Changing Views (Peregrine x Ashlio)

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Tristan came to a halt too when Astor called out, albeit just a tad bit more grateful than his new friend. He supposed they were reasonable enough questions, all things considered. He just wished they could have waited just a little longer, to when they were out of sight from the city.

"I suppose I did kind of skip that part, didn't I?" he asked, congenially. "My name is Tristan. I'm another infected, and I've been one for a very, very long time. As for where we are going, there's a cave several cities away that leads to an old world ruin that got partially unburied. It is the kind of place no one who isn't infected would dare go, but that isn't exactly an issue for us. It is the closest I can come to a place I can guarantee you'll be safe while you learn to control your new powers."

He just barely managed to leave out the snarky, 'satisfied' which almost managed to slip onto the end of his sentence.
 
Astor swallowed at the mention of the cities. He knew very well what could happen if someone saw them down here. This Tristan could just fly away easily enough, but what would he do? Most likely get caught, and then they would try to kill him. That would be unpleasant enough for anyone, but seeing as he couldn't die, he guessed it would get very uncomfortable in the long run. A hide out sounded like a very good idea.

«Okay, Tristan,» he said and nodded a little, still feeling very confused but also realizing this wasn't the time and place to ask questions. It could wait. «Lead the way, I guess…»
 
"Good," was all Tristan said, before turning to start running again.

Unfortunately, he learned soon enough that Astor's lack of mortality did not mean he had lost the ability to become tired as well. The came to a halt at the very bottom of a cliff, hidden from sight by several small shrubs and a rather large boulder, where Tristan gave Astor just enough time to catch his breath before they started running again. This process was repeated several times over as they made their way closer and closer to their final destination.

It was the kind of thing that would be nearly impossible to spot if you weren't actively looking for it. It was a hole in the wall buried in a shadow, obscured behind a series of bushes and a tumbleweed Tristan had put there for just such a purpose. Only a collection of dead vines above the entrance made the place stand out at all. Tristan had originally found it while flying, and it had taken him several weeks of exploration to find his way to this little hole. Were it just him, he would have flown in. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option with Astor. He tried to think back to the last time he had passed through this way, to make certain that the passageways always remained large enough for Astor to fit. Unfortunately, Tristan couldn't remember for sure. He was fairly sure, but he wasn't entirely sure that was enough.

But, at the moment, there were no alternatives. He carefully dragged the tumbleweed away from the hole, before roughly shoving the bushes out of the way. "Come on,"he said shortly. "Once we are in here, I doubt anyone is going to find you."

There were a couple narrow spots, and it could not have been the most comfortable of expeditions, as the light vanished almost completely after they rounded the first bend. From that point on Astor was forced to rely on the faint light of bioluminescence from Tristan. It was another potentially alarming thing stacked upon many others, but perhaps he'd overcome it at this point. At least to an extent.

But when they finally broke out of the darkness, it was obvious that the uncomfortable journey had been well worth it. Even so long after it's destruction, the old wolf was beautiful. A small waterfall cascaded from somewhere off to the left, and sunlight dumped in through small holes in the ceiling. There was metal winding in between the holes, holding the whole domed area up in a graceful arc. The rush of the spring filled the air with humidity foreign to the dry climate outside, and everywhere sunlight touched bright green patches of moss and other small plants grew.

It was the buildings that really made the whole place stand out though. Even half in ruins the buildings were graceful and arcing, seeming to grow from the very walls of the cave itself. In a way, they were. The ground had been brought up expressly for the purpose of swallowing this space, but water and time had slowly opened it back up again. To most normal people the sight of the old buildings might have been utterly terrifying, but Tristan had no reason to feel fear of this space. To him, it just felt like home.

"There. Okay. Now we should be safe. You can feel free to start asking questions now, as I'm sure you have many. Otherwise, if you need to resume panicking, that's fine too. It shouldn't affect anyone or anything here."
 
Astor was busy catching his breath when they finally stopped again, leaning forward with his hands on his knees and eyes closed. He still managed to catch Tristan's words and nodded in respons. «Questions… Yeah, sure…» he said and slowly straightened up, and finally looked at his surroundings.

There was a lot to take inn, but his focus immediately went to the waterfall. Water! Forgetting Tristian and all the questions he had had only seconds ago, Astor quickly made his way over to it. He cupped his hands and swallowed several mouthfuls of the cold water, until he felt so full that he almost threw it all up again. After taking a second to breath, he took another handfull of water and rubbed it into his face. His hands came back down bloody and dirty.

