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A Flexing of the Literary Muscles

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Oct 27, 2009
((Feel free to hop in. No direction, no purpose this time. Train your adaptability skills))

With a hush and a sigh, a medium sized blackwood bush stood up from its position nestled against the trunk of an ancient oak tree, kicked some sickly-looking mushrooms that appeared to have been growing from the tips of both its boots, which appeared from apparently nowhere) and released a massive yawn, stretching a pair of wiry, muscular, human arms up and out into the air, originating from somewhere within the now standing erect shrubbery. The man-flora then began to walk.

As it strode through the woodland at a healthy gate, though disturbingly quiet, capable of avoiding snapping even the quietest of twigs with an ancient's expertise, the leaves and branches of the plant began to withdraw inwards, as if being vacuumed by some miniature force. As the bush began to disappear, though, it was replaced by more human anatomy. Branches evolved muscles, leaves narrowing into hair strands and falling against his green-tinged flesh to remain only as intricately drawn tattoos.

Eventually, in the bush's wake, continued striding a man of modest handsomeness, fawn-flavored freckles spotting his arms and face, his hair a mane of curly earth brown and his eyes as green and ancient as the earth itself. He was armed with an immature, dimple-tipped smile and a rusting weapon tied to his hip by a belt of vines. The forest child tilted his head up at thrush bird's panicked warbling cry from above and pinching his lips together, replied in a series of whistles and chirps that appeared to immediately satisfy if not outright calm the tiny beast.

It had been a nice nap, the last half century, but if he'd been awakened it meant someone or somethings were disturbing his wood. The Wren did not like disturbers of the wood. Not one bit.
 
White paws padded silently on the loam of the forest floor, long claws not leaving a mark. Raelin ran through the woods, her nose twitching violently, a strange new scent littering the area. Her grey fur was standing on end, her silver eyes flicking between trees for the source of the odd new smell. Her ears were strained for any sound, but she heard none. Something was wrong with the trees. They were calling out, but the message they were sending was jumbled, and she couldn't understand it. It made her head hurt to listen, the chaos tearing at her heart. She had to find out why they were suffering.
 
"Skywatch to Foresthome, come in, Over"

Anderson glanced at the radio as it repeated the phrase severa times. Finally, he stepped away from the simply wondrous view of the wooded valley below the ridgeline where he had landed and established the point of contact. He went to the mic and replied to the call from the still orbiting colony ship.

"This is Foresthome. Go ahead Skywatch. Over."

His command began running down the list of items on the protocols that had been developed to minimize the intrusionary footprint their presence would make upon both the planet as a whole and, more specifically, the particular biosphere formed by the forest, foothills, and valleys where Anderson found himself.

"Understood, Skywatch. Will begin exploration in the morning, next contact at 0900. I am going to finis securing the basecamp, cleanup a bit, and get some sleep. Over."

"Roger that Foresthome. Skywatch Over and Out."

Anderson kicked back and marveled at the colours of the sunset. Oranges, reds, purples...nothing this vivid had been seen on any world he'd visited for decades. He pulled up his modular pack and took out the mirror. A little smudged and in need of a shave, but he was clean enough for now.

Not like I have anyone to impress down here. Damn budget cuts, sending one person to do a team's job.

He set the perimeter's proximity alarms and swung up into a hammock he'd rigged among one of the tighter stand of trees. Speaking directly into his watch, Anderson intoned, "Alarm: zero-five-hundred, Mark." He made a run of his slender fingers through his newly crewcut red hair, then settled his hat over his face and positioned his hands behind his head and tried to sleep.
 
Raelin heard a strange noise, like a hissing snake, and then a voice. The sounds repeated several times, and it seemed to be coming from a ledge up above the forest, echoing out over the trees. She listened closer, and could almost pinpoint the spot it came from. She ran to the base of the cliff and sniffed, trying to catch a hint at the sound's owner. Suddenly flesh melted and molded, changing like water, and she took on the form of a small red bird, her wingspan no more than few inches. Flying quickly to the top of the cliff, she stared down at a man with an odd contraption in his hand.
 
...concern...curiosity...fear...anger...possessiveness....

While Anderson tried to sleep, emotions that were not his own seeped into his subconscious and spilled over into his dreams. He woke with a start and looked about the camp.

"What the...was that...but the scouting reports indicated this world was empty of higher sentients. " He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. Maybe it was wishful thinking, Anderson had not been around people for longer than was probably good for him.

He had had some leave coming to him after returning to Main Command once the raid on Biscay had been completed, but someone boosted the priority on this mission and he was still active. And now he was here.

Stretching himself while lying in the hammock, Anderson wished he'd remembered to bring a VR-pod. A little music or a vid would help him relax more readily; although, indulging in a little mind-based sex would be nice too.

Anderson chuckled. What was that slogan? "More real than real," he said to himself. "I'd settle for a little unreal about now."
 
