Strange Happenings
Midnight. They always came at midnight. The chimes from the old grandfather clock in the den jolted Daniel out of his restless dreams. It wasn't the chimes that woke him so much as the knowledge that They were coming. It was the same horrifying ritual, every single night.
The room was illuminated by an eerie pale green glow. Three figures in haz-mat suits stood around his bed. One of them held a large briefcase, another held a gun, and the third--the apparent leader, from the way he acted--was making entries into a large handheld computer. Daniel tried to escape, to run, to even move, but some unseen force held him in place, as immobile as the bed itself. The leader looked up from his computer and signaled to the one holding the briefcase, who set the case down and began to open it. Daniel strained to see its contents, but couldn't from his position. If only he could move...
The leader reached forward, grabbed the bedcovers and--
The shrill blast of Daniel's alarm clock filled the room. He'd had that dream again, the same one he'd been having every night for nearly a month. Except that it didn't feel like a normal dream. It felt more like a memory, but one that had been partially forgotten. Anyway, Dan had more important things to worry about, so he pushed whatever it was aside for the moment. Today was the last day of school, finally. All he had to do was survive his last few final exams, and he'd be home free. He wasn't about to let a creepy dream get him down.
***
Dr. DiCaoz glanced over his biology classroom. "Is anybody still working on the final?" he asked tiredly. He paused for a moment, then said, "If everybody is finished, you may talk quietly amongst yourselves for the remainder of the period." As the class erupted in chatter, he went back to nursing his hangover.
Daniel loved his biology class. It wasn't just that he was good at it, or that it was the last class of the day. By some bit of luck or fate, he happened to be in the same class as his four closest friends, Gassan, David, Pammy, and Jake. Gassan, David, and Pammy had become absurdly popular since coming to high school. Gassan was Lebanese and therefore "exotic," David was a star swimmer, and Pammy was a cheerleader. In retrospect, popularity was an inevitability. To the other popular kids, Jake an avid follower of the Furry subculture (he called it a craze, but nobody else did) and Daniel, the introspective writer, were social liabilities. Still, Gassan, David, and Pam never let their newfound "friends" keep them away from Jake and Dan. Privately, Daniel was grateful that he had managed to befriend the four people who appeared to be immune to high school drama.
"So, what'd you guys think?" Pammy whispered.
"I'm pretty sure Dr. Di is a nutcase," Gassan answered quickly. He was met with a chorus of approval from his companions.
"Anyway," Pam continued, "are we having our annual Thank-God-The-Schoolyear's-Over party tonight?"
"I can't go," Jake said, "I've got a convention."
"I can't go either," said David, "My dad's taking me camping. He's on a back-to-nature kick."
"I'm visiting my grandma," Gassan said. Pammy rolled her eyes.
"Alright," she sighed, "when do you guys get back?"
"Sunday"
"Sunday evening"
"Sunday, but it'll be late."
"So," Pammy continued, "is Monday night alright with everyone?"
***
The days passed quickly. By the time Monday arrived, he had gone an entire weekend without his mysterious dreams. He was mostly relieved, but part of him wished the visitors would come back so he could find out what they were up to.
The streets were charged with an eerie calm. A summer storm was coming. As Daniel reached Pam's door, he couldn't help but feel a strange foreboding. Something was decidedly wrong. He rang the bell.
"Come in," called Pammy. Dan opened the door and found friend sitting on the floor in a tidy circle. They were all staring at him, an unsettling hunger in their eyes. "We are playing Truth or Dare," Pammy intoned mechanically. "Please, join us. Truth or Dare?"
"Please choose Dare," Gassan said, in the same unearthly voice.
"The Truth is never any fun," agreed David, still in the same tone. Throughout the exchange, none of the four took their eyes off of Daniel.
"Is everything alright?" he asked. "You all seem...different."
Pammy answered in the same monotone as before: "We are collectively unnerved at a series of recurring dreams we have been having. Perhaps you too are experiencing these visions?"
"Yeah," Dan said, "but I'm not acting that weird about it."
"Perhaps," Pammy said, "All will be made more clear if you answer this simple question: Truth...or Dare?"
Written by Zodiac on 31 May 2008
Simple truth
Daniel took a moment to glance about the room. The scent of fresh food baking in the kitchen to the right, the couch propped up against the wall and a television near the window. Everyone was seated on the floor, Gassain with his legs crossed and Pammy making sure her frilly dress covered all of her legs. Jake Sprawled out lazily and David looking over his shoulder with a nervous twitch.
“I guess I’ll pick truth. How long have you four been playing?” Daniel asked as he dropped into a seat next to everyone. Pammy scooting to one side so it formed a more complete circle, everyone facing into the center.
“About an hour by now.” Answered Jake.
“I think … yeah you missed the brownies.” David sounded disappointed.
“Still wish you’d pick Dare you know, the truth is boring.” Gassain complained.
“But it’s the only thing that’s important right now. Daniel?” she intones with that deliberate, unearthly monotone. “What have you been dreaming of?”
“Nothing the past two nights.” Daniel answered truthfully, thinking back to the calm weakened. “I go to sleep. Blackness. Then wake up. Pretty boring.”
“The last two. What about before that?” Pammy is quick to press.
“He’s being evasive. That must mean he’s with them.” Jake sits up, staring at Daniel with concern.
“Oh and what, you think he’s replaced?” David accused.
“Guys, guys, chill.” Gassain interrupted. “We’re here to play a game alright, you can talk about your mindwashing theories when it’s your turn.”
“What on earth did you guys put in the brownies? Starting to think I should be glad I didn’t eat one.” Daniel snickered to the three bickering teenagers.
“But would you please answer the question?” Pammy once more. “It’s important.”
“Okay fine.” Daniel sighed. “I dreamed I was tied down a slab, or something. Three guys, a computer, someone taking notes. I never get to see what they’re doing. In the dream I can’t even turn my head.”
“No briefcase?” David leans forward with a stare.
“Well, uh. Actually one of the guys did have a case on him. He opens it up. But I never see what’s inside.” Daniel replies.
“And then the other guy has a gun. So we’ve got Noteguy, Computerguy, and Boxguy.” Jake pipes up. “Clearly they are all supervillians.”
“In Hazmat suits?” Gassain balks.
“It’s just their costume, duh.” Jake rolls his eyes, acting as if this were obvious.
“In my dream they looked more like government types.” David crosses his arms. He looks down, taking a keen interest in his feet.
“They, uh. The three guys did have suits on in my dream too.” Daniel pipes up. “As soon as they lift off the covers I’m awake.”
“How long have the dreams been happening?” Pammy.
“I don’t know. A while? Its stopped recently so I’d like to think it’s over now.” Daniel answered.
“Hah! Not a chance.” Jake retorts. “Your dream took place in your own bed, and you still think it’s a dream? Mine too. Identical.”
“We are not being invaded by brain steeling government employees.” Gassain groans, leaning back against the couch.
“Not just employees! Tax collectors.” Jake counters.
“And they need the biological protection for …” Pammy asks, looking to each of three. “What? Exactly?”
“Maybe Gassain’s room is just so dirty they don’t want to take chances.” Jake grins.
“And maybe they know what you wear in yours, and just don’t want to touch anything period.” Gassain snapped back. Jake wasn’t entirely amused.
“Guys.” David pipes up in a stutter voice. “This isn’t coincidence guys. We won’t all have the same dream at the same time because nothing unusual happened.”
“Maybe it’s a prank.” Daniel offers to the group, looking at Gassain specifically as the man casually lounged about.
“By who? In my dream it was clearly three adults.” Pammy offers.
“All three of them men I can tell you that, way too broad in the shoulder.” Jake nods.
“Well then what do we do about it?” David questions. He looked scared. More scared than anyone else in the room.
“Set up cameras?” Daniel suggested with the usual earnestness.
“I could try this, yes.” Pammy nods, now looking down to think it over.
“Guess I could rig something up. Don’t have the memory to record the entire night though.” Jake mentions.
“What if the men just take the camera away? Or turn it off?” David questions with alarm. “Its not like I can afford some hidden spy camera right now and the ones I do have are really big and easy to spot.”
“Better than me.” Gassain shrugs. “I don’t have any camera at all, let along some way to hide it. You guys are just being paranoid here.”
“How can you say it’s just a dream?” Pammy looks serious. “With all of us, even you.”
“Don’t know.” Gassain holds up his hands defensively. “But they stopped, didn’t they? So long as we don’t have the dream again we don’t really have anything to worry about.”
“I guess so.” David admits reluctantly.
“Computerguy has probably already moved on to his next victim. I’ll bet other kids around school are having the same dream we are.” Jake muses, looking out the window as if with expectation.
“We are not calling him Computerguy.” Gassain pouts.
“How about ComGuy then. Shorter to say?” David offers.
“If the dreams have stopped then we only need to worry about them if they don’t come back. But have they actually stopped?” Pammy inquires, sitting up strait and looking all four of the boys directly in the eye. “How long ago did the dreams seem to stop?”
“About eight days for me.” Jake raises his arm.
“I’ll guess about six days, I noticed I could sleep easier last Sunday.” David offers reluctantly, his arms still folded across his chest. He looked like he was cold.
“Four days.” Gassain shrugs, leaning his head back into the couch and looking over his fingernails. The ceiling light cast the shadow of a hand across his face. “Didn’t count how long they went on for but I’m pretty sure they aren’t coming back.”
“Two days.” Daniel finally answers. “It stopped on Friday. Last day of school.”
“You mean the day D.i.C. came in hang over?” Gassain perks back up.
“As if you have any right to talk little fascinated by finger shadows.” Jake sticks his tongue out.
“Well, I think I answered all the truths I needed here guys.” Daniel steps in, propping one knee up and wrapping his arms around it. “How about we get back to the game?”
“I agreed.” Pammy nods. “Its your turn Daniel, go ahead and pick.”
And thus the five teenagers played their game on into the night. Drinking when they felt like it, having a ready dinner once it was finished. Revealing truths and convincing each other to pull off embarrassing pranks. Pammy ended up shoving two straws in her nose while Jake took pictures. Jake was forced to act like a bunny, leaning against the table with a carrot in one hand like a cigarette. Cell phone cameras immortalizing the image for all to see. David was dared with putting ice down his shirt. Gassain rather effortlessly breezed through a dare to climb the branch on the tree outside.
And Daniel was dared to speak only in Riddles for a full hour, which seemed much more difficult to pull off than he’d expected.
They went home, they slept, and when they woke up in the mourning something was completely different.
Written by Arbon on 25 May 2016
Enter: Sphinx
The chill wind blowing through the leaves, rustling in the grass. Daniel’s eyes peaked open to the glimmer of a sunrise over a rocky outcropping, the land dotted with trees and bushes. He closed his eyes right back and attempted to roll around for his blanket. The hands felt like they were covered in oven mitts, and when he reached over his back he could feel the shaggy hair of some animal. A dog? No, a cat maybe. Daniel could swear there was something of a tarp draping down over the side of his haunches, yet his arms could grasp onto the edge.
He couldn’t find his pillow either.
Resting a chin against his arms, tucking his face into the crook of his elbow, the teenager simply curled up in wait for the alarm clock to beep. Any minor problems in his situation could be ignored for another hour or two, he wasn’t getting up for anything beyond an emergency. A wide, deep yawn rambles out of his mouth. He almost thought he heard the girlish tones of a woman yawning with him, but didn’t bother looking around to check. Sleep, yet more sleep, he could feel the heat of the sun beaming directly onto his flanks now. Warming his face, making his left side feel as he were back at the beach while his right side was chilled in the morning dew.
He peaked his eyes back open. No pillow, no blanket, and no walls. He could see directly into the side of a high cliff face, ancient roots stabbing into the dirt and weaving around the larger rocks like tendrils. Bushes dotted the landscape, the grass was chilled and wet by the misty morning. Looking out deeper into the valley he could even spot early fog just starting to rise above the tree tops. He couldn’t find his phone. His alarm was missing. He didn’t even see the neighbor’s house somewhere beyond a window.
Raising his head, he only just now realized he couldn’t see any houses at all.
“When is the time one hand of small, are needed to sleep by most if not all?” he asked to the thin air, Daniel trying to decide if he was dreaming or not. “Five more minutes.”
He yawned. His head drooped back down, and he truly did sleep for a time while the sun continued to rise. He was stopped by the sensation of a squirrel climbing on his face.
“Gah! Enough! Release me you vermin!” he’d roar. Clambering onto all fours and shaking his head left and right in violent jerks, the feeling of feathery arms jutting out of his back as they spread into a wide flare. The squirrel was thrown to one side and left in a daze, while Daniel stomped his fist into the dirt before him.
“What is quick to destroy, can only come on mornings, and you do not ever wish to be!” his voice thundered out. Bold, proud, and distinctly feminine despite its reverberating tones. Daniel could hear his echo from across the canyons first, then a third booming into the valley between distant, forested mountains. Daniel did not even slightly recognize who’s voice was coming out past his lips, the sounds were adult and strong and female. But he could tell he was speaking. Shouting really.
The squirrel did not appreciate his efforts to intimidate and quickly scampered off, leaving Daniel to mutter softly under his breath. ‘Breakfast.’ An answer to the question that no one heard.
Once past anger and surprise then came the confusion. He was still on four legs, but looking over to the trees he was clearly half as tall as even the largest ones while crawling. He wasn’t so much on his hands and knees as he was on his toes and his palms simultaneously. He attempts to stand up, but the hold is too shaky. After a few wobbles he drops back to the ground and decides upon using a tree to prop himself up.
