I followed the bird (and thus, Cio) until my wings ached, but couldn't catch up. Suddenly, a figure appeared and rescued the girl. I combed Tessa's memories and recognized it as Victor. Now, I don't like Tessa--she's altogether too gentle, a wimp, really, but her memories told me that it would be a good idea to avoid his attention, just the same--he was way out of even my league. I circled overhead, watching to see what would happen. If Cio seemed to be in trouble, I'd go down and help, of course, but I had no desire to get into a fight I was likely to lose, if I didn't have to.
I suddenly realized that I was thinking like HER, and swooped down, landing in front of Victor and Cio.
"Cio" I called, keeping my tone light, "Are you okay?"
She looked at me and nodded, before turning her attention to Victor.
"Who are you?" he asked me, startling me a little. I'd been absorbed in getting a good look at the field we were in. I'm not one for flowers, like wimpy Tessa, but even I had to admit they were nice.
I met Victor's eye and grinned. "I'm Maria, Nice to Meet you, Victor?" I decided to give this guy a chance. After all, I only had Tessa's say-so that he was bad news, and I didn't trust her judgment on much anyway.
Victor looked startled. "Have we met?"
"In a manner of speaking" I said offhand. "You've had the pleasure of suffocating Tessa, my, wimpy other half, who had me mostly suppressed at the time."
