![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Title: I'm Looking To The Sky To Save Me
Author: LadyOfScorel
Word Count: 1204
Prompt(s): Written for Cotten Candy Bingo Prompt: Wings
Notes: Original Work – this comes from a work called ‘The Carnival Queen’. Title is from the Foo Fighters ‘Learn To Fly
Summary: Mara needs to learn how to fly. Corinne can’t teach her, and Trick only knows one way how.
Trick blinked at the boots that had just entered his line of sight, before looking up to Corinne. “Can I help you?”
“You need to teach Mara how to fly,” Corinne stated firmly. Trick frowned.
“I thought you were…”
“Different mechanisms, you two have no feathers to organize.”
“That would cause issues…”
“So you’ll do it?”
Trick knew he was suddenly looking trapped – he knew he was feeling trapped and looking for an exit. “Uh…there may be a problem with that…Maybe two…”
“Trick?” Corinne’s voice demanded answers.
“One: I’ve barely flown in one hundred and ninety five moons, not at all in sixty five. Two: I wasn’t exactly…taught how to fly.”
“How did you learn to fly then?”
Trick grimaced. Corinne wasn’t going to like the answer to that. “Let’s just say my parents took the sink or swim approached.”
Corinne’s expression darkened. (Why was it that Trick always managed to give Corinne a bad image of his parents?) “They threw you off something?”
“Well yeah, how else was I supposed to learn?”
“Not even going to bother explaining everything that’s wrong with that statement. You’re not doing that to Mara.”
“Why not? It’s a perfectly viable teaching method.”
Corinne stared at him – or perhaps glared at him would’ve been a better term. He looked away from her gaze to one side.
“Chances are she…no. This has nothing to do with chance. She does already know how to fly. She just can’t remember it. Her memory needs jogging.”
“Trick, you can’t just throw someone off a cliff.”
“Why not? It worked for me.”
---
In hindsight, Mara would realize that following Trick up to the large, semi-sheltered plateau above the cave they were sheltering in had not been her best idea in the word. However, beyond Corinne’s suspicious glance at Trick, there was no indication that he wanted to do anything other than talk as he suggested. So here they were, stood under the outcropping, watching the rain and lightening in silence and Trick seemed to try to figure out how best to start this conversation.
“I used to love storm-flying,” he commented suddenly.
Mara avoided looking over at him, instead watching him out of the corner of her eye. “You did? Why? And more importantly, how?”
“Heh, yes, I did. It’s thrilling, flying in the wind and rain, hoping you don’t get struck by lightening… It’s a test of your skill, you ability. And how? Milady, we’re not Feathers. Our wings function just as well in all weathers.”
“Oh…”
Somehow, even using respectful terms, and an almost respectful tone (at least as close to respectful as Trick ever got), he still managed to make Mara feel like a small, uneducated child.
He rested a hand, feather-light on her shoulder. “I’m not surprised you didn’t know. I’m fairly certain that our kind is a taboo topic. Here, take your coat off, milady. I want to show you something.”
Mara hesitated, but seeing Trick shedding his coat with a look of almost childlike glee and excitement, a look that didn’t quite fit his face, she relented. She pulled the long coat off, and flexed her wings carefully. Trick’s wings twitched in response to her movements, but stayed tight against his back, while Mara’s fell relaxed at her sides. Trick pulled her out of their cover and into the rain and wind. Mara shied back, but Trick kept hold of her hand and gestured for her to spread her wings.
After a moment of hesitation, she did just that. And what a sensation! The wind seemed to caress the sensitive surface of her wings, while the rain played cooling patterns over heated veins. Unbidden, a smile creased her face. It was familiar, like a memory of a memory, a tugging at her mind telling her she’d experienced this before, maybe. She looked up at Trick who had a wicked smile on his face.
“Ready?” he asked quietly – or as quietly as could be heard in the middle of a storm.
Mara’s brow creased in confusion. “For what?”
“This.”
Before Mara could react, Trick pulled her over the edge of the cliff and let go of her hand. Over her own scream as she tumbled through the air, she could hear his half-agonized, half-exultant yell. Then he was beside her, his wings flexed back to fall at the same pace as her.
“Wings out!” he roared at her, and Mara desperately obeyed, hoping to slow her descent.
The minute her wings opened, she twisted, flicked her wings down, instinct taking over and carrying her upwards. She could feel Trick shifting with her, spiralling up with her. Close enough to catch her if anything went wrong, but far enough away to not crowd her.
