Mizalin-on-Sky: Fledgling Friendship
#21 of The Life and Times of Jarzyl Mintaka (Slice of Life Stories)
Fledglings in an airship, on an adventure.
Jarzyl flicked her wing open and waved it above her head to get the attention of her teacher. Drak Taslin noticed the gesture and glanced to her, from where he was seated by the side. "Yes, Jarzyl?"
"Do I still have to keep sitting down?" Jarzyl asked.
Taslin didn't even hesitate. "Yes. It's for your own safety just in case the airship encounters turbulence. If you were standing you might fall down and experience some form of injury," he explained with the infinite patience of someone who had willingly chosen to work in Education Division, but to Jarzyl this response seemed ridiculous because the airship was in complete open air and the ride was smooth.
Instead, the orange-scaled fledgling tried a different tactic. "Um... but what about if I needed to use the washroom?" Jarzyl pointed towards the back of the airship's cabin, where there were a couple of lavatory rooms in the connecting section to the cabin behind them. "Am I allowed to stand up if I want to use the washroom?"
"If the alternative is you soiling yourself and your seat, then yes, please do stand up and go to the washroom," Tasilus replied. "But no running. And no fooling around, no somersaults, no chasing other fledglings, no chasing your own tail, no dancing, no jumping up the walls, and definitely no trying to fly about inside the airship. There'll be plenty of time to play around when we get to Mizalin-on-Sky. Behave yourself!" Tasilus focused a stern glare at Jarzyl.
"Oh yes. Best behaviour," Jarzyl assured him, and then she stood up and stepped off her cushion seat. "I'll be back in a moment," she told Caden.
Caden had gone back to lying down on her seat, though this time she at least had her eyes open, watching the distant sight of Mizalin-on-Sky's floating mountains. "As your field trip buddy, I am officially required to remind you not to get into trouble."
"I'll be fine," Jarzyl insisted, and then she walked to the aisle. Because Drak Tasilus was still watching her, she dutifully headed over to the back of the airship cabin and slid open the door to the lavatory. The small compartment had no windows and had an unimpressive cubic design, with a hole in the floor for a dragon to relieve themselves into (before the waste would be whisked away to a sewage tank somewhere else in the airship), along with a spray hose for cleaning anything from paws to genitals to the floor.
The lavatory smelled strongly of some sort of fruity soap, and the floor was wet but clean. A mirror stuck to the wall offered a reflective sight that briefly held Jarzyl's attention-- blue eyes, pointy snout with scales of orange, neck frill perking up slightly from amusement, toothy grin--yep, that was her face alright.
Jarzyl felt no real urge to relieve herself, so after a quick check that Drak Tasilus and the other teachers were no longer watching her, she let the door slide shut closed without even entering the washroom. Instead, she moved across the airship compartment, headed not back towards her seat, but towards the other side where there were two particular fledglings of interest to her.
Atlas looked much like he always did. His soot black scales gave him an understated, simple look that almost but didn't quite hide the fact that he was missing his left foreleg and was a cripple. His flight harness looked functional but worn, and overdue for replacement--Jarzyl could see some of the straps had already been extended to their limits, making it obvious that Atlas's harness had been sized for when he'd been younger and smaller. Besides his harness, Atlas was also wearing his pair of dark goggles--darkened lenses that protected a nocturnal dragon's sensitive eyes from the blinding light of day--though because they were inside the airship, Atlas's goggles were raised to his forehead, revealing his dark eyes which occasionally seemed to reflect light from within, as was sometimes the case for nocturnal dragons.
Glecion was sitting right beside Atlas. From her dark grey-scaled colouration, Jarzyl assumed that Glecion was probably a nocturnal dragon too, though she obviously had no need for dark goggles to shield her eyes from sunlight. Instead Glecion had her blindfold wrapped around her eyes as before, but her ears were perked up and turned towards Atlas, who was speaking softly to her. The two fledglings were sitting at the far side of the airship, being quiet and unobtrusive together.
