Chapter 26

Tristan had just enough time that evening before dark to spend some time with Twilight. He brought the training saddle that had been assigned to him and practiced putting it on and off of Twilight. The skybax was patient with him for the most part, but she squawked in irritation and gave him a sharp peck on the head when he pulled the straps too tight. Tristan rubbed the sore spot on his head and decided to bring the goggles and helmet with him next time. Even though it hurt when she pecked him, he figured she was just letting him know the discomfort she was feeling too. It was a learning process for them both.

He brought her more fish tidbits and gave them to her as an apology when he messed up with the straps. After a while, he felt a little more familiar with the process and Twilight seemed more relaxed the last time he strapped the saddle to her back and took it off again. Keeping Mr. Denison's instructions in mind, he decided to leave things on a good note and not push too hard even though he longed to practice some more. He propped up the saddle against a boulder nearby and fed the last pieces of fish to Twilight before they both settled down near the cliff's edge to watch the sunset.

The skybax whistled softly as the colors in the sky gained intensity. There were other cadets, more advanced ones, making quick last flights for the evening. Tristan pointed to them and turned to give Twilight a longing look. She responded by touching a wing tip to his beginner rider sign stitched to his shirt sleeve.

"We could go now though." Tristan said. "I trust you." He gently rubbed the back of her neck where he'd learned she liked to be scratched. It still irked him that Mathias had managed to get a flight in before him and until he got into that saddle, he remained behind Mathias.

Twilight closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the rub, but she soon opened them again and walked near the cliff edge. Tristan stayed behind, not willing to follow her that close to the edge. It was dangerous, especially if she decided to take flight. He didn't want to get hit by her wings and knocked over the edge.

The skybax looked back at him as if expecting him to follow. Tristan swallowed hard and felt his heartbeat escalate. Surely she didn't mean for him to come so close to the edge with her. Besides, the saddle wasn't even on at the moment. It lay off to side leaned up against the rock where he'd left it from earlier. Then he realized that he'd told the skybax that he trusted her, but did he really? He'd have to prove it.

Slowly, cautiously, he stepped closer. Twilight just blinked and waited. Knowing it was unwise to approach the edge standing up, Tristan dropped to his knees and crawled forward until he was next to the skybax. The jagged edge of the cliff loomed before him, much too close for comfort. The last time he'd been this close to the edge, a skybax nearly sent him over the edge and this memory made it impossible to hide the fear in his eyes. Dark Wing had knocked him around with his wings, toying with him. What would Twilight do? He knew she was testing his trust in her. She lifted a wing and he cringed, but held his ground. She lowered it again, this time laying her wing over him, and patted his side gently.

Tristan responded by scooting in closer to her. She sighed in satisfaction and ruffled the white patch of hair on his head with her wing claws. Tristan let his breath out in a whoosh, disappointed in himself as he realized that as much as he wanted to fly with her, he wasn't ready just yet. Just thinking about going out over the edge and into open space made his stomach feel weak. He would be on her back, secured in the saddle, but it would be terrifying all the same. His senses told him that Twilight knew he wasn't quite ready yet too, but being this close and having to trust her to be aware of his presence and his vulnerability to the edge helped their bond grow stronger.

As the days passed, Tristan worked harder and grew stronger and surer of himself. The bond between him and Twilight grew stronger, but he always missed Dark Wing. Even though he'd only seen the elusive skybax a total of only three times, it was hard to let him go. He knew deep down that if Dark Wing really was a rogue skybax, it was best to avoid him. He wanted to ask Bix or Will to give him more details about the nocturnal skybaxes, but didn't want to risk upsetting them again.

As Tristan struggled with his feelings, Twilight seemed to notice that something was amiss, but Tristan wasn't sure how to tell her in a way that she would understand. Also, he was afraid that if Bix and Will's words were true, Twilight would be upset at him for wanting to get to know a skybax that she and the rest of the canyon skybaxes tried to keep out of their territory.

