Hiya!!!!!!!! I decided that I had time between my exams to do the long
awaited BALL!!! I love writing this fic and I'm getting kinda depressed by
the lack of reviews so I would really appreciate it if you could tell me
what you think more often. Feel free to e-mail me!
-Falcon
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All of the important nobles were already in the hall when they arrived in the foyer. The girls moved to the back where they belonged. The Queen was a very traditional fanatic. Basically, if it was done in the old times, it was done now.
**********************************
As the people in the room slowly began to depart, Nephrite found his way to Lita's side. When he saw her, his eyes grew wide at her appearance, "You look amazing, Lita." He whispered. She blushed at being called by her first name.
"Thank you Nephrite. You look charming," she looked at the other generals, "As do your friends." She laughed amusedly. He scowled at her indication of their similar clothing, 'Zoi was right, we do look ridiculous.' He thought.
"We're up first, I'm afraid." She frowned, "I truly think they do it to make me look like the worst senshi. I always go first!"
He laughed at her brash comment as they approached the red curtain that would admit them into the ballroom.
"Her highness, the Princess Litara of Jupiter and his lordship, Nephrite of Earth." As they heard their names, Nephrite smiled at her and walked through.
Lita looked out onto the masses with a proud eye. Glancing over, Neph was shocked by the authority in her gaze as nearly all the people in the room either bowed or curtsied to her. Now it really registered why it was so important to be in good company for this occasion. With a judging eye, the Lords and Ladies turned to stare him down. Had it not been for the wonderful flower at his side, Nephrite was almost positive they would have been laughing at him.
At the bottom of the endless red-carpeted stairway, Lita led him off to the side to go greet the Queen. Being taken away, Neph looked up just in time to see the herald spout the names of Malachite and Princess Mina.
******************************************
When Mina found Malachite he was simply glowering at the closed curtains of the ballroom. Smiling, she approached him, sneaking up from behind.
"You know, you really shouldn't do that. They'll take offense eventually." She sang happily. Startled out of his reverie, Mal looked at her to be greeted with the sight of what he suddenly believed to be an angel. Mina was all-aglow with her sunny hair let down to flow around her golden dress elegantly. Her blue eyes were glassy and her cheeks were flushed form her constant power hype. 'How can she handle being so joyous all the time?' he asked himself.
"Good evening, Princess." He said, his face fighting the urge to smile at her, "You look radiant, as usual."
"Why thank you, General!" she laughed cheerily, "Are you ready to go? I believe we go after Lita and General Nephrite."
"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose." He said gloomily.
"Don't frown, Mal!" he jerked at the very informal addressing, "What's wrong?" she obviously had not noticed what she had done.
"Large activities simply don't appeal to me, my lady."
Her eyes grew even larger, if this was at all possible. Her hand flew to her mouth in a dramatic gesture of horror, "Goodness! How do you live? How can you stand being without the feeling of whirling around in someone's arms, never a care in the world?" the passion she spoke with quite frankly frightened the stony General. In a mere instant, the idea of whirling her around didn't seem bad at all. In fact, it seemed positively alluring!
"Princess Mina," he asked her gently, "Would you like me to dance with you tonight? Is that what you're worried about?" he spoke to her as if she was a child who was crying her heart out because he had not given her something, and he was about to give in to her.
She nodded her head, flashed him a brilliant smile, and grabbed his arm lightly. "Come on, we're about to go." They approached the curtain arm in arm.
"Her highness, Princess Minalaya of Venus accompanied by his grace, Lord Malachite of Earth." Rather forcibly, Mina pulled him through the curtains and onto the swiftly descending stairs.
At the bottom, Malachite took note of the vast, black marble, square space before him. This was the dance floor. Seeing a clear route to it, he didn't know what came over him when he pulled her onto it and began to rhythmically dance to the soft melody.
Looking down at Mina, he noticed that she was flushing an extremely deep scarlet. Puzzled, he opened his mouth to speak when he noticed that everyone was looking at the couple very strangely.
"Um..Mal..Do you by any chance know any Lunarian customs?" she questioned breathlessly. Seizing up inside with terror, Malachite's face contorted with sudden fear.
"What have I done?" he rasped.