When standing on just two legs he was almost as tall as the trees themselves. Judging by the height of the flowers, either everything had shrunk in a subtle way or he was suddenly larger than his mother’s car. He was pretty sure he could see over the bus if he tried. Another oddity. None of which more distressing than glancing down to see a poofy chest, the bulging fur coated paws of a tawny yellow cat, and his feet looked more like talons than anything with toes or a heel.
He drops back down to examine. Was this another dream just as real at the last ones? He suspected this is the part where he’d wake up if that was the case, few dreams allow you to linger after the illusion has been shattered. Daniel looks back to the rest of his body, sporting the main portions of a lion with feathers along most of the shoulders and part of the back, two thick and muscular raptor wings, and the hind legs that looked as if they belonged on a chicken more than his current body.
Chicken or eagle, honestly. Though Eagle sounded less like an insult in his mind.
“What happened here was the work of an instructor of fitness.” He declares instantly, once more surprised at the rumbling, yet feminine voice. As he looks to see no one else was around he mumbles. ‘Donut no.’ and saunters forward.
He could not remember how he got here or why he was in this body, but he also realized that screaming and denying its existence would not achieve any worthwhile results. In the best case scenario he would be proven wrong about his faculties and suddenly awaken, laughing at himself about how easily the dream had fooled him. In the worst case scenario this was a real event. He could not do panicking blindly and causing more trouble than was worth.
He had to do something productive, which meant finding a river or a pond. Something to drink from if need be, dangerous in the immediate term but life saving if he was stranded here and miles from civilization. He had wings and knew full well that most dreams allowed one to fly, or perhaps he’d be halfway lucky and be capable of flight in reality. When groggy and tired and barely able to walk without tripping himself was not the sensible moment to go airborne around numerous pointy trees on wings he knew nothing about.
It was not a long walk until the newly formed sphinx found a river trickling down the Cliffside. Small and burbling, but enough to fallow. He turned toward downstream and kept walking until he could spot a pond, something with still and clear water. His footsteps caused the pond to ripple, making him feel like a monster from some film series. When he gazed down he was surprised to see a human face.
Even more surprised to see a woman’s face. The long eyelashes and deep, pitch black shadow lining the outside of his eye. His face was petite in frame, completely without blemish, and his hair was neatly trimmed into a curt shape. The color was a deep black that matched the shadows around his eyes. The iris’s themselves were a bright and tawny yellow, just about matching his newfound fur. Atop his head were two catlike ears with puffy insides and black tips.
Daniel twisted his head to clear away the shock, blinking several times at the sight before him. On a whim he smiles, but finds his teeth are strait and pointed. Exceptionally neat like the rungs on a fine comb, but razor sharp and looking wicked dangerous as far as he could tell. He sticks his tongue out at his reflection. He amuses himself for a time by making silly faces, only stopping to examine the rest of his reflection.
The sphinx is only mildly disappointed to confirm what he already knew, that his lower body appeared to be that of a lion with bird feet, wings on its back and the head of a human. At least reflections worked fine. Was that something one could be pleased about?
His next order of business was to find some way to contact help, locate civilization or the authorities or possibly the tower of a park ranger. Surely this had to be a park of some sort, how far away from home could he have been? Daniel gazes into the sky, up past the cliff-side and toward the clouds. A single glance at his back and the wings folded ever so neatly. It was all one needed to reach the obvious solution.
Written by Arbon on 26 May 2016
Attempt to fly
At first Daniel started rounding the way toward a hill he could climb, watching as it curves gently around one side of the sheer cliff. When he reaches a clearing he’d stop and flap.
Flap…
… flapflapflapflap!
Daniel rises off the ground sprinkling sand and leaves and dry grass in every direction, hovering gently until his chest grows sore and his wings fold back up. Lowering to the ground talons first, and feeling his padded ‘hands’ squish into the grass like fuzzy oven mitts. He did not know for how long, but he knew he could fly.
Around bushes and under tree branches, snapping twigs that get in his way and stomping into underbrush. His talons claw into the soil for a strong purchase, while his paws spread wide could grip against the branches and stone to pull himself upward. He found climbing the gentle slope of the hill to be easy and graceful, he rarely had to think about where he’d move his paws before finding purchase. He simply had to move, and he moved.
By the time he’d reached the highest point he was ducking under trees, padding towards the steep edge, and gazing down across a wide canyon as the sun rose higher into the clouds.
Better still, he spotted what appeared to be a waving black river that weaves in through the valley. It looked a lot like a road, coming in from the south and then turning east between the mountains. He rationalized that it was possible for the sight to be an actual river, perhaps alien or polluted, muddy or simply locked in shade from this current angle. But it still looked a lot like a roadway, which meant this was his best chance for finding people. Finding civilization and an explanation, assuming he doesn’t simply wake up.
Daniel feels his wings flex, and with a calm realization he notices he has no fear of heights. Nor any particular fear of being trapped here. His mind sharp and clear, yet alien and emotionless. It was not that he didn’t feel any emotions at all, he noted, but rather that any fear he might feel seemed irrational all of a sudden. Childish.
He knew it was childish to keep assuming this might be a dream that all goes away, and while he still felt the urge to shout and scream and rage in the back of his mind, something now told him to be practical. That acting like a toddler throwing a tantrum would never improve his situation.
The winged lion steps forward with it’s wings spread and the front paws lifted up. A leap, a drop, and swoop. Daniel could see the trees shooting colder, the cliff-side behind him scraping past at ridiculous speed, and the entire horizon appear to twirl around as he changes position midair. The wings flap and catch air on the way down, then they flap harder, and harder, and yet harder still. His chest was heaving already and all he’d managed was to hold in level flight. Twisting his neck to aim toward the black river he grew tired in the air, spreading his wings and keeping them level rather than constant flapping.
And in such a state he glided, gently and easily over the tree-tops, swooping quickly through the valley.
When he arrives near his destination he’d spot the telltale signs of a roadway even through his exhausted, the dull pain in his chest where muscles he never knew existed felt the fatigue of trying to flap into the air. He twisted and maneuvered, but was losing altitude fast. Daniel had to flap harder to get higher into the air, then coast down the roads, using the open space as a nice gap between trees for level flying. Over-all this entire scenario felt peaceful.
On a dime it goes from peaceful to elation, the rumble of a car zooming up from behind caught his attention. He could see it, a light blue pickup truck with a single occupant steering the wheel. The person inside obscured thanks to this angle, but just knowing someone was there caused a tingle of pride, or expectation, of … of what he wasn’t sure.
Daniel slows to match speeds with the truck, making sure to maneuver himself directly above it. The driver inside most definitely appeared to notice, one thing to spot a flying lion and quite another to realize it’s stalking you.
Travelers! The sphinx’s mind was shouting at itself, travels going through MY territory. MY home. MY place to defend. And the sphinx’s mind was pleased with this, it knew just what to do while Daniel knew exactly what he planned to ask. Exactly what he planned to say.
A swoop forward, a violent crash, and with the crunch of cement and the rending of metal Daniel ended up snagging the front of the pickup truck with one claw then driving his heels into the pavement, bracing against those bird legs to stop the car. He was just a hair bit bigger than the car itself, his human head only just barely small enough to fit inside an open door, and far too large to fit through the window. While straining, it was not at all difficult to force that car to come to a stop.
The person inside was now at a blind panic, the scent of burning rubber wafted into the air and smoke started to billow up thanks to the friction. A revving engine and the desperate turning of a car that tries to continue forward was all one could hear for a time. When it pauses, it’s only long enough for the back tire to start spinning the opposite direction.
Daniel raised his eyebrow to the person inside, peering through a window partially obscured by the glare of the sunlight. He shifted his weight backward, braced his right paw under the front of the car while keeping his left paw onto the top of the hood. Long gashes from his newfound claws were already there, and he could feel a light sting in his hind legs as the car tried to pull him forward against the bracing of his talons. Scraping him through the cement, feeling those solid scales roughed up as the toenails gouge into the road.
The sphinx simply lifts up, hugging the front of the truck into his chest and using that bit of leverage to tilt the back end up. The wheels were no longer burning rubber, they were simply spinning dead and empty into the open air.
Daniel grins to the person inside, watching someone desperately try to fiddle with the door handle even as he’s holding the car aloft. This was not casual, nor was it easy, but it wasn’t any terrible strain either. But the teenager knew what he wanted to say, and right now ‘Listen already, I’m not here to hurt you just want to talk’ was at the front of his mind.
“Listen traveler and listen well!” were the words that actually came out. “No harm comes to those of swift thought, lend thy ear, lend they voice, what choice have you got?”
He almost wanted to question the discrepancy, but he was having too much fun. Maybe he was simply getting into the spirit of things in this most definitely not a dream. ‘Where is the city of Longport? I’m lost! I need to find my home alright, can you help me?’ he wanted to say. He tried to say.
“Assist me with haste, Long are the ports I seek, lost but not in the waters deep, home needs no direction.” Was what actually came out in that same thunderously sweet voice, as if a woman and a lion both attempted to caw like a bird. Daniel was no longer having any fun, nor could he pleasantly ignore what was clearly a major problem.
Eyes wide with rage and panic, he shouts toward the terrified driver and practically shakes the car about like a tin can. He wanted to say the obvious ‘No, stop! I’m human like you, don’t be afraid!’
“Fear not, traveler and stop thy blinded terror. On two legs I walk, with tulips I talk, with a head made of hoarse air and a tale that is never there, I am as you. What am I?” was what actually came out, spilling past his lips even as he was thinking entirely different words.
Now, thought Daniel, was probably a good time for the both of them to panic.
Written by Arbon on 27 May 2016
Try to convince him
Daniel could tell his mind was addled by something, his lips betrayed him and he did not have the sense of fear or urgency he might have otherwise portrayed. At any other time he knew he would be dropping the car and clawing at his hair, cursing or shouting or something to get his voice back under his control. Yet here he was calm. The emotions of panic at the back of his mind seemed to be muted by something, inconsequential when compared to the reality he experienced.
Multiple times he had tried to speak plainly, yet the words that came out was not what he was trying to say. Something had to be filtering him. Perhaps the same effect that caused his transformation into a woman, among other aspects, as a means to make changing back more difficult? Or maybe he was hearing his words incorrectly, but that seemed unlikely. The man appears to have heard incoherent riddles, something to cause confusion alongside the obvious fear. He couldn’t have been speaking wrong, his vocal musculature did not change overmuch beyond the soft, rumbling tones of his new size and gender.
Most likely it was his mind, filtering itself as if on instinct. A sphinx now, when has a sphinx ever been known to speak plainly and with direct purpose? According to legends they would attack travelers on the road and demand riddles in exchange for passage. Devouring, or simply mauling all who fail to pass their tests while quietly allowing the clever to pass without harm.
The human’s form scrambled over the front seat and ducking into the back. Daniel felt his claws stabbing through the metal, the full weight of the car starting to wear on his shoulders. A kick. A shudder. The back doors open and a leg can be seen dangling for the ground. The sphinx rolls her eyes, holding the car steady in a rather deliberate effort to allow this traveler freedom. A fall, a plot, and then the driver is suddenly on the ground and running back the way he’d come. Strait down the center of the road.
‘How am I going to get anywhere with this’ Daniel thought.
“What is the place one will never reach, rushing backwards down a road with impaired speech?” was what he actually said.
Crunch. Impossible muscles grind and tear, his fur covered skin bulging with the effort. While Daniel could and did set the car down with a gentle effort, the car wasn’t exactly designed to have claws jabbing through the undercarriage. Nor was the driver-side door intended as a load bearing support structure. When the rubber wheels touched against the blacktop and he pulled his claws free, the door was noticeably ajar.
Patpatpatpatter. The driver kept running as fast as his legs could carry. Breath misting over his face in the chilled air, his clothing ruffled behind him. The air was dead and silent without the slightest breeze, even the birds and animals of the forest had chosen to still their calls. In curiosity, in fright, or by simply being absent from the roadside. The driver’s loud panting was harsh against his lungs, but his body was lean and well shaped.
Daniel rolled his eyes. Her eyes. The wings flap once, then twice, then she’s leaping into the air on thick padded feet and letting the heat of the road fill her wings. Ten feet high. Then twenty. She glides more than hovers in an effortless dive, dropping back onto the road just in front of this human. A wide saunter to turn in front of his path, eyes gazing down with such vibrant intensity.
He couldn’t let this human escape, that would just be silly. Who else was he going to talk to? He still didn’t have directions. It wasn’t like this man was going to get very far walking on foot through mostly abandoned woods, let alone woods that already have one giant monster in it. All Daniel needed was to get him to figure out the riddles, or find some way to communicate that didn’t involve sounding like a pretentious twig.
“A-aahh!” the man screams, stumbling over himself to turn back around.
‘Just listen, aright! I’m not dangerous, I’m not a monster, and you are being very silly right now. Stop running and pay attention to what I’m saying’ Daniel attempted to get across.
“Take heed traveler! What is not a monster, what is not a danger. Answer my riddle, and you shall be spared, pay homage to my words and there will be no need to flee.”
The man stops running. Not by choice mind, he’d tripped over his own feet and came stumbling onto the cement, but his crawl was close enough to a stop that it might as well count. Daniel’s words sunk in, and while this was still more than he was expecting to find the man did indeed find the ‘riddle’ worth catching onto.
“Y-you’ll let me go, right?”
“You shall be spared, and you shall answer my riddle. Attempting to run would be … dangerous.” Daniel replies. All while thinking ‘eh, close enough’
“R-right, right. Not running!” he holds his hands up and sits into a crouch. The panic evident, but he can see the state his car is in with the front door twisted off its hinge and the back door hanging open. “W-whats the riddle again?”
Daniel’s eyes flared, wanting desperately to just say what he was after and be done with this. At the same time he noticed that this man might be in for an awkward time if his car doesn’t start anymore and he’s left abandoned in the woods. Leaving him ‘alone’ might be dangerous even after directions are obtained. And it’s not like Daniel would be getting any in-depth explanation when he can barely form his questions into anything coherent.
