THIS IS THE OWLERY

[Micha Volkov]

The girl flinched back, not from fear, but from pure instinct as a bird came screeching at her. It kept up with her for a moment, and then swooped in front of her before again returning to fly at her side. Her eyes rounded a bit, and she flicked her gaze to meet the bird's. Its eyes were not gray like Gabriel's, but the intellect she saw within their depths could not belong to a bird. Perhaps she could be wrong, but...

"You are a shapeshifter?" she asked, surprised, then allowed a twitch of a smile at her own stupidity. "Of course, you cannot speak back. Ignore my question." Why else would a random bird start following her around? A quick glance back, and she had confirmed her thoughts: Gabriel no longer stood at the hole in the wall.

Well, then.

A quick shift of her knees, and the broom tilted up, looping her upside down then just as quickly right-side up again, a breathy laugh escaping her lungs as she did so. Color splashed her pale cheeks, and she spoke to the goshawk, twisting her broom so she very nearly ran into it.

"Can you keep up?"

And then she was off.

[Gabriel Adams]

He let out a small cry when she spoke, the only answer he could give. It might mean yest to any other bird, but Micha didn't speak bird - surely - so it wouldn't mean anything to her. He didn't ignore her question, since he had a small way of answering. Oh well.

It felt good, to fly. Even as chaotic as they were being about the whole thing.

Goshawks could turn on a dime. Gabriel knew it, had tested it to the point where he'd almost smashed himself against the ground or a tower. When things got boring, he went and experimented, and flying like a maniac was one of the not-illegal things he could try. Besides, it was good to get fresh air, even if it was whipping by you at a hundred miles an hour.

Unfortunately, Gabriel couldn't read minds. It just didn't work like that. So, when Micha twisted suicidally towards him, they nearly collided. Gabriel spun in the opposite direction, barely hearing her words as the blood pounded in his ears.

That little ass.

He shot up after her, level, trying to overtake her, but brooms were made for ascent as well as descent, and a bird's body wasn't. So content that he was near level, he let himself go. Then, in a sporadic moment of insanity, Gabriel turned and folded his wings.

The bird dropped like a stone, plummeting to earth with a wild scream. It was as close to laughing as a bird could get. The ground rushed up to meet him, trees going from furry toothpicks to trees with needle laden branches and some with no leaves at all. They'd gotten away from the tower a bit, but not terribly far.

As he might have touched the tree tops, Gabriel stretched wings and circled, barely flapping, to head back to the tower.

That'd been fun, but Gabriel had trouble being entertained by such things for very long.