Legend of the OmeletWings - Chapter 9: Traveling
#9 of Legend of the OmeletWings
A/N - This chapter has a few awkwarder than normal M/F moments in the first and last sections. You might want to jump past those if they feel a bit too much for you.
As they set back out through the mountains, the air was fresh, the wind blew gently in their faces, there was still a sprinkle of rain here and there, but nothing more than the occasional drop.
It wasn't long after they left the cave though that Embryo noticed the first problem. She almost didn't mind, but she knew how Summit would react, and it'd just create a lot of embarrassment between them.
But if they were going to be traveling together, it'd need to be addressed sooner or later.
"Uh Summit," Embryo began, "I need to pee..."
Summit breath caught. "Y-you need to what?" He was trying really hard not to have a crush on her right now.
Embryo looked at Summit with a blush. He was cute when he was trying not to think of her like that, and she kind of liked it when him feeling like this around her, but she didn't want to add any undue embarrassment to the situation, so she decided just to make it quick.
"We could stop in that clearing over there and go," she suggested.
They came in for a landing in a small wooded clearing surrounded by two peaks.
As Embryo went into the trees, Summit made sure to keep his back turned, but he couldn't help but blush at every sound. "I'm sorry," he said, knowing that back turned or not, he could still imagine what was happening.
"It's okay," Embryo said, finishing up, "You need to go?"
Summit hesitated, "Uh... yeah." And then he stumbled into the trees.
And then it was Embryo's turn to overhear. Her face went red.
"You're right," she admitted, trying to suppress a giggle, "This is embarrassing."
They were back in the air a few moments later, flying South along the Claw of the Cloud Mountains.
"And what about your family," Embryo asked, "what'd they think to find out that you ran off to see the world with some cute girl you'd just met?"
Summit shrugged, "They said I needed to start making decisions of my own. Besides, my mother is away serving for the Queen, and my father is on a trip selling his traps across the distant Kingdoms. It's just me right now. The Tavern Keeper can tell them where I am if they come looking for me."
"You never told the Tavern Keeper where you were going," Embryo reminded him.
Summit dropped a beat. "You know, you're right." He hesitated, "Though I'm pretty sure she'll be able to figure it out." He blushed.
Embryo smiled warmly. At least Summit was aware at how completely obvious his crush on her was.
"Is this what your parents meant when they said they wanted you to start making decisions of your own?" Embryo furrowed her brows.
"Hey, I'm seeing the world," Summit replied, "I just have a... cute girl at my side. What about your parents, how would they feel to know I'm at your side?"
"Oh um, well..." Embryo hesitated, "They'd probably want us to be married by now."
Summit jolted back a wingbeat. "Married!? No no no no no no, we are so not ready for that. I mean someday, but... I mean do you like someday? Maybe never, it's up to you- I mean, yeah I like you, but we just met. I can't marry the prettiest girl on the planet the day after we've just met-!"
Embryo laid a wing on his shoulder as they glided through the air.
"It's alright," she said, "I can wait."
Summit relaxed a little and looked into Embryo's friendly eyes. Yeah, they didn't have to worry about all that yet.
So they continued flying, curving along the spines of the Claw of the Clouds Mountains as they made their way South. At night, they would find nice caves to stay in, and Summit would use his firebreath to start a fire. They would sit around it and tell stories as Embryo enjoyed taking in the warmth of every flame as it cracked and shifted, throwing a comforting heat against her body. She would tell Summit stories about great Egg Layers of the past, which Summit would politely listen to (although he clearly felt awkward by it, and wondered why Em didn't have any other types of stories to tell), and then he would tell her a story about the wide reaching history of Pyrrhia, Queens and wars of the past that shaped the face of history. Embryo was awed by how much there was to learn, the world was so much wider out here, so much scope beyond the realm of Egg Laying and Omelets in which she grew up.
After stories, they would curl up on opposite sides of the cave as seemed proper for two recently met friends. But although they were separate in body, they were close in heart.
And by day, they would fly again, taking in all the wonderful views and sights along the way, hunting and fishing together, and drinking from fresh cool mountain streams, just enjoying the feel of the cool water running down her face. After a few days, flying didn't make Embryo's wings ache as much as they did at the start as she began to adjust. Rather than pushing herself, she embraced the feeling of allowing her wings fold and unfold against the ever-shifting weight of the wind, letting it carry her on.
These days were the happiest day Embryo had ever lived.
But even the closest of friends can have the most annoying of quarks at times, Embryo began to notice.
As Embryo grew used to flying alongside Summit, she began to notice something weird about his flight habits. This was confirmed when they approached a narrow pass.
"It doesn't look wide enough for both of us," Embryo told Summit, "We'll have to go through single file."
Embryo had the slight edge, so she'd thought it'd be logical if she'd take it first, but then she noticed Summit trying to pass her.
"Hey, I can take this!" Embryo informed him, "let me go first."
"No, you're good," Summit said awkwardly, "I got this."
As Summit pulled ahead, Embryo couldn't help but pull back in confusion. Was that embarrassment in his face?
They navigated the pass safely, but as they settled down for the night in Embryo couldn't help but feel a little exasperated by Summit, there was something he wasn't telling her. He didn't seem to have a superiority complex, so why did he never let her take the lead.
Finally, she knew she just had to ask.
"Why won't you ever fly behind me?" Embryo demanded.
Summit went still. "Well, uh, you see, I, uh..." Summit swallowed, he knew he had to tell the truth. "Well, you're pretty, and I, uh... But you're too pretty- I mean, all of you is pretty, but..." Summit struggled, trying to sustain the heat of embarrassment running through his body, "You're all pretty, but I want to keep my vision of your prettiness" he gestured to the front part of her body "on this half. Because you're pretty and it doesn't seem right if I..." He couldn't go on, his face was feeling too red, even his scales couldn't hide it. He had to stop.
"So what you're saying," Embryo began hesitantly, "Is that you think all of me is pretty, but certain aspects of that... embarrass you?"
Summit nodded. Embryo couldn't help herself from blushing as well.
Embryo hesitated. "Well... I've flown behind you before."
Summit looked at her. "You mean..."
Now Embryo was the one who felt herself filling with heat, "I mean, I didn't... I thought it was natural to fly in that formation. I never thought anything of it. Or at least I didn't try to. I mean, you were right in front of me, and I had to keep an eye on my flight path, and then there was your tail... Mostly..."
Summit began to moan, trying to suppress the embarrassed tittering in his voice. A second latter Embryo joined him. They both fell into eachother, leaning into one another's weight as they wailed through their humiliated amusement together.