Sky Division [Ore]

"I admit, Venus, yes, the circumstances of our meeting could've been better. I've never flown on a ship before."

"I wouldn't know. AS I said, I've never flown before."

After getting awake, Kairi went in search for the Glassdawn. As soon as she found it, she boarded the ship and went looking for her captian. Upon seeing him, Kairi said, "I'm sorry that I was late, sir. I had been sleeping, and wasn't aware of what squadron I was put on until I'd awaken. Forgive my tardiness."

Terrin sighed slightly. 'I knew somebody would ask, sooner or later.' "I can't remember, actually. I have minor amnesia. Minor, as in, I can't remember anything up to the past 3 days."

As he had already disappeared down into the lower portions of the Glassdawn, Jocu didn't hear the request to free Terrin. Passing a mercury zethyc, he was impressed by her sleek form and even sharper scythes. He watched her as she passed him to go back up on deck, then he went back to his self-imposed mission. He eagerly poked his nose where ever he could. He did pass on the word to head for the upper decks to everyone he met along the way. Before he had gotten half his fill he was summoned back to the main deck by a clanging bell. He was disappointed at first, but was quickly appeased by the interesting assortment of novelties that were introduced. He ogled as each new item was presented, and grinned mischievously as he considered how useful they would be.

After it was over, he was one of the first do engage in inspecting the pile. He handled everything within reach, and momentarily understood about half of the abilities each offered. He kept looking, trying to find the perfect one suited for his tastes. *This one is too clunky.... This is too breakable.... Too restraining.... Doesn't have interesting side attachments....* Picky as he was, Jocu was rapidly narrowing the acceptable mechagical gear for himself.

Corran was a little surprised at what the pair had brought. Wings for the flightless, and speed boosters for the winged. He cocked his head curiously at them, then picked up the pair that they had indicated. Awkwardly trying them on for size, he tried to see what the looked like, craning his neck to get a better view. From what he could see, Corran decided that they would work well, although he preferred his own wings without an accomplice.

___

Keerah shifted from her rest, as she heard a clamor on deck, and many zetains rushed past her door. She got up and peered out on deck curiously, it seemed that someone had dumped metal wing replicas. She supposed they were meant to be for the recruits, and made her way over to them. Seeing that they were supposed to fit over her wings, Keerah picked a pair that looked like it would be the right size up, and put it on. She flapped her wings quizzically, expecting it not to work with the metal, but found it effortless.

___

Aure went to pick up a pair, sifting through them with her scythes, being careful not to scratch anything, she finally found a pair that seemed to fit her, and tried to put it on awkwardly, finally she succeeded, and not liking the feel of them yet, took them off. Still carrying them, she looked around the deck, trying to spot anything that she had missed earlier.

Upon the captian not answering her, Kairi saw metal-like wings designed for the recruits. Curious, Kairi went over to see what size pair would fit onto her. She eventually found a pair that fit her decently well and put them on, trying them for size. Happy that she found a pair, Kairi went with the other recruits that had found a pair, and waited to see what would happen next.

'Yeah, I know him. I was the first person in this whole army to join his crew."

Spoiler:

The equipment clanged and clunkered as it was picked up. Caelestiss would be happy when the recruits actually put it on to test- once powered up, the magical portion would kick in and it would be as silent and as fluid as a feather. "Eh? Wasat?" cried that Captain out to the recruit who had spoken to him, he hadn't caught what she'd said over the din of the new equipment. Walking back over to the pile, he sifted through it with a taloned foot.

"The captain? He's ok, I guess. He can go a little crazy if you do anything to his ship.', Terrin said, smiling slightly.

Spoiler:

Terrin nodded. 'I don't know what it's made of, you should ask the captain."

Terrin shrugged. He noticed the large pile of mechagical equipment and walked over to it. He began sifting through the pile.

Terrin found a nice pair of wings, as well as a small mechagical glove that somebody had thrown to the side. He picked up the glove and put it on. 'Hmm... What does this do?', he thought. He cracked his knuckles, and the glvoe amplified it to over 1000 decibels. He smirked as most of the other pets fell to their knees, holding their ears in agony. 'Awesome!"

