Dawnstar angled her body to take full advantage of the wind resistance. She spread her wings to their full extent on her approach toward the top of Legion headquarters, using them like brakes to slow her down. A moment before landing, she noticed that the smooth roof was all agleam.
'So help me, if Element Lad has been waxing the roof again ...!'
Her touchdown came when she was barely moving. Her booted feet settled on the surface - and almost slipped out from under her.
The entire roof was covered with ice. She kept her wings unfurled like a drogue chute, flapping them furiously to keep from skidding right off the edge. She almost made it too. For a moment she was in freefall, then she caught enough of the air to take flight once again.
Her landing this time was greeted with the opening of a nearby hatch. The person who emerged was a short boy clad in a blue-and-white outfit. He had a white cap which appeared to be lined with fur, with the same on his arms from elbows to wrists, and on his legs from the knees downward.
"Oh. I forgot to see about getting someone to melt this off. I'm Polar Boy; my super-power is to make things cold."
"I'm Dawnstar, and I'd never have guessed," she replied. "What are you doing at Legion headquarters anyway?"
"Yeah, I know about you. It's application day. At least that's what I understood. So I came to try out, along with some other Legion wannabees."
"By making the roof a skating rink? I'm lucky I had wings when I slid right off."
"Um, well, I'll be more careful next time."
"Can you walk on this? Good. Please come over here."
He approached cautiously. She noted that even he had to walk with great care on the ice.
"You mentioned other applicants. Who are they?"
"Let me see; there's Comet Queen. She can fly, but only in a straight line, and can emit noxious gasses."
"You mean she ... what's the word? - 'farts' to be able to fly."
"Not ... exactly. The gasses can also put a person to sleep, or they can form into a thick fog. Funny, she claims she gained her power from crossing close behind a tail of a comet."
"Ah. Now I remember her. Orange as a carrot."
"Then there's Jed Rikane. He hasn't yet chosen another name for himself. He's the muscular type; a girl named Lamprey, another named Nightwind ..."
"I know both of them very well. We were roommates back at the Legion Academy. Lamprey collects various types of energy and converts them into electrical currents. Nightwind controls winds."
"After that, there's Tellus - who I think resembles a space walrus ..."
She had no idea what a walrus was, but simply nodded as he talked.
"His power is telepathy of a sort. I'm not quite sure what that includes. Umm, there's Quislet, some type of ... I don't know what. He/it lives in a miniature spacecraft. Finally, there's Shikari. She, well, she's a flier; her power is to ... to ... well, I don't think you'd be interested."
His reluctance to talk about this particular applicant made Dawnstar uneasy. He was now close to her, about an arm's-length away, and speaking in hushed, hesitant tones.
She flexed her wings into a half-spread position, then leapt at him just hard enough to knock him onto his back. Before he could sit up, she spun him halfway around so that his feet were nearest the hatchway, then gave a shove to slide him toward it.
A second or so later she was gratified to hear a thump! "Ow!" thump! "Ow!" thump! "Ow!"
By the time she reached the stairwell, Polar Boy was sitting at the base of the stairs, enthusiastically rubbing a very sore rear end.
"What was that for?" he demanded.
"That's because you never once apologized to me for causing me to slip off the roof. I could have been seriously injured in such a fall."
He looked sheepish. "Don't worry. I'll make sure not to do that again. Right now I've got to get downstairs for the tryouts."
As he walked away very gingerly, she realized he still hadn't said he was sorry. 'This one applicant, Shikari ... he didn't say much about her other than that she can fly. I wonder ...'
The possibility chilled her. 'No,' she told herself, 'the Legion wouldn't replace me with her. Would they?'
'Would they?'
The anti-grav lift took Dawnstar quickly to the gymnasium where the applicant trials were taking place. It was a huge chamber encompassed by an elevated half-mile running track, and held a large swimming pool, currently covered to provide additional space.
The first applicant Dawnstar saw was Comet Queen; the girl was displaying her ability of creating an obscuring gas, like a smoke screen, while in flight, all the while jabbering in barely understandable terms.
