Hawk seethed for a moment, and then lowered his wings. "Aw, I ain't gonna be able to catch him," he grumbled. Vlad patted his arm, looking around.

"Who are these guys?" he asked. Hawk rubbed his eyes.

"Just some slavers who din't learn their lesson the first time," he said. "Dunno who Aries is, though."

"You okay?" Vlad inquired, noticing that Hawk was now massaging the bridge of his nose. "Did the light get to you?"

Hawk looked at him. Everything had gone a strange sort of washed-out grey, but there was a thin, blurry, multicolored luminescence to Vlad at the edges. Hawk smiled wanly. "Must've."

He turned his attention to Yoshi, offering her a hand. "Anyway. You're Yoshi, right? Nice to actually meet you," he said, giving a more genuine smile. Yoshi returned this, shaking his hand with both of her own excitedly.

"Ah, it is nice to meet you too!" she said, and then paused, looking keenly up into Hawk's face. Hawk looked back, somewhat bemused, his hand still held in Yoshi's.

Yoshi released him, and looked over at Vlad curiously. "...You really did not see the resemblance?" she said. Vlad made a face.

"Look, I'm embarrassed, okay?!"