FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

(8,303 words)

---

Jarzyl took a moment to prepare herself, then she jumped through the entryway. Sliding down the curved walls, she stepped towards the middle of the chamber and then turned sideways, just in time to see the doorway slide shut behind her. The concave floor was made from metal, but covered in a firm padding that provided grip against the young dragon's claws as she shifted her weight between her four limbs.

Jarzyl was now standing in the middle of a cylindrical tube which had a diameter of about thrice her nose-to-tail body length. Small crystals embedded in the walls provided steady illumination all around, and there were large sections of the metal tube which had been cut out and replaced by transparent glass. Through the windows, Jarzyl could see other dragon fledglings outside--her classmates were standing outside, reared up on their hindlegs to peer through the window and watch. In particular, Jarzyl could see two fledglings who stood out to her--Atlas and Caden--two of her closest friends, with scales of sooty black and dark leaf green, respectively. The tube's internal lights reflected off the glass windows and partially obscured Jarzyl's view of her friends, and she could even see her own reflection--her image was distorted by the curve of the window, but her amber orange scale colouration was easily visible, as was her half-perked up neck frill and slightly nervous, slightly excited expression.

Behind her two friends, a full grown drakken was visible--one of their flight school teachers. The young fledglings were still smaller than adult drakken, though in this specific case, being smaller could be considered an advantage as the chamber was relatively bigger around her. The teacher was sitting outside on a floor cushion, at a control kiosk that controlled the chamber Jarzyl was now in. He peered in through another window and nodded at her. "Are you ready, Jarzyl?" His voice would have been impossible to hear through the padded walls of the tube, but an echo box somewhere behind all the padding relayed the words.

"I'm ready! Let's go!" Jarzyl immediately replied. She wasn't sure if her own words were audible outside, so she waved her wings and nodded her head.

Her teacher smiled faintly, with his neck crest perking up slightly. "Alright, I like your enthusiasm. Let's begin." His amplified voice got softer as he turned his head away from the control kiosk's microphone to address the other fledglings. "Everyone! Since Jarzyl volunteered to go first, you can all watch and learn from her. As I explained earlier, it's very straightforward so don't worry. Today's class is about practicing your standard form. Don't try any fancy tricks--there isn't any space in there, though the walls are padded if you somehow lose control." The drake used his paw to press a button on the control kiosk, and then he turned a knob.

Again shifting her weight between her paws, Jarzyl bounced up and down. She glanced around, taking in her surroundings again--inside the metal tube, glass windows were on both sides, with the right side showing her teacher and some of her classmates, and the remaining classmates watching her from the left side windows. Contrasting against the bright lights that were shining at her from around the tube, right ahead there was a thin, criss-crossing metal grille and then an empty darkness. Jarzyl glanced over her shoulder--behind her there was a rope net cutting across the whole tube chamber, and then another metal grille, then more darkness.

Fixing her gaze forward again, Jarzyl could see movement in the dark. She caught a faint glimpse of rotating machinery, and the whole tube rumbled under her paws. The air around her had been stale with the faint scent of machine oil, but then the air started to move as a breeze picked up and the wind tunnel spun to life.

"I love flying..." Jarzyl eagerly flicked open her wings. As the wind came faster and faster, the upwards pull increased as air rushing over her wings generated lift. Jarzyl could feel herself getting light on her feet, and without a run, walk, or even a jump, suddenly she lifted away from the floor. It was slightly disorientating at first because the tube walls weren't moving, only the air, but quickly the young dragon got the hang of it. Steadily flapping her wings, she flew right in the middle of the tube, holding herself steady even as the air kept blowing through the wind tunnel.

"Very good, Jarzyl. Very good," came the voice of her teacher, amplified and still audible over the sound of rushing air. "Is everyone watching? Jarzyl is making it look easy, because it is. When your turn comes, just fly inside the wind tunnel like you're flying normally, except instead of having to move forward, the machine will blow the air so you're stationary. Anyone have any questions? No? Ok, then let's continue. Now, the point of this activity is to allow us to take a look at your flying from a stable close perspective, without having to worry about wind shear or turbulence like you would with normal outdoors flight. Jarzyl, you're doing great. But I'd like you to try raising your wings further with each beat. Make sure you complete each stroke and do it fully. And if you feel up for it, try retracting your flight scales fully."

"Ok..." Jarzyl murmured, though she wasn't sure her teacher heard her. She attempted to adjust the way she was flying, just as her teacher had asked. It made her feel rather self-conscious about her flying form as her classmates watched her fly inside the wind tunnel, but the same thing would same thing would happen to all of them.

After another minute of her teacher giving her tips, he said, "Excellent. Well done, Jarzyl, you've done enough. Now let's give someone else a turn to practice their flying form."

The wind began to slow down, and Jarzyl stopped flapping her wings. A few seconds later she gently landed back on the floor, and then she strolled over to the side of the wind tunnel and pushed herself out of the chamber as the door was opened by one of her classmates "That was fun. Who's next?"

