"Haven't you ever heard of the word 'saddle'?" Jessie asked.
A few of the time-travelers were gathered on the top of a cliff. The breeze was warm and seemed to go upward. Of course, that was what the amusement park planet was for: giving a person exactly what they want. Allison, Damian, and the two dragons wanted to test out some wings.
Jessie, Karin, Steve, and Kat stood off to the left. Monica, Cheryl, Sam, and Kristian were on the right. The two bronze dragons and their Vulcan padmiris were in the middle, at the edge of the cliff.
"Oh, come on," Allison said, lightly springing into the air and landing squarely on Cobalt's back. "Cobalt won't let me fall. Besides, a saddle would take too long to make."
"Precisely," Illumina said as Damian climbed up onto her back.
Both the dragons had synthrope loosely wrapped around their necks. The Vulcan officers would use it to stay on their respective dragon's back while in the air.
"What makes you so sure you can fly on them, anyway?" Monica asked.
"The Dream showed us," Cobalt answered simply.
Allison ignored the other officers and turned to Damian instead. "You ready?"
"Not really, but I guess this is as close as I'll ever get."
"Don't worry, Damian," Illumina added helpfully. "I won't let you fall. Just hold on tight and you'll be fine. Just don't snap the synthrope."
"Oh, I just know I'll have to patch at least one of you guys up..." Steve muttered. The dragons grinned, and then crouched down closer to the ground.
Allison and Damian tightened their grips on the synthrope and leaned as far down on their dragons' necks as was possible, so the thick neck ridges wouldn't hurt them as the dragons would begin their leap upward.
Cobalt and Illumina seemed to compact their bodies, becoming two solid masses of muscle. They extended their wings to nearly a forty-two foot wingspan. Their hind claws dug into the rocks as their forepaws were clenched tightly to their chests. The officers on the ground took this as a hint to move back.
And it was a good thing they did. As if from an unseen signal, both dragons leaped skyward so fast that they became nothing but two bronze blurs, streaking toward the sky. The two Vulcans desperately clung to the synthrope as the dragons swept their wings downward, increasing their speed and nearly doubling it.
After a few seconds of ascension, though it seemed like an eternity, the dragons leveled off their flight near the bottom of a few clouds.
"That was COOL!"
Damian finally opened his eyes at Allison's gleeful shout, and the first thing he saw was bronze scales. He moved his head over to see past Illumina's neck, and saw the ground far below. "...eep!"
Illumina's amusement swiftly became obvious. Are you afraid of heights? she asked him telepathically.
"No, I'm afraid of depths."
"Depths?" Allison called over from a few yards away, obviously having heard his quote.
"It's not what's up here that's going to hurt me, it's what's down there." Allison's amusement was also clear through the Bond as he said that. "And...weren't you afraid of heights, way back when?"
She looked over at him and grinned. Hey, it's been fifteen years, her voice said in his head, startling him. Gimme a break. I've been places where I've learned to deal with heights, thankfully.
How are you doing that? he thought back toward her, not expecting a reply.
Same way you are! she shot back. It's called a Bond . I'm sure you know what THAT means.
Of course I do!
Cobalt abruptly went into a dive, spilling air from his wings and spiraling down toward the ground in what seemed to be a tailspin. However, when he came within a few yards of the cliff, he opened his wings again and bolted skyward again without even one flap of his wings. Illumina instantly took this as a challenge, and she dove to intercept.
"Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick!"
~~~~~~~
After a few minutes of nothing but flying like a pair of fighter jets, the two dragons rocketed skyward again and came to a relative stop somewhere within the cloud cover.
Damian looked slightly greener than usual. "Whoo boy...I don't think THAT will be easy to get used to..."
Allison, on the other hand, looked positively thrilled. "That was AWESOME! Let's do it again!"
"Oh, no you don't! I've had more than enough for today!"
She glanced over at him and chuckled. "What, are you getting airsick or something?"
"Probably..."
"Oh, fine. You and Illumina head back down. Cobalt and I are gonna fool around a bit more." At her words, Cobalt flew slightly closer to Illumina. Allison reached over and wrapped two of her fingers around two of his. "I'll be okay, Deletham . Don't freak out or anything." Letting go, she and Cobalt took a downward plunge from the cloud cover. Illumina began a slow spiral down towards the cliff, coasting on the warm breeze.