Spoiler:

Jocu heaved aside a large, heavy pack and spied a helm with a sort of rubber tail. The visor's sleek and light design invoked him to look closer, and he noticed a crumpled note tied to it. Pulling it free he scanned it,
'Highly versatile and specialized flying device. Not to be used by amateurs. Only designed for experienced and light-weight fliers. The sensitive nature allows seamless transition between maneuverability hovering, speed steering, and long distance soaring, these are referred to as Dragonfly, Swallow, and Vulture. In order to...'
Jocu unfolded the paper to realize that it was a large sheet covered with detailed notes. He rolled his eyes and folded it back up, stuffing it in his leg wraps. Then he picked up the visor and turned it this way and that. The intriguing note and a comparison to the other mechagical equipment settled it. Carrying it down to the Hold, he almost considered looking for a different piece of gear. *This silly thing keeps banging against my stomach. I don't know what those two metal half-cylinders attached to the rubber tail piece are for, I assume they provide power for flight somehow. At least the thing is light, even if it is annoying to carry from place to place. It was one of the smaller devices and its seemed to be one of the most impressive for its combination of abilities.... *

Once he entered the Hold he dumped it unceremoniously on a box, then hopped up to place the visor on his head. He nearly went cross eyed as the visor distorted his vision, and felt like gagging as he attempted to adjust to the outlandish change. He realized that it allowed him to see a much wider area than usual, so he could see the ceiling and floor at once, as well as 270 degrees around. As something touched his back, he twisted around sharply which made the world pitch bizarrely and nearly sent him tumbling. He struggled to focus while regaining his balanced and managed to dimly realized that the rubber was squirming and melding along his back. As his spine prickled, the twin canisters opened and four spindly metal arms snapped out. He tugged futilely at the visor, but it also had tightened. The wings continued to unfold, and now secondary quills were unfolding into a feathery mesh. He anxiously tried to figure out how to remove the blamed thing before it activated completely, but his paws couldn't find any catch. "Ow!" he jerked as he felt a jolt on his upper back. "Cut it out!" He yelped as he felt a smaller second and third on his neck and forehead.

The four wings woven of filaments began to beat uncertainly and a small message displayed on the visor. 'Evaluating.....' The speed of the wings increased rapidly, and Jocu struggled to hold on to the ground. Soon the lift was too great and he was hovering unevenly in place. With his vision impaired so, it was all he could do to try and keep in mind what was up and what was down. 'Dragonfly stage completed.' Suddenly the wings twisted and bent into two keen angles, and the entire thing pitched him forward. He was sent hurtling toward a row of boxes, with the metal beating the air powerfully. Though he could barely see straight he struggled to draw back from a certain crash, and barely managed to veer. He realized he was heading directly for the glass hull a few seconds before he would have hit it. Again he tried to pull away and was jerked upward at an even faster speed toward the ceiling. Text blinked in his peripheral vision: 'Swallow Stage complete.' He was wrenched for the last time as the wings slickly expanded into wide planes that abruptly caught the air and sent him lazily twirling downward. It gently placed him back on the solid floor, then clicked and folded to store itself back into the small half cylinders. With his head reeling, he shakily sat down and panted as he tried to figure out what just happened. 'Vulture Stage and Evaluation complete. Reflexes and instincts are satisfactory. Final adjustments being made to adapt to subject's unique characteristics.' The ordeal ended as his vision shimmered back to normal and he was released from the tight grip the device had on him.

"Great Trickster!" He breathed vehemently. "Hang that beastly thing!" He whipped it off and tossed it toward some boxes while he tried to calm his racing heart. He could hardly get ahold of himself, and stood there breathing heavily, clenching and unclenching his paws. Blindly he felt his way to another crate and sat down again while he swallowed dryly. *Deuce.* He sighed once he had regained his composure. *....Okay...... That was amazing. Miserable, harrowing, appalling, excruciating, and nauseating.... Sure...... But incredible too.* He finally raised his eyes to stare skeptically at where he had thrown the helm. Then pulled the folded note out of his hind leg wraps and read it meticulously.

Tsumi peeked into the first dorm with the intent to empty out her nearly bursting bag. Various zetians were milling about claming their beds. She saw a deserted bed in a corner, the open-ness of the ship unerved her slightly, the shimmery walls let in a calm yet bright light. She stashed the bulkier of the items in her bag under the bed, she wasn't too worried about these objects, they were simple, non-harmful herbs. She thought briefly about putting her pendant under the pillow but thought it would be safer with her. The bag was still straining with all the things but she was now able to close it. She looked around suspiciously before sliding the pedant under the blankets. She wrinkled the material a bit so no bump would appear.

After dashing out of the room, stumbling slightly and recieving a sharp, annoyed pain from her battered shoulder, she headed toward the top deck. Pets were sifting through an assortment of interesting objects on the floor. She crept up and observed them hesitantly before nudging something big and shiny with her paw. It made a low whirring noise before settling back into silence. Tsumi decided not to touch it again.
"Hmm, something simple..." She muttered out loud. She stalked the pile for a few more minutes before a glinting object caught her eye. The dainty metal harness was pale silver in colour, a few shades darker than her own pelt, but it was wings that really captured her heart. Each wing was made up of an assortment of delicate metal feathers, each one with it's own shade of light blue. Tsumi thought it looked like looking at the sky though a wispy cloud. She rushed over to them, hoping desperatly that they would fit her. Unfortunately, it was far too big, she had always been small for an illuminaire. She imagined that if she attampted to fly, she would slip right out. She was about to take it off when the thin metal wrapped itself around her of it's own accord. slightly frightened, she let out an involantary yelp. Looking around in shame she hoped feverently that no one had heard her.

