Flying Blind Ch. 01

This story is a bit wordy and fairly long, so if you are looking for immediate gratification, you might want to look elsewhere.

The following story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance between these character and events and any real person or events is strictly coincidental . . . and pretty darn impressive seeing as it is a science fiction story. Do not reproduce or copy this story without the consent of the author.

This story is based in an alternative universe, where history took a different course than the one depicted in my other stories. It also takes place at a fictional town in Colorado called Crystal Pass and a fictional school called Four Corners University.

The following story contains lesbian sexual activity.

Proofread by "hkf999"

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"Hatred is blind, as well as love."
~ Oscar Wilde

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A chill permeated the midnight air as crickets and other bugs filled up the nighttime air with a cacophony of noises. This unto itself was not unusual for the mountain situated university of FCU, but it was the middle of summer. Those few hardy souls out and about probably wouldn't have complained even if they had noticed. It wasn't a regular kind of chill. It crept up from below and then moved sideways, staying just off the skin as it drifted too and fro. The Cold was looking for someone . . . something. The lucky ones huddled in the warmth of their own very beings. The unlucky ones . . . for them, nor fire on Earth or in Hell would quench that creeping, terrible Cold. Cold had killed the world before, but this time it wasn't so ambitious. It only wanted a small part of it this time. It would start with . . . it looks one more time at one of those things sitting on the bench in front of the library. It will do. It will do quite nicely.

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Student orientation . . .

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"Adler . . . Adler . . . Adler . . . Heda Adler?"

"Yeah, that's me. You scared the hell out of me!"

"Sorry," the elderly woman with horn-rimmed glasses and electric-socket hair said. "Someone had you filed under 'Atler' instead of 'Adler.' Big crop of first year students, so it was bound to happen at some point."

Heda grinned. She was just so happy that she could actually get registered for classes. She'd heard the best classes, also known as the easy ones, filled up first. She was going to ease herself into the structured world that was college. Okay, maybe it was still a little bit more open than high school had been, but Heda had spent her first year out of high school backpacking across Europe. There wasn't anywhere that she HAD to be for a long time, so this was going to take some getting used to.

"All righty, now you'll go outside and find the sign that your last names fits with, then wait for a bit. They'll be taking all the freshmen off to smaller orientation sessions, then there's a banquet this evening. So keep that certificate in your orientation materials, because that's what gets you free food."

"Free food! Woo-hoo!" Heda said, throwing her arms up in the air, getting into the spirit of being a college student. "Just like being at home, but without the curfew or the parents."

The woman smiled, then noticed something on Heda's documentations. "Parents . . . Your mother is Jessica Adler?" Her eyes opened with that all too familiar sensation of awe.

Heda nodded, her spiky black hair unwavering because of the action. The joys of hair gel. "Yeah, that's me."

The woman smiled. Poor girl probably got that all the time. "Your mother was a bit of a legend," she said nicely, not wanting to make the girl uncomfortable. "Hope you'll do her proud. Planning to follow in her footsteps?"

Heda raised one eyebrow. "Mom's a chef now. I burn water. Let's hope I don't try following too closely." She wondered how much this woman really knew about her mother. She appeared pure human, but that didn't mean she was unaware of the shadow world she lived in. Many humans knew about the changelings . . . creatures like Heda herself.

Many people had heard of changelings, or at least their most popular subset: werewolves. There is, however, a large difference between hearing of something, believing in it, and knowing it to be true. Changelings had been on Earth as long as people had, shifting between the human and "lower" animal worlds with ease. The technical term for it was "lycanthropy," but they mostly just called themselves changelings or shapeshifters. The lycanthropy virus spread through blood, and could be manifested in one of two ways. The Noah Strain was a dormant strain that manifested itself sometime during the carrier's lifetime when his or her soul recognized its appropriate animal totem. The other way was the Progenitor Strain, where the person takes on the the totem animal of his or her parent. If both parents were changelings, then it was a crap shoot as to which one the child would adopt. No one knew why the virus chose one parent's animal over the other in such cases, or even why one strain attached itself to the DNA versus the other. Heda had been saddled with the Progenitor Strain and had become an eagle. Her oldest brother Edgar was a raven shifter, but her other older brothers (who happened to be twins) had both gotten the Noah Strain. Rob and Richard didn't let it bother them though. Heda's father was pure human and happy about it.