Raelin landed on the ground near the base of the hammock, observing the man lying there. After a moment she hopped backward, deciding that a larger form would be better. When she was back far enough she willed her flesh to change. It took mere seconds before feathers disapeared and pale skin and long, red-gold hair took their place. The beak gave way to a soft face with bright green eyes, filled with flecks of gold and full lips. A young woman stood where the bird had only seconds before.
 
Anderson sat up.

Crap...what...oh..a bird...that's cool? The thought droppd off as he watched the famliar-but-not bird fluctuate--inflating in sizeand flowing easily from an avian shape to a humanoid one.

Anderson swung his legs over the side of the hammock, but made no attempt to stand or leave the swaying fabric. He let his steel-blue eyes take in the entirety of the young woman's form in front of him.

Do I even have a translator in my gear?

He waited. Patiently, he watched and tried to get an empathic reading off the woman, even as he took in the cues from her stance and facial expressions an mentally compared them to the psychological training he had had.

"Hi," he said. "I'm Frank."
 
She didn't move toward him, but acknowledged his greeting with a nod. "I am Raelin." She examined him closely, her eyes trailing over him, sizing him up. He didn't seem dangerous, but something posed a threat to her home. If it wasn't him, then maybe he had some information that could help her. She cocked her head to the side, thinking.
 
Frank nodded in return on being given the young woman's name. She appeared to be curious about him. And, probably, what I am doing here... In the glow of moon and starlight, he could make out a lot of exposed flesh, but the fall of her long hair combined with the low light to make Anderson unsure if Raelin was clothed or not.

"Um, I guess you're wondering where I came from and why I am here," Frank said as he stood up. He reached behind him to stop the hammock swinging, but did so casually, without taking his eyes off of Raelin.

"I know I have plenty of questions."
 
Raelin fingered the edge of her skirt nervously, surprised by his honesty. She did want to know why he was here. He looked very different from anyone that lived in this area, and his behavior was even more curious. Her legs were clad in peice of leather that came mid- thigh, fashioned into a skirt by tying the side up with leather laces. The same leather was made into a vest that laces up the middle, covering just her chest and leaving her mid-drift and arms exposed for quick and easy movement. A ring of symbols was tattooed around her arm, just below her shoulder.
 
The young woman did not answer Anderson right away, but the change in her position allowed him to see more clearly how she was dressed. Nice...very nice Frank smiled as the though crossed his mind. Then laughed and tried to remain professional about things.

At least, for now.

"Well, I am here to conduct a survey of this planet," Frank told Raelin. He smoothed out his undershirt, wishing he'd paid more attention to that weight training course he'd been sent to. He was lean and in shape, but not as much of a hardbody as he might have liked to be when meeting a beautiful woman uexpectedly.

"Are you from here? We'd been told there was no higher sentients planetside." Frank stepped towards the end of the hammock closest to Raelin and slowly reached for his canteen. "Can I offer you anything?"
 
She frowned, watching him suspiciously. "Yes, this is my home..." She took a step back when he came closer, shaking her head. "No, thank you." After a long, uncomfortable pause she spoke again. "Where are you from? And what do you want?" She had no qualms about sounding rude or aggressive, especially not when he and his people were invading her home and accusing her people of being unintelligent.
 
Frank gave Raelin a small shrug when she declined his offer of a drink and opened the canteen anyways. He took a long swig from the container an resealed it. As he was doing so, the back of his mind creeped and itched with emotions.

uncertainty...suspiciousness...displeasure...anger...outrage

None of it was powerful, just enough to shade and color what Raelin was saying and asking him. Anderson got the feeling he had phrased something wrong.

"I'm from a number of places. It's sort of a nomadic lifestyle, you might say. As for what I want? I would like to finish my work here, if I may." Frank found his eyes sliding from meeting Raelin's gaze and ranging over her form--now her tatoo, then the hem of her skirt or the lacing of her vest and what it covered.

Anderson continued, "Like a said, we're making a more in-depth survey of the planet. It's topography...resources...lifeforms." He stopped speaking and realized he had been trying to close the distance between himself and Raelin while he talked.

He met her eyes once more and tried for a more active empathic reading. The night making the usually subtle use of his power become a more tell-tale glow within the whites of his eyes.
 
She watched his eyes trail over her body, but remained alert. Listening closely to his words, she didn't feel him prying at her mind until after he finished speaking. She stared into his eyes, curious as to how he was able to touch her mind. As far as she knew, only shapeshifters could mindspeak. She decided to test her theory, to see if he really could hear her or if she was just imagining things.

"Are you able to understand me?"
 
Frank taken aback by the direct telepathic question. He nodded and eyed Raelin carefully. Even with a higher than average Psi-rating, Anderson's mental communication was never very strong when came to speech, he had alway been more of an Empath when it came to those talents.

His real strengths was in other areas.

He took a deep breath and let his thoughts reach out to the young woman before him. <<Yes...I can hear you...Do you hear me as well?>>
 
Raelin was shocked that he could actually hear her, and respond. "How can you mindspeak? You're not a shapeshifter..." She glanced him over, re-assessing him. He didn't smell like a shapeshifter, and he didn't have any of the defining characteristics of one.
 