He moved his fingers over his face again to check for wounds, but he didn't find any. All healed up, he realized. That will probably come in handy. He sighed and pulled his shirt off, finding several other blood smears that needed to be washed off. His whole body probably needed a good wash, but that could wait. He stuck to his head for now, holding the whole thing under water.

Giving his face a last rubdown, he took time to check that everything was how it should be, that the infection hadn't taken more than his mortality. Luckily his face felt as slim as ever, although the bear had gotten longer than expected. How long had he been lying there? The nose was still crocked after being broken more times than he could remember, and he could still feel the scar running across his left cheek bone. Pulling his shoulder length hair forward, he saw that it was still the same old dirty blond. It all seemed enough to conclude that he still looked the same, even though he couldn't check if his eyes were still muddy brown.

He sat down with a sigh and looked around at the structures surrounding him. «This is insane,,» he muttered and looked up towards the holes where the sunrise were peeking in. Before all this had started, he had been sitting in a bar and trowing back drinks. Now he was sitting in the old world with magic running through his body, being immortal.

The vibrations started again, starting with his skin tingling slightly and quickly increasing. He took a heave breath, and then the rush of the waterfall that filled the cave stopped. He turned his gaze to the water again and let his shoulders drop. Even though the situation was terrifying, the sight was breathtaking, he had to admit that. Seeing how the light reflected in every drop was nothing but beautiful, and it felt like he could stare at it forever.
 
Only moments after Astor bolted off, Tristan's shape began to change again. It was only partially conscious on his part. This little cave was the closest he came to having a home, and he did, at the very least, feel safe here. Therefore, it wasn't surprising that his first instinct upon returning was to settle back into a form that was much more comfortable and easy to maintain. The first thing to go was the hair, which was immediately replaced with a crown of short feathers. Pinyon feathers sprouted form the outer edge of his arm, almost mirroring a bird's wings. His eyes once more turned golden, even as the pupil dilated wide. His thighs thickened, even as his foot split back apart into the toed feet of a bird. He kept the human face, though. He got the impression that he was going to be spending quite a bit of time in the foreseeable future speaking.

It was at that moment that Tristan noticed the lines of time beginning to swarm around Astor again. Except this time, almost every single one of them was coming from the drops of the waterfall. Even to Tristan, it was possible to see a visible slowing of the water, even as other droplets rushed in from above and were quickly caught in the mass slowing. At least his power was remarkably harmless. Nothing like the fire mage who had caused a massive explosion every time his emotions got out of hand, before ultimately being knocked out, tied to a bunch of bricks, and thrown in a lake by furious townspeople.

Tristan silently offered his hand to Astor again, although he didn't move towards the man. If Astor wanted to try and get his ability under control on his own, Tristan certainly wouldn't be opposed to it. He'd need to get the hang of it eventually.
 
Astor sat staring at the waterfall for minutes, which was probably nothing more than seconds for everyone else. It was the only thing that really showed that time had slowed down. All the buildings stood as still as ever. Tristan of course was another proof that things weren't working as normal. Astor could see his arm slowly starting to raise, an offer to help again.

Instead of getting up and taking it, Astor turned away and looked down at his own hands. He was doing this. The power was coming from him, he could feel it, he just didn't understand how or why. He groaned in frustration and picked up a small rock which he threw with all his strength. At first it moved at normal speed, at least to his eyes, but then it slowed down like everything else. Slowly flying through the air towards some of the buildings. It seemed to go further than he was normally able to throw…

The invisible vibrations continued running over his skin at the same strengt, and he could feel no sign of it stopping soon. Since he was the cause of it, he should be able to stop it too. Anything else would be unreasonable. His emotions triggered it, that was clear. So, if he just calmed down it might stop. Or maybe there was something else he needed to do.

Keeping his eyes on the slowly descending rock, he tried to calm down and find the answer within himself, like he had when Tristan asked what he had lost. But no solution made itself clear, and watching the rock never reaching the ground did not help with calming down. What if he got stuck like this, never able to stop it? Not only would he have to live forever, but he would do it at such a slow pace that it all would feel even longer. Not being able to communicate with anyone, or touch anyone, or see anything move at it's normal pace. Sure, the waterfall was beautiful now, but for how long?

