Wishful Thinking [2430-2-3-Wed]

[Failyn]

Failyn hadn't ever played checkers before. She'd seen others play, so she thought she knew the rules, but actually playing against someone? Hadn't happened. But Failyn loved to play new games.

"I've never actually played checkers with someone before. That would be fun!" Of course, that might make it no fun for him. If he was good at checkers, then playing someone who had never played before might be boring. She didn't want Perrin to be bored. She wanted him to have fun. "It would be okay to play me, even though I've never played before, right? You wouldn't have to go easy or anything..." Not to mention it would destroy her pride if he went easy. That just wasn't cool.

[Perrin]

He felt himself brighten a little as she showed interest in playing it. "It's okay, it's pretty easy to learn. There's only a few rules to remember. I have a board up in my home, I'll go get it!"

He glanced up in the sky, glancing around for Kah. He couldn't see her anywhere in the sky, but she was likely close. He stuck a pair of fingers between his lips and let out a sharp whistle, hoping to call her quickly. He glanced back at Failyn, at little sheepishly, "Just need my ride."

Most Winged were surprised to find out he rode a Griffin, since Griffins weren't usually up for that sort of thing. But then, most Winged didn't need to ride a Griffin or Pegasus, having their own wings that were often just as big and just as useful. He could only imagine that the bigger winged ones would probably even get their wings in the way of the animal's wings if they tried. He probably only got away with it because he didn't have wings that got in the way, and he was much less heavy. Not to mention that he and Kah were close friends.

Finally he heard a Griffin's cry above them, and glanced up to see Kah circling. He grinned, watching her swirl around and then eventually land near them. "Kah! We need to go home for a bit, is that ok??" Perrin asked, heading over towards her. Kah responded with a caw of agreement. He patted her on the head and then climbed up onto her, tucking his legs carefully around her wings. He looked over at Failyn. "If you want to come with us we can just stay there and play, or I can get it and come back."

[Failyn]

Wow, Kah was beautiful. She was obviously of a different pride than the ones Failyn hung out with, because Failyn would definately have remembered seeing her.

"Wow, you're beautiful, aren't you?" Failyn told the gryffin, her voice reflecting her awe. She was obviously very kind and intelligent too, if she let Perrin ride on her back. Most gryffins wouldn't - humans had tried. She must recognize that Perrin was meant to fly, but was unable to. Most, even if they did realize this, wouldn't let someone ride them. They weren't called a "pride" for no reason.

Suddenly - and Failyn wasn't sure how long ago they'd been spoken - Perrin's words registered. "If you want to come with us we can just stay there and play, or I can get it and come back." Unlike most winged people, Failyn had never developed the ability to take things for granted, especially flying. She never missed an opportunity.

"I'd love to come with you, if that's okay with you and Kah." Sometimes gryffins were above flying with winged people, but if Kah was willing to let Perrin ride her, than maybe she wouldn't be. Hopefully. It was fun, when they let you.

How could Perrin stand flying over the ocean? That seemed more risky than going near the shore...He must have some basic desire to fly, even though his wings didn't allow it, that overrode the instinctual fear of danger.

[Perrin]

Perrin couldn't help but smile in pride as he watched Failyn watch Kah in awe. If there was one plus side to being stuck relying on another for flight, it was that he had a way cooler friend than most people. Even if it was his only friend. He patted Kah on the neck, and then scratched her beneath her feathers.

Once Failyn agreed to head back to his home, he nodded excitedly. "Okay! Let's go!" He nudged Kah's side to signal her to take off, which she did after a caw of agreement, taking them up into the air. Perrin gripped her tightly at first, the initial shock of being lifted up catching him by surprise as usual, but he quickly relaxed as they evened out into the sky. They usually stayed close to the rock faces for Perrin's sake, since his ocean panic usually set in the further they got from anything landable. He wasn't sure how Failyn fared flying so close to cliffs, but most Winged seemed to have little problem with it, so he hoped she would be able to keep up.