"Well..you see..when a couple dances at the very beginning of a ball, it means that they are courting each other." He let his breath out. That wasn't so bad, "However," she continued, capturing his attention again, "if a couple does not even wait for all of the guests to enter the room, then..they identify themselves as married.
Malachite wanted to cry from embarrassment. Oh GODS! Practically picking up the blushing girl, he walked briskly from the dance floor to down two entire glasses of wine.
***************************************
Zoicite caught sight of Ami the moment he walked into the large foyer. That is, he caught sight of her back, giving him a clear view of her delicate shoulder blades and arching neck. Mouth suddenly going dry, he waited and watched as Neph and Lita departed as well as Mal and Mina. Now he stood with Jade, who hadn't stopped pouting since they had gotten dressed, Endymion, who swiftly left his side to stand by the also present princess Serenity, Princess Rei, and, of course, Ami.
He knew that he was supposed to go soon and decided it was time to put on his act. He began pacing around, seemingly looking through the different doorways and scratching his head in confusion. Ami was the first to notice his dilemma, seeing that Jade simply didn't care and was staring at Rei, Rei was trying to scare him away, and Endy was so embarrassed by Jade that he kept the moon princess from looking at his dumbstruck general. She went to him with a frown on her face.
"Is something the matter, General?" she asked timidly.
"Unfortunately, yes there is. Lady Rei told me that the Lady..um..Anale? Yes that's it. She told be that Lady Anale would meet me here before I went out, but it seems that she has somehow forgotten. Though, I do believe I can venture out alone."
Ami immediately saw the problem. First, Rei would be in trouble with the Queen for not finding a proper escort for the general, and second, Zoicite would be chewed up and spit out by the people out there if he went by himself. "That is a problem indeed." She said quietly.
"I see that your escort has done the same thing to you, Lady Ami." He said, luring her further in, "What shall you do, for maybe I can do the same?"
"I..always go alone, General Zoicite. A princess need not fear the sting of gossip as a guest of the palace should."
"Whatever do you mean, Princess?" he asked, feigning confusion.
"The people within that ballroom are quick to judge, much too quick in fact. You would need decent company to avoid the shrewdness in their gaze, I fear. This is why the Queen asked us to help with this arrangement. We merely extended our hospitality to you so that your stay here would be a good one. If you ventured out there alone, I can guarantee you that you will be absolutely torn apart by their gossip."
Zoicite's face paled at the idea of being humiliated to his very core and swallowed hard. What if this didn't work? "Oh dear." He said with a grimace, "I suppose I can't do that, now can I? Lady Ami, is there any last minute plans that you could enact to help me with this predicament?" his eyes were pleading.
Ami sighed and came to the decision that she had known was inevitable all along. "There is no other court lady that could aid you, Lord Zoicite. They have all been introduced into the ballroom already. The last available substitute is.." Zoi held his breath, "Me." He let out the air with a smile, "Unless.." she began talking again, thinking to herself. She turned to look at a mysteriously smug looking Rei. "Rei," she called to her, "I fear that there has been a mishap in the arrangements for Lord Zoicite's escort. As his helper, I believe that you should take up this duty." Ami was still completely oblivious to the aghast looks of horror on the faces of Rei and Zoicite. She was merely thinking through the situation like she always did. "What do you think?" she smiled at her friend.
Panicking, Rei seized the arm of the closest available man. Not looking at him, she choked out, "I would have loved to Ami, but I already have someone to accompany me." She grinned nervously.
Ami was surprised at this sudden turn of events. She would never have expected this from Rei. She had truly believed the Martian Princess was going in alone, as she was. Turning to look at a pair of happy green eyes, she sighed again and took his arm, leading him toward the curtain.
Glancing in, the herald started at the new arrangements in the room, but shrugged it off and proclaimed, "Her highness, Princess Amilyn of Mercury and his lordship, Zoicite of Earth."
As Zoicite alighted the stairs, he saw the stunned faces of Malachite and Nephrite in the crowds. He grinned wolfishly at them and winked. Typical Zoicite.
Ami also saw Mina and Lita giving her smiles that may as well have blinded her. 'Traitors. They wanted this to happen. In fact, I was beginning to think it was all a ploy before Rei told me about her own plans.'
Falling in beside Lita and Nephrite, the pair disappeared into the crowd.
