GLoG 92: Generosity, Love, Opportunity, Growth

[Rebonack]

[Flight School]

As soon as Sekhmet takes off she'll probably get a good idea of what a gravitational shadow is.

Mostly because it feels like 'down' just stopped being so insistent.

Without the world trying so hard to force her to face plant, gaining altitude becomes MUCH easier.

"We're going to go up a bit higher, alright?" Geneva calls out. "Once we're up high enough you won't have to worry quite so much about crashing."

Of course, if you crash from on high it will hurt quite a bit more.

BUT!

When you're up in the sky there are fewer things to crash into.

There's a positive and negative side to everything.

[bc56]

Flight School

Sekhmet flaps, and flaps again. She feels great! She's soaring above the ground! She glances down with surprise. She's so high up, and Geneva wants to go higher!? "Uh, uh, all right," she replies nervously. She really doesn't want to fall from this height. She flaps again to rise higher, and again, above the treetops now.

[Rebonack]

[Flight School]

"You're doing great, Sekhmet!" Geneva calls out. "Okay, we're up high enough to clear any stray trees now. So let's try leveling out, okay? We'll focus on that first. Just flying straight."

Flying straight is easy, right?

Just have to...

Not...

Fly sideways?

Or down into the ground.

Wow.

The ground really is a long ways away, isn't it?

[bc56]

Flight School

Flying in a line is fairly easy. In fact, it's all Sekhmet knows how to do. She keeps flying forwards, over a few trees, over the cabins. She's trying very hard not to look down. She doesn't want to be reminded of how far she has to fall.

[Rebonack]

[Flight School]

"Okay, still doing great, Sekhmet! We're going to try something a little bit harder now!"

Oh no.

It's time to figure out how to turn, isn't it?

"We're going to learn how to turn."

There it is.

"First step. Hold your wings out and just glide for a bit, no flapping okay?"

That first step isn't so hard.

Sekhmet can glide, right?

[bc56]

Flight School

Sekhmet stops flapping and glides. It's rather relaxing, really. She can just hang in midair, and now that she's a bit more accustomed to not falling, she can enjoy the view. Gliding is relatively easy.

[Rebonack]

[Flight School]

"Alright, time to try turning," Geneva declares. "This is going to probably take a few tries. But I'll be here to catch you if something goes wrong, okay?"

Okay.

You can do this, Sekhmet.

You CAN do this!

"We're going to go right, okay? So here's what you need to do. I want you to, just a little bit, curl your right wing in on itself a little. Mostly at the very tip that's closest to me. That'll increase the drag on your right wing and cause you to begin turning in that direction," Geneva says. "Once you start turning, I'll turn with you, okay?"

Normally Geneva would be using her tail-fan to help her turn as well, but Sekhmet is sadly lacking in tail fans.

She just has that weird looking stinger.

[bc56]

Flight School

I'll have you know, that stinger causes slow and agonizing death for anyone it injures.
Luckily, Sekhmet isn't the sort of person who would ever use it for that. She probably doesn't even know how lethal she is.
She clenches her right wing a little. She can feel it catch, and she starts a wide, swooping turn, facing back towards the camp. She continues clenching, and the turn becomes tighter and tighter, and then she falls into a downward spiral. Sekhmet begins to panic, beating her wings wildly, which doesn't help when they're no longer facing the right direction. The ground is approaching faster than she'd like.

[Rebonack]

[Flight School]

Whoop.

That's why Geneva is here.

The hippogriff twists in the air and swoops, tilting her wings to roll over in mid-air and begin flying upside down. She comes zooming in right under Sekhmet, matching her course exactly, and holds out her paws and hooves.

The moment she makes contact the pull of gravity yanking Sekhmet toward a crunchy death is cut off completely. Geneva is holding her up.

"I'm right here, Sekhmet, everything is okay, alright? I'm not going to let you fall," she says reassuringly. "Let me worry about the lift for just a little bit. Stop flapping. Just hold your wings out straight. We're going to glide some more, okay? Once you feel like you've calmed down enough let me know and I'll let go again. But until you're ready I'll be your sky-hook."

At that last word Geneva poofs the feathers on her head a bit.

"Sky-hook? That's a weird way to translate that word... I guess that makes sense, given that it's a modern-Equish rendering derived from an old Pegasus word. People who don't fly on their own probably don't have a specific word for 'person who helps hold you up if you falter'."