---

---

A short while later, everyone in the class had gotten a chance in the wind tunnel. Now the young fledglings had left the school and were in a nearby field. District Central School was in Avaeria sector one, right near the middle of the city, but for physical education and sports they had a square field of grass bordered loosely by short trees, with sports equipment placed around the field.

Flight practice was Jarzyl's last class for the day, and it was the class she enjoyed the most. After all, to be a dragon was to fly, and Jarzyl revelled in the exhilarating freedom of the act. Now she and her classmates were simply flying and swooping around the field at various altitudes, freely practicing their flying while their teachers watched from the ground or the air, occasionally giving advice but mostly letting the fledglings exercise as they wished.

Jarzyl circled around at a medium altitude, high enough that she was above some of the nearby buildings that surrounded the field, though here in city central there were plenty of skyscraper towers that were even taller. With great enthusiasm, the young fledgling beat her wings quick to fly as fast as she could. Caden was also flying nearby at the same height, but she was holding a leisurely glide, only making a single wingbeat every few seconds. Atlas was flying nearby too, but at a medium speed. As Jarzyl circled around the field, she repeatedly swept past her friends.

"What's the rush?" Caden casually called out just after Jarzyl whizzed past her. "You're not even going anywhere."

"I don't go slow! Ever! Even to nowhere!" Jarzyl yelled back, and she flapped her wings harder to fly at a full sprint, rapidly circling around the field, speeding past some of the nearby buildings that surrounded their school. She tilted her wings left and right, weaving her flight path around her classmates and the other fledglings in the airspace.

Atlas glanced over his shoulder as Jarzyl approached at high speed, and with clear deliberate intent, he cheekily altered his flight path to force an intercept--which meant that Jarzyl would have to change course or she would come right behind him and collide. Jarzyl had speed and energy on her side, and with someone else she would have easily altered her flight path to dodge, but instead she held her exact course to call his bluff. "Incoming. Watch your back!" Jarzyl cheerfully yelled at her friend, even as she continued frantically beating her wings to maintain her momentum.

"Watch your front!" Atlas said in retort, or at least Jarzyl thought that was what he said, because it was hard to really hear anything with the rushing wind filling her ears.

At the last moment before a collision was inevitable, Atlas did a snap roll and pulled himself out of the way with surprising grace. Jarzyl swooped past him at high speed, overtaking him easily. She glanced over as she flew past, and though she couldn't quite be sure about it, Jarzyl thought she saw a grin on Atlas's snout. And then she was past him, flying fast.

The sprint continued until she came up on Caden from behind again. Jarzyl stopped beating her wings and raised her flight scales, but she had too much speed and she overshot Caden before slowing down further and falling back so she was flying right beside her friend. Jarzyl let out her breath in a satisfied huff. "Huh! Flying is so much fun."

"It definitely gives you a chance to burn off some of your excessive energy," Caden replied.

"Skryah!" Jarzyl let out a loud, proud yell, though her sound didn't quite have the energy or intonation to be considered a roar. Roaring properly was something Jarzyl was still trying to work out--it certainly wasn't a useful life skill, but it was fun.

Caden didn't seem impressed. "How long more till we're done?"

Jarzyl reached down to her flight harness and took out her pocket watch. "We've got... about half an hour left, then class is done."

"Finally," Caden replied.

"Are you tired out already? In a rush for class to end?" Jarzyl asked.

Caden shook her head, and made another slow flap of her wings. "I'm not in a rush for class to end, neither am I in a rush to fly in circles around a field, or indeed am I in a rush for anything. I'm being chill."

"I'm the exact opposite. Don't you get bored if you go slow? I like haste," Jarzyl decided. "Are you doing anything this afternoon? Want to come over to my house?"

Caden tilted her wings, starting another gentle turn to circle around as they neared the corner of the field. "Tomorrow, maybe. I'm busy today with a... a study session sort of thing that one of my clans wants me to have."

"Hah." Jarzyl chuckled. She flapped her wings to keep flying right beside Caden. "Did you say a study session? That sounds boring. Don't we do enough studying in school?"

"My thoughts exactly! But apparently my school grades didn't impress my clan advisor, so... bah! I have to start doing study sessions, apparently. They even roped in Knaster to make sure I actually study."

Jarzyl laughed even harder. "Hahaha!" She glanced around the nearby airspace, looking over the various other fledglings flying around the school field until she spotted the classmate in discussion. "Knaster? They got Knaster to have study sessions with you? Yeah, he's boring."

"He's not a bad person. He just... he follows the rules and listens to what the clan wants." Caden let out a sigh. "Huuuh. He came over to my house the other day just so we could have a study session. Him, me, and Glecion. It was boring, and supposedly we have to have another session this afternoon."

"My condolences to you. I will be spending my afternoon lazing about and probably taking a nice long nap," Jarzyl decided. She glanced again at her pocket watch, which she was still holding in her paw, and then she put it back into a harness pouch--or tried to. Jarzyl's pocket watch had a thin metallic chain, but since she had only recently learned how to fly a few months ago, the young dragon hadn't yet gotten used to the good habit of keeping that watch chain tied around her harness. Now as she tried to put the watch back into a harness pouch, the oncoming wind blew it out of her grasp.