Breathing became harder again and his heart apparently tried to beat it's way out of his chest. «Fuck,» he gasped and pushed himself up. With determined and slightly shaky steps, he walked over to Tristan and took hold of his arm once again.
 
For a moment, it seemed as though Astor might be able to handle it on his own. But then, suddenly, a rock that was on the ground was in his hand, and then it was flying across the room. Tristan watched, eyes widening slightly, as it sped wildly through the air, even as Astor was suddenly turning and moving towards Tristan.

Once again, Tristan had to force himself not to throw himself backwards in alarm as Astor rushed towards him. Consciously he understood that Astor wasn't rushing, that it was simply Tristan's perspective because of the time distortion. Unconsciously, all he saw was a man running full speed at him, after just having hurled a rock at inhuman speeds across the cave. Instead, he restrained it to a small flinch as Astor's hands once more closed over his own. For the second time that day, he reached out to grab a power he rarely ever touched. For a moment it felt as though it was trying to writhe away from him, until he latched onto it. The lines began to smooth out, the distortion faded. The waterfall returned to normal speed, and all the drops that had gathered together in the slowing ripple crashed to the ground in a loud splash, sending droplets everywhere.

When it was over, Tristan let out a shaky breath. He had never worked much with his time ability. It had always been unpredictable, uncontrollable. But now that he was forced to use it, he felt like a novice all over again, exhausted at even a little bit of power use. All the same, he did his best to smile reassuringly at Astor. "Don't worry," he promised around a few more deep breaths. "You will get better at controlling it."
 
Sound rushed back to his ears and his knees gave away, making him fall to his knees, shaking and panting. «Sure…» he replied and leaned back against a rock, eyes closed. Right now it didn't feel like he would ever manage it. Controlling time, how ridiculous.

Astor stayed quiet until his heart was back to it's normal rhythm and breathing no longer felt like he was doing a marathon. He still didn't feel very good when he opened his eyes again. Almost dying and then running around forever was exhausting. His muscles were stiff and hurting, and his stomach was growling with hunger. Being immortal apparently didn't stop his appetite. But for now food wasn't tempting him much. There was too much to think of, and a lot that that needed figuring out. Before that, he just wanted to sleep for a day.

«So this is home sweet home for the time. Not bad,» he muttered while looking around. Every time he though about were he was, he felt a slight quickening in his puls and an urge to run. The old world, were people never returned from - at least not like themselves. But he didn't have to worry about that now, he already was changed, and heck, he was immortal. He never had to be scared of dying again, only the opposite. He turned to look up at Tristan and let out a dry chuckle. «By the way, nice to meet you, bird-man.»
 
Tristan chuckled dryly, a half smile spreading over his face as he released Astor and turned away. "Nice to meet you too," he replied. "Welcome to the beginning of the rest of your life."

---

It was a good thing that the survivalist in Tristan had created a small hoard of dried fruits and meats in case of emergency, because, for the next several days, Tristan did not really dare leave Astor alone long enough to go hunting or gathering. His power was obviously far out of his control, especially at the beginning, and if Tristan wasn't there when it triggered he didn't know what Astor might end up doing. Most likely, it would involve hurting himself, or trying to flee this place. Neither of which would be good.

But the days did provide Astor with some stability and control, even as the stockpile rapidly dwindled. Tristan had never expected to be needing to feed two. All the same, long enough before they ran out of food Astor seemed to have stabilized well enough to allow Tristan to leave for a few hours at a time. He would return with a couple rabbits or another bird for Tristan, having already eaten himself. That went a long way towards easing their food worries.

Tristan had never needed to train anyone before, but he found himself in the unexpected situation of that being exactly what he had to do now. Unfortunately for Astor, Tristan ended up making a lot of it up on the spot, and only some of it worked. Luckily, along with extended streches of meditation, the two of them found a few physical ticks that would help to calm Astor down when his power began to slip away from him. That, and the fact that he seemed to be growing more used to watching the world slow down around him whenever his power slipped out of his control, meant that he was soon able to to break the threads of time on his own, without Tristan's help.

This allowed Tristan to leave for longer stretches of time, and he began to return with things that generally made Astor's standard of living much better. Tristan was used to living in the wild. He had grown used to his identity as a bird, and no longer found himself craving the trappings of human civilization. He was perfectly content to spend nights perched on a branch, his head resting comfortably against his chest, and to tear fresh prey apart and eat it raw. Astor, on the other hand, wasn't and wouldn't. So Tristan did his best to accommodate.

