Guardians of the Azure Skies

[Torvas Vief]

Allowing the wind to come soaring through his fur pelt always felt absolutely amazing. Torvas had missed living in Cloud City for the longest time, so he was glad to be back at least for the time being. Oh, they hadn't given him back his commission as a member of the Bespin Guards.

He honestly doubted that the Baron-Administrator ever would, and he also doubted whether he was ever going to see the world from behind the controls of a twin-pod cloud car. That didn't mean that he couldn't act as a lookout on his own terms, though. No one could stop him from just standing on the platforms near the middle rings of the city and enjoying the cool breeze that the gas giant provided him with.

One other thing he had doubted, though, was actually seeing anything here.

Seeming almost totally surprised by what looked to be an angel floating in the breeze of the city, Torvas did the only thing that he could think to do - he got down on a single knee, put his furry fists at his side and let loose a mighty howl.

Since he had no other idea how to communicate with the almost heavenly-looking being who was there, he figured that was just as good any attempt as any. There was one thing he didn't doubt, though, and that was his eyes.

He knew what he was seeing, and that very well might have signified that his life was at an end and thus he was being taken to the next life. If that were the case, then he hoped that this was a sign that his failings had been forgiven and that he was noble and just. While he might have been rather overzealous when it came to promoting law and order, he really only ever wanted the best for the residents here.

He hoped that the angel [member="Shiro"] knew that!

 

[Shiro]

[member="Torvas Vief"]

Shiro liked Bespin. It felt good on his wings although he kept them retracted in public. But here, he could go drift off into the clouds and never be seen. The wind let him glide like an eagle. It felt good. Flying never got old but he wanted to switch up how he used his wings. He used the wings for combat now and went at greater speeds as well.

As the bird boy glided through the wind, he noticed a figure on Cloud City. Of course many people was at the place but one was on one of the platforms. He knew he was seen with his wings out so he shot straight up flapping his wings with precision through the clouds. He would soon reach the height he sought.

Shiro, after reaching the height he wanted, dove down gaining speed as he flew towards the figure. As it came into view, it appeared to be a wolf human type of thing. Shiro didn't judge it yet due to its appearance since he looked different himself. When he was close enough to the platform, he stopped his speed by flapping forward slowly and made his body straight pointing up.

He flapped them slowly looking at the wolf man. "Hello." he said greeting with a smile. "Why are you kneeling?" he asked. The wolf man would only see two weapons on the boy. A sniper rifle, a pretty standard one. And a heavy blaster pistol, standard as well. The sniper rifle would be holstered in between his belt and pants while his blaster would be in a holster.

 

[Torvas Vief]

The fact of the matter was that [member="Shiro"] was unlike anyone else that the Shistavanen Wolfman had ever seen, but considering the fact that the 'bird boy' looked over him a moment he figured that no embarrassment was necessary because the other had been looking over him as well.

"If you would excuse me, then I thought at first you might be a messenger of the Force. I have to admit, a being with wings such as yours...I have not seen one."

Torvas was speaking, of course, as though talking wolves that wore clothing and stood on two legs were an everyday sight.

While he had taken note of the other's weapons, he had said nothing of them for the time being. He carried a vibroblade worn in a sheath on his waist and apparently no other weapon, though then again fangs and claws probably would have been superior in an attack anyway.

"I am called Torvas of clan Vief, and I am not your enemy. At one point I defended the skies of this city and flew about them, but today..." His statement was left purposefully unfinished. He figured that the other would have gotten the idea. Basically the Baron-Administrator of Cloud City had removed Torvas from his duties. Today he was nothing more than a bladesman when he was once a Wing Guardsman.

Unusually so, he had a very formal way of speaking that would have more than likely sounded relatively old-fashioned to Shiro. It tended to sound that way to most people actually.

 

[Shiro]

[member="Torvas Vief"]

The statement made Shiro wonder if he was chosen for a gift or a path to go down. But thinking like that usually isn't valid. "Hmm, I see. I suppose a human flying around with silver wings isn't your average sight. That's why I usually keep them hidden." he explained. The winged boy let there be silence for a few moments after the wolf man's second comment. "I understand." he simple replied.

Shiro flew over the wolf man and landed on the platform. He retracted his wings next. The wings became a pack on his back but the height was not able to be retracted. Two lines of silver feathers were formed because of the retraction. They were almost barely noticeable due to his color of clothes. He turned around to face the wolf man. "I usually don't reveal my wings in public. I guess I was unlucky today."

