~ωιи∂ѕωєρт~ (open)

[Maud A. Yancey]

Maud lay on her back, staring up at the bare blue sky. Her gaze dull as her arm slowly rose as if trying to grasp the sun. The wind picked up suddenly, screaming across the field and seeming to toss her tawny hair around her face.

She laughs, wiggling her fingers so the wind danced around as it sang its summer song. This insane wind direction and speed reminded her of home... It swept away her heavy, home sick heart and sent it spinning.

Trash around the field began to circle around in a large vortex, she didnt even seem to notice as she conducted this orchestra of air molecules and hummed a song with it... It was a wonder a plastic bag hadnt smacked into someone's face yet..

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

It was a clear day and the sun was shining a perfect day for flying! Ray didn't even bother with the door. He put his iPod in his ears and jumped out his window. He enjoyed the thrill of gravity for a moment before he kicked his wings into gear and gained altitude. He giggled to himself and the fast paced music made Ray want to dance through the air. His tongue sticking out of his mouth Ray laid himself horizontally and as he picked up speed and crossed the open space to the practice fields, away from any potentially obstructing obstacles, he kicked one foot up and the other foot down and threw out his arms as though he were doing a streamline through water, only in air and at a much faster speed. He started spinning and soon it was extremely hard for Raylaigh to determine which way was up and which way was down as one second he saw blue and the next he saw the brownish green of the field.

Ray was still spinning when the air seemed to change. He weeble-wobbled his way right again or tried to in order to assess the changing situation. The wind started up and Raylaigh for a few moments allowed himself to be swept up in it instead of fighting but it was starting to get strong and strange. He’d checked the weather before he went out. It was supposed to be a calm southwesterly which should have brought warm air to his feathers, but this wind was if he was correct in his thinking of sun position, from the north and cold. He shivered and started to fly against it. If there was a sudden change in the weather he might not wanna be in the air. He frowned, the weather people knew nothing!

Raylaigh started out flying in a running matter when the wind blew stronger and swept from a different direction aloft. Wind shear! Ugh! He hated and loved wind shear. It was fun but sometimes it was scary and unexpected. He was knocked head over heels by a sudden change and he struggled to keep altitude as he hit a downdraft and clear air turbulence. He frowned in determination but then it just became too much and the wind made Ray it’s prisoner and he was whipped around the whirlwind and he flew up on the outskirts and downward in the harsh middle. He called out in fear and he pumped his wings as hard as he could to try to get away from the suction, but he kept being tossed around the vortex. He was failing and he was scared.

[Maud A. Yancey]

Maud hears the cries from somewhere in the deep, clouded haze of her mind...

Don't open your eyes... Find it

She screws her eyes tighter shut, feeling for that solid but squishy feeling of human flesh or the quavering rustle of feathers and/or fur. She frowns, her palm slowly moving in a tiny circle, letting the wind die just enough...

Maud frowns... Flesh and feathers... Was it another angel? Damn, they were every where, dark age artists would have a field day. So many little cherub models. She snorts at her own joke and locates the spot of disruption," There you are," she murmurs. Both her hands rising to the angel, the wind under his wings began to circle gently, buoying him there like a raft," Sorry... I just wanted Colorado or a few minutes," she mumbles under her breath, not sure whether she felt more frustrated that she wasn't allowed to return home or sad that she wasnt rebellious enough to just run.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Ray had all but given up and was at this point hoping that gravity would give him enough to allow him to make a more or less safe landing. The last thing he wanted to do was break something. He started to shout, he didn’t know what someone could do for him if he was truly stuck in a whirlwind. He could trying going up and out, but he didn’t know how fast or how high the updraft went and he didn’t want to knock himself too high. He could breathe fairly well at fairly high altitudes but there was a point where the air was just too thin and he’d inevitably pass out and then he’d fall and have to hope that he’d wake up before gravity made him a Raylaigh pancake.