“Answer now these questions three, what is a monster, what has become of me.” He starts. “Where is the heart, where does one start, where does one long to be.” He pauses, frowning angrily as the words just didn’t come out the way he wanted. “I walked on four legs to start, on two legs till dawn, I shall walk on three legs near the end, and shall walk my last when breath falls. What am I?”
The man blinks. Then blinks again.
“U-uh. Become of … well monsters are scary, a-and they attack people. So you did?”
The sphinx smacks a thick, padded paw against her face and groans.
“Okayokay I’ll try it here, uh … where the heart is. That has to be home right?”
“Though I care little of yours, I have failed to find mine.” Daniel replies almost instantly, the faintest grin for at least getting part of this through.
“And then uh, well I’ve heard that one before. The answer’s human right?”
Daniel beams, dropping her palms back to the ground with a grin. Her face leaning close until she’s just inches from the driver, and the man backs away in a spout of nervous fright.
“Your name I might require, tell me of home so I may retire. Long and long are the ports I seek, lost but not in waters deep.”
“Uuuhhh, right.” The driver breathes deep, shallow, and pained. One arm reaching up to scratch behind the back of his head. “There aren’t any ports here. Oceans at least a few states that direction so I guess you could fly there. What’s your name? If, uh, you aren’t going to kill me.”
“Answer the riddles, and you shall be spared.” The sphinx nods. “My name is Daniel. What is yours if you’ve prepared?”
“John? The name’s John Castin, and I’m just heading over to longport. Or at least I was until something hit my car ...”
Daniel can feel her eyes sparkling, a glance down the road, a glance down to the abnormally dented automobile, and then a glance up to the skies.
“So that’s it, three riddles right? I can go now?” The driver was already backing away.
Daniel could see him hoping to reach his car and peel off as soon as possible, but at the same time he’s heading the same direction the Sphinx was it seems. And if something went wrong he’d be out in the woods, alone. Was it best to simply leave him, or should he go through the effort of convincing this man that a giant eagle-cat-woman was a safe thing to ride?
Written by Arbon on 01 July 2016
Leave him be
He wanted to say something. The sphinx opens her mouth as if about to answer, eyes darting between the man and his car along the roadside. Daniel decides to offer a simple nod lest he risk his words twisting into riddles and confusing the matter further. The human-shaped lips sealed tight and his eyebrows furrowed, a puffy tipped tail swished behind his wings with annoyance. Mostly at himself for the fact whatever this block was that filtered his speech was actually getting to him.
The driver stepped back. Twice. Four times. Very slow to trust the idea he can turn around, he kept his gaze on the towering Sphinx the entire time. Even as he shuts one door behind him, and is left to fiddle with the ruined front door to the driver’s seat. Daniel simply watched. Wings folded behind him, the four legged body curled up like a housecat and seated on it’s haunches. Wide eyes watching intently to see if the car would start.
The man steps inside, and while the sphinx cannot see what happens within there is the sound of an engine revving. The car starts, then drifts forward. Within moments it’s moving smoothly and easily through the curved roads and left to vanish around the bend, trees blocking it’s view.
Daniel sighs, there wasn’t anything to worry about for the man’s safety it would appear. And more to the point now he had a direction to travel and some idea where he was going. The name of his home town was the same, there were cars, the man’s clothing looked ordinary, Daniel could at least assume he was in the same universe and not transported to some fantasy land. After such vibrant sensation and a direct conversation any chance he might have been dreaming need be long forgotten by now.
That just leaves making his way home and hoping this entire event doesn’t ruin his summer. What happens when he gets home? How are his friends going to react? Was he ever going to change back?
Thinking of it practically this new form gave something that even his grandest dreams would never have allowed for. With a flap he demonstrated to himself just how much of a boon this was. The front legs push off the blacktop, his hind legs brace against the staggering weight of his enormous body, he can feel the muscles in his chest stretching and pulling with every beat of the feathered limbs behind him. For a moment he was standing up on two legs, and then a moment after he wasn’t even standing but hovering.
The air felt firm beneath his eagle-shaped wings, his legs felt light and free as if he were dangling them over the side of a bed. There was a comfortable tingle in the base of his spine, staring down to see the ground receed farther and farther. The trees on either side shifting tones from brown and green, to a more pure green as he can see less and less of the trunk. By an overhead view the roads looked less like something of civilization and more like a blackened river that cuts through the trees and around hills.
In the distance already he can spot John’s car trailing away. Toward something, it was certain. To longport. Daniel could see a glistening city far behind, but the car was traveling away from it. A flap. A swoop, then another few flaps to gain height. It was awkward and lazy at first, and with this constant effort he could already feel his wings getting tired. It was like having another pair of arms on top of the first, perhaps to make up for the five fingered hands he’d just lost, and flying was like taking a very large fan in each palm and forcing it through thick water.
Try paddling a boat when there’s nothing between you and the water, and your paddles happen to be as wide as your body length in either direction. No wait, wider. It wasn’t even still water at that once he’d gotten over the tree line. While the air at ground level was flat and dead, requiring effort to lift off and power his immense weight into the skies, up here without the trees as a wind-break there was a breeze. It was a current of air, like swimming against a river with wide paddles attached to your back that scooped up as much of the current as possible.
Already Daniel could see the car had passed well beyond his sight, even with the large and keen eyes of a Sphinx. The wind shifted, and he could feel himself knocked off balance and left flailing for stability. His four paws grasping uselessly against nothing while his wings catch the wind.
Exhausted, nervous, and now a slight bit frustrated he straitens the wings out and tries to glide down toward the trees, toward the road, at which point he realizes just how much easier this is than flapping. Now the breeze lifts under his belly and catches in the feathers. Now he’s being still and relaxed, while moving forward at a much faster pace. It was the difference between walking and skating, leveling his flight to just glide in took almost no effort at all and left the wind largely useless at steering him off-course. Diving headlong into the breeze actually seemed to help steady his path.
So for a while he simply drifted, eyes wide to the glory and wonder of open wilderness beneath. He could see rocks sparkling with bits of quarts, he could see the moss growing strong across fallen logs and sunken boulders. The sunlight glinted off of stagnant pools leftover from the last rain. For a brief moment he thought he could spot the brown and tan of a deer far to his left, then the flash of white and tail and the creature has bounced away into the brush. He could stare straight ahead to the distant cliff faces, the entire valley being ripe with vertical terrain and ancient trees.
Come to think of it, those trees were getting a little bit too clos-SMACK!
He feels the painful crunch of leaf and branch against his right shoulder, the wood splintering away to catch amongst the lower branches while his weight and bulk simply powers through. The leaves and smaller twigs scraped over his fur and left parts of the legs raw and itchy. Another tree too close ahead. The weight tilts, his wings flap and curl in an effort to fling him toward the left, toward the open road where trees had been cleared away. No time! Brace!
CRUNCH!
His two thick arms and furry paws held together before his face, feeling the wood smash against his forearms and then splinter away like plywood. It hurt and it stung, but this branch was too large to catch amongst the leaves and went falling all the way to the ground. Mud splats away, and as Daniel drifts onward he can hear the crinkling sound of smaller wood chunks falling.
Height. He needed height! The wings flapped, harder and harder and yet harder still, forcing himself into the slight breeze. As soon as he got above the tree line he could feel the wind getting stronger, but he wanted altitude above all else. Wind smacks into his face and chest, catching in the wings and causing his forward flight to stall. It felt all too much like being punched in the gut. But he carried on, higher and higher, until his wings were sore with effort and the burn of exhaustion pulled all the way down his arms.
Daniel was gasping for breath, his heart pounding into his chest and the dull throb of where he twice impacted against solid wood kept nagging into his senses. Higher. The wind was strong enough to force his tail stiff and strait behind him, he wasn’t moving forward in the slightest and all of his flaps just took him up. Higher! He did not have much practice with flight, but if this was to be his education then he could not help but note its similarities to an unpleasant Gym. HIGHER!
At last he felt his face enter amongst the clouds, he could see the green shifting into grey deep down bellow, and he could see over the range of the mountains beneath him. The clouds drifted over his face and it was like diving into fog, the cool chill of the sprinkled mist pleasant against his injuries and soothed the pain in his wings.
After so much effort the sphinx straitens her wings out and eases into a level flight, tilting forward just enough that the wind catches beneath her feathers and helps to lift up while her sheer weight and momentum kept her drifting against the current. It was a luxury, a respite against the previous desperate climb. At last Daniel could breathe a sigh of relief and focus on his forward destination.
Find the city of Longport, fly or glide his way back home, get back onto his bed and then call it a day. It all starts with finding …
Finding …
Written by Arbon on 08 July 2016
Lost among the clouds
Where was it? He couldn’t see the road anymore, it was just trees and grass and clouds all around. His head swiveling back and forth while his movement was smooth and strait. In theory it was just a matter of gliding forward until he spotted something, but looking far ahead in the direction that driver went didn’t appear to be anything. There were mountains and trees, and … what was that? Splash of color?
Just an open patch of grass with some flowers growing wild. Brown where the dirt was too barren or the land too steep for a plant to cling to, and grey in the areas where stone was thick and round and solid, often with moss growing on them. Nervously watching for any clear sign of civilization, he wasn’t paying much attention to the skies.
Suddenly white. Cool and damp and white, he drifted into a cloud and then out just moments later. He’s left to wipe the moisture from his face with fuzzy paws that might as well be wet towels. The fierce winds blasting into his face served at once as a hair drier, if a bit chilled and unwelcome at its task, while simultaneously acting as the driving force behind throwing clouds at his head.
He tries to swipe his paws at the misty fog, feeling the cold jolts of ice along his padded fingertips. The breathless frost beneath his claws. Naturally this has far less effect at moving the cloud out of the way than simply diving forward until he’s free. Each time he looks down to see how the landscape changed, how the trees grew less sparse or the rocks more frequent. Then a cloud would overtake him and the world was a white fog. When he dives beneath and finds freedom again, all of the far away topography has shifted.
Daniel grumbles, but at least this flight was fast, and it was easy. Wings spread wide all he had to do was lazily sail downward, losing altitude every moment but going forward at a wonderful pace. Certainly faster than walking, and now that he’s managed the climb it was a heck of a lot easier. This felt to him like putting in all of the painful effort to climb up and up to the top of a hill, then sitting atop a bicycle and using the downward slope to just ride without having to pedal. Soft, easy, pleasant, it gave his sore wings a badly needed rest.
But then again they were rested now, how many minutes has it been since reached this height? Five minutes? Ten? He did not wish to lose too much of that hard earned altitude but at the same time getting a face full of clouds over and over did not make for the most pleasant experience. He flaps. The wings beat hard against the fast flowing air, he can see swirls and spirals as the feathered limbs to a very effective job of shoving the cloud cover aside. The smoky mist spun into little circles all around him and the chilled moisture making his wings heavy. He flaps, he paddles, up and up with that same effort he’d forced upon himself before. Only this time when he reached an all new height it wasn’t a landscape of green for him to look down on.
White. The white and the blue and the yellow, the bright sunlight glinting across an ocean of clouds and letting everything sparkle. He was above them, above all of it, his claws grasping at nothing while his wings caused the puffs and swirls to deform away from him. The entire area looked like lands of cotton, fluffy and white and gold, while through the broken patches where clouds did not cover he could see the caps of small mountains and the green of the land.
He breathes. Deeply and joyfully filling his lungs and letting his chest be still, the wings leveling out for a smooth flight. This was strait up wonderful.
This had to be the absolute best part of being a sphinx. More than the size, more than the paws so thick shoes aren’t even required, more than the muscle and power that came with these new limbs and these new claws. Wings! If he ever had the chance to change back, Daniel knew he would give anything just to keep this freedom of flight. To keep this amazing chance to see the world from an angle such as this, flying so high he could not see the ground for the clouds.
He did not know how long he drifted with that goofy smile on his face, the feminine body hanging strait behind and his fur and feathers being ruffled by the wind. The sphinx wasn’t really keeping count, she was simply enjoying the rest. It wasn’t quite like going to sleep, but it was smooth and effortless he might as well have been laying down for the entire trip. When he looses enough height to feel his feet, no his face dipping into the puffs of mist beneath, he’s left with the choice of flapping again to keep above, keeping strait and suffering through the moisture, or tilting forward and diving.
Daniel chooses to dive.
Nose pointed down, he angled his body almost directly toward where he thought land was, and dropped. The wings fold back, the wind grows stronger, faster, no stronger still! It was like suddenly jumping into a wind tunnel and having the immense force pounding against his face. Like sticking his head out of a car window as it’s speeding along a highway, only in this case it’s his whole body that feels the wind. An entire body that also happens to be naked at the moment.
It isn’t even half a minute before he’s broken the clouds, leaving the puffs of mist distorted behind him, and once more free to gaze at the entire landscape bellow.
Searching.
Searching for ….
Written by Arbon on 15 July 2016
Spotted a campfire
Whoosh! Zhoom! Faster and faster until the ground appeared before him and all was green and brown and blue, save this time with a speck of orange and a trailing smoke from somewhere to the far left. Daniel couldn’t see anything resembling a city but he did spot a road a bit to the right, looping around a large mountainous hill. He straitens his wings out to drift back into that sam- …
PAIN!
His wings felt like they’d been punched, some of the feathers torn clean off and his body left tumbling backwards. The ground was above him one moment and his paws were reaching for the clouds, only for it to flip back around. He folds his wings mostly out of reflex and allows himself to fall, twisting his hips to orient those catlike feet toward the ground. Such a very long drop.
