Who: Qrow & Mary What: Flying When: Tuesday evening Where: The beach Rating: Low Status: Complete!
Mary hadn’t spent a lot of time experimenting and testing her new found powers. Her trip overseas had put a halt on her dreams and she wondered if she would begin again now that she was back home. The thought wasn’t too upsetting as her dreams seemed to be fairly tame compared to the ones she read on the network. Still, it was a lot to take in and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to completely admit that things were spilling over into the real world. But who could say no to flying?
Despite her more practical appearance, Mary still had daydreams and wishful thinking commandeer her from time to time. Everyone wanted to have the ability to fly! Soaring through the clouds, feeling like nothing could hold you down. Maybe it was on a whim, but Mary decided she would give this flying thing a go.
It would have made more sense for her to try it out during the rainy days, but she couldn’t bring herself to try and end up getting drenched. Perhaps if she had known a way to keep her clothes dry, but it didn’t seem to have come with the dreams...at least not yet. She was beginning to wonder what the breadth of her power was or how to use it.
She decided to try once more at the beach, choosing a secluded area. Really, the whole place was empty given the recent weather they had encountered. She remembered the last time she had come here with Tony and Laurence, trying to figure out what it was that made her fly...or float?
She opened her umbrella, glancing around once more to make sure no one was observing her antics. How mental someone might have thought her! She put her heels together and closed her eyes, focusing on the air around her and imagining herself floating up to the rest of the clouds…
Before she knew it, she was high above the sand dunes she had just been standing on and she gave a small shriek of excitement and worry. She had tried this a few times before, but there had always been someone else with her to help bring her back down. What if she couldn’t figure that part out? What if she was destined to be trapped in the sky until she might be able to call out for help? And what then?
All these thoughts were swirling through her mind that she didn’t see a dark shape making its way towards her.
As luck would have it (or not, depending on your point of view), Mary wasn’t alone in the sky today. Since gaining the ability to change into a bird at will, Qrow often took advantage of being able to fly. Running late to class? Out of gas? Too inebriated to drive? Having a set of wings really came in handy.
Of course there were the days which Qrow just felt like flying. He wasn’t sure if it was the literal bird in him, but on days like today, when the sun was out and the wind was just right, he practically itched to be up in the air. It started in his back between his shoulders and then slowly, but steadily spread down his spine and through his arms until he was just as anxious for class to be over as his students were.
He had a few hours between his afternoon and evening classes and he took advantage of it, taking to the skies the moment he was on his own, making straight for the shoreline. A big, black dusty crow soaring among the gulls, enjoying the smell of the ocean, the sound of the waves and the feel of the wind through his feathers.
He’d been flying along the shoreline for a little while when something very strange suddenly came into view. At first Qrow thought it was a kite – a very oddly shaped kite – or maybe a balloon? But as he got closer he discovered it was neither a kite nor a balloon but a person somehow flying…with an umbrella.
There was something you didn’t see every day. Intrigued, Qrow adjusted his path towards her to get a better look.
So far, so good! Mary couldn’t help but beam with pride as she found this wasn’t as difficult as she had remembered. The wind was gentle and easy to manipulate as she rose higher into the sky. She glanced around her, taking in the beautiful surroundings. Perhaps this was just the beginning of what she could do on a regular basis; practice made perfect you know.
She had just turned towards the direction Qrow was flying in, noticing the giant bird coming towards her. She blinked, trying to take in what she was seeing. It seemed like...but that was preposterous! It appeared that the bird was purposefully making its way towards her!
“Shoo!” She used her free hand to try and direct the poor thing around her. She didn’t want to think about what it might be if she had a collision with a bird this high from the ground. How would one even think to tell that story at the hospital? “You best go around!”
It took a moment for Qrow to recognize the woman. The last time he’d seen Mary Poppins the two of them had been reduced to teenagers. She’d been nice enough to offer to get an ice cream with him after her original scoop had taken a dive on the pavement. The two had talked over the network earlier as well. Talked about flying. Qrow hadn’t realized that Mary had actually started flying. Good for her! If he could have, he would have offered her his congratulations. Unfortunately, though he still retained his human thought process as a crow, he lacked human vocal cords to actually speak.
Mary didn’t seem to recognize him, but there was no reason why she would have any reason to believe the large bird -- now currently adjusting course so that he was flying next to her rather than straight at her – was the same man she’d met only a scant number of times in the recent past. Qrow didn’t exactly look like himself at the moment, save for his keen reddish eyes.
Qrow hadn’t quite figured out how to communicate in this form. To be fair, he hadn’t really had the need to. Maybe Mary’d figure it out on her own. Maybe not. Regardless Qrow thought it would be rather rude to just fly off and leave her. Not owning a pair of wings herself, Mary was sort of subject to the wind, so Qrow (while maintaining a certain distance from her), adjusted his own flight to ride the air current, flapping only to keep his lift.