That's what the previous scouting party missed!

As many a battle cruiser had discovered during the last Galactic War, convential scanners did not detect shifters. Some species, in fact, went unregistered even when in humanoid forms. Only direct observation by the five base senses, or through psychic ones, proved of any use.

Frank thought to Raelin <<No, I'm what my people refer to as a Psi. I can access parts of my mind to do things with my thoughts. 'Mindspeaking' is one of these things.>>

He looked her over once more. As he took in more of the details of the form she wore before him, Frank asked, "So, are all of your people here shapeshifters? Is this your natural form? Do you even have such a thing?"
 
She spoke aloud now, breaking the connection and blocking her mind from any further communication. It made her uneasy that this stranger was able to touch her mind so easily. "We are not the only beings here, no. And this is the form I was born in, and am most comfortable in. Every shifter is different. Some prefer different forms for different reasons. Why?" She felt his gaze on her once more, and shifted her feet nervously. He'd gotten closer, and kept staring at her, and she couldn't help but wonder why.
 
Why did I ask her that?

Frank considered the question. True, he was an explorer and scout--always looking for questions and, sometimes, to the answers as well; but was he usually so inquisitve about what could very well be construed as especially personal information?

No...not usually.

He glanced at Raelin once more. The shapeliness of her legs and arms...the way her outfit provided cover but was enticing to both the eye and other parts of him...but, for some reason, he was drawn to both the allure of her hair and eyes and the intrigue inherent within the symbols she wore.

But Anderson did not know how to explain all of this to himself let alone to Raelin. He shrugged. "Curiosity, I expect. I have seen others who change their form, and was interested--am interested--in knowing more about how and why you do it." And knowing more about you...

He had become quite physically close to Raelin. Neither of them had really seemed to notice it, although Frank's empathy sensed the young woman's wariness. He was aware that she had closed her mind to actual telepathy, for now.

Anderson decided to take a chance and extended a hand towards Raelin. He pointed to the tatoo and said, "May I ask about the meaning of these?" To make it clear what he was speaking of, he began to bring his hand down upon Raelin's skin--lighly touching the symbols.
 
She flinched under his touch, but didn't make an attempt to move away. "We change because staying in one form limits one's abilities. And those symbols-" Raelin paused and glanced down at his hand on her arm before looking back up into his eyes. She couldn't tell if he was being sincere when he said he was curious, or if he had other motives as well. "-Those symbols are how my people tell eachother apart. It is my name." She only told a partial truth, as there was much more to the story. But he was not from here, and would not understand. Explaining the entire truth when he did not understand her people would be a useless waste of time.
 
Raelin spoke the truth about the markings on her arm, but Frank sensed a bit of emotional turmoil. He was okay with that, though. One of the first things he'd been taught in his empathy training was that emotions were often tricky and made up of more than one type.

Frank idly rubbed the pad of his thumb over the surface of Raelin's tatoo. He wondered if the marks were ideographical or phonetic, but didn't ask her anything else about them. He started to show her his own name, but remembered he was in an undershirt. The work shirt bearing the stencil of 'Anderson' was still lying at the foot of the hammock.

"Interesting," he said.

Frank continued to meet Raelin's eyes while they talked and continued to evaluate each other. He was slightly above average in height, fit but not anything close to being a real athlete, and dressed in most of his uniform still. "What brings you out this time of the night? My presence? Or were you simply traveling and came upon my camp?"

The questions were mostly little tidbits meant to keep Raelin near him, although Frank did let his hand fall away from her arm. Why am I so attracted? Has it been that long or is there just something about this woman? He breathed in her scent now that he was up close, and took a moment to subtly look her over from the side and rear.
 
Frowning, she answered his question curtly. "The trees woke me. Something is wrong, and I intend to find out what." She felt awkward under his insense gaze, wondering why he continued to watch her so closely. It didn't seem like he felt threatened by her, but she couldn't tell what his motives were.
 
The trees woke her? The trees?

Frank took a step back and turned away from Raelin. This information changed a lot of things. Could the Corp have known what this planet was about when they had sent Skywatch here? This would make Anderson's job here very complicated--ethically as well as physically.

"Was that figurative? How could trees wake you?"
 
She stared blankly at him for a moment, as though it were obvious. "They spoke to me...all shifters commune with nature..." She glanced down at the forest below, frowning. "I need to find out what is wrong. They tell me that something is amiss in this area."
 
Frank nodded.

"Well, perhaps my presence is disruptive. Mine and that of my equipment," he said. "We really haven't begun any of the work, yet. I'm just the set-up person--the one who chooses and establishes the base camp."

Even with his back turned a bit away and his head turned even more, Anderson could sense the stronger emotions rising in Raelin. He hoped he didn't make her actually angry with him.

How do I go about calming people again? I should've paid more attention in training class.
 
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