[Kabrin Road] Birds of a Feather [Ethan]

[Hadrian]

7th Summer, 511 A.V. They had camped early that day and Hadrian had taken the opportunity to wander off for a bit for a little privacy to practice his magic, meditate, and think. Even in his father's home where, ostensibly, he was living with people, he spent most of his time in his room or out of the house. Now he was constantly with people. They were people he liked, but it was strange not to have a place of his own into which he could retreat on a regular basis to just be Hadrian. He was starting to recognize Ethan's lammergeier form even without his Auristics, although he glanced up from time to time with that Vision engaged that he might be sure it was Ethan keeping tabs on him from the air. It was good to be cautious when traveling out where the knight's influence only went so far as they were riding at the time. But he didn't mind so much. It felt good to know that someone cared enough to keep an eye on him, even when it was clear he wanted a little space. When he found a little creek, he took a seat on a boulder overhanging the water, cool from the shade, and sat back to relax a bit. But he couldn't relax for long before he sat up and began to work. He liked the work, and he hadn't been practicing his magic for the past few days save for his Auristics to keep an eye on things. The res came more easily to his hands for some reason, spinning out into a globe of glowing energy before him, through which he could control water, attract it, repel it, shape it, create it. But the water that came roping up from the creek to dance around his sphere was dark with mud and he blinked at it. Sometimes, of course, the water brought a bit of detritus, but mud? It took a moment, but then it hit him. Mud. He concentrated, the energy feeling different from before in a way he couldn't really articulate just yet. Pebbles and stones rose to dance around his sphere as well, and then the water and the mud and the stones and the res collapsed into a tight sphere before he urged it into a controlled explosion that froze, and... It really froze. Standing before him, his energy no longer in use, was an abstract ice sculpture, encasing stones and floes of mud. He blinked. And again. Then he laughed, stood up, and shot a bolt of res straight up into the air, that dissipated rather quickly once beyond his sphere of influence, though that seemed to have grown too. It was a sign that Ethan would recognize from when he used to visit Hadrian in his father's home, an invitation to come down and speak with him. He had something exciting to share, after all. Hadrian was now a geomancer.

[Ethan]

Ethan understood the need to have time to yourself. He wasn't used to spending time in a large group, since he was separated from his former master. It was only a couple years to a human but for Ethan. It felt like a life time. A life time since he felt comfortable and trusted another person. Especially a human, but in his defense Hadrian was no normal man. He seemed honest. decent, friendly and even a little loving. It was the most interesting thing in his life so far. It was something that he poured over constantly in his mind but didn't dare say aloud. The fear of jinxing it was too great. Ethan was feeling similar to Hadrian. Both of them needed time away from the main group. So it was perfect that Ethan kept watch from miles above while Hadrian walked along the forest floor. Even from that distance he could clearly see the Hydromancer. It was a little funny, how slow humans moved. Traveling with horses and on foot was killing Ethan's patience. Even Cathan was too slow for his liking. So watching Hadrian stroll around was like circling a single ant for hours. Even though it was an ant he protected and watched every step of the way. Boredom still took over the Kelvic. His eyes focused on nothing in particular and his wings hardly even beat. The winds were so calm and without resistance that he barely had to pay attention to anything at all. It was a warm high rising wind that seemed to flow straight threw his feathers and sooth his skin. Ethan snapped immediately out of the trance the second the light flashed threw the sky. It wasn't a huge show but his eyes didn't need much to switch back into focus. They natural sensors of anything that moved. The light came from Hadrian's position so he didn't hesitate to drop into a sharp dive. It looked as if the slow moving bird simply ripped out of the blue sky and was plummeting down. A couple hundred feet before the trees and ground. He opened his wide wings, tilted to one side and turned in sharp loops to slow himself. He was able to perch in a tree branch a couple yards from his teacher. Once he made a general sweep of the area and found nothing he hopped from the branch and fluttered to the floor. He quickly changed then walked towards the other man. “What happened Hadrian? Did something try to get you?” Ethan's head twisted and turned as he looked where his higher view might of missed. Nothing was wrong except perhaps Hadrian's expression... He didn't notice it at first but Hadrian looked rather odd. His hand was raised and having an almost excited look about him? “...Teacher?” All the caution and anxiety from his voice was gone. Now simple almost playful curiosity remained.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian just laughed with a boyish sort of joy, and greenish res spun out from his hands into a whirlwind, drawing stones and pebbles into the mix, and then one by one flipping them into the stream to disappear into the depths, likely confusing a fish or two. Spindling limbs wrapped around Ethan and pounded him on the back, the flush of his excitement like a fire to embrace. "Another element, Ethan... I can work stone now!" He pulled back after a moment, not sure how Ethan would take his exuberant affection, so uncharacteristic for Hadrian, the cold fish. "Sorry, I'm just... excited... I should calm down." But he couldn't and so he decided a shock might do the trick. Then he most likely shocked the hells out of Ethan when he began stripping off his clothes and jumped into the creek, splashing in the water that was cold despite the early summer heat. Such behavior was also uncharacteristic of the young enchanter, whose slender limbs bespoke a lack of exercise and pale skin lack of exposure to the elements. Finally he sat on some boulder beneath him, grinning ruefully at Ethan. His antics both bemused and befuddled him. "Sorry, I... I don't know what came over me."

