Today was going to be a good day. I could feel it in my bones. 

Because today was going to be the day one of us learned to fly, and seeing as how baby down still clung to my wings in (inconvenient) places, it wasn’t going to be me. The thought was enough to bring a not at all ladylike pout to my dark lips, but it was fleeting. Today was still an exciting day.  Today, Everly would fly and take me with her even though my wings weren’t quite ready yet.  That had to be the next best thing to doing it myself, right?  

I knew that Ev had her reservations about the whole business of flying, but her wings were already fully mature.  She’d been putting it off since she was hesitant that I couldn’t go with her and she preferred to stay close to me.  I think she’s been a little bit overprotective since the moment she’d hatched.  But now it was my turn to help her, so today was our first flying lesson. 

Ev could feel my excitement and, in defiance, hopped to the very highest point of the branch I’d helped her to last night.  I just rolled my eyes at the dramatics even though I know exactly where she got it from. (Me. She got it from me.) “Come on, Ev,” I said, with a sense of true exasperation - though I may have embellished a little bit.  “You’re going to have to learn sometime, why not today?”

Everly let out a shrill chirp and resolutely refused to budge from her branch.  I huffed in frustration, but then decided on another method of removing said stubborn zephyr from the tree. 

“Please, Ev. Don’t make me go find Lucius,” I said, seriously, and that seemed to get her attention.  Lucius was the only other zephyr that she knew and my father’s companion to boot and I knew that Everly was fond of him. I still couldn’t believe I’d found my companion and my father all in the span of 48 hours. It had been busy and overwhelming and hard to process but life had normalized now.  At least to a point where I felt like I could handle things without mother, which was a good thing seeing as how she had been given an important assignment and was being sent away from home more and more.  Everly began to tentatively climb down her branch, finally relenting at the threat at tracking down the larger zephyr.  I stood beneath the branch and waited for her to leap to her preferred perch between my ears.

“You’ll be great, Ev! And soon I’ll be able to fly too. But today you’re gonna explore up there for the both of us,” I said, reassuringly, because I could feel her nerves however a prickle of excitement betrayed her.  It wasn’t natural for a zephyr to not want to fly, and I knew deep down she was doing it for my behalf. So it was my turn to help her along for a change. 

We cleared the trees and stepped into the open expanse of the Basin. The ground was starting to get sparse, a clear sign that the temperate season was over and that the cold would be returning soon, but it hadn’t turned to mud and would be perfect for today’s objective. Between my ears, Everly fluffed her black and silver wings in anticipation and let out a few nervous chirps as I stared down what would shortly become her runway. 

OOC: Open to all! Zephyr flying lessons :0
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