Jarzyl overheard some snippets of what Atlas was saying as she trotted up to them. "... still far away, but shaped strangely. Doesn't look like a normal mountain at all. It even looks like some of the floating rocks are shifting through the air, but slowly..." He appeared to be describing the distant sight of Mizalin-on-Sky, providing a verbal accounting to fill Glecion in on what she could not possibly see. Glecion had her wing just slightly unfurled, resting on Atlas's shoulder in a manner that surprised Jarzyl. In her past experience, Atlas was usually uncomfortable with hugs or physical contact in general. Presumably Glecion just needed the contact to be literally guided around, since she couldn't see.
As Jarzyl approached, Glecion said something to Atlas, and he nodded in response. His gaze met with Jarzyl, and his dark eyes moved over her, observing and analysing. "Yeah. There's a young fledgling, medium-size, orange-scales... walking up the aisle, right towards us. Hi, Jarz."
"Hi Atlas," Jarzyl replied.
Atlas nodded towards the female fledgling sitting beside him. "This is Glecion. She's a... an old friend." There had been a slight pause before he said friend, as if he had to think about it, which Jarzyl noticed but had no idea how to interpret. Atlas leaned closer to Glecion, making it clear he was speaking to her now. "And Glecion, this is Jarzyl. Another old friend of mine."
"I think we met just now in the hangar!" Glecion said. She smiled in Jarzyl's general direction, and Jarzyl perked her neck frill slightly in response.
"Yeah, we did."
"That's nice," Atlas replied. "I'm guiding Glecion around for the day, just for today's field trip."
"It's not exactly easy for me to roam about a bunch of floating mountains without help," Glecion drily said. "Atlas, thanks again for your help." She bumped her snout against Atlas's neck in a friendly, affectionate action that made Jarzyl feel oddly protective--though obviously Atlas wouldn't have needed her help being protected against what was also obviously not an attack.
"Sorry I couldn't talk with you earlier," Atlas continued. "Today should be interesting!"
"I hope so!" Jarzyl eagerly agreed.
"Did you look through the booklet they passed out?"
"I did! I finished some of the questions already, except for the ones where we're supposed to move around the visitor centre to get the answers," Jarzyl replied.
Atlas nodded. "There's a schedule for the field trip on one of the pages. We're going to be on a tour of the visitor centre until lunch, then there's a tour of the museum and the old needlemir refinement facility. I asked Drak Tasilus and he said it's free roam after that."
"Sounds fun. So... once we get to the nature park, do you two want to stick together with me and Caden, and we move about the place together as four?" Jarzyl suggested. "We can roam about and visit the geyser pools, or try and scavenge for crystals in the open zone."
"We'd slow you down," Atlas pointed out.
"That's not a problem," Jarzyl immediately insisted. "I don't mind taking things slow and just relaxing."
A faint smile crossed Atlas's snout. "Really? That's a new stance on life for you! You've always loved running ahead and doing things fast, sprinting and going on bold adventures. You've been like that as long as I ever knew you."
Jarzyl glanced down at her paws. "Even if I wanted to run ahead, I never left you behind..." It was a rare occurrence, but suddenly she felt awkward and unsure of what else to say. Normally she felt completely at ease in Atlas's presence, but somehow Glecion's mere presence made her feel like she was acting odd. Jarzyl glanced back across the cabin, back towards Caden was sitting. "I should... I should get back to my seat now, I suppose. Drak Tasilus didn't really want me to be wandering about the cabin, but I told him I was going to the washroom. I'll just... leave now. See you later."
"See you later, Jarz," Atlas replied. He watched as his old friend scampered away, not quite running but not quite walking.
Glecion was quiet for a moment, but then she used her wing which was resting on Atlas's shoulder to nudge him slightly. "Atlas, I have another question."
"Ask away."
Glecion tilted her head, and her ears flicked around before turning back to Atlas. "Can you... describe Jarzyl? I asked her to describe herself when we met in the hangar, but I want to know what you think of her."
