ORIGIN

Haven burst out laughing and fell onto her side in stitches, cackling so loudly that it echoed. She got up after a minute and stumbled over, laughing so uncontrollably that she was drooling.

"Oh my God- Electrum are you- hHHA- a-are you okay?!", she wheezed, before reaching out a wing-hand to help Electrum up.

It seemed that her echolocation was getting better every day, judging by the near-silent clicks and chirps that emanated from her chest and out into the world, casting a silvery picture in her mind of everything going on, including Electrum's spectacular fail.

"Does that count as getting you back?", she asked with a huge grin.

Haven fluttered her wings, noticing that they were drying. One more time.

... Faceplant time!

Haven slowly lifted her head from where she'd crumpled to the ground, her wings having grazed the floor and made her panic, hence her falling. She flopped her head back down and groaned, limbs spread out as she whined miserably.

"We'll never fly,", she pouted, "... Maybe jumping off a cliff would work-"

Haven got up and darted away, off to do something really stupid.

@Electrum

Electrum

Ouch.

"Ouch," he gripes aloud, repeating the word half to himself as his fins and ears flush fully gold, even his wings tinting slightly with the embarrassment burning in his veins as Haven rolls about, roaring with laughter.

He's got muck all over his body, a few scrapes on his fins that will start to ooze his golden blood in short order, and he's ready to snarl in reply to Haven's joke about getting her back when she faceplants once more, and so he instead shakes his head in a tired sigh, finally getting to his feet again and splashing out of the pool over to Haven. "No, it doesn't, given what you just did... but, what..."

It takes him a second to realize why the other dragonet had just bolted off, but when he does-

"Wait, Haven-!"

Electrum uses his tail like an extra leg, hind legs scrambling at the stone and spine arching high as he bounces after Haven like a desperate ferret- finally uncoiling at the last second to throw himself over the other and uses his tail again to wrap around one of her hind legs as an insurance to stop her. "No! We don't even know if we can stay in the air- there isn't a safe place over here to practice. There's the hills over there with the green stuff, that looks a little less bleeding making..."

@Haven

Haven was about to reach a cliff face before Electrum grabbed her foot, stopping her next stride in its tracks. She fell flat on her chest and made a noise of protest, whipping her head around to give Electrum a flat look.

"Mm... fine,", she grumbled, still thinking her idea was better.

She got him to lead the way, though she got horribly distracted when faced with the 'green stuff'. She rolled around like an idiot, scratching her back and getting the sweet green scent all over her, having a grand time.

After she stood up, finally, she shook herself off, grunting as she scratched at an itch before sniffing around. Her wings raised and she took a running start at it, flapping down once... twice... and then she pitched, her head too low and her tail too high. She tumbled and landed with a soft oof, and lay there in the dirt, defeated.

"... This is no fun,", she complained, "How are we ever going to fly?!"

@Electrum

Electrum

"Yeah, practice is boring... but I guess this means we get boring out of the way, right? Boring now, fun later?"

Electrum himself had rubbed against the moss as well, the small scrapes on his fins burning a bit less after he'd wiped the gunk off on his own patch of moss, and he'd scooted off towards another hill in order to make his own attempt at flight. "But, imagine," he calls, shaking himself out and flexing his wings as he sits up, running the thin, dragonfly-esqe areas of his wings through his teeth gently, "What if we crashed like this off the rocks? We might never be able to stand up again, let alone actually ever fly..."

Electrum wants to sound smug, he really does, but his voice instead falls flat, and so do his ears, as what he said really registers. If crashing from a jump made me hurt this much, how much worse would pain from a fall like that be?

Nevermind, he aggressively tries to shake the thoughts from his head, ears flap flopping against his cheekbones as he finally readies himself, and launches into the air- and actually makes it!

After some panicked flapping, some muttering and another kick off the dirt with his tail to force himself high enough to bring his wings down again in a harsh clap, of course, but he's in the air!

"Ah- ahaha! Haven, Haven I'm in the air! Can you hear me? I'm up!"

Now he has to figure out how to land, but I'll give him his joy for this post.

@Haven

@Electrum

Electrum

He twists, using the height of the cave to his advantage and arching high, whooping as he's able to almost snap his tail like a whip- Huh, gotta mess with that later! - and winds around and up and down in the air, flaring his sail to turn on a dime and he almost manages to twist like a corkscrew and move upwards in the air using his sail.

Eat your heart out, Da Vinci! Two living, breathing flying machines mucking about in the air, giggling like the children they are and not quite realizing the potential in their verve and determination to learn their bodies and earn their birthright.

"Yeah we did! Whoooo!" he hollers, and then lets out a chest rattling roar that would honestly be more impressive if he didn't sound like a bobcat snarling at something, but he feels mighty! Unstoppable!

But, enough about elegance- we're talking about Electrum here. Mister I-just-ate-some-mud-and-gross-water himself.

He's got to figure out how to land, and how to avoid crashing into his swooping and diving hatchmate in the process... and fast! His arms are getting tired!

So, he dives, swooping towards the stone like Haven had before, and he opens his wings, beating down once, twice, three times- oh his feet his uh ohnothatshistAIL-!

Rolling a little bit and sliding on the slick rocks, he's pancaked against the ground and cackling, fins and wings flushes deep gold as he revels in what just happened, watching Haven in the air as he tries to catch his breath.

@Haven

@Electrum

Electrum

Electrum preens when he hears Haven call out to him, and he had showed off a bit more before he had landed, his wings not quite completely to proportion yet for him, right on that cusp of being big enough to get off the ground but not big enough for his flight to be the most efficient.

Doesn't stop him though, from gunning it back into the air, trying his best not to hurt his wings on the stone and with a soft rasp of the edges of his wings on stone he's off again. Headed for Haven, and then twisting mid-air and dropping in a spiral, flaring his fin and twisting more as he half-chases his hatchmate across the cave.

"You've got better stamina than me - that's for sure!" he pants and laughs, his scales prickling with adrenaline and negligible static energy.

@Haven

@Electrum

Electrum

"Hgack, look out-!" he chokes on his tongue as Haven barely stops before the wall.

Alright, no Haven-shaped splat on the stones today, thank the caves.

Okay, learn from the last time...

So, when Electrum decides to follow Haven into the small nook in the wall, winded from their game of chase, he chuckles, "I'm sure you'll always outstrip me then, Haven. He then swings his legs forward, like landing gear, stretching his feet wide and curling his talons so that he can snag the ledge, slapping his tail against the stone to lever his shoulders and head into the cave, allowing him to land.. kind of.

Electrum manages to catch himself awkwardly, nearly winding himself against the edge but he manages to get all the way in, shaking out his scales and sail as he tries to take deep breaths, throat dry and almost painful.

The navy dragonet dunks his head under the water fairly quickly, taking in a deep mouthful before pulling his head back up and looking at Haven - and offering his own content smile in turn.

"Yeah, it is. Unless we both get super big-huge, this will be great!" Oh Electrum, you noodle to be. You've jinxed it.

@Haven