He found a hollowed out stick and plugged one end, creating a makeshift cup to scoop water from the spring. He found an old, abandoned sheet stuck on a branch in one of the cracks and brought it back, using it to cover a makeshift bed made of dried moss, grass, and leaves. He even dug up a yucca plant for its root, which served as a makeshift substitute for soap.

On this particular return trip, Tristan had been especially daring. He had been flying over one of the nearby cities when he had seen an overturned cart, which had spilled several loaves of bread on the ground. While the cart owner was busy yelling at the wagon driver that had caused the catastrophe, Tristan swooped in from the sky, snagging a loaf in his claws without anyone noticing. He had been quite pleased with himself at the time, but if he had known how much trouble that reminder of civilization would bring, he would have eaten it himself rather than bring it back to Astor.

Instead he quickly winged his way back to the cave, rolling in through a narrow opening before dropping the loaf, with great accuracy, mind you, directly in front of the meditating Astor. He swung around, landing for a moment on the remains of a windowsill to preen, making it clear exactly how impressive he was. Then he glided gently towards the ground before transforming back into the figure of the bird man, which had become rote whenever he was hanging around with Astor.
 
Astor tried his best to get used to his new way of life, but it wasn't going so well. The food was shit, the sleeping place even worse, and this meditation was more boring than everything he had ever done. He had to admit it worked though, and there wasn't much else to do anyway. The cave had been explored, which went pretty fast with his new powers, and everything there was to see had been.

Meditation helped him control the magic that the infection had given him. Calming down had become easier now, with different breathing technics and finding a fast route to his 'happy place'. He was now able to sense the 'lines of time', which Tristan liked to call it, as easy as he could feel the breeze on his skin. It seemed more like waves for him, small electric currents pulsing and running everywhere around him.

A panic attack was no longer needed to make time slow down. He could start the magic whenever he wanted, and he could get out of it without Tristan's help. At least most of the times. There were a few occasions where he had become so deep in thought about his immortality that Tristan had to pull him out of it. Admitting that he needed help was the worse part about his new life. Or, more like a strong second place.

He was exploring his mind as usual, strolling around his head looking for something interesting, when the bred arrived. Astor opened his eyes and a light chuckle escaped him. «Looks like this meditating is finally good for something,» he said and picked it up, and gave it a good sniff. «Oh, how I've missed that smell!» He teared it in two and reached one half to Tristan.
 
Tristan took the second half with a faint smile, before settling down in front of Astor and taking a bite. It had dried out somewhat during his flight back, making the crust much harder then normal, but the inside was still soft and tender. It had been a very long time since Tristan had eaten anything prepared by other people, and the bread sat kind of funny in his mouth as he chewed. He wondered what it said about him that he wasn't even used to the texture of bread anymore. He dismissed the thought a few moments later. It wasn't like it really mattered. He was who he was, and nothing was going to change that.

All the same, it was definitely worth the excursion to see the expression on Astor's face right now. He ran his free hand through the feathers on his head, before ruffling them slightly to get them to fall back into place. "Glad you like it," he said, proudly. "Couple of idiots ran into each other a town over, and the stuff was just rolling down the street. Didn't take much to snag one. No one even saw me." He grinned toothily, before taking another bite of bread.

"Sorry to interrupt your meditation," he said, after that mouthful was swallowed. "How did the day go? Any incidents?"
 
Astor chewed happily at the bread, eating way to fast and forgetting everything thad had to do with making things last. This was the best thing he had eaten in a long time, even though it was dried up and a little dirty. Which said enough on how he felt about the food Tristan kept bringing back. It wasn't exactly bad, but he was very bored of dry roots and cooked meat with no seasoning.

«You know, I once though that the water fall would never get boring to look at…» he sighed while ripping another piece of his half before shoving it into his mouth, chewing while he continued talking. «But no, no incident. So town, ey? You know, we have been in this cave a very long time now… And a little more of this wouldn't hurt…»

He gestured with the last piece of bread before shoving that too in his mouth. How he missed real food, and other people, and… just everything outside this stupid cave! Yes, he had Tristan to talk with, but bird-man wasn't really much of a conversationist. Unless you wanted to hear about the bird life, which was interesting maybe the two first times. Not that he didn't appreciate all the things Tristan had done for him, but two dudes sitting in a cave forever was not how Astor wished to spend eternity. It was high time to get out, if you asked him.
 