***********************************
Letting out a sigh of relief as she saw Ami go in, Rei finally turned to look at the unfortunate person she was holding in a death grip by the arm...only to be met with the dreamy face of the last person she wanted to be touching at the moment. No wonder Ames had looked so disturbed.
"Changed your mind, Phoenix?" he said gaily. Sweeping a low bow, Jadeite took her hand and laid a long kiss on its back.
"You do realize." She seethed, smoke practically coming out of her ears, "That I will not be going into that ballroom on your arm."
"I fear that I will be carrying you in, then." He said with a sigh. Rei was about to laugh sarcastically when he actually met his words. Stooping to slip a hand under her knees and support her back with the other arm, Jadeite found himself with a stunned Martian Princess in his embrace.
Rei's mouth was gaping as she grabbed onto his neck for fear of being dropped, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!" she shrieked. "PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!" Jade flinched as she screamed into his ear. Rei found a blush spreading to her cheeks at her predicament.
Hearing a soft bell-like laugh, Jadeite whirled around with her in his arms to see Endymion and Serenity, the only two people left, trying to hold in their mirth. Endy grinned boyishly at Jade, giving him the thumbs up as Serenity winked at Rei.
Finally shoving her legs from his arms, Rei found herself on the floor, face first. Serenity began to laugh even harder at this as her friend stood up, rubbing her sore nose. Suddenly stalking over to Jadeite, a resounding smack was heard throughout the foyer as Rei put all her might into bowling over the General.
Disturbingly, the man simply grinned at her afterward. "What must I do to get you away from me?!" she demanded, pulling him away from her princess and her fiancé.
Jadeite looked her in the eye solemnly, "Come to the ball with me. We don't have to dance, I just wish to talk-."
She cut him off, "If you wish to speak of our earlier mishap, then you are sorely mistaken, Sir.
"First of all, call me Jade, Phoenix, and second, if you do not wish to speak of it, then we shall speak of..the circus in Neptune." Rei choked out a laugh at the absurdity of his comment.
"Why do you want to come with me? Why did you take a fancy to me? Why not Mina or Ami or Lita? They all are much more appealing than I." She told him earnestly.
"Let me be the judge of that, Firebird." He smiled and led her to the curtain, "Besides, Mal, Neph and Zoi would kill me if I told them that I'd taken a liking to any of the others. I think I was really stuck with you."
"How wonderful." She said sarcastically as the herald called, "The Princess Reilana of Mars and his lordship, Jadeite of Earth."
They passed through to walk down to the people below.
***********************************
"Does it not get tedious to simply sit and wait for all others to leave before you do?" Endymion found himself suddenly questioning. When she had begun to laugh quietly at the spectacle that Rei and Jade made, he found himself marveling at the enigma that she presented. He loved Lily, he found himself continually reminding, but Princess Serenity was so far above what his former mistress had been, that it was impossible not to fall under her spell. She was caring, funny, lively, and, the thing that intrigued him most, she was passionate in all that she did. He had come with her to attend to her animals and she had exhibited such a fire in loving and knowing about them, it had blown him away. He was seriously considering forgetting Lily for this slender beauty.
She laughed at his strange question, "I suppose it would be for you. I am simply so accustomed to it that I hardly notice anymore!" She had fallen so far into his midnight eyes over the past 2 weeks that Sere was sure she was dreaming. He was special somehow. When he spoke to her, he looked her directly in the eye and spoke politely, but not without feeling. He exhibited an odd darkness that was threatening to surround her. And she found that she wasn't so afraid of the dark as she thought she'd be. But this did not change her feelings on the marriage, so she was cold toward him most of the time they had alone. He didn't seem to care which upset her. 'I don't care', she reminded herself, 'This marriage will be over and done with in no time and then we will leave each other alone for the rest of our lives.' In her heart, Serenity knew she didn't want that, but there was always that thing that kept her from making herself happy in these recent days.
"Are you ready to go, Endymion?" the first chance he had with her, he had offered the sense of informality, allowing her to call him by his name, and she likewise. Nodding, he offered her his arm and they both stepped out from the curtains as their names were finally announced.