 

[Torvas Vief]

"Unlucky?" Torvas wagged his tail a bit in lieu of a conventional facial expression as he straightened up. "A man who can fly without the benefit of machinery would never be unlucky." He paused to think for a few moments as the other individual ended up landing on the platform in front of him.

"You know, actually if you had ever wished, should I ever be reinstated here then...you could become a very valued guard." He wagged his tail a bit more, "Or anything you had wanted to be. How many people can say that they could dart through the clouds with no effort?"

The Wolfman was an ace pilot, but he felt that his flying skill meant very little up against someone who could do it without any effort.

"How did you arrive in Cloud City anyway? Were you on that YT-1300 that arrived not at all that long ago?"

Since his removal the Wolfman had ended up taking starship spotting more of a hobby than anything, though he couldn't be sure of how [member="Shiro"] actually got here.

 

[Shiro]

[member="Torvas Vief"]

The boy thought about what he said for a moment. "Well... If I ever end up getting into a fight, I'll be vulnerable if someone sees my wings before the battle. They might counter with something. They grow back even if cut off but that's like a bunch of months without flying." he explained to a point. "That's enough rambling on my end I guess. My wings truly are a gift whether I realize it or not." he said agreeing with the wolf man.

"Yeah, I came here to fly since I had nothing better to do. There's a guy on Coruscant who helps me out with food and fuel. I help him with deliveries in return." he said explaining fully.

 

[Torvas Vief]

Focusing on [member="Shiro"] with a nod, Torvas exhaled a bit and sighed. "That is probably true. It was merely a thought, but I know one thing that you can trust in. I will not reveal your identity."

What he was saying was quite true, and he trusted that Shiro would have known that for a specific reason. Regardless of whatever various traits that wolves had been given in folklore, the fact remained that they were noble beasts. A developed one such as him would never have told someone something that he shouldn't have.

"If you wanted to eat now, then I could take you someplace...afterward if you want...I know a few places you could fly without ever risking someone seeing you."

 

[Shiro]

[member="Torvas Vief"]

Shiro was a trusting person. He trusted most people who didn't have a bad vibe, but he didn't hold their hand. That'd be too close. He could probably trust this wolf man though. "That's sounds good. But I won't be flying. I've did that for a couple hours now." he stated. Eating was always good.

 

[Torvas Vief]

"Naturally I meant more for the future than anything when it comes to flying. As you might imagine, there are plenty of decent Ugnaught restaurants if you have any taste for their food."

Soon enough he paused and started to turn the other way as he assumed that the other individual was going to come with him. "Out of curiosity, what does your species eat?"

While Torvas was buying, he wasn't quite sure what it was going to be that he was going to buy, since he had never met another member of the other's particular species. He wasn't at all trying to be rude so much as he genuinely needed to know what it was that [member="Shiro"] dined on.

 

[Shiro]

[member="Torvas Vief"]

"Oh okay. I think I heard you wrong." he said with a short chuckle. "Pardon me not knowing about the restaurants but what is an Ugnaught restaurant? "

Shiro began walking behind the wolf man. The question he asked next was odd. But then again, he didn't look human with the wings. "I'm human, or at least close to the species. I eat human food." he stated with short sentences. "When I received my wings, I was tested on. But I never found out what my species is."

 

[Torvas Vief]

"A restaurant run by Ugnaughts I mean. They serve some of their own receipes at them. The food can take a bit of getting used to, but plenty of it is fine enough."

Eventually he paused in his steps, figuring that was a bit enough revelation from [member="Shiro"] to think about it. "Many of the things they make are edible to humans, but...would it be best you go somewhere private and I bring you something? If you wish to conceal your species, then I would fully understand."

Soon enough the wolfman found that he was continuing on with a bit of a growl, which was apparently directed toward anyone who might have experimented on the other being, though it were possible the other might have mistaken it considering that he showed his teeth in the process as well. "You mean your wings are not naturally part of your species' biology and you are not aware of which species you actually belong to?"

 

[Shiro]

[member="Torvas Vief"]

"Oh, I see. And its fine, I suppose it doesn't matter now. I figured someone's reaction would be shooting or attacking when they saw me." he explained as he stopped too. Shiro wasn't sure what he was but he was a normal human at one time. He grew wings at a young age randomly, it seemed weird in his eyes.

