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 Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 3:32 pm
Osprey’s excitement was nothing short of contagious. Especially for the rigid teacher, who was so used to having panicky students under her talons, desperately trying to cause a crash. The mist’s reaction was therefore a breath of fresh air, a sly reminder of how much the ghost enjoyed the feeling of the wind brushing against her face as her wings carried her sleek body through the air, slowly crawling into her mind to pull the memory of her first flying experience. That was very good!, her old minder had said. You’d make a good scout, I think!. She’d never forget that day, those feelings. Flying, showing potential, being complemented on something she had done… and Osprey’s confidence and excitement, so similar to her own at that time were more powerful that any spoken words.
"You sound like a scout, Osprey."
Caught in the moment, the teacher let a keen smile cross her beak and if Osprey were to look up at that moment, she’d probably be a little surprised. Especially since, just a short moment after, Breeze seemed to be back to her usual self, as she circled the trees above the platforms.
“Follow my lead, Osprey. Pay attention! Look at my wings and tail feathers. See the tiny changes that happen as I change direction and ride the currents. And then copy me. Feel the changes yourself. Don’t flap. But test your own control.”
Ally pointed at the tree branch above her, confused. “Bell.” She said, looking up. “Ah… no bell.” And then very suddenly, as if embarrassed, she casted a quick guilty glance to the ghost teacher before scurrying off. “Stretch wings and feet before start.” She said as she returned with small silver rusted bell with a long brown cord attached to it. The skurri hopped through the branches of the largest tree that supported the main platform and carefully tied the bell around a thin branch. “Today, low. Two flaps. Three flaps maybe. Tomorrow, bell in high branch. Goes up every night. Stretch, strech well. Then start. Before she...” Ally was abruptly silenced as Breeze's shadow sprinted over her head.
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Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:05 pm
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately as it might inflate her already large ego, Osprey had not been looking up at her teacher at the moment.
"You sound like a scout, Osprey."
That made her heart swell with joy. Someone seemed to think she could do it! That was enough to encourage her further and made her feathers fluff with joy, despite the fact that the wind was rushing through them.
She turned her golden eyes upwards to study Breeze's slight shifts before imitating carefully. "Like this?" She inquired as she attempted.
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Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:40 am
Hollyhock watched and listened and tilted his head, considered what Ally had said, and stretched wings that felt tired and achy already. He remembered once when he had fallen out of a tree. He had hurt then, but it had hurt worse the next day. And if this hurt this badly already....he didn't like the idea. But nonetheless, he gave a few slow-motion flaps to loosen up the muscles and shuffled into the first circle.
Giving Ally a quick look, he started the regimen, keeping his wings as tight to his body as he could. Fledglings, even if they were smaller than adults, were certainly not parus, and Holly was surprised by how difficult the exercise was. Tilting his head and scowling in concentration, he made it through the circles as quickly as he could, only spreading his wings once to keep him from falling face-first into the platform.
When he reached the bell, he pushed up hard and flapped to gain altitude, dismayed by how difficult it was to earn height from a standstill. The bell was close enough that it wasn't too bad, but it was still hard. Falling to the platform with a nice, solid thump, he waddled back overy to Ally. "Lemme guess...I gotta repeat it, right?" he asked, looking a little sad at the idea.
Maybe he didn't want to become a ranger as much anymore...
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Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 11:02 am
“Good, good. Tail feathers, too. It’s alright if you can’t control them properly yet but they will be incredibly useful for you maintain your balance in the air. Look, you’re getting a closer view of the stream. I’ll teach you how to catch fish sometime in the future. And here’s the sunflower field… and…” Breeze circled the platforms, explaining every little bit of her territory to the mist student. “Now, I’m going to dive all the way down to the platform and we’ll land next to Holly. Close your wings a little, keep them closer to your body. And when we reach the platform, open them and flap to fight the wind and land gently. I’ll be holding on tight so no need to worry. One more circle and we’re off.” And with those last words the teacher seemed to gain speed as she prepared for the plummet.
Ally looked rather sympathetic as she approached Holly.“Yes, do again and again. Again and again. Every day. Is hard first. Always hard first. Hurt. Hurt more tomorrow. But none give up. All students keep going. And all students leave strong Sentinels. Big scouts, big hunters, big rangers… Some go Elite after. Strong medics, even strong bards. You, too. You leave strong, too. Like all.” She seemed to be trying to encourage the deep woods student but she couldn’t help but to let out a guilty smile. “Is easy today… tomorrow… you have to do exercises and dodge. Rocks. But…” She suddenly noticed Breeze’s intentions and moved away from Holly at once. “Go, go! She see you working. Always see you working. Or more exercises! Not worry. I bring berries for later. Berries and nuts. An seeds. Sunflower seeds. Now go! ”
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Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 7:40 pm
Osprey gulped. It was the landing that scared her. Most of her landings so far had been ungraceful stumbles.