[Ethan]

Ethan had never seen Hadrian this happy before. A smile here and a laugh there. Never the overly joyful type though, but always nice and pleasant to be around. One thing that captivated Ethan was the use of Res. His soul seeped out like a gas and started swirling around his hands. Sucking in stones and shooting them into the small river. It was beautiful to see and made Ethan a little envious. He longed to control the power that he first saw in Hadrian... Then again Ethan's thirst for magical knowledge never stopped, but it was definitely something he would have to talk with Hadrian about. "Another element, Ethan... I can work stone now!" Hadrian shouted, rich with excitement and joy. Ethan gave a slightly wry but happy look. He wanted to smile and celebrate with Hadrian but he decided to let him have his moment. Hadrian, the cold fish. Seemed to shy back from his excited behavior and tried to apologize. “No, no it's perfectly fine I'm just... Letting you...?” Ethan tried to finish his sentence but couldn't. Hadrian just started... Stripping right there!? A small but deeply dirty thought came to mind... When people got excited they got excited, men especially.... Although Hadrian didn't seem the type of man to just ask for sex. Although his view of human's changed in that area. Men and women seemed perfectly comfortable with having sex whenever their bodies needed it. Especially towards anyone that was attractive and had half a brain. It was rather pathetic The idea wasn't foreign to Ethan though. Con's involved seduction most of the time. Seduction often went to far and when it went to far you had to compromise your body. Simple exchange between comfort and what needs to be done, but with Hadrian? He was his teacher after all. Could this be an obligation? Even if it was needed. Hadrian was a nice man. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world... As Ethan's mind was wrapped in the pro's and con's. Hadrian was splashing into the water with boyish glee. The sounds pulled him out of the depth of his mind. He smiled watching the man. Noticing how pale he was. “The sun is good for you Hadrian, you need more of it! You look like the moon out there!” Ethan laughed and started walking after him into the water. The water was cold and he hated it. Something about the cold always bothered him. By the time he tip toed across the water, Hadrian had already planted himself down on a boulder in the middle of the stream. “Sorry, I... I don't know what came over me. ” The man tried to apologize but Ethan would have none of it. “Your excited I understand. Happy is a handsome look for you.” He sat himself down besides the other. His dusty bronze skin grew dark in comparison next to Hadrian. “I need to get you naked more often. You will blind people.” Ethan laughed and bumped shoulders with the other man. Before he started speaking again. Asking him questions on what the new element meant and how it all worked. He had a useful idea. “Don't mind me I just need to record your emotion for my Aura collection.” Ethan placed a cool hand on Hadrian's back. Where the heart beat was strongest and let a small about of Djed flow into the sensory parts of his soul. Just enough to concentrate the Aura into his hand. Ethan closed his eyes and listened to the mans heart beat. His hand was so close to the heart it hurt his ears a bit, but he tried not to pay attention to the pain. Va-Vump Va-Vump Va-Vump Va-Vump silver and dark green Aura pulsed out from the heart with each beat. He didn't know what the heart colors meant but they never really seemed to change. The aura's coming from the skin were always changing. He guessed they were the emotions at the time, and the heart meant something more stable. He had to focus deeply to tell the colors from the skin and heart beats. Light orange and teal colors swirled around and formed Hadrian skin. Ethan never saw this color much in Hadrian. He sat there for a moment or two trying to remember the colors. Remembering the feel of the emotions. If Ethan had to make a guess at what Hadrian was feeling. It would be joy or pride. Perhaps these two colors where Joy and Pride mixing together in his skin. When he felt he looked long enough. Ethan let go of the small amount of Djed and felt his sight go black. All hearing and pulses went away and he slowly opened his eyes. “What are you feeling? Joy... Pride, accomplishment? And what is all this about a new Element! You must be very proud.” Ethan had a goofy smile, being able to read people threw “Magic” was still strange and amazing to him. Also the idea of sitting next to a reserved and naked Hadrian was making his smile a little bigger.