ORIGIN

Eythan mourned the absence of magically enhanced winds, flapping his wings to adjust to its petering out. He said nothing on it, though, nor did he to the cobalt gryphon's hopes for his companion. Instead, he focused more on keeping himself in the air and not getting too enthralled with conversation. But, at least Amras seemed excited about the prospect of a race. Ears pricking forth, a smirk formed on Eythan's face. "Sounds good!"

Just to make things fair, he put on a swift burst of speed so that he was side to side with his new opponent. As soon as that was done, he turned with a rather surprised look, quipping: "small fuckin' world, eh?" Carmine eyes flickered toward the wall he was meant to race to before he continued, "I hope she's doing great. And her, uh, brother, I think? Those two weren't ever around for fuckin' long enough for me to figure out that situation. He doesn't have wings."

Finished with his babbling, the smirk rose on his face again as he looked eagerly to Amras. "Count us down, homes!"

Eythan whirled his head around for the briefest of seconds, beak cracking open to fire off some confused and impatient obscenities. It snapped shut with a click! as the gryphon focused and began to count --- properly, this time. Then, as soon as the last breath of "go!" had been uttered, the hybrid sped up minutely in his flight, trying to go for consistency over raw speed. He'd let Amras tire himself out.

And, already, Eythan was off to a great start, carmine eyes trailing after the cobalt gryphon. "Oh, shit!" The hybrid knew better than anyone how much it fucking sucked to be a creature with wings and unable to even walk. Plus, the race wouldn't be that fair if his opponent was smashed on the ground. Adjusting his path, Eythan dove toward Amras's falling form.

As he felt the trailing winds of the cobalt gryphon, Eythan threw himself forward and up with a swell of his wings, hopefully throwing Amras up and to the side just enough to steady himself again. "You alright?"

As soon as he was liberated of Amras's weight, Eythan dipped lower and trailed behind a little, trying to stabilize himself in the air. Naturally feeling out the flow of air around him and beneath his wings, the gryphon balanced out and drifted back to his companion's left side. "Ah, it's no biggie! Shit happens!"

With an appreciative grin, the hybrid ascended so that he was perfectly even with Amras. Unsure of exactly how old the blue gryphon was, Eythan tossed a cackle his way, "don't get too damn excited, Blue! Just because you can fly faster doesn't mean you fuckin' should." With another laugh, Eythan narrowed his eyes and faced the wind again. He barely flapped his wings, taking on a rather casual gliding pace, conserving his energy and considering every obstacle in the way.

Slow and steady does win the race, after all.

Eythan half-expected the other gryphon to put on a burst of speed, a neat flight maneuver—something to get ahead. Instead, "Blue" seemed to keep steady and set the pace at something rather gentle and ambling. The spotted one of the duo was content to let that just happen, but he clearly would get bored within a few seconds. He held quite a bit of faith in his own aerobatics and agility. So... that meant he would take this chance to get ahead a little and perhaps show off. Maybe that would, somehow, spur Amras on to show off a little bit himself and waste some energy. Yes! Psychological warfare!

As soon as the spotted gryphon made to spin in the air, an unexpected gust of wind threw him sideways and nearly into a stalactite. He managed to throw his talons out at the last moment, bracing himself against it and throwing himself off of it with a spray of rubble. Eythan laughed breathily, nervously. Then, with a nonchalant flick of his ear, he played it off as intentional. "Sick stunts, y'know?" Hell yeah, saving face.

As soon as he was able to steady himself again --- feeling out the air's flow with his wings before settling back into it --- Eythan smirked derisively, "yep!" The 'p' was accented by a click from his beak, the equivalent of the pop of one's lips. "And it'll be with more style points than you!" The wall loomed in the distance, and the gryphon prepared to put on a burst of speed for the last stretch. He relaxed for a moment, going slack in the air as he let the current carry him along. Bright, carmine eyes glanced upward, and then the rest of him would. With a swell of his wings, he ascended toward Polaris's roof. The motion would slow Eythan down, but hopefully there would be a warm thermal up there to carry him in the right direction; as always, warm air rose and cool air settled. Even something to throw him a little forward and give him a head start would be good.

As his head nearly scraped the ceiling and his wings found no relief from the current they worked against, the gryphon clenched his beak, holding in what was most certainly a frustrated FUCK! Eythan tucked his wings and dove, hoping that the momentum would give him enough speed to outpace his opponent.