"Oh!" With a panicked yelp, Jarzyl snatched at her watch. She almost managed to grab it, but the device's metal surface was smooth, and it's rounded, flattened shape made it slip from her extended claws. "No!" Jarzyl hesitated for a split-second as she watched her pocket watch drop away below her, its silvery metallic back and glass front alternatingly glinting in the sunlight, then she tilted her wings and tried to dive after it.

"Jarzyl--" Caden started to say, but Jarzyl wasn't listening as she chased after her dropped watch.

At first she was too slow, and the air felt like a thick soup around her--normally air was so useful in that she could beat against it with her wings to gain lift, but now it felt like the air itself was getting in her way, preventing her from diving quick enough to catch up to her watch as it dropped towards the ground.

But then a second problem slowed her down--having to maintain control. Jarzyl had to keep her wings half open, for she simply didn't dare to close them fully and go into a full speed dive. Descending towards the ground too fast meant she wouldn't have the angle or the control to safely pull up and avoid a crash, which again made her hesitate from picking up more speed. She was just a fledgling, still learning the proper way to fly and far from experienced.

But then there was a streak of movement in her peripheral vision, and another young dragon dived right past her. A fledgling with scales of dark, sooty black swooped past her so close and fast that Jarzyl could feel the pressure wake sweep over her scales--with a graceful motion that looked almost like it had been practiced, Atlas snatched her watch out of the air and flared his wings to level off at the last moment and touch down on the ground with a short hop.

"Hah..." Jarzyl let out a short, impressed chuckle, and then she descended towards the field to land near her friend.

---

---

Atlas had caught her pocket watch in his jaws, and he sat back on his haunches to drop the timepiece into his paw. He extended the watch towards Jarzyl as she came running over. "You dropped this."

"So it seems I did!" Jarzyl grinned at her friend, and she playfully snatched her watch from him. "I was checking the time, and it slipped out of my grip when I tried to put it back into my flight harness." Jarzyl peered at the watch to make sure the tiny clockwork mechanisms behind the glass face were still spinning away, keeping regular time with their precise intricate movements. Then she sniffed at it. "You got saliva on it."

Atlas shrugged his shoulders, making his wings loosely bob up and down. "Would you rather I not have caught your watch? And let it drop to the ground and smash into a thousand tiny pieces?"

Jarzyl laughed, and she shook her head. "I'm not complaining!" She sniffed at her pocket watch again, then out of impulsive, irrational curiosity she extended her tongue and licked it just to see what it tasted like--the polished metal back tasted, unsurprisingly, faintly of metal. Curiosity thus satisfied, Jarzyl wiped her watch on the fabric of one of her flight harness pouches before keeping it again. "Thanks. That was a really impressive catch. How did you dive that fast?"

Atlas shrugged again, looking modest. "Practice," he replied.

Atlas was unique amongst all the dragons Jarzyl knew, young and old, in that he was a cripple--he was missing his left foreleg, for reasons Jarzyl had never managed to get him to explain. That physical deficiency made him slow and awkward on the ground, but in the air he was graceful and fast in a way that more than made up for it. Jarzyl didn't quite like to admit it, but in the many months since they'd both learned how to fly, it had become increasingly apparent that even though her own flight skills were improving on par with the rest of their age group, Atlas was a far more competent flyer than her.

"I practice too!" Jarzyl retorted, which was true. She did practice her flying often, frequently with Atlas even, but still he flew faster and performed far more impressive manoeuvres than she could. Even from the very first moment when'd they made their initial flights, Jarzyl had fluttered awkwardly and almost crashed on landing, whereas Atlas had been in total control of his own first flight. After months of practice Jarzyl was much better at flying now, but Atlas was still ahead of her. "How did you... how did you dive so fast, but still pull up at the last moment for a gentle landing? I feel like I would have stalled or lost control if I even tried a move like that, pulling up right at the last second."

A faint grin crossed Atlas's snout. "It's about practice and technique. Don't you remember what Drak Weitos told you when you were practicing in the wind tunnel just now? You shouldn't rely so much on your flight scales to control your flight."

"What?!" Jarzyl flicked open her wing and stared at it. As was the case for any dragon, thin, flat, smooth, lightweight, hexagonal scale plates covered her whole body in tessellating patterns, even over her wings. And the scales that covered her wings were the largest scales she had, forming rows of stretched hexagons that covered and extended out past the front and rear of her wing, increasing the surface area. These flight scales were attached at one edge and could be deflected upwards or downwards, adjusting the flow of air over her wing. Jarzyl stared at her own wings, then at Atlas. "Why not? Isn't the point of flight scales specifically to control flight? Why would I not want to use them?"

"You can and should use flight scales to control your flight. You just need to also remember that flying is about controlling the whole wing, not only your flight scales." Atlas stepped towards her and used his lone forepaw to tap Jarzyl's outstretched wing. "You see these scales here?" he asked, sliding his paw over her wing, over a line of flight scales. "Midwing dorsal spoilers."