[bc56]

Flight School

Sekhmet is caught. She breathes deeply. Going back to gliding sounds good. She spreads her wings back out and rests again. Although she's recovering from the shock of her sudden fall, she's nervously not looking down again. "I, uh, think it's 'friend,' Geneva. Thank you." Although that's not a literal translation at all, and almost definitely not good enough for the Nexus translation magic, it's not far off in certain concepts.

[Rebonack]

[Flight School]

Once Sekhmet is stable again, Geneva will release her and return to flying along side her friend.

And then lets out a slightly snorting laugh. Geneva's laugh is hilarious. And kind of infectious.

"It's a word for 'friend'," she replies, stifling giggles. "Equish has quite a few different words for different types of friends. 'Sky-hook' is one of them. Getting around the Nexus translating effect is tricky, but I think I'll try. It's a nice word."

Then?

She gives a little cough.

"Ayseh."

Her ears perk up.

"I think that worked? That didn't feel quite so stilted to me."

[bc56]

Flight School

Sekhmet laughs too. It helps keep her mind off the massive distance between her and the ground. "Uh, ayseh?" Her accent is probably atrocious. After all, she's not at all a horse, and the only language she speaks is the queen's English (not that there's a relevant queen here). "I would be happy to be an, uh, ayseh to you too." Sekhmet doesn't really understand the way it's supposed to work. She's probably a different sort of friend.

[Rebonack]

[Flight School]

"Close," Geneva replies. "Ayseh. With more of a nicker at the end."

She then makes a very horse-y noise with her throat by way of demonstration.

Because of course the horse language would include horse-y noises. Just like the Houyhnhnm from Gulliver's Travels.

"And I appreciate the sentiment, Sekhmet," Geneva replies genuinely. Even though the word that Sekhmet just actually said basically means 'thermal updraft'. Related concepts, but different things. But Geneva knows exactly what she meant! And that's the part that matters. "An ayseh is any friend who lifts you up when you're falling. That could be literally, like the old Pegasus term. Or it could be figuratively. A friend who lifts your spirits when things have got you down. That's an ayseh, too."

Languages are always a fun subject.

You can tell a lot about a language by the sorts of ideas they think is important enough to get its own word.

"Do you think you're ready to try turning again?" Geneva asks.

[bc56]

Flight School

Sekhmet can't really nicker. She's not a horse. She recognizes it as a horsey sound, however. "Aysehhh?" She tries. That's probably wrong too. She's not great at this. "I, uh, think I can try again." She tries turning again, this time to the left, acting much more slowly and deliberately this time. She doesn't want to overdo it and fall.

[Rebonack]

[Flight School]

That is also wrong, yes.

It's always interesting listening to people trying to pronounce sounds that don't exist in their native language.

"I think just friend is fine," Geneva says, her voice slightly mirthful. "You should hear me trying to actually pronounce words in English. It's just as bad. My husband, Nick? He's from a place called-"

And then she tries her best.

"Calneghfoehngah."

Wow.

That was probably supposed to be 'California'.

It sounds like Equish doesn't have an equivalent to an R sound.

As Sekhmet turns, Geneva pitches her wings and smoothly sails along side her. Geneva looks like she kind of tilts her body a bit into the direction she's turning. Looks WAY smother.

[bc56]

Flight School

Sekhmet's never heard of California. Even if she had, she probably wouldn't be able to understand Geneva saying it. Sekhmet tries tilting herself to match Geneva as she turns. That looks like it will be easier than just clenching a wing. "Friends, then?"

[Rebonack]

[Flight School]

One wing held slightly up.

One wing held slightly down.

The body rolls with the movement.

Sekhmet will probably find herself turning over in mid-air a little bit. Hopefully she doesn't panic and over-compensate again.

If she doesn't then she'll discover leaning into the turn like this helps quite a bit! There are good bike analogies but she never learned to ride a bike, either.

Go figure.

Probably spent too much time fleeing from the inquisition or something.

"Friends sounds good to me," Geneva agree.s

[bc56]

Flight School

Sekhmet hid rather than ran. But yes. She spent the vast majority of her life in the same building, and went outside maybe three times at most, always in disguise. Riding a bicycle was out of the question.

Sekhmet banks gently into the turn. She's still being cautious about anything she tries, with her fall close in her memory. It feels better than the simpler turn she did earlier, a bit more natural. Which is weird. She hasn't flown before, why would any flying feel natural? If she has a flight instinct, why wouldn't it have helped her before now?

