Flying Free (Open)

[Sayuri Koizumi]

Sayuri watched fondly as she pulled the tether off of Kotori, her Aplomado falcon, and watched her take off into the air, on the hunt for some little morsel to catch. Upon moving to Vermont almost three years ago, she had stumbled upon a local raptor center and had quickly become involved volunteering for the place, cleaning the cages, feeding the birds, and getting to know the staff. She had witnessed Kotori's hatching, and though the little bird hadn't imprinted on her, Sayi had spent enough time with her as a chick so that they shared a special bond that filled the girl's heart with joy every time she got to let her raptor loose to hunt in the wild. The raptor center was happy to have the young woman take the bird out for these adventures. Kotori would fly back; she always did, and usually with some small rodent or bird trapped in her talons.

She was standing next to a large, grassy field nearby the lake, enjoying the warm late-summer breeze rolling through the early evening air. Her sharp eyes watched the bird as she grew smaller in the distance, until she stopped and hovered in midair, before going into a steep, fast dive towards the grass. She disappeared for a moment, and another, until -

Success! Kotori rose, and though Sayuri couldn't yet see what she had caught, the fact that the falcon was returning to her was enough of a sign that she had got a meal. She held out a leather glove-clad arm as the bird approached, grinning brightly as the bird landed with her prize - a large shrew, already dead from a broken neck. "Good girl," Sayi cooed, keeping her arm held out as the bird tore into her meal. There were other people milling around the edge of the lake that were probably watching, but Sayuri ignored them for the moment - the beautiful creature before her was the entire focus of her attention.

[Kimmy Abernathy]

Kimmy had planted herself in the grass next to the lake after a long day of exploring the town. She was dressed, in retrospect, too warmly for the weather - pink skinny jeans and knee-high black boots with a flowy white tank top and armfuls of bracelets. Denim and heat didn't mix well, and she was beginning to feel that very intensely. She reached down and unzipped her boots, slipping them and her socks off into the verdant grass in front of her. Just doing that relieved some of the heat, and it was nice to feel the grass tickling her bare soles. She lay on her back and gazed up at the sky, resting her protesting muscles after long days of walking. A few people milled about around her, and she let their emotions ebb and flow around her like waves on a shore without focusing in on anything.

A hawk whooshed by startlingly close to zir face, and ze blinked and sat up a bit. It had flown to the other side of the lake and dove into the grass, and was beginning to fly back in zir direction. Ze glanced around to see a girl standing a number of yards to zir left, a heavy leather glove on one arm. Ah! Ze watched, fascinated, as the bird landed on her arm and tore into the prey it had caught. Ze could feel the girl's admiration and affection for the animal, and there was a wonderful intimacy about the moment as she provided the bird with a safe place to eat its meal. It was a soothing, uplifting scene to be privy to.

"That's a beautiful bird," she called out softly to the girl, wanting to be unobtrusive in case she felt like enjoying this moment with the bird in private.

[Jace Murphy]

After nearly a week without rain, Jace decided she would leave campus for the weekend lest she start picking fights. Especially with her new roommates. The two she’d met were a mixture of backhanded kindness and unnerving openness about their personal lives. She just needed to go to the lake for a long day enjoying the water and not having to worry about being annoying or being annoyed.

As soon as she arrived in the parking lot, she jumped out and waved farewell to her mother. Luckily she was working weekends until the shop’s renovation was over. She didn’t need “mother-daughter meta-human bonding time” today. She kicked off her shoes and wiggled her toes in the grass briefly before pealing out toward the shoreline. Already her mood was improving, a wild grin forming on her face. She left her clothes and bag in a pile on the sand and adjusted her swim suit before charging into the water.

Her skin touched the lake and she felt a moment of vertigo as her body identified and acknowledged the movement of the water. Once she centered herself and focused, she felt the calm of the lake and the steady pacing of the inflow river. Laughter swelled in her chest as she dove beneath the surface. She swam that way until her lungs burned for air, then surfaced enough to breathe.

Before she could duck under again, a bird streaked overhead. She did a double-take and realized it was a bird of prey. She could see the striped undersides of its wings and the tail of some unfortunate rodent it held tightly in its talons. Following it with her eyes, she saw it alight on someone’s glove by the lakeside. A trained bird, then. She’d always admired birds of prey, but had never seen one up close. Maybe the trainer wouldn’t mind if she came over to watch. She waded out of the water and stopped by her bag to grab a towel so it wouldn’t be obvious she got out just to see the bird. Her unbroken gaze on the pair probably foiled any success of her plan.

