Set a Bat Among the Pigeons

[andthebat]

There's a particularly unusual creature in the aviary today.

 

The Batman isn't happy to wake up at the top of a tree surrounded by birds for many reasons, but chief among them is the fact that the birds are loud. He'd been jarred awake by a parrot screeching right near his ear and his startled motions when he'd jerked into an upright position had resulted in a massive cloud of panicked birds fleeing from the big weird animal. Naturally, they'd raised a cacophony of squawks, chirps, tweets and twittering in the process, and his ears were still ringing a little from the initial uproar. 

But the bird had at least left the Batman alone up there, perched on top of a particularly thick branch several stories above the ground. The height doesn't phase him, but the fact he doesn't recognize the tree- or the massive room it seems to be in- is enough to disconcert him when the last thing he remembers is heading back to the Manor after a long night chasing down the Penguin. 

 

He does wonder if this might be some sort of Penguin-related scheme, but even with the earlier screeching the birds don't seem hostile enough, or even that interested when he's merely sitting around and trying to get his bearings. Not to mention even Penguin wouldn't be dumb enough to leave the Batman untied.

 

Sitting in a tree all day isn't going to get Batman any answers of course, so he unfolds his wings and leaps off his branch, swooping in circles around the aviary and keeping an eye out for anything or anyone that might be able to shed some light on the situation.

Comments

[andthebat]

It's certainly not the sort of architecture you'd expect to see in Gotham City, that's for sure. (Well, not outside of a few select locations, anyway.)

Even after what Frisk told him about the castle being in the sky, he doesn't quite register the clouds as clouds- it's hard to distinguish it from regular fog.

Despite the fog and Frisk's brisk pace, it's easy for the Batman to keep up with them, although he winces a little at first when the door groans. For some reason he wasn't quite expecting it. But he forgets the pain of the noise once he sees what's outside.

Grass, a stone path, a light breeze that ruffles his fur, and a lot of fog- or clouds- it doesn't sound that impressive but even from the doorway he can see a very obvious cut off at the end of the path, and when he trots down to the end of it and peers carefully over the edge, sure enough, there's nothing there.

The Batman slowly backs up until he's in the center of the path, where he pulls himself to his feet and straightens to his full height. He absently cups his chin in one hand and examines the edge. A bit of a run, and a few flaps of his wings...

He turns to Frisk, and extends a hand.

"Want to see what's over the edge?"

[dustless]

His hand is briefly scrutinized, just because they're not entirely sure how they'll be lifted, but there's not more than a beat before they take it.

"Yes. Very much. Can't see more than a few feet down 'cause of the clouds," they add. They've spent time kneeling at the edge, trying to catch a glimpse of anything and never managing it.

What'll they find? Anything at all? An ocean, another land far below? They're kind of excited.

[andthebat]

And in return for the giggling, Sophie will have been met with a very solemn stare.

Those all sound like very odd names to the Batman, especially compared to the rather more ordinary name of 'Sophie.'

"Are they... friends of yours?" He nearly asks if they're her family, but he catches himself. Just in case.

sudden gotham knight icon is go

[andthebat]

Frisk's hand feels tiny placed inside of the Batman's, and if possible it makes him even more aware of how young they are.

At any rate, the offered hand wasn't intended to lift Frisk, but as a way of asking permission to touch them. Once they take it he kneels down and carefully scoops Frisk up, holding them against his chest with both arms. Hopefully they aren't allergic to fur.

"Hang on tight," he warns them. Without another word, the Batman spreads his wings, dashes towards the edge, and leaps into the clouds.

[lostlegacy]

"Yeah. Gee Girl is from Luceti. I met everybody else here. They're pretty cool," she explains. High praise indeed from this little girl.

[andthebat]

Batman can tell she must hold her friends in high esteem, then, though he isn't sure yet what this little girl would consider worth deeming "pretty cool." He hopes the answer isn't somewhere in the vicinity of "could slaughter a giant bat monster without breaking a sweat."

Instead of pursuing that particular topic however, he decides to go for a different bit of information. "Have you been staying here long?"

[lostlegacy]

"Yeah. A while."

A shrug. She isn't sure if that's good or bad. She hasn't had to go to that awful school Fen and Rei put her in...but Fen and Rei aren't here, even if Gee Girl is.

[dustless]

Sharp intake of breath, fingers dig into his fur. They hope it won't hurt.

They don't need much time to adjust before they're craning their head to try looking back.

A part of them expected the bottom of the castle to just be flat below the cliffs, but the rock lowers into more of a massive cone. They think. The clouds make it very hard to see.