He could figure this out. He didn’t need rescuing. He oriented himself horizontally and he flew tangent to the curving flow and adding the wind speed to his own he was hoping he could launch himself. It was strange but it almost felt like the air was surrounding and pressing around him. But on the upside the wind did seem to be dying down. The speed Raylaigh had been trying to pick up tossed him aside and he tumbled in the air and for a moment got very confused around which way was up and which way was down. Raylaigh felt the pull of gravity and found himself falling headfirst. He’d started to fall too low. He scrambled to turn himself in mid air and get his feet under him so he could gain altitude again.

The wings tangled with his kicking legs and his cave hurt from the slapping of the strong wings and the wings ached from the collision with his legs. Ray tried to kick his legs up and he was close to getting horizontal. His wings were straining to slow his descent and he spied the woman on the ground and shouted to her, but he couldn’t tell if she could hear him or if she could even help him. He pushed back the irony that he’d just had a conversation with someone about falling and dying.

[Maud A. Yancey]

Maud blinks and nibbles her lip, it wasn't working... She hadnt tried to cradle a dead weight before but she could sure as hell try to slow his descent.

She opens her eyes, seeing him fall. He'd probably be mad at her... Oh... She frowns and taps her fingers, mumbling a soft song as she conducts the air to cradle him in an upward draft, she kept other gales pushin onto him from all sides to keep the column of air from just pushing him into a spiraling downfall that would most likely just break his neck.

These thoughts started to make her panic, thus making her concentration waver and the column of air either push too much or too little. This wasnt what she wanted! She just wanted... Home...

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Ray closed his eyes and suddenly found himself supported by rising air. He breathed a sigh of relief, he could go back up but after that whirlwind he was tired and really wanted to be on the ground. Between the updraft and Raylaigh’s own wings doing a lot of work his fall slowed to a controlled descent and he was able to come to the ground with a force that knocked him to his knees but didn’t break his legs thank goodness. He flopped down onto the grass and felt the intense desire to kiss it. After taking a few good breaths and keeping himself from crying with relief he looked up to find whoever or whatever had made the updraft. He rolled onto his back and sat up looking up into the sky. The updraft must be pretty strong, it looked like there was something of a cloud forming.

He looked over and saw someone else on the ground. “Hey!” He called, “Did you do that?” He wanted to hug them and kiss them and praise them for saving his life. He wasn’t even thinking about the fact that the same person that cradled his fall had caused his accident in the first place.

[Maud A. Yancey]

Maud had gotten to her feet and knelt beside him, looking worried, guilty, and all around sad," Oh god i'm sorry," she whispers, the girls ice cold hands cupping his face. If she wasnt so worried, Maud probably wouldn't be so touchy feely. She was nervous, skittish like a rabbit, looking ready to bolt if her got mad," Nothing's broken? Are you ok? Ohmigod..." She looked ready to burst into tears.

The air went still as soon as he had landed, Jesus Christ... She did get a little carried away, hadn't she?

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Ray looked at the girl and took her in. He opened his mouth but she’d already started to apologize. Raylaigh uttered a clueless sound and jumped when her cold hands touched his warm skin. Raylaigh gave her a huge smile, he was sore but he wasn’t broken, not right now at least. He reached up and patted her hand. “I’m okay, I’m okay,” the words came out in a breathless relief as if he himself couldn’t be more happy to be on the ground saying those words. “Nothing’s broken, but a little shaken,” he said with a little laugh again. “Don’t be sorry! You just saved my ass.” He would have been a whole lot less okay if her updraft hadn’t given him the necessary resistance to slow his fall.

The girl looked so upset and Ray couldn’t even imagine why. Well, he was a little peeved about the whole whirlwind thing but it was done and she was apologizing now. And in all truth a little bruising and a whole lot of freaked out but overall everything had ended a lot better than it could have. “No worries,” he said again and nodded his head to her, “things happen. No harm done, kay?”

[Maud A. Yancey]

Maud quickly pulls her hands away, looking elsewhere in embarassment," I'm sorry," she mumbles a last time, getting to her feet and hopping bac a few feet, blushing profusely.

Getting ready to bolt again..