"Uh-uh, h'okay. Yes Ma'am." She replied nervously as she tucked her wings tightly to her body and prepared the best she could for the plummet.
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Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:35 am
Some of Ally's words discouraged the fledgling, but Hollyhock knew that the more he worked, the stronger he'd get. And even if maybe he didn't think he wanted to be a Ranger anymore, he knew he'd never be any good at any of the artistic things the noncombatants did. He hadn't liked the idea. Maybe a gatherer. He smiled at the thought, glancing at Ally and catching her hurried words not a second too late. Shuffling into the circle again, he started his hops. Right, left, right, left...
It was so much harder than the fledgling could have imagined something that didn't involve his wings to be. He huffed quietly at each hop, the same thought running through his head over and over again. Sentinels are not parus. I am not built to do this. Sentinels are not parus. I am not built to do this. Sentinels are not Parus.
I am not built... And he flapped up and knocked the bell with his beak, landing with the same ungainly thump as always and shuffling back, facing the edge of the platform so he could watch Breeze bring Ossie back in. He didn't wait too long, though and kept his motion toward the circles.
Ugh, this was so boring.
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Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 5:06 pm
Breeze’s wings moved closer to her body as she began the descent and purposefully gained some speed, holding tighter to the harness strap. “Ready your talons, Osprey. I’ll be dropping you gently.” As the pair got closer to the platform, she swerved a little to the side opening her wings as she changed currents and with three small flaps broke the momentum completely before releasing the harness so close to the platform that the mist fledgling would almost touch it if she were to stretch a talon below. “Now, Osprey.“
With surprising agility Breeze flapped her wings a few times before the gliding in the air to circle the main platform. She landed very close to Hollyhock with the usual silence of the Sentinel race. “Good, Holly. Did you stretch before the exercises? That old thing tends to forget that part.”
“The old thing” was moving in Osprey’s direction carrying a few small blue berries and didn’t seem to hear what the teacher was saying though her movements became a little rigid as she approached the mist fledgling.
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Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:46 am
For the first time during the flight, Osprey was truly frightened. They were approaching the platform fast and although Breeze was holding on to her, she was, for a few moments, almost certain that she would end up falling and either getting killed or maimed, like the unfortunate fledglings that strayed too far from the enclave.
"Now, Osprey."
At her teacher's bidding and out of what might of been instinct, she began to beat her wings against the air and landed beside Breeze and Holly. She was breathing heavily out of exhilaration and a little bit of fear.
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Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 10:21 am
Holly obediently broke off his third repetition of the hopping course when Breeze landed, turning to look at her with bright, intense curiosity. Idly, he stretched his wings without thinking as Breeze mentioned the activity, and he quickly swept his beak through his feathers, glancing up at Breeze after a moment. "Mmhmm," he said in affirmation, then realized how thoroughly nonverbal that response had been. He peeped quietly. "I mean," he spat out quickly, "yes, I stretched." Then he smiled and looked at Ossie.
"Wow!" he said brightly, leaning in to inspect the harness but not preening her for a third time that night (he suspected Breeze would either refuse to take him out in the harness or simply drop him if he did it again, and either consequence was extremely unappealing). "That looked really..." he paused, searching for a word. Fun wasn't right, and cool didn't seem...effective enough. "It seemed exciting!" he finished eventually, and then glanced surreptitiously at Breeze, curious when his turn would be.
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 5:13 pm
“An acceptable landing, Osprey.” The teacher said with a small smile as she watched Holly’s excitement. She silently evaluated her next actions. She had a somewhat difficult choice to make. Normally to increase the competitiveness of a fledgling she would pit two classmates against each other acting in obvious favor of one of them. She was considering not letting Holly into the harness until the next day but facing his excitement she reconsidered. After all, from the looks of things is resentment would probably backfire on her. Instead of increasing his drive against Osprey, she might make the fledgling silently turn against her. She had to be careful. She was nearing the end of their first day and while she had already realized that Osprey was strong under pressure, Holly’s more quiet nature worried her a little. Was the deep woods the type that rose above pressure or crumbled from it? Only time would tell.
“Well, Holly… explain to Osprey what you’ve been doing. It’s her turn to do the exercises. Also… can you tell me the purpose of these exercises? What did you think of them?”
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 10:11 am
Osprey raised her wings as she examined the harness that held her tight during the flight.
The fact that Holly avoided preening her was strange, but she understood and did not want her friend to be scolded again. Instead, her beak edges turned in a grin. "It was so definitely awesome! Y'get -- You get to feel the wind on your feathers, just like if you was -- were flying."
As Breeze mentioned Holly's exercises, Ossie's eartufts lifted and she tilted her head expectantly as she waited for him to explain.
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Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 4:33 pm
Holly looked anxiously at Breeze and waited for her to say something more, or to start pulling Ossie out of the harness, or really to do anything that suggested it was his time to go...and well, she wasn't saying anything to him, he supposed. And then Breeze spoke, and Holly listened attentively. ...Oh. She was asking him to explain what he had done to Ossie. But she hadn't said anything about the harness.