Jarzyl tensed her wing, and she moved the scales Atlas was referring to. Each flight scale was completely flat but also twice the size of her paw in length, and in smooth unison they flicked upwards. "Yes? They're used for slowing down suddenly, or for turning sharply."

"Correct, but you don't slow down just by raising these flight scales and hoping for the best." Atlas flicked open his own wing and showed it to Jarzyl, extending his own flight scales in a quick motion. "These scales disrupt the shape of your wings so they produce much less lift. Then to compensate you tilt your whole wing upwards, which gives you back the lift but creates way more drag. That's how to slow down as fast as possible. Use the whole wing, not just your flight scales."

"Uh?" Jarzyl used her paws to grab and then move Atlas's wing about as she thought about what he was saying. "Really? Why didn't they teach that in flight theory class?"

Her friend laughed softly. "Hahaha. They do. That's what Drak Weitos has been trying to tell you, but maybe she's just too experienced to explain it properly." Atlas gestured with his other wing. "Flying is about more than just your flight scales, it's about your wings. And it's more than just your wings, but about your flight path too. Weaving and turning quickly creates lots of drag, which is even better for slowing down."

"You really know way more about flying than me," Jarzyl muttered. She was still holding onto Atlas's wing, and now she noticed something else. "Did you... trim your flight scales? I thought Caden was the only who cared enough about her appearance to bother polishing and trimming her scales. You too?"

"It's not vanity," Atlas explained. "I tried trimming my scales to see if I could get a little bit more manoeuvrability and speed."

"Oh?" Jarzyl glanced at her own wing. Just a few days ago she had stared at herself in the mirror and proudly noting how big her wings were getting, which she had thought was a good thing. "Wouldn't you want your wing to be as big as possible?"

"A bigger wing makes it easier to fly by just flapping, but it also means more drag, so less speed and manoeuvrability. Have you ever noticed that... that almost all fledglings have really big wings relative to their body size, compared to adult drakken? It's not because your wings grow faster than your body. It's because that makes it easier to learn flying." Atlas shook his head, looking slightly embarrassed. "Not that you need to worry about any of this. I was just... just curious. I measured and yes, I could fly faster after I trimmed my wings, though it's not worth the time or effort."

"Huh." Jarzyl felt a strange mix of impressed surprise as she stared at Atlas. She was still holding his wing, feeling his scales and his wing muscles. "Huh," she repeated.

The sooty black young fledgling was still holding his wings half open, but in a smooth motion Atlas pulled his limb out of her grip and furled both wings closed. Jarzyl kept staring at him. With someone else she would have been embarrassed to stare, but she knew Atlas. They were good enough friends that he wouldn't mind. Atlas had wings. Every dragon had wings, of course, even hatchlings who couldn't fly, but now for the first time Jarzyl actually noticed that her friend's wing muscles were strong and subtly noticeable as he held his wings tight against his back. When had that become a thing? Jarzyl could remember Atlas always being thin, skinny, and with his missing leg, someone she could almost always beat in a mock duel whenever they'd play fought as hatchlings. At school, she'd protected him from being bullied or picked on, in exchange for friendship and trust.

Now they were both fledglings and growing fast. Atlas was still slim, but he had muscles in his wings and an overall look that was more lithe and less skeletal. Jarzyl's neck frill drooped flat against her neck and she frowned suspiciously at her friend. Could she still beat him in a fight? Busy with flight school, training hunts, and the many other activities that fledglings had to undertake, they hadn't tried a proper mock duel in a few months at least. After some thought, Jarzyl decided that she probably still could.

"You're staring at me," Atlas finally commented.

Jarzyl didn't stop staring. "Hmmm..."

Atlas looked indifferent under her gaze. "Something on your mind?"

"I'm just thinking about beating you up," Jarzyl muttered.

That earned her an amused chuckle. "Hah. That's my thanks for saving your watch after you dropped it?"

"Well, I wouldn't just beat anyone up." Jarzyl hesitated once, then she lunged towards her friend. Atlas flinched, expecting a tackle, but instead Jarzyl flipped her wings open and wrapped them around, hugging him tight. "Thank you."

Atlas stayed tense for a few seconds, then Jarzyl felt him relax in her grip. "You're welcome," he murmured. He didn't quite hug her back, but just sort of half opened one wing to lightly pat her on the back. Jarzyl didn't mind--she had always found her friend's awkwardness rather amusing.

Right at that moment, Caden dropped out of the sky. All this time she had been leisurely gliding downwards, refusing to do a sharp dive. With a final few flaps of her wings, Caden touched down near the other two fledglings.

Jarzyl released Atlas and gave him a friendly headbutt to the shoulder, making him stumble and adjust his stance to maintain balance. Then she scampered over to Caden, who moved her open left wing and pointed it towards Jarzyl. "Don't you hug me too."

"Haha." Jarzyl laughed, and she extended her own wing to playfully slap it against Caden's. "You took your time coming down here!"

Caden rolled her eyes at Jarzyl. "Isn't it stressful to dive fast? Every time I try it, I feel like my wings are getting pulled out of my joints."

