FIRE TO THE RAIN [merrick]

[DAKOTA]

Morning in a skatepark was an interesting time to come. It was
far to early for the skaters to show up, but too late for the
junkies and whatnot to be waiting around for some poor child to
wander into their midst. It was the calmest time of day for the
humans, but the most active for the hybrids that would come
along this area. Nobody could catch them here, unless the police
took an early run, and either way, it would seem that it was still
by far safer than any other place that you could be in at this time
of day. Many may think it insane to be found lurking around in
broad daylight, wings spread wide, and whatnot, but it wasn't
too much for Dakota. She was ready for the world to shake itself
awake before she would leave her location.

Currently, she was sitting on a bench, her tawny wings streched
out and resting on the table that was pulled up behind her. It
seemed like she was taking a nap, her eyes closed, a ballcap
pulled over her eyes to prevent the oncoming sun, but she was
actually on full alert. She knew she would need to be aware of
the people coming before they were alert of her being there. She
was on edge, waiting for the crackle of a footstep, or a flash of
emotion. Dakota would be quick to get away, but that didn't
really matter. She was, for once, in a good mood, and was
actually looking forward to meeting somebody in the skatepark.

She wasn't a people person, but she wasn't a recluse either. She
had heard of a few other "freaks" coming to the park around this
time and she was hoping to meet a few and get a better feel for
New York. Maybe she'd find somebody who grew up here. On the
otherhand, it could be an Eraser. That would be just her luck.

[Argent]

Merrick loved the morning. The cool air, the quiet (more or less) streets, and most importantly, lack of people. There were relatively few people out in the Big Apple's early morning. Unfortunately, as it was New York, "relatively few" still mean several hundred thousand. But Merrick knew how to stay out of sight for the most part. He'd been here for a few years, so he knew.

Today was an exceptionally dull day, even so early in the morning. He'd almost been caught the day before, having flown so low in a rather populated area. He'd kicked himself over and over after escaping the cop chasing him on foot, having become so careless. So to punish himself today, he wouldn't fly. Well, unless necessary. To escape from cops or Erasers. The usual.

Today, he walked from his less-than-comfortable studio apartment to a skate park he knew of. He happened to know it should be empty for some time to come, as druggies were long gone and skaters were yet to come. It wasn't too far, but upon rounding the corner, he stopped in shock, for there sat a girl with wings stretched out from her back. She didn't appear to notice him, but he was almost positive that she'd hear his heart beating as hard as it was. He'd had yet to meet any other avian-human hybrids such as himself, so he wasn't sure what to do. He'd been subconsciously hoping to meet one, but now what? Should he introduce himself, or should he run away to reduce either of their chances of being caught? Well, there was strength in numbers...

Merrick took a deep breath and strolled into the skate park. He made eye contact with the girl and nodded as though her wings were of no consequence. He stood to the side, and looked around. No one seemed to be around, so he took a chance. He took of the sweater he wore and stretched his own wings- wide, with a black and tan pattern upon them. He stretched himself and shook his wings to dislodge any loose feathers. After returning them to their relaxed state, he looked at the girl up and down. She wasn't bad looking at all, and she seemed to be about his age. Cool.

He walked over and stuck out his hand. "Hi, I'm Merrick. You are?"

[DAKOTA]

Dakota heard footsteps approaching. Something in the step, in the
emotions, made her keep her wings out. The light brown color of the
median-wing, primary and secondary coverts were offset with it's
darker companion on the tips of her primary and secondary feathers.
The lesser-wing coverts, along with the alula with the carpal edge,
were snow white. She let them remain in the sunlight as she felt him
come nearer. There were emotions a bit out of place for any human
or Eraser. Anticipation, hope, fear... She gave a light smile to herself,
giving a stretch, waiting for the hold of these emotions to come forth.

A boy, around her age, strolled into the park. He met her eyes and
she gave a nod of acknowledgement. She could feel his casual air
and it made her give a half-assed smirk. She saw him look around, a
feeling of daring taking him over she assumed. He took off his sweat-
er and she arched a brow at him before his wings spread out. Dakota
took the time and effort to keep the surprise off her face. She had
figured he was, but still. Seeing more bird-kids meant she was get-
ting closer to where she was supposed to be.

The boy approached Dakota, holding out a hand with an introduction
as Merrick. She gave a smile, more mischievous than anything, and
shook his hand. "Dakota." It was a pretty name, she guessed. She
wished she could have chosen something for herself, but Dakota
wasn't like the "normal" bird-kids. And from how this boy was acting,
neither was he. Which was fine by her. "You come here often?" she
finished, not as a flirt, but a sincere question. She liked being able to
find people again, should the need arise that she would need it.

[[ooc: gah! I need to make a template, or a siggy at least!]]
ROUGH IMAGE OF HER WINGS CLICK

[Argent]

"Once in a while," he said. Merrick's eyes traced Dakota's wings. They were quite a sight, going from white at the lesser wing coverts to a bolder brown color down at the primaries and secondaries. Very clean and well-maintained. He gave her props for her impeccable hygiene. He was also quite meticulous with cleaning his wings. While he couldn't, like a bird, stick his beak in them, he took a lot of time and care to clean them as needed.