[Rebonack]

[Flight School]

Maybe she DID have flight instincts, but her own self-doubt was drowning them out?

"Great, you picked up on leaning into the turn on your own," come praise from the hippogriff. "It makes the turn smoother, but I wasn't sure if you were ready to add some extra motions to the movement yet. Okay, next we're going to straighten out and turn the other way, alright?"

Once Geneva sees Sekhmet doing so, she'll again follow suit.

"You know, I remember the first time I flew in the open air like this. That was... a pretty emotionally jarring day for me. I grew up in a Vault, a big underground fallout shelter community. We were putting on a play with the foals when these people blasted their way in through the ceiling to strip the Vault for resources. They-" Geneva chokes a bit. "I'm pretty sure I was the only one that made it out. And I just flew as fast and as far as I could. It felt like I was trying to out-run the nightmare."

Which isn't an altogether inaccurate description of what she did.

"There's so much hopelessness where I came from, Sekhmet. And so much hope, here. The Nexus is a new chance at life."

[bc56]

Flight School

Sekhmet banks to the right. She understands what it's like to be cooped up in one place, and what it's like to feel hopeless because of a bad situation. "Before I came here, I spent nearly my whole life in one house. People like me aren't trusted back home. When I went outside, I risked being killed, or worse. It's so different here. Most people don't care what I am." With notable exceptions. "I can do things here I only dreamed about at home. I have friends and a job. I can walk in the streets without a disguise."

[Rebonack]

[Flight School]

"I've discovered that when I've got a particularly sticky problem I just set things down and fly for a while. It helps me think," Geneva says. "It can be really calming. Going for a walk is good, too. But sometimes being up in the air away from everyone else is what I really need."

She believes she can touch the sky.

"Walk in the streets, or fly in the sky," Geneva adds. "There can be comfort in the familiarity of a cage; meeting new challenges can be scary. But I think that's just part of growing."

Geneva smiles over at Sekhmet.

"Speaking of new challenges. Are you ready to try something else? It might be kind of intimidating, but it's important."

Uh oh.

"You need to learn a couple different ways to descend. You already found one of them."

Descend.

It's like falling!

But more controlled and with less panicking and flailing.

[bc56]

Flight School

"Oh, uh." It makes sense to learn how to go down. Sekhmet can't stay up here forever, she'd get tired and fall. But it's a long way down, and descending is like falling. "Uh, all right." She doesn't look very confident about it.

[Rebonack]

[Flight School]

"One way is to pull into a really tight turn," Geneva says. "And you'll start spiraling downward. That's good for when you don't have a whole bunch of space to land or maneuver. The other way is to just tilt the leading edge of your wings downward a bit, then you'll start descending slowly."

As opposed to tilting them upward.

Which helps you rise!

"You can also combine the two, downward sloped wings AND turning."

Or?

You can just tuck your wings and fall like a brick!

But Geneva would advise against that one today.

It's only good if you are really skilled with some of the finer points of flight magic and feel like doing a dramatic three-point hero landing.

[bc56]

Flight School

Sekhmet wouldn't want to try the brick thing either. She'll tilt her wings down and glide towards the ground. That's not too hard. Then she realizes something important. "Uh, how do I land?" Her legs are stretched out behind her when she flies. That's not a great position for getting onto her feet easily from the air.

[Rebonack]

[Flight School]

"Landing is one of the trickier parts," Geneva admits. "As you're heading toward the ground you tilt your wings up HARD and then start beating them to arrest all your forward momentum. Swooping up a bit as you land points your feet ground and helps you slow down, since you don't want to be going to fast when you're landing. If you're landing on something up in the air, like a branch or a cloud then you want to approach from slightly below it, since the wing-tilting carries you upward a little bit."

Landing sounds a bit difficult.

It also sounds more comfortable than face-planting into the ground.

"When you feel like you want to try landing just let me know, okay?"

No rush.

No hurry.

Geneva is letting Sekhmet go at her own pace here.

[bc56]

Flight School

"That sounds hard. Let's, uh, fly more first." Sekhmet pulls up away from the ground again. She's not confident she could do all that safely without crashing, and to be honest, she's enjoying herself up in midair. Flying may be hard and new, but it's fun. It's a freeing sensation.

[Rebonack]

[Flight School]

In that case?

Geneva will follow Sekhmet back up.

And then?

She'll just follow her. Silently.