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Ok , ok I'm sorry, I just didn't count on this chapter being so long so I'm going to finish the ball next chapter and do the Sere/Endy chapter afterward. KEEP REVIEWING!!!!!!!!
-Falcon
-Falcon
**********************************
All of the important nobles were already in the hall when they arrived in the foyer. The girls moved to the back where they belonged. The Queen was a very traditional fanatic. Basically, if it was done in the old times, it was done now.
**********************************
As the people in the room slowly began to depart, Nephrite found his way to Lita's side. When he saw her, his eyes grew wide at her appearance, "You look amazing, Lita." He whispered. She blushed at being called by her first name.
"Thank you Nephrite. You look charming," she looked at the other generals, "As do your friends." She laughed amusedly. He scowled at her indication of their similar clothing, 'Zoi was right, we do look ridiculous.' He thought.
"We're up first, I'm afraid." She frowned, "I truly think they do it to make me look like the worst senshi. I always go first!"
He laughed at her brash comment as they approached the red curtain that would admit them into the ballroom.
"Her highness, the Princess Litara of Jupiter and his lordship, Nephrite of Earth." As they heard their names, Nephrite smiled at her and walked through.
Lita looked out onto the masses with a proud eye. Glancing over, Neph was shocked by the authority in her gaze as nearly all the people in the room either bowed or curtsied to her. Now it really registered why it was so important to be in good company for this occasion. With a judging eye, the Lords and Ladies turned to stare him down. Had it not been for the wonderful flower at his side, Nephrite was almost positive they would have been laughing at him.
At the bottom of the endless red-carpeted stairway, Lita led him off to the side to go greet the Queen. Being taken away, Neph looked up just in time to see the herald spout the names of Malachite and Princess Mina.
******************************************
When Mina found Malachite he was simply glowering at the closed curtains of the ballroom. Smiling, she approached him, sneaking up from behind.
"You know, you really shouldn't do that. They'll take offense eventually." She sang happily. Startled out of his reverie, Mal looked at her to be greeted with the sight of what he suddenly believed to be an angel. Mina was all-aglow with her sunny hair let down to flow around her golden dress elegantly. Her blue eyes were glassy and her cheeks were flushed form her constant power hype. 'How can she handle being so joyous all the time?' he asked himself.
"Good evening, Princess." He said, his face fighting the urge to smile at her, "You look radiant, as usual."
"Why thank you, General!" she laughed cheerily, "Are you ready to go? I believe we go after Lita and General Nephrite."
"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose." He said gloomily.
"Don't frown, Mal!" he jerked at the very informal addressing, "What's wrong?" she obviously had not noticed what she had done.
"Large activities simply don't appeal to me, my lady."
Her eyes grew even larger, if this was at all possible. Her hand flew to her mouth in a dramatic gesture of horror, "Goodness! How do you live? How can you stand being without the feeling of whirling around in someone's arms, never a care in the world?" the passion she spoke with quite frankly frightened the stony General. In a mere instant, the idea of whirling her around didn't seem bad at all. In fact, it seemed positively alluring!
"Princess Mina," he asked her gently, "Would you like me to dance with you tonight? Is that what you're worried about?" he spoke to her as if she was a child who was crying her heart out because he had not given her something, and he was about to give in to her.
She nodded her head, flashed him a brilliant smile, and grabbed his arm lightly. "Come on, we're about to go." They approached the curtain arm in arm.
"Her highness, Princess Minalaya of Venus accompanied by his grace, Lord Malachite of Earth." Rather forcibly, Mina pulled him through the curtains and onto the swiftly descending stairs.
At the bottom, Malachite took note of the vast, black marble, square space before him. This was the dance floor. Seeing a clear route to it, he didn't know what came over him when he pulled her onto it and began to rhythmically dance to the soft melody.
Looking down at Mina, he noticed that she was flushing an extremely deep scarlet. Puzzled, he opened his mouth to speak when he noticed that everyone was looking at the couple very strangely.
"Um..Mal..Do you by any chance know any Lunarian customs?" she questioned breathlessly. Seizing up inside with terror, Malachite's face contorted with sudden fear.
"What have I done?" he rasped.
"Well..you see..when a couple dances at the very beginning of a ball, it means that they are courting each other." He let his breath out. That wasn't so bad, "However," she continued, capturing his attention again, "if a couple does not even wait for all of the guests to enter the room, then..they identify themselves as married.
