i am a leaf on the wind

Lyanna grins as Hemlock joins her, hooting in the air. It must be exciting for him, she thinks, to be able to fly with his bonded. He seems to enjoy the air in the same way Lyanna does, and she can only imagine that he wants to share that joy. Particularly given the bond between them – what joy that would be when experienced two-fold. She can only imagine, and she can of course only speculate, but she grins at the owl anyway. After all, she always enjoys company when flying.

Lyanna laughs – a bell-like sound filled with delight – at the whinny that escape Aly’s lips as she takes the air. She’d clap, if she could, but instead she gives an excited little whoop! sound. It doesn’t last long, but that doesn’t matter. It was a start. After all, it had taken Lyanna some time to master flying as well, and she’d had the power of the wind at her back. Though, at the time, she’d been rather inept at controlling the wind then too.
 
It’d been rather disastrous, honestly, those first couple of flights. She’d blown down a handful of trees, sent herself careening into another tree (broke a branch off the tree and one of her ribs), and sent more than a handful of horses fleeing. Possibly, she should have learned to control the wind separately from learning to fly, but her tutors decided to just throw her straight into it. She learned, and pretty quickly, after that broken rib.
 
She smiles, coming back to the present, as Aly speaks. “Nope, seems you aren’t.” The other mare continues, mentioning lands. Lyanna nods, a sort of ‘I’ll be back’ nod, and then takes off a little higher in the sky, putting some space between her and Aly before looping back toward her. “Legs down, wings up as you come in,” she says, loud enough for Aly to hear. She lets her legs hang some, using the drag created to slow herself down. She angles her wings up, creating more drag to slow herself down while still keeping herself in the air.
 
As she comes closer to the ground, she tucks her legs again slightly, tipping the front of her wings up slightly so she finally drops the last distance to the ground. “Right before you land, bend your knees to absorb the shock, and tip the front of your wings up so the air stops flowing.” She tips her weight back just a bit, rear feet hitting just a second before her front feet touch down as well. She flaps her wings just slightly, taking a step forward to steady herself, before tucking her wings back to her side. “It helps to practice when you have some runway room, so you figure out the timing.”
 
She takes a few more steps forward, wings at her side now, closing the remaining distance between herself and Aly. “Cantering makes it a easier, so if I can, I usually do. But as you get more comfortable, it’s not entirely necessary. Maybe just a step or two, or a really good jump.” She didn’t even need that once. It was strange, when she first came here, learning to fly without the power of the wind. But it’d come somewhat easily, at least. Still, she used to just call the wind and it would pick her right up. It had been such an amazing feeling. One she’d always miss.
 
Aly tries again, and Lyanna stays on the ground watching time time. The other mare stays in the air a bit longer, and Lyanna grins, glad to see how quickly her friend is progressing. And glad, in truth, that she’d actually done some useful around here. Flying was one of the few things she could still do. “You’ll be soaring around here in no time!” 

watch how i soar.

lyanna