town of Tarried River was a small one, nestled cozily in a small valley in the Western Highlands of Serendipity. It was a simple community of people from many walks of life, though most people one could find there were tourists attempting to take a holiday on a limited budget. The river the town was named for bent lazily down the valley and through the woodlands on the Eastern side, eventually coming to run through the center of the settlement, where multiple bridges stood in service of those who wished to cross. It was a nice place, but not one where much in particular happened.

Such was the opinion of Reeve Walter as he walked through the streets in the late morning of a spring day. He'd come to relax and get away from the bustle of Serendipity's larger cities, but after three days, he was already hungering for something new to do. But having to fly out to somewhere else was just frustrating, and Reeve wasn't the kind of person who could really be bothered to, at least not yet. His irritable mood was not helped by the bright morning sun. It wasn't that being a vampire made the sun a hazard, per se, more that it was uncomfortable.

Looking up towards the blue of the sky, wishing he had a faster way to leave and get back to doing anything meaningful, he spotted an intriguing form soaring across the town. In brilliant hues, the figure immediately stood out with its long outstretched wings. However, as he squinted closer, he realized that the being attached to those wings was no simple bird.

"Regular humans... Don't have wings", he thought aloud. Reeve immediately decided to investigate the sighting, knowing he had nothing better to do. He leapt upward with force and transformed himself into his bat form, much to the shock of the few onlookers in the vicinity. Approaching the harpy with as much speed as he could muster, he passed by her and transformed back into his regular self, levitating slightly in front and to the side of her and keeping pace as best he could.

"So, what are you up to, flying around over a small town like this? You don't look like a local."

[SanctifiedSavage]

Odd entities are not uncommon for the harpy. She, herself, was such a creature. Feathered wings, clawed hands at the joints, and slender legs that gave way to hooked talons. She'd heard all manner of remarks about what she was and how she came about. Most entertaining, a few attempting to be insulting.

So, when a bat flapped up to her – passed her by – and popped into the form of some human, it didn't exactly catch her off guard. Rather, Corinna took a moment to assess whether or not he was going to be a problem. Her large, brilliantly colored wings held her in place a moment, not quite hovering, before she continued her lazy flight.

"Quite an observation. You must be some manner of scientist," she teased, glancing at him before scanning the streets below. She was looking for someone, per the norm on such a hunt, and she wasn't entirely expecting to see them here but rumor suggested... So there she was. Absently, she added, "You don't appear to be local either."

@emeraldknight

[emeraldknight]

After taking a moment to actually observe his strange new discovery, Reeve had but one finding: "She's hot..." Immediately becoming flustered, he was thankful his vampirism prevented him from blushing. He hurriedly made an effort to push the thoughts out of his mind, recalling the time he'd been in a similar situation and had accidentally shared his thoughts through telepathy.

Reeve chuckled a bit to himself at her playful remark. "Well, I'd guess that I'm certainly more of one than you are. By the way, you never answered my question." He spoke with false confidence, attempting to conceal the effort he had to make to keep pace with the winged woman. Even at this ambling speed, aerial movement in human form was difficult. He often found it came down to the choice of movement as a bat or conversation as a human; Putting both together was a major struggle.


@SanctifiedSavage

[SanctifiedSavage]

When Corinna's initial scan of the street below proved to be fruitless, she gave a few flaps of her powerful wings before she landed on the rooftop of a nearby house. To be kind, mostly, to the odd bat-human that was attempting to talk to her. She didn't object to the random conversation now and then and, he had been polite enough to talk to her in the air rather than shout at her from the ground.

Once settled in place, she stretched her wings. Flying for any length of time was like extended running – or so she assumed. The muscles still got sore. Especially when there were no drafts for her to catch.

She did smile a little when he pointed out she'd not answered him. "That's usually an indication most don't want to answer that question. Persistent, are you? I'm hunting, in a way, though it doesn't seem my prey is here. At least, not outside." Turn about was fair play. She leaned forward a little to put emphasis on her now playful question. "What are you doing here?"

@emeraldknight

[emeraldknight]

Reeve was quite thankful for the opportunity to land. He was already starting to sweat a bit from the effort, and conversation would be much easier grounded. He hovered over to a point above the roof and then let himself fall, landing on top of it with a less-than-graceful thud. Sitting down next to the harpy, he continued the conversation. "Me? Just a bit of vacationing. Granted, it's not exactly very exciting here. Why do people recommend this place so much, anyway?" He shifted a bit, trying to angle himself away from the sunshine a bit more.

"Hey, uh, is it rude to ask about... Y'know, the wings, and the claws and stuff?" Reeve made a point of yawning, exposing his rather underdeveloped fangs. "I don't usually see such bright colors. Or, you know..." He found himself making a slight clawing motion with his hand, as if he thought she didn't know what he had just asked about. "Idiot!", he scolded himself.

@SanctifiedSavage