It was a warm and cloudy afternoon when Terias and Sona went flying together. They were cruising over the canopy of the forest that was right next to the BLAU base. Even in such a calm and pleasing setting, Terias couldn’t help but be his usual arrogant self.
“You’re not bad for such a weak bird that gets preyed on a lot. Still, let me know if I gotta ease up for you.”
“Such a gentleman,” Sona said sarcastically.
“A thought just came to me. Sharp-shined hawks actually hunt down and eat robins regularly. Kinda ironic that we’re flying together, isn’t it?”
“As long as you don’t try to eat me, I think we’ll be good.”
They continued to fly for a few more minutes, and then Sona started to show signs of fatigue. She flew a bit slower, and she flapped her wings less.
“You look like you could use a break,” said Terias.
“Yeah, if you don’t mind.”
Terias looked down below and then pointed at something.
“Let’s go sit on those rocks down there.”
Sona nodded and Terias led her over to a couple of rocks that were big enough for them to sit on. They both disengaged their maneks.
“How did you see these rocks from way up there?” Sona asked.
“Hawk vision, baby.”
They sat down on the rough stones.
“Your stamina could use a little work,” Terias joked.
“Maybe if I wasn’t always preparing baths for you, I’d have some time to train.”
Sona’s reply made him laugh, which was a rare sight to her. She honestly used to think of him as nothing more than a selfish prick with a snobby attitude. She really couldn’t stand him during all of those years in the academy. Never before did she think that she would end up alone with him in the middle of the woods. After all that time, she discovered that there was more to Terias than the cocky prince who looked down on everyone else. There was a side of him that was sweet and caring and full of empathy. He had a way of pulling Sona out of her own world, to a place where all that mattered was them. This was the side of him that she fell in love with.
“Terias.”
He turned to her and their eyes met.
“I’ve been wanting to ask-“
She stopped speaking when she heard the sound of popping twigs behind them. They both turned around and saw two deer. It was a doe with a little fawn beside her. The doe was sniffing around the base of a tree while the fawn laid down on the ground.
“That’s adorable. I just wanna go hug the little one,” said Sona.
Terias watched them without saying a word. He brought his hand to his chest and touched the necklace that his mother gave him. Sona had an idea about the thoughts that were on his mind. After a moment of focus, Terias shared one of those thoughts.
“Mammals just might have the best parents in the animal kingdom. It’s between them and birds.”
“You think you’d be a good parent someday?” Sona asked.
“If I do have kids, I’ll try my best to take care of them. Was there something that you wanted to ask me before?”
“Oh, uh . . . I forgot what it was.”
# # #
On the morning of day two hundred and thirty, Team X was ready to leave the Land of Amphibians. Mory and the others stood before what appeared to be six giant palanquins. Each one looked like it was big enough to fit about thirty people inside. They weren’t fancy like the ones that a feudal lord would ride in. Their design was pretty basic. All of them were plain wooden cubes with a squared window on the front and side walls. Every cube was equipped with numerous carrying poles that were placed at the base of each wall.
The big boxes were going to serve as their mode of transportation. Rubi and Gryphin called them “biome cruisers”. Mory was astonished when he learned that they would be using them to travel through land, air, and water.
Twenty people were assigned to each cruiser. Every group had at least eight people who had flight manek abilities. The groups also had their own captain who would guide them through their journey to the Land of Mammals. Mory’s captain was a small and hyper girl. She couldn’t keep still and she spoke very fast.
“Hi, I’m Helen. This is gonna be fun! I’m so excited! We’re gonna see the mountains and the lakes and the animals. Ooo I Just can’t wait!”
Mory noticed that his fellow Group G members were assigned to the same biome cruiser as him. Sylo just so happened to be in the same cruiser group as well.
As Helen blew through the details and instructions for biome cruising traveling, Mory tried his best to follow along with her rapid speaking pace. She told them that they were going to alternate between traveling on the ground and moving through the air on foot. When they got tired or they needed to fly over certain areas, the walkers would get in the cruiser and the flyers would use their maneks to carry them through the sky. They were going to travel during the day and sleep through the night in the cruiser. They would also rest in the cruiser if the weather got too crazy. It would take them four days to reach the mammal base.
