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 Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 4:02 pm
It wasn't uncommon for Liang to come to the park, infact it was one of her favorite places to spend her time. But today, it was her nightmare. She didn't want to be here, she didn't want to do what she had come here to do. The winged girl stood warily underneath a large oak tree, staring up at it as if it was going to swoop down and smash her to a pulp. "I can't do this..." She whimpered, feeling her face heat up. People were probably watching her, they knew she was afraid, and she was about to make a fool of herself. Brother Teagan had told her that she was made to fly, and so had that boy she had met by the lake, but they were wrong. She wouldn't ever learn to fly, she was doomed to fail.
Taking a deep breath, she reached up to a low branch, determined to at least try. No one was watching, she just had to keep telling herself that. She didn't know how long it took, but eventually she had pulled herself up to a sit on the branch, eyes shut tight. Only... A lot, more to go. She couldn't do this, there was no way. Before she could stop herself, she started crying, holding tight to the branch. She was too high up, even though she was only on the first branch. She hated heights.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 4:09 pm
Higher up, much higher up, in the tree were Alaqua and her little sister Reign. Reign had climbed up to a nice branch and was sitting there, tying a bow about her pink bunny's neck. Ala had climbed up higher and higher, trying to see how high she could go before the branches could no longer support her weight.
The sound of crying from below attracted both girls' attention, though Reign just watched as her sister climbed down to see what the problem was. What she found was a blue-skinned girl clinging tightly to a very low (to her at least) branch. The girl had very big wings, so Ala took it that she was a bird. Of some sort.
The koala girl climbed down to the branch just above Liang. "What's wrong?" Ala asked the crying girl.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 4:34 pm
At the sound of a voice, Liang screamed, turning bright red. Recovering quickly, she gasped for breath, digging her nails into the tree bark. "I, um, I'm sorry if this is your tree, I was just-" She stumbled, tucking her wings tightly against her back. This was bad, very bad. Not only was she chickening out but she was in someone else's tree. Well, she could at least explain herself, maybe then the girl would forgive her and let her go on her way.
"I was," she started again, looking down at the ground, "I was going to try and fly again, but I can't do it, I can't even get up this dumb tree." The second the words were out of her mouth she regretted them, "I mean, not that your tree is dumb, I'm just dumb because I can't climb it and-" She made herself shut up, hoping she hadn't said anything too bad.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 4:41 pm
The scream caused Ala to cover her ears. And Reign to retreat higher up into the tree. Alaqua uncovered her ears as the girl started stammering something about this being Ala's tree and she was sorry and something about the girl being dumb.
Ala blinked. "It isn't my tree. I'm just climbing it." She peered at the girl. A bird afraid of heights? That was interesting... "Want some help getting up a bit?" The girl asked, clinging to the branch with three of her limbs and offering the free hand down as an aide.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 4:53 pm
Liang blinked, "Oh." Being dopey again. She looked down at the ground, thinking for a moment she'd be better off just getting down and going back home. No, that would be cowardly, and this girl would know you were a coward. She couldn't live with that. "Well, I wasn't going to but.. Yeah, I could use some help," She admitted, fluttering her wings lightly. Maybe if she had someone helping her she'd be able to do it. Or at least she'd be able to try. "My name's Liang," she offered, showing a weak smile. Now she needed to stand up. Just stand up and let this girl teach her to climb.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 5:13 pm
Ala grinned. "I'm Alaqua." She gave the other girl a quick look-over. She didn't have claws like Ala did to help her climb. And she didn't have hand-feet like Reign. And her tail wasn't like Reign's either. It seemed birds weren't meant to climb much. Just... fly.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 5:18 pm
Almost forgetting she was in a tree, Liang nodded, "It's nice to meet you Alaqua." She glanced up at the high branches, not noticing the other hidden among them. "So... How do I get up there?" The tree in the class had been easy to climb, kind of like a ladder, but this one had twisted branches and leaves everywhere. It was impossible. Well, maybe not impossible since this other girl seemed to be doing it fine, but hard.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 5:22 pm
Ala grinned as the other girl seemed to relax a little. "Well..." She couldn't just state that you dig your claws into the bark to a kid that doesn't have claws. "Just make sure you have a really good grip on the next branch. Then pull yourself up. And be sure to pick branches that are close together. Makes it easier to pull yourself up that way." The girl nodded. That should work.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 5:31 pm
"Right," She said purposefully, reaching up to take a grip on the next branch up. Her slippers slid a bit on the bark, but eventually she managed to pull herself up to chest level with the branch. She looked a bit silly trying to wrestle herself up, but with a bit of effort she got up onto it. Yes! She did it! "I did it," she gasped, trying not to think about the fact that she'd have to do it many more times.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 5:38 pm
Ala backed up and made room for the other girl on the branch, resisting the urge to just pull her up. Though it was doubtful that Ala would be able to pull off such a feat, considering that Liang looked to outweigh the koala girl.
As the girl managed to pull herself up, Ala clapped for her achievement. "Good!" The girl glanced up a bit. How much further up would she need to go to try and fly?
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 5:56 pm
Well, this wasn't so hard. At least not so far. And this girl didn't think she was making fun of herself! Smiling happily, she reached for the next one, having a bit of an easier time getting herself onto it than she had with the one before. "I can do this," She told herself, hoping she wouldn't fall and mess everything up. She'd been fairly high up the first time she'd tried to fly, so maybe trying from lower would do better. About the middle of the tree sounded like a good place to start.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 6:05 pm
Ala climbed up slowly alongside Liang. If the girl slipped, she might be able to catch her. Or at least slow her fall. Though Ala hoped that the bird girl wouldn't slip and fall. Though if she did, maybe she could just fly off and not actually fall?
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 6:19 pm
After a bit more stubborn climbing, and a good bit more huffing and puffing than she would have predicted, Liang got to a point in the tree she deemed high enough. Climbing wasn't so bad, a bit hard, but not so bad all in all. As she tried to stand up on the branch, her anxiety returned. This was it, this was when she had to jump. Showing a scared face, she grabbed hold of the center of the tree again, "Maybe I should do this some other day, when it's not so... High."
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 6:32 pm
Ala plopped herself onto a nearby branch to watch the bird take off. Or... so she thought. But Liang just looked down and then was clinging back to the tree. It wasn't too terribly high up. "Just don't look down." Alaqua told the other girl in an attempt to comfort her. "Just look straight ahead or up." The girl climbed over to the same branch and found a slightly different tree across the park. It was an evergreen tree, so it stood out a bit. "See that christmas-y tree over there? Just look at it and see if you can fly to it."
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 6:38 pm
Just look at it and fly to it, that seemed like a good idea. Maybe that was the key. Last time she had been looking at the ground, and after that when she had flown by accident she had only crashed when she looked down. "Yeah, right," She agreed, still sounding hesitant. This would be fine, just don't look down. She took a deep breath, stepping out as far on the branch as she thought it could hold her. 1..2..Go! Before she could change her mind she jumped, going a short way before she started to fall. Her eyes were closed, and she was sort of falling on instinct. Now! She unfurled her wings, beating them hard a few times to even herself out. When she felt like she wasn't falling anymore, she opened her eyes, doing a little spin in the air, "I'm doing it!" Now she just needed to not look down.
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