Flight

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Husky hated flying with Cooro.

That particular decision didn't come right away, though. The first time he had ever flown with Cooro, he actually really enjoyed it. It was a great feeling… At least, that is, until his crow friend STOPPED FLYING. Husky had never particularly liked heights after that. To top it all off, Cooro always seemed to be the one to carry him when flying was necessary, and after the whole 'giving up and plummeting to the earth' incident when they first met, Husky didn't particularly trust him to keep both of them in the air. Not that Nana would be much better; she could barely carry an axe a few feet, and besides, she was a girl. If there was one person he wanted to avoid getting really close to it was her. You know, girl cooties and all.

Husky put up with being airborne because, well, otherwise he'd get left behind. If there was one thing worse than entrusting your life to Cooro, it was being abandoned by your friends in a foreign country.

Somehow, he still wished Nana would help carry him. Grab his ankles or something. Not that he wanted her touching him of course, he just needed security. If Cooro dropped him, there would be someone else holding on.

The point is, it's a horrible experience.

"No way; I'm not crossing that. We are going to find another path even if it kills us."

Obviously, the idea of flying NOW was not any more appealing than it usually was. Actually, now it was downright terrifying.

"Please? It's not that far! You'll be back on land in no time!" Nana was trying to convince him to cross the ravine, but there was no way he'd crack at the word of a girl.

"Forget it; I'm not doing it." Husky was dead set. He dramatically planted his feet into the grass, and pointed down at his toes. "I am not going to budge from this spot unless he walk away to find another path."

"C'mon Husky!" Cooro's turn to try and convince him otherwise. "Don't worry! I'll be carrying you the whole time!"

"Why do you think I don't want to cross?!"

Cooro frowned in a hurt manner. "But… You never usually complain…" he mused, scratching his chin. Husky drug a palm down his face.

"Usually we aren't flying over a trench that's so deep I'd probably die falling before I hit the bottom."

"Huskyyy," Nana whined, tugging on her companion's sleeve. "Senri's already crossed! We can't just walk away and leave him on the other side!"

"Psh. Yeah, greedy bastard broke the bridge- OW!" Husky rubbed his arm, glaring hotly at the girl who'd just slammed her fist into his bicep.

"You either fly or get left behind. Pick one." Nana put her fists on her hips, clearly not in the mood for one of their usual arguments.

Husky almost had to ponder his answer.

"Ok. Bye then."

Cooro blinked, his face contorting into a surprised expression. He frowned as he turned away towards the cliff face; Husky could swear he saw some sadness in the look, but he couldn't be positive. Nana hmped a 'fine' in response, then trotted off after Cooro's slightly dragging feet without so much as a goodbye. The fish anima merely crossed his arms moodily, watching them go with a stubborn look.

As the two spread their wings and leapt off the cliff face, he found a surge of panic crack through his body.

They were actually leaving him?!

"Wait!" he blurted, hurrying towards the edge. When they turned and looked back, he found himself recoiling. His cheeks pinked slightly as he rubbed his head. "Ah.. Fine. Ok. Whatever. I'll fly across. Geeze."

Cooro grinned merrily as he fluttered back over to the grass, touching down not too far from where Husky stood. In one movement, he hurried around the boy, clamped his arms around his waist, and hoisted both of their weights off the grass and into the air. Husky eeped, not expecting take-off to be so sudden, and dug his fingers into Cooro's arms.

"W-wait! I wasn't ready! Put me down!!" he squeaked, wiggling a bit. The crow didn't seem to listen, and started back to where Nana was hovering over the open ravine. The three started to venture towards the other cliff, where Senri was watching intently from the grass.

All Husky could see was Cooro letting go and letting him plunge to his death. Panicking, he began struggling more. Oh yeah, what a smart kid.

"Cooro I swear to god if you let go-!" he cried, practically trying to climb onto the boy's head in fear. Cooro, in turn, grunted heavily and sunk a little.

"Husky stop!" he pleaded, jerking down to the right. "I can't carry you if you're moving!"

"If you let go I swear I'll kill you!"

Noticing the commotion, Nana squeaked frightenedly and zipped over to the struggle. She immediately dove underneath Husky and tried to push the two bodies up into a higher elevation, but the fact she was touching Husky seemed to make everything worse. After receiving a flew blows to the head and stomach from Husky's flailing limbs, she gave up on the idea she'd be able to push them up to safety. Thinking quickly, she pulled the ribbon from the edge of her bonnet.

"Cooro! Grab on!" she called, holding out one end to the quickly tiring boy. Immediately obeying, Cooro tightened his grip on Husky with his left arm, and used the right and grab a hold of the ribbon. The two boys were quickly jerked back to the nearby bank, Nana towing them up and over to the calm grass. Once fully over a safe landing area, Cooro let go of the ribbon and let himself fall the few inches to the grass. Once connecting harshly with the earth, Husky basically fell limp in his friend's still tight grasp.

"Sweet, heavenly land…" he breathed, reaching one arm out to death grip onto a handful of grass. After a moment, Cooro released Husky's waist and rolled onto his back, panting heavily.

Husky only got to be pressed comfortingly into the earth for a few moments, since Nana was quick to yank on his cloak.

"What the hell are you thinking?!" she screamed, shoving her fists on her hips in her usual 'angry girl' pose. Husky grunted and rubbed his neck, sitting up into a cross-legged position.