Shiro listened closely to his words. "Well, when they ran tests on me, there wasn't a known species that grew wings at a young age. All the species I was similar to had them from the start, when they were born." he said although he wasn't much of a person to tell the information. People grew suspicious when around him usually so he had to be careful.

"I do enjoy my wings though. I usually use them in battle to keep distance."

 

[Torvas Vief]

Looking toward [member="Shiro"] he seemed, for a brief moment, ready to inject his lexicon with some rather human-suitable humor.

"If a wolf did not attack you the first time he saw you, then I suppose you have little to fear from humans here."

Torvas listened as closely to Shiro's words as the bird-boy had to the wolf. That being said, he took the exceptional step of illustrating this fact by way of leaning his head to one side and letting a pert ear stand up and twitch slightly.

"Out of curiosity, who do you battle?"

Interestingly enough, despite the fact that Torvas was a being that behaved primarily on instinct, he didn't seem ready to let his emotions get the better of him just yet. He was apparently going to listen to whatever the other individual said before placing any real judgment on him.

"By the way, the place is this way if you had still wanted me to get something for you." He presumed that the other had not wished to go in.

 

[Shiro]

[member="Torvas Vief"]

Shiro replied with a nod. Based on his reaction to his wings, Shiro figured it didn't matter if he concealed them or not. Not that he could besides hiding them under clothes.

"I used to just do small bounties. My trusty sniper rifle here," he paused doing a patting gesture on the rifle in between the belt and pants. "Does the job." he said wondering Wyo his new enemies were. "I'm with the Republic now. So I suppose sith or darksiders?" he stated but asked sorta too.

"Now that I've thought about it as we've walked, I'm not really hungry." he said knowing he ate not too long ago.

 

[Torvas Vief]

With a shrug, the Shistavanen seemed to indicate that whether [member="Shiro"] was hungry or not wouldn't change anything. "You can imagine that a member of my species would enjoy eating, so I should still be able to get something for myself."

While he had never actually hunted bounties, Torvas also didn't have anything against bounty hunters like some people seemed to, so he let the point slide for the time being.

"I can still show you around if you had wanted. As for myself, I am not capable of feeling the ebb and flow of the Force, so I have beheld both sides - Light and Dark - as equally mystical and important. I would gather to suggest that I would consider neither a Jedi nor a Sith to be my opposition if they did not make themselves as such."

 

[Shiro]

[member="Torvas Vief"]

Shiro said ,"Certainly." as he began walking again, but slowly. "You can eat before we get going though." he said trying to be generous back.

 

[Torvas Vief]

With a nod he looked back to [member="Shiro"] and exhaled, "I suppose that it would not be difficult to get something along the way. If I may ask though, then were there any place in particular that you had wanted to see while you were in Cloud City?"

He paused for a moment before wagging his tail, "Technically you know...it were against the rules, but some of us used to give tours in a cloud car. The vistas up there can be really amazing...how was it when you were flying on those wings you had?"

The wolfman assumed, of course, that must have been that much more incredible all things considered.

 

[Shiro]

[member="Torvas Vief"]

Shiro gave it a little thought and then decided. "No, not really." he said looking at the clouds. The clouds really looked heavenly. That's why he liked Bespin so much.

"Really?" he said pausing. He always did wonder what a cloud car ride felt like. "Its really nice, I could give you a ride if you want." he said teasing the wolf man.

He looked away from the clouds and breathed in and out a few times. "I was shot down before. It actually wasn't a bullet, just a shock. But it was scary nevertheless." he admitted.

 

[Torvas Vief]

Looking toward [member="Shiro"] with a smirk, the wolf started to wag his tail, "I honestly could not imagine that you would be able to carry me." Naturally he wasn't at all calling himself fat, but he was suggesting that he was too heavy for the bird-boy to lift by virtue of biology.

"Shot down? By whom?" He seemed to suddenly stop. "It would have been even stranger if it were a bullet. Who was attempting to bring you down?"

That was of course enough to bring back his old 'I should still be policing this place so that kind of thing wouldn't happen' sentiment. Looking toward Shiro, he more or less stopped walking, as he was interested in why exactly the other was being shot at.

It wasn't everyday that a new acquaintance told you that after all.

 

[Shiro]

[member="Torvas Vief"]

Shiro laughed a little and gave his reply. "Okay, maybe that's true but these wings aren't my only strong points."

"It was during training. My trainer." he said continuing to walk. He was getting bored with just walking so he began to flutter.