Nothing but the sound of the wind in their wings and the occasional call of a bird.

Heh.

There are probably more than a few birds flying around thinking, 'hey's what's with those weird looking giant birds over there'?

Jokes on them.

Sekhmet isn't a bird at all and Geneva is only maybe half bird depending on how pegasus and griffin adds up.

[bc56]

Flight School

Ha birds! You thought you ruled the sky? Well think again!

Sekhmet is starting to be a bit more experimental with her flight now that she's more comfortable with it. She tries some swoops, and more frequent turns. She breaks the silence, laughing, "This is wonderful! It feels so good, so free!" Her wings used to feel like they were dragging her down, but now she wouldn't give them up for anything. Flying is great!

[billtodamax]

[Birthday Party]

Sometimes cake is merely an ideal. A perfect future to look forward to rather than an attainable thing.

Not this cake, though. Just gotta wait for the games and stuff to be finished first.

"Thanks! You probably didn't bring any presents but that's okay, you can still have some cake too when it's time to eat cake," Khannie offers magnanimously.

And then gifts!

"Thanks guys I'm-" she deftly scoots out of hugging range. "-just gunna go over here and put this with the other presents."

Wow look at her go. She seems far more adverse to hugging that Maridia is.

"Maridia's my familiar! Having her helps me do magic better. Wizards can summon familiars too, I think. I learned the ritual for how to do it and I think anyone can do it so long as they know a little magic but I'm not sure if baking a cake counts as magic," Khannie says as she evades her way around the gift table to set the new presents on it. "That isn't my bear, though, I don't have a bear. Daddy has a dog."

Maridia, meanwhile, is hugged, petted, and continues licking honey. "Ohmygosh this is the best! I love birthdays," the little dragon squeaks.

Birthday Party

"So Khannie's a magic-based clone or something?" That seems a reasonable assumption. It's that or she was dumped on his doorstep by her mother via portal and Jace had no idea he had a daughter beforehand.

Pookie has a response for Maridia. "Teddi... URSA!" The last bit is accompanied by a squeeze as Pookie hugs the faerie dragon tight, and then tries to lick the dragon back. He doesn't protest to the dwarfs stroking him, though they'll find his fur to be sticky and smelling of honey. Despite being sticky, the honey doesn't stick to Pookie's fur very well, so it doesn't pull his fur out. Just clogs their fingers up.

Birthday Party

Oh. Olon says as she drops her arms. Khannie she looks sad. Still, she rallies. Birthday parties are not times to be sad. So how old are you turning anyway Khannie? Olon asks as she follows Khannie around to the presents. Aren't you like... super old now? It's so weird without beards. She says, stroking hers proudly.

IT CAN TALK! KHANNIE DID YOU KNOW YOUR DRAGON COULD TALK? Endok tries to scoop Maridia up off of Pookie as he sits down next to them, trying to hoist the dragon in one hand while he keeps petting Pookie. It's... not as fun as petting normally is. Pookie you are kind of gross. How come you can talk? He asks Maridia intensely.

[Rebonack]

[Birthday Party]

"I'm eleven now," Khannie explains as she sets the gift in the big gift pile. "Which is pretty old I guess? In a few more years I'll be a teen!"

That's a pretty huge deal but she isn't totally sure why.

"Yeah girl humans don't get beards, only boy humans do. And some of them cut it off?"

She isn't really familiar with how beards work.

Could her daddy grow one?

She has no idea.

Then important questions! "Yeah I knew Maridia could talk. Why wouldn't I know that?" Khannie inquires. That seems like the sort of thing that would be important to know about.

Maridia, meanwhile, is pilfered from Pookie. The fairy dragon wiggles her little legs, trying to remain close enough to continue licking honey only to get licked back.

Pff, bleh!

"I'm a fairy dragon don't be dumb!" Maridia responds as if that explains anything.


[Flight School]

As they fly Geneva is slowly, carefully, pulling her gravitational shadow away from Sekhmet.

The goal is to let her get use to flying without it a little bit at a time. And, should all go well, she'll soon be flying without any assistance at all without even noticing!

"It does, right?" Geneva replies with a head bob. "It really changes your view of the world when you aren't crawling around on the ground. Obstacles that seem impossible from the ground suddenly look trivial once you're up in the sky."

A few seconds of quiet pass. Just the wind.

"Hey Sekhmet? Has your... umm... other family reached out to you any time recently?" she asks, clearly speaking of the Hive.