Live Bait

[Roxana Strix]

Roxana honestly didn't want to have to resort to taking this step, but it was necessary in order to get Iota out from the tree so Roxana could get her in her cage. It was time to take the bird of prey in for her checkup down in town but as expected, Iota was being difficult. This was just yet another reason why she missed Delta. The owl was so loyal, understanding, and she just didn't even have to say anything at times and the owl would just know. Not like with Iota. While she was loyal she still had a habit of making things difficult for Roxana and this is why she had to resort to such measures.

It would have been better to be able to get a hold of a live squirrel but Roxana had not yet perfected the art of hitting the creature any kind of way that didn't lead to killing it. There was the tail but the force she ended up using typically separated it from the creature. So she had a recently dead one, attached to a string that she was pulling around, which did catch Iota's attention but not enough to get the bird to actually fly down out of the tree she was sitting up in. "Excuse me, can you hold this and run?" Roxana asked after approaching a random person.

She would hold out the string for them to take, standing in front of the view of the squirrel; for the sake of them possibly being freaked out by such a thing. She just needed someone a bit more willing to run while holding the string in order to fully get Iota's attention and Rox hand an injury that made running not ideal at the moment.

[Nate Darwin]

Boredom struck and all was lost. No parties, no practices and training was out of the question at this point too. His friends were all out with significant (at the moment) others and Nate was playing the field still. Hopelessly hitting on the shy, prudish girls in hopes of what? He was still figuring out his type for the whole dating scene. He didn't want a girl that had fucked all of his friends, but those were the only ones who seemed to hang around him. And he needed a break from that.

His instincts had led him outside, where he ultimately spent most of his time. It was still summer, the weather was still nice and he was desperately trying to avoid it before weather cooled down. Which meant layered up girls and cold nights. Neither of which were favorites on his list. Nate was just walking outside the school, wandering around just to enjoy the fresh air. Nothing too deep to think about, other than the obnoxious therapy sessions, but he put that on hold for the day.

He hadn't really realized what was happening when he first started walking towards someone he didn't recognize from the school. She looked old..er though. Before he made it past her, she held out a string and asked if he could run with it. Looking at the end, well, it was a little morbid, but he shrugged. When boredom struck, he guessed he might as well take any opportunity he could get. And with a shrug, he broke out into a light jog, "How fast am I running exactly?"

[Roxana Strix]

Roxana didn't know a lot about this boy, just his name and his power. It had been part of her training to make sure she was aware of at least ninety-seven percent of the people around her. It would be ideal to know every single person but it was near impossible with new students coming in, transfer happening, and kids in generally just coming and going. Plus it was not like she actually cared or like anyone outside of the few that she had gotten close to. Still, it was always in her favor to still know as much as she could about the people that went to this school.

Even if in most situations she acted like she did not know a person, especially if they were not really a way of who she was. He did seem a little confused at first by her request and it was indeed an odd request. It would have been ideal to have it attached to some kite or something to appear a bit normal then it seeming like she was walking around her pet that was a dead squirrel. That would have been just pathetic if that had been the case. He still did it; not even asking ant questions about why he was doing it, which she found really odd.

Of course she was not going to complain because he was doing something that she could not do herself at the moment without a small level of annoying pain. Just as he asked how fast he should be running, a loud hawk cry could be heard. Iota was in hunting mood. "That should be fast enough. Try not to freak out." Roxana said, but she was not sure if he heard her or if she had said it too later. Already Iota was swooping down out of the tree, quickly speeding after the boy, only to drop down to grab at the squirrel he had been pulling behind him.

[Nate Darwin]

Maybe it was the intense boredom that he felt keeping him from asking any questions. He'd seen weirder things around this place. Hell everyone had something weird about them, if he was easily freaked out, he never would have made it in this school. Let alone as a semi popular guy. That and although dragging a dead squirrel was gruesome and a little off-putting, he was pretty sure his guy friends had dared him to do worse for much less.

Nate barely caught her warning, before the hawk screeched and was swooping down after him. Though his speed picked up just slightly at first, he wasn't running out of fear. His ability had him dodging death at every training session. Plus, it was just a bird, a giant one, but it was more than likely more interested in what he was dragging than taking a bite out of him.

"Uhh, what now?" He asked after slowing down. He didn't want to drag a dead squirrel with a hawk attached. That was a bit much for him. Not to mention, the hawk was huge and he didn't have a great grip on the string, with his hand sweating from gripping it so hard.

[Roxana Strix]

Roxana was just pleased that the guy didn't start freaking out, screaming, and trying to run faster from the bird. Apparently her warning had gotten to him in time and at the very least he was not terrified of the large bird coming sort of after him. It was perfectly possible for Iota to tackle the young man instead of the squirrel but she went for the recently killed prey instead and was trying to hold it still enough so she could eat it. "Stop running and let go of the string." Roxana responded back to the question as she was already removing the gloves she brought from her back pocket.

If the boy had done as she said, Iota would have already started to have a good hold of her prey and would eat it right there on the ground. She didn’t really fear anyone or anything around the area considering there were few animals to compete with around the area due to the human population around here. As for the humans, she knew how to claw their face up so was still not worried as she enjoyed her snack. Rox supposed she could inform the boy that he could be on his way then and thanks for the help, but that seemed like it would be rude. He did help her so she supposed that she could pay him back in some way.

The question was how would this guy like to be paid back? "Would you like to pet her? She does not bite...mostly." Roxana offered. She could have not added that mostly part but then her statement about the bird not biting would have been a lie. Not that she had a problem with lying or anything along those lines. She just did not see a need to lie to the boy that had just helped her out.