Malachite wanted to cry from embarrassment. Oh GODS! Practically picking up the blushing girl, he walked briskly from the dance floor to down two entire glasses of wine.
***************************************
Zoicite caught sight of Ami the moment he walked into the large foyer. That is, he caught sight of her back, giving him a clear view of her delicate shoulder blades and arching neck. Mouth suddenly going dry, he waited and watched as Neph and Lita departed as well as Mal and Mina. Now he stood with Jade, who hadn't stopped pouting since they had gotten dressed, Endymion, who swiftly left his side to stand by the also present princess Serenity, Princess Rei, and, of course, Ami.
He knew that he was supposed to go soon and decided it was time to put on his act. He began pacing around, seemingly looking through the different doorways and scratching his head in confusion. Ami was the first to notice his dilemma, seeing that Jade simply didn't care and was staring at Rei, Rei was trying to scare him away, and Endy was so embarrassed by Jade that he kept the moon princess from looking at his dumbstruck general. She went to him with a frown on her face.
"Is something the matter, General?" she asked timidly.
"Unfortunately, yes there is. Lady Rei told me that the Lady..um..Anale? Yes that's it. She told be that Lady Anale would meet me here before I went out, but it seems that she has somehow forgotten. Though, I do believe I can venture out alone."
Ami immediately saw the problem. First, Rei would be in trouble with the Queen for not finding a proper escort for the general, and second, Zoicite would be chewed up and spit out by the people out there if he went by himself. "That is a problem indeed." She said quietly.
"I see that your escort has done the same thing to you, Lady Ami." He said, luring her further in, "What shall you do, for maybe I can do the same?"
"I..always go alone, General Zoicite. A princess need not fear the sting of gossip as a guest of the palace should."
"Whatever do you mean, Princess?" he asked, feigning confusion.
"The people within that ballroom are quick to judge, much too quick in fact. You would need decent company to avoid the shrewdness in their gaze, I fear. This is why the Queen asked us to help with this arrangement. We merely extended our hospitality to you so that your stay here would be a good one. If you ventured out there alone, I can guarantee you that you will be absolutely torn apart by their gossip."
Zoicite's face paled at the idea of being humiliated to his very core and swallowed hard. What if this didn't work? "Oh dear." He said with a grimace, "I suppose I can't do that, now can I? Lady Ami, is there any last minute plans that you could enact to help me with this predicament?" his eyes were pleading.
Ami sighed and came to the decision that she had known was inevitable all along. "There is no other court lady that could aid you, Lord Zoicite. They have all been introduced into the ballroom already. The last available substitute is.." Zoi held his breath, "Me." He let out the air with a smile, "Unless.." she began talking again, thinking to herself. She turned to look at a mysteriously smug looking Rei. "Rei," she called to her, "I fear that there has been a mishap in the arrangements for Lord Zoicite's escort. As his helper, I believe that you should take up this duty." Ami was still completely oblivious to the aghast looks of horror on the faces of Rei and Zoicite. She was merely thinking through the situation like she always did. "What do you think?" she smiled at her friend.
Panicking, Rei seized the arm of the closest available man. Not looking at him, she choked out, "I would have loved to Ami, but I already have someone to accompany me." She grinned nervously.
Ami was surprised at this sudden turn of events. She would never have expected this from Rei. She had truly believed the Martian Princess was going in alone, as she was. Turning to look at a pair of happy green eyes, she sighed again and took his arm, leading him toward the curtain.
Glancing in, the herald started at the new arrangements in the room, but shrugged it off and proclaimed, "Her highness, Princess Amilyn of Mercury and his lordship, Zoicite of Earth."
As Zoicite alighted the stairs, he saw the stunned faces of Malachite and Nephrite in the crowds. He grinned wolfishly at them and winked. Typical Zoicite.
Ami also saw Mina and Lita giving her smiles that may as well have blinded her. 'Traitors. They wanted this to happen. In fact, I was beginning to think it was all a ploy before Rei told me about her own plans.'
Falling in beside Lita and Nephrite, the pair disappeared into the crowd.