He opens his wings again, slower, more controlled, and can feel the horrendous force of that wind pulling him away. Open an umbrella in a hurricane and watch what happens, now imagine that umbrella is both of your arms. It did not feel at all pleasant on the shoulders, and worse he didn’t even slow his fall all that much, just a sudden jolt from improper flying.
No, he had to ease into this. The wings opened more, his body angles slightly forward in the high speed. It was quite literally catching wind and letting it buffet against his belly and face and all over those wings to slow his descent. And more to the point to aim his downward speed into forward movement. Taking it gently this was a strain on his muscles. Taking it gently he could manage to swoop back into a looping flight. He’d lost about half his height by the time he was level, while he still retained most of his speed from that swoop. He’d overtaken the flames and smoke, but it was a simple matter to tilt his left wing down and his right wing up, turning his nose toward the bright and black so noticeable amongst all the green and brown.
When he was closer he could smell it. Meat and barbeque, he could smell marshmallows and chocolate. A swoosh over the smoke with the scents growing stronger, his wings distorting the black ash filled clouds as easily as they swiped away the white misty ones. He could see tents, he could see people. Was that two? No wait, three people, but two tents. A campfire in the center with rocks piled around burning wood. They were sitting down with sticks in their hands, blackened on the ends and silvery along the handles, with tiny chunks of something jutting out into the flames. White in one. Marshmallows? Brown in another, that had to explain the meat smell.
And by the time Daniel had taken all of this in he had overtaken the campsite once more. Zipping overhead he’s forced into another long turn to come looping back around. He could feel his tongue was wet and his stomach pained. A dull longing that the smells of breakfast seemed to emphasize. It wasn’t even noon yet, was it? Hard to tell without a phone or a watch, the sun wasn’t very high even if it wasn’t quite morning anymore. The last time he’d eaten was at home, as a human. And now here he’d been exercising muscles he did not know he had for the better part of two hours. He’d need to use them again as soon as it came time to take to the skies and fly off.
He’d lost so much height and very desperately wanted to touch down and rest before he had to climb once more. Swimming through the air for so long is tiring enough, swimming upward against a current did not come easy.
A tilt and a swerve, when he’s coming back towards the camp this time he’s only just above the trees, and coming in much slower than before. Far too fast to land, but he was quickly killing speed from his dive. This time he focuses on the people. Three in total, two by the fire and one now fiddling amongst a backpack for something. The scents of food, fresh and sugary, wafted high into his senses.
Two men and one woman. The first boy had a rugged face, a square jaw that almost made him look like something from a western film. His eyes squinted and harsh, the hair cropped trim and square in a military cut, and the fur along his face and chin scraggly and blackened. His clothing was loose but thick, long jeans and a brown leather jacket. If he had a fedora and a cigar he might have passed as detective cliché, though as it stands the smores in his hands and the white stains on his lips and hands ruined any cinematic appeal. He was looking down into the flames and did not appear to notice the flying beast overhead.
The second one by the campfire was close to the opposite. Slim, tight fitting clothing with bright colors and blue grey patterns, wearing form fitting leggings with numerous pockets. A pack around his waist and a phone in his hand. The second man’s face was rounded and clean shaven, eyes wide with wonder and staring up with awe. No, was that fear? He was looking directly at Daniel. He was pointing the phone up, looking through the screen while the opposite end aimed like a camera.
The woman off to the side combing through stacks of assorted bags and pulling random things out was short haired, thin yet muscular, with hardly anything to show along her chest. She was donned in only tight shorts and a muscle shirt, no apparently shoes at first glance. Her arms smooth and freckled, her hair a deep brow, and her skin almost pink.
All three of them appeared to be adults, and more to the point they seemed to have a large amount of food packed.
The glide continued, Daniel having to turn his head and look behind to watch the scenes beneath. Once again he’s overtaken the camp completely and has to spiral back around, taking a long and looping turn. There was a very serious choice here, muscle his way through the skies and try to get back home as quickly as possible. Or stop here, try his forced and contrived riddles against yet more people, and possibly ask for a bit to eat.
Written by Arbon on 22 July 2016
Meet the campers
Another loop, having made up his mind Daniel chooses to come in for a landing. Wings flutter harshly despite the strain, his speed comes to a dead stall. By the time he’s reached the group for this third run he’s approaching from the opposite direction. The girl has moved away from the bags and is wielding an overlarge stick in two hands. Held over her shoulder like a mace or a club. The thin and clean shaven man is hunkered behind a tent, peeking out to capture the scene with his camera. The rugged looking man in leather is only just now standing up, cupping a hand over his eyes to peer skyward. Witness to the sphinxes approach.
The wings smack against dead air bellow this tree-line, his hind legs touching down first with his head held high. With a heavy CRUNCH! Daniel can hear twigs snapping, rocks cracking under the forceful weight, and dirt shifting beneath his paws. Much like the driver, being so massive at twenty or so feet long all three of these humans looked like children. Half sized, small enough he could place one on his head and let them ride.
None of them looked particularly scared. The one with a camera was too fascinated, the girl was too bold, and the rugged man looked more like this was cause to reach for a new cigar than any particular alarm.
Now for the hard part, to try and worm his own words into something coherent instead of blasting them with nonsensical riddles.
“G-greetings!” Daniels voice calls out, the tone soft and feminine in an ever increasing surprise to his ears. “So very sorry I did not mean to arrive so suddenly. My name is Daniel. Would you mind helping me out a little?”
“What kind of help.” The woman glares, stepping back and letting her wrists tighten around her stick.
“It’s very simple I promise, I’m lost and looking for my home in Longport. And I’ve been flying all morning without … uh. Without even a bite to eat. You all …”
“Aint divin into yer jaws if that’s what yer askin.” The gruff, unshaven man answers. The cigar on his lips shifting to keep stable, his arms folding over his chest.
“I’m. Wait I’m not Rhyming.” Daniel blinks, a moment of awestruck pleasure.
“We can start again if you want to throw us a riddle or something?” The woman offers, lowering her stance.
“NO! I mean uh … no I’m not here to eat people, I was referring to the campfire. Nobody can resist chocolate and marshmallows right? A-and ohgosh you even have- no, no. Maybe later on the riddles. I’ve had a very long day.”
“I’ll bet.” The gruff man shrugs. “The names Charley. This over here’s my Angel.”
The woman huffs. “You say that to a cat with wings? Really?”
“And the coward back there is Keth. Put that phone down will ya!” the rugged man waves off, easing himself back into a seat with his face away from the flames. A stick with marshmallow still attached clutched in his hand.
“Once more greetings to you all!” Daniel grins, finding the odd rumble of his voice disturbing to his ears. Now that the words he thought were the same words he was speaking, the fact it was a woman’s voice past his lips was even stranger than before. He felt like he was leaned onto his arms and crawling, which just made this all the more awkward.
“Hello Daniel. So what’s a pretty lady like you doing out here, shouldn’t you be guarding a desert tomb or something?” the mildly concerned ‘Angel’ asks tentatively.
“Well the thing is …”
“And how does a mythical lion-woman know about marshmallows? The steak we’re cooking, sure that makes sense. But its not like you can just walk into a mall and buy a packet.”
“She might need more than one.” Keth supplies from behind his tent, ducked down like he was expecting me to breathe fire or something.
“Ohph, get over here already she’s not gonna bite!” angel shouts.
“Wager if she tried it’d not be a pretty sight.” Charley offers, pulling the cigar free and breathing out a clear puff of laced smoke.
“Th-that’s just the thing! I’m not really anything mythical, I’m actually a human.” Daniel was breathing easily, relieved to actually be speaking, even better to find legitimate help.
“Riiiiight. Course you are. And I’m an assassin robot monkey.” Charley puffs. “We got enough food to share a few bites, just don’t take the seat. We aint got room to spare so no kitty business, I don’t want to see you rubbing your head against everything and knocking stuff over.”
A frown from the sphinx.
“You don’t mind sitting where you are and letting us take food over, right?” Angel pipes up.
“J-just don’t step on anything!” Keth calls out. “My cat back home likes to sleep on my computer and I really, really don’t think you should emulate this admittedly highly amusing behavior on account of your massive bulk.”
Daniel blinks, eyes wide.
“Did you just call a girl fat?” Angel turns angrily and shouts back.
“What? No! I’m simply accounting for the immense difference in frame between a housecat and a magical lion monster which may ellicite an alarmingly negative outcome were the larger to incorporate behavior fro-“
“So now she’s fat and a monster? What is wrong with you nerd, sheesh. Cmon girl just ignore him.”
“I’m not a girl …” Daniel huffs, taking a step back and trying to fold his arms against his chest. It leads to a very embarrassing flop given he needs those arms to balance.
“Sure look like a girl to me missy.” Charley adds. “Sound like one even.”
“Whatever.” Angel sets her stick down and starts to walk toward the assorted bag of supplies. “We’ve got about two weeks worth of food here if we stretch it, and we can always head back early if we start running low.”
“Or just go to a real restaurant.” Keth argues, there’s beeping sounds from his phone.
“Whatever.” The woman rolls her eyes. “Miss Daniel, right? How about I start cooking you something and you stay and chat in exchange?”
“That would be wonderful.” Daniel offers with a sigh, standing back up onto four legs and trying not to complain. He really did sound like a woman right now, no getting around that.
“Not every day I get to see a real ancient Sphinx. This should be exciting!”
Written by Arbon on 29 July 2016
Conversation
“How many other days have you seen one?” the question sparked into Daniel’s mind.
“Never, duh.” Angel replied with a roll of her eyes.
“Well, as interesting a hypothesis as it might be to contemplate I assume if there were a great number of your kind roaming the national park there would have been more sightings before this moment. The likelihood of multiple other Sphinxes living in this general area decreases dramatically when you take into account the difference in climate and local topography.” Keth brings up without glancing away from the phone in his hands, frantically thumbing through some colorful option on the screen.
“Don be rude kids, the lady asked an honest question.”
Daniel huffs, eyes narrowed as she flops her haunches down. Essentially laying onto her belly and facing the three, seated in the classic statuesque pose with her head held high.
“So I guess this isn’t some catwoman meeting ground then.” The Sphinx bemoans.
Angel takes the time to pull out crackers, carefully setting them atop a paper plate. A single marshmallow is speared onto her metal stick, soon to be held over an open flame. It isn’t long before the creamy white sugar browns, then blackens.
“That’s actually my first question miss Daniel.” The woman asks.
“Stop calling me miss!”
“Whatever. How did you end up here to begin with?” Angel carried on with a roll of her eyes. “What’s your story?”
Daniel couldn’t help but blink. “Its honestly not that long but uh, sure. You see it all started with a game of truth or dare, I think.”
“Shouldn’t a Sphinx be asking riddles instead?”
“That’s not … that’s not the point! We were all happy the school year was over and wanted to- …”
“Now what’s som grand mythical monster gal care about the school year?” Charley butted in, taking another long draw of his cigar.
“Well obviously it must be a school for monsters. How else are they going to learn monster things and tell good riddles?” Keth answered smugly.
“Stop calling her a monster, sheesh. She’s right here people.” Angel pulled the marshmallow away from the flames and gently squeezed it onto a sugary graham cracker. Then came a bit of chocolate poked into the top, to be capped off by another cracker like some sandwich made entirely of candy sweets.
“I’m not a woman …” Daniel grumbles, shaking her head at the rapidfire discussion. “Anyway, we all got together and played games, had snacks, talked about the year. Then the party ended and we all went home and I got to sleep in my own bed, then we-“
“What does a sphinx bed even look like?” Keth brought up.
“Wuh, It … my bed was a completely normal bed in a completely normal house.”
“But you mean normal for a sphinx, right? So is it like a bunch of grass folded away, is there some giant bird nest? Do you sleep on worked stone or on huge piles of sand?” Keth again, his curiousity insufferable to Daniel’s trying patience.
“No! No, most certainly not. I don’t know about any other winged bird lions but I went to bed in a normal human house on a normal human neighborhood in a completely human bed, and then woke up exactly like this!”
“So ye crushed yer bed or somwat?” Charley cants his head to one side.
Daniel groans, leaning forward to grind his face into both paws. The palms felt exceptionally soft and smooth against his bareskinned cheeks. But more concerning than the sensation of hands that weren’t his with rounded balls in place of the elongated, dexterous fingers of a human, was just how soft and smooth his face was to touch against his pads. The cheeks supple, the nose pointed and slim, his chin was decidedly rounded and smooth without a trace of hair. The dual reminder that even his most human-like body parts were most assuredly not his own did little to improve his perspective on this.
“That isn’t what I’m saying at all. I’m a human! Like you guys. I went to a party with my friends, played games, then went home. As a human. When I woke up I was exactly like this and somehow in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of trees all over the place.”
“So how did you get here?” Angel asked, and just as Daniel looked up he could see her reaching out with a dainty, bare toed foot to tap against his forearm. Her touch stung into the bruised and scraped portion where he’d the misfortune to smash through several branches, but she backs away as soon as she notices the flinch.
“I don’t know, I don’t know. I’m just trying to get back home in Longport. My street address didn’t change, my mother is probably worried sick by now, and I need to go tell my friends what happened.”
“Riiiiight.” Angel raises an eyebrow. “Lift your paw please?”
Daniel breathes out, and notices that his very breath was enough to ruffle her clothing and send the woman’s hair flying back. Her entire body hardly the length of his face, and the bit of sugary food in her hand hardly a crumb by this point. He does as she asks, shuffling his weight backward and twisting his arms around. It felt awkward and forced, his muscles straining in unusual ways to perform what should have been a simple task. The woman plops the single smore into the center of that palm.
The sphinx closes her fist around it, but finds the fingers are far too short to actually cover the center of the palm. So the treat simply rests there with kitty paws on all sides surrounding it.