"It gets easier with practice. And it's fun to dive with grand, glorious speed," Atlas said.

Caden rolled her eyes at him too. "I prefer calm, steady gliding instead of dives and extravagant stunts."

"Boring! I love speed." Jarzyl flapped her wings hard and jumped with her legs--but instead of leaping into flight, she did a backwards somersault, flipping head over heels before landing back on all four paws. Hopping out of her crouch, Jarzyl nodded at her friends. "Now what? We still got some time to practice flying. Back into the air?"

Atlas nodded agreeably, but he also glanced around, looking at the various other fledgling dragons moving around the airspace. "Sure. Although..."

Jarzyl and Caden both followed his gaze. Atlas's attention was directed towards the side of the large, grassy, school field--the rest of their classmates were either circling around the outer perimeter with their teachers, or landed on the ground to rest--but near one particular side of the field, there was a series of large rings suspended in the air, kept aloft at various different altitudes by large balloons, sand bag weights on the ground, and varying lengths of rope. Together the rings formed an aerial obstacle course. An older class of fledglings was already at that side of the field, trying out various different flight paths and strategies to pass through every ring as quickly as possible.

The older fledglings were only a year older than Jarzyl and her friends, but they were large enough to be almost indistinguishable from full adult drakken as they swooped, dived, and manoeuvred through the obstacle course with varying levels of dedication. Some of the older fledglings were clearly just taking a slow lazy approach, whereas others were going at a steady manageable speed, and there were a few who were frantically racing each other.

Jarzyl's neck frill perked up just from the thought of how exciting it all looked. "That looks fun!"

"My thoughts exactly," Atlas agreed.

Caden shook her head. "No, no, no. Drak Weitos said that we were supposed to just practice flight patterns and simple manoeuvres."

Jarzyl chuckled. "Caden, since when have you been respectful of authority and loved following instructions?"

Caden tossed her head dismissively. "Tah! I am a cynic and a rebel, but that doesn't mean I'm an anarchist. And no, I don't think we're supposed to be flying through the obstacle course. That's for the intermediate class. We're just in basic flight and don't have the experience for it."

"I bet I could do it," Atlas murmured.

Even as the three friends watched, one of the older fledglings sprinted past the end of the course. The young dragon had scales of a sandy beige colour, and she let out proud, resonant roar that was audible across the field. "Skryah!" Opening her jaws, she spat forward a blast of frostbreath. The magically cooled air instantly condensed a small cloud of water vapour, which the beige fledgling flew right through, creating a circling vortex ring and leaving a trail of vapour behind her wingtips.

Jarzyl was very impressed, and she excitedly bounced up and down on her paws. "Oh. Oh that's amazing! I can't wait to get my magic! I want it so bad!"

"Don't we all," Caden agreed. "Regardless, we're not supposed to be using the obstacle course. That's for the older class. It would be weird if we left our class and went to join them."

Atlas nodded. He started strolling, moving slowly with his asymmetric, three-legged gait. "Fine. But what about...?" Atlas went towards a different part of the field, where there was an equipment shed. A single, lone obstacle course ring was lying on the ground, because its balloon had sprung a leak and was deflated.

Atlas nosed at the ring then tried to push it up onto its side. Jarzyl eagerly trotted over, and she helped him grab the ring and lift it up. Up close, the ring seemed larger than it looked when floating far away in the air--it had a diameter of about twice of her wingspan. She had also previously assumed the rings were made of hollow, painted metal, but it was actually solid lightweight foam--which made sense, given they had to be light enough to be lifted up by balloons into the air, and also because sometimes fledglings missed their manoeuvres and collided with the rings instead of flying right through them.

Together, Jarzyl and Atlas rolled the ring upright. "Let's try something simple," Atlas suggested. "I want to try practicing targeted dives."

Jarzyl grinned. "Yeah! Let's do it!"

Caden had followed the other two fledglings along, and she sat down on her haunches. "You two can dive if you want. I'm just going to sit here and take a rest..." Reaching into her own flight harness, Caden took out an insulated cylindrical flask and unscrewed the cap to start lapping at the ice water within.

The obstacle course ring was larger than any of the fledglings, and it was meant to be dangled from a balloon by a rope. However, Jarzyl managed to get it balanced on its side by using her hindlegs to quickly dig out a small trench into the loose dirt, and putting the ring into the indentation. Atlas helped her by holding the ring steady from the other side.

Atlas took a step back, as did Jarzyl, and they both let the ring sit on its side, balanced upright on the grass. "That looks good," Atlas decided, and then without any further comment he leaned back on his hindlegs and launched into the air, beating his wings quickly to gain altitude.

Jarzyl hesitated for a second, then she leapt after him and took off. With quick, heavy flaps of her wings she propelled herself upwards, gaining altitude to follow her friend. Atlas was faster than her, but he saw her chasing him and the young drake levelled off to let her catch up. Again, this sort of thing was new for Jarzyl--she could always run far faster than Atlas, or climb trees far faster than him, and in the past she was used to being the one waiting for him. But now he was faster in the air, and Jarzyl found she was the one trying hard to keep up.

