"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
He'd gone off on his own for a bit. Didn't realize it at first, just wandered quietly along the coastline, watching the tide easing in toward his hooves and back out again. He'd let his mind get lost while listening to the sea and the wind blowing through the trees. Feeling that wind toying with his hair and the feathers in his wings tucked into his side. He wasn't sure how long he'd walked before he snapped out of his daze and realized he was out of sight from Mama-Lacey and Reilly.
No need to panic, though. He could take care of himself. And this island wasn't all that big. Despite that tinge of fear deep down that things could change again at any moment, that he could lose them as he had his birth family, he continued on. Maybe he could try flying again. At least alone, there wouldn't be anyone to laugh at his failures. So the beach probably wasn't the best area to start, open as it was. But inland, there were trees to get in his way. So. Here then.
He takes a big breath and stretches his wings out, letting the breeze air them out. A few shallow waves of them so that he can feel the pressures. It's been a while since he's tried, but he reminds himself the sand is soft to land on if he falls, and what doesn't kill him makes him stronger. Another deep breath and slow exhale as he beats his wings steady and evenly. Begins to trot and beat them, finding a rhythm, visualizing himself rising, plotting his path. As he picks up speed, he feels the pressure building beneath his appendages. Feels the pull of his muscles, savoring it. Loping now, thrusting his wings deeper, stronger. Taking another big breath, he feels his feet leaving the ground. This is the part that he has tripped up on before. His heart thrums and he struggles to focus, not on his feet leaving the ground but on his wings carrying him to rise. And rise he does, with another big thrust.
But he fumbles, and he's not sure why. His head is light and he loses balance. Tries to catch himself, heart racing and wings flapping, legs swinging. But something isn't right and he rather dramatically and slowly crashes back to the sand, sliding on his knees and changing the angle of his wings in an attempt to not eat the stuff. Dang it!!! "Ugh!" He grunts as he angrily stomps the ground as he stands and shakes himself off. Huffs as he briefly looks over his wings, wondering what the problem was. Sucks there's no one to help.
His baby brother was out on the beach, stretching his wings and practicing to fly. Kharon made his way slowly to him in a casual walk as he watched him. Baddie's wings were flapping as he ran, nearly flying finally but then crashing back to the sand. Such a stubborn determined little boy. He very well coulda been mom's kid were it not for the glorious colors splashed over his body.
More like a mix of Reilly and Dad. But Dad didn't want any boy but his only son. Damn straight. And little Badden, of course.
His fiery little brother jumped back up with an angry stomp, glaring at his beautiful wings as if they were the problem. Kharon wasn't the greatest flier. He kinda preferred being on the ground where he was more easily seen and admired. Plus, he hadn't really had anyone around to teach him either until he met Amber. And it had been embarrassing having to learn from a girl he'd rather be flirting with and looking good for, impressing her.
Well, Baddie wouldn't have to do it that way at least.
"Hi Badden. You okay?" His grey eyes examined him and he reached a wing out to help dust the sand off his gorgeous red coat. He smiled, "There ya go. Not too bad a fall. You wanna try again? I'll run with you? If you want." He wasn't really sure Baddie would want that. He hadn't had the chance to form a relationship with his baby brother after all the traveling everyone did and time-freezing and general chaos of everything else.
I wish I could scrape away the dirt that's on my mind
Well, shoot. Just as he suspected might happen, he is spotted in his failed efforts to fly. And really, the boy isn't absolutely unopposed to someone coming to him. Except, when he realizes who is coming. Ah, crap. He's still huffing a bit from the exertion of getting up into the air and then trying not to eat sand, but he instantly tries to soften his breathing and stand a little straighter as his older brother comes close. He hasn't had much time with him, and really still doesn't know for sure how Kharon feels about him. Everyone said he is family to them. But Badden knows the truth. He isn't from them, had been brought in as a young colt when he'd been found all alone. And the other siblings in the group all looked so beautiful and similar. At least Badden shares a similar color. His violet is close to their lavender. Close, but not quite.
