[PRP] Flying For Dummies (Branwen & Mariam)

[Celestial Requiem]

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[Celestial Requiem]

The air was finally warm with the onset of spring. No more grey, lifeless skies with thick puffs of cloud threatening frigid snow. It was bird songs and fragrant flowers from here on out. Until next winter, of course. Gethen was beginning to wonder if the desert would be a better home. Nice and warm all year 'round. Granted, there weren't many trees to perch on there, from what he'd been told. He'd also been told it got rather cold a night as well and considering his nocturnal nature, it was obvious that this passing fancy wasn't going to last long. And anyways, what he wanted mattered little if Branwen wasn't interested. Where she went, he went. Not the other way around.

And it was strange that they really weren't going anywhere nowadays. They'd spent months- maybe even longer- constantly moving from one place to another. Branwen had been so determined to find her family, and with them maybe her past. But the loss of Fiammetta seemed to subdue any desires the mare had left to travel. The little meadow bordered by trees was their home now. And though they weren't the family she had set out to find, Tesni, Koletis, and Stellina had become a sort of family to Branwen. It was a relief to the owl, in all honesty. There were many concerns in the back of his mind about what could have happened had the mare actually found her real family. That wasn't much of a worry any more. For now, the farthest they tended to travel was to the river and back. Hardly an hour's walk. Branwen usually made the trip to try and clear her head, something she desperately needed today. The disappearance of Fiammetta still weighed heavy on her.  

[Celestial Requiem]

Meanwhile, Mariam was eyeing the pale blue sky warily. Spring was great and all, pretty flowers blooming, pretty animals emerging from their burrows, pretty Soquili feeling the call of romance. But after spring came summer and summer was nothing but the blazing sun and unbearable heat. Mariam didn't mind the cold. Her thick Kelpi skin meant she could tolerate much lower temperatures than many other Soquili. But it also meant that without a large source of water nearby, her skin would dry out in higher temperatures and overheating was a constant concern. As things stood now, the closest large body of water was a river. A particular river that flowed into a particular lake that happened to be home to a particular family that Mariam had no interest in seeing at the moment. Just the idea of swimming in water that might potentially touch her mother or father in the near future was cringe-worthy.

The anger was still fresh in her mind. It had only been a couple of days since she'd stormed away from her mother and decided to set off on her own. She was more determined than ever to learn how to fly and the fact that, so far, she hadn't seen anyone around to teach her was only fueling that furious flame even more. If there was one thing to be said about Mariam, it was that she was determined to a fault. If something tried to get in the way of what she wanted, she would find a way around, over, through it. No matter what. And while he mother had been a particularly difficult hurdle to overcome, she'd managed it nonetheless. At the cost of breaking apart a once happy, loving, if a bit strained, family. She was certain Marion would never forgive for not at least saying goodbye to him first, but there really hadn't been any time. It had been a spontaneous decision, one that didn't allow for a quick visit home for farewells.

And as far as she was concerned, that was her mother's fault really. And her mother's problem to deal with. Right now, she had her own problem of finding a teacher. And as luck would have it, out on this warm wind-swept plains, she spotted a potential candidate. A winged mare tromping through the sprouting grasses with, what Mariam guessed was, her owl familiar. What luck! If the mare was unwilling to instruct her, maybe the owl would be a bit more open-minded. With triumph swelling in her chest, she called out to the two and raced towards them. Already she dreamed of soaring high above the lake she had once called home, shouting mockery down at her mother below.  

[Celestial Requiem]

Branwen watched as her companion glided low to the ground, his talons nearly brushing against the tall grasses. It was hard to think that not too long again she had been absolutely terrified of him. Convinced he was out to do her harm. Now he was her closest confidant. How much it must have hurt him at the time, to know that the one he was bonded to thought he had ill intentions. She still couldn't remember anything about their relationship, still couldn't really comprehend his pain. But at least now she knew he was a kind soul, if a bit grumpy. In the end, she was grateful for his company and his protection, as overbearing as it was. Trying to express that was never easy. He always huffed, muttered something about scouting ahead, and flew off before she could finish. But that didn't deter her from trying again and again.

