Chapter 35
That day, Croco and the other beginners took their training flights into the canyon immediately. Everything went fine at the beginning for Croco and Speedwing, but about an hour into the flight, the Skybax did a half-loop and started flying upside down.
"Dammit," Croco thought to himself, "this is what Oolu warned me about!" He tried not to be scared, but with the Amu River more than six thousand feet below him, it was very difficult for him not to be. Croco gritted his teeth and held on to Speedwing's neck. It didn't affect him as he continued this for about three minutes and when he turned right-side up again, the pterosaur let out a long, piercing cry. Speedwing flew back to the rookery and landed right next to where Oolu and Lightwing were waiting.
"I was watching you the whole time," Oolu said, "and don't tell me you were the least bit scared of falling off." Croco smiled and almost broke into laughter, but didn't as he tightened the straps holding the saddle to Speedwing.
"I wasn't scared the least bit," he told him, "I knew that Speedwing wanted to see if I had any fear of heights. I may have held onto his neck a little snugly but I wasn't frightened at all. Call it Speedwing's initiation to life in the sky for me." Oolu sighed and walked off as he was at a loss of words. He knew that the dolphinback was smarter than he originally thought and would go far...even as far as to hold his position of Habitat Partner someday in the future. Then he came back to Croco.
"Your youth masks the great wisdom you possess," Oolu said to him. "To make it far as a Skybax Rider, true you must be brave, but more importantly you must be wise. Knowing what you're doing means the difference between life and death for both of you." He patted Croco on the shoulder while he went off to see Speedwing off. Even though they were starting to bond, the Skybax still maintained a fiery independence and would screech and flap his wings threateningly when someone, even Croco on occasion, would get too close to him. When they got to Speedwing's designated roosting pen, he walked in but before his rider left, he lowered his beak so that he was eye-to-eye with Croco. The young man could feel a tear in his eye as he was starting to bond with Speedwing too.
"Goodnight boy," he said, kissing his beak, "I love you and we'll fly again tomorrow." Croco hugged the massive beak and went off, but not before he turned back to see Speedwing waving one of his enormous wings in an emotional good-bye.
The next couple of weeks saw the cadets learn to climb. Croco was paired along with three others with Alynna, the rider he met on the first day of class. Her bright blue eyes and child-like smile concealed the fact that she was a hard, yet forgiving instructor. Croco was able to master the small climbing wall, however a young man by the name of Ezrah Hallna had a lot of difficulty with it. A boy of only fourteen summers from a city on the northeast coast called Prosperine, Ezrah showed a lot of promise aboard his mount named Valkyrie. But he couldn't quite grasp the training wall, so Croco and Alynna help him and before long, he was reaching the top with relative ease.
They also spent a lot of time in the classroom learning about wind currents and clouds, something Croco found uninteresting as he already knew those like the back of his hand. He kept thinking about Speedwing as the flights were becoming shorter and less frequent. However Croco also knew that any unauthorized flights would be met with harsh reprimands or even be sent back to Treetown to be retrained. He thought about it but thought it would be best to wait.
Still the weeks zoomed by and Alynna had taken control of the class for horizontal climbing over Canyon City. And like on the training wall, Croco proved to be one of the better climbers. Still he felt that he should be in the air instead of the rocks. One day after a training flight, Croco proceeded to hunt down Oolu, but it took him a long time to find him.
"Aye, Croco?" Oolu said when he caught eye of him. Croco put his hands on his hips.
"I feel like this training is holding me back," he said kind of angrily, "I learned all this stuff when I became a pilot in the outside world. I came here..." Oolu put a hand up and instantly he fell silent.
"Flying in a metal bird is a far cry from riding on the back of a pterosaur," Oolu said, staring down Croco as if to dare him to say something. "Speedwing will let you know when he's ready." Croco smiled.
"I feel like I'm ready," he said confidently. But Oolu took him by the shoulder and led him out into the street.
"You may feel like you're ready, but in order to truly prove that you are of the sky, you must learn what it's like to fly without the aid of your Skybax." Croco laughed at that statement.
"Anyone can see that we can't fly," he said. "In fact..."
"But you can climb..." Oolu snapped, "...and very well from what I hear from Alynna. And you can also carry a backpack. You must also learn what it's like to carry a heavy weight on your back as well." He turned to face the southwest and pointed to the sky. "Up there...up in the Forbidden Mountains...there's a place called the Tentpole of the Sky. Many Riders, I included, have made the long journey to the Tentpole, but only one other dolphinback has done it and that was well before your time began. I shall see to it that you go to the Tentpole, but think of Speedwing when you make the climb...you'll win a friend for life from it." Croco sighed as he thought about Oolu's offer. He knew vaguely about the Tentpole, yet wanted to find out more about it so he went ahead and accepted the challenge. Still, he was a little skeptical about it afterwards.
"I'm a Dolphinback, remember?" he said nervously, "and I'm no mountaineer by any sense." Oolu smiled and introduced him to his guide.
"That's where I come in..." It was Alynna, much to Croco's surprise and delight. "Who better than a lass like me to take an Irishman to the top of the world?" Alynna then told Croco that she had visited the Tentpole many times in her eighty-four summers and enjoyed the serenity of the place. She also told him that's how she earned her apprenticeship and solidified the bond with her Skybax named Starlight. So they agreed that Croco would make the journey to the Tentpole of the Sky when the training period was completed and parted ways.