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian smirked in response to Ethan's jibe and flushed a little, embarrassed a bit, but mostly not heeding things. Ethan was as much animal as human, if not more, so the observation was merely that, not a loaded response. "All my family are fair, dark-haired, and blue-eyed. But... all right, I'm probably the palest of them all." He laughed, still high-spirited, though Kendall was the only other person who saw him naked, and Kendall liked him the way he was. Ethan was just being pragmatic. So pragmatic, he was even remembering to practice his Auristics when encountering a new emotion he could test against his control state. Hadrian was proud of Ethan's acuity and growing skill. "Joy, pride, accomplishment, sure... I just feel good. I mean, it won't last. I'll be discontented again soon that I haven't mastered all four elements, but this is a big step. Now I can control Water and Earth, and with greater power. But I have to be careful... just like I've told you with the Auristics, I don't want to overgive. More power means more potential danger. And someday hopefully I'll control Air and Fire as well. The better to protect you and Kendall and the rest..." That warning given, though, he felt like he was on a winning streak and wanted another accomplishment, another feather in his cap. Feathers. "Ethan... would you mind shifting back? I want to memorize your feathers, learn to Morph them onto my body. The sooner I can become a bird, the sooner you can teach me to fly." There was a light on inside of him that Ethan would surely see. Joy, yes, that was there. An expansiveness, like anything was possible. And even as he peered at Ethan, always interested to see the magic flash as he changed, Hadrian considered whether Ethan was ready for a new magic. He figured with a bird nature, Ethan would take to Air more readily than any other element and was curious to record that development as well.

[Ethan]

Ethan listened to Hadrian's words of warning very carefully and took them to heart. Of course he would, they were from his teacher and the thought of over giving was a very scary idea. He already felt the drain of using Auristics and anything more would be frightening. Although he couldn't help notice how down the man got. How quickly he was able to shift right back into being reserved and calm. It was interesting and Ethan knew there was no bother in trying to cheer him up. It was who he was and it was perfectly fine. “Ha, the sooner I can kick your butt in flying you mean?” Ethan smiled and gave him a coy look. “You might want to watch out though, when a mother teachers her hatchlings to fly she simply drops them out of the nest. Of course I won't drop you out of a tree but it'll be hard straining work. You will need to build your muscles as a bird as well. Working out in human form is useless.” Leaving that food for thought. Ethan crouched forward and started to tug on his heart. When he could feel the magic about to burst forward he gave out a sarcastic “Caw” and shifted. He didn't know exactly where the Djed cam out of to change him or even if it was Magic you could use, but it felt like it shoots from his chest and engulfs him instantly in a blinding golden white light. Hadrian would have to analyze him one day when he changes. He wanted to know everything there was to know about his second form and the change that happens. When Ethan was shrunken down and morphed into a bearded eagle. He huddled closer to his teacher and extended the wing closest to him. Stretching every feather out as much as he could while keeping it comfortable. He had posed before and remembered it was hell on his muscles. This time he learned his lesson. Although one thing he did wish he did before this. Was rub some dirt onto himself. Ethan hardly even took flight without rubbing dirt into his feathers wherever he was. It was a natural sort of camouflage to hide his mismatched and bright feathers, and it made him feel vulnerable without it. He tried to forget the compulsive thoughts by taking the time to clean out loose feathers on the inside of the wing he extended. After a moment he realized Hadrian could use them and held one out in his beak for him. It was a downy feather. Frayed and small compared to his flight feathers but every thing was important on a bird and needed constant care. Like a good blade it must be kept sharp and clean.

