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]

"Never heard of it," he says flatly. "...I'd say it's clear we don't have any common points of reference."

[lostlegacy]

"...What?"

Common points of what now?

[andthebat]

Ah. Okay, he doesn't know exactly how old Sophie is, but she is clearly a lot younger than Robin, and Robin still sometimes has trouble keeping up with everything Batman says.

"I mean," he explains, "That neither of us understand what the other is talking about."

[lostlegacy]

"Oh."

She smiles suddenly. "Yeah."

[andthebat]

That seems to settle that. But if Sophie can't tell the Batman much, then maybe she can help him in other ways.

"Can you show me the way out of the castle?"

[lostlegacy]

"Okay." There's not a whole lot outside the castle, but hey. "It's this way."

She turns and heads for the door of the bird tower.

[andthebat]

And the Batman will agreeably follow after Sophie, plodding along on all fours like some sort of over-sized dog rather than... whatever he is.

He's a bit quiet at first, content to follow along and examine the hallways around them, but after a bit the sheer emptiness of the place starts to sink in.

"Does anybody else live here?" he asks.

[lostlegacy]

The first time she glances back to be sure he's following, she giggles. He looks really silly.

"Yeah. Gee Girl and Sans and Tauriel and Frisk and some others do."

[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.

[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.

[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]

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!

[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.

[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?"

[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.