***********************************
Letting out a sigh of relief as she saw Ami go in, Rei finally turned to look at the unfortunate person she was holding in a death grip by the arm...only to be met with the dreamy face of the last person she wanted to be touching at the moment. No wonder Ames had looked so disturbed.
"Changed your mind, Phoenix?" he said gaily. Sweeping a low bow, Jadeite took her hand and laid a long kiss on its back.
"You do realize." She seethed, smoke practically coming out of her ears, "That I will not be going into that ballroom on your arm."
"I fear that I will be carrying you in, then." He said with a sigh. Rei was about to laugh sarcastically when he actually met his words. Stooping to slip a hand under her knees and support her back with the other arm, Jadeite found himself with a stunned Martian Princess in his embrace.
Rei's mouth was gaping as she grabbed onto his neck for fear of being dropped, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!" she shrieked. "PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!" Jade flinched as she screamed into his ear. Rei found a blush spreading to her cheeks at her predicament.
Hearing a soft bell-like laugh, Jadeite whirled around with her in his arms to see Endymion and Serenity, the only two people left, trying to hold in their mirth. Endy grinned boyishly at Jade, giving him the thumbs up as Serenity winked at Rei.
Finally shoving her legs from his arms, Rei found herself on the floor, face first. Serenity began to laugh even harder at this as her friend stood up, rubbing her sore nose. Suddenly stalking over to Jadeite, a resounding smack was heard throughout the foyer as Rei put all her might into bowling over the General.
Disturbingly, the man simply grinned at her afterward. "What must I do to get you away from me?!" she demanded, pulling him away from her princess and her fiancé.
Jadeite looked her in the eye solemnly, "Come to the ball with me. We don't have to dance, I just wish to talk-."
She cut him off, "If you wish to speak of our earlier mishap, then you are sorely mistaken, Sir.
"First of all, call me Jade, Phoenix, and second, if you do not wish to speak of it, then we shall speak of..the circus in Neptune." Rei choked out a laugh at the absurdity of his comment.
"Why do you want to come with me? Why did you take a fancy to me? Why not Mina or Ami or Lita? They all are much more appealing than I." She told him earnestly.
"Let me be the judge of that, Firebird." He smiled and led her to the curtain, "Besides, Mal, Neph and Zoi would kill me if I told them that I'd taken a liking to any of the others. I think I was really stuck with you."
"How wonderful." She said sarcastically as the herald called, "The Princess Reilana of Mars and his lordship, Jadeite of Earth."
They passed through to walk down to the people below.
***********************************
"Does it not get tedious to simply sit and wait for all others to leave before you do?" Endymion found himself suddenly questioning. When she had begun to laugh quietly at the spectacle that Rei and Jade made, he found himself marveling at the enigma that she presented. He loved Lily, he found himself continually reminding, but Princess Serenity was so far above what his former mistress had been, that it was impossible not to fall under her spell. She was caring, funny, lively, and, the thing that intrigued him most, she was passionate in all that she did. He had come with her to attend to her animals and she had exhibited such a fire in loving and knowing about them, it had blown him away. He was seriously considering forgetting Lily for this slender beauty.
She laughed at his strange question, "I suppose it would be for you. I am simply so accustomed to it that I hardly notice anymore!" She had fallen so far into his midnight eyes over the past 2 weeks that Sere was sure she was dreaming. He was special somehow. When he spoke to her, he looked her directly in the eye and spoke politely, but not without feeling. He exhibited an odd darkness that was threatening to surround her. And she found that she wasn't so afraid of the dark as she thought she'd be. But this did not change her feelings on the marriage, so she was cold toward him most of the time they had alone. He didn't seem to care which upset her. 'I don't care', she reminded herself, 'This marriage will be over and done with in no time and then we will leave each other alone for the rest of our lives.' In her heart, Serenity knew she didn't want that, but there was always that thing that kept her from making herself happy in these recent days.
"Are you ready to go, Endymion?" the first chance he had with her, he had offered the sense of informality, allowing her to call him by his name, and she likewise. Nodding, he offered her his arm and they both stepped out from the curtains as their names were finally announced.
*************************************
Ok , ok I'm sorry, I just didn't count on this chapter being so long so I'm going to finish the ball next chapter and do the Sere/Endy chapter afterward. KEEP REVIEWING!!!!!!!!
-Falcon