Then one day Tristan found Taddeo bent over a sketchbook, expertly drawing a picture of a skybax. Tristan was impressed with the guy's skill and asked if he would give him some tips. Taddeo was pleased that someone had taken interest in his art and in turn produced a fresh book of blank paper and some stubs of charcoal and set Tristan to work.

Tristan, eager to use this as a means to communicate with Twilight, began filling the pages with sketches of her and himself and the canyons. It wasn't long before he realized that he wanted to color his pictures so that when he showed Twilight she would know one skybax from another. After asking Taddeo about it, the young man brought him to a villager who had just what he needed: a little box of colored wax crayons. But the man was not an easy negotiator and Tristan left with the box of crayons, feeling like he'd come out on the worse end of the bargain seeing as now he'd lost his belt. Now he had to make do with a course piece of rope until he came up with the means to get a good belt again.

In the beginning, Tristan's drawings were rough, but improved rapidly the more he worked at it. He often brought them to Taddeo, asking for more advice and tips. Taddeo willingly helped him with the art, but was more interested in the pictures than Tristan felt comfortable with.

"Come on, Tristan, I'm not dumb. I know you haven't put that nocturnal skybax out of your mind." Taddeo said. It was supper time and the two sat at a table together in the diner, both with sketch books spread out on the table instead of Beginner Rider training notes. Sometimes it was nice to indulge in moments outside of training.

Tristan closed his sketch book. "Well, no, I haven't, but I've been a good little cadet and haven't broken any more rules." He said in an irritated tone.

Taddeo raised an eyebrow. "Really? You've lasted that long?"

"Yes." Tristan growled. "After that night I stayed out in the canyons too long, our instructor made it clear that I needed to keep away from that skybax."

"I can tell you have mixed feelings about it though." Taddeo said. "Something tells me you're looking for another chance to search for him."

"I want to, but…well…now there's Twilight." Tristan stared down at the half finished sketch of the skybax he'd been getting to know beneath the light of the sun, rather than the moon.

"Whew. That's tough." Taddeo said, rubbing his forehead, unknowingly spreading a smear of charcoal across his face.

Tristan groaned. "No advice?"

Taddeo shrugged. "Well…you and Twilight seem to have a great bond going on. However, after you said the night skybax saved your life you mentioned feeling dedicated to him. If you're bound to the night skybax it's not really fair to keep going like you are with Twilight. I'd say the real question at this point would be are you really bound to either one of them?"

"I don't think that helped." Tristan said, closing his sketch book. "Maybe there's some way to bond with both."

Taddeo just shook his head. "I don't think so."

Tristan ran his fingers along the surface of his sketch book. "Maybe if I showed each depiction here to them, they would understand somehow."

"Or maybe they would feel betrayed."

Tristan sighed. "Whatever happened to all your positive input?"

"Oh it's still there." Taddeo said. "I'm positive that if you continue to try and juggle two skybax bonds, you're only setting yourself up for failure."

Tristan stood up and gathered his things. "I'm going to find some way to make this work." He said determinedly.

Taddeo sighed. "Good luck then. When things go sour at least you'll remember that your friend tried to warn you."

"Thanks, Tadd." Tristan said.

"For what?"

"For not stopping me."

As the days and nights passed, Tristan worked on the sketchbook whenever he got a chance. He sketched pictures of Twilight and himself and their progress in their training together. He also drew Dark Wing and depicted the events of the night skybax helping him outside of the pit. He knew that when the time was right, he would show the pictures to Twilight and hope that she could get the message and understand what was going on. In turn, he would show the book to the night skybax if he saw him again and hoped that he too would understand. But Tristan didn't have the sketchbook ready and didn't get a chance to show the book to either one of the skybaxes before it was time to pack up and head out to Skybax Camp for a few days for hang glider training.

End of Part I

(coming next: Part II

Challenges of Flight)