She strutted forward a few steps proudly before she began to feel a little daft. How on eath did these things actually work? She wrestled with the thought of taking the beautiful contraption off. She raised her right paw to try and loosen the harness when the right wing suddenly flapped, smoothly and powerfully, she was sent slightly off balance and she nearly cried out in fear again. She swapped feet and the left wing beat. She reared up on her hind legs and the wings flapped so hard she was lifted and few centimeters off the deck, the moment her paws left the polished surface she felt as if she wieghed nothing. The wings continued to beat obediantly and she nosed forward, the wings responded perfectly. She touched back down and turned her snowy head to admire the glorious wings. The noted that etched into the harness was a small inscripition, it looked like only two words but her eyesight was far too poor to see what the fine script said.

The sun glinted off the little words and if only the old wolf's eyes had been a little younger she would have seen the little words saying the name of her wings; The Cloud

Spoiler:

The Captain stopped what he was doing and looked around as a sharp note hit his ears, followed by various grunts and groans from the recruits trying on the different pieces of equipment. This time, he did not hold back his face-palm, and he his his eyes under his great talloned paw. They're going to hurt themselves more with this junk than out on the field! Noticing that th noise was dying down, the Captain looked back down at the pile of wht appeared to him to be scrap metal. Seeing something that appered to be fabric, he picked it up out of curiousity. The silver-ish material seemed out of place with the various other appliances, and even if it was not actualy part of them the Captain figured it would make an amazing cape, or even a flag for the ship. That was the one thing he was missing, he couldn't fly his customized jolly roger (a gryphon's skull instead of the usual strangely-proportioned one) since he was now part of the army. The army! What a joke. This wasn't an army, this was a circus! I should have kept up my old job and plundered the lot. This gear could have sold for.. a couple hundred thousand each piece.
The pliant fabric shimmered in his paw and fell loosely against it, to show his every finger and claw's form. Finding a label, he squinted to read it's small printing:
For winged pets, excluding dactyl/firdrial/arlit. Place cape loosely over wings. Press..." Caelestiss, of course, didn't bother reading the rest. Pulling on the rest of the cape, he realized it was more than just a piece of fabric. There was also a beautifully smithed helmet, that was strangely splayed out to the side and wouldn't protect much but the top of his head. It was so intircately put together that th Captain didn't mid the mostly unecessary outer-work, and place it upon his head. Draping the cloth over his wings, with one paw, he attempted to keep balane with his other three as he struggled with the light fabric. Feeling foolish in the ill-fittin helmet and the fabric covering he awkwardly-splinted wings, he pulled on the bandage that had been keeping his left wing up. Letting the splint fall, he carefully moved his wing up and down. It wasn't perfectly healed yet, still incredibly sore, but it would do in a pinch. Wondering what to do with it next, he looked around to see the funny site of all the recruits trying on gear, or making off with it to their rooms. Picking up the instructions gain, he continued reading. "...press the green button on the inside of the helm for..." letting them go again, he reached up and fumbled for a button of any kind, and finally found one. The button recessed, but did not come out again. As he felt a tightening on his back, the Captain gave a short "Mpf!" before the fabric started to tightly cling to his wings. "Hey hey!" the Captain shouted, as the fabric wrapped tighter and tighter to his wings and the back of his neck leading to the helm. The helm's outer work started to close in on him, and he now understood why it looked so funny.It clamped around his ears tufts leaving them free, and one piece went down paralell along the brige of his nose and slightly onto his beak, but leaving it free to still open and close.
When the strange feeling stopped, Caelestiss peered around to see what was going on near his rear.
His eyes widening in shock, he realied that the fabri was gone, and what remined was his wings. The only difference was they now appeared to be made of silver metal, each piece glimmering and incredibly detailed as every on of his feathers had been. Testing it, he flapped his wings slightly, realizing he'd lost no movement whatsoever. Sqauwking in annoyance at the seemingly useless fabric, he picked up the instrcution once more. "... the commencement of the armour. Wing armour will protect from most attacks including arrows or fire, but little more. Vulnerable to freezing - do not place wet armour in cold places."
So, perhaps the fabric was useful after all. But how to get it off was another question.