....oh.
Trying his absolute hardest to conceal his disappointment and reminding himself that she might just want him to show Ossie the exercises before she did anything, he looked at Breeze and then at Ossie. He decided before he answered his teacher's questions, he would tell Ossie about the exercises. That was what Breeze had asked for first, so he thought it would be a good thing to do.
Giving Ossie a bright, if somewhat forced, smile when she described the harness, he turned his head and nodded toward the circles. "See them?" he asked quickly, and then shuffled to stand in the first one again. "What you gotta do is hop from one circle to another, without using your wings. Hop, hop," and here he demonstrated for her, doing surprisingly well for how tired and bored of it he was. "Until you get to the end. And then when you get to the last circle, you flap up and touch the bell. When it rings, you do it again."
He shuffled back over and sad down on his talons, looking from Ossie to Breeze. "Well, ma'am," he said slowly, pulling his eartufts back and half-closhing his eyes while he thought about the possible reasons for it. "The hopping...maybe it has something to do with making our legs stronger?" He glanced at her for some sort of confirmation, but pressed onward. "And the flapping straight up, is that maybe in case we fall off a branch to the ground?" Holly had almost done that several times, and once he had almost fallen out of a tree where there was no consciencious Minder to rescue him. He had been lucky, especially since he couldn't fly that well at the time.
He wondered if Breeze's final question could be answered honestly. But he didn't want to chance it and gave it quite a lot of thought. After all, he didn't like the exercises at all, but if Breeze said he should...
"I think if you say they're important, Ma'am, I'll keep doing them until I can do them perfect," he answered with conviction.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 7:53 pm
Very good, Holly. Now keep doing the exercises until I come back with Osprey.
Those were the words trapped inside the teacher’s throat, fighting their way to come out as the deep woods fledgling explained the exercises to his classmate. She had noticed his hesitation, that brief instant when their eyes had connected and found her resolve being slowly corroded by his innocent excitement. Then he answered her last question and was stunned. The teacher laughed wholeheartedly for a few moments, pleased by the sudden disruption from her thoughts.
“Oh, if I tell you should do them, you’ll do them? Is that what you’re saying? So even if you don’t see the purpose of the exercises you assume there is one…?” her head dropped until the red gaze was at the same height as Holly’s eyes before she continued. “I must say I appreciate your trust in me.“
She chuckled and preened a flight feather with a content expression.
“Sentinels… well, we’re not the most graceful creatures on the ground. There may come a time when you’re hunting or gathering or maybe you simply drop something that you must retrieve from down there… and on one of those days you may also find yourselves accompanied in the worst possible way. If a day like that ever comes, I want to make sure you can dodge anything that comes your way. I’m not expecting you to move like a fleeing mouse… and my priority will always be your flying ability. Still, this is a big world and it’s my job to prepare you for the challenges you’ll be facing… on the air and on the ground.”
Ally exhaled loudly, eyeing her master with uninterested glances. Why did she always turn a simple answer into a speech?
“Harness?” the skurri asked, exhaling again and sneaking a discreet glance in Holly’s direction.
Breeze tilted her head to the side, looking thoroughly amused. When she finally answered her companion’s question however, she was serious once again.
“You may remove it, Ally. Put it on Hollly and make sure the straps aren’t too tight. Osprey, preen your feathers carefully. Especially the ones under the harness.” She straightened up to her full height as her skurri moved happily around the mist student. “It’s your turn now, Holly. Osprey, you’ll do the exercises until we come back.”
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 9:25 am
Osprey listened intently to both Hollyhock, and then Breeze as she gave her explanation for the exercises.
Huh...
Well, she certainly did not want to get caught on the ground. Best to put as much effort as she could into it. The last thing she wanted was for some unwanted company to leave her dead.
After Ally helped remove the harness, the female immediately began preening her feathers, just as she had seen the adults doing it. "Yes Ma'am." She lifted her beak to reply, before dipping it to her chest and wings again.
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 6:08 am
Hollyhock inclined his head slightly as Breeze spoke to him...in something that might have sounded (just a bit) like admonishment. To be honest, he felt like he might have deserved that, but he was striving to be truthful. And Breeze was his teacher, so she was supposed to help him, and make him do things that were good for him. Wasn't that what teachers did? Anyways, he supposed what he learned would help, especially when Breeze explained things better.
Then she was offering him his turn in the harness, and Holly had to suppress every instinct to leap for joy. "Thank you, Miss Breeze, Ma'am," he said quietly, watching Ally intently as she removed the harness. Not sparing a glance for Ossie's preening, he instead waited until he was in the harness, tilted his head, and glanced up at Breeze again.
He was a little nervous, but more excited than anything. After he had finished lessons like these, he'd never have to worry about falling out of a tree again!
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