Merrick wasn't sure what to say now. He'd not yet gotten a chance to make the acquaintance of another hybrid (unless you count Erasers chasing him across rooftops), so he was sort of lacking in a conversation topic. He was pretty sure he'd have spoken already if he was talking to another guy. That's not to say he was the typical teenage boy; he was nervous around women his age, but he didn't really worry too much about it. He didn't really talk to girls much. But now, this one with wings...

"So, uh... Where are you from?" he said. He felt his face turn red for his nervousness and out of embarrassment for saying something so stupid.

[DAKOTA]

Dakota heard him respond that he only came to this location
"once in a while", and she gave a nod in assent. She watched his
eyes eyes roam over her wings and Dakota returned him a smirk.
His darker onces were rather interesting as well, and almost
considered amusing herself with trying to guess what bird his
wings had been inherited from. But, seeing as she didn't know
much about birds, nor the origins of her own wings, she quickly
supressed the idea, and waited for him to speak again.

Unlike Merrick, Dakota was used to people of her kind. She had
grown up in a more freelanced lab, therefore she had aged
around several of her kind, male and female, and many Erasers
who weren't trying to kill her. They were training buddies. It
was hard for her to go from being friends to enemies with the
Erasers, but... When things like that happened to you, the things
that they betrayed her with... It was easy to adopt them as
enemies and show no mercy to them. A killing machine.

He asked her where she was from, then flushed and she gave a
laugh. "Tennessee," she replied easily, giving a smirk. Most of
them were from this area, but she felt somewhat exotic because
of her "foreign" origin. New York. It was much better than Ten-
nessee, though much more dangerous. "You a Yorker?" she
asked, giving a quirk of a grin towards him, tilting her head
curiously as she awaited his response, her wings tucking lightly
towards her back as a bitter, cold wind blew through the park.

[Argent]

Merrick crossed his arms to ward of the chill that was inevitable after a quick, cold gust of wind. "No, I've only been here a few years. Honestly, I have no clue where I'm from. I sort of escaped from a lab and flew around until I found this place. If I had to guess, I'm some sort of western European; I'm too dark to be from a family that was in America too long."

Merrick had done some research, but he still didn't know where in this country he came from. Later, he'd caught a taxi ride with a man who tried to speak Turkish to him, then apologized when Merrick had no clue what he was saying. As it turned out, the man was sure Merrick was an immigrant like he was. Since then, Merrick started to study Turkish through library books.

[DAKOTA]

Dakota saw Merrick shield himself against the cold as well, before
responding to her question. He said he'd only been in the Big Apple
for a few years, and didn't really know where he was from. That
seemed rather normal for their race. They knew the Lab, the place,
but not exactly where it was in the world. He said that he might have
been from Europe and she nodded. He seemed like a foreigner. Well,
moreover, his appearance. Otherwise, he was just another Yorker in
the world of York of New. He seemed to ponder for a bit, and she
started thinking as well. Mostly what to bring up for a talking topic.

She smiled. "Well, you've been around here for longer than I have,"
Dakota commented, offhandedly. She spread her wings again, as if
she stretch them out, then stood. Dakota gave him a smirk and
scuffed her toe on the concrete under her. "Want to go for a 'walk'?"
she asked, giving a grin. The skaters would soon be showing up,
and she wasn't in the mood to deal with them right now. She hoped
that he knew she was being more sarcastic on the walking aspect.
Who would walk when you could fly?

[Argent]

Merrick was tempted to go for it. His wings were practically begging for a good use, and Merrick loved the sky. His wings twitched several times to the point that he could hardly bear it. It would also be rude to say no, as he doubted he'd be able to explain his hesitation in a way that made sense to Dakota. He'd punish himself double later.

"Sounds good to me," he said. He retrieved his coat from near the ramp he'd dropped it by and tied it around his waist. It was rather uncool, but who would anyone be to judge him for tying a coat around his waist so he could fly?

Merrick crouched down and extended his wings out. After raising them, he pushed down with them while simultaneously jumping, giving the illusion that he jumped several dozen feet in the air. After several more flaps of his wings, he was high in the sky above New York. He looked down upon the enormous city and felt all-powerful, seeing the entirety of the city from this point. He held out his wings and glided slowly for several seconds, then ascended even higher. He looked down at Dakota to see how she was doing.

[DAKOTA]

Dakota gave a nod as he agreed, though was curious as to why it
took just a bit longer than just an agreement. She shook it off,
blaming it on the fact that morning in New York wasn't the ideal time
to go for a flight, but. Whatever. She saw him grab his coat,
wrapping it around his wait, then jumped into the air, his wings
giving a powerful down-surge as he propelled himself into the air.
When she was sure that he wasn't going to suddenly fall, she pulled
her wings in closer to her, and took a deep breath.