Jarzyl levelled off her climb, flying right beside Atlas. The two fledglings glanced at each other, then down at the grass field, and that foam ring standing upright on the ground. For a few seconds they continued flying straight and level, then Atlas pulled sharply upwards until he stalled, before falling backwards and turning around into a dive.

Jarzyl didn't try anything so dramatic--instead she tilted her wings and dived after her friend, trailing in the wake behind him. Atlas went faster than Jarzyl would have dared on her own, but she resolutely followed right after him, picking up speed as they descended. It was terrifying to go fast, but exhilarating--Atlas briefly glanced over his shoulder, just quickly enough to see that Jarzyl was following him--and that brief moment of eye contact emboldened her. Jarzyl could feel her neck frill fluttering in the wind, and she playfully tried to nip at Atlas's tail before dropping back and letting there be a few body lengths of separation between them. She would not have dared to dive so fast on her own, but she wasn't going to back away from something her friend could do.

It took mere seconds for them trade away all their hastily gained height for speed. As they approached the ground, Atlas started to pull upwards, converting vertical velocity into horizontal. Jarzyl was following behind him, and now she copied his trajectory, with her confidence bolstered by the knowledge that Atlas wouldn't lead them into a crash.

Skimming just above the grass at high speed, Jarzyl saw the foam obstacle course ring coming from up ahead. Atlas swooped right through it, briefly snapping his wings shut and continuing through the ring just on momentum alone. A second later Jarzyl went through the ring as well, though she kept her wings open and steady instead of trying any fancy manoeuvres. Caden was sitting beside the ring, and Jarzyl saw her friend spread open a wing to wave at them.

"Haha... Yes. Yes! Ryahhh!" Jarzyl let out a soft chuckle, than a loud, ecstatic yell that wanted to be a roar. With a sharp turn she broke off from following after Atlas and she circled around--by now she had lost the speed from her dive, and she had to beat her wings to pick up more speed.

Atlas circled around in the opposite direction, coming to fly right beside her left wing. "That was right on target," he said to her, with a tinge of happy pride in his voice. "Good arc."

With another chuckle, Jarzyl nodded. "Haha. Again!"

And then they did it again. The two young fledglings spent a minute or so climbing up through the air, gaining altitude with steady beats of their wings. Jarzyl climbed until she felt the strain in her wing muscles and she was too tired to climb further without a break. She could see Atlas panting slightly, even if he didn't look as tired as her, but in unspoken agreement the two of them levelled off.

"Ready?" Atlas asked her.

"Always," Jarzyl retorted.

In unison, the two fledglings dived again, angling towards that foam ring standing upright in the field. Again Jarzyl felt an empty feeling in her belly as gravity pulled her into a freefall, with her wings half furled and no longer providing lift to resist descent.

This time Jarzyl tried to stay beside Atlas, flying right beside him. She kept up for the first few seconds, but then they were picking up too much speed and Jarzyl let herself fall back until she was trailing behind her friend again. Much as she loved speed, speed in a dive was something that she wasn't yet comfortable with--the sight of the ground quickly approaching was unnerving, making her instinctively want to flare out her wings and pull up.

Once more Jarzyl followed a few body lengths behind Atlas, giving her about a second to react and copy his trajectory. Flying side by side meant she had to react instantly to follow him, and in a dive, pulling up too late meant she might crash into the ground. Again this felt new and unusual--Jarzyl was used to being the more forward and brave member of their friend group, but now Atlas had more confidence in his flying than Jarzyl did in her own wings.

Pulling up from a dive as they approached the ground, Jarzyl could feel momentum pulling against her body as they changed course sharply. Centrifugal forces flattened her neck frill again the back of her neck, but they couldn't keep the grin off her snout. With great, glorious speed, the two fledglings ended their dive by flying right through the foam ring again. This time Atlas even tried a sudden snap roll, tucking in his wings and somehow doing a complete twirling spin as he passed right through the centre of that large foam ring.

Jarzyl also tried to tuck her wings closed as she swept through the ring--not because she had to, for the ring was easily larger than her wingspan, but just out of style. Unfortunately, she misjudged her momentum and her last wingbeat pushed her a bit too much upwards. Jarzyl felt her lower back clip against the foam ring right as she passed through it. The soft, padded foam didn't hurt against her scales despite their high speed impact, but it did end up knocking over the whole ring onto the grass, sending it rolling a short distance before dropping flat.

Throwing open her wings, Jarzyl brought herself to a stop as quickly as she could. Dropping back down onto the ground, she turned around and scampered back towards the side of the field, where the ring was. Caden was still sitting back on her haunches, leisurely sipping from her water bottle.

"I almost made it through!" Jarzyl insisted.

"Mmh." Caden made a vaguely agreeable noise. "Yup."

Trotting towards the fallen ring, Jarzyl examined the sports equipment. The foam structure of the obstacle course ring was undamaged, though slightly dirty from rolling on the ground. Jarzyl coiled her tail around the ring and tugged it after her, dragging it back to the small trench she had dug into the ground. She then tried to put it back upright again, though it being about twice her size made this somewhat difficult without someone else to help her.