"Hey, Geth-" Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one interrupting her heartfelt moment today. The owl screeched and rose up towards the sky swiftly. Branwen froze, ears forward and alert as she scanned the plains for the cause of Gethen's danger call. Honestly, it could have been anything. It could have just been a rabbit emerging from its hovel. He tended to over react like that. But as she looked back towards the forest from which she herself had recently emerged, she spotted what was undoubtedly the small shape of a distant soquili. A small shape growing ever larger. Panic did take a gentle hold, the instinct of a memory she could not remember and the thoughts of what could have happened to Fia. But in her mind she told herself that at least one of them should be calm and reasonable. And it wasn't going to be Gethen. She took a deep breath, trying to reduce the rather rapid tempo of her heart and watched as the owl dive bombed the poor, unsuspecting soul. Maybe they'd be lucky and he wouldn't berate them too harshly. Maybe.  

[Celestial Requiem]

The owl's screech sent a shiver down Mariam's spine. Not a shiver of fear or dread or danger. No, Mariam was a little to dense to even consider her flat out gallop towards an unknown party could be interpreted as threatening in any possible way. She just wanted to have a nice chat and maybe get a few tips on flying, that's all. Why would anyone think otherwise? The only thing she was capable of feeling at this very moment was excitement. The thrill of finally getting what she'd always wanted. The possible threats of running headlong towards a complete stranger would occur to her later. If she was being especially keen today. Which was asking for quite a lot from her, really.

Of course, it also didn't occur to her that this unknown party would have no interest in explaining to her the finer details of flight. In the Magical World of Mariam's Mind, everyone always gave her everything she ever wanted. Except her mother. And her father. And the rest of her family. But complete strangers! They had no reason to deny her, as far as she was concerned. It was a good thing that world of hers was pretty skilled in ignoring the facts of the real world, otherwise it would have soon been shattered by the owl swooping mere inches from her face.

She cried out, eyes shut tight and wings flaring as her hooves struggled to keep the rest of her upright. Grace was not a quality either of her parents had and thus, one Mariam could never even hope to have either. It was truly a miracle she didn't land face first into the ground. And while she may not have had the elegance of others, what she did have was a temper.

"Hey! Watch where you're flying, feather-brain! What are you trying to do, take out my eye or something?" In an instant all that excitement vanished. There was nothing left but fury now. Granted, it wasn't a very intimidating fury. Mariam was ninety-nine percent talk and one percent teeth meant for chomping mostly grass and the occasional fish. The closest thing to a real fight she'd ever been in were the scraps she and her brother would get into when they strongly disagreed on something. But for Mariam, fight always won over flight. The present danger of any given situation was never very present to her until after the fact. And really, how dangerous could an owl be anyways? She could probably take it out with one perfectly timed kick if she wanted to. Lucky for it, the idea of potential flight lessons was still lingering in the back of her mind, so she managed to hold back on knocking it out of the sky for now.

"Is this how you always greet a friendly stranger?"  

[Celestial Requiem]

"Don't you come any closer, fiend!" Gethen took another dive at the no longer moving mare, just to be sure his point had gotten across, before circling around her in a slow glide, "Who are you? And what is your meaning, running headlong towards myself and my bonded?" His voice was full of command and authority. He needed to sound as intimidating as possible. Though this mare looked like a simple Wind Soquili, she was rather large and a bit stockier than was usually expected of the breed. And something else about her just didn't look quite right. The owl couldn't put a wing on what, exactly and that made him even more suspicious of her. A Soquili's heritage wasn't always immediately apparent in their appearance. There was no telling what horrors might run through her blood.