“Thank you.” Daniel couldn’t help but sigh out, leaning his face down and, bereft of any other means, extends his tongue to slurp up the first bit of food he’s had all day. The taste exploded onto his tongue, sweet and flavorfull with a bit of crunch. It melts in his mouth and extends across the palate. And then it was gone, the taste vanished as fast as it came. So very slight on such a large creature.
Daniel somehow felt he was hungrier now than he’d been before any food was offered.
“Are you sure you didn’t just live in a museum or something, like maybe the Egyptian exhibit?” Keth brings up.
“I am entirely positive. I am a human, my name was Daniel, I go to school and I have friends and a cell phone number and this is the weirdest moment of my entire life. If this all turns out to be a dream then I’ll need to go hug something.”
“You’ll need more than hugs at this point.” Angel sighs, walking back toward the fire. “It was really stupid of me to offer you smores of all things, I’ll bet you couldn’t even taste that.”
“Actually it tasted wonderful. It’s just not very filling.”
“I’ll betchu could eat halfa car and not fill that gut oh yers.” Charley huffs.
“Even if I am a lion now I’m pretty sure I don’t need that much iron in my diet.” Daniel huffs right back.
Written by Arbon on 05 August 2016
A different way to get iron.
A different scent wafts into the air now, causing Daniel’s head to turn at the familiar aroma. Angel had a rather large slab of steak in her hands now, abruptly speared onto the metal stick. Then she reaches for a second, and a third, and yet more until it was a ridiculously sized kebab with more meat on the metal than could fit in her hand. The sphinx could only stare as she puts the large supply directly into the flames and waits for them all to blacken.
“So first you were playing games with a bunch of other people, then went to bed, then woke up here? Surely you don’t mean here as in directly in our camp.” The woman points out.
“We saw you pass over us three times before coming in to land.” Keth adds.
“Pretty sure it was jus the one time kid.” Charley corrects.
“No he’s right, it was three. I erm, just came down from a dive and had to kill speed before landing. Would have been a lot more awkward if I just faceplanted into the dirt here, wouldn’t it?” Daniel breathes deeply, watching the fire with an unspoken intensity that caused Angel to smirk.
“So how did you get from waking up to flying through the air? C-mon, there’s got to be more to it than your letting on.”
The sphinx nods, taking a moment to think it over.
“Well um, I got to walk around a bit? Lots of trees. I think I was very close to a cliff and could see some small lakes or ponds and stuff. It wasn’t hard learning to fly and so the first thing I did was dive off a cliff and start fluttering around and stuff. Them uuhh … I saw this car on the road and thought I might ask for directions.”
“Then why’dya want ta come to us fer it?” Charley raises an eyebrow, his lips bunching up in a way that makes the cigar shift across his face.
“It probably didn’t go very well.” Keth assumes. “How would you react if a giant monster thing dove out of the sky and offered a polite hello?”
“Ah dunno, shake it’s hand?” Charley responds.
“Will you two idiots stop calling her a monster? Please?” Angel explains while sitting over the open fire. “Unless one of you wants to go offer the carnivore some snacks out of your palm then kindly shut up.”
“W-weh. .. uuhh … yes. It was a very polite and calm and rational meeting. H-he wasn’t even scared” Daniel lies through his teeth. “The problem was all me actually. I couldn’t stop talking in riddles.”
“Isn’t that supposed to be normal?” Angel asks with genuine curiousity.
“Maybe for an actual sphinx, but not for me. It was weird! Infuriating. I couldn’t say anything I was actually trying to say and the stuff that did come out I could barely understand. Like, sure I guess they were supposed to be riddles or something but it’s not like they made sense or that the answer was what I was trying to ask.”
“Did you try not speaking in riddles?” Keth pipes up, just as curious but with a distinct hint of smug superiority that was absent from Angel.
Daniel narrows her humanlike eyes and clenches one paw, the claws extending to scrape narrow marks through the dirt.
“Yes, I tried.”
“Well, actually what I mean is, maybe you were only asking questions. And questions can be made into riddles right, but declarative statements can’t. So if everything you said was a question of some sort maybe you just converted them to riddles on instinct?” Keth offers quickly, perhaps sensing the level of annoyance in this large feline.
The sphinx simply considers. “That … doesn’t … make any sense. I’m asking questions now aren’t I? A lot of them even. The first thing I did when landing here was ask more questions and I have no idea why I can talk normally here.”
“The gal’s right.” Charley puffs through his cigar, reaching out to spear and cook a small chunk of steak for himself. “She asked fer food, if’n it was a riddle it’d be something like, Oh what does a man need every day, three times indeed, but once it’s been had it can never be seed.”
Angel immediately baps the rugged old man across his forehead.
“Did you try Ryhme ‘need’ with ‘see’? Guys I know you can be super embarrassing without meaning to but don’t go out of your way to say dumb things!”
“Well ah thoughit was gud.” Charely turns up his nose and attempts to look dignified. Daniel simply rolls his eyes.
“No riddles please, I’d prefer if we didn’t try to make some relapse or anything. I’m talking normally, you can understand me, I can stop being afraid that something mind controlled me or whatever.”
“Right.” Keth sighs, looking up from his phone to stare Daniel right in the eyes, however distant the two were. “So what happened next? He obviously didn’t pass the riddle or you’d know where you need to go.”
The sphinx winces. “Actually he did! Sort of. I think. I tried to ask him about really long ports without an ocean or something, and he said he was riding to Longport. That’s where my home is and so I sort of fallowed the road after he left.”
“Were you going west or east?” Angel pipes up.
“I don’t know. How do you even tell that without a compass?” Daniel shrugs.
Keth simply points to the sun. Looking rather dumbfounded.
The sphinx blinks.
“Aaannyway, I took to the air and started flying a bit farther now. Realized that being too low was dangerous and so I climbed up really, really high and made it all the way to the clouds. Its hard to see the ground when you have cloud in your face, so I don’t know. Maybe an hour of flying? Almost that? I got really tired and just sort of drifted down, can’t find the road anymore, and then noticed the smoke from your campfire.”
“The smoke an the smell I’d wager.” Charely nods, pulling his small chunk of steak away and nibbling on the edge.
“Y-yeah. That’s when I got hungry, and well .. here I am.”
Written by Arbon on 12 August 2016
No one believes it.
“Ah, I see.” Charley strokes his chin, looking like someone pretending to be thoughtful without actually putting effort into thinking.
“Not a very long story then.” Angel seems almost disappointed.
“I told you it wasn’t. Most of my life was spent as a human, see? I’ve not been a sphinx for even a full day yet.”
“Riiiight.” The woman keeps cooking her multiple steaks at once, her arm starting to bulge as she’s struggling to keep the entire mass of meat out of the flowing ash and only inside the flames.
“This won’t be all that exciting for my twitter followers …” now it was Keth’s turn to be disappointed. And Daniel’s be to be bemused.
“A giant talking lion eagle shows up on a camping trip and you don’t think it’s exciting?” The sphinx could only balk at how bewildering this was.
“Well, not as exciting maybe. Could I get some pictures of you roaring? Or … oh-oh, like hold your claws up and smash something while I film it?” Keth offers with far too much bounce in his movements for someone who was afraid no t terribly long ago.
Angel reaches her arm out and shoves into Keth’s shoulder, all but knocking him over.
“Only if the thing she gets to smash is your computer. We don’t need some media frenzy about a wild killer lion the size of a house, okay? Don’t make this worse.” The woman seemed solemnly serious.
“You ... you’re going public with this?” that was something Daniel hadn’t even considered up to this point. How his friends might react was one thing, but how would the world react to a flying tank with a woman’s face on it strolling into town? What were people going to think?
“Well yeah I posted pictures of you before you even landed. I was previously unaware you could communicate verbally and now everyone is interested to know how I’m still alive.” Keth answers, his phone beeping and the man once more reaching down to fiddle with the buttons.
The Sphinx had no idea how to even react to this. How could wrap their head around it? Was it a good thing? Was it bad? If Keth stopped now would people assume he was killed and then suddenly the entire media sees her approach as a threat? If he kept going then was a Sphinx flying through the woods and sharing smores with a few campers going to be a mass sensation? Deemed a hoax and all but forgotten? He didn’t know. Daniel had no way to even begin to figure things out.
“G-gnn. Enough about me I guess, I don’t have anything more to tell. Not unless you want like, stories of my childhood or something.” Daniel lowers his head down into the crook of his arms, chin rested between the two feline paws. At this height with his head touching the ground, it almost looked like he was face to face and eye to eye with the normal humans. Almost. His sphinx eyes being so much larger gave him a distorted sense of perspective, and the fact all three of them were sitting down didn’t exactly help.
“I was really hoping for something less boring you know?” Angel pouts.
“Do you have a more interesting one?” Daniel can feel himself perking back up. “I just went from normal to lion girl overnight and spent the last few hours higher than an airliner jet. You have something better than that?”
“Naturally.” Angel closes her eyes, the woman tilting her head high and proud. “You see it all started in the year 1893, I can remember it well. The sky was dropping red pudding and the great, terrible … uh, gilgameth was tearing out of the ground! The world itself wounded by his very presence.”
Keth looked at her as if she was insane for a moment. “Waitwhat?” all but dropping his phone.
Charley simply raised an eyebrow, reaching up to pluck the cigar from his lips and stare at her.
Daniel couldn’t turn his head away, brows arched in confusion and his entire attention devoted to this girl’s words. A villain? Damage to the world? What year was this even, what did the girl know that he didn’t?
“Myself, but a lowly and humble grand sorceress wizard of the imperial troops, fought bravely against his army of tripmites.” She stands onto two legs and in doing so lifts up the metal spike and all the meat still attached. Flame licking out across the browned flesh, she wields it like a child might hold up a toy sword. “But alas, my homeworld of totalynotmadeupica was destroyed after many long days of intense battle. With nothing else to do I tore open a portal into the void with my powerful magic! And then I’ve been here working as only a supermodel billionaire shoe designer ever since.”
The sphinx was staring down at her with a mouth agape. Charley quietly puts the cigar back to his lips and breathes deeply, the barest hint of a grin noticeable on the corner of his face. Only the left corner, and only if one looked closely. Keth simply brings up his phone and appears to be taking photos of Angel holding her flaming steak covered stick.
“I knew it.” He mutters. “I knew this was a dream.”
“Is that, wait is that true? What happened to the monster? Did anything else fallow you here?” The lioness body stands back onto four legs, raising one paw and sliding forward as if she were about to walk, about to start pacing. She lowers the paw and has to actively stop herself, lest she break that promise of holding still to avoid breaking camp supplies.
“Are you really magic? Please! Can any of your spells help me, can you tell me whats going on here? I’ll do anything you want, honest, can you actually- ..”
“No you overgrown kitten, that was all sarcasm. Sheesh. Magic isn’t real, duh.” Angel rolls her eyes and flicks the stick of meat back into the flames. It would have been far more casual and impressive if not for the fact she needed both hands to lift it and careful manuveing to hold it at all.
“That, but … I …”
“If you aren’t going to tell me the truth for your story, why am I going to tell you the truth in mine? So long as we’re both making it up off the top of our heads might as well play along.” She answers smugly. Charley’s grin never wavered.
“Its sarcasm now, but she’s Gilgameth.” Keth snapped more pictures from his phone, and seemed to be tracing his finger over something.
“I pronounced Gilagmet.” The woman corrects, just as smugly as before.
“That’s not how you pronounced it the first time.”
“Whatever.”
“So … so you can’t change me back?” Daniel whines, the largest, dish sized eyes staring down at the three humans. Bits of water starting to pool along the corners, his dainty looking lip started to quiver. The sphinx settles back down onto her chest and belly, once more flopping down to rest her chin between each paw.
“Afraid not, but I can help you out with something else.” Angel gets back onto her feet, looking over at Keth. “Want to help me carry thi-“
“Nope.”
“You are no fun at all.” Angel shrugs, turning around and padding the few yards she needed to reach Daniel’s face. She taps lightly against his forearm with her foot, only to step back at the sudden hissing and pained flinch. The sphinx re-folds her arms in such a way that it was harder to reach her wounds.
“O-oh. Thank you, miss … miss Angel.”
“Don’t mention girl, just hold her palm out.”
Daniel twists the fuzzy yellow-brown palm upwards once more, allowing Angel to drop the seared meat directly into the center. It did not appear especially well cooked, but it also wasn’t red and bleeding. Nor did it look smokey and charred. Too hungry to care at this point Daniel leans down, closes his mouth around the meat, and then tries to hold the metal pipe still while pulling it back.
The fingers of a lion were quite assuredly not suited to the task.
“I got this!” Angel shouts, reaching up with her own palms and gripping onto the handle. “Just hold still. Clench your teeth, alright?”
Daniel went as still as if a butterfly had just landed on his arms and he was trying not to scare it off. The meat covered stick still jutting out of his maw, now with a woman dangling in front of his nose. The sphinx grits down hard, watching Angel’s muscles bulging at her newfound effort. The woman pulls, pulls, like drawing a sword from a stone, and as Daniel’s teeth slide the meat right off soon the metal is empty and pulled free. Damp and hot but perfectly usable.
“Ahah!” Angel grins, looking up at Daniel’s amazed, and rather content look on his face. For the first time in too long actually tasting something, and with a few gulps the lioness body could feel like it had something.
“Phew. Almost thought I’d have swallowed your stick there.”
“Don’t mention it.” Angel flings her fingers into her hair. “But if you ever feel like actually telling us the truth, I’ll be right there waiting to tell you my own story.”
“I am telling the truth … I am a human, just like you guys.’ Daniel gulps a few more times, tongue going limp to simply let the flavor soak into his mouth. He honestly did not expect slabs of meat to taste this vital.
