Rivals in the Sky [A Maximum Ride RP]

Lily ordered a 16-pack of chicken nuggets, large fries, large soda. She took her foo, sat down and wolfed it down happily, deciding she would try to find Talon and Merlin after a good lunch.

((Writing this made me hungry D:))

Talon sighed. I didn't pick him like some prized livestock or something. He's just...Merlin. He's been there through it all..and... She felt her cheeks color slightly, so to turn her thoughts away from the conundrum that thinking about Merlin that way brought, she chose to answer Rift.

"Yeah..Easier to get along with. Sure..." She cringed at the thought of him going head to head with Fawn or Edge. Of all the members of her flock, they would be the ones that would have the hardest time getting along with him. Though, if he could get Merlin, the least combative of the bunch, riled up like that then who knew what he'd do to everyone else.

Her reviere was interupted by Rift's next comment. Did he just...? "Yeah... He's probably the sanest of us all. And with all the stuff he's read he has to be smart." At that she made a mental note grab Merlin a book or two before they bailed out of town. "He might need to loosen up a bit..."She jabbed her friend in the ribs with a finger. "Or maybe you just know how to push peoples buttons to the point of making them explode." She grinned down at him. "But, hang on a sec. I need to collect a few things from the bathroom." And turn your shower off.

She trotted over to the bathroom, one hand still firmly holding her pants up. She turned off the shower off then knelt and pulled her belt out of her old pants. A couple of deft movements later and the belt was firmly securing her pants to her waist. Next she scooped her gun up from the pile of clothes and safely tucked it in the waistband of her pants. Finally, she snatched up her shoes, socks, and the bag of medical crap.

By the time she was finished, Merlin was just coming out. Talon sent a smile his way, rather amazed at how a simple change from ratty clothes to nice newish ones could imporve the overall look of a birdkid. The pale color of the shirt made for a nice contrast with the dark of his eyes.

Okay, let's shut down that train of thought before you start getting red in the face, girl.

Lily left the resteraunt. She wandered around again. "Well, they definitely didn't go to the hospital or the police station. " She thought. "Maybe there's a park around here somewhere, I could check there, i can do a round in the slummier places, where they might have found someplace vacant. And then, i could fly around the outskirts for the day an see if somebody pops up, then during the night I guess I can move on. " She decided.

She found the park easily, it was a nice enough place and they could easily have found shelter on play equipment. children weren't going to be very curious about two kids walking around, in a city, in dirty clothes probably...

"So..." Merlin glanced back and forth between Rift and Talon. He thought he'd heard voices a second ago, and now he wondered if they'd been talking about him, the same way he and Rift had discussed Talon while she'd been absent.

He wondered what Talon had said about him. Had she defended him? Or just congratualated her pal Rift on actually riling the calmest birdkid?

He shook the disloyal thoughts away. It didn't matter, and dwelling on it would just give him doubts. Talon was his leader and his friend; of course she wouldn't throw him under a bus like that. In fact, she'd probably jump out in front of a bus to save him.

He looked and noticed that Talon's gun was back in the waistband of her pants, a familiar lump. The sight sent a current of something that was almost like comfort through him. Talon was armed, Talon was standing, Talon was ready. Talon was back. It was a good feeling. They were finally ready to do something.

"So...are we ready to find the rest of our family?" His gaze rested mainly on Talon, but he glanced at Rift for a moment, reluctantly including him. The bat-hybrid would take some getting used to, but like it or not he was coming with them.

Lily looked around, a few kids were swinging, playing in the sand box, talking to their parents. She sighed and got up, leaving the park again, it was surrounded by homes and apartment buildings. Then down a northern street was the marketing area. She wished she could stay in this nice town, but she still had no idea where to look, and she needed to get moving.

Talon dropped to the floor, rolling up her pant legs and quickly pulling on her socks. She crammed on her shoes, taking extra time to tie the laces tights. Funny as it would be for her shoes to fall off mid-flight, she didn't relish the thought of retriving them afterwards. Once her shoes were secured, she stood.

