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Author's Note: I'm glad my long time role-playing buddy probably won't read this fic seeing as I stole the 'Horn-y' joke out of one of our epic FF9 crossover with anything that tickled our fancy. It was four years of pure madness I tell you. But fun madness. Three met Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, there was hand sex, Dr. Who discovered the origins of Bitey of Brackenwood, and there were several incidents involving black mages, nymphs and demi-gods. I'm already trying to pick apart and make a specific plot twist into a fan fic featuring 288, simply because I don't think there's enough of them out there.
But enough about future endeavors, on with the present, eh? Anime Central 2009 is upon us, so if you're in the Chicago area and attending, look us up! We have a table in Artist's Alley under Cello Raptor Studios, so yay!
~CelloRaptor
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Chapter 2: Thin Ice
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Mortimer's sleep was peaceful and undisturbed, completely at ease resting amongst the roots of the short and stout tree that provided the canopy above them. It wasn't until the sound of splashing intruded upon the quiet soundtrack did Mortimer realize that it was morning, his eyes remaining half lidded as he sat up and stretched. Taking a moment to ruffle up and straighten his feathers, the waltz stood and raised his arms over his head in another stretch. Mortimer smacked his lips after a final yawn and began to survey the surrounding area in search of his newly found travelling companion.
'He's probably taking a bath,' Mortimer reasoned, not knowing what else could be making that much noise in the nearby pond. And although his better instinct told him to find something to do until Talon came and found him, Mortimer decided to make sure that it was Talon making the noise, sneaking through the foliage and brush quietly. 'Just a peek, that way I know where he is.'
As Mortimer pushed the last curtain of cattails out of his field of view, his quick peek became a fascinated stare, the sight before him not quite adding up. The flash of azure and gold from Talon's wings let Mortimer know that it was the same person that had rescued him the night before, dipping and fluffing 'his' wings like an exotic songbird enjoying a stone bird bath. Talon's hair was oddly long, the flame red curls came down just past his lower back. Also, Talon's form was much too curvy to seem right and it wasn't until 'he' turned around that Mortimer realized---
Their eyes locked momentarily, Talon making a noise like a growling cat and teleporting out of Mortimer's field of view, the first waltz fumbling out an apology as he searched helplessly around him for the other, falling into the water in the process. The first waltz made an attempt to get up, but the force of Talon's foot to his back caused him to fall forward again. Pressing his hands against the muddy bottom, Mortimer desperately realized that Talon's foot was still on his back, making the task of coming up for air impossible. Panicked, Mortimer began to thrash and flap his wings, Talon's foot holding strong. His struggling growing weaker, the sudden pain of the other waltz's claws grabbing him up by his scruff and flipping him back onto shore with an extrordinary force snapping him back into reality, his whole body trembling from fear.
"Give me one reason not to kill you," Talon snarled. Without the hat, Mortimer could tell simply by the shape of Talon's face that he was indeed a she, as though what he had seen before left any question in his mind. He didn't seem to notice it before while she was bathing that the horns were upon her head and weren't apart of her hat, but now that she was without it, he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed before.
"You're beautiful," Mortimer replied weakly, still shaky from the near drowning experience. Talon jumped at his response, giving the first waltz plenty of room to get up and take in a breath of air. He turned his gaze up to the other, notcing that her cheeks were blushing, giving her face a silver paling in the cheeks. "...what's wrong?"
"You---! I---GR!" Talon ended her statement with a growl as she punched the nearest tree, her wet locks flying over her shoulder, feathers standing on end.
"Why don't you leave your hair down?" Mortimer asked innocently, not understanding why she was so upset by what he had said before. Talon took in a breath to calm herself down, looking up at her travelling companion.
'Is he really that dense?' she asked herself, narrowing her eyes and beginning to tie her hair up into a tight bun. She had never been called 'beautiful' before, and her natural distrustful disposition made her question the other waltz's intentions. 'Does he really mean it?'
"Because, it gets in the way." she replied shortly, picking her hat up out of the reeds and fitting her horns through the two holes on either side of the hat, turning to face the other mage. "Why does it matter to you anyways?"
"I...it reminds me of someone I used to know," Mortimer said. "I think."
"Right," Talon said, adjusting her hat one last time as she began to walk. It took Mortimer a moment to realize that he was getting left behind, the cripple mage hopping into action and scuttling behind his taller counterpart.
"So, you're not going to try to kill me again?" Mortimer asked, trying to keep his dragging pace up to the confident stride of Talon's.
"Not at the moment," Talon said, her tone somber and pensive. Mortimer gave an inward sigh of relief.
"Where are we going?" Mortimer asked between breaths, his right leg beginning to cramp up despite his best efforts to ignore it.
"Lindblum," Talon replied, stopping at the edge of the cliff that the small village and surrounding lands were perched up. She gazed into the distance, spreading her wings slightly in the warm breeze.
"What's in Lindblum?" Mortimer asked, standing at Talon's side and looking down the sheer rock surface, the sound of a gulp escaping his throat.
"The Princess," Talon replied shortly, crossing her arms.