Jarzyl tried again, but the ring just toppled over. Flipping open a wing, she waved at Caden. "Caden! I require assistance!"

Caden put her water bottle back into her flight harness and obligingly trotted over. "What now?"

Jarzyl gestured at the large foam ring. "Help me balance this thing back upright."

Caden went to the other side, and together the two fledglings tried to get the ring to balance up on its side again. "This thing doesn't want to stay standing," Caden muttered, as the ring toppled over again. "How did you get it balanced in the first place?"

"There's a trench in the dirt here. We need to get the ring to fit just right and... uh... oh." Jarzyl's voice trailed off, and she made an intrigued sound as a new idea came to her mind. "Oh, oh! I have a new idea. Inspiration!"

Caden let out an exaggerated sigh. "Huuuh. You always have ideas..."

"I always have ideas!" Jarzyl happily replied, raising her neck frill and nodding her head agreeably. Turning around, she used a hindleg to kick away the foam ring.

Right at that moment, Atlas landed right beside the other two fledglings, just in time to see Jarzyl push away the ring. "Done with flight class already?" he asked.

Jarzyl shook her head, and she grinned at her two friends. "No, I've just had an even better idea." Strolling towards Caden, Jarzyl nudged her friend. "Caden, help me. Open up one of your wings and hold it halfway upwards, as if you are about to make the downward stroke."

"What? Why?" Caden asked, but she did as Jarzyl asked.

Jarzyl opened up her own wing and mirrored Caden's gesture--the two fledglings ended up standing a short distance apart and facing the same direction, each with one wing open and raised halfway from horizontal, and with their wingtips barely touching.

Jarzyl beamed, and she could hardly keep still from excitement. Caden and Atlas were both watching her with curiosity, and she grinned at her friends. "Ok. Ok!! New idea! No need for some obstacle course ring to practice our flying!" Jarzyl nodded towards the space in between her and Caden, which was bridged by their wings forming an arch. "Atlas! Fly through this gap instead."

The sooty black fledgling looked intrigued. "Ah. Now that is an idea," Atlas said.

In contrast, Caden shook her head. "Oh no," she grumbled, and she started to lower her wing.

Jarzyl insistently used her own wing to slap at Caden's wing and make her lift it back up. "Don't be a spoilsport, Caden!"

"You aren't serious, right? This isn't a proper aerial manoeuver at all." Caden glanced at the foam ring, lying on the ground a short distance away, then she glanced at the gap in between her and Jarzyl. "There isn't enough space."

Jarzyl wanted to object, but Atlas was faster. "There is." Tilting his head, the three-legged fledgling peered at the gap formed between Jarzyl and Caden by their outstretched wings. He nodded. "There's enough space. I can make it through. Maybe not a dive, but I could do a low quick approach and make it through."

Jarzyl jumped up and down. "Yes! Do it!"

Caden looked more doubtful. "Why? Why, though?"

"Because it would be amazing! It would be so impressive! Please, please, do it!" Jarzyl repeated, and she saw Atlas return her grin. Without saying anything her friend turned away and leapt into the air, picking up speed with quick wingbeats. Instead of climbing for altitude, now he remained at low altitude as he flew away. Jarzyl laughed, and then she excitedly nodded at Caden. "This is going to be great."

Caden sighed again, but she kept her wing open and outstretched. "It's always you, do you realize that? I act normal on my own, and Atlas acts normal when he's on his own, but when you're around, we always get into all sorts of trouble and ridiculous antics."

Jarzyl nodded happily. "Adventure is contagious, and I have amble reserves to share!"

Caden moved her head, tracking the motion as Atlas flew a short distance away then circled back towards them. "This seems potentially dangerous, yet pointless. It's really you. Atlas has good common sense, except when it comes to you. I don't think he would ever do something like this if anyone else asked."

"And that's exactly why I asked him to do it." Jarzyl also watched as their friend approached. Atlas wasn't diving from altitude now, but he still picked up modest speed as he flapped his way across the field towards them. Because he was flying right towards them, it was difficult to judge his exact speed and distance until he was up close.

Jarzyl's wingtip was brushing against Caden's and she felt her friend's limb tremble slightly. "This is such a pointless idea..."

"This is a great idea!" Jarzyl retorted. "Wait for it... wait... Woah!" And then she only had time to gasp as Atlas swooped right between them at high speed, snapping his wings shut at the very last second so he could make it right through the limited space between their outstretched wings and the ground.

A wave of turbulent air washed over Jarzyl's scales from Atlas passing by--even though he hadn't touched her at all, she could still feel the speed and momentum her friend had been carrying. To be able to fly so precisely was very impressive, at least to her. "Yeah! Yes! Hahahaha, woooh!" Jarzyl laughed gleefully and pranced about on the spot, alternating between her legs as she broke into an elated dance.

Caden reacted in more mixed manner, snapping back her wing and wrapping it around herself defensively. She also laughed, but more out of nervousness. "Haha, oh, that was terrifying! Why did we do that?!"