As the crow changed direction, Mary couldn’t help but feel as if it were adjusting its flight pattern to fly alongside her. That would be truly strange, but it appeared to do just that. She couldn’t help but glance at it, wondering at its strange behavior. Well, perhaps it was as confused as she was; she couldn’t imagine there were many people up here!
“Are you quite lonely up here?” she asked, half wondering if she might get an English response from the bird. She had heard of crazier things from the dreams and in Orange County, anything seemed possible.
Lonely? Qrow considered this a moment as he glided along. Flying was something he did when the urge struck him. Whether or not he had anyone to fly with had never really crossed his mind. The exhilaration of being airborne was usually enough.
“Not really,” he mused, though what came out was a series of caws. “Never really thought about it before.”
While the response wasn’t in English, Mary was surprised to find that she could still understand what this crow was saying. Her eyebrows shot up, a startled look coming over her face. “Goodness, did you actually understand me?” Well, his response proved that he had, but Mary was still trying to wrap her head around this. Was this something from her dreams? Or had she gone too high up and the lack of oxygen was beginning to mess with her brain?
“I feel like I might have done enough flying for today,” she addressed the crow, not sure why she felt like she had to excuse herself from it. “I’m not sure if my wits are completely in tact at the moment!” She glanced at her flying companion. “Do you have far to go on your journey?” Was she still speaking English to it? Or was she now cawing as it had done in response? She shook her head, not wanting to give too much thought to it.
Qrow was equally as surprised when it seemed as though Mary had understood what he’d said – or rather had cawed. That surprise was reflected briefly in a glint of those reddish eyes.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with your wits,” he “said”, hoping to relieve some of that panic on her face. “I can understand you because I’m not actually a bird. Well I, guess, technically I am, but I’m not one normally. It’s, uh…it’s magic.” Which really wasn’t much of explanation, but considering Mary herself was currently using an umbrella to soar in the air, it couldn’t have been that farfetched, could it? A gust of wind from the ocean made Qrow flap in order to retain his current trajectory.
Qrow glanced towards the ground below. It was fairly flat and still fairly sandy. Not a bad place to land. “I think I can explain better on the ground,” he went on. The idea that the bird flying beside her was, in truth, not just a bird seemed to add to her growing anxiety. Yes, it would be for the best that they land on solid ground while she tried to sort it all out in her mind. She just nodded at her new companion before she realized that she didn’t quite know how to get back down to the ground.
“Right, well, I’m still fairly new to this,” she mentioned, blushing a bit. “So it may take me a moment to meet you down there.” She had contemplated asking him for advice on how to get down, but the idea seemed absurd. Besides, she didn’t have wings or feathers like her companion so she wasn’t sure if any of his advice would really pertain to her.
She was fortunate to find a wind current that seemed to be heading towards the surf and she flew into it, coasting along until she felt her feet touch on the sand. She only had a little bit of a trip until she was able to catch herself and pull her umbrella down. She glanced around for her new friend, hoping he had not seen her disgraceful landing.
It wasn’t really a bad landing, all things considered. And Qrow knew something about bad landings. When he had first transformed into his bird form, he hadn’t a clue how to fly. It had taken a lot of practice (as well as accidentally slamming into a few things, such as his brother-in-law’s living room window) before he really had it mastered.
For her part, Mary hadn’t crashed into the ground. She hadn’t somehow landed out in the middle of the water either. She was on her feet on dry land. Call that one a win.
After Mary had landed, Qrow made for a spot nearby, but within Mary’s line of sight. While still a few feet above the ground, Qrow reverted back to his human form. He had learned it was a lot easier doing it this way. The transformation always screwed a little with him as he readjusted to his normal height, weight and center of gravity. Doing so while in the process of landing seemed to speed that adjustment along. Plus (and here Qrow would be willing to admit a bit of vanity), it looked cool.
The transformation itself was quick, no puff of smoke, no morphing. Literally in a blink of an eye the crow became a man. He gave her a sheepish sort of smile. “Hi, Mary,” he said. “Uh, I don’t know if you remember, but we’ve met before. I’m Qrow. Qrow Branwen. From the network? We, uh...we had ice cream that one time. Y’know, when were changed into teenagers a few months ago.”
Mary wasn’t usually one to pick up when something was cool or not, but Qrow’s transformation definitely was. She stared in awe as he walked towards her, the face seemingly familiar. As soon as he spoke however, her face broke out into a grin, an uncharacteristic laugh issuing from her. “Qrow! Yes, I do remember now! That we should meet under another bout of strange occurrences now seems proper.” She smiled, a startled look coming over her face as she remembered:
“I should have known it was you! You had helped me when I had first discussed the notion of even attempting flight!” Her smile returned, thinking of their friendship so far. They had good discussions on the network and the two times they had met in person seemed fated! At least she had been with someone she enjoyed when confronted with these strange occurrences around Orange County.