"Parse me to the max! This is so totally sun-dust that I'm even here. I'm absolutely gratified to be trying out!"
'Now I know how she flies; it's because of all that hot air trapped between her ears,' Dawnstar thought, turning her attention to the next person, Tellus.
Polar Boy's description hadn't been far off the mark. The ... being had a pair of stumpish legs, heavy tail fins, an elongated, yellowish barrel-like body, and bizarrely-shaped head with an encircling helmet. What the helmet contained she couldn't tell.
It galumphed toward the other Legion hopefuls, coming to an awkward halt just before running into any of them.
Lamprey and Nightwind waved at her from where they stood together. She returned their greeting before gazing at the next man, Jed Rikane, as he effortlessly hoisted a 500 lb.+ barbell with one hand.
A slight gleam of silvery metal focused Dawnstar's attention on a decidedly miniature spacecraft that streaked constantly from person to person.
'Quislet. That has to be ... him? I wonder what kind of power he has.'
She saw Shikari then. The girl was grey-skinned, with streaming chartreuse hair and a double pair of dragonfly-type wings. She was currently hovering in front of, and slightly over, Ultra Boy. But she was also upside-down as well, something Dawnstar was completely incapable of doing.
'They wouldn't.' The words came back.
The two appeared to be talking freely, in a relaxed manner. Ultra Boy grinned, then leapt for her, only to have Shikari easily evade him with a half-somersault in mid-air, which brought her feet down on his back to shove him away.
He swung around while in flight to come at her again; she darted straight upward out of his way, sped after him, closed her legs around his waist, and steered toward a nearby wall. When he switched from flight power to invulnerability, Shikari drew her wings up, seemingly into a back cavity, and used her weight to force him to the ground face-first.
'She's outfighting him. I was never all that good a fighter, while she ...'
Wildfire came up beside Dawnstar. "Isn't she amazing? She has about the same flight powers that you have, along with the ability to sense the most direct route to wherever it is she wants to go - kinda like your talent of locating a person regardless of where he is. She's really friendly too. A lot of Legionnaires really like her."
Dawnstar barely bit back a reply. A feeling like the tightening of an already overwound spring settled into her stomach. 'So THAT'S why Polar Boy was so evasive about her power. It actually ISN'T all that different from mine.'
'They WOULDN'T!'
But the words were completely hollow now. Dawnstar pivoted and plodded toward the nearest gym exit, clenching her hands when Wildfire called after her.
"Where are you going, Dawny? Don't you want to se what else she's capable of? She's incredible!"
His praise of Shikari was like a brutal slap across Dawnstar's face. She faced him once more; any other words he meant to add faded instantly away.
There was no humor in her brown eyes.
Shikari was hovering near Cosmic Boy, laughing at some remark of his, when Dawnstar rocketed into her from behind and a bit below like a large stone hurled from a catapult. The dragonfly-winged heroine squirmed easily away, and the two of them began exchanging punches.
Shikari was the better at close-quarter combat; Dawnstar had a faster reaction time, so the fight was fairly even. Both were entirely in their natural element; neither was disadvantaged at being airborne. The one major difference for Dawnstar was that she could hit her opponent more often, hitting time after time after time until she'd forced Shikari almost to the ground.
That brought them within reach of several Legionnaires. Cosmic Boy wrenched Dawnstar away from Shikari, while Mon-El restrained the grey-skinned girl.
"I don't understand this, Dawny. I really don't."
She'd been restricted to her room following the battle, and now sat numbly. It didn't help to see Shikari standing just inside the doorway.
"It's simple," Wildfire continued. "In the case of duplication of powers, there's a series of tests to determine who is better. The winner gets to join the Legion; the loser returns to the Academy."
"Did you hear what you just said? DID YOU HEAR WHAT YOU JUST SAID? The winner JOINS the Legion! I've been with the LSH for years now. I can't very well join a group I'm already a part of.
"The loser returns to the Academy! Shikari never served at the Academy. I HAVE!"
She charged at Wildfire, beating at his faceplate with both hands. Rage fed her frustration at knowing she actually was incapable of physically harming him; frustration fed upon rage, which again fed frustration, until she couldn't withstand the hideous spiral. She passed out, nearly comatose before she even hit the floor.