Mara couldn’t describe the feeling of this. The familiar feeling was back, the tugging at her mind. This had happened before. She’d flown before, and it was something she was stunned she’d lived without. It was something…a sensation that far surpassed any other, and ‘freedom’ didn’t even begin to cover the feeling of liberation that was rushing though her. By the Great Creator Mother, the exhilaration!
Trick swept past her, corkscrewing and grinning. He powered upwards and a flash of lightening turned him into a mere shadow in the sky. Except…except his wings. While they were pitch black, and blended into the stormy sky, across them stretched long gashes that let the light spill through. Mara frowned, not sure how it was possible for Trick to fly - surely his wings were ineffective with…’holes’ in them for lack of a better word.
For a while longer they wheeled through the sky, enjoying the night, before returning to the cliff to land. It was only when Trick stopped her from putting her jacket back on that she realized that she was soaked clean through – and once she realized that, she realized that she was ice-cold – and that she was furious at Trick for dragging her off that cliff.
“I’m going to kill you,” she managed through chattering teeth.
“Good for you,” Trick agreed amiably, a bright smile on his lips, guiding her back down the passage they’d come up through. “Do you want tips on how best to do that? I’ll gladly give you some, milady.”
“I hate you!”
“Try holding onto that thought next time you fly.”
The minute they re-entered the cave, Corinne was on her feet.
“What in the Creator Mother’s name happened?!” she demanded, wings ruffling irritably. “Jas, towels; ‘Ryn, bank up the fire; Mara, c’mere and warm up, sweetie; Trick, what did you do?”
“Why do you assume I did something?” Trick tried to look innocent.
“He pulled me off a cliff!” Mara exclaimed, deciding to get her own back on him for the fact that he’d given her no warning.
“You flew! No harm done!”
“Trick!” Corinne practically snarled. “I thought we’d agreed you weren’t going to throw her off a cliff!”
“I didn’t!” Trick’s grin was unrepentant. “I pulled her off.”
And at that, Mara burst out laughing, threw herself at Corinne and started trying to describe how it had felt as the older woman used her wings to conceal her drying off and changing into warmed clothes.
Author: LadyOfScorel
Word Count: 1204
Prompt(s): Written for Cotten Candy Bingo Prompt: Wings
Notes: Original Work – this comes from a work called ‘The Carnival Queen’. Title is from the Foo Fighters ‘Learn To Fly
Summary: Mara needs to learn how to fly. Corinne can’t teach her, and Trick only knows one way how.
Trick blinked at the boots that had just entered his line of sight, before looking up to Corinne. “Can I help you?”
“You need to teach Mara how to fly,” Corinne stated firmly. Trick frowned.
“I thought you were…”
“Different mechanisms, you two have no feathers to organize.”
“That would cause issues…”
“So you’ll do it?”
Trick knew he was suddenly looking trapped – he knew he was feeling trapped and looking for an exit. “Uh…there may be a problem with that…Maybe two…”
“Trick?” Corinne’s voice demanded answers.
“One: I’ve barely flown in one hundred and ninety five moons, not at all in sixty five. Two: I wasn’t exactly…taught how to fly.”
“How did you learn to fly then?”
Trick grimaced. Corinne wasn’t going to like the answer to that. “Let’s just say my parents took the sink or swim approached.”
Corinne’s expression darkened. (Why was it that Trick always managed to give Corinne a bad image of his parents?) “They threw you off something?”
“Well yeah, how else was I supposed to learn?”
“Not even going to bother explaining everything that’s wrong with that statement. You’re not doing that to Mara.”
“Why not? It’s a perfectly viable teaching method.”
Corinne stared at him – or perhaps glared at him would’ve been a better term. He looked away from her gaze to one side.
“Chances are she…no. This has nothing to do with chance. She does already know how to fly. She just can’t remember it. Her memory needs jogging.”
“Trick, you can’t just throw someone off a cliff.”
“Why not? It worked for me.”
---
In hindsight, Mara would realize that following Trick up to the large, semi-sheltered plateau above the cave they were sheltering in had not been her best idea in the word. However, beyond Corinne’s suspicious glance at Trick, there was no indication that he wanted to do anything other than talk as he suggested. So here they were, stood under the outcropping, watching the rain and lightening in silence and Trick seemed to try to figure out how best to start this conversation.
