Legend of Ransera

Glade 4, 122 following This

A loud scream tore past Norani's tusks as she began hurtling toward the ground. She was still spinning laterally, her world now a nauseating kaleidoscope of unclear images of her home. Above her, Ruvaf was already leaping from the branch and moving into a pointed dive to try and go get her. Chieftain Boraba barked orders at the other recruits to keep practicing, and then stepped off the branch. She quickly formed her body into a pointed area, arms downward as she dove downward. She had the Wind Singer drawn and out in front of her, and the air was screeching as it raced around the Relic. With the aid of the Relic, Boraba was diving down faster than Ruvaf could, and faster than Norani was falling.

Norani could hear the chieftain's voice now, calm, yet somehow clear over the racing winds and screaming, having caught up to the girl that was tumbling about. "Control your body. Point down, just as the Ci'uvan do. Ruvaf will find you. Breath and control yourself, Norani." Something about her voice, her presence, caused an upwelling in Norani. Something was overtaking her fear. Norani fought against the winds to straighten her legs, to get them in line with her back. She grit through her teeth as she was still spinning out of control, fighting to gain form. She pulled her elbows in close to her body and brought her hands up her body and above her head, keeping them together.

She was diving now, still spinning laterally, but in a dive. Boraba was watching her close, close enough that the Chieftain could grab the girl by the scruff if she needed. But that wasn't how soldiers were trained, not here. Norani opened her eyes, realizing that the ground was comign sooner than later. A familiar scree from behind her, and Ruvaf caught up to them. He was diving, circling around Norani, instinctively knowing to try and match her spin but staying parallel to her front. The ground was so close and he squawked now loudly. He pressed his back to her, and Norani brought her arms around his neck, and clasped his sides with her legs in one desperate grasp at life. He screed, and pulled up, in a high speed bank as he came within feet of crashing into the grass below the great tree.

The pair were racing out over the grasses, and soon, reeds, when Norani opened her eyes and relaxed her tight squeeze on Ruvaf. They didn't die. They were flying.

They were flying!

Her eyes snapped open fully now, and her face broke into a huge, tusky grin. And she whooped loudly. Ruvaf was still speeding, not having managed to slow down enough from the dive. Soon, the grasses gave way to the reeds, which quickly became the waters of Nora. The winds raced through Norani's hair. A shadow passed overhead of her, and she looked up, keeping her head close to Ruvaf's body, but turning enough to see Trecate and Boraba above. The chieftain lowered and flew parallel, shouting, "Find a place to land and rest! Then come home!"

The chieftain and the great Ci'uvan matriarch banked away, heading back toward the tree. Norani looked forward, feeling Ruvaf struggling to slow down. He was not used to flying with so much weight. She could feel his wings trying to move forward, to fight against the racing winds, to slow them before he lost control and they crashed into the waters, a death at these speeds. She could feel the muscles in his torso trying to move to handle it, and she began to rock her hips to try and match his motions. Listen to your partner, that's what the Chieftain had said.

She could feel Ruvaf's wings moving further, and as she did, she could feel the muscles in his neck undulating as well. He flew with his entire body. She must ride with her whole body too. Work with him, not enslave him to her laziness. She began to rock her abdomen alongside her thighs. She was struggling to get the rhythm right, quite out of sink. But as she did, Ruvaf what make his neck motions more obvious against her. Her legs were burning, her abdominals screaming, but soon, they were in sync.

Ruvaf's wings snapped open, and he was able to pull them up into a soar, slowing them down. They crested in their arc and Norani could see the jungles to south, seeing them more clearly now than she ever had before. The darkness beneath the canopies was ominous, the trees disappeared into the clouds. And she wanted nothing more than to go into there. A tired squawk escaped Ruvaf, and Norani looked out over the land.

They were on the far side of the lake, and then some. In the tall grass. That was dangerous. But she could feel Ruvaf's energy waning quickly. She hadn't realized just how far, how quickly they had traveled. It amazed her at his ability to accomplish that. But it had drained him entirely. She pointed to the ground, in the tall grasses. They needed to land if she was to keep him from getting hurt. Ruvaf went into a soft down slope, and the pair made their way down.

As they approached the grasses, which stood only twice as tall as Norani as it was only spring, Ruvaf threw his wings wide open, landing atop the grasses, letting them act like a pillow, slowly lowering them all into the shaded cover beneath the blades. As they reached the ground, Ruvaf instinctually got his legs beneath him, then stepped backwards, letting the blades he'd landed upon gently spring back up to their height.

They were hiding in the tall grasses, out of home and out of safety. Ci'uvan were predators to fish and creatures of the waters. But here, they were prey. Here, they would need to hide, to survive and not be eaten until Ruvaf could rest and recover enough to get them home. Her chieftain had given them orders, and Norani intended to follow them. The chieftain knew these lands, and knew her people, knew Norani and Ruvaf better than they knew themselves. She had to trust her chieftain to know what they were capable of.

Norani slipped off of Ruvaf's back and almost lost her balance as her thighs threatened to wobble and give out, and she found herself leaning against the tired Ci'uvan. The sun was still high overhead, so she could see within here, light shimmering through a sea of mild shade. There were a wide variety of wrigglies and crawlies mucking around in the damp soil, as they did everywhere around her home. They seemed safe, in the immediate moment. She patted Norani on his neck, whispering softly. "You did great. You saved me. I will take care of you now."

Thankfully, they were blessed by the material that Ci'uvan used to line their nests, the grasses that surrounded their village like the oceans she'd heard so much about. She reached to her hip, grasping the handle of the punching chakram there. She unwound the leather strap that held it and pulled it loose. She moved over to the first blade of grass, finding its base was thicker than her forearm. She grasped it firmly, feeling that it was woody near the base. She continued to feel and squeeze at it, a habit learned from childhood when they played at the base of the tree. Soon the woodiness gave way to softness, and Norani grasped above that point. She gripped the handle of the chakram, pulling it back to her ear, and then punched it forward. It sunk deep into the grass stalk. She yanked it out and punched again. Two more punches, and the stalk fell to the ground. She pulled it over to Ruvaf, who picked it up in his beak and began to bend and position it for his nest.

One down.

Norani picked another blade of grass right next to the one she'd just cut. But as she grasped it, she felt Ruvaf nudge her. She looked back at him, confused. She turned back to what she was doing, bringing the chakram up once more. And again, the Ci'uvan nudged her. She shot him a dirty look, one that he matched with a severity of his own. He looked up, and her eyes followed his. Then she understood.

She could see a gap in the coverage overhead from where she'd cut the first one. And just as Ruvaf had backed off the grasses he'd landed upon, she too needed to make sure that their presence wouldn't be spotted. She moved a step away from that first blade to another, grasping it. She looked at Ruvaf who didn't nudge her this time. She cut this one down next. This went on for a couple of hours, until there was a soft enough nest for him to rest on comfortably. And when he laid down, she smiled at him.

He would rest and she would stand guard.

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