Power Troubles

"Nope! You're safe as long as you don't try to eat me!" Avian laughed, not realizing how ironic that statement was.

"Why do you try to hide your form though? You're a pretty horse," she asked curiously.

She stretched out a hand and held it just in front of his snout to feel his breathing. She always liked it when horse's would breathe on her hand, warming it. As she held her hand there, she ran her mind, thinking of ways to help him transform back. Maybe a power coach could help...

"What I do to people like this isn't pretty, though....and I have a bit of a reputation. The less people who know, the less likely they are to drag me out of my room in the middle of the night with a shotgun."

A chill went through the hand that rested on his snout. She wondered what he did to people to make him so...unpopular. All this time, she had been hanging out with him, thinking he was safe, but in reality, she barely knew anything about his powers. She only knew he was a horse, but with what powers, she couldn't tell. Feeling a little unsafe with her hand so close to him, she slowly retracted it. But then again, Lochlann knew she was dangerous as well, an army of birds just behind her. Yet he still chose to be around her, so she figured she didn't have room to talk.

"Maybe we should start heading back to the school. I'll walk you back, and see if I can walk this off. No puns intended."

"Okay," she gave a weak smile and began the walk back.

Then she remembered. The birds were still there. When she turned around, they were right where they were before, staring intently at her from the trees. This time, she decided to keep her anger in check. Maybe her getting mad at them was actually what kept them from leaving. Stretching her arms out to the birds, she tried to concentrate her energy on them. She kept her breathing deep and calm and tried to picture her followers flying off. When she opened her eyes, she saw they were gone. Except the harpy eagle. Such a willful bird of prey would be hard to shake off. But as she stepped back a few paces, she saw it wasn't trailing after her. Instead, it perched there, watching her and Lochlann. She wondered how long it would watch them. Eagles had amazing eye sight, so it could stay there for long after they left, still able to see them.

"Let's go. I don't think it'll leave anytime soon, but I don't think it'll follow us either," she sighed in relief and continued to walk back.

"That was pretty cool,"

"Thank you!" Avian felt herself blush a bit, still not used to being praised for her abilities.

Something about walking next to Lochlann in horse form gave her a sense of peace. Maybe it was just that he was an animal and she found herself more calm when surrounded by them. She couldn't imagine why people would want to hurt him for his horse for, though.

"Do you think, maybe, you'd want to go to the park sometime?" he asked. "There's a lot of birds there. I think it'd be fun to watch them, and you seem more relaxed when they're around, though I apologize if I'm just making assumptions."

Unlike the last time he asked to hang out, Avian responded with a level head. This time, Lochlann wasn't some stranger in a cafe.

"That sounds great!" she grinned, "I suppose I do feel safer around birds. So when do you want to meet up?"

A meeting at the park and the June picnic? Avian was pretty sure she'd found her first friend at the academy.