Free in the Atmosphere (Yancey)

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Raylaigh sprinted along the track and with a smile he slowed and rolled his ankle. Whatever Yancey had done to it with the whole freezing thing had done wonders and it was virtually pain free and more than well enough to support his weight and allow him to run on it. His wings fluttered and he trotted over to his trainer. "See everything's fine now. Please." Raylaigh whined and hopped around a bit to further prove his point. The trainer sighed and waved a hand in exasperation and gave him the all clear for flight. Otherwise he declared them over for the day and bade Raylaigh to take it easy. Well, for Raylaigh it was the first time he was in the air in a week and he couldn't keep himself on the ground if he tried. He shot upward through a patch of low cumulus clouds. He watched his trainer walk away, at too high an altitude to see that the man was shaking his head. The wind felt wonderful in his feathers and he twisted ever which way before an idea occurred to him. He dove toward the ground and pulled up his wings flapping so fast they were like little blurs in the air as he tried to slow. He dropped himself the last foot and stumbled a bit. Okay, that hurt a little bit, but nothing he couldn't handle.

He dug through his bag and scrolled through his phone until he found Yancey's number.

To: Yancey
EY-YO YANCEY!!!! I'm cleared for off ground travel! XD You should get your alien self out here and train with me!

He dropped his phone and onto his bag and flopped down next to it to wait for her.

[Maud A. Yancey]

Maud felt her phone vibrate against her stomach. She yips and sits straight up, earning her some weird looks from some other library goers.

She ignores them and scoops up her IPhone, seeing the text message from 'Hero of Earth' she sways happily and quickly replies

'To: Hero of Earth
From: Yancey
In excersize or sparring? Btdubs i'd kick your butt in sparring “ψ(｀∇´)ψ'

Maud hits send before lying back down and returning to read a book on hippies

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Raylaigh laughed as he read the message and replied.

To: Yancey
Training, for exercise, I’m ready for a rematch whenever you are! XP Hurry up or I’m taking off without you!

Ray sent the message and then a little smirk appeared on Ray’s face. He didn’t know if she was busy, but he was excited to get back into the air, he had a few ideas of how they could practice together. Yancey could practice controlling her winds and Ray could practice his ability to maneuver in things like clear air turbulence and unexpected updrafts. He got to his feet and started stretching out a bit so his muscles didn’t get tight form sitting.

[Maud A. Yancey]

There was probably a ten minute pause before his phone buzzes again, this time the text said:

'To: Hero of Earth
From: Yancey
Foolish human! I totally ninja'd ur butt!!'


Maud pokes the back of his head, smirking

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Raylaigh looked at his phone and smiled to himself at the picture. He was going to have to watch Maud, she was diabolical. He laughed lightly and had bent to stretch out his legs. Blinking in surprise he straightened and his eyes fell on Yancey and he gave her a broad smile. “Hey-ya!” He exclaimed and gave her a hug. “So, how do you want to play this? Fifteen paces and the most intense game of tag ever.” He grinned and laughed at his own joke. The flyer had a heavy jacket on in preparation for colder altitudes and his wings fluttered against his pant legs as he warmed them up. It was going to be an interesting day for sure. He was going to land better this time if something went wrong. No more injuries, he wanted to go to the mountains.

[Maud A. Yancey]

" Tag? But you'd win AND break your face!" She pouts, Maud plops down on her butt and hugs her knees, sticking her tongue out at him

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

"True," he said confidently with a grin then signed and ducked his head, adding, "Also true." He hoped on his feet confused as to why she was on the ground, they were going to do something. "So I was totally thinking that since today is a relatively nice day, not a whole lot but thermals up there," he said his eyes turning upward, "I have an idea, something that will help us with both our powers. I need to learn how to deal with a changing atmosphere, and I think you can help with that. I don't wanna make assumptions, but that might help you train as well?" He asked his eyes bright and excited.

[Maud A. Yancey]

" Mhm!" Maud hums, rocking back and forth," I did this before with another angel, kinda helped him... So... Yeah ! Whatever!" Maud lies on her back and raises her hand to the sun," whatever..."

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

"Oh yeah? Who?" He asked, shrugging off the idea that she called him an angel. He was far from it. "Oh, hey Yancey, have you ever tried to use your power to fly?" He asked with curiousness bright in his eyes. That would be fun. He wasn't sure if it was possible, but if she could get some sort of cloth or something it could be possible if she gave enough of an updraft.

[Maud A. Yancey]

" His name was Gryphon," she replies softly and rubs her face with her hands. Maud withers a bit when he asks if she ever tried to fly... She had once but...

" nu-huh, besides haven't even used my max power yet. I'm just scared i'd end up tearing up... Everything," she purses her lips and covers her eyes with her arm," i could try, but we'd hafta go to a training room and you'd hafta stay close to me so i don't catch ya."

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

"Gryphon?" Ray tapped his chin and shrugged, sounded familiar but he couldn't put the face to the name. Ray cocked his head at her reaction. Raylaigh looked up at the sky thoughtfully. "It doesn't have to be everything," he theorized, "I mean clouds have concentrated updrafts, and those updrafts don't always have to come from the ground," he smiled at her. Ray bent over her and lifted her arm away from her eyes, "Maybe you just need a pair of wings." He smiled brightly and grabbed his bag and held out his hands for her to take. "C'mon let's go to a training room then, if you're not up for outside flying. I can give you some tips, I know wings and lift." He grinned encouragingly, he wasn't going to get hurt again, he was a little nervy about being inside, inside flying was always... tricky.

[Maud A. Yancey]

She puffs up her cheeks in a pout and whines," But I don't have a cape I can use! I wanna squirrel suit!" She grins and hugs his arm tightly," I'll take your arm instead... Keheheheheh~"

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Ray grinned, "So we'll get you a cape, oohh but a squirrel suit would be so much cooler. Alright Yancey, you and I are going to at some point find you a squirrel suit." He nodded decisively. Ray laughed and fluttered his wings and hovered for a moment, "Well, you can't have it," he laughed and tried to pull his arm out of her grasp. With his other hand he reached down and tickled her sides with a malicious laugh.

[Maud A. Yancey]

" Noooooooes!!!" She whines and eventually wiggles away, hissing like a cat though she grins

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Ray laughed and let her go. Raylaigh jumped back and up his wings catching him and shooting him upward. Ray definitely had the advantage here, but Yancey was not defenseless as he was flying in her domain. Flying always gave Raylaigh such joy and he threw his arms up doing a great loop before sliding to a stop and hovering, darting back and forth like a humming bird above her. The flyer grinned at her and pointed. "Dare you try to defeat me, Alien?" He laughed and his eyes flashed with humor as he waited to see if he could push her to use her power and they could then really get this show on the road. Ray brushed a hand lazily through his brown mess of hair and yawned as though bored.