[Hadrian]

"Indeed," he said with a smile. He had no delusions that learning to fly would be easy, yet it was still one of his magical goals. What child didn't grow up yearning to fly like a bird? As he watched Ethan shift from naked man to feathered bird, he learned a bit more, though most of it was ineffable. He felt he was growing close to a new level of vision, which was terribly exciting too, because then he felt he would understand everything about him with a more profound sense of reality. He took the wing in delicate hands, careful not to pull, and let his hands sense what they would sense while his vision and his Vision did the same. But when Ethan held out his down feather to him, Hadrian released the wing to focus on the down. After a few minutes, the down seemed to multiply in his hands, but then he released that bit of fluff Ethan had given him, and he could see that it wasn't multiplying, exactly, but that Hadrian was growing it out of his morphed hair follicles. Hadrian held out his hands with their thickening blossoms of down, and he smiled to Ethan. "Awfully warm," he noted, "though that might just be the effort and the summer air. Does this feel right to you? If so, then that's one type of feather down..."

[Ethan]

Ethan was still fairly new to magic and was shocked to see the downy feathers multiply and come out of Hadrian's skin. It was an interesting enough concept though. Morphing allowed you to grow something from your body. What was the limit though? Could you create clothes from your skin or was it just bodily things like fur or an extra limb? An interesting question to ask later. "Awfully warm," Hadrian said it more to himself than Ethan but it was hilarious all the same. What did he expect? Feathers were the only thing keeping Ethan or any bird from freezing to death in the sky. The downy feathers were probably the warmest ones, and made up the insulation. It's interesting the things he never thought about til now. Especially with his quizzical nature.. "though that might just be the effort and the summer air. Does this feel right to you? If so, then that's one type of feather down..." The young Kelvic thought about how he would test the feather for a second. When he got an idea, Ethan hopped a little closer and nipped at it with his beak. The main point was to taste the feather. See if their was a odd taste or texture to it. Ethan went back and forth between his own downy feathers. Nothing was strange so it passed that test. Next he got closer and slowly bit the feather centimeter by centimeter. Feeling the texture and thickness of the feathers. Compared to his own they were fine. Nice and thick, good for flight. Not too heavy or frayed that It would cause drag. Next Ethan started tugging on the feathers. Testing how easy it came out, and to his surprise it popped out fairly easy. That wouldn't do at all. They needed to stick in and only come out when they were old and needed to naturally. With hard winds and flapping, if your feathers were loose. You would be running out long before you reached the clouds. The Breaded Eagle sharply shook his head a couple times and squawked in disapproval Ethan held out a wing and stretched it upwards so he could get a better look at the feathers he needed.

[Hadrian]

"All right, all right." He laughed. "Don't squawk at me or I'll have you for dinner." He reached out slowly so as not to spook instinctual violence out of the otherwise gentle raptor, and scratched him gently where he was downiest. Then he concentrated, and down began to sprout out of every hair follicle, even his face covered with snowy feathers. It was a good thing he was no longer allergic to bird dander. All the same, he focused on the connection of feather to skin, strengthening the bond before holding out his arm for Ethan to give the new batch of down another test. With his clothes lying on the bank, he looked down at the entirety of his body covered with down, replacing hair with longer feathers that hadn't quite shortened to down. The feathers on his head were darker, closer to feathers of flight even though such things wouldn't need to be on his head at all. While Ethan tested his second attempt, he began to stroke the lammergeier's flight feathers so he could tackle those next, and then with those extremes understood, he could create all the feathers in between. "I would sneak up on the others like this, but I feel like Sondra would smash my head in first and ask questions later..." He chuckled and grew tufts of flight feathers, running his fingers through what had been hair, molding those aberrant feathers into something closer to what Ethan wore, similar feathers growing out from his elbows and along the underside of his arms. He looked a bit ridiculous, but it was only a study for a greater work of art.

