RP:The First Flight

Part of the An Ascending Dryad Arc

Throughout the months, Madigan had gone on journeys without Ajani, leaving him in the Eyrie's hands to help him learn to fly because she lacked the knowledge and skills to teach him. In that time, he's grown quickly like a dog does within the first year of its life. Ajani has finally grown taller than Madigan, though she's not sure if he'll keep growing. But that was not her worry on this day; she was focused on riding Ajani for the first time.

Spring of Vitality

Madigan tightened her grip on the leather strap and placed for foot against Ajani's abdomen before tugging hard. His body jerked toward her and his breath hitched at the sudden force on his lungs. He swung his neck to look back at Madigan as she tightened the handmade saddle onto him. "Remember what you've practiced?" she asked him, letting her leg fall back to the floor as she leaned into him, her arms thrown over his back. He gave her a half-hiss, half-roar of affirmation and nodded, a single clawed hand stepping forward. Pushing off his forelimbs to stand on his hindlegs, he spread his wings wide. He was 5 feet in height when standing on his wings and hindlegs and 6 and a half feet when on his back legs. Lowering his body, he pushed off and flapped his wings hard to lift his weight off the ground. It was still hard for him to hoist his weight up but he would get better at it as he practiced. Madigan stepped several paces back to give his wings room to flap. Ajani's wings forced up debris and dirt into the air and Madigan turned away, covering her eyes with her arm. His feet dangled with his tail goofily at first as he struggled to find his center of balance. Madigan had figured the saddle would throw him off slightly which was why she wanted him to fly with it before she tried flying him. He found his center and roared happily, his roar a young call of excitement. Ajani took off and Madigan grinned after him, her hem-tail skirt settling down around her legs as the wind around her died down. Cupping both her hands to her mouth, she tilted her head back and yipped into the sky, making strange calls that sounded like that of some exotic bird's.

Anica was ducking through the bushes and low hung tree limbs when she came upon the scene in front of her, causing her to pause before she became fully in view of the two. A cough was given at the sudden rush of air from the beasts wings and the woman slowly moved into the clearing. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt." She said quickly before letting out a held breath.

Madigan glanced down confusedly and stared at the girl. "Interrupt what?" she asked, utterly baffled at the other's reasoning. She waited for no reply as she looked up at the sky for the Poppy-Jasper dragon. His scales gleamed beautifully in the sunlight. As his wings rose up to prepare for another flap, they blocked the sun from view, giving Madigan's watchful, moss green eyes a reprieve. The dryad grinned, realizing his wingspan was about twice his height. She yipped again and Ajani banked to the left, guiding himself back toward Madigan as he slowly descended and landed beside her. A cloud of dirt was kicked up into the air and Madigan quickly turned away, shutting her eyes tightly. Some dirt had gotten into her eyes, so she rubbed them to try to get out the dirt, tears welling up behind her shut eyelids. Ajani lowered his head shamefully and clicked at the back of his throat. He turned his body around and looked up at Madigan's face, making another click. Blindly, Madigan held her hands out, feeling around for his head. Her palm touched his snout and then she stroked up to his head and patted him reassuringly. Finally, she blinked her eyes open and smiled at him. Ajani seemed to purr at her touch.

Anica wasn't sure what she was saying but she shook her head and let her teeth nibble at her lower lip before let her eyes land on the dragon, almost studying it. "I'm not... entirely sure... But what an interesting dragon... thing." She then turned her gaze to Madigan again before giving a soft smile to the woman. "What exactly were you doing? If I may ask..."

"He's been learning how to fly," Madigan responded as she adjusted his saddle straps once more, having noticed the saddle was a little loose on his back. "I'll be riding him, so he's getting used to the saddle," she explained with a tap of her hand on the saddle. Her African accent weighed heavily on her words. She clicked at Ajani as she jerked her chin down, and he lowered his body to the ground. Madigan climbed onto the saddle and moved around in it until she could find a comfortable position. It seemed she couldn't find one, but eventually she stopped moving around and just sat still, looking down at the woman with a grin. "Time to spread my wings for the first time," she called out to her as Ajani rose back up, lifting the 4'8 dryad off the ground. She yip-yipped with a hop in her seat. Ajani jumped up and flapped his wings hard, pulling the two of them into the air. Wrapping her fingers around a tightened rope on the saddle meant to serve as a handle, she held her breath with wide eyes. She was definitely nervous about this and she would be holding onto the saddle for dear life, but she didn't verbalize any of this to the woman, too concentrated on her mission. Ajani seemed to tremble underneath her, his sides expanding and contracting against her legs to the rhythm of his breathing. Glancing over the side of him, still holding onto the saddle, she realized how high off the ground they were. It wasn't long before they were higher than the tallest tree she's ever stood atop. Madigan muttered a prayer in her native tongue and the two were off to explore the heavens together without another word to the young woman who had joined them by the spring.

Anica watched the woman as she moved about the saddle with a small snicker before she nodded. "Well, I wish you luck with that." She said before taking a step back to watch the two.

Madigan and Ajani disappeared into the clouds and didn't come out. If it was anyone's guess, they weren't going to come back, and whomever guessed that would be right.