Trsitan felt himself getting tense as he listened to Astor's words, and he quickly fixed the man with a raptors gaze. It didn't take a genius to figure out what Astor was insinuating. It also didn't take a genius to know it was a very bad idea. "Astor..." he began slowly, trying to anticipate how the man would react to this. "I get it. I really do. I've never been a big fan of being stationary. Part of being a bird, I'm sure. But going into town. That is a bad idea. A very bad idea." His eyes didn't waver, keeping the man pinned to the floor.

"I'm sure you don't think it's that big of a deal, but it is. I know you've seen what happens to infected people who get caught. Every town gets at least one. And you know what they are? They are all people who are thinking exactly like you. People who miss all the trappings that went along with a normal life, and think that they can still have it back. But you aren't normal anymore. All it would take was one thing. One surprising or unexpected thing that sends your heart racing, and then your power is out in the open.

"They will try to do what they do to everyone else to you, but it won't work. You'll be in those flames, burning, and it won't work. The moment people realize this, they'll do anything and everything they can think of to kill you. Everything. And when none of it works, then there will be a panic like nothing you have ever seen before." For a moment he sat in silence, trying to impress upon Astor the possible consequences of what he had just idly proposed. The moment stretched, until Tristan finally broke it, shrugging and getting back to his feet. He tossed the bread towards him.

"Have it. I don't really like it that much anyways. And we'll leave soon. We really will. But there's no going back to that world. Please, please don't try."
 
Astor just stared at Tristan while he talked, sighing slightly as he never stopped. Of course Tristan had to go all drama queen on him, that little chicken. What was he so worried about anyway? It wouldn't be him that would stand there, burning forever.

While scowling at him, Astor caught the bread. «You're just so much fun, aren't you,» Astor said, and then tapped into his powers. Slowing down time was a nice way to get a break from his never ending speeches.

Standing up, he walked pass him and further into the cave, all while chewing in the bread. Not ever going back into town…was Tristan stupid? Maybe all the morphing made his brain shrink, because he couldn't seriously think that Astor would agree to living as a loner in the wild for the rest of his life. Food wasn't exactly the only thing he missed.

But, he was probably right about the power-thing though. If people found out about it, it wouldn't end good. But surely he could learn to control his powers eventually? He would after all have a very long time to practice on it. Not that he would bother waiting that much longer.

After calming down for a couple minutes, he walked back to tristan and returned time back to normal, all on his own. «I'm going to bed,» he said before Tristan would have the chance to start rambling again, and then headed straight for his little corner of the cave.
 
Well.

He certainly didn't take it well, but that wasn't really all that surprising. Tristan supposed he could have taken it much worse. All the same, he had the nagging feeling that Astor hadn't taken his warning as seriously as it needed to be taken. If Astor got caught, it wouldn't only be his life that would be effected. It would mean the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of others, both infected and not, who would be caught up in the ensuing panic. What would it take to make Astor understand that?

Tristan ruffled his feathers in frustration, before letting out a snort. All the same, he didn't chase after Astor. It was obvious that Astor wasn't going to hear anything Tristan had to say this evening, and if he pushed the matter it would likely just make things much worse. Instead, he jumped into the air, returning to his bird form to circle up into the heights of the cavern to settle into his nest. As he settled down in the little bowl of straw, moss, and sand, Tristan found his eyes drifting back to the brooding Astor.

He had never really considered himself an empathetic soul. He had helped other infected before, but only to an extent. Never to the scale he was trying to help Astor now. Tristan shivered slightly, running his beak through his wing feathers, as he tried to figure out what it was.

There was no obvious answer waiting for him. His eyes drifted closed, and the only decision he could reach before he fell asleep was that, perhaps, there was no real reason. Perhaps it had just started as a small act of generosity, which had slowly grown and grown until he felt like Astor's fate rested in his talons. There was no one thing, no defining moment, just a series of small decisions that led up to a point where there was no decision anymore, just an obligation.
 
After a few hours of tossing and turning, Astor got up. Meditating the whole day didn't take much energi, so it was hard to sleep, especially when being still annoyed. Usually he would just wander around in the cave until he got tired, maybe to some easy work out - but that was another thing he had become really bored of. This whole cave sucked. Tristan could say what he wanted, but Astor needed a change.