"Alright. We've got five birdkids out there, somewhere. They'll of stuck together and laid low, specially with that thing out there. So, it should be a simple matter of retracing our steps." Too bad it was never, ever that simple when they actually got down to it. "Before we leave this city, I wanna stock up on some supplies. We've got plenty of medical crap from last night, so I want to focus on food. Preferably the lightweight travel kind. So that means no cans if we can avoid it."

She was in flock leader mode now, her uncertainties and worries shoved to the back of her mind to deal with later.

"Rift, get whatever you want to take with you gathered up, just remeber that we're gonna be moving around alot so it's best to travel light. Also, you got any back packs? We're gonna need 'em to haul supplies in."

She looked to Rift, then turned her gaze to Merlin. "Sooner we get this shit done and out of the way the sooner we can find our family."

Merlin almost grinned, but he restricted it to a small smile. This was why Talon was leader. She could come up with this stuff instantly, discarding all worries, all problems, to focus on a single task. He was idealistic, she was realistic. When all he wanted was to find the rest of the Flock and ensure that they were safe, she remembered the real world stuff they had to do first.

He doubted anyone in the Flock would get far without her, including him.

But as usual, Talon's brisk, planning manner was contagious. His own calm, efficient side snapped into action. He started listing light travel food under his breath. "Beef jerky. Instant soup mixes. Raw hotdogs..." Maybe a couple of chocolate bars or some cookies if they could spare the room...he was very partial to chocolate chip cookies. Focus, Merlin. "Sandwiches. Nuts..." he continued softly, racking his brain for other foods that they usually carried with them.

Lily suddenly frowned. "What if we stay seperated, what if i never see the flock ever again... No. I'll find them again." She shook her head and set for the crappier apartments where the might have found someplace vacant, then possibly a place to take off and do circles around the city. "Ok i can circle the city till i get to the outskirts, then maybe take off and fly around. I have be really sure that they arent here before i leave." She planned.

Rift looked to Talon, then to Merlin before he shrugged. "I got some backpacks, and a few dufflebags kicking around. Probably in the closet." Motioning to the door, Rift solemly collected his guitar from the ground, and entered one of his forbidden rooms.

Inside, he quietly grabbed a pair of guitar cases and placed the guitar in the first one. Into the other, he placed his jet black guitar, along with several sheets of paper, and a wad of various writing implements. Clicking them both shut, the bat hybrid looked around the room one final time. "So long." He whispered, before grabbing the cases and slinging them over his shoulders. Flicking the lights off, Rift stepped out of the room and closed the door.

"We'll stick to backpacks. Duffel bags'll be harder to carry and they'll get in the way if we get caught up in a fight."

She glanced over at Rift when he emerged from his forbidden room. "Guitars? Okay, sure. But you'll have to carry 'em Twitch. Me and Merlin'll haul the supplies."

Talon cracked her neck, then her knuckles, before shaking out her legs. She was loosening her muscles for the coming exercise, knowing that if she didn't she'd wind up being stiff mid-flight. Which was no fun whatsoever. "Before we get out of here though, we'll need to cut some slits in the back's of our shirts. Make's flyin' that much easier."

She started towards Rift's kitchen, intent on finding a knife or scissors for said job. "Yo Merlin, you wanna grab a pair of backpacks for me? I'll scrounge up a knife or something while you're at it." She called over her shoulder, before opening a drawer and rummaging through it. Okay, first we'll find a knife or scissors, we'll get the slits cut, then keep the scissors/knife, throw the medical crap in a bag, make sure Rift has everything he needs, hit a store or two, get out of here and find the Flock, then leave this area completely. Maybe head south or something...

Merlin nodded absently at Talon's words, still listing in his head. He went back into the same bedroom where they'd found the clothes.

Pushing aside piles of discarded clothes and underwear with the toe of his beat-up sneaker, Merlin opened Rift's closet wide so he had a full view of the shelves inside. Rift did have an awful lot of clothing for one solitary person.