"Sure." Atlas's gaze tracked Jarzyl as she moved across the cabin, returning back to her seat. "Like I said--she's a fledgling just like you or me. She has orange colouration with some white spots on her side. She's got a neck frill, and blue eyes. Her wings are slightly oversized for her size and they spill over her back if she doesn't furl them tight. She likes to hold them loose, but she wouldn't let them drag on the ground."
Glecion nodded. "That's only the physical. I want to know what you think of her, since you've been friends for a long time. She seemed friendly and curious just from what conversation we had back in the hangar. Can you describe her... without mentioning anything about her specific physical appearance?"
Atlas was quiet for a moment as he considered this question. "Jarzyl is... a great friend, probably the best I have. She's energetic, joyful, bright, loyal. Definitely curious and adventurous, often to a fault. We always went on so many adventures--one time she snuck us into her clan headquarters to visit the highest point in the city... and then she wanted us to jump from the roof, but this was before we fledged and learned how to fly. Heh, now _that_was an adventure. Not to say that we don't do that anymore. We still do adventurous stuff--today is guaranteed to be an adventure, I'm sure, as long as we stick with her."
"Let's hope so," Glecion agreed. "You got any more descriptors for Jarzyl?"
Atlas shrugged. "She's... symmetric? More than me, at least. Though I guess every dragon in the city is more symmetric than me. No, that was a silly thing to say--forget I said it. Let me think of something actually descriptive. Uh... Jarzyl is... graceful without meaning to be, and light-footed as if she's always ready to break into a sprint, or a leap, or a dance. And she has the confidence to do it. I wish I had that much confidence in myself."
Glecion nodded. "I know what you mean."
"Yeah..." Atlas spent a few more moments watching Jarzyl, staring at his familiar friend with a curious intensity that was only possible because she wasn't looking back at him. "Everything about Jarzyl is... I'm not fully sure how to describe it. She's... Jarzyl is..."
"Citrus?" Glecion suggested.
Atlas chuckled. "Hah. She said that to you, I assume? She is very orange, but that wasn't the word I was thinking of. It was on the tip of my tongue. There's just something about the way she looks and moves and acts. Jarzyl is..."
Glecion's mouth pulled into a faint, knowing smile. "Pretty?"
Atlas went silent and completely still for a long while. "Yes," he finally said quietly. "Yes, she is."
Jarzyl slumped down onto her seat cushion again, lying sprawled on her front and staring unhappily out the window. She wasn't sure why this thorn of unhappy emotion had stabbed into her excitement over this field trip, but she tried not to think about it. Looking at the approaching sight of massive, epic, floating mountains helped brush the topic from her mind, or at least it did until Caden directly brought it up.
Instead of lying down for a nap, Caden had now moved onto using a small metal claw file to smoothen and trim her claws. "What's up with you? Why do you look so glum all of a sudden? Did you trip to the washroom involve some explosive gastrointestinal distress?"
Jarzyl's neck frill flicked up from confusion. "What? No. I didn't even need to go to the toilet. I just wanted to go talk to Atlas and see if he would be joining us on the field trip later."
"Ah, I see." Caden stopped filing and moved her gaze from her claws to the side of the airship where Atlas and Glecion were sitting together. "So then what saddens you? Is Atlas not going to be joining us?"
"He is. He and Glecion will stick with us so we all move as four."
"Good. So then why are you sad?"
"I'm not sad," Jarzyl replied, and she was quite sure of this statement's truth. In previous incidents in the past, there had been reasons for her to be sad--when she had did poorly in her exams after trying hard, or when she'd tried to grow a potted plant but the seedling had died, for example--but now she had no reason to be sad, so she couldn't be sad. "I'm not sad," Jarzyl repeated.
"But you don't seem to be happy," Caden countered. She casually continued filing her claws.
"I am happy," Jarzyl insisted. "I think...?" she added hesitantly afterwards. "There's no reason for me not to be happy. We're on an exciting field trip to an amazing location to see and do amazing things."