Kharon has a kind look on his face when he comes closer and asks if he's okay, and Badden is quick to nod to the older boy, though his own expression is sheepish and his eyes don't quite meet Kharon's for long. Especially when the other reaches his own lovely appendage out to help brush some sand off his shoulder. "Hey, Kharon. Yeeeah, I'm okay." A small huff as he rustles his feathers at his side. "Just can't seem to get the hang of this flying thing." He glances up to see the smile on his lips, the lack of judgement in his grey eyes. Such a handsome face that makes him feel a little less embarrassed, even less so as he mentions his fall wasn't so bad and offers to run with him if he wanted to try again. Feeling a little uplifted, a small smile touches his lips and he nods. "Just promise you won't tell anyone how bad I am?" He waits a heartbeat to read the other's face and then he turns along the coast once more, expanding his wings as he takes off again.
He tried to hide the grin when little Baddie recognized him, his little face all huffy and irritated and catching his breath from his latest attempt at flying. He was okay though, Badden nodded in answer before looking away. Poor little guy might be embarrassed. Kharon had definitely been embarrassed being far old enough to fly and not knowing how to. Nobody else in the family had had wings. There was no one to teach him until he'd met Umbra.
"Hey, Kharon. Yeeeah, I'm okay. Just can't seem to get the hang of this flying thing."
Kharon helped dust him off, brushing his wing over him as he offered to help Baddie try again. They could run together this time. "Just promise you won't tell anyone how bad I am?" Badden asked him first.
He shook his head. "You're not bad at all, Badden. You're just new at it." He ducked his head and glanced around, sharing his secret. "You know.. I hadn't even learned to fly until I was much older than you are now. Older than all the other kids with wings, probably." He straightened and looked down at him with another soft smile. "You are much braver than I was. I was too embarrassed to try to fly in case someone might see me fail so bad." But they were here to learn, not chat, and he stepped away and lifted his wings off his sides a little.
"You ready?" And of course he was. His little brother took off so fast Kharon had to stretch his stride to catch up, his head low and laughing. It felt good. It'd been so long since he had been so carefree. He could still feel the weight of everything on him, but in this moment it was at least a little lighter. He reached out and tapped Badden's shoulder, nudged his wing higher as he raised his own white wings. "Now flap some," he laughed, demonstrating with slow arches of his wings until they moved quicker in rhythm with their gallop.
"When it feels right, push harder, even faster, and then jump for it!"
I wish I could scrape away the dirt that's on my mind
His smile is a small bashful thing when Kharon tells him he isn't bad, just new. And then he ducks his head in closer, and Baddie pays closer attention after the older boy looks around to make sure there's no one around to hear his next words. Ears perk up to catch the quiet revelation that he hadn't learned to fly til he was older than Baddie is now. Oh, so it really isn't so bad that he's not a great fly-er yet, that's a relief. Sandy brown eyes follow the other's face as he lifts back up and smiles at him. Baddie smiles too, especially as Kharon tells him next that he is brave for trying on his own, all out in the open. He grins up, and chest puffs out a bit, following suit as they get ready to try again.
He doesn't wait though. No sooner does Kharon ask if he's ready, Badden is already leaving him behind, wind in his face and stretching out his wings. Kharon laughs as he catches up, and Baddie joins in that laugh, feeling his heart leap with each stride. Kinda cool to have his big brother running alongside him. They run, and Kharon reaches over to tap his shoulder, grabbing his attention as he nudges his wing higher. He nods, accepting the correction and honing in.