[andthebat]

"Couple weeks? Months? Over a year?"

Come on Sophie, give the poor man a more definite time frame here.

[lostlegacy]

Kids generally aren't that great with time, and Sophie is no exception.

"Not a year." She knows that for sure.

[andthebat]

Batman can feel Frisk's fingers digging into him, but it doesn't really hurt, even if there's a distinct pulling sensation. His grip will briefly tighten, however, just to make sure they aren't slipping or anything, before he resumes focusing on flying.

The cloud cover is definitely a bit of a visibility issue- but being the Batman he can at least get a vague idea of where the rocks are, even through all the fog, just from listening out for the faint echoes that bounce off of them. Frisk won't have to worry about them crashing into the sides of the cliff, at least.

He circles slowly further and further downwards, around the enormous cone of rock jutting beneath the castle, flapping his wings occasionally to change direction or to keep their ascent at a reasonable pace. After a few minutes he'll tilt his head to glance over at Frisk.

"How are you holding up?"

[andthebat]

Unfortunately, the kids he has the most experience with are twelve and sixteen. Definitely not in Sophie's age bracket.

"Okay. Thanks," he says. It's a bit curt, but sincere- at least it helps to narrow things down. "So why did you move here from Luceti?"

[lostlegacy]

"I came from Earth," she corrects. "I didn't mean to. It was an accident."

[andthebat]

An accident? The Batman raises an eyebrow. "My sympathies if you also woke up in that tree," he says.

[lostlegacy]

She laughs. "Nooooo! I woke up in the castle."

Waking up in a tree would be pretty fun, though!

[dustless]

"Good!" They're louder than they probably have to be, even though it's a bit windy. His ears are clearly built for that...but that actually doesn't occur to them.

"There's a lake somewhere inside that part," they inform him, pointing at the tapering stone. "I don't know how it fits there, though!" The space seemed bigger than the bottom half looks from the outside, they think.

Closer and closer to the true end of the castle, the winds pick up speed. The darkening clouds swirl.

[andthebat]

Frisk is a bit loud and the Batman tenses very slightly at the volume, but he supposes they'd have trouble picking out their own voice above the wind.

Besides, he's speaking a bit loudly himself when he says, "A lake underneath the castle?" That doesn't sound very structurally sound, he thinks, but then, neither does a flying castle. Magic must be doing much of the support. "How did you find it?"

As he feels the winds growing stronger around him, he frowns down at the dark clouds. "Looks like there's a storm below us. Do you want to turn back?" He thinks he should be able to hold onto them, but he supposes they might not want to deal with all the cold and wet.

[andthebat]

"Then I hope you managed to avoid any run-ins with the birds. Turns out they don't appreciate monsters disturbing their nests." The Batman takes a glance at the nearest window. Are they near the exit yet, he wonders? He can't see much outside except for fog.

[lostlegacy]

Another giggle. "They were really loud when you fell on their tree."

Sophie doesn't notice his impatience, and instead keeps pattering along.

[dustless]

"There's a trap door in the garden! I almost fell down it!" He might think he's imagining the trace of amusement in their voice. Frisk's embraced their weird track record of falling places, or almost falling places. At least they avoided it that time.

They look down. "Just 'f you do!" Cold and wet isn't something they mind; they want to see if there's something at the bottom of the castle, too, if they can.

[andthebat]

A grimace. "I know. I think my head's still ringing."

Batman won't make a big show out of his impatience either, but he does ask, "Just how large is this castle?"

[andthebat]

The Batman files that tidbit of information for later, as something he might want to look for if he comes back to the castle. But right now, getting away is more important.

"Okay!" he says, raising his voice above the increasing winds. He tightens his grip on Frisk, pressing them closer against his chest, and gives one last warning: "Brace yourself!" before diving into the clouds below.

In a moment, the world is nothing but grey fog, and howling wind buffeting against the Batman. Frigid droplets of water are swiftly clinging to his fur, sliding across his limbs and back. He clenches his jaw, fighting hard against the wind so it doesn't send them spiraling out of control. He just has to keep heading down... and down... and down...

[lostlegacy]

She shrugs. "I dunno."

She really doesn't. Every time she explores the place, there seems to be something new to find.

[andthebat]

...That doesn't sound entirely promising. The Batman looks at Sophie with an expression of slight concern.

"Sophie," he says, "Do you know where you're going?"

[lostlegacy]

"Yeah." She sounds insulted. "We're going outside."

Come on, her memory isn't as bad as Gee Girl's! Geez.