"Princess?" Mortimer said. Of course he knew what a princess was, even who the princess of Alexandria was, but why did it matter? How did Talon know she was in Lindblum and why was it important? "Are we going to visit her?"
"Not quite," Talon replied, turning away from the cliff and looking Mortimer over skeptically. "Are you going to be okay flying over this?"
"...I..I don't know," Mortimer admitted, shaking his head. He had flown over short distances, but never too high up or for too long. "I don't think so."
"Well, I have a job to do, so keep up with me if you can," Talon said shortly, leaping into the sky and spreading her wings, her short wingstrokes catching the afternoon air and keeping her aloft in the most natural way possible. Mortimer gaped a moment, surprised by her sudden departure. He wasn't going to be left alone just like that! Though doubts rose in his mind, Mortimer took a running start and jumped into a take off, though wasn't nearly as graceful as Talon. His first fleeting thoughts were of his muscles giving out and him plummeting to the ground, but being high above made things easier than simply taking off and staying low to the ground. Without thought, his feathers and wings made the tiny adjustments necessary to keep a glide, dipping when pressured by the surface of a rising thermal. He noticed that Talon was laboring much more than himself; she would beat her wings several times and glide, descending much more quickly than he was, but would beat her wings again to regain her lost altitude.
The pair flew in silence, Mortimer mentally cheering himself on for being able to hold up as well as he did. Time seemed to stand still as they dipped and glided, flapped and flitted, the city within the castle coming into sight. Black smoke billowed from the city's main airship gate, but the pair descended well before then, coming in for a landing at the walk-in gate near the bottom. Talon gave a sigh and looked down at Mortimer, a sly grin apparent in her eyes. "Glad you made it," she commented and tugged down the brim of her hat, leading the way through the gate.
"I've never flown so far in my life!" Mortimer said, exhilirated.
"We started off at a pretty high point, I figured you'd be able to glide most of the way here," Talon replied with a chuckle.
"So you weren't trying to get rid of me?" Mortimer asked, his eyes meeting with the gaurds momentarily as they walked through the iron wrought gateway into the city.
"I wouldn't go that far," Talon replied and crossed her arms over her chest, standing at the center of the plaza. Mortimer blinked and peered around, taking in the wholly new sight of the city, the crowds, the bustle and the activity. Talon gave a slight glance to her counterpart, red eyes portraying a crooked grin. "You're acting like you've never been in a city before."
"Not one this big!" Mortimer claimed, his own yellow eyes wide with amazement. Lindblum was an impressive sight to begin with, but add in the fact that people were coming in from all over Gaia to participate in the Festival of the Hunt, vendors everywhere displaying their finest merchandise and the general chaos of street performers, games and merriment abound. It was almost too much for Mortimer to take in all at once, leaving the waltz in a state of awe. So much so that he hardly noticed that Talon had left him! "H-hey, wait up!"
"Hurry up," she ordered, her step light and quick, easily navigating around the crowds.
"Where are we going now?" Mortimer asked, not quite moving with the same grace, bumping into more than one person on the street.
"Going to grab a bite to eat," Talon replied, leaning against a stone building as a rather large group of men walked out of the local tavern. Once the coast was clear, she stepped through the double doors of the building, Mortimer tagging right along. She didn't know whether to be flattered or annoyed by this new addition to her travel party, instinct telling her to be annoyed. She looked up to see that One had already taken a seat at the bar, staring at her rather expectantly. It was kind of cute, like a puppy. But that's all puppies were good for, not for retrieving a princess that's gaurded by a black mage, a knight and a rogue.
But hadn't he been given the same job as she? Zorn and Thorn had told her about her brothers, though they had never met before this moment. Then again, she had assumed Mortimer had been a reject from the Mist machine that had been boxed up to be recycled and reused. He didn't seem concerned at all about the princess. Well, if he became an obstacle, it wasn't as though she would have trouble getting rid of him.
"And what'll you have?" Bobo the bartender asked over the counter, waving his hand in front of Two's face. She really had to stop thinking so much.
"Ah, just your special," Talon replied, hoping it was something edible. She was getting anxious. It had been quite sometime since she had used any magic and always gots antsy. At least it was all going to be over soon. Mission, retrieve the princess, go back to the castle. Simple.
What after that though?
Mortimer was absolutely fascinated with the commotion that was happening outside, his good leg kicking slightly like a bored child. She couldn't drag him back to the castle. Zorn and Thorn were likely to reprogram him to their own selfish desires, from what they had described was a painful process of reconditioning one's mind until it worked the way they wanted it to. Something they often used as a threat when she had shown any ounce of rebellion. That or recylcing him, throwing him into what was scientific equivalent of a black mage mulcher, a machine that broke mages down back into their primary ingredients...she had been incredulous when she had first seen it in the dungeons of the Alexandrian castle, but the clowns were more than willing to give a demonstration with some of her 'dolls', extra black mages that she often used as target practice.
It seemed with every recalled memory, another popped up, making a rather long list of things Talon would rather not expose the other waltz to. The bartender placed a bowl of rather foul looking soup in front of Talon.
"On second thought, I think I'll just have a beer," Talon replied, slipping the bowl to Mortimer, who gladly took the meal.