ORIGIN - Thought i saw a shooting star but it was the neighbors throwing cigarette butts

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Carja had fallen asleep on the way to Fornax, the long trip exhausting to the young hatchling. She lay on Blight's back, head curled against his neck, purring softly as her claws clung to the wyvern's hide, her wings flat against his back. She was quieter than expected, but as she'd gotten out all her energy earlier by running up and down Blight's back (and falling off), she was understandably tired.

As they neared their destination, the change in temperature woke the small child up, and she blinked awake, eyes squinting as she slowly came back to herself. She yawned and crept forward, peering over Blight's shoulder and down, eyes widening.

Water. Warm water, judging by the warmth of the cave itself. She could see land, though, islands dotting the ocean, steam clouding the ceiling from vents on one side of the cave. She cooed softly in awe and lay back down, blue eyes taking everything in.

@Blight

It had certainly not been an easy journey. Carja had slept, and for that at least he was grateful, though he'd had to pause frequently to make sure her position was secure. The last thing he'd wanted to do was accidentally drop her down an ice shelf in Tunnel M. As it was he'd flown the broader portions but, for the most part, had been forced to get down and climb.

The cold was awful, the challenging nature of the tunnel terrible, but his size and the occasional boost of a flap of wings were enough to see him through. At least the way down would be easier.

Now that they were here, he made his way to the isles, wing-walking with quiet crunches over the damp gravel of the shore. Here he felt Carja stirring, finally; perhaps she'd been awakening for a few moments, but her quiet coo only now reached his ears. "You fell asleep," he told her, as if she didn't know--then again, she might not know the words. Blight made his way to a relatively dry piece of bank, and paused to look out over the roiling water.

It was a fairly peaceful day, as far as Fornax went: no storms, only bright light glittering over the dancing water. The swell and withdrawal, rhythmic, of the surface was always fascinating to him and he watched the small breakers lapping at the shoreline. He was reminded of when Glaive had first led him here; their fishing, together, the warmth and the light.

Ahh, fish-!

"I can teach you to fly, here, if you want. And fish." Blight settled down, wings spreading out to press against the rock, as if to indicate to Carja that it was time to get down. He wasn't sure if she would, or not; either way, he could start teaching her, but he gave her time to check out Fornax, first. He certainly knew how fascinating the first visit could be, at least!

@Carja

Carja yawned and shook herself out, burbling quietly as she listened to Blight talk. She may not know what he was saying, but she enjoyed it nonetheless.

She looked around for a minute or two more, sniffing at the air as she slowly stood up, still rather drowsy. She clambered down his wing and hopped off onto the ground, sniffing around curiously as she made her way towards the water. She watched it tug and pull on itself before slowly walking forward, sniffing at the edge of the water curiously.

Carja slapped at the water and hissed when she splashed herself, growling at the water before springing forward and attacking it. She only ended up completely soaked after a while, and retreated, having lost the battle, but not the war.

She flopped down and started to groom herself, mimicking a motion she'd seen another Gembound do to clean its fur. Her raspy tongue did the job either way, and she started licking water and sand off of her hide.

@Blight

Blight settled, for a moment, watching Carja get some idea of Fornax. He spoke, meanwhile, his voice breaking and cracking with adolescence.

"So, this is Fornax. That's an ocean, they say, and you can drink it, but there's fish in there to eat. You can catch them, if you dive in and out. For that, you have to learn to fly."

She settled back, having 'fought' the sea, to groom herself; and Blight thought that odd, but not much moreso than having way too many eyes. He pushed up, yawning, and then shoved up and back: standing on his hind legs, stretching and then flapping his wings. They reached out, a massive span arching over the pebbled beach, shadow drifting with his lazy movements. "Carja? Watch, okay?" he suggested, and then looked forward.

A couple bounding leaps, and then a powerful shove skyward; combined with a few strong flaps of his wings, and he was airborne again. He banked and glided, a little, then flapped, soaring a slow and languid circle above the child.

He came in for a rock-scattering landing, then, skidding to a stumbling halt, and looked to her. "I could carry you, if you want? Drop you from a little high and you can try to fly like that?" He wasn't certain how to do it; it had come naturally to him, after all.

@Carja

Carja lifted her head from under her arm to peer up at Blight, recognizing the word, 'watch'. It meant to look, she recalled, sitting down to carefully watch him bound off and up into the sky. He made it look so easy! She glanced at the shore and lifted her wings, standing up before scratching at the ground and taking off as fast as she could, wings spread as she tried to mimic what he did.

She let out a cry as she jumped into the air, flapping as hard as she could to get into the sky. Her wings picked up no air and she landed, jumping again to try and catch up to Blight.

