01-18-2018, 10:40 AM
Dawn was breaking as Carmelita blinked sleepily. Flying through the night had probably been an unwise decision, but without anywhere safe to land, she’d been forced to keep her attention on maintaining altitude and direction. Now, with the sight of a large floating rock in the distance, she could afford to find somewhere to nap.
She descended towards the ground, spotting a rocky outcrop with sheer sides all around. A defensible position to rest at, she carefully settled the helicopter down and spun the blades down. After taking a quick break to relieve herself and summon some food, she curled up in the cockpit and took a quick nap.
A few hours later, Carmelita blinked the sleep from her eyes and started up the rotor again, pulling up towards the massive rock that floated overhead. She circled a few times, looking for the best approach to make with the bustling lifts and pegasi that were taking off and landing from various platforms around the city’s edge, when a splash of colour caught her eye.
Below her, emerging from a few clouds, she spotted a very familiar quadruped with a blue coat and azure mane. Blackhoof, it seems, had been hiding a pair of wings under his clothes, and she followed him at a significant altitude as he made his way towards the city.
Dalaran from the air was an astonishing conglomerate of twisted streets, tall towers and old architectural styles. It reminded Carmelita a lot of some of the more elegant brick streets of London she’d visited in her time with Interpol, or perhaps the soaring towers of some Austrian chateaus. Banking to keep her quarry in view, she saw several omnibuses making their way along a central street, glowing ethereal stallions pulling the wooden double deckers on their rounds.
A backstreet, lit with gas lamp posts and lined with corrugated iron dumpsters appeared to be Blackhoofs destination. Pulling her chopper into a hover, Carmelita summoned her binocucom to zoom in on the building.
From outward appearances, it appeared to be an inn, the worn wooden sign proclaiming it to be the Druidic Dilettante. She shifted her view from the sign to the windows, seeing curtains being opened and what appeared to be a clockwork chambermaid replacing bedsheets.
All of a sudden, her vision was invaded an enormous frown, and she lowered the binocucoms to find her helicopter surrounded by several uniformed guards, each held aloft by a pegasus or other flying mount. The captain gestured angrily for Carmelita to follow them, and she carefully did so.
---
The guards escorted her to a vacated landing pad on one edge of the floating city, and as soon as she’d wound down the engine the captain strode over angrily.
“What do you think you’re doing, hovering over the city in a highly volatile piece of technology without a care for how your presence interacted with the ley lines? Did you even visit the flight approval office? Honestly, it’s not as if this is going to fit in any stables, and unless you were smart enough to call ahead and book a shed, this thing is going to have to be scrapped. Do you understand how lucky you were?”
Carmelita pinched the bridge of her muzzle.
“No, I don’t, Captain…?”
“Captain Flitburgh. Well then, let me explain. There are numerous leylines that crisscross the city, and sometimes the mages need to shift them through the airspace. If you had been caught, in a piece of technology that can’t automatically get out of the way, you could have suffered terrible magical consequences. Now, are you a prime or do I have to call the scrapping service?”
“I am a prime, Captain. Don’t worry, now I understand I’ll take care to discuss flight plans with the office you mentioned. I shall begin deconstruction immediately.”
“Good. See that you do.” At this, the guards remounted and returned to the air, the flight returning to circling the towers.
Carmelita sighed and turned to the chopper, preparing to desummon it.
“Wait!”
A small voice spoke up from within the cargo hold as the omnilium laced field began to encircle the craft. She pulled it back in surprise as a small human child, no older than ten, stumbled out, fear on her face.
“I’m sorry I snuck on board your vehicle, Miss Prime, please don’t hurt me!”
The child was scruffy, with a crop of messy red hair and an ill-fitted tunic of rough cloth. Carmelita couldn’t help but notice that the girl had no shoes, and looked horribly emaciated. The vixen knelt down and used a hand to lift the girls chin so they could look each other in the eyes. Carmelita’s brown eyes met soft green, and she smiled in as friendly a manner as she could.
“Don’t worry, little miss, I wouldn’t hurt you for doing something like this. You realise how dangerous it was, though?”
The child nodded.
“Now, where do you live? I can call the Minas Tirith guard and have them deliver a message to your family.”
“I don’t have a family, or a home.”
Carmelita’s heart fell, and she gently laid a hand on the child’s shoulder.
“Then follow me and I’ll get you something to eat. But first, let me deal with my vehicle.”
