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Post by Shayera Hol on Jun 28, 2011 22:41:01 GMT -5
Despite Koriand'r's reassurances, Hawkgirl intends to keep an eye on her new charge, just in case, though they'll probably not be lacking in sunlight on this trip. Not unless they happen upon a storm too large to fly over or around easily, but in that case Hawkgirl would be more inclined to land and wait it out than fly through it. And she finds that detail interesting, not realizing that Kal-El also gained his strength from sunlight since he didn't say. Seems like a less reliable way to fly than wings to her - fortunately this far above the ground Shayera would be able to catch the girl before she reaches the ground if it fails.
But she keeps most of her attention on Koriand'r's words, as brief as they are. "I'm sorry to hear that," she says with what sympathy she can offer. "And I only want to know what you want to say," she adds. At least, for now. "Perhaps it would help if I introduced myself better first," she offers with a half-smile, "Like I said back there, my name is Shayera - Shayera Hol. But, as you probably heard, I'm better known as Hawkgirl. The humans started calling me that after I got here. Back on Thanagar I was a peace officer. The reason I'm here is because I was tracking a bunch of criminals trafficking in forbidden technology to their fortress, when I was accidentally transported here. And since these humans barely have space travel I doubt that I'll be able to get back." And all of that, excepting her name, is a lie. It's doubtful that anyone would be able to trust her if she told anyone why she's really here and her mission, so the cover story is necessary.
"That was a few months ago," she adds reverting back to the truth, "Since then I've been able to learn enough about the people here to live among them. And the reason why I'm so well known is because one of the things I do is use the skills I have that humans lack to help them; fighting crime, saving people if there's a disaster, that sort of thing." And, having explained all that she goes silent, allowing Koriand'r to comment as she wishes. She really wasn't lying when she said she just wants to hear what the girl is willing to say.
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Post by Kori Anders on Jun 29, 2011 14:52:59 GMT -5
Kori was silent, her eyes on Shayera as she talked. So Shayera was a peace officer. And like her, she was trapped on this world with no way back. She wasn't sure whether to be relieved or depressed that this planet lacked interstellar travel. On one hand, it meant that there was little chance of the Citadel or the Psions finding her, and no chance for someone on this planet to communicate with either faction. The primitive nature of these people might be a blessing. After all, she had only landed here by chance.
And yet, a lack of interstellar spaceships meant that she might well be trapped here her entire life. She would never again see another Tamaranean.
I guess I should ask myself which fate I prefer- loneliness annd slavery or unity with my people and slavery? Because, Kor, be serious- there's no way you're taking back your planet. All of your military people are dead and the people have been cowed by the brutality of their conquerers. You don't have weaponry, numbers, or military experience on your side. You have no chance of freeing them.
Damn it. She hated being helpless yet again. She gritted her teeth at the thought. She forced her attention back to Shayera.
"So...you won the humans over by lending your skills to help keep the peace on their world," Kori said, expression thoughtful. "Do you know if the criminals you were tracking are on this world? Or are they elsewhere, beyond your reach?"
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Post by Shayera Hol on Jun 29, 2011 23:27:52 GMT -5
"Yes," Hawkgirl replies, "There's something about saving someone's life, their livelihood, or preventing disaster that tends to improve their opinion of you. And humans are so weak compared to me that it isn't actually that difficult of work. I'm sure it would help your case if you could find some way to show that your presence on this planet is helpful and not harmful."
She's not going to recommend hero work outright, even though the girl's ability to fly and strength would make that easily possible, but she has found it a very effective way to 'fit in'. Of course, it also depends on Koriand'r's personality and interests. Hawkgirl, for example, particularly enjoys hero work because she loves to be where the action is - especially if she's doing most of the action.
The questions get a quick shake of her head and she answers, "As far as I saw, I was the only one to get caught in the beam. And if any other Thanagarian was on this planet I probably would have heard about it - we don't blend in. So as far as I know, they're still back there." Which means that she's completely alone on this planet too, not that she seems to mind it much.
But then, the reason for that isn't because she's the 'lone wolf' type, but because she knows that she's actually here only temporarily. It should be about five years, as humans measure time, before her mission will end unless things progress faster in the war than anticipated. And then Hro will come for her and she'll go back to her people.
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Post by Kori Anders on Jun 30, 2011 20:50:41 GMT -5
Although it was a very understandable response, Kori scowled. "I don't see why I should bother. All they've shown me so far is fear and xenophonia. It doesn't exactly make me want to risk my life for theirs. All I did was land on their planet, and it's automatically assumed that I'm the bad guy?" She shook head, trying to work off her frustration.
She tried to see events from the Earthlings's perspective, as her parents had taught her. Her mother had advised her that a good queen was capable of understanding her allies' and enemies' perception of events. Doing so allowed the queen to manipulate her enemies or placate the fears of her allies.
How would the Earthlings view her arrival? She supposed they were just as likely to assume she was a diplomat as a spy. Of course, the two weren't all that dissimilar in truth. And it seemed humans were a tad on the paranoid side as it was...or at least their military was.
Thinking of events in such a manner cooler Kori's ardor somewhat- they were just scared of their primitive culture being eradicated by beings with more advanced technology. Still, it did nothing to infuse Kori with a love of the Earthlings.