“Suuuure you are. Because you are completely humanlike. I can see it now!” Angel teases, stepping back and holding her arms out like this were some grand discovery. “Behold, the first every giant lion human. She talks! She riddles! She flies!”
“She’s not a girl …” Daniel interjected.
“Whatever.”
Written by Arbon on 19 August 2016
They offer to lend a ride
It was a quiet day as the sun rose higher, too hot to risk taking off. Daniel managed to scarf down three more sticks full of steak before the campers had to declare he’d pretty much cleared away their supply of fresh meat. While the sphinx was still hungry, there wasn’t really room to complain. Likewise he couldn’t help but feel guilty at how much he’d taken, and how little comfort it had offered him in return. Mindful of his footsteps the towering winged lion stayed carefully in place for most of the day, listening to their conversations while occasionally drifting in and out of a small nap.
It was just in the afternoon with Daniel’s stomach rumbling loudly that he felt a tiny bap against his nose. One of the few parts not covered in fur.
“Hey, you alive there kittycat?” Angel says, her face so close it could touch. Daniel had to blink, taking active measures not to move too suddenly and throw the girl away.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just resting really, I don’t think I’m even getting sleep here.”
“Well how about you try helping us pack out stuff, we’ve already got our tents and things loaded and it’d be a really big help if you offered to carry a few things.” She explains, ending her words sweetly.
The sphinx yawns directly in Angel’s face, rolling onto his back and stretching all four limbs out. Angel staggering somewhere near the left ear, only to stumble a few steps back when Daniel rolls up onto four legs.
“Sure thing, but weren’t you guys going to be here for weeks?”
“Eehh, planz changed.” Charley shrugged, walking up from the side with two bags and a set of ropes. “You dun ate all our meat, but if yer still hungry like that it’s gonna be hell for anyone to keep ya fed.”
“So that’s why we had to choose a more logistically feasible solution to your long term predicament while traveling in human dominated landscapes.” Keth adds without bothering to look up from his phone. He wasn’t carrying anything either, a point Charley did not approve of if the expression was any accurate tell. “There is a lake only a few miles down the road, still within the national park’s borders. Its on the way to Longport so you’ll be going in the direction you wanted, and we were planning to head there anyway. Just not this soon I don’t think.”
“Oh, so help you guys get all your stuff down. Then wish you the best of luck fishing? Got it” The lioness grins, puffing her chest out and looking over all the heavy things she could so effortlessly lift right now. One paw reaches out to grasp at a rolled up tent and curl the talons around it. When she lifts the paw up the tent falls away, said fingers being too short to curl in far enough. She frowns and tries pawing at it again.
“STOP! Stop, okay stop we’ve got something better, just hold still and keep your wings up. Don’t try to kick or jump or anything and we’ll be fine.” Angel stands in front of the lioness, holding her arms up and acting like an owner who just scolded a pet.
“O-oh, sorry. I know I didn’t break anything.”
“I’m pretty sure you didn’t, but you’re sort of missing the point here. You’re still hungry right? So that’s what we’re off to fish for. Catch enough, its all mostly free, and you can eat till your heart’s content.”
Daniel blinked. Then grinned. “I’m a bit more worried about my wings than my heart, but I’ve gotten rest. Not quite sleep but lots of rest. Just say the word and I’ll- …”
Flop.
While the two ‘girls’ were talking Charley had tied one bag to another, walked up to Daniel’s flank, and tossed one of the bags over her back. Daniel could feel the rope pulling down as if he’d just gotten a surprise necklace, turning around just in time to see the next one flopped onto his shoulders. And the next. And the next. Every single bit of their camping equipment just fit over the side of his flanks like a saddlebag, and it didn’t appear to weight a thing as far as his level of exertion could tell.
Daniel saw Angel was grinning, and none of the three needed to carry more than their clothing and personal equipment. In Keth’s case a cell phone.
“I think I see why you thought I could help here …” Daniel accuses, only to be met by Angel’s burst into a fit of giggles. The sphinx then tilts her head up high, puffs the chest out, and pretends to be as regal and dignified as possible “Lead the way and I shall carry all! Seriously guys, least I can do to repay you.”
Charley rolls his shoulders and scoffs, already walking off with both hands in one of his pockets. “Aint nothing ta worry about, just be careful gettin down this here hill comin up.”
And so the four began walking, Daniel having to duck or shove to push through trees and only feeling free in wide and open spaces. Angel walking almost side by side with the sphinx, not seeming to be worried by the pace of those steps or just how large the feet were. More unnerving was the fact Daniel’s footpads were almost as light as Angel’s, a cat’s padded toes making so very little noise even with the ridiculous weight atop them.
Keth put the phone away long enough to keep track of the path, ducking around bushes and watching where he placed his own feet, and Charley took the lead having to occasionally glance back and make sure everyone was keeping pace. Daniel felt the mild discomfort with his wings, being this low to the ground and this large he could not spread them out without smacking into something. The leaves would itch across the skin, the sharp branches would tear at those feathers. But he also could not fully fold them back down in a way that would be comfortable. The stacks of tents, bags, and rope tying it all down was between his back and the inside of the wings. Jutting up and taking space so they could not fit neatly into place like they were supposed to. With each step there was a bounce in the sphinx’s hips making the bags shift and sway with disconcerting wobbles. Never enough to fall off, but always enough to be annoying.
Ten minutes of walking and the winged lioness felt time to correct these problems, they obviously wouldn’t reach a road or a car soon so she was left to reach her paw pack, pausing the trip, and fiddling with the bags. Her claws were long and sharp, but the fingers were all but useless for delicate work and trying to maneuver without snapping any ropes or tearing a bag open. Wearing mitts wasn’t this limiting, and the distinct lack of an opposable thumb hampered her efforts completely.
“Need help?” Angel pipes up, naturally the first to notice when Daniel stopped.
A flush of embarrassment, the tan cheeks turning to a soft pink as tries to keep moving and pretend nothing happened.
‘Just realizing I could use some thumbs is all.’ He tried to say. Or he thought he tried. What actually came past his lips was something else entirely, in an overly formal and flowery tone like a woman on stage attempting to recite poetry.
“Used left or right, I get to travel over cobblestone or gravel, used up I vie for sweet success, used down I cause men great duress.”
“What …” angel deadpanned.
Daniel stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide with alarm and now staring directly ahead. No. NO! Not again, not now, was that filter coming back? Was he loosing the capacity for normal speech for the second time today? What was causing this!?
“Many have heard it but nobody has ever seen it, and it will not speak back until spoken to.” Daniel says with a voice that clearly showed his blind distress. The sphinx backs away, looking toward the trees, the rocks, twisting her head to glance at the bags on her shoulder and ensure all were still there.
Was it location based? Was there some specific plant that made her speak in riddles? Were any of these trees the same as the ones along the road, but not present around the campsite? Could it be some rock or mineral like a superhero weakness, maybe some very particular type of dirt that a sphinx couldn’t go near? Did it have something to do with altitude, and going lower down the hill made it switch out from normal speech? What? WHAT!?
“An Echo?” Keth blinks, turning and looking back at what was causing the delay. “Heh, nice one I guess. Yeah if you shout at the mountains you’ll get an echo back. That is the answer right?”
“OOooohhh!” Angel smacked a palm to her face. “Riddles, right. I thought you said you weren’t going tell us any.”
Daniel’s lips curled into a snarl, eyes furrowed. This caused even Charley to pause and raise an eyebrow in return. The sphinx opens her mouth to start a sentence, but the moment the first word wasn’t what she intended, she stops. Then tries again, once more not even making it past the first word before realizing it was wrong. The third attempt was no better than the first two, a half started sentence that leaves Daniel frustrated and gritting his teeth.
“Although it is neither big nor small nor liquid nor solid nor gas, it can be broken without being dropped.” He finally concludes, looking down to the floor and aggressively walking forward. A paw silently motioning for those in front of him to keep walking, he wasn’t going to hold them up any longer.
“Are you … alright?” Angel blinks, it was obvious something was wrong. Daniel answers by a shake of his head, eyes downcast and obvious anger in the womanly face.
The rest of their trip was carried out in silence, the three humans trying to hide their concern, and the sphinx doing all she can to not act like a comic book villain setting up puzzles for some hero. Daniel was just as careful to keep from stepping on anyone, even Angel who stayed close to his side, and just as careful to prevent damage to his cargo. But everyone knew this wasn’t fun anymore.
Written by Arbon on 26 August 2016
Down the hill
For Daniel it was a stressful trip, teeth gritting as he tries his hardest not to speak. Every attempt at even the slightest comment, from pointing out a clear path to asking about the types of flowers just came out as another riddle. Infuriating, unfathomable, and made even worse by the fact he could not discern what was causing this to begin with. Charley opted to be quiet as well as if that were a default state for him. Angel was mutely concerned, seeing that Daniel was angry for rather subtle reasons and acting decidedly strange. Keth found entertainment in trying to solve the riddles, while occasionally having to stop himself from a nasty tumble.
“Woah there.” Angel calls out. “Watch the moss on that rock, looks slippery.”
“Okay mom.” Keth rolls his eyes but dutifully steps away, instead sliding down a sloping dirt trail.
Daniel could see the footprints indicating this was the same path they’d came up, though from how parts of the pathway were more worn than others it would appear this family wasn’t the only one. Being so much larger the Sphinx had little trouble with patches of moss or the softness of the ground, feet as wide as a lion’s and larger than an elephant’s did not have an easy time sinking down even despite the weight. Likewise when one has grabby claws and rough pads that curl inward it is really easy to maintain traction.
“So uh, Daniel. If you aren’t going to tell us how you actually got here all the way from Egypt, mind if I start taking guesses?” Angel pipes up nervously, as if seeking to lighten the mood.
The sphinx opens her mouth to speak and gets as far as the first syllable, before angrily relenting to the fact it wasn’t the sound she’d intended. To get her point across the enormous lion leans down and huffs noisily into Angel’s face. For her part the toned and lithe woman just giggles.
“Oh come on, that was cute! How do you expect me not to laugh at that?” Angel complains upon seeing the lioness’s face. “If you can’t talk or won’t talk then we can at least play twenty questions. You can nod your head for yes or shake it for no without turning the head wobbles into a riddle, right?”
Daniel nods, however slowly. With tightly sealed lips the overgrown feline turns away to look at the sky.
“Are you actually from Longport.” Was her first query. Eyes serious and her arms folded. “That isn’t just you screwing with us, right?”
Another nod from the sphinx, though now she looks toward the trees drifting past on the rapid walk.
“Are you alive? As in flesh and blood not just some mechanical thing?” the next words from angel’s mouth were a bit surprising.
Daniel looks to the distant mountains, toward the sun high above, anywhere but directly at the woman by his side. He can’t think of an answer. How would he know? He didn’t hear clicks or whirring and he didn’t notice any gears or wind-up parts. Could those be faked? If you weren’t certain how could you find out? Daniel didn’t feel electronic or mechanical, his movements were silent and fluid, he was clearly light enough to fly with however much difficulty. He felt like flesh and blood, he could still taste things, he was still breathing and could smell the grass by his feet or the hint of summer leaves.
It was all the sphinx could do to nod at that one, as far as he could tell he was alive. And he wasn’t sure if that was more plausible than random transformation, or less. At least until he could pinpoint a direct cause for this.
“How about this one.” Keth calls back from just ahead of the two. “Does anyone else know about you? Any people in longport, any scientists who might want you back in a lab somewhere, any historians that want to quiz you on ancient trivia?”
Daniel puffs his cheeks out in indignation, the tail flicking dangerously behind him and the various bags jostling ever so noisily with his steps. Another moment to think about it, he knew people sure but none of them had ever seen a sphinx before. He was almost certain of that. After full consideration he shakes his head side to side.
“Odd.” Angel muses. “So you don’t have some museum to go back to, no hanging out in the Egyptian exhibits?”
The oversized catwoman rushes ahead to get in front of Angel, the massive feet stomping through leaves and sticks, the bags struggling to stay up. He’s careful not to step on any of the small humans around his feet, but with angel right behind him …
Flick.
The tuft of the sphinx’s tail swipes out to bap her in the face, the fur coated appendage startling her more than it hurt. Certainly less painful than a swipe from paws larger than her face.
“Hey!” she shouts, ducking under a second blow as the tail loops back around to strike again. She has less luck on the third one that catches her directly in the stomach.
Angel doesn’t simply accept this, her arms wrap tightly around a tail thicker than her legs, she hugs it close to her chest and tries to root herself in place.
Daniel simply lifts the tail up, easily carrying the young woman snagged onto the end. Angel kicks her feet through the air and sticks a tongue out at the Sphinx. Daniel turns his head and sticks his tongue out right back, giving the tail a soft wiggle that rocked the woman back and forth.
“And we’re here kids.” Charley announced openly, motioning his hands toward the parked car beneath a tree, just off the side of a dirt road.
Written by Arbon on 02 September 2016
Keth solves one mystery
Daniel’s tail wagged as if on it’s own accord, not with the steady flailings one might expect of a dog but rather the careful, random flicks of a feline at full attention. The base shifting only the slightest bit while the tip end of that tail curls around in rapid, short flicks. Angel latched onto tightly, her legs dangled behind and one of her sandals fell off at a particularly forceful shake. All smiles and excitement this was rather obviously a thrill ride more so than a terror, even when fifteen feet off the ground and wrestling what amounts to a fuzzy python.
The pickup truck ahead was dark blue shade with wide and thick wheels, Daniel could only snort at the caked mud that has long since dried onto the underside. None of the three travelers seemed the slightest bit concerned about the stain, this was fairly deep into a secluded forest. The drops on top seemed a bit more concerning, as directly under a tree seems a terrible place to park one’s car when birds are fluttering about. There only seemed to be two seats and … wait, no. The sphinx could tell there was a bit of space behind the front chairs for someone to sit, the bed of the truck currently empty so long as you are willing to discount twigs and leaves.
