How to Fly, and to Fall

by **Evalin** on August 6th, 2014, 5:45 pm

22nd of Summer, 514 AV
Location: Outside the Ruins of Zinrah
Time: Early Morning

"You are an utter fool."

Evalin laughed, "If you speak thus then I shall begin to believe that you have no faith in your Master."

"Have I no faith at all, of this you may be certain." Tsenrika floated over the nuit's left shoulder, reflecting the light of early morning through the trees as well as Evalin's own physical form. She wore her adult body this day, clothed in nothing but rough wool pants, torn and bloodied as they once belonged to a Myrian who fell by Evalin's own hand. From her waist up the Immortal was completely bare, her skin pale as death. The skin of her body was stretched tight over bones, no fat anywhere to be seen as all extra mass was moved instead to form the large bat like wings that stretched from her back.

"Worry you far too much my dear Tsenrika. Surely this shall work." Evalin looked down from where she stood upon a branch several yards above the ground. She had chosen well, finding a spot that was easy to climb to and that was over one of the few true clearings in the Jungle. Here trees made a large ring, and at the center was some old structure that belonged to the ruins near Znirah. It was farther out than most, so perhaps it held a particular purpose or significance at one time. For now, however, its only use was to allow an appropriate place for Evalin to practice.

Stretching her wings out to their full length Evalin slowly released her hand that gripped the trunk of the tree, "If that mindless animal could fly so easily through the skies,then surely I shall find it just as simple."

"Be he born with these wings." Tsenrika reminded his master, "He does know their workings far better than my Master who but a few days before had never worn such appendages before."

Evalin shrugged and as she did her wings fluttered in anticipation, stretching the bones and ligaments as they began to prepare themselves for what was to come, "Then I shall simply learn to use them as it did, but with far greater elegance and effectiveness."

Her mind would not be turned, and the Familiar realized this. With a tone of defeat Evalin could almost hear his indifferent shrug through his mental tone, "Then as you my my Master. Soon shall I collect you from the ground."

The nuit looked sideways at the Irylid as he floated away, on his way down now to the ground as he promised, but she soon turned her focus to the task at hand. Bracing her legs, knees bent, she tested her wings, feeling how they moved and responded to her will. They acted like another arm, or even a leg, and she found that the long spines she could move almost like fingers, controlling to an extent how then bent and twisted. Flexing these new muscles, angling these new bones, Evalin prepared herself... and then jumped as far out into the open space that she could.

It was simple. Evalin only had to open her wings, they would catch the air and she would flap and begin to fly. So simple she could do it on her first try, and so she did just as she thought she should. As she jumped she threw her wings opened wide and she felt them filling with air. Her body began to til downward, but there was one mighty flap Evalin pushed all of the air she gathered downward in one stroke with all the might her wings could muster... and she flipped over backwards, thrown by her own strength and awkward angle of the flap so that her back hit the trunk of the tree she just jumped from. Next she hit her shoulder, her right wing crumbling together as she tried to avoid scraping the thin membranes as she bean to fall. Gasping with the sudden pain Evalin tried to turn her body so that she faced the trunk but her left wing now was flapping of its own accord as she tried to right herself. After a tick she managed to kick hard against the trunk, scraping off the nails of her left foot and thrust herself out into the open once more but this time as she opened her wings she was facing upwards and the fall made her tilt to the side once more as her right wing failed to fully extend and she fell the rest of the way, handing upon her right shoulder, her joint popping out of place as she felt several ribs crack under the impact. Her let wing them slumped over her, creating a tent of sorts that blocked out the morning sun.

"It was as I said." There was no 'i told you so' to his tone, but Evalin knew that was what he meant.

"Be silent... This just requires a bit of adjustment."

by **Evalin** on August 6th, 2014, 6:44 pm

Groaning softly as she sat up, more from frustration than actual pain, Evalin positioned herself so that she was now sitting cross-legged on the jungle floor. Her right shoulder was dislocated. It was an annoyance, but of her issues for the time being it was the less bothersome. Folding her wings so that they acted as a counter balance Evalin leaned forward, grasping her upper right arm with her left hand and with a wrenching twist and a sudden pop slid the joint back into place. Testing the movement of this joint Evalin slowly stood, frowing as she noticed the either cracked or broken ribs. Pressing her hand against the tightly stretched skin Evalin could feel the two ribs on the right side that were cracked, two of the lower ones each with a fracture just large enough that the pale skin stretched over the bone showed a slight indention. It would give the nuit some problems, but as she did not require them for breathing or other tasks Evalin simply decided to leave them be for now. She would find a new body soon enough.

"Now then... Let us see what is to be done." Opening her wings to their full capacity once more the nuit brought them around herself so that they created a canopy that cast her body in shadow. With gentle touches she began testing the thin membranes for tears or ruptures, and when she found none she opened them once more and walked closer to the middle of the opening.

"Suggest I that you try not that course again." Tsenrika said as came closer to lover over the nuit's right shoulder, "Or you risk greater unnecessary damage to this vessel."

"Indeed." Evalin crossed her arms over her chest, focusing entirely on the movement of her wings, "But this test was fruitful still. See you the power that comes from the flapping of these wings? Great it is that perhaps..."