Helen activated her hummingbird manek and flew through the cruiser’s front window. Mory could now see why she was so small and energetic. As soon as Helen went in, she grabbed a long wooden board and slid it through the window, creating a ramp that went from the front opening to the ground.
“You can all place your stuff somewhere in here and then come back out. One at a time please.”
One by one, people were crawling up the ramp with their belongings and then sliding through the window. After taking a moment to find a spot for their things and get a good look at the inside, they slid back out, and the next person crawled in. When it was Mory’s turn, he gracefully climbed up the inclined board. Once he reached the opening, he was able to sit on its ledge and turn his body so he could land feet first on the inside. He wasn’t expecting to land on such a soft surface, which absorbed most of the landing force and caused him to stumble.
Helen laughed and said, “That’s happened to everyone so far. I guess I should’ve warned you guys. The floor is a big bed made of cotton fiber.”
“Man, this stuff is soft,” he said.
Mory looked around. Besides the grey, cozy bed-floor, the inside looked like a typical empty room. The cotton fiber made walking difficult, but he was able to get to the right side and set his stuff down under the window. Then he exited the cruiser and waited for everyone to place their stuff inside.
As soon as the last guy got out, Helen said, “walkers, get in here and relax. Flyers, go stand by a pole. You’re up first.”
Mory got back into the cruiser and went to the spot where he placed his sword and craftsack. Thacris came in right after Mory and sat next to him. Sylo was the last one to climb aboard and she also sat next to Mory. She looked anxious from the moment that she plopped down onto the cushioned floor of the cruiser.
“You alright? You look like you’re worried about something,” said Mory.
“I’m fine,” she said quietly.
Helen pulled the ramp board in and slid it off to the side. Then she grabbed what looked like a bunch of ropes, that were on the floor by her feet, and jumped out of the window. After a few seconds, Mory suddenly felt the biome cruiser rise about a meter.
The flyers were holding the cruiser while Helen got them situated. Mory watched through the window as Helen went to each flyer and created customized harnesses for them by using the ropes. For the four birds and the single bat, she wrapped the ropes around their torsos and secured their lower backs to a carrying pole. For the two insects, she looped the ropes around their shoulders and across their chests, which secured their upper backs against a pole. She showed everyone how to instantly loosen the knots and free themselves from the harness in case of an emergency. When the flyers were taken care of, Helen went to the front of the biome cruiser.
Facing away from the cruiser, she jumped up and then hovered between two parallel poles that were beside her hips. She then fastened herself to the poles with her last two ropes. Using her blurringly fast wings, she shifted her body from side to side, making the angle of the poles position change with her movements.
“That must be how this thing is steered while it’s in the air,” said Thacris.
“Can they really fly while carrying this thing?” Mory asked.
He looked out of the window and saw the answer to his question. One of the other biome cruisers was slowly rising into the sky. They all watched as the big box floated up as if it was being pulled by an invisible string. Their flying manek users flapped and fluttered their wings as they elevated the cruiser. Then a second cruiser was lifted, and the third one came soon after.
“Amazing,” said Thacris. They make it look so easy.”
Their very own cruiser was the next one to take flight. The view from the window told it all as they saw the rooftops of the shacks and then the tops of the trees. They stopped rising once the trees were out of sight and all that could be seen straight ahead was the blue sky. Thacris had a super excited smile on his face while Sylo seemed even more shaken up than before.
Soon, all of the biome cruisers were in the air, and they began to move forward.
“Check out the swamplands. They look incredible from up here,’ said Thacris.
Mory looked at Sylo. “How’s it feel to finally be leaving home?” he asked her.
“Good. I hate those damn frogs.”
“The actual frogs or the frog people.”
“Both.”
Sylo suddenly scooted closer to Mory and held on to his arm. He could feel her fast heartbeat against his arm as she leaned against him.
“Sorry,” she said. “I don’t do too well with heights.”
Fantasy
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