With slow and careful steps, he made his way out of his sleeping spot and through the cave. Tristan was just overreacting anyway. Yes, bad stuff could happen, but also good stuff. Had he no fait in him at all? Besides, he could leave the cave without going to a city. Maybe just look at one from a distance? That would be more exciting than anything he had done for a while, which was a depressing fact.

Exiting the cave, he continued through the canyon and then finally climbed up to ground level. It took him some time to figure the right way. He had to double back several times and try a different rout, and when he finally made it, he had to stop himself from not shouting out in joy.

The air was cool and crisp, the sky dark and full of stars. The sky, he could see the whole sky! He turned around a couple times just taking it all in, enjoying the wonderful sense of freedom. Until he saw a bird and jumped back in pure reflex.

A relived sigh left him when he realized it wasn't Tristan. And then he felt stupid for getting startled at all. What was he afraid of anyway? Getting scolded at like a little kid? Tristan was older, but that didn't give him the right to treat Astor like an idiot. Even when he was one.

Keeping a nice pace, fueled by excitement and hunger for a change, he walked towards the closest town. As he got nearer, he saw the sky illuminated by all the lights from it. A golden glow crowning all the buildings, tall and small.

The closer he got, the harder it was to turn back around, which was his original plan. He kept telling himself he would just go a little but further, just look a little bit more. If something happened, he could just slow down time and run away, right? Not that anything would happen, surely. And maybe he could just get some real food before leaving, that wouldn't hurt anyone.

He passed a house near the edge of the city with some clothes hanging out to dry. After making sure no one was looking, a grabbed what he needed and hurried off to a small gathering of trees. He would stand out in his ripped and worn clothes, so he quickly changed. Luckily, with that water fall so conveniently located in the cave, he was clean. Unshaven and in dire need of a haircut, but clean.

So without thinking anything trough, because why bother, Astor suddenly found himself standing in a street with busy night life surrounding him at all corners. People selling food from the small stalls, friends walking the streets laughing, men looking for company.

It was a little unsettling, the sudden change of scenery. He hadn't thought that being surrounded by so many people again would feel any different than before, but it did. Already he could feel is heart raising as he looked around. Could they se that he was different? No, how could they. He was just being paranoid. Right?

«Happy place, happy place,» he muttered under his breath while he started walking down the street.

The smells from the different food stalls made his stomach growl. Spiced meats, greasy soups, fried pastry… He wanted them all, there was just one problem. No money. Well, an easy problem. Pickpocketing was luckily his specialty.

He calmly walked up and down the street while looking through the crowd, searching for an opportunity. It presented itself soon enough. A drunk stumbling through the crowd, dressed in clothes that screamed money. Astor chuckled slightly and headed for him.

Just as they passed each other, Astor bumped casually into him and started rambling an apology while slipping his hand into his inner pocket, closing his fingers around the small leather pouch that lied there. Stupid. They always kept it at the same place.

A second too late, it occurred to him that maybe he was a little out of practice. And another thing; most people with money had at least on guard following them. Or he might just have really bad luck, because when he pulled his arm back - seemingly without the victim noticing a thing - a strong hand closed around his wrist.

«Shouldn't have done that,» a hoarse voice said, and Astor immediately dropped the small pouch. «Fuck,» Astor muttered under his breath and looked at the man holding him. A guard, no doubt. «Eh, misunderstanding?» he tried and smirked at the larger man, who was already joined by two more. Perfect.

The guards didn't buy it, and Astor was soon on his way to the lock up. This was probably the situation Tristan had talked about, were he expected Astor to freak out and lose his control. Luckily Astor was no stranger to getting himself into trouble, which had given him a lot of practice with keeping himself calm in situations like these. You didn't get out of trouble if you didn't manage to keep your head cool. You had to be alert and ready, so the second an opportunity to slip away came around, you weren't busy having a panic attack.

Unfortunately Astor's bad luck continued and no opportunities like that came around this time. The guards kept a hand on him at all times, and even barely took their eyes of him. He suspected the time in the caves had roughed up his looks a little more than he was aware of, making him look more dangerous than he actually was. So he soon found himself in a cell, and when the door closed behind him, he found the perfect time for that panic attack.

«Hey, no no, this is totally misunderstanding, just–« he started explaining, but the guards were already walking away. Astor grabbed the bars and breathed heavy, feeling his chest close up and hands shaking slightly. «Fuck, fuck. Happy place, happy-happy place…»

He had been caught stealing from someone, a crime that was not looked lightly at - especially not when the victim was apparently some big shot. Although he didn't know what the punishment was in this town, it definitely wasn't something nice. Whipping? Chopping his hand off? Hanging…?