She nodded in response to Shayera's response that she believed the weapons smugglers were on another planet. She supposed Shayera must feel at least as frustrated as Kori- no, more so, for if she left this Earth she could rejoin her people. They hadn't been conquered and forced into servitude like the Tamaraneans. Shayera had a home to go back to, but no way to go back to it.
"You seem to be handling the failure of your mission and your isolation on this backwater planet pretty well," Kori noted.
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Post by Shayera Hol on Jul 1, 2011 11:43:41 GMT -5
Hawkgirl basically ignores Koriand'r's griping. Because for one thing, the girl is right: it isn't fair the way aliens get treated with so much suspicion on this planet. But also because she knows that, now that Koriand'r is out of the hands of the military, she'll be able to meet ordinary humans which are, as she said, much more reasonable. She's sure that humanity will yet redeem itself, despite the rather bad first impression.
Instead she focuses her attention on the girl's next statement, her attention instantly drawn to it because her training has taught her to be very aware of the slightest sign that her cover might be question. But that's a comment that's easily addressed, "I've had a few months to get used to the idea. And no amount of complaining or feeling sorry for myself can change the fact that I'm here. And this 'backwater planet' has grown on me - it isn't such a bad place when you get used to it, and it gets used to you. It has a number of redeeming features." All of which is true - even though her stay on this planet is temporary, she still had to come to grips with the fact that she'd be here alone for the duration of her mission. And this planet is decidedly less unpleasant than she thought that it would be.
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Post by Kori Anders on Jul 2, 2011 21:06:04 GMT -5
Kory nods at Shayera's explanation. She doesn't know if Shayera is really telling the truth, but she's not particularly concerned. Even if Shayera is an alien spy, she has no loyalties to this world and wouldn't try to rat her out. All she wants is for people to not being trying to hurt her for once in her life. She just wants to live a free and quiet life.
She wonders if she will be as calm as collected as Shayera after she has been stranded on Earth for a couple months. Probably not, she decides. And Shayera had to learn the language of this planet the hard way, unless she was mistaken. Right now the only thing that is keeping Kori from being utterly depressed about being on this planet is the hope that Shayera is right, and Earthlings aren't all that bad as they seemed to be upon her first encounter with them. Well, that and the hope that Shayera was truly going to be her friend, rather than attempt to manipulate her or hurt her as so many others had recently.
She remains silent as they continue to fly, not sure what else to say.
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Post by Shayera Hol on Jul 4, 2011 18:43:46 GMT -5
Whether or not Koriand'r would care about her mission on not, Hawkgirl isn't going to confide in anyone about it. Nobody needs to know besides herself, and she could jeopardize it unnecessarily by trusting anyone. Better to simply keep it to herself until the mission ends. Besides, she doesn't need anyone to know everything about her in order to have an adequate level of companionship.
She does wish that the young woman flying with her would be a bit more open now that she's shared so much about herself, but she figures that perhaps Koriand'r just needs some time. Some might take how little the girl has said as a bad sign, but what she has said indicates that she's had a lot of very upsetting things happen to her recently, so Hawkgirl doesn't want to force the issue unless and until she has to - which isn't yet.
Instead she turns her attention to the most important things that one needs to know about this planet in order to live on it. Lessons might as well begin immediately, if there's nothing else to talk about. "Like I said, the people on this planet will fear you until they get to know you. Which means that you'll need to make an effort to always play by their rules. So unless you know you're welcome, if there's a fence around a place you enter through the gate instead of flying over it. If there's an object that's too heavy for a human to lift, don't pick it up unless you know for sure they want you to. Apply that logic to everything. And in everything, it's always better to ask first, apologize too much, and ask a lot of questions if you don't understand something. Humans are at least understanding enough to recognize when you're making a very sincere effort to do the right thing. Still, if you make a very big mistake, they will freak out no matter how sincere your intentions are. And expect that to happen at least once, if not more, no matter how much I teach you and how quickly you learn it." Hawkgirl is, as always, very blunt and practical about these sorts of things.
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Post by Kori Anders on Jul 7, 2011 21:05:21 GMT -5
Kori gave a depressed sigh and wondered if she should just let herself fall to the the earth. She didn't think following Shayera's advice would do much good. For one thing, she had almost no idea what the limitations of humans were. For another...weren't she and Shayera already breaking the advice Shayera was giving her? She had seen no indication that humans could fly without the aid of machines.
And at any rate, there was no way that Kori could hide her extraterrestrial origin- she was humanoid, but clearly not humanoid. Her skin was just a few shades too orange and her eyes were too green.
"Um, no offense, but you have huge wings. You're about as subtle as I am." She peered at Shayera's wings closely, looking for any hint of joints allowing the wings to contract or fold up on themselves. She didn't see anything, but such things were hard to spot. Returning her attention to Shayera, she said , "And I haven't flown in so long...sorry, but I really think I might lose if I have to stay grounded all the time. As to everything else...I-I'll try to keep to following the rules and customs of the locals...but I have no idea what those are! And I'm unfamiliar with just about everything else, too...technology, climate, geography, wildlife...I am so fucked." She then went on to curse in five other languages.
Her vision was getting blurry. Tears? It was just the altitude and the speed, she told herself. But wait...why was she breathing so hard? She was hyperventilating, and she felt her vision going dim.
Careful. You pass out at several thousand feet up in the air from a panic attack, you fall and die, she reminded herself. She slowed to a stop, focusing on calming her breathing.
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