Sure enough, stacked on the floor of the closet were a small assortment of backpacks, knapsacks with flaps and drawstrings, and long duffel bags. Merlin pulled a couple fairly streamlined packs out into the open; they weren't too bulky or liable to slow down a birdkid in flight. He chose one ordinary black one and a gray one with a couple outer loops and straps for tying things to. It was kind of fun, he reflected, diving back into the heap to look for an extra lightweight knapsack...kind of like shopping.

He came up with an old-fashioned knapsack that had a tight, drawstring neck and could easily be slung securely across the chest by a soft rope cord. He checked the fit of it, and found it even crossed right between his wings, allowing him to fly without it bothering him at all. Score.

He gathered up the three packs in his arms, and went back out into the main room to see if Talon had found anything sharp yet. Now that he thought about it, his wings did feel really crammed, even inside the loose shirt. Stretching them sounded good.

Rift watched as the two began to rummage through his apartment, looking for this and for that. Raising an eyebrow, the hybrid sighed quietly to himself. Pushing Talon aside, he opened the door next to it and produced a large cutting knife. "Helps if you actually know where to look. What else do you need, Angelcakes?"

He tossed her the knife absentmindly, as he moved towards the fridge.

Talon snatched the knife out of the air, her hand and arm little more than a blurr. "Right. Thanks." She eyed the edge with a critcal eye and gave a soft whistle. "Keep 'em nice and sharp I see."

Back on track. Admire the sharp blade later.

"Got anymore good knives kicking around? They're always useful." She tapped her lips with the fingers of her free hand. "And food. Got any food that'll keep for a good while? I'd like to limit the amount of crap that we gotta pick up from a store."

She peeked out into the main room, a smile lighting up her eyes at the sight of Merlin and the packs that he carried. "Excellent! Alright, bring 'em in here and we'll load 'em up with what we can."

Merlin laid his chosen packs on the table. He knew he didn't have to remind Talon of the kinds of food that were good for bringing. He trusted she'd make sure Rift supplied them with what they needed.

He shifted his wings. His back was starting to ache from the pressure of squeezing them flat against the indentations in his spine. "Hey, good, you found a knife." He hadn't missed the covetous look on her face. Talon and her weaponry. "Do you think you can slice me?" He turned so his back faced her. "Not, literally, of course," he added quickly. "Watching the skin would be good. And the wings." He completely trusted Talon...but he wasn't sure he completed trusted Talon wielding a knife. Then again, she'd cut slits for them all before. Nevertheless, he kept his wings extra tight to make sure they were as far away from the shirt fabric as possible.

Talon rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure." She moved over to Merlin and grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling it out away from his back and wings. She eyed his back, making a quick guesstimate of where and how long to cut the slits.

It took only seconds for her to slice one, then the other. "Alright, there ya go." She put the knife between her teeth and clamped down, so that she could shrug out of her overshirt. She draped it over one arm. SHe then spit the knife out into her other hand. "Mind doing me?"

She held the knife out for him to take. Normally, she would of just shucked her shirt and done it herself, but in the current company, not to mention the revelations she'd been having, Talon decided against that action. She squeezed her wings in tight, knowing that her shirt had considerably less fabric than Merlin's and that meant that she was at a higher risk of being cut with the wrong move. Not that she thought that would happen, she trusted Merlin. Plus he had steady hands, which made it even less likely that he'd slip up.

Merlin sighed with relief, easing his angled wings out through the newly cut slits. He spread them to their full extent for a brief moment, letting the muscles and sinews stretch, and then folded them loosely closer to his back.

He took the knife from Talon and ran his fingers briefly over her back, feeling for the outlines of her wings. He did not want to give Talon any more injuries than she already had. He winced slightly as he felt the still-healing ridges of her scars from the terrible fight.

He carefully lifted the shirt away from Talon's skin as she had done for him, and inserted the knife through the fabric. With a slow, precise draw, he dragged the keen edge of the knife down until the slit was long enough. Then he did the other. He could just glimpse Talon's skin and the sleek feathers of her wings through the gaps.