[Ethan]

"All right, all right." Hadrian laughed and smiled. "Don't squawk at me or I'll have you for dinner.” If he could. Ethan would of frowned with playful contempt. He cawed one last time in defiance. Have him for dinner? Hadrian was lucky not to have his eyes pecked out for dessert like he did to most carcasses that didn't rot quick enough. Although when Hadrian scratched the bird on his fluffy down all was forgiven. The magician pulled back and started to concentrate. While he did that Ethan tended to his feathers. A ridiculous habit bordering an obsessive urge. To clean and groom anything out of place. With a few slight quick adjustments to the places Hadrian touched. Bright golden orbs focused on the man and closed in concentration. If Hadrian was practicing his magic then he would as well. This was the first time he did it in his more natural form. So he gave only a little energy to work his way into it. He also brushed himself up against Hadrians leg to get a better sense of his Aura. Close contact saved energy and cut down the weariness afterwards. The strange and exciting thing about sensing Aura while an animal. Was how surprisingly easy it was for his mind to concentrate. It was often the case that he had to take a long moment to focus hard enough to get am Aura into perspective, and even longer to make it defined enough to get a general shape. Now it seemed as if his mind was clear and free of other thoughts. A natural focus of a more simple mind set while he was an Eagle. It only took a couple of seconds and a slight focus to bring the pulsing Aura into perspective. The familiar dark green's and silvers heart beats crashed against his skin. Bringing with it the strange sounds, feelings and almost side effects of the Aura. It was enough to over whelm the young Kelvic and it did the first couple of times he practiced on his own. Until he learned to forget about it all and take pieces of information in strides. Little by little to avoid strain and confusion. Ethan began his short but important check list like any good new scientist. Heart beat was regular, the sound of it was typical with nothing out of the ordinary. It was a little harder to concentrate on the texture and effect of Aura's so he left that alone for now. The colors were normal with slight variations in tint but nothing more. Next was the internal body and skin. Ethan had to concentrate for a second. Feeling the pulses that traveled threw Hadrian's body. It was a little fuzzy but that was typical. Nothing was obviously different about the structure... No, something was different almost wrong. As Hadrian concentrated on the feathers and their connection. They started sprouting from his skin, in large clumps. Covering from his arms and chest all the way to his head.... It was the strangest thing to FEEL magic as it was worked. It created more than a straight forward color of the the Aura. It wasn't even classified in that way... It was almost a pure feeling or sound. Like static or sharp jerks of steel and crunching noises. Like a thousand bones shifting and splinting as they bent too fart. It was too much information too fast, and he couldn't handle it just yet. Ethan dropped the sense of Aura a little too quickly and felt the heavy sudden weight on his chest. It was almost a dirty feeling of grime. Like oil dripping threw the body slowing everything down. The large bird shook his head a couple times and looked at Hadrian's work to forget about the feeling. "I would sneak up on the others like this, but I feel like Sondra would smash my head in first and ask questions later..." Ethan would of clicked his beak as a sign of laughter. If his beak wasn't working quickly by tugging and pulling at the feathers. Making sure everything was in prime shape and to Ethan's surprise it all checked out. His feathers grew in strong but still bent to grooming. Besides the stubborn feather here and there. He didn't have a bit of complaint about his work. The flight feathers were a little ridiculous but beautiful on his body. Ethan stretched out a wing so he could get a better look at the multiple layers of feathers. All worked together to complete flight so he needed to know them intimately.