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Ray blinked at the girl in shock as she stood up and backed up blushing. He laughed a little bit and shook his head. "Stop apologizing, I'm okay, no harm done!" He got to his feet and winced as he put weight on his right foot. He sighed. Great, so maybe he wasn't completely okay. He tested the movement of it and flapped his wings experimentally. Yeah, that was just twisted, thank goodness. He'd have to ice it and apologize profusely to his track coach but then he figured the coach knew what he was getting into letting Ray on the team. Ray placed his foot back on the ground. It was sad that he had done this enough times to know that he would be right as rain in a little under a week.

He looked back up at the girl and couldn't help but laugh. She was blushing and it was adorable. He took a few limping steps toward her and gave her another smile. "Really stop apologizing," he said putting a hand on her shoulder, "Shit happens, honestly if you hadn't updraft-ed me I'd probably have definitely broken something." He hobbled closer to show he was in no way immobile, but if she run he would probably not be able to catch her. "But," he pointed a finger at her, "If you keep apologizing I'm gonna make you carry me to the infirmary." He laughed lightly at the joke. Really he was fine, he would probably only go in to request some ice and someone in the infirmary would be really relieved that that was all he needed. He didn't know if she could lift him either, he was really light for his size thanks to the whole thin hollow bone thing, but she looked rather small herself. Better not to risk hurting both of them. "I'm Raylaigh, what's your name?" If she didn't give him one he was officially going to dub her Jumpy because she seemed so skittish.

[Maud A. Yancey]

She seems to brighten a bit as his humor, a tiny smile appearing on her lips. It was like the clouds had parted and the sun was shining," I'm Maud. Or you can just call me Yancey," she shrugs and grins nervously, opening her mouth to apologize again but quickly shutting it and grinning.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Ray’s smile widened and he was glad she was smiling as well, she had such a pretty smile. “Pleasure to meet you Yancey,” Ray said sweeping into a charming bow. He straightened again and giggled at his own antics. Oh well, it wasn’t everyday that Ray was so happy to be alive, well more often than not, but that was beside the point. He grinned sheepishly at her. “Uh… I could actually use a little help, I think I just need to get some ice.” Mostly he didn’t want to hobble all the way there, it would be slow progress and if there was anything that Raylaigh hated it was being slow. Any sort of help she could offer, Ray would be thankful for, he was really just hoping that the nursing staff didn't get too upset. He was walking on it, that was a plus, but they'd probably want to do all of the examinations to make sure it wasn't broken. He hated breaking bones because then he would be off in a cast and probably on crutches. Again. He hated crutches. He hated it even more than he had his own personal pair that they just kept on reserve for him.

[Maud A. Yancey]

Maud tilts her head and wnices a bit when her touches er shoulder, slowly relaxing. She tilts her head, her smile fading a bit though it lingered," Where does it hurt?" She asks suddenly, a twinkle coming to her eyes almost like the equivalent of a light bulb appearing above her head.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Yancey, it was a sweet nickname, Ray had already decided that he liked it for it. It suited her and though he'd never tell her, it seemed like Maud was so harsh, so rigid, like the name that strict nuns had. But he would never ever tell her that, because it was also her name and he would hate it if someone told him that Raylaigh was a horrible name for him because it sounded girly or wispy or something. That was probably also because the last person Ray had known who had the name Maud was an old lady who'd babysat him and his siblings when they were little.

He lifted his foot at the question and reached his hands down to hold onto his knee so he could see his foot better. This was probably not a good idea, he had terrible balance and already hopped about on his good for a few times before the wings on his bad foot flapped a bit to give him a little more balance. "I think I just landed on it funny, it's probably just twisted but I don't want it to swell and stuff." If it swelled then his wings would probably start to hurt as well and he would also be out of flying for the week as well. If he could get it wrapped and iced he would be golden.

[Maud A. Yancey]

She frowns and shuffles foreward on her knees, she puts a freezing hand on his ankle, frowning a bit," Yeah, here it is." Almost immediately, a small stream of ice cold air whipped past his ankle, numbing it in seconds before she pulls away and chews her lip,"... Thats gonna feel weird when it thaws," she murmurs, pulling her hand awsy