"All done," he said, letting out a breath.

Lily had reaced the old slummy part of the city and she was looking around.
"This is stupid, why would they be in a city with people?!" She asked herself.
"Ok, If I dont find any sign of them soon, I'll move on."

[[Guys, I have to apologize. I've been away all summer, and couldn't get on here from Indiana because I was almost always busy. I'm just starting school, and I will be busy, but I'm gonna try and post as much as I can. Thanks to Shadow for keeping this thing alive, because I'm a terrible co-owner. I do want this thing to reach and end, so let's shoot for that.]]

Fawn wandered, grabbed her bag from Gamer, and then... wasn't sure about anything. She spaced sometimes, but this was extreme. Everything seemed to stop for her. She wasn't usually like this... this was beyond strange.

She shot out of her reverie, and focused again for the first time in what seemed like forever. "God, what just happened? I'm... wow, I was so out of it there, wasn't I? Where is everyone? Who's gone and who's here? Gamer?"

[[Please excuse my short posts... I've obviously not posted anything in a while, and have to get back in the swing of things.]]

Edge jerked, like she'd just been shocked, hissing and her hands shot up to cover her ears. But it was over just as soon as it started. The teen squeezed her eyes shut, rubbing her temples. "The Hell was that, Fawn?" She asked, reopening them, and wondering why such a high-pitched ring had come from the Avian's mind. She raised an eyebrow when she realized Fawn didn't seem to know the answer, herself. Actually, she didn't seem to know much of anything that was going on.

The ravenette stepped forward, putting a hand on her fellow flock member's shoulder. "You okay?" Her piercing light blue eyes seemed more unsure and concerned, than the fierce 'back off' they usually implied.

"Food that don't spoil. I'm an eighteen year-old, living on my own. I can't afford NOT to have that dosen't spoil." Rift promotly kicked open the pantry, revealing quite the stockpile of canned goods, noodles and other various munchies. "Take your freaking pick."

Stretching his arm out, Rift opened a drawer for Talon, one with a healthy stockpile of knives. "I believe I owe you presents for the past 8 years worth of birthdays and chirstmas. Enjoy, Angelcakes."

He moved past Merlin without a word, and retrieved a small wallet from his messy table. He paused for a moment, his eyes catching sight of a small picture frame not far from him. The bat quickly snatched it up, and shoved it inside his pocket.

He glanced over his shoulder, his face stiff and hard. "When are we going, Vic?"

"Yeah... I'm... I'm fine." Fawn murmured, her forehead throbbing as if it had just been hit with a thousand sledgehammers. She glanced up at Edge, and then down around where she was. It seemed like everyone had just knocked out, or shocked, or something. "So... you're good, I'm good, but where's Gamer? And Lily? And... Felix?"

She stood up, and her legs were like Jell-O, wobbly and unstable. She could feel the pins and needles stabbing her legs, and she grunted. "We need to get out of here... I have the money now.. we have plenty. We can buy more food and then do something. Or we could keep waiting and see what turns up."

{Hold it, hold it! Veggie, I know you're all busy and trying to post quickly so you can do stuff and whatever, but your posts are kind of confusing me now. First you were all "snatch bag from Gamer," like he was right there, and now you're all "where is he, 'cept I still has my bag." Can you explain, or edit or something please?}

(Yeah guys, I gotta agree with Velox. Please please please tell me you have a very good and convincing and believeable explanation for that shit. Because at the current moment, its making no sense to be what so ever. So, please give me a damn good explanation or edit it away.

Sorry if that souns mean, its not meant to be. I'm just really freakng confused...)

I will replace this with a post later tonight.

[[Have no clue, just going along with it. Figure she has something planned, and it'll turn into something.]]

[[I was thinking the first paragraph was kinda what happened (she got the bag, then something happened), then she woke up or whatever and couldn't figure it out. I'm really sorry.

And now I feel like an idiot.]]