“Finally” Daniel muttered under her breath, lowering the tail down to ground level and allowing Angel’s feet to touch dirt. It took him a beat or three to realize it though.
“Ahieght, kids. If’n ya don’t mind settlin down lets unload the pack animal an load it all up in them there truck.” The thick drawling accent an unmistakable voice.
“She’s not an animal Dad, stop joking about that.” Angel was quick to defend, sliding off the tail like it was a pole and reluctantly walking forward.
“As she appears to be a yet undiscovered and unclassified species I believe Angel is correct in that without proper taxonical classification we cannot conclusively state which kingdom the woman belongs to.” Keth agrees, earning a roll of the eyes from Charley and a grumble in frustration from Daniel.
“Not-A-girl.” She says hurriedly. “But guys! Finally! I said finally! I can talk again, ahaha! No more riddles!” The sphinx started to Beam down, looking at all three one after another.
“You mean you couldn’t talk before?” Angel tilts her head, glancing up and down the pack. “Oh please lay down for me, it’s hard to actually … reach … up … here.” The woman had skirted under Daniel’s wings and was placing her hands, her face, her chest across the lion’s flank. Bumping into well tied bags and hopping up to grab at the ropes.
With a loud sigh the lioness swivels her tail won beside her legs, lightly shoves at Angel to brush her aside, and flops down directly onto her belly. Hind legs beneath her and the front legs held out in front, chin held high and the wings stretched out wide to provide a better vantage to grab from.
“Of course I couldn’t. Don’t act like none of you figured that out!” Daniel’s voice was laced with annoyance. “It was exactly like I said I camp with the last guy I talked to, every time I start to say something it just comes out as a stupid riddle.”
“Thanks big girl.” Angel immediately set to work unclipping large bags and walking a short ways to the truck, dumping things in only to dash her way back. “Does it also work when writing? Can’t you just spell out what you’re trying to say?”
“Not a girl.” The sphinx mutters. “And I don’t know! Its worth a shot I guess but this is literally my first day having claws and wings.”
“Ya don look like yer havin all that much trouble fer someone who claims dey got a new body. Seem mighty fluid if’n ya ask me.” Charley took the left side while Angel had the right, each walking smoothly to gather and load supplies. For her part it felt a bit weird having tiny little tickly things running fingers through her fur and pulling on ropes to strip things off of her. At the same time she hardly noticed a difference in the weight, these bags were lighter than clothing on her exceedingly muscular form.
“The last guy you talked to.” Keth calls out with concern, leaning his shoulders against the side of the truck and just watching everyone else work. “Where was the last guy? What was he doing?”
Daniel shrugs, eliciting a brief cry of alarm from those by her shoulders. “On this nearby road I guess, I um … flagged him down from his car.”
“So the man was driving?” Keth pushes.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Well clearly it isn’t the car seeing as you only started talking when we got to ours. But maybe the riddles have nothing to do with what you’re doing or where you are, what if it’s determined entirely by the people you’re talking to?” Keth suggested.
“Okay are you going to sit there and talk or are you going to actually help …” angel grumbled between lugging three different bags over to the bed of the car.
Keth turned up his nose. “I’m going to talk and help, duh. Miss Daniel-”
“Not a girl, not married.”
“Daniel, I theorize that just like the monsters of legend who tell riddles to travelers in exchange for uncontested passage, if you meet with someone who is going somewhere then you’re forced to give out riddles. Yet when you come up to them, the same way we were sitting perfectly still and you approached out camp, we weren’t the travelers. You were.”
“I’ve been walking with you the entire time!” Daniel burst out, watching as the last of the luggage was stored away and her back was now entirely empty. “If it’s really as simple as only talk to stationary people then that means I’ll be a comic book villain spouting more dumb riddles all the way to this lake you’re after.”
At that, Angel Brightened. Glancing back and forth from Charley and Keth.
“Only one way to find out.”
Written by Arbon on 09 September 2016
Angel asks for a Ride.
Daniel was suddenly made aware of a warmth and pressure against her shoulders, glancing her head to the side only to feel Angel’s skin brushing against the bare cheeks. Feeling a tiny hand read out to pat against her nose as the human couldn’t resist the allure of a boop. The sphinx puckered her lips and blue, sending Angels hair flying back in a flurry of giggles and muffled protests. The human ducked underneath a wing, gripped onto fur in one hand and feathers in the other. The wing lifts up. With feet dangling on the wind Angel is carried up with it, quick to take advantage and swing forward.
“What on earth are you doing?” the Lioness muttered. Looking back and forth between the Grinning Charley and the woman standing atop her back.
“You can’t talk to us if you aren’t in the same car with us, so how about I ride behind your thick mane fur a while.” Angel offers, ducking down into a crawl for stability. The area across Daniel’s flank was wide and flanked on either side by protruding wings, but the skin was soft and deformed to the touch while the fur was smooth and slippery on sandal clad feet. Daniel hardly noticed any pain, it was a bit like the feel of having a baby kitten crawl on top of you. Fine so long as they don’t make use of those claws.
“The problem with that is I don’t have a mane, see? I’m a girl lion.” Daniel huffed.
“So you admit it!” Angel instantly pounced with pointing fingers and a bold proclamation. Daniel was stammering.
“W-w-n-dtt … Lies! I look like a girl, but I’m not one.”
“Where’s you’re mane then? Hmm?”
“I never had one when I was human, Gaah! Lets get back to the topic of you not wanting to wear seat-belts before I break down and roar.” Flop. The instant reply was a pile of ropes thrown at Daniel’s face, notably the same ropes that secured all of the camper’s luggage.
Angel daintily crawled forward and started plucking strands off of the very annoyed looking Sphinx, clambering up the back of Daniel’s head and reaching between the ears.
“Jus like ridin a hoarse bareback gal, if’n a mite bigger and jus a tad smarter than da hoarses yer uses ta.” Charely Drawled out, settling into the driver’s seat.
“You sure this isn’t a suicide attempt, Angel? I don’t think she’s all that confident in her ability to keep you safe.” Keth inquired, walking slowly around to the passenger side.
For her part Angel settled in down by the base of the lioness’s neck, legs wrapped around either side. The rope was dangled down then looped around the face like a necklace, coming up under the chin for a tight hold. Angel knotting the ropes around her waist and Daniel’s throat with a practiced ease. Daniel could feel what was almost a hug at the back of her skull, save the fact Angel was too small to actually reach all the way around. At best it was scratching between the fuzzy lion ears.
“Fiiine. I will admit this is at least less boring than trying to follow you guys in silence.” Daniel gave in. In the corner of her eye she could see the human’s tiny palm reaching forward to point.
“It’s also more comfortable, this was my turn to sit in the back seat and I’ll do anything to get out of that.” Angel beamed.
“It’s not that bad!” Keth grumbled while sliding into the car. The windows were down on each side, the camping supplies were held and secure in the bed of that truck, and both Angel and Daniel seemed ready.
With a sigh the Sphinx stands up, a movement that was sudden to the point of almost throwing Angel. A rapid rise, lifting her off her seat only to bounce back down atop the tawny fur. She responded by holding tighter and squeezing her legs rather than admonish what had become her mount.
Daniel started to pad in a tight spin, smooth and casual at only a standard walking pace. Then suddenly turned the opposite way, glancing back to watch Angel’s leaning in and holding tight. She seemed to be just as casual about anticipating the slight shifts and the folding muscles, but this was nothing like riding a horse.
“You don’t bounce” Angel observed, noting the feline muscles were sleek and fit together well with the flexible bones and almost rubber spine. Everything designed for stealth and sure footing, this wasn’t a thick gallop but a sleek stalking. And it showed.
“I can try bouncing if you want?” Daniel grinned, spreading her wings in a sudden flair, coiling the back legs, and then kicking off. She got to see a brief, instant panic in Angel’s face before they were gliding down the dirt path. A short flight of maybe half an acre.
“W-WHOO!” Angel screamed as soon as the lioness touched dirt. “Do that again, but other way. We’re supposed to be fallowing the truck.”
“Haha, adventurous aren’t you? Okay okay I’m- … did you just pull my ear?”
“Yes, the one I want you turn toward.”
“Now I feel like spiting you.” Daniel turned the exact opposite direction, but still aimed toward the car and took off at a casual, gliding leap.
“Hmm, so that means I’m playing with inversed controls. I think I can get used to it.”
“Ahah, are my ears a control pad now? Going to look around for the ‘A’ and ‘B’ buttons?”
Daniel felt an intensely pleasurable scratching just near the top of her scalp, right at the base of those fuzzy lion ears. She felt them reflexively fold back, acting like a blanket that covers Angel’s arms and whaps just over her head.
“I think I found one of them, what’s this button do?” she scratched relentlessly.
“Ya two done playin around er wat?” Charley’s voice seemed to take just as much pleasure in breaking the play as Daniel was in getting scratched.
Written by Arbon on 16 September 2016
Travel by foot.
The engine revved, the truck started forward with a puttering noise. The tires kicked up dirt and rocks leaving a noticeable depression in the road before it was finally set into motion. Daniel gave chase with a deliberate ease that should have felt unnatural given she did not even have this body for long enough to sleep in, and yet she was just as practiced as she had been when human. Exactly like the early morning stretching out her wings and limbs in the clearing. Exactly like first learning to fly, after a while it just came naturally. When one saw how easily the twenty foot tall sphinx kept up with a slow moving truck it would be hard to assume this was just a teenager trying out a new body for the very first time.
Daniel wondered, briefly, if that could have something to do with the fact no one here believed her. As if a mythical beast diving out of the sky to ask for your smores and steak was perfectly normal and reasonable, yet the idea that it was just a transformed human was too out of bounds with reality to even entertain. It made so little sense, but then these three weren’t the average people so it might have been something specific to their way of thinking. She was sure she’d figure this out. It was just a simple matter of getting home, finding her friends, and explaining everything.
“Whooo, that’s a lot faster than I was expecting.” Angel muttered, her hair flying back with the breeze when she pokes out one side, only to be entirely covered when she ducks behind the human shaped head. Daniel glanced to see the car to her side had sped up, and she matched pace without even needing to think about it.
“You do realize I have not yet begun to run, correct? This is still a walking pace for me.” Daniel politely informed, speeding up just enough to take up the opposite lane, then lowered her head to look in the car window.
“Good job Lion-Lady, whatcha gonna be when we get ta the road? Runnin er flyin?” Charley drawled, having to shout to be heard past the wind and the roar of tires on dirt.
“There are two sisters whom I shall avoid this eave, one whom gives birth to the other, and she, in turn, gives birth to the first.” Daniel answered casually, only to immediately drop into a frown. She didn’t have the slightest clue what that sentence was supposed to mean, and it didn’t come anywhere close to what she’d intended.
“Night and Day. If you’re avoiding them that means you’re on land.” Keth answers instantly. “Guess this means you’re back to riddles now huh?”
“Bwah, what’s night an day got ta do wit sisters?” Charley muttered, hands on the wheel and eyes on the strait yet wide dirt road.
“It’s a Greek and Roman thing.” Came Keth’s reply. “In their language night and day were each feminine sounding words, so that’s where they get to be sisters. Night gives birth to day, then day gives birth to night. That’s an old and obvious one.”
Not so obvious to Daniel, came the Sphinx’s grumble, yet when she nodded to the two in the car and kept on the path with them, the answer was clear enough. Message received.
“We’ll be getting to the paved roads soon, coming up towards the highway.” Angel muttered solemnly. She didn’t have to shout nearly as loud, for her the sphinxes massively oversized ears were directly in front of her. “Can you take a lane behind Dad to avoid stepping on traffic?”
With a nod, Daniel easily sidled behind the truck and kept at a leisurely, if lopping pace. She shoulders were perfectly stable, as was Daniel’s neck and gaze, even while everything else was in fluid motion. It left Angel with a smoother ride than those inside the car, if a bit windier and much warmer given close contact with the heated fur.
“So you’re back to speaking riddles? That’s too bad Daniel.” Angel hugged a little tighter. “I’m sure you’ll be normal once we come to a stop.”
“I hope so.” Daniel sighed, the head leaning forward a bit and the ears folding back. Sudden recognition.
“Tehehe. That’s the shortest riddle I’ve ever heard.”
“Wha, but I … that’s not … that’s exactly what I …” Daniel felt like her brain was going to explode in the futile effort to figure this out. Was it purely random? Was it only when talking to boys? Did cars in motion play some weird role?
“I think.” Angel whispered, the close hug might have been interpreted as intimate if not for the fact it served a clearly utilitarian purpose. That of keeping the human firmly attached and not dangling down one side. “I think that because I’m riding you, I’m not considered a traveler? After all I’m staying perfectly still, its you who happen to be going somewhere.”
“Makes as much sense as anything I guess. You sure you can’t just cast a hocus spell and magic me back to normal?”
“You look pretty normal to me.”
“I meant human! Change me back to a human!”
“Then how on earth would you keep up with the car?”
“More magic. Duh.”
“Pftt- Well I’m all out I’m afraid, so you’ll have to think of something else.”
“Fine. How are you holding up back there?” Daniel inquires. “You’re grip seems a little tight.”
“Oh fine, fine, everything’s wonderful. Uh don’t panic but my knots came undone twice already.”
“What!? Slowing down right now- …”
“No no no, I got them back in place and tight as a school budget now. Besides I think we’re about to speed up, I can see the road ahead.”