Biting her lip Evalin flapped her wings experimentally, just the slightest amount, and smiled as she saw the leaves and dust in front of her become whisked away in the slight gust that was created. Bending her knees slightly and extending her arms slightly to the side, palms down, for balance she swept the wings up, and then with one motion thrust them down, the membranes stretching as they filled with air that was compressed and propelled downward toward the ground. A feeling of sudden weightlessness came over Evalin as her body, the entirety of it, was lifted from the ground, but did not completely leave it. With one well placed sweep of her wings she could raise herself up to her tip toes from the ground in a flashing swirl of dust and leaves, but it was enough for a promise of what was to come.

"There it is!" Evalin exclaimed when she fully touched the ground once more. She chuckled as she folded her wings in, gently petting the membranes as she looked at Tsenrika, "Perhaps it was foolish to start from so high, but now I see that from the ground, even that is possible if given enough time."

Time, however, was not something Evalin had the luxury of at the moment. Even as she raised her wings again she could feel the tremble in the created muscle fibers, a creak in the bones as her inner djed wished to return to how it was previously. Just a few chimes, perhaps a bell, that was her limit for these new creations, but oh the things she could discover in those few times she was free to do as she wished.

"Let us continue with these thoughts of flight on the morrow, when this djed of hours may recover to continue onward. Wish I not to tear a precious creation such as this."

by **Evalin** on August 6th, 2014, 7:24 pm

23rd of Summer, 514 AV
Location and Time: Same as the 22nd

"There now Tsenrika, be you steady with those hands as we create these masterpieces." Evalin looked back over her shoulder at the Familiar who had taken on the guise of the man with blue eyes this day. His hands moved gently over the nuit's skin as he directed the growth of the wings, gentle touches pushing bone and muscle and skin to its proper place.

"Be I as gentle as can be, of this you may be certain. Focus now on the creation, and leave the direction to the heart of your heart."

This made Evailn smile and she closed her eyes, tilting her head back to focus n the change. The more she practiced, the faster and easier it become. Now their combined effort allowed her to create the wings in just a few chimes, five or six if given quiet enough to concentrate. She let her mental fingers guide the growth of bone, stretching the skin of her back out and out as she pulled on the remaining mass that was left over in her body to add to the large structures that would set her soaring through the air this day. The more she thought of it, the more certain she became that today was the day in which it would occur. Today she would fly. Surely today...

Wincing slightly at the feeling of her bones stretching and popping into their new places Evalin shook her head, "Think I that a new approach should be taken."

"Is that so?"

"Yes..." The more Evalin had thought about it the more she realized that bats, while similar to birds in that they could fly, they did not fly as a bird did, "These wings have no feathers, and never have i seen a bat who would glide upon the breezes. No, when one looks upon them what do we see?"

"Movements of the wings, forward and back as they flap. Like swimmers in the sea, but they swim through the air and not the waters."

Evalin nodded slowly as the wings were finished and she flourished them experimentally, "Sky swimmers. An apt description. Then shall I master this?" She stepped away from the Familiar, turning to face the Irylid and barely avoiding hitting him with her wing, which Tsenrika showed his irritation over through his usual neutral gaze.

Positioning herself Evalin extended her wings, this time taking a more relaxed stance with knees only slightly bent. She raised those great canopies high, and this time she created a cup of sorts with the upper portions of each wing, so as to better capture the air as it was swung. The nuit could not be certain how well this would work, but to hell with caution. Now was the time for trial and error. It was a strange exhilaration for Eva, for she had never done anything like this before.

The Immortal looked at her hearts companion, "Pray you that I return safely."

"Waste I not the breath it would take. My Master will return, of this i am certain."

The nuit raised an eyebrow, and sneered, "Well said."

There was a whooshing sound as both wings were brought down hard and fast, cupping the air and shoving it toward the ground as Evalin aided by jumping slightly with the impact. Then she was thrown into the air, not far, but as she snapped her wings open for a second flap she felt the air quickly filling the membranes again and the second thrust sent her farther, and the third farther, and farther until she began to flap in a constant motion, heading straight up as she kicked her legs and waved her arms to keep her balance. The higher she flew, could it be called flying, the close she came to the canopy,and the thicker the leaves and branches became. Frowning in concentration Evalin began kicking out with her bare feet, grasping with her hands as she shoved limbs and branches from her path, kicking off the park of the trees as she half climbed, half flapped her way to the very top where she finally broke the canopy and was met with the blaring sun.

Blocking the light with her arm Evalin squinted around her. She kept the wings beating in a steady fashion, shifting her weight this way and that to keep from tilting. Her soul felt light, her body on fire with new sensations as she looked at the world from a new perspective, from above it all, far away, an observer but one who could shift and change what she saw around her. Evalin smiled as she tilted slightly to the right, adjusting her right wing so that it beat slightly harder, scooping in more air so that she listed to the right. She did this to the left, and then to the right, noting how subtle changes in how she angled the bones of her wings or shifted her weight affected how she moved.

What is it you see? The Familiar's cold voice echoed in Evalin's mind, bringing her back slightly to the world below.

The world my dear Tsenrika. I see all of the world. How small it is now. So small and weak...

by **Voodoo** on August 7th, 2014, 3:24 am

Your Powers Grow

Evalin

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