He becomes more intune to his body, the rhythm of his hooves striking the sand, his breaths, the beat of his heart. He follows Kharon's demonstration of the arches of his wings, finding that rhythm with his own motions. Kharon says to push harder and faster when it feels right, so he tries. Sucking in a deep breath, he leaps into the air, giving his wings a good thrust downward and feeling the ground slip away. Another deep thrust, and he's higher. Harder, he beats his wings, trying to steady himself. Feeling rocky, he stops looking down, kicks his legs as though to run on air as he flaps faster. He keeps pumping, and releases that breath he doesn't realize he'd been holding, to ask for guidance. "Like this? Do you get that fuzzy feeling in your head when you get in the air?" A little disoriented, he feels himself falter a bit, thrusts to try to regain it, but still feels wobbly. This is usually where he falls, but he's never had help before.
He loved when his baby brother laughed with him, pumping his cute little legs so hard to run as fast as he could. He was the feistiest punk kid there was, and despite being pretty damn jealous that Kharon wasn't the only boy in the family anymore he had to admit the boy had grown on him. Even if they'd been separated for a long time. He even had the family bit of purple-ish, mixed with a red that may as well be Dad's. Reilly Dad, of course.
Kharon allows himself to sink into the motion, feel the sun on his upturned face, savor the breeze across his sides and the slow burn in his legs. Then when Baddie took off into the air, he launched himself too, following with a splash of lavender and white.
"Like this?" Badden asked, kicking his legs and huffing for air. "Do you get that fuzzy feeling in your head when you get in the air?" Kharon grinned down at him, his own legs folded and still, tucked in against his chest. He swooped in front of his brother, his wings spread wide and flapping to keep him in place as he bumped Baddie's little jaw, his big smile gleaming.
"Yes. Keep kicking. One day you won't need to anymore, but it helps a lot when you're just learning. Kind of like swimming."
He glided around to Baddie's shoulder, reached out and nuzzled his neck a brief moment. "Fast breaths will help clear your head. I won't let you fall. Just look at the ground when you're ready to get down, and your body will kinda just follow."
I wish I could scrape away the dirt that's on my mind
Milk chocolate eyes follow Kharon's motions as he glides so effortlessly. He studies him some, watching the way the older boy holds his form and the way the angles of his wings change as he moves around in front of him so he could bump him on the jaw. Baddie snickers a little, aiming to nip at him. The distraction seems to lessen the pressure he'd felt before, and he realizes this may not be so very hard. He gives his own wings another good thrust to gain some height, then steadies the motion into smaller beats. Like Kharon's. He does keep kicking, as his brother recommends, but he slows those movements too. More like swimming. Huh. He'd never thought of it that way before, but since he'd mentioned it, that does feel kinda similar to him!
His big brother, all handsome with his lavender and white, sweeps over to his side again. Badden can't help the gasp that escapes him when he feels the other's muzzle brushing his neck. The touch is brief and not unpleasant at all, just perhaps a little unexpected. Reilly and Mama-Lacey are affectionate with him too, he supposes. And he remembers seeing Kharon and Kylin keeping very close to each other when they were younger- and before the time warp changed them. Kharon cuddles Kali a lot too. So the little bit of nuzzling from him now felt.. Well.. Like acceptance. Comforting.
Baddie eagerly takes in the next bit of advice that comes. Oh, of course! In focusing so much on staying in the air before, he'd forgotten to pay attention to his breathing. No wonder he got light-headed. He takes a few good breaths, feeling the fuzziness fading and his heartbeats slowly steadying from that pitter-patting it was doing in his chest. His gaze roams out ahead of them and scans the beach and trees and ocean as they pass over. "Wow, I'm really doing it! Finally!" His heart begins to pound with excitement, and his smile widens. He puts more into his movements, beating his wings harder to go faster. At least til the muscles begin to really burn, so he smooths out and angles the feathers to just let him soar. He laughs, because he can't help it, too exhilarated to contain it. He looks to Kharon once more, but a gust of wind suddenly knocks him off balance. "Whoa!" And grunts as he tries to regain control, his body swooping down and out to the side. Eyes wide, he tries to tilt his torso back upright, thrusting harder with the right wing and then the left. He tries so hard not to go to the ground, flapping faster, kicking the air harder, not forgetting to breathe. What do I do?!