Carja sat down after her third attempt, head low and wings folded up, claws digging into the sand. So far, her problem was that her flaps weren't at all in sync, meaning she wobbled and tipped before panicking and dropping to the ground.

"... Crooo...", she crowed sadly, standing up and running on the sand, flapping feebly as she tried to chase Blight as he flew through the sky.

Inexperience meant that she had no idea how to move her spangly wings in sync at all, though perhaps the first step could be to glide and learn to coast before trying to flap. It would mean that if she wobbled, she could learn to coast to steady herself, lessening the chance of crash-landing.

@Blight

Blight watched, thinking; he couldn't quite work out what she was doing wrong but it was fairly clear, at least, that her wings weren't working right. He hoped there was nothing wrong with them, but past that, he just figured practice might help.

"Okay, climb on again! Climb on," he encouraged, dropping back down, one wing extended, close to Carja. "I'll teach you."

His plan was to teach her to catch wind from his back, and over the water, and then see if she felt confident enough to jump--at least then he could pluck her from the sea if she failed, hopefully uninjured.

...He vaguely wished he'd gone to Dad, though. He felt a little out of his element, here; surely Svartis would be doing better than he was?

@Carja

"Climb on again. Climb on!"

Carja stared up at him for a moment, wonder in her eyes before she clambered onto his back and settled in her previous spot. The encouragement made her feel... oddly warm. It was nice- pleasant, even. It made her feel like she had worth.

Her wings spread and she flapped eagerly, knowing what she wanted to say, but lacking the words to tell him.

"Fly!!" she cried out in glee, flapping wildly before settling down against him, ready to try from higher.

If she could manage to catch herself before she fell, maybe she'd finally get it.

Maybe.

@Blight

He felt tiny claws on his hide, and turned to watch Carja settle herself. She seemed... enthusiastic, which was good, but he waited, before moving, to ensure that she was well and truly settled in place.

Blight lifted off, wings pumping at Fornax's warm air (And that's something good I didn't think about, he realized; warm air'll be much easier to soar on) as he ascended. Long, thin neck twisted so he could better see to pick out his path as he twisted and rose, and then, once he was maybe thirty feet up, he levelled out into a slow, gentle glide. The thermals weren't as strong, as long, as those he might find over warm rock; but they were there, and he took advantage of them to still the beating of his wings long enough to be heard.

"Spread your wings!" he instructed, again in that encouraging tone. "Feel the air under them! Just try to balance, for now!"

He hoped that feeling the wind under her wings would prompt some sort of instinct in her; maybe, once she was ready, she might even take flight on her own.

@Carja

Carja blinked and snapped out her wings like he was doing, flapping them like a baby bird would before letting them still. She cooed and stood up, feeling the airflow under and over her wings. If she tilted them just so... she started to rise. She squawked and kept her wings still, head swiveling around to stare at herself, her legs hanging down a little awkwardly, but her tail jutting out behind her, the fins on the very end spread wide, also catching the air.

Carja scrabbled weakly at Blight's back, her claws just out of reach as she started to drift away, panicking a little. She was so high... higher than she'd ever been by herself.

"H-high," she said, lifting her legs away from the ground.

For now she remained as still as possible, trying not to really do anything but mimic Blight as he glided next to her, gently shifting her wings when needed. It was better than she'd ever done, that was for sure.

Bravely, she decided to try to take the next step, and flapped, trying to go forward and higher. She wobbled as she flew forward, gasping as she tilted, quickly trying to adjust. This was where she normally messed up and pitched to the ground, but instead of trying to keep flapping, she spread her wings again and coasted, easily adjusting that way. A laugh escaped her throat and she flapped again, advancing ahead of Blight. Not the best flyer... but she was doing it!

@Blight

Blight was surprised to feel the sudden lessening of pressure on his back, to hear Carja's startled squeak, and he turned, dipping a little to peer back at her with some alarm.

But... she was managing. (She was managing!) Unsteadily, ungainly, but she was airborne and she wasn't falling, or tumbling. Blight was carefully silent for a moment, to allow her to adjust, and then he spoke in a reassuring tone. "If you fall, it's only water, and I'll get you out. It's safe! You're doing good," he added.

He did nothing else, for now--just glided slowly alongside, light glittering over him, allowing Carja to flit past, beating his wings once to keep his altitude. But the thermals were helpful, and so he did little that might startle the hatchling.

Best to let her get used to this on her own--the more practice she could get in, even if only seconds of it, was great.

Blight remained close, though--ready to intervene should Carja fail, and fall.

@Carja

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