[private] when I'm losing my control, the city spins around

[bolder]

Bolder briefly preens his feathers, trying to fight off his growing excitement. There is something about his Uncle that always leaves the young shifter wanting to impress him and the sienna-colored hawk thinks that fluttering wings might not suffice. With Gale, the young Taigan finds himself wanting to appear much older and more mature than he actually is. His sharp beak works a little mindlessly until the larger bird shares an image of something (else) that he has never seen.

It reminds Bolder of the porpoises that swam in small pods on the Northern coast but those were much smaller than whatever... that was. The adolescent stops cleaning his feathers and turns his silver eyes towards Gale as they widen slightly. "I could try," he chirps, undeterred by the mammoth shape. He's never done anything larger than the wolf - and though he's considered a bear or cougar - attempting such a creature appeals to the brazeness in his blood.

He's still thinking about it as his Uncle goes on to explain that he hadn't become a shifter later in his life, but more curiously (and something that Bolder finds comforting), it runs in the family. He knew that Lumi could shift as well but the most he had ever seen his older sister do was change her color or lengthen her limbs when Elegance had insisted that she was the taller twin. It runs in the family, his Uncle explains, but his particular gift had been restored by Carnage. Though Bolder growing up sheltered in the Taiga knows little about the Dark God, he knows enough to recognize the name and respect it.

A ripple floods over the current shape that Gale wears and then he is a hawk, encouraging his nephew into the air.

There is no hesitation in Bolder as he rises to the chase and soars after the other raptor. He flaps his wings faster and though he is not as skilled a flier as his Father or Uncle, Bolder moves swift enough. The young hawk attempts a single flip to Gale's three, feeling a rush of thrill and pride as he mostly completes the maneuver. When he glances back to the larger hawk, he tells him without words that it's time to shift as Gale dives towards the lake. Bolder follows, taking a moment to reach towards the water with his talons (imagining for a moment what it must be to snatch something from the water - a fish, a turtle, another bird) before he recalls the aquatic creature that his Uncle had sent him.

The auburn-hued hawk becomes something much larger and massive: something blue and gilled and spotted. The tail isn't quite right but as Bolder feels his weight shift towards the soon-to-come water, the way that the freefall shapes his overly-wide mouth makes it appear that the boy is grinning up at Gale.

@Gale