She exploded from her spot, taking a few quick steps at the nearest
bench, jumping on to the seat, then the table-top, and launching
herself into the air, her wings unfurling and allowing her to get
further into the deep blue sky. She got up to his location, allowing a
draft to pull her up even quicker, then hovered next to him. Absently,
Dakota put the long brown locks she had into a ponytail, giving a
smile, before adjusting her position and catching a crosswinds that
allowed her to rise further in the air with only a little work of her
secondaries. She glanced back at Merrick, hoping he'd catch up.

[Argent]

In case you didn't know or couldn't imagine it, the feeling of being a human so high in the air is both exhilarating and scary at the same time. It lends a feeling of ultimate, unlimited power, as well as the feeling that you'll drop out of the sky at any second. It was thrilling and terrifying. In short: awesome.

Every time Merrick took to the skies, he felt a sense of belonging, as though he was meant to fly. Whenever he got really high up there, it felt like it'd been an eternity since he was last there. Merrick loved to fly. It was his life and his purpose.

Remembering what was going on, Merrick looked at Dakota. Having put her hair up, she looked even better. Woah- he needed to calm down there. He met her about five minutes ago. He needed to at least be her friend before bothering to worry about such mundane things.

"Isn't this amazing?" he called to his fellow bird-kid.

[DAKOTA]

Dakota loved flight, especially after being "grounded" for so long.
She didn't care whether people looked up and saw her. In her
opinion, there were a lot of girls that looked like her. She could easily
pass off as somebody completely different. But, New York had
changed a lot, and humans were becoming more and more aware of
their surroundings. The days of hiding were over, so long as you
made sure those people who spotted you weren't the ones trying to
kill you. Erasers... They were coming more and more, and she didn't
know how much longer she could take the running before she had to
destroy something. Her deeper anger at life flared.

It was instantly quelled as Merrick spoke, catching up with her and
she timed her strokes with his, keeping at his pace. She gave a
shrug, as if to say 'no big deal' but it was a lie. Dakota wasn't a
really friendly girl when it came down to it, but the boy had caught
her in a more animated mood than what most people saw her in.
She banked to the left, avoiding the skirts of the town, allowing
herself to get higher and higher into the air.

"So what brought you to New York?" she called to him, coasting
on a nice current, though not looking at him while she spoke. It was
a bad habit. She should really get out of it.

[Argent]

Merrick thought about it for a moment. "I'm not sure, really. I never really thought about it. I came from... that direction," he said, pointing vaguely south. "I wasn't really looking for anything particularly. I guess when I came to New York, I found somewhere were freaks were abundant, if not as weird as me- as us."

He looked up at her. She seemed to be nice enough, if not particularly used to being around someone like her. He could relate. He really didn't have much experience with people, either. He didn't have any friends, really, just people he knew. Was Dakota his friend? What made someone your friend? He didn't really know.

"What about you?" he asked his new acquaintance.

[DAKOTA]

Dakota allowed herself to look back at him as he responded. He said
he came from the south area, and she nodded. She had too. Tenn-
essee was a long flight, but that didn't really matter to her. He con-
tinued saying that he wasn't really looking for anything, but came to
New York because there were "crazies" here. She gave a smile.
Yeah, you definitely had to do a lot to stand out here in the Big
Apple. It was the best, and worst, place to be an Avian American. All
the freedom in the world to be yourself, but all the restrictions of
being paranoid at the thousands of people you saw by the minute.

He returned the question to her. She gave a shake of her head,
smirking. "The same reason as you, but a bit more forward," Dakota
responded, coasting on another current as she wheeled through the
sky. "I had heard, from the Scientists in the Lab, that there were...
Other's, like me, around New York, and that they should dispatch a
team there," she commented. "Ifigured if there was a big enough
group to send a team, then it would be worth a shot to check out."

[Argent]

Merrick nodded in agreement. They were definitely in agreement about New York; it was full strangeness. A group of bird kids wouldn't go unnoticed. So if there were any here, many people would be looking for them. They'd be hard to find, but they could also find any solo bird kids.

"I was thinking, if there's two of us together, doesn't it mean we're more likely to be found? Or would it be better since we're safer, being together and all?" Merrick was unsure whether being here with Dakota was wise or not. Sure both of them being in one place meant a separate pair of eyes and ears, but if one of them got caught, they both did. What then?

[DAKOTA]

Dakota gave a slight scoffing sound at his slight worry about two of
them being together, shaking her head. She flipped around so that
she could look at him. "There are flocks up to the 'teens when it
comes to population," she noted easily, giving a smirk. "Two is better
than one, because it eliminates being double teamed," she said
easily, giving a nod. "You know if an Eraser showed up, that
some-body else would have your back, and possibly be able to
get your out when you couldn't yourself," Dakota finished easily,
giving a smirk and turning back into her forward position.

[[ooc: great, now I want to have a huge battle!]]