Malleable

It was strange, her situation she meant. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought she would be in a situation like this, fighting to preserve the last star in the universe! That might be because her wildest dreams involved chocolate and trees made of rainbows and happiness, but that was beside the point. The point is: this was weird. It was a feeling Orendi could not help but get as she watched some of the other Rogues scurry to and fro, doing whatever they were doing.

She knew what most of them thought of her: that she was dangerous, unstable, violent, etc, Orendi actually held a different option. Back on her homeworld she was still weird but not to the extent she was here. Orendi had always been “out there”, for lack of a better term, but nothing that disturbed her fellow Varimophs to the extent it did her current company.

She wondered if her “comrades” realized just HOW different she as form them. She was from a race that could alter their physical forms relatively quickly to adapt; no other race she knew of could do that. It made the Varimophs different, both physically and mentally, from other races. Varimoprhs tended to view the universe and the people in it though context of change. Everything changed: from the stars themselves to plain old people, it was a fact Varimoprhs tended to accept.

It even factored into their religion. The idea of Varimorphs having any sort of religion might surprise some, but they did. You could say they were monotheistic, but that would be an oversimplification. They believed their deity changed their appearance, portfolio, and gender based on whim. This meant that each generation of Varimorph worshiped their deity differently. When Orendi was young she had been a goddess of revelry and immoderation, and when her home was darkened he had been a god of the wild. Change was the constant, that much was true.

Orendi was actually religious, believe it or not, not fervently so, but still a believer. However she had grown-up worshiping a deity of immoderation, and that is what she was: immoderate. It is who she was, who their deity had made her to be. She was immoderate when it came to food, to partying, and to violence. Violence, what a truly interesting concept, it really is, especially how most races viewed it.

Many of the “extreme” violent actions Orendi took would not have been considered as such among Varimorph, who could regrow limbs and morph bone back into shape, and it had puzzled her at first how other races could view it any other way. But Orendi has learned and, surprisingly, toned it down a bit. She did want to keep her current allies after all, even if they were afraid of her.

The very thought made her giggle, a group of handed badasses, afraid of little old Orendi! It was comical to her, a real laugh! The Rogues, hardened whatever-they-happened-to-be, afraid of her! Orendi had no illusions, she knew she was off, but it did not bother her, not really. If anything some of her comrades were more off then she was! Orendi then decided to think about her comrades individually.

First there was Reyna, fearless leader herself! She was a good leader, a respectable one, and for someone like Orendi to admit that was high praise indeed. Varimorphs, epically Orendi, tended not to get along so well with authority, at all. But Reyna was smart, and tough, and knew when to back off, all good traits in a leader. Orendi was quite sure she would be following her for a good while longer.

Second there was Pendels. The guy was a creep, no way around it. He liked to kill people, which weirded Orendi out. That might seem surprising but Orendi liked to HURT people not KILL them, difference! Well the Roa could do what he wanted; it was not Orendi’s problem. He was still creepy though.

Third there was Whiskey Foxtrot, oh Whiskey Foxtrot, she could write a book on Whiskey Foxtrot. He was a strange one, but an unashamed one and Orendi liked him for that. He had a proud “screw what the universe thinks” attitude that Orendi enjoyed. She hung around Whiskey a lot, he might not appreciate it but Orendi did not care, he was fun, and fun was good!

Fourth and a half there was Shayne and Aurox. Aurox was a jerk and she did not want to think about him. Shayne of the other was oodles of joy! She seemed less uncomfortable around Orendi then the others. She would joke and laugh, and talk casually with Orendi, and Orendi appreciated that. The girl was young, naïve, headstrong, but nice, nice is good.

Finally there was him, Toby. Orendi had felt…weird after knowing Toby a little bit, she initially did not know why. But after a bit she figured it out, and it had made her angry! How dare he, how DARE he make her feel like this! She was not, ever, supposed to feel like this! Love was not on the menu love was never, NEVER ever on the menu! She demanded her meal taken back! She wanted a refund!

But love was not like a meal at a restaurant, she could not order it taken away. She was smitten, smitten with the little Aviant. She loved his determination, his profanity, his rage, and the destruction he caused. It all made him so very dreamy, and cute! Orendi had no real experience with “love”, and it scared her. How funny, something as pedestrian as love scaring big bad crazy Orendi, but it did!

She had no real idea about how to go about “wooing” him, she really didn’t. How ironic: someone who was usually so immoderate held back from being immoderate in love by her own fear. Orendi would laugh if it weren’t so pathetic! It left Orendi feeling embarrassed and wanting to puke, but she would fix that.

She WOULD “woo” Toby, she had to! She was a Varimoprh, she was adaptable and malleable and brave! She could do this, couldn’t she? Well I guess she would just have to play it by ear, she was good at that. Maybe she would write him a note or something, this was doable; it had to be, for Orendi’s sake.