Daniel gazed forward with all reluctance, wanting to instead check on the necklace and finding it was impossible without dexterous hands. Pawpads just were not on the same level as fingers. Not even close. But seeing the swerving black lines opening up in the rows upon rows of carefully maintained trees, Daniel slowed down to match pace with the truck about to make a turn.
Daniel saw a wave through Charley’s window as he turned onto the road and swerved into the proper lane.
As soon as the Sphinx got in behind him, with no bumps to worry about no soft sand to slow them down and no dirt to get in the way, things sped up.
Daniel was forced to break into a run.
Written by Arbon on 23 September 2016
Daniel can keep pace on foot.
The rush, the wind, the sudden realization of just how fast a car can move when it accelerates faster and faster and faster. Daniel aware that she losing ground kicks off into a job. Outright doubling her previous speed and only barely keeping pace with the truck ahead. Thick paws pounded into the solid pavement, so very different from the sensation of walking on dirt and mud. This was hard and flat, not unlike running over a single large rock. In the exertion she could feel her claws poking out on reflex, all four legs having the awkward scrape of nails on stone when the sharp tips jabbed against that road. On any natural formation be it trees or dirt or even rocky mountains this would have been a good instinct to stabilize with, but the constructed blacktop did not deign to yield itself against a kitten’s scratching.
The car slows upon taking a wide turn, swerving right around the thick threes on either side and vanishing from view.
“Come on girl, you can do it! Fly if you need to.”
“Not a girl!” Daniel all but roared, now breaking into a dead sprint and rushing along as fast as her legs could carry her.
Gone were the smooth movements and easy lopping gait, now it was furious pounding for the paws smashing against the smooth road and the discordant bounce of her spine and shoulders. The tail hung wide and stiff behind her to act as a balancing tool and the wings remained taught, coiled up like a spring just waiting for the chance to burst out and take flight. At this full sprint the Sphinx could feel like she herself had suddenly become a spring, each moment was coiling her legs together and then leaping forward. To slam those meaty paws down, grip the earth, and coil back up to do it again. And again and again through the trees, wind zipping past and the landscape a blur of green and brown. From down at this height it all seemed so much faster than when she was up above the clouds.
Angel seemed to be torn between the sheer amazement of her ride and the terror of what could occur if the ropes tore or Daniel’s stance shifted. To say nothing of an outright crash, be it into the trees or directly into oncoming traffic. This was so much faster the wind all but stole her breath, her entire body devoted to maintaining a hold on that soft bit of skin around the Sphinxes neck. Hands gripping the outright luxurious fur, a face stuffed deep into the back of the woman’s hair, and her legs wrapped up tight like one’s first time riding a wild bull. The ride was now bumpy and wild, the seat bucked and tossed with each step of the giant, and the woman found her seat was about as comfortable as one expects from riding without a saddle at full gallop.
“W-whaaahooo!” she screamed as an echo to the Roar, a wide smile on her face. “This is like riding a motorcycle, ahaha!”
“What?” Daniel shouted back, ears swiveling to try and hear past the blasting winds.
The trees offered no warning, one moment they were tall and imposing with a deep shade over the pathway, and the next moment they were simply gone. Replaced by wide open fields of slight dunes and patchy grasslands, the glistening shimmer of water far off to one side, the blend of brown and yellow where dirt became beach and the calm lake remained settled over a sandy shore.
Daniel found herself staring, even from such a vast distance away the waters appeared clean and vibrant. It was a place for people to fish in, and it was common for visitors to eat what they catch, so of course the lake needed to be habitable. But the road seemed to angle the opposite direction, aiming strait into another patch of tall trees that came up just as suddenly as the last forest had left. Flanked on one side by the tall mountains, and across the other was glistening waters.
With a swoosh the air around tinted green and the only view were the blending, blurred together shuffling of wood and leaves to either side.
“Is that the lake we’re after?” Daniel called back over her shoulder.
“What?” Angel replied in turn, leaning so closer her face was almost inside the Sphinx’s tawny colored lion ear.
A repeat of the above, making sure to keep pace with the truck just ahead, with Daniel starting to feel her muscles burning the question of when they stop becomes an important one.
“Yeah it’s just around the corner, but the dock and resort is the other side of the lake.” Angel shouted back by way of an answer. Her gaze swiveled in amusement at what it felt like to be in direct wind at this speed while riding something that breathed.
“Cool.”
Written by Arbon on 30 September 2016
The most literal tailgater.
The flare of headlights, dimmed in the daylight hours. The rushing zhoom of something large zipping past to her left. The flutter of turbulent air pulling on her wings and fur. Faster than she could really process it a car in the opposite lane had come and passed. It couldn’t be too much longer now, just keep running, keep chasing the truck, and take to the skies if your legs start to falter as your wings had earlier.
Heart pounding so loud and so steady that Angel could feel the pulse. Breath ragged and heavy, sucking on the fierce winds that battered her face. Daniel could tell for the first time that her skin and her eyes must be made of tougher material than if they were ordinary human flesh. The skull may have appeared human, but as a sphinx she could dive at incredible speeds and run wild down the streets without so much as a pair of goggles. Angel seemed to be having trouble poking her head past what served as her wind break, and hair strands were constantly waving about her mouth and eyes.
“This. Feels. Weird.” Daniel eventually mutters, though not quite under her breath.
“Well it’s a first time riding a house sized lion for me too, not that I’m complaining!” Angel shouts back into the sphinxes ears.
“I meant the speed, here I am just strait up running at, what is this, fifty miles an hour? Are we going sixty?”
“How should I know! Rush ahead and check with dad?” Angel’s voice seemed anything but angelic when she had to fight against the whooshing air.
A car in the opposite lane zipped past, too fast to think and far too fast to dodge. Just off the road was lines of thick, sturdy trees that looked about as fun to smash through as that first crash had been. Or the second one really.
“If it’s a choice between a car crash or pretending I’m George of the Jungle without his vine, I’ll stay in my lane thank you.” Daniel didn’t take much to make up his mind.
“Why are you so surprised anyway, you should be used to running by now right? Or did you spend most of your time sitting down in front of a library?” The question from an angel on her shoulder. So innocent sounding, so rife with teases.
“Neither thank you, I went to school and was a perfectly normal human who did entirely normal human things.” The annoyance crept into Daniel’s voice.
“And you’re ‘not. A. girl’ yeah I got that, if you don’t want to tell me the truth then fine.” Angel rolls her eyes. “But at least come up with a better lie then that.”
“Ugh, you’re hopeless.” The sphinx rolls her eyes right back. “Hold on close, we’ve got a turn coming up.”
Her feet were sore, her muscles burned, yet compared to how exhausting the past flight was this seemed downright pleasant and simple. If she ran out of energy here it’s just a matter of slowing down, but fall asleep that high in the air and you’ll find out how quickly the ground is willing to embrace you.
“On it. And don’t look now but you’ve got someone coming up on your tail.” Angel glanced behind her. When Daniel tried to take a peak she ended up shouted at. “I said don’t look! Sheesh, eyes on the road big girl.”
“I am convinced your saying that just to spite me.” But now made aware of the car just behind, the distinct sound of wheels spinning along the road, that whoosh as a huge block of metal was speeding along right behind her, she was struck by how well it merged to the sound of paws beating against concrete. Then further struck by how it did not merge at all with the ear splitting beep of a car horn.
BLEEEEEP!
Daniel’s ears fold back, despite the warnings she spared a glance behind to see the car and its lone occupant gaining on her. Coming up closer, closer, so close she could flick her tail against the wind shield. A swish and a bap, the fuzzy tail-tip whaps over the antenna, but the cat doesn’t back off.
Ahead was the truck, to her right were the rows and rows of thick trees, to her left was the somewhat random bursts of cars speeding past. Not very frequently but fast enough that rushing headlong into one marked very low on her list of worthwhile accomplishments. And now making it impossible to slow down was this … guy? Hard to tell who it was, but being rear-ended did not particularly appeal either. This felt very claustrophobic.
“Hey! Back off! Dude go around already!” Angel leaned back and waved while the car ended up closer and closer to Daniel’s back legs.
Forced to increase speed to keep match she closed the distance between herself and the truck, yet this car just kept pressing in. Taking all the space she afforded and then demanding more. It was suddenly very stressful trying to make sure her wings don’t spread and clip the sides, her front paws don’t crunch into the nice camper’s truck, and her hind legs don’t smash into the screen of whoever this new guy was.
“You have me everywhere you go!” Daniel shouts back. “When you’re fast and when your slow, overmuch or very little aren’t good to do, and yet I have my limits too!”
The blank stare from Angel and the grumble of annoyance on the sphinx’s face said it all. But the driver didn’t seem that well versed in riddles and revved up another burst of sudden speed, this time catching onto Daniel’s back foot and causing a whimper from the impact. The tail lashes out, smashing hard against the driver’s windshield, but for all the strength of a sphinx this was still just a tail. Like a limp noodle it smacks and bounces off, the car and driver undeterred.
Another honk of the horn. Another burst of speed.
With only a single moment to decide how to react …
Written by Arbon on 02 October 2016
Daniel leaps!
The hind legs braced into the front, coiled in preparation. Noise, zipping cars on the left and leaves on branches reaching out to snag from the right. Wings spread, the paws lift off the ground, and with the hurricane force gale she’s taken to the air and glides her way forward. Another flap, then another, looking down to see the strange and annoying little car pull up behind Charley’s truck as if space to maneuver was a crime against nature. She could see it for the first time now, a shimmering green color with pictures of a pyramid in the back window. The driver leaned his head up to the side of his own view and peered out, peering up, to look at the sphinx overhead. Soft features, a slight mustache, rounded glasses that were taped together at the center.
Another flap and Daniel was over the treeline while still keeping speed, the wings spread wide and her paws arched out in all directions. Tail acting as a rudder and her face swiveling to watch for obstacles. No more crashing through trees, she refused.
“Eeee-we’re FLYING!” Angel squeals. The tone reminiscent of someone who’s just seen a mouse, or maybe a fashionesta who was overly excited to see a new clothing catalogue. Even the keen ears of a lioness weren’t able to pinpoint if this was a sound of terror or happiness.
“I’m flying.” Daniel corrected. “You’re just along for the ride, so hold tight and I’ll try to keep us level.”
She gulped nervously, it was bad enough trying to prevent injury to herself. The added responsibility of another to care for, someone who probably wasn’t in a body anywhere near as durable as that of a mythical beast of legend, did not sit well.
“You’re hardly off the grou-eeeee! I can see the lodge from here! Looklooklook, to your right Daniel. Over by the lake, see it?” Angel leaned to one side and pointed frantically.
“Hands and legs inside the wing space at all times until the sphinx has come to a complete stop.” But even while panicking over every movement the girl on his shoulders made, she couldn’t help but smile at the wooden hotel structure set up next to a peer. Through the trees, from this angle, she could see a parking lot and a basket-ball court. A well polished pool being actively cleaned by some man wearing loose shorts. The trees blocked much of the upcoming view, but the road curved a looping right towards the lakeside property and it was clear where everyone was heading.
“Or what, are you going to flip back and do loop-de-loops. Oh! Please oh please tell me your going to start doing flips, this is so awesome I’m actually flying and wheee!ahahaha! Everything looks so small up here!” Angel’s voice was clear as the sky. Which is to say about half-way, there were too many clouds overhead.
“Maybe later, I promise. Trying to keep track of the road here, and I think it’s harder to keep up speed when I’m trying to gain height.” Daniel replied.
“Bit too high to dive I guess. Do your best and I’ll be cheering you on!” Though Angel was noticeably missing any pom-poms.
Looking down the annoying green car that gave her so much trouble suddenly turned into oncoming traffic without so much as a signal, sped up to a ridiculous degree passing in front of Charley’s truck, then swerved directly in front of him. Daniel could only frown as Charley and Keth were forced to slow down to avoid a crash themselves, though everyone could only stare in muttered confusion as the green car speeds along much, much faster than the actual speed limit. It vanished around the corner as fast as it had come up.
Wings still sore, feeling the strain and pull of her previous injures being tested in the exertion, flying was so much more exhausting than it was to run. The lungs working overtime, the heart pumping like mad, to run was simply moving yourself forward but to fly, in a body this size, was like running while carrying your own weight overhead using only one hand. The wings had to supply enough force for everything.
“Aawww, are your coming back down?” Angel pouts when she notices the sphinx level off and swoop into an easy glide. Angling back towards the road and coming down at speed, always keeping behind Charley’s truck.
“We’re almost at the lake and I need to land anyway. Can I offer to take you flying when I’m more rested?” Daniel pleads, and already her feet touched onto the road and she was back to that fast, looping run.
Angel snuggles herself into the back of that tawny colored head.
“I’ll hold ya to it big girl. First time I’ve ever ridden something that could jump a car at full gallop. This is soooo much more fun than sitting around fishing.” The woman announces, loudly as was necessary to overcome the turbulent winds.
“Not a girl, and you aren’t alone in new experiences Angel.” Daniel shouts back, keeping her eyes on the road and folding her wings back lest oncoming traffic zip under them.
“Just because you keep saying that doesn’t make it true.”
“How about this then, if you were suddenly turned into a winged lioness what is the first thing you’d try to do?”
“Make funny cat videos staring myself, as the grand flying Rymelady who roars at anything that gets too annoying.” Angel answers without hesitation.
“Videos? What you mean like dancing on camera or trying to juggle balls with your nose?”
“Exactly! If you wouldn’t mind doing a few embarrassing things for me even I’m sure we can work out a deal.”
“Stick to your piggyback rides, I’m going to turn back to normal and then forget any of this ever happened.”
“The best laid plans of mice and men?” The human says in a sing-song, taunting voice.
“Now what’s that supposed to mean …”
Written by Arbon on 09 October 2016