Post by Aodh Breannan on Jan 12, 2010 19:37:51 GMT -5
Aodh beat his wings steadily, starting to feel the strain on his muscles from his long flight. The pack of belongings he carried via his clawed feet was feeling heavier all the time. He was grateful there was no wind to make the already chilly night that much colder (thank goodness for fur), though a good tailwind would have speeded his progress.
He tilted his head down, a series of high-pitched clicks emerging from his mouth; their echoes bounced off of what lay below him, painting a silvery picture of the landscape in his head. Snow and trees, a lot of both. And something else, up ahead -- aha, the castle. The one he'd been searching for.
It was an impressive sight, rather like a fairy-tale castle. An upper room in one of the towers would be a perfect place to slip in and spend the night without disturbing anyone. He'd go to the Headmistress' office first thing in the morning and make his presence known properly.
He veered toward the nearest tower, still relying on echolocation to see, and braked slowly as he approached it. The window was shut, as he'd expected; he clung to the sill with one thumb and the toes of one foot (still holding his belongings with the other foot), carefully opening the window with his other wing and taking a "look" inside. No one seemed to be there; he figured if there was someone there, they would have screamed or something by now.
The room was quite uninhabited, but not empty; it looked like a storage space. In any case it was perfect for Aodh's needs at the moment. He pushed the window open all the way, folding his wings tight and crawling inside, then setting down his pack, turning and carefully shutting the window behind himself.
He scuttled busily around the room, seeing by sound, taking stock of the place. There were what seemed to be old curtains or blankets draped over several chairs; they smelled of dust and mothballs, but they would be more comfortable than a stone floor. Arranging these in a pile beside the wall, he climbed carefully up the wall above them, turned upside down and clung to the rough stone with his toes, hanging with his head a foot or so above the floor. He folded his wings around himself, closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
He woke a few hours later, after falling from his perch and landing on the blankets below him, to a familiar painful twisting of muscle and bone. His wings shrank and became human hands and arms, his legs straightened and grew longer, becoming human legs. The fur on his body and limbs withdrew into his skin as that on his head grew longer, and his head and face became human as well.
Aodh stretched and lay back on his blankets, pulling one of them over himself for warmth and wondering whether it was too early to see the Headmistress yet -- the sun had only just risen, after all.
He tilted his head down, a series of high-pitched clicks emerging from his mouth; their echoes bounced off of what lay below him, painting a silvery picture of the landscape in his head. Snow and trees, a lot of both. And something else, up ahead -- aha, the castle. The one he'd been searching for.
It was an impressive sight, rather like a fairy-tale castle. An upper room in one of the towers would be a perfect place to slip in and spend the night without disturbing anyone. He'd go to the Headmistress' office first thing in the morning and make his presence known properly.
He veered toward the nearest tower, still relying on echolocation to see, and braked slowly as he approached it. The window was shut, as he'd expected; he clung to the sill with one thumb and the toes of one foot (still holding his belongings with the other foot), carefully opening the window with his other wing and taking a "look" inside. No one seemed to be there; he figured if there was someone there, they would have screamed or something by now.
The room was quite uninhabited, but not empty; it looked like a storage space. In any case it was perfect for Aodh's needs at the moment. He pushed the window open all the way, folding his wings tight and crawling inside, then setting down his pack, turning and carefully shutting the window behind himself.
He scuttled busily around the room, seeing by sound, taking stock of the place. There were what seemed to be old curtains or blankets draped over several chairs; they smelled of dust and mothballs, but they would be more comfortable than a stone floor. Arranging these in a pile beside the wall, he climbed carefully up the wall above them, turned upside down and clung to the rough stone with his toes, hanging with his head a foot or so above the floor. He folded his wings around himself, closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
He woke a few hours later, after falling from his perch and landing on the blankets below him, to a familiar painful twisting of muscle and bone. His wings shrank and became human hands and arms, his legs straightened and grew longer, becoming human legs. The fur on his body and limbs withdrew into his skin as that on his head grew longer, and his head and face became human as well.
Aodh stretched and lay back on his blankets, pulling one of them over himself for warmth and wondering whether it was too early to see the Headmistress yet -- the sun had only just risen, after all.