The Eternal Vigil

[Orca]

Wooow. Az's job sounded so tough. He could never deal with so much responsibility on his shoulders, especially not with a matter so crucial. How did Azrael do it?

"I can... do.... something?" came his reply, voice gone even quieter out of chagrin. He stirred his hot chocolate, mouth quirking slightly downward. His powers weren't anything amazing like Azrael's, no way. They were just enough to turn people he'd known his whole life against him, and generally make things difficult. A wolf, however strong in its own way, wasn't much use up in the Watchtower walls.

"Oh!" he brightened suddenly, an idea -- not a good one, but an idea nonetheless -- occurred to him. "Want me to keep ya company when ya go back up, boss? At the very least I can grab ya cocoa whenever ya get thirsty."

Genius!

[Azzy]

Azrael once again had the urge to give Orca a pat on the head. Though, he avoided doing so, as it would just look weird. He didn't need any peculiar rumors floating around about him and Orca. Hell, the fact that he hung around with him more than most other people here probably provided enough fuel for odd rumors as it was.

"I suppose that couldn't hurt anything. Just make sure you don't throw anything in the pool or touch and of the floating orbs and you should be fine."

[Orca]

"I'll be good," he promised, somewhat starry-eyed. He'd always been barred from accompanying Azrael up to the pool-floor... at least in his human form. No one noticed another bird on the rooftop, especially not one so small and drably colored. But, this was good, right? It meant he was moving up... or something? More trust. Yeah.

"I won't touch anything, I'll just sit and watch and... learn?" Sure, why not. He couldn't do what Azrael did, no way, nothing even like it, but maybe he could pick up something from the experience.

[Azzy]

"I guess," Azrael said, still somewhat hesitant, "Though, since I've banned anyone from going there except other seers, it might be best to not draw attention to yourself at all. I don't want anyone thinking I am showing any favoritism." Given, it was a blatant display of favoritism, just one he didn't want everyone aware of.

"Though first, I'm going to take a few hours off and relax, before I get myself a decent night's rest. I guess other people can take care of things for one night. Though, if the Kingdom falls into ruin in that time, I'm blaming you."

[Orca]

He nodded almost fretfully. He wouldn't mess up, right? Would be just like him to end up falling into the pool, or something. Yeah, that would really make things pleasant for him. More people that hated his guts. Eep! Maybe... he should go in a shifted form after all.

"Want me to take the bird form?" he asked, voice hushed a bit, just in case anyone happened to be listening. "I mean... I can, if that's better? Or... I can just not come at all." He could... go train, or something. Get stronger. He was pretty good as it was -- no bragging there, just simple truth -- but there was always someone better.

At Azrael's last statement, Orca looked stricken. "W-what? It won't, right?" As much as he was reluctant to actually go to the city, he still supported it, or at the least some of the base ideas. He didn't want to get blamed for its demise. Oh no, that would be more than terrible.

[Azzy]

"Yes, Orca, yes it will." Azrael replied, his face and tone completely serious. "The kingdom will burn and you will be held accountable. Countless millions, dead because of your thoughtless actions." After a good twenty seconds or so, he continued. "No, not really, but it sure would suck if that were the case."

He did like the idea of someone else being around, even if they weren't talking all that much. He didn't really count the other occasional seers who would also be keeping watch as true company. None of them he considered much of friends, as he suspected they resented his position above them and would love nothing more than to replace him as head of the Seer's tower.

"Yeah, bird form would be nice. I doubt anyone would ask too many awkward questions about having a bird around. They'd just assume you were someone's familiar or something."

[Orca]

As Azrael's spoke, Orca's face grew more and more ashen, his eyes bigger and bigger. And then-

"No, not really, but it sure would suck if that were the case."

"O-oh," mumbled Orca, the color flooding back into his face along with a rush of red to his cheeks. "You were kidding." Simple-raised, jokes of that kind tended to go straight over his head unless completely pointed out, as was just demonstrated.

"S-sure! I'll just sit and watch." A pause. "No chirping, I promise. Are there actually familiars around here?" It struck him he could use those familiars to expound his abilities. After all, he needed to study an animal to be able to shift into it. Made sense, right?