"That's good." Caden finished filing her claws, then she took Jarzyl's paw and turned it upright, before pushing on the back of her friend's digits to extend her claws one by one for filing. "So you aren't jealous of Glecion, then?"
"What?!!" Jarzyl's neck frill snapped all the way up, and all her claws extended from all four paws. "Why would I... possibly ever...? I'm not a jealous person. That makes no sense at all." She glanced across the room again. "Glecion is... why would I be jealous of her? She has... well..."
Glecion casually started smoothening Jarzyl's claws with her file. "Glecion currently has the full, undivided attention of Atlas, which I would assume you value highly. Please, I invite you to tell me that you disagree."
"I... uh..." Jarzyl made a few uncertain, hesitant noises, but she couldn't disagree.
"That's what I thought. Oh Jarzyl, my friend... In school or out of it, you've happily enjoyed a near monopoly on Atlas's time, attention, and friendship. He has been sidekick number one for almost every one of your adventures, projects, or just any time you were free to study or play--but not today," Caden casually said, even as she filed at Jarzyl's claws.
"It isn't a monopoly. I have plenty of friends, as does Atlas," Jarzyl said.
"True. Well, partially. _You_have plenty of other friends, but Atlas only has a few--Indry, Nerlin, me...? He's awkward and quiet, which I can hardly fault him for. Jarz, I know these things. I'm a people person and I watch and listen. But anyway my point is that obviously you are one of Atlas's closest friends, and he's one of your closest friends."
Jarzyl frowned. This all made sense. "Yes...? Friendship is a good thing."
"Oh yes. Which is why you now feel a sense of jealousness and sadness because another fledgling has the privilege of spending the whole day with your best friend, and he will be taking care of her and literally sticking to her side almost nonstop. Tell me you disagree?"
Jarzyl slowly relaxed, because here she disagreed with Caden, who had been throwing truths that hit a bit too close to the heart for her liking. "Yeah. I disagree! I will gladly disagree on that point. Glecion is_blind_, obviously, and she needs someone to guide her around for the field trip. It is great that Atlas is helping her. These are good things. He's being helpful and she's getting help. Positive thing."
"Good for them. Maybe not so good for you, since you're losing out on the opportunity to spend time with your best friend. But then life isn't a zero-sum game, is it?" Caden said. "So then you're saying you have nothing to be jealous about and nothing to be sad about, we can conclude?"
Jarzyl nodded. "Yes, that is our conclusion. I am not sad and I am definitely not jealous."
"Ok, excellent." Caden "I must say you have better self-control than I thought."
"Thank you?" Jarzyl hesitantly said.
"You're welcome. Because if I were you, I would totally be jealous." Caden gestured with her claw file towards Atlas and Glecion, sitting across the cabin. "I mean, just look at the two of them. They look like a cute couple, both of them sitting together--awkwardly, quietly, enigmatically."
"Mhhhrr... Ehehe..." Jarzyl made an uncertain, disapproving sound that was half growl, half chuckle. She reluctantly followed Caden's gaze towards the other side of the cabin "No, no, I disagree. Total disagree."
"Don't you think so? Atlas is a cripple, Glecion is blind. They are both... different. Impaired. Special. Whatever you want to call it. And they are both nocturnal dragons. Plus from my previous experience with both of them, I'd say their personalities are similar within reason--unobtrusive, quiet, but generally helpful. At the most basic level, they have a lot in common," Caden said.
"You can't just... It's not that simple to say that... Uh... I... Glecion isn't... Atlas said she was an old friend. But then I'm an old friend too. He wouldn't... or would he? I'm so confused." Jarzyl paused for a moment to think about this, and then her neck frill drooped completely flat against her neck. "Ok, time to revise our conclusion. Now you've made me jealous, which I didn't think was even possible. Well done, Caden! Well done for ruining me."
