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]

After they finish speaking, the Batman will drum a claw thoughtfully on the ground.

'Skeleton monsters' just makes the Batman think of constructs, though it'd be beyond ghoulish to use actual human remains. And he isn't sure what Frisk means by different timelines, even if it sounds like time travel- but that sort of thing should be impossible, as far as he's aware.

And then the rest, with the possible exception of Lucas, depending on how meaningful the name "Nowhere" is, all seem to be nonhuman or magic users.

There are several questions springing to mind, but Batman figures he'll start with Frisk. "And what are you?" he asks. They look normal enough, but they're also very calm about everything and they claim to be friends with skeleton monsters. Perhaps they're a witch?

merry christmas, sleep doesnt exist

[dustless]

Gretel decides the food is boring and hops between the bat-monster and Frisk, eventually settling on their shoe. Guess they're stuck standing there for a bit.

"Me? Only a human. A determined human." They him closely as they answer. They don't know what kind he is, if he might just be someone underground they hadn't met.

[andthebat]

"I see." Frisk won't get much of a reaction to their answer, even to the determined part, although inwardly Batman is filing that way under ? Children Are Strange, Maybe.

He does note how closely he's being studied, and it belatedly occurs to him that he hasn't introduced himself in any meaningful way. "You can call me Batman," he says shortly.

[dustless]

So then he's probably a different kind of monster. Still nice enough, though. Actually very nice, since he isn't trying to kill them right off.

"Kay." Sounds like Asgore named him, and their lips twitch up.

"...Frisk," they add after the silence stretches on long enough to be a little awkward.

[andthebat]

Awkward as the silence is, the Batman does relax in it enough to flop back onto his butt and straighten his spine, settling into a more human sitting position instead of crouching on all fours. Frisk doesn't seem like they're on the verge of running away from the big scary bat-monster, after all, so perhaps there's no need to try and make himself look smaller.

"Frisk," he repeats. There's the slightest of hesitations before he continues, "How long have you been here?"

[dustless]

Frisk stares at him for a second, then proceed to join him. Thump and a few feathers fly as they sit, crossing their legs after a moment and leaning their head in their hand. They're going to get birdseed in the creases of their pants. At least they were careful about sitting in grosser things.

"A while? More than a month. I wasn't actually counting," they say, sounding apologetic.

[andthebat]

The Batman makes a mental note that if he can't get away from this castle within a day or two, to start keeping track of time somehow. It's only a brief thought, however, before another concern moves him to add, "A month's a long time for someone your age to be away from home."

[dustless]

"...yeah. Know that. I mean, didn't have a home yet, but I was...about to live with some monsters." Their fingers tap along the edge of their own jaw. It's a painful subject, but they've still got their friends in the castle right now.

"Then I was here. I want to go back. 'Cause they're probably really worried."

adds bruce to the list of people who are adopting frisk

[andthebat]

The Batman shifts a little, leaning forward to rest his arm on one raised knee.

"...Do you want to talk about it?" he asks. His tone is a little stiff, but the offer is sincere.

they pick up family everywhere they go

[dustless]

They don't think they've been offered that before. They don't...actually know if they want to talk about it too deeply.

After a long, puzzled pause, Frisk just ends up shrugging.

[andthebat]

He can't say he hasn't been there.

"You can always talk later," he says. "If you want."

Still, he has to admit that Frisk's family issues- while definitely an issue- probably aren't the top priority right now anyway. Not when they're both trapped in some sort of strange castle.

"So. You said this castle's in the sky?"

[dustless]

They suppose. It might be nice, having someone to talk to who they don't need to worry about as much. Maybe.

"Yeah. Don't know how we got here, don't know how to get down...or what's down."

[andthebat]

"Wouldn't be hard to fly down and take a look," he says. To demonstrate his point, Batman will outstretch his wings, showing off a rather impressive span.

"Think you can show me to the edge?"

[dustless]

That is very true. Frisk bobs their head and jumps to their feet.

"It's not hard to find. Just keep going straight anywhere." They beckon and take off out of the aviary and down the hall.

[andthebat]

The Batman considers standing up as well, but with the height difference between them he'd probably outpace Frisk fairly easily. (At least he doesn't seem to need to worry about scaring them off anymore.) Instead, he rolls forward slightly until he's crouching once again, and begins rather matter-of-factly plodding on all fours after them.

He doesn't say anything once they get out into the hallway, although Frisk may notice the curious way he looks about the walls and the ceiling, occasionally glancing at any windows, as if the architecture's going to provide him with any hints as to their true location.

[dustless]

He'll see architecture is mostly just old. Old-fashioned, probably mostly European, or some strange otherworld equivalent.

Frisk pauses glance back at him every few steps, especially once they both leave the sunnier-in-the-center bit of the castle towards the outside, where the clouds start rolling in through the windows and doors. It's a bit chillier.

They don't slow down until they get to the door that groans dangerously when they gingerly push it open, and then it's a straight shot to the edge.

The grass there is darker and thicker than the stuff in the gardens, Frisk notices absently, but they mostly stick to the path. The worn stone goes all the way to and then cuts off at the drop. "Edge," they announce, circling back around him a couple times just because they can.

[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.

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.

[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]

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?"

[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.

[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]

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...