He could remember the way his father looked. It was a fading memory, one that he was outgrowing… but he clung to it tightly with no desire to let it go. His father was a tall man—taller than Pipit ever grew to be. He was a little stronger, a little smarter. He had just as many freckles as Pipit did, but his hair was a dark, almost ash brown compared to the chocolate-y color of Pipit's.
His father's name was Jay, and he was a knight too. He used to wear a deep red uniform, and he was one of the Academy's first graduates. He was part of the first graduating class. His father's voice was deeper than Pipit's. It was low and fluid. He could hardly remember what it sounded like at all.
Pipit's father died at the 20th anniversary celebration. He was supposed to just perform a routine stunt—with the rest of the knights of his class. It didn't go well. All he was supposed to do was to dive off the light house. To dive, and fall a few hundred feet—then call his bird and swoop back up in a loop de loop. That didn't happen. He completed his dive, and everyone could hear him whistle shrilly for the bird… and yet… the bird never came. Other knights rushed around. Some broke from their routines, others who were stationed on the ground tried to help too. Even a few of the current academy seniors tried to do it.
But no one caught Jay before he dropped through the cloud barrier.
Then, at the 30th anniversary, five years after Pipit had graduated, and ten years after his father died, the Headmaster finally found the courage to ask Pipit it take part in the aviation performance. To not only be part of the ceremony that killed his father—but to play the exact same role that he had played.
But for some reason he didn't say no. In fact, he agreed with a smile. He could do this. He was twenty five years old! Hell, he was an adult, a married man, about to be a father… he could totally do this.
He was nervous the whole day of the event. His hands were sweating, he was pacing. Once or twice his wife had to give him a swat to the head to wake him up from his nerves. She assured him he would be fine, but that wasn't what scared him.
He knew he would be fine. They were aware of the surface now—and he had a sail cloth. Even if for some reason his bird—who was also named Jay, after his father—did not come to catch him… he could just float safely to the ground after a terrifying free fall.
What scared him was living up to his father's skills. His father wasn't a night flyer—his father was just a sky knight. In the daylight. Half of his job was looking good! He felt his stomach knot and he looked down over the light house. In a moment, a whistle would sound and he would jump off of the platform. He would dive a few hundred feet, call his bird… and loop de loop.
He had chosen to wear his father's uniform. It was a little bit long for him—just an inch or so—but he felt safe in it. Close to his father. Obviously it wasn't the one he was wearing when he died. They'd never found Pipit's father, or his body. He was just wearing one of the spares he had. Every knight had at least two or three, for laundry's sake.
He'd earned a few questioning looks from his peers. Karane mentioned he looked good in red—Groose said he looked like a strawberry with the freckles… And then there was the Headmaster.
He'd said something too. He stopped walking and did a double take at Pipit. Stared at the brunette, standing before him in the red uniform. It was a little bit of a different style than the new ones—the shirt beneath the deep red tunic wasn't white, but instead a lighter shade of red, almost pink. It had a v-neck, unlike his yellow tunic with a deep round neckline. The bottom half of the uniform was more like tights than pants. Only a few of the other knights still wore that style—most of their uniforms had been updated with time.
"Pipit?" the headmaster cried, a smile on his face.
Pipit put up his hands. "I know—it's not my uniform. I just really think it would honor him and—…" He was interrupted when the older man grinned at him.
"For a moment, I thought I was looking at Jay again. I never noticed before… but you look just like your father."
Pipit was elated to hear such a thing. Thrilled that he could possibly make his father proud. Ecstatic that he looked like the man he'd always admired.
So there he stood, staring out over the sky and standing in the last place his father ever stood, about to do the last thing his father ever did, wearing one of the last things his father ever wore. He closed his eyes when he heard the whistle, and smiled into the wind.
He was healed. He was finally over the death of his father.
And he jumped.