Caden laughed. "Hahaha, oh you! I didn't make you jealous. You were already jealous but just didn't want to admit it. If it's any consolation, you and Atlas also would make a cute couple together. He's quiet and reserved, whereas you're friendly and sociable. You're impatient and energetic, whereas he's... not so good at running, and also way better with common sense. If ever there was truth to the convention that opposites attract, your existing close friendship with Atlas proves it. You two get together like the night and the day, or how a shadow needs a light, or other metaphor."
"I'm so confused," Jarzyl declared.
"Some confusion is normal when you are faced with harsh truths. I was hatched fully mentally mature and wise in the ways of the world, but you are more innocent and pure," Caden replied, which might or might not have been a joke--Jarzyl wasn't sure.
"Why can't we just... all be happy and good friends and get along?"
"Because life is full of challenges and competition, and sometimes there can only be one winner. That's how the world works." Leaning back, Caden looked over Jarzyl from nose to tail. "But don't feel bad about your odds. I would rate you much higher on general physical attractiveness than Glecion. She's scrawny, but you manage to accomplish lean and lithe. Your scales could use some polishing, but then again a rough look also suits your personality and you do own it... Yeah, I could definitely see you and Atlas as a couple. It would work."
Jarzyl shook her head. "No, I don't want to be a couple! That's just silly. All I want is my friend back, so things can be like how they always were."
Caden used a wing to pat Jarzyl on the back. "Welcome to growing up, where things will never be the same as they once were. At some point when a friendship gets deep enough, it becomes hard to share, but you are welcome to try."
"This is just confusing and stressful. You aren't very good at cheering me up," Jarzyl grumbled.
"Harsh truths of life, my friend. Harsh truths." Caden said. "If you want to be cheered up, remember that life can always get worse."
Jarzyl sighed, then she shook her head and flicked her neck frill back up, before she resumed staring dramatically out the window. "I'm just going to focus on the flying mountains and how they look incredible, and leave worrying about all this... relationship... stuff... for another day."
"I approve. Keep your head up, Jarz." Caden took Jarzyl's other forepaw to begin filling those claws too.
As the airship slowly powered its way towards Mizalin-on-Sky, the teachers started passing out equipment to Jarzyl and the other fledglings. "Oh, what's this?" Jarzyl asked, as their teacher walked around the room carrying a basket slung from his neck, passing out small, flat, boxy devices with leather strap rings.
"Free toys for you, my lovely children. Take one each. It's a stabilizer collar--buckle it to the back of your neck, close to your head," said Drak Tasilus, before moving onto the next row. Jarzyl could see that her teacher was already wearing one of these devices in exactly the position he had specified, attached around his neck.
The moment that Jarzyl moved that small device anywhere near her head, she immediately felt her sense of direction spin. "It's a magnet!" Turning the device around also made her sense of direction spin as the natural biological compass in her head realigned itself to the magnetic field generated by the magnet, overriding the subtle background sense of the true cardinal directions. "Hmm. Oh. Weeeird! Caden, check this out!" Jarzyl waved her collar near Caden's head.
Caden had gone back to lying down and napping, but she sat up and frowned suspiciously at the small devices that all the fledglings where clipping around their necks. "What? What did I miss?"
Jarzyl showed the magnet collars to her. "Free gifts!"
Caden stretched her neck from side to side. "Nothing in life is every free."
"But we aren't paying for these collars, so by definition that makes them free."
"You clan pays taxes to the city, which go to fund Educational Division, which pays for school and for field trips like this," Caden explained. "So it isn't free."
"I don't pay taxes, so it's free." Jarzyl put the collar around her neck, and then she tightened it so that it wouldn't slip down. A further rotational adjustment of the collar was necessary so that the magnet box was placed right behind her neck, where it had the most effect on her natural compass. "This is actually exciting. I've read about these things! Mizalin-on-Sky is ah... uh... an anomaly zone. The floating mountains are caused by natural concentrations of energized needlemir in the rock, which then creates a repulsive flux. That's why the rocks float."