“It is a beautiful day to fly, isn’t it?” She glanced back up at the sky, shielding her eyes with her hand. “Did you just feel like going out for a bit or were you on your way somewhere?”
Qrow was relieved that Mary remembered him from their earlier encounters and wasn’t even more freaked out at the sight of a bird changing into a man. His smile turned less sheepish and more genuine. “Yeah, that was me,” he nodded as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and his overall posture relaxed. “It’s good to see you again, Mary. I’m sorry if I sorta freaked you out up there. I don’t normally see people flying around…” he chuckled.. “Especially with an umbrella. Though it did make it really easy to recognise you.”
Qrow glanced upwards at the sky as well, his reddish eyes squinting against the sun. “Yeah, it is,” he agreed. “Nah, I’m headed anywhere special,” he said with a shrug. “Sometimes I just get the urge. I think it’s the bird part of me. Birds gotta fly.” He turned his attention back towards Mary. “How do you like it? Flying, I mean.”
Mary hadn’t even thought to be completely surprised by his transformation, at least not in the way she would have if she had just arrived to this area. It might have seemed unsettling to her that such strange behaviors seemed normal to her now, but the thought (thankfully) didn’t cross her mind. For now, she was content to have this happy coincidence of bumping (flying?) into Qrow.
“It was quite a surprise, although a pleasant one!” She smiled at her friend, laughing a bit. “You haven’t run into anyone else in the skies?” Somehow that surprised her with all the strangeness from the Dreams. She imagined they couldn’t be the only two who could fly, although perhaps others were more conspicuous about it. Did they need to be?
“It’s lovely! I didn’t think I would enjoy as much as I do, but it’s a perfectly pleasing hobby if I do say so myself!” She could understand what Qrow was talking about, that nudge that kept coming to you, urging you to go out and explore where many were unable to. “If I may be so bold, what is it like when you are a bird? The feeling of feathers must be very extraordinary!”
Qrow chuckled a little. “There’s probably a few people on the network who can fly,” he said. “But I haven’t talked to’em. Plus, there’s a lot of sky over Orange County.”
Qrow cocked his head slightly at Mary’s question about what it was like being a bird. “No one’s asked me that before. Well, it’s different, obviously. I’m smaller. Lighter. I thought it would have taken me awhile to get used to it, but it really didn’t. It felt normal, somehow. Probably because I’ve been able to change into a bird in the Dreams for a while, but I don’t know.”
Mary couldn’t help but swell with pride at the thought of their uniqueness. Even with all the strange things that happened in this area, they were apart of an elite group. But this was a sentiment she would never share with others, even with Qrow, who shared the exclusive title. “Probably for the best,” she said out loud. “We wouldn’t want the skies to become too full.” She smiled at Qrow. “We may have missed each other then!”
She tried to imagine what it would feel like to be a bird. “Do you think you’d ever be interested in flying as a human?” She imagined not as a bird sound much more freeing.
“I don’t know,” Qrow answered thoughtfully. “I’ve never thought about it.” He glanced a little wearily at Mary’s umbrella, hoping she wasn’t offering him the chance to fly with her using it. That probably wouldn’t have been a very good idea. Actually, the more Qrow thought about it and all the ways it could go wrong, it would be a very bad idea. “I don’t…I don’t think so. I kinda like being able to change into a bird.”
Mary wasn’t so sure about giving out rides with her umbrella either, but she couldn’t help but smile when he declined. “I imagine it’s thrilling!” While Mary’s imagination knew no limit, the grand things she always envisioned were for her students, not for herself. The thought of being able to fly would have seemed like such a silly concept before she had started to dream. Why hope for the impossible?
The wind pulled Mary from her thoughts and she looked up. “I hope it doesn’t snow again,” she commented, even though she had missed the phenomenon here in Orange County. “I heard that was an occurrence during the holidays?”
“It shouldn’t,” Qrow answered with a shrug. “Usually it just snows in December. Givin’ us all the whole White Christmas thing.” He glanced upwards, his eyes again squinting against the sun. A few gulls shouted at each other as they flew by. It was hard to imagine with the nice weather they were having now that only a few short months ago there had been a blizzard tearing through the area. Orange County was unpredictable like that. Qrows brow’s knitted together. “But, weird weather isn’t exactly a foreign concept here.”
He lowered his eyes back to Mary. Her smile was infectious and Qrow found himself grinning a bit as well. “We should be good today, though.” He said. “You wanna go back up?” he asked, motioning towards the sky.
Mary turned her attention back to Qrow, smiling at the invitation. “Yes...I think I could do with another go!” She opened up her umbrella, her heels clicking together in what had become a natural pose for her. “I think a spot of tea would be quite nice,” she commented as she began to rise from the ground. “I’ll race you to the closest shop!” There was a mischievous twinkle in her eye as she let her umbrella carry her into the wind, heading back into town.