The mare snapped back at him haughtily, not a word of which he paid any attention to. Her attitude sent him straight to the offensive. If she was being so snippy and accusatory then clearly she was trying to divert his attention away from her true intentions. Trying to turn the blame on him, make him feel guilty so she didn't have to explain what she was doing. Ha! That tactic would never work on him. He was already way ahead of her. Which, for Gethen, meant snapping right back and continuing to question her purpose. This in turn resulted in the same reaction. Several times. They went back and forth like this for some time before they were finally interrupted.

"Ahem!" Both of them turned their attention to the suddenly present Branwen, two very different kinds of surprise plastered across their faces. She smiled softly to the younger mare and bowed her head slightly, "Please forgive my familiar's behavior, he's only doing what he thinks is best. He's still not used to the whole being-friendly-to-strangers thing." She didn't need to look at Gethen to know he was displeased with her, but at least the atmosphere had calmed down just a little bit. Maybe now they could get some answers from the other mare, instead of more yelling.  

[Celestial Requiem]

With each accusation thrown at her by the owl, Mariam's voice grew louder and louder. And, in turn, so did the owl's. She hadn't actually bothered to try and explain her situation to him. No, her first instinct was to raise hell about the bird's absolutely atrocious behavior. Honestly, who treated a friendly stranger like this? Was it customary for owls to nearly blind and then berate a new face? She took a mental note to never wind up with an owl for a familiar and considered if kicking him clear out of the sky would be acceptable now. Sense told her No, but how often did she listen to that anyways.

Thankfully, before she could act on her impulses their bickering was brought to a halt by the Soquili she had pretty much forgotten even existed. It was easy for Mariam to forget that not every mare was as short as her mother. A trait she was blessed to not have passed down to her. But standing face to face with the other wind mare not only made it obvious how very small her mother was, but also how very little she used her wings. This other mare had such large and muscular wings, even compared to Mariam's- which actually got used, if not exactly for their intended purpose yet. Her mother's wings were like the shriveled up husks of long dead flowers compared to this mare's. She was in such awe that for a moment Mariam was completely silent. Her mind didn't even register that the other mare was even talking until she tried to get Mariam's attention.

"Wh-Oh! Uh...It's. It's fine." What, exactly was fine, she wasn't completely sure. All she really cared about in this moment was that a mare with a pair of fully functional wings was standing before her and at any moment could agree to give her flying lessons. Now was the time to be on her best behavior. Or, what could be considered best behavior for Mariam, "So, hey! It's nice to meet you. I'm Mariam. You can just call me Riam if you want, though. That's what my family...uh, that's what they call me..."

It was so difficult to get away from them. Even when they weren't actually present her family brought the mood down. Just thinking about them made her cringe. She wanted to chalk it all up to being angry at them for holding her back, but the truth was she sort of missed them. Well, she didn't much miss her mother. But she did miss her father, and above all else she missed her brother. She felt guilty for leaving without at least saying goodbye to both of them. But now was not the time for guilt or homesickness. Now was the time for flying! "Could I ask a bit of a favor from you?"  

[Celestial Requiem]

Branwen couldn't quite believe what she'd heard. This other mare wanted to learn to fly. And she wanted Branwen to teach her. Had she been a foal, Branwen would have thought nothing of it. But this was a grown mare. A young one, albeit, but still an adult regardless. Surely someone would have taught her to fly by now. The situation left Branwen with a lot of questions. What sort of life did this other mare have that left her unable to fly? Branwen had some growing concerns now, but it really wasn't her place to pry. All she could really do was offer whatever help she could.

"Sure....Of course I'll help you." Branwen's tone was enthusiastic but already doubts were growing. She had only just begun to teach the twins how to fly when Fiammetta disappeared. It had been awkward then and she still wasn’t entirely sure how to go about it. How exactly did one explain flying? It came so naturally to her. Even after forgetting her family, her friends, basically who she was she still knew how to fly without even thinking about it. Was is sufficient to just say spread your wings and just...flap until you fly? Probably not. Surely this mare would have tried that by now anyways. Branwen cleared her throat and tried to find the best way to explain this. "Ah, well. You see...You have to..."