Heda was an eagle shifter, as her mother had been before her. Jessica Adler had been a warrior for the bird shifters and a powerful one at that. Some had said that she could have challenged to be the Bird Queen, but she simply wasn't interested. Besides, the current Queen was a friend of hers, and even though Queen Samantha Brown's totem animal was a hummingbird, no one took her lightly. As the human saying went, "It isn't the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog." True, larger totem animals tended to lend themselves to greater physical strength, but that wasn't the only contributer. Character, will, and sometimes something extra and intangible made the changeling stronger. Queen Brown was as tough and belligerent as they came, and no one had considered challenging her for her crown in twenty years.

"Well," the nice lady said, "next time you talk to her, ask her if she remembers Rhonda Turner."

"I will," Heda said, positive that she'd forget all about it by the time she finally found her dorm room. So many people knew of her mother and her role in quelling the Insect Revolt, amongst other adventures, that Heda simply couldn't keep track of them all. She grabbed her bag of introductory goodies and her course catalog and headed outside to find where she was supposed to be next. It wasn't hard, as there was there was a table with a sign saying, "If your last name starts with the letters A -- C" right there. She waited nearby as more students gathered around, spending her free time plotting out the next four months of her life.

Her eyes were instantly drawn to the English section of the catalog. She'd tested high enough in advanced placement English courses that she got to skip the "are you smart enough to write a sentence and chew gum at the same time" classes and go straight into what she really wanted. Her schedule was going to start with Creative Writing I, Introduction to Poetry, and Great American Writers. She'd probably try to get a science class and a math class out of the way, but those were just because the university required them. She hated math . . . hated it with a passion. She'd had a recurring nightmare in high-school that she was stuck in a classroom while all her friends were out having fun and she couldn't join them until she figured out some complex equation that took up the entire whiteboard. Just thinking about it gave her the creeps.

"Hey everyone," came an overly cheerful voice next to the table. Heda's eyes shot up to see a stunningly gorgeous blond woman with green eyes glancing over the crowd. That blond hair was full of curls and framed her impish face to perfection. The girl also had an overly generous bosom and set of killer curves. She was adorned with a pair of jeans that had to have been painted on and a blue tee-shirt that read "Volunteer." Heda bit her bottom lip and thought that she had a few things that the girl could volunteer to do. There was one other thing of interest about the girl . . . she had a green aura.

All changelings had auras, and these could be seen by other changelings but not by pure humans. The color of the aura gave a clue as to the family of animals the changeling belonged too. Heda's aura was white, which told others that she was a bird shifter. Green, like this girl, meant a reptile shifter. Humans that practiced magic had weird smudged auras that were more like the chameleon effect from the Predator movies.

Heda had noticed a fair number of changelings in the crowd, but that wasn't too surprising. Four Corners University had been built a century earlier with changelings in mind. Many in the national community realized that there was a need for an institution where changelings could go and occasionally indulge their wild natures without risking danger or exposure to the human population. While they made up a relatively small portion of the population, FCU was the largest concentration of changelings in North America. Every shifter in the country as well as in Canada and parts of Mexico donated a small percentage of their salaries to keep the "special programs" at FCU up and going. A large number of the faculty, staff, and campus police department knew about the world of the changelings, making this a safe haven for their kind.

The girl was still talking. "My name is Joanna Whitsworth, and I'll be guiding you through the rest of the orientation process. If you have any questions at all, just let me know. There are no stupid questions . . . well, almost no stupid questions, and if you're wondering about it, then there's a pretty good chance that someone else is too."

