Polaris

Ghost

Of course he told Jet.

Guess when he hopped into the Swordfish to chase after me, Spike told him right then the bounty was dead. That he was "chasing ghosts." He told Jet how I had saved his life, and about the wings. So, of course there was an interrogation. Sitting on the chair across from the two of them on the couch, I was glad that it had just been the two of them. Faye had left in the middle of the bounty and was missing out on all the action.

"Stop staring, ask the burning questions, boys." I hissed, waving towards them. Resting my heel on the opposite knee, I watched the duo stare me down as if some hardened criminal was sitting in front of them. Ed sat on a small stool next to the table in front of their usual terminal, Ein curled up at their feet. Both the kid and dog stared at me with the same fascination the duo before me did.

"Show him," Spike commanded, jerking his head in Jet's direction. When I didn't do as I had been told right away, he grinned innocently, "Please?"

Sighing, I leaned forward, unzipping the back of my shirt before extending them. The tips of my wings lightly brushing the high ceiling of the living room. Folding them back down, nearly draping them over the back of the chair I gestured for the next question.

"What... What are you?" Jet softly asked, gaze fixated on my wings. I could feel their eyes on my wings, it made pins and needles feeling spread across my skin. Especially my wings. I would flutter them occasionally, trying to shake the feeling. Not to mention changing them to a smaller size that was better for the sometimes tight corridors of the BeBop. But, the movement alone only drew more attention to my wings anyway.

"A Phantom. That codename, Ghost? It's a joke of what I am. Next question." I pointed at Spike, feeling a rhythm of sorts. Not to mention giving them both a chance to ask questions. Plus, this was probably the one chance they had to ask all of these and be here together to hear it. Rather than having to explain this three different times. Well, I guess I would have to do this all over again for Faye when she had returned. Where she was at the moment was something that seemed to have slipped everyone's mind. And now I was front and center for the BeBop's attention.

"Where do they come from?" Was Spike's inquiry. Tucking them away fully, I turned my back to the group while unbuttoning the first few buttons of my button down. Deciding it was better to show, rather than tell. Instead of just taking it off, I pulled the shirt down low enough just for the tattoo to be visible.

"Tattoo across my back. The tattoo is different for every Phantom. What mine is? I haven't bothered to check. I'm just glad to have my-"

"There's a shattered compass in the middle, between two mechanical wings. The arrow that seems to be shattering the compass goes along your spine, and the tip of the arrow stops on the nape of your neck." As Spike described the tattoo, it made perfect sense. The shattered compass of Northstar, the mechanical wings of Icarus, but the arrow? Where did that come from? What did that mean? Trying not to think too much about it, I buttoned my shirt back up and rolled up my sleeves to my elbows.

"Next question." Letting wings unfurl and drape around the chair once more. With the cat out of the bag, not only would I have to get used to that idea, but the crew would have to as well. Plus, so would the mutt. If he got bold and started nipping at my wings, the crew would probably be treated to beef and broccoli far sooner than I previously planned.

"So we have wings and the sun. A. What else is there? B. Are you a vampire or something? I mean, your wings are rather batlike, and you have fangs so..." He vaguely gestured to me as he leaned back in his seat, "All the evidence points to it. What are you, ... Ghost."

I chuckled at the thought of it. I mean there was the whole Bloodlust thing that Tutorial for the Undead mentioned, and I did assume it had some kind of Vampiristic tendencies. But, they had yet to rear their ugly head. Or had yet been triggered forth. Phasing had its instances where it had worked, but was far from under my control.