Gethen watched as his bonded stumbled over her words and made uncomfortable gestures. It was obvious she was struggling. And it was obvious the other mare was aware of this. Her expression was that of someone who suspected insanity in whoever she was looking at. The owl decided to save his bonded this embarrassment and take matters into his own hands. "Listen! You just flap your wings until you're off the ground! It's not that hard!"



"You think I haven't tried that?!" Mariam pinned her ears back at the owl's blunt statement. He was starting to pluck her last nerve now. Not that she had many nerves to begin with but he seemed particularly good at destroying them. Her tail flicked irritably behind her as she pushed back the idea of ripping out a few feathers with her teeth. "I've tried the flapping thing. I've tried jumping off high places. I've tried running with my wings out. I've tried it all! Nothing works! I just....need someone to explain it to me since my-"

She'd almost let it slip. Almost mentioned the word that left a sour taste on her tongue. It would have felt great to scream and yell at this stranger about how much she hated her mother. To explain that her mother was the reason she couldn't fly in the first place. But she wasn't worth it. She didn't deserve to be talked about. She deserved to be ignored, completely forgotten. Mariam would never speak a word about her mother to anyone if she could help it. Taking a deep breath, she turned her attention to the other mare seeing as the owl was unlikely to be of any help. "Look. I just...need some guidance or whatever. I'm not asking for a lot here. Help me figure it out and then I'll be out of your mane. If I have to pay you for it then fine. Name your price. I'll do whatever."



Branwen frowned slightly. She felt pity for this young mare. Obviously she was troubled by something more than just the flying issue. It was obvious in the way she cut herself off and the expression on her face. Branwen wanted so badly to help her work through whatever it was, but she had the distinct feeling that the mare wouldn't want to talk about it anyways. All she could really do was attempt to teach the mare to fly. And she wasn't doing so great at that right now.

"Gethen, don't be rude." She gave her familiar a quick, stern glance before returning to the mare. "You said your name is Mariam? Don't worry about payment. I'll be happy to help you as best I can. I've just...never really taught anyone how to fly before. I mean, I started to teach my daughters but..." She trailed off for a moment, looking distant before smiling with a bit of uncertainty. Branwen stepped away from Mariam to give herself a bit of room.

"Alright. I guess first you need to get used to your wings." Branwen spread her wings wide and began twisting and stretching them in a seemingly haphazard manner. "Just move them around. Figure out what movements do what. Get things warmed up and all that..." It seemed like such an obvious thing and Branwen imagined Mariam had already done this as well. No doubt Mariam wouldn’t appreciate being treated like a foal, but it was the only way Branwen could figure to explain things. Just start with the basics. Mariam didn’t seem like a particularly patient mare, but hopefully her desire to fly would be enough for her to put up with a bit of babying.



Immediately Mariam's face scrunched up in distaste. Move your wings. Really? That's how this was going to go. Aggrivation was already building up and the lesson and literally only just started. But Mariam bit her tongue and flared her wings out. She moved them around in what was intended to be an overly dramatic fashion, but it was exactly what Branwen had intended for her to do. It just felt...stupid. She felt stupid. Here she was, a grown mare being treated like a foal because she didn't know how to fly. It was embarrassing and infuriating and she could feel the heat rising to her cheeks the more she thought about it. She was so caught up in it all she didn't even hear Branwen explaining the next step. It wasn't until the third time the other mare called her name that she finally snapped out of it.

"I'm listening! You want me to...flap my wings or whatever." Mariam was feeling deflated now. She had been all gung-ho about finally learning when she'd first spotted Branwen, but now...Her confidence had suddenly run off and left a lot of room for pessimism to fill up. A lot of things had happened recently and it was all starting to weigh her down. Maybe that's why she couldn't fly. Too much baggage making her way too heavy. She quickly tucked her wings against her sides and looked off into the distance. "You know what, never mind. Just forget it. This was a stupid idea."

putting it all in one post because I'm lazyyyyyy