That day, Croco and the other beginners took their training flights into the canyon immediately. Everything went fine at the beginning for Croco and Speedwing, but about an hour into the flight, the Skybax did a half-loop and started flying upside down.
"Dammit," Croco thought to himself, "this is what Oolu warned me about!" He tried not to be scared, but with the Amu River more than six thousand feet below him, it was very difficult for him not to be. Croco gritted his teeth and held on to Speedwing's neck. It didn't affect him as he continued this for about three minutes and when he turned right-side up again, the pterosaur let out a long, piercing cry. Speedwing flew back to the rookery and landed right next to where Oolu and Lightwing were waiting.
"I was watching you the whole time," Oolu said, "and don't tell me you were the least bit scared of falling off." Croco smiled and almost broke into laughter, but didn't as he tightened the straps holding the saddle to Speedwing.
"I wasn't scared the least bit," he told him, "I knew that Speedwing wanted to see if I had any fear of heights. I may have held onto his neck a little snugly but I wasn't frightened at all. Call it Speedwing's initiation to life in the sky for me." Oolu sighed and walked off as he was at a loss of words. He knew that the dolphinback was smarter than he originally thought and would go far...even as far as to hold his position of Habitat Partner someday in the future. Then he came back to Croco.
"Your youth masks the great wisdom you possess," Oolu said to him. "To make it far as a Skybax Rider, true you must be brave, but more importantly you must be wise. Knowing what you're doing means the difference between life and death for both of you." He patted Croco on the shoulder while he went off to see Speedwing off. Even though they were starting to bond, the Skybax still maintained a fiery independence and would screech and flap his wings threateningly when someone, even Croco on occasion, would get too close to him. When they got to Speedwing's designated roosting pen, he walked in but before his rider left, he lowered his beak so that he was eye-to-eye with Croco. The young man could feel a tear in his eye as he was starting to bond with Speedwing too.
"Goodnight boy," he said, kissing his beak, "I love you and we'll fly again tomorrow." Croco hugged the massive beak and went off, but not before he turned back to see Speedwing waving one of his enormous wings in an emotional good-bye.
The next couple of weeks saw the cadets learn to climb. Croco was paired along with three others with Alynna, the rider he met on the first day of class. Her bright blue eyes and child-like smile concealed the fact that she was a hard, yet forgiving instructor. Croco was able to master the small climbing wall, however a young man by the name of Ezrah Hallna had a lot of difficulty with it. A boy of only fourteen summers from a city on the northeast coast called Prosperine, Ezrah showed a lot of promise aboard his mount named Valkyrie. But he couldn't quite grasp the training wall, so Croco and Alynna help him and before long, he was reaching the top with relative ease.
They also spent a lot of time in the classroom learning about wind currents and clouds, something Croco found uninteresting as he already knew those like the back of his hand. He kept thinking about Speedwing as the flights were becoming shorter and less frequent. However Croco also knew that any unauthorized flights would be met with harsh reprimands or even be sent back to Treetown to be retrained. He thought about it but thought it would be best to wait.
Still the weeks zoomed by and Alynna had taken control of the class for horizontal climbing over Canyon City. And like on the training wall, Croco proved to be one of the better climbers. Still he felt that he should be in the air instead of the rocks. One day after a training flight, Croco proceeded to hunt down Oolu, but it took him a long time to find him.
"Aye, Croco?" Oolu said when he caught eye of him. Croco put his hands on his hips.
"I feel like this training is holding me back," he said kind of angrily, "I learned all this stuff when I became a pilot in the outside world. I came here..." Oolu put a hand up and instantly he fell silent.
"Flying in a metal bird is a far cry from riding on the back of a pterosaur," Oolu said, staring down Croco as if to dare him to say something. "Speedwing will let you know when he's ready." Croco smiled.
"I feel like I'm ready," he said confidently. But Oolu took him by the shoulder and led him out into the street.
"You may feel like you're ready, but in order to truly prove that you are of the sky, you must learn what it's like to fly without the aid of your Skybax." Croco laughed at that statement.
"Anyone can see that we can't fly," he said. "In fact..."
"But you can climb..." Oolu snapped, "...and very well from what I hear from Alynna. And you can also carry a backpack. You must also learn what it's like to carry a heavy weight on your back as well." He turned to face the southwest and pointed to the sky. "Up there...up in the Forbidden Mountains...there's a place called the Tentpole of the Sky. Many Riders, I included, have made the long journey to the Tentpole, but only one other dolphinback has done it and that was well before your time began. I shall see to it that you go to the Tentpole, but think of Speedwing when you make the climb...you'll win a friend for life from it." Croco sighed as he thought about Oolu's offer. He knew vaguely about the Tentpole, yet wanted to find out more about it so he went ahead and accepted the challenge. Still, he was a little skeptical about it afterwards.
"I'm a Dolphinback, remember?" he said nervously, "and I'm no mountaineer by any sense." Oolu smiled and introduced him to his guide.
"That's where I come in..." It was Alynna, much to Croco's surprise and delight. "Who better than a lass like me to take an Irishman to the top of the world?" Alynna then told Croco that she had visited the Tentpole many times in her eighty-four summers and enjoyed the serenity of the place. She also told him that's how she earned her apprenticeship and solidified the bond with her Skybax named Starlight. So they agreed that Croco would make the journey to the Tentpole of the Sky when the training period was completed and parted ways.