Allison grinned as the breeze blew her hair around. "What say we test out your aerial battle capabilities?" she asked the bronze dragon.
"Sounds good to me. What do you have in mind?"
On cue, a dozen Orion atmospheric fighters blazed into view. The needle-like ships zipped around then, weapons charging.
"A challenge!" Cobalt said, amused. "This, I like. Hang ten, we're going in!"
~~~~~~~
Illumina landed on the ledge with not as much as a thud. Damian hopped off and unwrapped the synthrope from the dragon's neck. He rubbed her eye ridge and patted her neck. "Thanks for the ride," he said.
"My privilege," Illumina responded, ebony eyes glinting amusement.
"Where's Ael?" Jessie demanded nervously.
Damian only looked up at the bronze speck in the sky, surrounded by several green-silver specks. He shook his head, exasperated. Will you ever stop finding trouble? he sent up to the captain.
Not on your life! she sent back, laughing mentally. And then Cobalt dove and twisted between fighters, lobbing acid projectiles at the mini ships. Damian caught a sense of excitement from them both, and smiled as he saw five of the fighters explode under the onslaught.
Nice aim! he commented.
Thank you, sir Damos! she answered immediately, and she sent a mental picture of herself saluting. He suppressed a laugh, and Jessie glanced over at him with an odd expression on her face. He just shrugged in response.
Within five minutes, all the Orion fighters were smoldering wrecks in the cliffside. Cobalt buzzed the officers once, then came down for a slower landing on the edge of the rock. Both dragon and padmiri were smiling as Allison vaulted off the bronze dragon's back. "Well, that was a new one on me!" she laughed, and Cobalt rumbled in agreement. The Vulcan captain untied the synthrope from Cobalt's neck, tossing it to the side. It vanished with a slight slurping sound into one of the planetary vents. No one really noticed.
Cobalt scratched at the scales on his arm. "Blasted alien wind...it itches like crazy."
Allison lightly smacked him on the shoulder. "Oh, put up and shut up. It could be worse."
"True."
Allison looked over at Damian and Illumina, who simultaneously attempted to look disinterested and innocent. "Well, whaddya want to do now?"
Damian shrugged. "Whatever you want, Ael-kam."
Allison stared at him. Baka! They don't know yet!
Damian winced. Oops...oh well, might as well make the best of it.
Jessie and Karin stared at the two in disbelief. Both Vulcans shot strangely smug looks in their direction that clearly said "say one word and you're dead meat."
The other nearby officers exchanged confused glances, but everything became clear a moment later when, in total disregard of their audience, the two Vulcan officers touched their fingers together in a traditional Vulcan husband-and-wife sign.
Allison smirked. "Oh, did we forget to tell you? Damian and I are Bonded now."
"Exactly," Damian added enthusiastically, and the two shared a kiss in front of the entire group. Finally coming up for air, they continued to ignore the rest of the officers. "Well, shall we go find something better to do?" Damian suggested.
"Sounds good to me." Sending one last grin to the others, she catapulted onto Cobalt's back and grabbed onto his neck ridge. Damian did the same with Illumina, and the two were off like they'd been shot from a cannon.
"Um..." Sam said, still staring in the direction the two Vulcans had taken. The others were equally stunned.
The silence was finally broken by Jessie's disbelieving exclamation.
"Why doesn't anyone TELL us these things?!"
*Cackles evilly* And there you have it folks, it's official! I'm married at the age of sixteen! (Actually, I think I was 15 when I wrote this way back when I was trying to write far ahead of myself, but I digress. The story-Ael is in her 30s anyhow.)
Anyhow, as you can see, this chapter was full of nothing but fluff. Note to self: remember to clean out the lint trap next time. Oh look, some foreshadowing got caught in with the humor! A few fragments, anyway. Let's see if there are any eagle-eyed observers (or anyone I've shared my entire plot plan or written chapters with, but I'm not naming any names DAMIAN :D) who can spot 'em. If not, feel free to just review and tell me that I should forget trying to train for professional author and become a slapstick comedian.