She wrapped the towel around her torso, but made no effort to dry off. She smiled at another bystander and stopped about five feet away from the trainer, knowing that the bird was probably a little skittish if the gulls on the lake were any example to go by.

“Wow, that was so cool!” she said breathlessly. “I’ve never seen one so close! Is it a hawk?”

[Sayuri Koizumi]

Sayuri was captivated with watching Kotori eat, a sight that some might think repulsive buy she found fascinating. The way the bird expertly tore into the flesh, snapping through sinews and muscles with practiced ease as she gobbled down the meal. She was happy to simply watch the falcon forever until a small voice caught her attention.

"Oh!" she smiled, looking over to the source of the sound. Her breath caught almost immediately. Ohmygosh how had Sayuri not seen her earlier? The speaker was absolutely, stunningly gooorgeous! "Thank you! Her name is Kotori." She held her gloved arm out slightly as an invitation for her to come nearer if she so choose; Sayi knew that birds of prey could be a bit intimidating. "And mine is Sayuri," she added as an afterthought, giving a small, flirtatious flutter of her eyelashes.

And another person was interested! Sayi tore her eyes away from the first admirer and turned her smile to the newcomer, positively beaming at all the attention for her bird. "Isn't she lovely?" she cooed, watching as Kotori ripped another piece of skin from her meal. "She's an Aplomado falcon. You can come a bit closer, she's not too skittish." And since the bird was so busy with eating, she wouldn't likely pay attention anyway until only bones were left.

[Kimmy Abernathy]

Kimmy smiled as ze felt the girl's pleasant surprise upon seeing zir. It was good to know that ze was welcome in this moment, that ze wasn't intruding on something private between the bird and it's caretaker. "Kotori," ze repeated, smiling again at the beautiful name. "It's good to meet you, Sayuri. My name is Kimmy." Hang on, hadn't ze heard that name from somewhere? Ze looked more closely at Sayuri, noting the girl's beauty and style as ze tried to discern where ze may have heard that name before... Oh! "Hang on, aren't we roommates?" ze asked abruptly, suddenly remembering that ze had seen that name on zir room assignment.

Another person - a girl wrapped in a towel, presumably having just gotten out of the lake - approached the raptor, and Sayuri momentarily turned her attention to her. Upon her invitation, Kimmy approached the raptor more closely, smiling to the other girl as she did so. "Is it safe to touch?" she asked tentatively, not wanting to disturb the majestic falcon but wondering if she could pet the cute fluffy bird. What could she say? She had a weakness for animals, and the bird was majestic.

(Sorry this took so long :X )

[Jace Murphy]

Jace wrinkled her nose as the bird tore at its meal. It wasn’t pretty, but there was an efficiency to it that Jace couldn’t help but admire. She slipped a little closer, crowding her fellow spectator as introductions were offered. Close-up, the bird was even more beautiful. A bold black line trailed down from under its eye, and another swept back toward the back of its head. The slate blue of its wings reminded Jace of the deepest part of the lake.

“She’s absolutely amazing,” she said. “I’m Jace, by the way. It’s nice to meet both of you.”

She glanced over at Kimmy at the revelation that she and Sayuri were roommates. She bit her tongue before she could start on a tirade about her own roommates and grinned sheepishly. At least she knew they were probably her classmates if they were talking about roommates.

“Are you both students at Hammel, too?” she asked. Her eyes widened when Kimmy asked to touch the falcon, and she took an involuntary step back. She just wanted to be sure she could get out of the way if the bird got scared. It looked like a decent sized bird, but those talons looked like no joke.

[Sayuri Koizumi]

"A pleasure to meet you, Kimmy," Sayuri replied smoothly, her smile unwavering. Though, even as she got a closer look, she realized belatedly - they DID know each other, at least a little. "Ohmygosh! I'm so sorry, I totally should have realized." Wow, she felt like an idiot! "Guess I don't hang out in my dorm enough," she chuckled. It was true, though - she was a little social butterfly, and really only came back to sleep and work on makeup ideas.

She turned her attention to the other girl at the introduction, smile widening. "Nice to meet you too, Jace!" At her question, Sayuri nodded energetically. "What a coincidence!" she laughed. It was interesting to happen to run into two girls from the same school - new friends? Definitely!

At Kimmy's question, Sayi turned her attention back to her, biting her lip. "It's probably not the best idea when she's eating," she replied apologetically. "I wouldn't want her to mistake your finger for another meal and take a bite!" Kotori was a sweetheart, but she was still a predator; she had snapped at Sayi a couple times, and the Japanese girl had learned her lesson. "So how long have you guys been at Hammel?" she asked curiously. Kotori began to finish up her meal, wiping her bloodied beak against the glove to clean it.