Ack
(Verified Ratbag) (Unverified Great Old One)
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I am so happy that you got this right. Wyverns are four limbed while dragons are six limbed. Basically. So many people get it wrong, and think that Skyrim actually has dragons...Hah.
Anyway, on topic, time to speculate about the effects of her Wyverndom. Firstly, she obviously has fire breath (she could probably get a bit of money doing an ad for spicy food, BTW), but I'm pretty sure she also has some physical improvements.
Firstly, is her wingspan 3-5 meters? Because if not, I honestly don't think she could fly. For reference, 1.8 m =~= 6'. Just looking at the Pteranodon, it was about 93 kg (~200 pounds) and had around 7 meters of wingspan. At the same ratio, which it almost certainly would have to be, for the kind of distance Taylor was going, I'm definitely thinking that, depending on her weight as a Wyvern (though I'm assuming above 100 pounds) she could run a 4 meter wingspan, easy.
But she isn't, because I'm assuming she's small enough to fit into a damned doorway, and that her arms aren't that large, compared to her human form, so that leaves us with the perplexing question - how the hell does she fly? It's probably not shard bullshit, as she had to flap, and even got tired. But it couldn't be normal flight, because she would have, at most a ~6' arm span (I'm using my own, as a almost if not fully matured male running at height of 5' 11") which is definitely not enough for flight. Admittedly, she was above a city, that probably generates plenty of heat- and updrafts! - not to mention that Taylor couldn't have been constantly flapping, as then you'd be expecting me to believe that an unfit girl, new to flying, somehow had the technique and conditioning required to keep 100 pounds, roughly level at ~50 feet in the air (although I'm using my small city as an example of a skyline; Brockton Bay is probably quite a bit higher) which is ~680 joules just to get up there, or 160 calories, and we're not done yet. A run at 10 m/h at Taylor's biometrics, per mile, is roughly 62 calories.
Do you seriously expect me to believe that in her physical condition, on her own power, with an indecent wingspan that she could do the equivalent work to running ~3+ miles? That's a third of an hour, at 10 m/h. I know people who can't run for five minutes, let alone 20! Hell, that's not even going into the energy required to get her to the ocean (not really sure how to calculate that, but I'll assume it's a quarter what it took to get up there, since she was maintaining her height, and only has to fight gravity).
I really do want to know how this is possible, because to me it makes no sense and really tests my willing suspension of disbelief.
As a wyvern, Taylor is about the same height, but she's gained a little mass; this has gone mainly into her wings and her tail. The tail is about 6' long and relatively thin, flattened a little vertically (for aerial steering, natch) and quite flexible. She's still small enough (just) that she was able to fit into the locker, and flexible enough that she was able to claw at the door with her hind leg.The math stuff is a good question. But I have one for you. Why are you even talking about her physical condition. She changed her whole body. And her new body is fit enough to withstand that. It's that easy. That body also came with instincts.
Clearly Taylor subconsciously knows how to use her body correctly.
That's not even going into the secondary powers she might have that could ease her flight somewhat.
Her wingspan is twenty feet, more or less (this is noted in the story, if I recall correctly); her upper arms, forearms and 'hands' are all about three feet long. These can fold up quite close to her body when they have to (folding at what used to be her wrists and elbows). When she's in a hurry, she scuttles along relatively low to the ground, using her tail to balance and her elbows to not fall forward. Moving more slowly, she struts more upright, holding her wings up and farther back.
The same fast-moving scuttle is also used for takeoff; spread the wings, flap a couple of times and she's airborne.
She's stronger than she is as a human (a human with a 20' wingspan would not be able to flap hard enough to get into the air). Her upper body has bulked out a little (flight muscles) while her lower body has thinned down.
When flying, she got herself up there, then glided and flapped by turns (it mentioned her doing just that).
Finally, she can breathe fire, and you're worried about the impossibility of her being able to fly?
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