"Dawny, I didn't ..."
Shikari then follwed her attack example. Though her assault lacked Dawnstar's raw emotional fury, it was, at least in appearance, visually more impressive. A double-handed strike into Wildfire's midsection made him reflexively bend over.
"Come with me," Shikari offered, reaching for the motionless Dawnstar. "It's quite clear these people don't need, don't DESERVE EITHER of us here. Not any more."
[Last edited by baycent54 on April 9, 2006, 3:20 pm; a few typos fixed and the conclusion appended here from a second thread]
posted
Gloriosky, what a vignette that was! Effective and vivid contrasts. If Wildfire had shown no emotional attachment to Dawny -- which he did in the books, of course, and his brash cynicism hid a soft heart -- I could imagine him (and the others) being this insensitive.
And I always had a soft spot for the notion of Shikari and Dawny working together. Neither one fit well into the Legion as a place with rules, as against its being a community of comrades.
Could anyone sketch these lovely winged ladies hovering outside the front door of their newly opened Celestial Investigations Ltd., shaking hands in mid-air?
From: Starhaven Consulate, City of Angels | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
First, glad you appreciated it. You must have noticed the slightly altered ending. I felt it was a bit more upbeat, less maudlin. Of course it also brought about the NEED for a follow-up story. I'll post it soon as I can.
posted
[Conclusion appended here, originally posted in a second thread]
baycent54 April 11, 2006 10:15 AM
"Oh, come on!" Dawnstar coughed. "Do you really expect me to believe you could have fought Wildfire better than I did? Or that you're actually concerned about me?"
Shikari shook her head. "Truthfully, no to either part of your disbelief. Neither of us could hurt Wildfire. He's an energy being; we're flesh. The rest, wing-Legion, that will have to be proven.
"Right now, what matters is how you feel. Your face is flushed, and you seem to have a problem focusing your eyes." Shikari deliberately kept from mentioning Dawnstar's blackened eye or still somewhat swollen mouth. Those were the results of a brief fight between the two of them.
Dawnstar shrugged, "I've been sick before. My body will heal in time."
"Then do you feel well enough for a short flight? Exercise will do your wings good."
"I ... no, I'd rather not. I'm just not interested."
It was not only her words, but the forlorn tone of her voice that stung Shikari the most. "We never met before, never once had the opportunity to talk with one another. I stood with those who hurt you so deeply. Now I feel so ashamed, so worthless ..."
Dawnstar was lying quietly on a soft-grass mat woven by Shikari. Quietly but not peacefully. Even after nearly two weeks at the place Shikari called "Sanctuary" following the ugly Legion incident, she remained far too rigid and tense.
'Yes, your body can heal, given time. But can the same be said of a shattered soul?'
From: Starhaven Consulate, City of Angels | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Unfortunately, that's all that was visible! I hope that no other text was permanently lost, and that you have a backup copy.
We've been trying to minimize multiple threads, especially for serial stories. That's why I picked up the text from your second thread -- what I could see! -- and placed it here instead.
From: Starhaven Consulate, City of Angels | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I still have the original (read: rough draft) copy. I'll re-post it as I have the chance.
'Thirteen days since I brought her here, and she still hasn't even noticed anything around her. What can I do to change that? Gods of her people, what can I do?'
At the moment, the name she'd chosen for the site, Sanctuary, sounded hollow. It was a planetoid barely within the boundaries of the United Planets, better described as the moon of a moon. But it was a world blessed with abundant plant growth.
Shikari's selected campsite was beside a stream so narrow she could easily have stepped across. The clouded, yet stunningly blue waters, so comforting to her, almost made her weep in joy.
'Why won't it work for you?'
She tried the question from a different direction. 'What would work for me? Friends - I'm afraid she's pitifully short of those right now - familar sounds, sights, scents, foods...'
That was the answer.
A visit to Earth - but not to Legion headquarters - supplied Shikari with everything she needed; music and the customary foods of Dawnstar's people. She considered scents as well, but decided against these. How does someone bring the smells of a person's background? In Dawnstar's case, what were they anyway?