"I was THINKING that I didn't want to DIE," he spat back, his breathing a little heavy form the struggle as well.

"Oh what, and making it impossible for Cooro to carry you keeps you from dying?!" She flicked him harshly on the forehead. "Idiot! You could have gotten BOTH of you killed!"

"It's ok Nana," Cooro panted, rolling onto his stomach. He had an odd smile on his face as he tried to catch his breath. "It was my fault. I should know better by now than to pick him up so suddenly like that."

Nana pouted stubbornly at her friend accepting the blame. "But it's Husky's fault he panicked!"

Husky shot to his feet defensively. "YOU try and stay calm while being carted over a HUGE TRENCH OF DEATH."

"Oh shut up, you baby," Nana huffed, crossing her arms. "I do it all the time."

Some angry beast in Husky snarled fiercely in response. Unfortunately, all he could do to counter the girl in a way that was actually threatening was glare daggers at her and clench his fists, and even then it was a sad sight. There was an intense moment of silence, where Cooro was scratching his chin and his companions were having a silent, rather mature 'threatening face battle'. After fully catching his breath, Cooro stood from his place and smiled happily.

"You were scared because you could see down into the ravine, right Husky?" he asked brightly. Husky looked at him, but only responded with a stubborn expression. Nana rolled her eyes. Oh, so NOW he wasn't so quick to admit fear?

"Well, what if I just carried you differently?"

Husky practically jumped away. "NO. I am NOT going to let you guys take me back out over that ravine. No WAY."

Nana drug a hand down her visage as Cooro frowned. It wasn't a normal frown; after spending so long with the crow it was almost immediately recognizable as part of his rather effective puppy-dog pout.

"But Huskkyy," he whined rather cutely, grabbing onto the boy's hands. Husky's cheeks quickly pinked again. Why, he didn't know, but he quickly tried to pull his hands away so he could turn so Nana didn't tease him. "You said you'd let us fly you across! I promised I wouldn't drop you! We can try my idea, and if it doesn't work we'll stay here and find another way, ok?"

Nana's jaw dropped at the offer. "But Cooro-!"

"Ok Husky?"

Husky looked away, furrowing his brow stiffly in thought. It took him a few moments of thought, but he decided, reluctantly, to let himself be flown across. He crossed his arms in an annoyed manner and huffed.

"Okay, what's this 'idea' of yours?"

Cooro smiled calmly and stepped forward, positioning himself rather close to his friend's front. Husky stared at him awkwardly, leaning back a bit. "Uhm…?"

"You ready?" Cooro asked, readjusting his goggles.

Husky eyed him wearily, but hesitantly nodded in response. Nana giggled merrily at the prince's squawk of surprise when the crow wrapped his arms around him in a firm embrace.

"Wh-why're you-?!" Husky stumbled, his face darkening in color, clearly not expecting it.

"Ready Nana?" Cooro called, looking back towards said girl as he tightened his grip around Husky's waist in preparation for flight. At her amused nod, he kicked off from the ground and sent the two of them back into the air. "This way you can't look down, and if you get scared you can hold on!"

Husky gritted his teeth. Damn. Now he didn't have an excuse.

Oddly enough, it didn't take long for Husky to get comfortable in Cooro's hold. He had to admit, flying with his face towards the sky was oddly comforting. Somehow, he felt more secure and less paranoid of falling. The air rushing past his head didn't feel threatening anymore… It was very odd.

Cooro's flight jerked a bit at a sudden change in wind, causing Husky's heart to basically jump into his throat. His arms immediately flew around his carrier's neck, his muscles tensing as he suddenly remembered he was hundred of feet above a promised death. He buried his face into Cooro's shoulder, suddenly not wanting to watch the clouds move either.

"It's ok, I got you," Cooro cooed gently, smiling softly as they neared the end of their journey across the ravine. Husky inwardly growled at hearing a stifled snickering from some feet away. Obviously Nana.

Senri backed away from the edge of the cliff as his three friends touched down, making sure they had plenty of space between them and the ledge. Cooro unwrapped his arms from Husky's waist and tried to push away, but found the boy still clinging to his neck. He blinked a bit.

"Husky, we landed. You can let go now," he said, glancing over at a still rather amused Nana as she tried very hard not to laugh. Husky lifted his face from his friend's shoulder, blinked, then quickly let go and backed away.

"Yay, let's go now please," he snapped moodily, turning quickly and stalking away, rubbing his nose to cover his now rather red face. Damn, why'd he get so lost in thought? Was he really THAT comfortable flying like that?

Nana giggled merrily and skipped after. "You're such a girl, Husky," she teased, looking back to make sure Senri and Cooro were following.

"No I'm not! Shut up!" he yelled heatedly, clenching his fists as he picked up the pace. He kept his head down, in case Nana fully caught up and tried to look at his face.

Senri seemed a little puzzled, and looked down at the crow for some kind of explanation. Cooro merely smiled brightly, linking his fingers behind his head.

"Don't worry about it," he assured, smirking as he watched Nana and Husky bicker.

Something told him that wasn't the last time he'd carry Husky like that.

Not that he minded, of course.


A/N: .. UH. UH. UH. I have no excuse for this drabble. It just kind of happened. DON'T HATE ME LOL. I KNOW I SHOULD BE WORKING ON BETA TESTING.

R&R = love.