His control was sliping at rapid speed, and time slowed down around him. There was no one around him to show it, no movements at all, but the distant sounds from the crowded streets above him disappeared.

Astor backed away from the bars and slid down on the floor when his back hit the opposite wall. He sat there, staring at the door while he tried to get hold of the control again, to turn time back to normal. But he couldn't, it was like trying to catch smoke with your hands.

With heart racing and breathing a little strained, he tried sitting as still as possible. If someone came back, he would have to do his best to not show what was really going on. That would only make things a lot worse.
 
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Tristan slept uneasily that night. He had always been comfortable in this nest, in this space, allowing the sound of the waterfall and the security of knowing he wouldn't be disturbed to lure him into a restful slumber. But, that night, thoughts of Astor haunted his mind. It was nearly painful to watch Astor be so woefully unprepared for the reality of his new world. Tristan knew he wasn't going to be able to keep the man here indefinitely, but he wished he could have given the man a more thorough understanding of the danger. Both the danger he was in, and the danger he posed. It seemed like every little out of place noise that night woke him. Halfway through the middle of the night he was convinced he heard the sound of someone approaching through the passageway, and he was halfway out of his nest and taking to wing before he realized that no one was coming. There were no approaching footsteps.

Finally, he managed to fall into something resembling a proper sleep. It was far from comfortable, and he woke with a foggy feeling filling his brain. It was going to be a long day. But hopefully today would give him time to figure out what to do with Astor.

The last thing he expected upon waking was to find Astor gone. For a moment Tristan was stunned, completely frozen in shock at the stupidity of the move Astor had just pulled. It was only then that Tristan understood that the sound of footsteps that had woken him in the middle of the night wasn't the sound of someone sneaking into this space, but the sound of Astor sneaking out. He knew immediately what was happening. Astor had decided to go to a city.

For a moment, Tristan was so full of rage that he almost left on the spot, left Astor to face whatever nasty fate would be waiting for him because of his decision. But the heat of his fury cooled only a moment later, and Tristan calmed down. It wasn't as though Tristan didn't understand the reasoning behind Astor's move, even if it was never something that Tristan himself would have done. At this point, Tristan couldn't just leave him to his fate. He'd have to track him down, and help him out of whatever situation he would get himself into before it was too late. Assuming it wasn't already too late.

He flew out of the little space immediately, rising up into the air above the cave. Once he was gliding comfortably though the air on a hot thermal, he moved his way slowly over to where Astor would have left the cave.

His eyes had always been better at seeing short moments into the past and future, but his work with Astor had given Tristan more control than he was used to over his troublesome eyes. As he circled his eyes scanned back through the hours, until he finally caught a glimpse of Astor leaving the cave. He seemed nervous, but excited at the same time. It only took a few steps for Tristan to figure out towards which city Astor was heading, and he flew ahead, pausing every now and again to make sure he was still on the same path as Astor's ghost.

Once he reached the city, though, Tristan's progress slowed considerably. Not just because there were suddenly so many more phantom figures to keep track of, but because of all the real people as well. Tristan wasn't the only one to have woken with the rising sun, and the streets were already bustling with activity. Among all this, how could one ephemeral figure not get lost?

But, slowly and surely, Tristan did manage to track him up through the city. He watched with a desperate sort of frustration as Astor pickpocketed a nobleman, only to get grabbed by a set of guards a few moments later. At least this was easier to track, as the phantoms of the people in the past gave the guards a wide berth as they marched Astor off to the jail cell. At every moment, Tristan waited for something to go wrong, for Astor's power to trigger and for the whole thing to start to devolve. Even though he consciously knew that the town would not be so quiet and peaceful on this morning if an infected person had been found in the middle of the city, he couldn't help but fear it.

The jail was a solid, heavy building, half inside the cliff face. Tristan could only hope that Astor was in one of the exterior cells, where Tristan might still be able to help.

The bird landed on a nearby ledge, vanishing from sight. A moment later, a sleek tabby cat slipped off the edge of the cliff, dropping into a narrow gap between two small houses. A few moments after that, a ragged child with a mop of brown hair and tattered, dirty clothes slipped out of the alley, darted among the few passing people, and settled down to peer into the different cells. He let out an unconscious sigh of relief when he found the right one.