What she did bring, however, worked better than she dared hope. The aroma of familar meats and baked breads cut through Dawnstar's deadened senses; the melodies, with their rhythms and instruments, the flutes more than anything else, drew her gaze to their sources. These melodies reminded Shikari of Dawnstar herself; solitary and of widely varying moods.
The healing had begun. It would take a long time, months or more, but the healing had begun.
Dawnstar's hand still trembled slightly as she dipped her fingers into the still-warm stew. "I swear this never tasted as good," she said with a mouthful of the mixture. "Where on Earth did you find all the ingredients? For that matter, where on Earth are we?"
Shikari was torn between simply laughing, and dragging Dawnstar into apogee zbove Sanctuary. Obviously the young woman hadn't yet noticed the unusual surroundings.
"What makes you think we're on Earth at all?" she finally teased. With that, before Dawnstar could answer, she settled into sleep.
Dawnstar woke first next morning, taking in the early morning light. She sleepily eyed the nearest vegetation, then abruptly rose to a sitting position. She shook Shikari awake.
"The blossoms...!"
"Which ones? There're so many around here?"
"Those along the stream bank. They're red, no, pink, no, orange, no..."
"Ah, those. Aren't they magnificent? They change color with the slightest breeze. When they're motionless, their natural color is a silvery-blue."
"And here I was sure you were joking when you said we weren't on Earth."
"Dawnstar - or do you prefer Star-of-the Dawn?"
"Oh, please, Shikari! That's SO pretentious. I won't stand for that from you. And don't call me 'Dawny' either. I'd as soon never hear that again.
"Now let me guess what you want; you have a question for me."
"Ah! So you're a thought-reader now?"
"That's mind-reader."
Mind-reader. The term dredged up an image of Saturn Girl, as well as those of several other Legionnaires. It left an acrid taste in Dawnstar's mouth. "A mind-reader? I should hope not. No, it's just that after thse last six months, I'v come to know you well enough so that I can tell what you want. So go ahead, ask your question."
"Well sctually it's two questions."
"TWO questions!? Great spirit help me."
Shikari's first question ended the bantering. "We don't need to stay here any longer: what happens next; do we follow our own ways?'
"That's up to you to decide. If you mean, do I want to split up, though, at this time I'd say no. I think we NEED one another."
"I so hoped you would say that. Together then?"
"Together."
"Well, where do we go then? Back to the Legion?"
"For the sake of our friendship, don't EVER ask me that again! There is a world, Saselki, not far from my homeworld of Starhaven, i was thinking about."
"That I don't understand at all. Why not return directly to this Starhaven?"
"Because I don't want to face my family, my people right now. I'm supposed to be one of Starhaven's finest trackers. Its a reputation I've fought to maintain. If they learn of someone else who can do the same..."
'She means me. I never realized that she was so dependent on her accomplishments. I see why she's afraid to introduce me to them.'
:How far is to Saselki?"
Dawnstar surprised her then. "Not too much more distant than Starhaven. As a matter of fact, I think it's a much more beautiful world."
"Then we should buy rations for our joruney."
"Not necessary. I can get us there much faster than you believe. THAT much at least, I can still surpass you in doing.
"Before we reach Sanctuary' stratosphere, you'll need to harness yourself closely behind me. We can't afford to get separated in flight."
"But I can keep up with you."
"Wanna bet?"
Their ascension away from Sanctuary was marked with an impromptu game of tag. To both of them it was a singular pleasure to swoop and swirl in the vast skies, dipping and gliding until they were almost giddy.
At the edge of Sanctuary's planetary gravity pull, Shikari wriggled into the harness she'd used to bring Dawnstar. 'I still don't see why this is necessary.' she grumbled.
"Ready?" Dawnstar mouthed the question. The air was too thin to carry sounds.
Shikari nodded. A moment later, she understood Dawnstar's confidence. The sky became a series of streaks of two colored lights. One was the red of approaching light; the other the blue of receding lights.
'This...this is lightspeed!' she realized 'No, actually it's even beyond that! No one told me she could reach that great a speed!'