Someone from the back of the crowd shouted, "Are your breasts real?" The crowd got a chuckle, thought there were some irritated grumbles and a few of indignation.

Joanna, without missing a beat. "Yes, they're real. All 36-D of them, and this is as close as you're ever going to get to them," she added with a beaming smile. The crowd laughed at that.

Heda liked this girl, and in more than the regular carnal way. She didn't take shit.

Their guide explained how things were going to work, then gave them a tour of the campus. Heda found herself more and more excited about being here with every step. The FCU campus was gorgeous, with lots of open spaces and parks to kick back in. It was also butted up against a major national park where the shifters could go to stretch their legs, wings, or even fins if they wanted. And southwest of them was desert and mountains while an hour east of them could put you in the plains. Something for every animal. No wonder it was perfect. Hell, the entire town of Crystal Pass existed just to support this mammoth campus.

"All right!" Joanna said at the end of the tour, "it's time to fill out your course registration cards and then we'll go to the registrar's office. From now on, you'll be able to do all this on-line, and there should be instructions in your little bags about how to do that. Then you'll be off to the last free meal most of you will get for a while!"

The crowd turned and headed back down the walkway in the direction Joanna had been pointing. Heda really wanted to make sure she got the classes she was after, so she started to make her way towards the front of the pack. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking back, she saw Joanna.

"Heda Adler, right?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

Joanna grinned. "They gave me a picture and told me to keep a look out for you. Hang back for a sec, okay?"

Heda glanced at the crowd. "But registration --"

"Don't worry. You're guaranteed your classes." She waited until the crowd was a little further away. "The Changeling Student Council just wanted me to introduce myself and let you know that we're having a special intro for all new shifters after the dinner at the student union. Most students are going home for a month after this week before classes start, so it's the best time for it."

"Should we tell the others?" She asked, wondering if she'd been singled out because of who her mother was.

"We will. We'll be getting a hold of everyone at some point before or during dinner. Since you're sticking around and since we're going to be roommates, I just wanted to give you the invite personally."

"Roommates?" Heda said, grinning a little in spite of herself. There could be worse things that might have happened.

"Yep! Just found out this morning myself. I'll show you the dorm before the dinner, thought I have to warn you that I've already claimed my side and I will defend my territory with my life."

Heda couldn't be annoyed. The girl was too bubbly and far too sexy. That brought something to mind that Heda decided she should bring up now. "Hey listen, before you sign on to be my roomie, there's something I need to tell you. It's probably fortuitous that I meet you now before I start moving my stuff in --"

"Cool!" Joanna said. "I've never heard someone use 'fortuitous' in a sentence before. So, spit it out."

"I'm gay. And I'm not going to pretend that I'm not, and I thought you should know."

Joanna just stared for a second, making Heda think that she was going to freak. Then the girl was smiling again.

"Awesome! So we can go out dancing, you can help me work the guys up into a sweat and then you won't even be competing for them! You're going to be the best roommate ever!" She gave Heda an unexpected hug. "And you're hot too, so that'll bring the boys running! I'm going to have so many to pick from if you include the ones who are devastated and vulnerable after you reject them."

"You're scary, you know that right?" But Heda was still smiling, caught up in her new friend's energy. "So, you think I"m hot?" She asked, a twinkle in her eye. She knew that she was, and she had dressed to impress on her first day. She was tall for a girl, standing at a full six feet which had helped her find a passion in the sport of volleyball. She had a firm athlete's body, small perky breasts, and an ass to die for. She had on pink stretchy warm-up pants and a black tank-top that clung to her form, and she had caught many a stare as they wandered around campus.

"If I were gay, I'd have jumped you already."

Heda laughed out loud. "I think we're going to get along just fine."

"And break some hearts along the way," Joanna said, grabbing her new roommate by the arm and dragging her down to catch up with the rest of the group.

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At the changeling meeting . . .