"That was amazing!" Jarzyl said.

Atlas circled around quickly, and he landed right beside the two other fledglings just seconds later. "I told you I could make it through," he began to say, before Jarzyl sprinted right over and hugged him again.

"Yeah!" Jarzyl hugged her friend tightly for a second, then she let him go and leapt over him, before doing another reverse somersault. "That was fantastic. This is the best class!"

"Flying is fun," Atlas agreed.

"My turn now!" Jarzyl lunged perpendicularly between Atlas's fore and hindlegs so she could lift him up on her shoulders--he definitely weighed much more than he used to, but Jarzyl had grown too. It took much more effort and made her wobble slightly as she got her balance, but she still could carry him, like she sometimes used to do when they were both just hatchlings.

"I..." Before Atlas could argue or struggle, Jarzyl sprinted the several paces over towards Caden and dropped the young drake back down again.

"Ok. You made it look easy. I want to try it now," Jarzyl said to her friends.

Atlas looked very amused, but he said nothing. In a smooth gesture he unfurled his left wing and extended it out, forming one side of the arch.

Caden shook her head and glared at Jarzyl. "No!"

"Yes!" Jarzyl insisted excitedly.

"No."

"Yes!" Jarzyl repeated. "Come on! It's my turn to try that stunt, then you can go afterwards! It'll be exciting."

"I have no wish to try risky, dangerous stunts," Caden replied. She frowned at Jarzyl. "How do you still have so much energy? We've been flying for more than an hour! First the wind tunnel, then all those loops, and then diving and now this?"

Jarzyl glanced around the field. Some of her fellow classmates were still circling above, but a good portion of the fledglings were instead now landed and resting. Within just a few minutes their teachers would surely declare the class over. "Caden! Quickly! Don't waste time!"

Caden sighed again, but with slow reluctance she once again raised her wing and held it up, so she was forming the other half of the wing arch. "I feel like this will end badly."

"Thanks!" Jarzyl said, then she hurriedly leapt into the air and flew a short distance away. Circling around, she aimed to fly right back towards her two friends as they stood out in the grassy field. Both of them were watching her. Atlas was standing calmly, looking steady despite his three-legged stance. In comparison, Caden looked jittery and nervous, as if she wanted to pull back her wing.

Jarzyl grit her teeth and raised her neck frill, and she picked up a bit of speed before changing her mind and slowing down to a more modest pace. The area she had to fly through was roughly as wide as her wingspan, and the only thing which made this stunt so fun was the idea that she was flying right under her friends' extended wings.

Jarzyl didn't dare to go as fast as Atlas had, but as she approached she dipped down towards the ground, and it almost felt like some of the taller grass blades were brushing against her underbelly as she flew so low and slow.

Then the amber orange-scaled young fledgling attempted to fly between the gap created by her two friends' wings... and she didn't quite make it. Jarzyl tried to half tuck in her wings at the last moment to ensure she would fit, but she didn't pull both wings in at exactly the same speed, and that altered her trajectory slightly. High up in the air it would have been a minor course correction, but now it threw her manoeuver off. Jarzyl just barely had a split-second to realize what was happening. "Ohh no!" she squealed, purely out of instinctual shock and disappointment.

Then she crashed right against Atlas's side and the two fledglings went rolling in a tangle of legs, tails, and wings. "Uh!" Atlas grunted.

"Oww!" Jarzyl groaned.

They two of them came to a quick stop, still tangled up and lying on the grass. "Owwww," Jarzyl repeated. Slowly she opened her eyes and tried to orientate herself. "Ooh... Woah. That didn't work."

Jarzyl could feel Atlas's body against hers--he had been knocked over by the impact, with Jarzyl sort of lying on top of him. Atlas had his eyes open, and he watched her with that silent, analytical look he always seemed to have. Her friend was quiet for a few seconds, then she felt his chest rumble as he spoke. "I really though you would make it..."

"I thought so too," Jarzyl agreed. Cautiously she untangled their limbs and rolled off Atlas, tumbling onto the grass to lie beside him.

At this point, Caden came trotting over. She appeared unharmed, and she anxiously peered over the two other fledglings. "Are you two alright?! Drak Weitos is giving a concerned look. Should I wave her over? Do you require medical attention? That was a big crash!"

Jarzyl's first instinct was to defend her own flying. "It wasn't a big crash. I was going really slow..." She tried to move all her limbs, and found them operable. Some of her scales had been scratched up or even dislodged by the impact, but she was otherwise uninjured. Rolling back to her feet, Jarzyl shook herself all over. "I'm fine."

"Me too," Atlas agreed. Jarzyl rolled her friend over and grabbed his wing to help him back up.

Caden nodded. "That's a relief." Then her look of anxiety morphed back to her usual dismissive expression. "I told you it would end badly!"

"Not that bad. And I'll do better next time," Jarzyl replied.

She glanced over at Atlas, and in return he gave her a short nod of his head. "We will," he agreed, which made Jarzyl beam.

---

---

END