The child stood back and watched in awe as Carmelita desummoned the helicopter, slowly reabsorbing the omnilium that she’d used to construct it. After ten minutes, Carmelita took a moment to calm herself from the emotional whiplash before gently taking the child's hand and leading them to find somewhere to eat.
She descended towards the ground, spotting a rocky outcrop with sheer sides all around. A defensible position to rest at, she carefully settled the helicopter down and spun the blades down. After taking a quick break to relieve herself and summon some food, she curled up in the cockpit and took a quick nap.
A few hours later, Carmelita blinked the sleep from her eyes and started up the rotor again, pulling up towards the massive rock that floated overhead. She circled a few times, looking for the best approach to make with the bustling lifts and pegasi that were taking off and landing from various platforms around the city’s edge, when a splash of colour caught her eye.
Below her, emerging from a few clouds, she spotted a very familiar quadruped with a blue coat and azure mane. Blackhoof, it seems, had been hiding a pair of wings under his clothes, and she followed him at a significant altitude as he made his way towards the city.
Dalaran from the air was an astonishing conglomerate of twisted streets, tall towers and old architectural styles. It reminded Carmelita a lot of some of the more elegant brick streets of London she’d visited in her time with Interpol, or perhaps the soaring towers of some Austrian chateaus. Banking to keep her quarry in view, she saw several omnibuses making their way along a central street, glowing ethereal stallions pulling the wooden double deckers on their rounds.
A backstreet, lit with gas lamp posts and lined with corrugated iron dumpsters appeared to be Blackhoofs destination. Pulling her chopper into a hover, Carmelita summoned her binocucom to zoom in on the building.
From outward appearances, it appeared to be an inn, the worn wooden sign proclaiming it to be the Druidic Dilettante. She shifted her view from the sign to the windows, seeing curtains being opened and what appeared to be a clockwork chambermaid replacing bedsheets.
All of a sudden, her vision was invaded an enormous frown, and she lowered the binocucoms to find her helicopter surrounded by several uniformed guards, each held aloft by a pegasus or other flying mount. The captain gestured angrily for Carmelita to follow them, and she carefully did so.
---
The guards escorted her to a vacated landing pad on one edge of the floating city, and as soon as she’d wound down the engine the captain strode over angrily.
“What do you think you’re doing, hovering over the city in a highly volatile piece of technology without a care for how your presence interacted with the ley lines? Did you even visit the flight approval office? Honestly, it’s not as if this is going to fit in any stables, and unless you were smart enough to call ahead and book a shed, this thing is going to have to be scrapped. Do you understand how lucky you were?”
Carmelita pinched the bridge of her muzzle.
“No, I don’t, Captain…?”
“Captain Flitburgh. Well then, let me explain. There are numerous leylines that crisscross the city, and sometimes the mages need to shift them through the airspace. If you had been caught, in a piece of technology that can’t automatically get out of the way, you could have suffered terrible magical consequences. Now, are you a prime or do I have to call the scrapping service?”
“I am a prime, Captain. Don’t worry, now I understand I’ll take care to discuss flight plans with the office you mentioned. I shall begin deconstruction immediately.”
“Good. See that you do.” At this, the guards remounted and returned to the air, the flight returning to circling the towers.
Carmelita sighed and turned to the chopper, preparing to desummon it.
“Wait!”
A small voice spoke up from within the cargo hold as the omnilium laced field began to encircle the craft. She pulled it back in surprise as a small human child, no older than ten, stumbled out, fear on her face.
“I’m sorry I snuck on board your vehicle, Miss Prime, please don’t hurt me!”
The child was scruffy, with a crop of messy red hair and an ill-fitted tunic of rough cloth. Carmelita couldn’t help but notice that the girl had no shoes, and looked horribly emaciated. The vixen knelt down and used a hand to lift the girls chin so they could look each other in the eyes. Carmelita’s brown eyes met soft green, and she smiled in as friendly a manner as she could.
“Don’t worry, little miss, I wouldn’t hurt you for doing something like this. You realise how dangerous it was, though?”
The child nodded.
“Now, where do you live? I can call the Minas Tirith guard and have them deliver a message to your family.”
“I don’t have a family, or a home.”
Carmelita’s heart fell, and she gently laid a hand on the child’s shoulder.
“Then follow me and I’ll get you something to eat. But first, let me deal with my vehicle.”
The child stood back and watched in awe as Carmelita desummoned the helicopter, slowly reabsorbing the omnilium that she’d used to construct it. After ten minutes, Carmelita took a moment to calm herself from the emotional whiplash before gently taking the child's hand and leading them to find somewhere to eat.