Caden looked unimpressed. "Ok...? So... what is this thing?" she asked, weighing the collar in her paw.
Jarzyl gestured out the windows, towards the immense floating mountains which they were slowly approaching. "The planetary magnetic field lines are twisted up at Mizalin-on-Sky because of all the superconducting needlemir, and that'll make your natural compass get confused! With that magnet collar, you won't be affected by the flux lines. I read that in a book."
Right at that moment, a teacher walked to the front of the cabin and said almost the same thing to all the fledglings, explaining the purpose of the collars. "...so just clip the collar around your neck! Don't clip them on too tight! Just keep them comfortably loose; don't choke yourself. There are erratic magnetic fields all around the natural park, and these things will keep your innate compass from being affected."
Already wearing her collar, Jarzyl nodded happily as everything she had said was confirmed. "Mm. Yes. Told you so," she murmured to Caden.
Even after hearing from the teacher, Caden still appeared sceptical. "Do I have to wear this? What happens if I don't wear it?"
Jarzyl shrugged. "One encyclopaedia said that if you don't, being at Mizalin-on-Sky can make you dizzy and unable to fly or even walk straight. But then another book said it was just a mild annoyance."
"This collar is a mild annoyance, that's what it is. It's very unfashionable." Caden fiddled with the small box attached to the leather collar band, before reluctantly wrapping it around her neck. "Can you help me with the buckle?" she asked, gesturing to the back of her neck.
"Of course." Jarzyl carefully adjusted Caden's collar so it was snug against her neck. "There you go."
"Thank you very much."
As Jarzyl was helping her friend, she also happened to glance around the room, and her gaze was specifically drawn towards the side of the cabin where Atlas and Glecion were. Those two fledglings were also putting on their collars. Glecion had put hers on easily enough, but Atlas was slower because he only had one forepaw, and he used the tip of his tail to align the buckle. Jarzyl's eyes narrowed as she watched Glecion helped Atlas out--her paws around his neck, both of them looking casual and friendly even though the two of them were so close to each other.
Jarzyl forced her gaze forward again. "I am not jealous of Glecion," she thought to herself. "I am not jealous of a blind fledgling. Although... she is spending the whole day right beside my best friend, who is guiding her all about an amazing natural park. And the two of them are also old friends. I wonder how Atlas even knows her, since she's from a different school? No, I'm not jealous at all. Why would I be jealous? What an absurd idea!"
"Hmm? What's absurd?" Caden asked.
"What? What thing?" Jarzyl said.
"You were muttering things under your breath, saying something is absurd?" Caden inquired.
Jarzyl blinked. Apparently some of her thoughts had become forceful enough to escape the confines of her head. "No, nothing. It's not important."
Eventually all the young dragons had gotten magnetic collars and most of them had put them on, so the teachers proceeded to distribute more equipment for the field trip.
"More? What are these things?" Caden wondered, as Drak Tasilus strolled by, pausing briefly to pass each of them a set of four small, identical, curved wooden plates with various elastic straps attached.
Jarzyl picked one up and tried putting her forelimb through the straps, only to discover that this was exactly what it was designed to do. They were sandals with a hard wooden base--clogs--that fit all four paws. "Ah. Sandals--so these must be for the needlemir, I think? It's to keep your feet safe. You wouldn't want to get splinters in your paw pads from the needlemir."
"Splinters?! So the ground is literally dangerous to walk on without these... ugly sandals?" Caden asked.
Jarzyl nodded. "It is called _needle_mir! Just think of it as part of the adventure. We require armour to explore this hostile environment! So exciting."
Caden response was a soft sigh. "Huuh. These are even more unfashionable than the collar. I thought a field trip to a natural park was just going to be scenic and calm, but we need all this stuff?"
Jarzyl adjusted her collar, and she slipped the sandals onto both her hindpaws, though she left her forepaws uncovered for now. "Oh this is great! Mizalin-on-Sky! Floating mountains! Stabbing pointy soil! Field trip! Excitement!"
TO BE CONTINUED