'And this from a woman who's worried about being replaced. Hasn't she any self-confidence at all?'
Saselki was a planet of clearly apparent climactic differences. A long mountain range rambled along seacoast; wide prairies gradually turned into semi-barren deserts; a forest of immensely tall trees crowded into another mountain range.
It was toward this forest that Dawnstar directed her course. During their approach, Shikari found herself becoming amazed at what she saw.
The trees were massive, often large enough to hold villages or even small cities, within their lofty branches. Many of these communities rested on wide porches from harvested wood, which provided safe footing for all who inhabited the trees. One such site was actually contained through four heavily entwined trees; a full city in every meaning of the term.
"There." Dawnstar finally said simply. She didn't have to point. Her destination was a wooden-planked court.
Several people were gathering by the time she and Shikari landed as one. Neither was ahead, neither behind, in a show of equality.
One man of about Dawnstar's age, greeeted her warmly. "Dawnstar. It fills my heart to see you again. Its's been far too long since I last saw you"
"Shikari, this is Anxatine; Anxatine, this is Shikari She came with me in search of a place to live."
"That's easily enough arranged. Have you any preferences?"
Shikari couldn't be absolutely sure; Anxatine's welcome had been open, honest, and genuinely gracious. But it seemed to her that his reaction to Dawnstar's arrival was far, FAR more intimate.
'A home near the open sky, a people willing to readily accept me, a friend who treats me as a full equal. I definitely could get to like this place.'
Dawnstar had gone off with Anxatine. She soon returned with a different young man accompanying her.
"Shikari, I'd like you to meet Chihilan. He wants to get to.."
Dawnstar was suddenly unable to continue. She blushed, her words all but unheeded by anyone present.
'A home near the open sky, a people willing to accept me openly, a friend who treats me as an equal. I will definitely get to love this place!'
posted
A touching story, showing their generosity of spirit, and having them find a place of their own choosing that welcomes them. You've told it beautifully, and I'm glad you were able to rescue the rest of the ending from your files.
I did wonder about the very end. Who's thinking what, with each of them "saying" in turn 'A home near the open sky ...'? And is that {ahem!} some lip action between Chihilan and Shikari? No wonder they're going to love this new place
More generally, I didn't gather that the people of Saselki were winged themselves ... are they? Would their not being so have mattered to either of the two ladies? (Probably not, but wanting similar body types could matter.)
From: Starhaven Consulate, City of Angels | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
My original intent was to show Shikari's (who was to have repeated herself) feeling of being sincerely welcome. This was deliberately ambiguous so it could apply to Dawnstar as well. And yes, that was definitely 'lip action' going on. Didn't want Shikari to feel neglected in the romance category after all she done to help. The people of Saselki do NOT have wings. They obviously already knew Dawnstar, so were more tolerant of her newfound friend. Acceptance was, above all, a major theme of the story. There still might be considerably more to add. The Legion might not be so willing to let things remain in current status...
From: Michigan | Registered: May 2004
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posted
Confession time: This story was inspired by a sketch I did featuring Dawnstar at center stage, with her right wing neatly furled, and her left wing fully extended. To her right, someone is asklng, "Dawny, have you seen our new LSH applicant, Shikari?" Her reply, "No, I can't say that i have." Behind her left wing, there's an almost hidden image of a person going 'mmmmf!' as though getting a mouthful of feathers thrust quite suddenly in her direction.
From: Michigan | Registered: May 2004
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posted
Well, post it, then! Please! ... Despite some people's assumptions, I can enjoy a good laugh about my favorite character {rueful smile}
From: Starhaven Consulate, City of Angels | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
You can send it to me as an e-mail attachment (I'm sending you my direct e-mail address in a PM), and I'll put it on ImageShack and link to it here.
If you'd like to try it yourself, go to ImageShack. You can host an image even without creating an account. It's easy to do, simple to upload, they provide the code to link to your images from here, and it's free. If you create an account, you can access your images later and add and delete them. (No storage limits.)
From: Starhaven Consulate, City of Angels | Registered: Jul 2003
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Hyperpath: Email this page to someone!
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