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Joanna hadn't left Heda's side for hours, and the eagle had basically found out everything there was to know about her new friend. Joanna was a theater and performing arts major (big surprise), was a cobra shifter, and was in her second year of school. She worked at the hospitality department part-time for spending money, but her school was paid for by a theater scholarship. Heda didn't even know there was such a thing.

Heda looked around, a little surprised how many changelings or magical practitioners there were. Joanna had told her that there were more than a thousand shifters attending, making up five percent of the student body. It helped that FCU was one of the largest universities in the country, as it made it easy to hide changeling activity.

They hadn't been sitting long when the two young women began attracting attention.

"Oh boy," Joanna said sarcastically. "Here comes God's gift to women."

Heda followed her gaze and noticed a young man who was zooming in on them like a shark following chum. Any heterosexual tendencies she might have once felt had fallen by the wayside over the last year, but if there was a male who might have made her want to rethink things (as if she really had a choice), then it would be this guy. He looked like the quintessential California hard-bodied surfer type, complete with blond hair, blue eyes and a single earring that wasn't too "gay." He was that European-gay-porn combination of handsome and pretty that shouldn't exist in nature. He also had a light brown aura, indicated that he was a mammal shifter of some kind.

"Player?" Heda asked.

"Not just 'a' player," Joanna said, her voice actually tinged with a bit of fondness, "rather THE player."

"He play you?"

Joanna grinned. "I like to think of it as we played together." She sighed. "I will slightly enjoy watching his ego collapse when he finds out that you're --"

"Don't tell him," Heda said softly as the man approached. "Yet."

"Anthony!" Joanna said with scarcely disguised glee. She didn't know what her new roommate was going to do, but she figured it would be fun. "What are you doing here this far before the semester begins? San Diego run out of women?"

"San Diego NEVER runs out of women," the newcomer said with a knee-melting smile. "One of the professors in the language department got a grant to study a couple of Native American languages that everyone thought were dead. We need to get some stuff ready before the semester gets rolling since we're going to be using undergrads to help." His gaze, which had lingered a few seconds longer than appropriate on Joanna's breasts, shifted to Heda. "Hello," he said, his voice smooth as silk. "I don't believe we've met."

"I guess you're right," Heda said, batting her eyelashes, but not forwarding any additional information. She saw his eyes light up a bit. She wasn't going to make anything easy on him, and he was taking that as a challenge.

"Anthony, this is Heda. Heda, this is Anthony Valentine," Joanna volunteered.

"Valentine?"

That smile never wavered. "I was even born on Valentines Day," he added. "I guess I'm just a romantic at heart. Heda's a interesting name. Know what it means?"

Heda tried not rolling her eyes. Her mother had picked the name for a reason. "Female warrior."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Joanna said. "I mean, your mother was only the biggest ass-kicker in the bird shifter community.

"Your mother?" Anthony asked.

"Her mother is Jessica Adler."

The boy's eyes opened a bit. "I am humbled," he said, bowing at the hips, "to be in the presence of royalty."

Heda shook her head and resisted the urge to smack Joanna in the arm. A little hero worship was one thing, but she didn't want to spend her entire college career as nothing but Jessica Adler's daughter.

"Where's your posse anyway?" Joanna continued.

"Peter won't be here until the week before classes. He's up in Denver practicing for the one-hundred." He looked at Heda. "Peter's a peregrine falcon shifter and he's also on the track team. He's kind of been the big bird in the nest, so seeing what he thinks of you should be fun."

"I can hardly wait."

"And Kevin's down in New Mexico 'researching' the effects of peyote, so he'll probably miss the first week of classes. Again."

Joanna laughed. "Kevin's a chemistry major on the surface and an alchemist in our world. If you ever want to get truly baked, he's the guy who will hook you up."

Heda chuckled. "Nuh unh. I've gotten high before, and it makes me want to go flying. Slowed reflexes aren't good when you've got a fifteen pound bird trying to find a place to land and eat a mouse."

Anthony's laugh was warm and real. "So even stoned eagles get the munchies?"

"You have no idea. I burned through it pretty quickly, but that was an experience I don't intend to repeat."