[Failyn]

Failyn laughed as she flew through the air. Somewhere along the line she got screwed up, because she got the same adrenaline rush humans do whenever they fly through the air. Since most Winged People don't...Well, Failyn wasn't sure what it meant. But she didn't mind. She figured it was better to have such a good time every day.

It was fairly obvious pretty soon why Perrin wasn't terrified of flying over the ocean...they didn't. They always stayed near the rocky outcrops. Which was odd, for Failyn. Not that she had any problem flying near them, of course, but she loved the sea, and the way it felt to have the mist occasionally gust against her.

But Failyn found a way to solve her problem - as most of her problems are simple, most of them have simple solutions. Just because they flew mostly by the outcroppings didn't mean there wasn't the occasional spot the jutted out towards the water. Failyn found one such spot, ran along it (still using her wings to propel her) and jumped off the side, shutting her wings and plummeting towards the ocean. Just before she hit, she snapped her wings open (which, okay, HURT) and veered back up into the sky, laughing.

Brushing her hair out of her face, she turned to Perrin, her eyes still dancing with delight. "Are you sure you don't want to try? Kah won't drop you..." She didn't really expect him to say yes, but still hoped he would. Though she'd understand it if he didn't.

[Perrin]

Perrin smiled as he glanced back at Failyn twisting through the air, perhaps a little sadly. He'd gotten used to the fact that he couldn't and wouldn't ever fly on his own, but every now and again, his jealousy flared up again when he watched another Winged having such fun in the air. He buried it down again, knowing it was selfish of him to potentially wreck someone else's fun simply because he couldn't join in.

"Try what??" he called out to her as they flew side by side once more. Did she mean the running and jumping off cliffs thing she'd just done? He was certain they'd done that before. Kah was, after all, an animal who lived and thrived on cliff faces. They'd probably landed on even smaller ledges than that one.

[Failyn]

Of course Failyn meant the falling. What else would she mean? Of course, she could have meant flying on his own, by that would probably kill him, so she wouldn't suggest that because it would be mean. Besides, if he died, they couldn't play checkers.

"Of course I mean the falling thing! Have you done it before??" she asked excitedly. That would be so cool!! And very brave. Getting that close to the water, falling, as afraid as he is? Serious courage. She would have to admire him if that were the case. She would have to tell him how brave he was. Hopefully that wouldn't embarass him. Some people get embarrassed when you say nice things to them. Admittedly, Failyn sometimes did too. But not all the time. Just sometimes.

A warm breeze blew through, raising both her and Kah. She laughed with delight. The wind smelled delicious. Not food-delicious either. Fresh delicious. From off the center of the sea delicious. Once again, her gaze was drawn to the dark water, and she wondered what lay beneath the mirror-y surface.

[Perrin]

Oh. Falling? They certainly hadn't fallen on purpose before. That seemed like the exact thing to avoid to him. "No not that," he replied back. "Isn't falling bad?"

They caught a favorable current, rising up a little higher. He liked that. It meant Kah was happier being able to glide, and the ride was much smoother. Not to mention it meant being way farther away from the ocean.

He finally pointed towards one of the familiar inner rock faces. "There's my home. I think my parents are out for the day, so it should be empty right now."

[Failyn]

"Falling's only bad if you don't catch yourself." This was true. Falling was fun. Landing wouldn't be. Unless of course you had water wings and ended in water. That wouldn't be so bad. She didn't think. She, of course, had never had such an experience. Because she would drown. And then there would be no more falling OR landing.

"There's my home. I think my parents are out for the day, so it should be empty right now." It had never occured to Failyn that his parents MIGHT be home. She was so used to her own being gone that she was rather accustom to empty homes. Or, AN empty HOME anyway.

But they were there! And Perrin was gonna teach her to play checkers! This was gonna be so much fun!!! She laughed again, and swooped down to land a little way from the house.