Immediately upon peeking in through the window of the jail cell, Tristan knew that Astor was in a full-blown panic. He was holding almost completely still, which, from a distance, made it look as though nothing at all was out of the ordinary, but if anyone looked too close they would quickly spot the way that Astor's eyes flitted from place to place at an impossible speed, or the way his fingers seemed to twitch so fast it almost looked as though they were spasming.

Tristan whistled, a light, quick noise reminiscent of a bird, and stuck his narrow and hand arm through the small gaps in the bars, fingers outstretched. Now it was all on Astor.
 
Astor had never experienced such a long night. Not that weird, since he was experiencing it way slower than normal. He tried again and again to stop the magic, but he had no success. Even meditating failed him. Every time he was close to calming down, a new terrifying thought dropped into his head and set him off again. It was a never ending and frustrating loop.

When the sun finally rose, he was exhausted. He hadn't gotten any sleep that night since he had decided to go on this stupid adventure instead, and now he was too stressed to fall asleep. And, he wasn't sure if sleeping would stop the magic anyway, so it was potentially dangerous if he did any sudden movements in his sleep and someone saw it. Best to stay awake, he figured.

No one had checked on him during his stay in the cell, which was a relief, but not that strange since it had probably just been a few hours for the guards. Someone probably would come soon though, and he better snap out of this time bubble before then. But thinking about that only stressed him more, so it was pretty hopeless.

When a long, piercing sound reached him, he turned his head towards the noise. Sounds were muffled for him when he was like this, so the last hours had been very quiet, and the sudden sound surprised him. His eyes found the boy at the other side of the little window on top of the wall, a small hand reaching for him, and he jerked back in surprise. When he realized he had just exposed his power, an expression of pure terror formed his face.
 
It was almost satisfying to see him react like that. Almost. It was satisfying for one brief instant, where all Tristan wanted to do was say "I told you so." It was satisfying until that initial knee-jerk reaction was over, and then the empathy flooded him. Then it was just heart-wrenching. For the first time, it finally seemed like Astor understood the things that Tristan had tried to get him to understand through words. Things that Tristan had wanted to spare him having to understand personally, because they were things that Tristan himself had experienced in the past. Perhaps, though, it was inevitable that the only way Astor could come to understand the significance of Tristan's words was to experience them himself. Maybe now, in the future, Astor might take his words a bit more seriously. Probably not.

All the same, Tristan hadn't meant to scare Astor, just get his attention and help him out of his loop. There was no telling how long he had been like this, although from the look of strain on his face it had been a while. Most likely, it had been since he had been shoved into this cell. If that was the case, it was only a matter of time before the guards came to check on him, and it would all go wrong. In that instant, Tristan felt a momentary flood of relief as he thought about what could have happened, and the fact that it could still be prevented. Somehow, maybe simply by pure luck, Tristan had made it on time. It was a blessed relief.

He knew Astor was panicking, so he did the only thing he could think of without drawing attention to himself. His eyes locked onto Astor's, only for a brief moment. He knew it wouldn't be brief for Astor. In that moment, his eyes changed from a muddy brown to the brightest of golds. To the wild falcon eyes that had been watching Astor for the last several days. Hopefully it would be enough. Tristan couldn't risk much more. Not when there were people passing by on the street only a little ways away. His hand pushed just a little further into the cell, until it felt like the bars on the window were trying to pop his shoulder out of its socket.
 
Astor stared at the stupid boy, waiting for his reaction to what he had just witnessed. Would he freak out and scream for help? Or maybe just pass out from fear? Whatever it was, it wouldn't be good, and Astor was definitely screwed. Then, the boys eyes started changing. Astor's own eyes widened, and he was about to freak out himself right before he recognized what they were changing to. He had seen those eyes more than he had cared for the last weeks. Tristan.

Not daring to lose is opportunity, Astor threw himself forward and grabbed his unfamiliar small hand. Immediately he felt time speeding up around him again, and a relived sigh escaped his lips. He even smiled a little. But, there was no time to celebrate, he was still in deep shit.

«Get me out of here!» he hissed the second his ears pooped and all sounds returned to him. «Turn me into a rat or whatever, I don't care!» He didn't want to spend another second locked up, risking another panic attack and then be back right where he has started before Tristan showed up to save the day. Astor bet he loved that part…
 
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