[Azzy]

"C'mon, you weren't really taking me seriously were you? " Az asked Orca. He was adorable in his own way, but it really would help him out a lot in life if he wasn't so gullible and, well, pansyish. Almost like the extreme opposite end of the spectrum as everyone else here. Variety was nice, but there were limits to everything. "Where would you be in life if it weren't for me?"

"As for other familiars, I haven't the slightest clue. all I know is that a lot of magicians of all sorts have a thing for keeping familiars around. I dunno how that applies to those around here. I, for one, haven't seen any, though that might just mean they keep them in their chambers or something."

[Orca]

Yeah, he had been taking him seriously, but he wasn't going to, you know, admit that out loud. As for where he would be without Az...

"Dead at the watchtower walls, probably," he muttered in response, looking a bit dejected about Azrael's statements regarding the familiars. "Aww, too bad. I really wanna learn to shift a cat... and y'know, wizards and familiars and all... I thought there'd be at least one cat around."

Maybe there still would be one, you never knew. At the very least, he bet he could find a stray one running around in the city somewhere. That was the last place he wanted to be, really, but another shape to turn into would be worth it.

Wouldn't it?

[Azzy]

Meh, perhaps 'dead' was a bit melodramatic, though it was probably safe to say that Orca might not have been taken in so readily if someone else had been in charge. More likely than not they would have just sent him off on his way, to make due with his own skills. Seeing his relative incompetence with people, he might not have done so well getting along with larger society within the city.

"Why do you need a cat familiar to learn to turn into a cat? Can't you just, I dunno, practice turning into any animal you want?" Azrael hadn't really thought about it before, but it occurred to him he didn't know much about that particular branch of magic. Hell, as far as he had known, shapeshifters turned into a few forms solely due to personal preference and not any sort of actual limitation beyond this.

[Orca]

"Eh?" The shapeshifter was a bit perplexed. "How do I turn into somethin' I don't know about? That don't make sense, Azzy." How to explain? He could barely hold a normal conversation as is, now he was expected to go into depth about something? Teach something?

Oh, no.

"I gotta... umm, observe the critter first... Else I can't turn it. There just ain't nothin' to become unless I know what I'm becomin', I guess. I mean, umm, that's just me, though. I dunno how it works for others." Were there others? The boy looked visibly uncomfortable. Why had he let the topic stray to himself again? "D-does that make sense?"

[Azzy]

Azrael frowned, thinking about it and trying to imagine the process involved. "How do you turn into something you don't know about? But you do know what a cat is, right? I mean, if you didn't, then how could you have even brought cats up to begin with?"

"Though, I guess if you're taking mannerisms into account, that would require watching them. Of course, I always just assumed that you were taking the form of the animal and nothing more. Is there some component that directly involves their natural behavior?"

I mean, it would make sense to act like the animal you were imitating, if you were a shapeshifter. It just seemed odd if that would be a necessity for transformation to begin with. He had always just assumed they practiced turning into one animal and just got various deformities and partial changed until they finally got it right, then just repeated those results.

[Orca]

"It's complicated, sir." This was the reply he'd always given when people started getting in-depth about his shapeshifting, which didn't happen all that often, thank goodness. How was he supposed to know? He did what he did by instinct, no more. "Sorry, I don' really know how to explain it. It's just..." Yeah. He had no idea what to say.

Sooooo, change of subject then?

"Didja want me to grab ya anythin' else, boss? Or are ya all done?" He would have been an awesome waiter. Except, no wait, that meant lots and lots of contact with people. 'Kay, nevermind.

[Azzy]

Complicated? That was usually the number one way of saying 'I really have no clue, but I don't want to admit it right now and look silly'. Oh well, it wasn't like he was about to try shapeshifting anytime soon, though it would have been interesting to hear about it.

"No. I'm good, thanks." He said, pushing aside his plate and standing. "I think it is time for sleep for me. The kingdom better not come under attack while I'm asleep, you know." He said, smirking at Orca. With that, he gave a little wave and turned to leave.