“I used to love storm-flying,” he commented suddenly.
Mara avoided looking over at him, instead watching him out of the corner of her eye. “You did? Why? And more importantly, how?”
“Heh, yes, I did. It’s thrilling, flying in the wind and rain, hoping you don’t get struck by lightening… It’s a test of your skill, you ability. And how? Milady, we’re not Feathers. Our wings function just as well in all weathers.”
“Oh…”
Somehow, even using respectful terms, and an almost respectful tone (at least as close to respectful as Trick ever got), he still managed to make Mara feel like a small, uneducated child.
He rested a hand, feather-light on her shoulder. “I’m not surprised you didn’t know. I’m fairly certain that our kind is a taboo topic. Here, take your coat off, milady. I want to show you something.”
Mara hesitated, but seeing Trick shedding his coat with a look of almost childlike glee and excitement, a look that didn’t quite fit his face, she relented. She pulled the long coat off, and flexed her wings carefully. Trick’s wings twitched in response to her movements, but stayed tight against his back, while Mara’s fell relaxed at her sides. Trick pulled her out of their cover and into the rain and wind. Mara shied back, but Trick kept hold of her hand and gestured for her to spread her wings.
After a moment of hesitation, she did just that. And what a sensation! The wind seemed to caress the sensitive surface of her wings, while the rain played cooling patterns over heated veins. Unbidden, a smile creased her face. It was familiar, like a memory of a memory, a tugging at her mind telling her she’d experienced this before, maybe. She looked up at Trick who had a wicked smile on his face.
“Ready?” he asked quietly – or as quietly as could be heard in the middle of a storm.
Mara’s brow creased in confusion. “For what?”
“This.”
Before Mara could react, Trick pulled her over the edge of the cliff and let go of her hand. Over her own scream as she tumbled through the air, she could hear his half-agonized, half-exultant yell. Then he was beside her, his wings flexed back to fall at the same pace as her.
“Wings out!” he roared at her, and Mara desperately obeyed, hoping to slow her descent.
The minute her wings opened, she twisted, flicked her wings down, instinct taking over and carrying her upwards. She could feel Trick shifting with her, spiralling up with her. Close enough to catch her if anything went wrong, but far enough away to not crowd her.
Mara couldn’t describe the feeling of this. The familiar feeling was back, the tugging at her mind. This had happened before. She’d flown before, and it was something she was stunned she’d lived without. It was something…a sensation that far surpassed any other, and ‘freedom’ didn’t even begin to cover the feeling of liberation that was rushing though her. By the Great Creator Mother, the exhilaration!
Trick swept past her, corkscrewing and grinning. He powered upwards and a flash of lightening turned him into a mere shadow in the sky. Except…except his wings. While they were pitch black, and blended into the stormy sky, across them stretched long gashes that let the light spill through. Mara frowned, not sure how it was possible for Trick to fly - surely his wings were ineffective with…’holes’ in them for lack of a better word.
For a while longer they wheeled through the sky, enjoying the night, before returning to the cliff to land. It was only when Trick stopped her from putting her jacket back on that she realized that she was soaked clean through – and once she realized that, she realized that she was ice-cold – and that she was furious at Trick for dragging her off that cliff.
“I’m going to kill you,” she managed through chattering teeth.
“Good for you,” Trick agreed amiably, a bright smile on his lips, guiding her back down the passage they’d come up through. “Do you want tips on how best to do that? I’ll gladly give you some, milady.”
“I hate you!”
“Try holding onto that thought next time you fly.”
The minute they re-entered the cave, Corinne was on her feet.
“What in the Creator Mother’s name happened?!” she demanded, wings ruffling irritably. “Jas, towels; ‘Ryn, bank up the fire; Mara, c’mere and warm up, sweetie; Trick, what did you do?”
“Why do you assume I did something?” Trick tried to look innocent.
“He pulled me off a cliff!” Mara exclaimed, deciding to get her own back on him for the fact that he’d given her no warning.
“You flew! No harm done!”
“Trick!” Corinne practically snarled. “I thought we’d agreed you weren’t going to throw her off a cliff!”
“I didn’t!” Trick’s grin was unrepentant. “I pulled her off.”
And at that, Mara burst out laughing, threw herself at Corinne and started trying to describe how it had felt as the older woman used her wings to conceal her drying off and changing into warmed clothes.
