Chapter Three: Go With My Blessing

"Jet-Vac!" Chill cried. "Get out here! Everyvone's vaiting for you!"

Chill stood outside of Jet-Vac's room, waiting for the Sky Baron to open up. Today was the day of his initiation, and Jet-Vac had spent a long time preparing for the ceremony. He'd spent a really...really long time in there. Perhaps he was nervous? Well, everyone was nervous when they were initiated into the Skylanders, but this was something Chill had never seen.

Chill knocked on the door again. "Jet-Vac!" she yelled.

"I'm not ready!" a reply came. "I'm havin' difficulty choosin' the right uniform fer the occasion!"

"Jet-Vac, nobody cared vhat you look like. It's just one ceremony! It'll be over before you know it!"

"Chill, I'm becomin' a Skylander. That's a really big title! I have ta look my best! If ya want me out here so bad, why don't you come in and help me?"

"I'll help you get out!"

Chill charged the door down, running into Jet-Vac's room. The room was a complete mess! The bed was unmade. The floor was covered by discarded clothes. The drapes had claw marks through them. The closet was wide open, and inside was Jet-Vac with his head between his knees, the eagle-like Sky Baron muttering something about it all being wrong.

"Vhat happened in here!?" Chill gasped. "You usually have everything organized so carefully!"

Jet-Vac didn't reply. He shook his head between his knees. Chill looked closely at his beak, which seemed to look a little wet and shiny. Had he been crying? Why had he been crying?

"Vhat's wrong?" Chill asked.

"I...I don't deserve this!" Jet-Vac insisted. "I'm not a hero like the rest o' ya. I was merely doin' what I thought was right. No, I'm not ready!"

"Vhy do you think that!? Novone deserves this more than you! It's just first-day jitters that you feel. I remember my initiation. I had been so nervous that I nearly ran avay!"

"That's different, though! I want ta run, but I also want ta be a Skylander! I'm just so confused."

"Vell, maybe it vill help to think about vhat led you to this moment. Try that."

Jet-Vac lifted his head up, and nodded at her. That wasn't such a bad idea. That might help him cope. He shut his eyes, and started thinking about what had led him to this new moment:

It had pretty much started on the day that Jet-Vac received his magical wings. He had been ten at the time, and he had been as thrilled as the rest of his peers. It was customary for male Sky Barons to receive their wings and learn how to fly. Jet-Vac could remember the day as crystal clear as if it were yesterday. He had been excited- and also nervous.

"Are ya scared?" his mother had asked him. They were waiting in the city hall of Windham, Jet-Vac's homeland. One by one, the leader of their clan called up each of the ten-year-old boys to receive their wings. Soon it would be Jet-Vac's turn. It was an awful long list, as it was believed that a firstborn son was lucky in Windham. The waiting certainly didn't make Jet-Vac feel any braver.

He simply nodded after his mother asked the question.

"Yer father had been scared as well," his mother continued. "He was so nervous, he threw up the mornin' haggis he'd eaten that day!"

"So is that why ya fed me a light breakfast!" Jet-Vac laughed, feeling slightly better.

"Partly, but that's also because we were runnin' late. Anyway, the moment he received his wings, yer father was overjoyed. He'd seen no reason ta be frightened. Don't worry, my son. Yer turn will come."

After waiting several more minutes, Jet-Vac's name was called. He walked up to where the leader was standing. A long speech had been given by the leader- this part Jet-Vac couldn't remember as clearly, since the meaning of the speech was unfamiliar to him at the time. After the speech was over, Jet-Vac's father walked up to him. Pride in his eyes, his father gave Jet-Vac a magic bracelet that all of the boys had received so far. Putting on the bracelet, Jet-Vac could feel wings grow on his back. It had been painful, but the pain quickly ceased. Soon everyone stared in awe at Jet-Vac's new, black-tipped wings- same coloration as the feathers on his head.

"And now, we'll see how well the lad has observed his elders, by demonstratin' the talent he already has," the chief announced.

Talent? He'd just gotten his wings! He had no talent! Sure, Jet-Vac had always watched the elder Sky Barons soar in the air, as it had always been his dream to do so. What could he learn by simply watching? Oh well, he might as well try.

Jet-Vac moved his wings a few times, getting used to the feeling of having them on his back. He then flapped his wings as hard as he could, and was slightly surprised that he was actually hovering off the ground. The initial surprise caused him to waver, but Jet-Vac quickly regained his posture and kept hovering. He hovered for several more minutes before aching wings forced him to touch his feet to the ground again.

He could only watch as the people looked at him with wide eyes. What was going on? Had he done something wrong? Had he completely screwed up, making himself to appear a fool? The last thing that anyone in Windham wanted was to be a fool. How had Jet-Vac quickly made himself a fool?

"I've never seen a lad get off the ground that quickly," the leader mused.

So it wasn't foolishness that made everyone stare at Jet-Vac. Rather, curiosity toward him. Or perhaps wonderment? Right? Jet-Vac hoped that nobody thought he was a fool.

His hope reigned true when everyone stood up and applauded him. He couldn't believe it. Had his short flight really been that amazing? The applause made Jet-Vac feel good. He could only reply with a noble bow to the ground.

Over the next five years, Jet-Vac's flight skills improved greatly. Soon he was the best flier in all of Windham! He led his own regiment of Barons in border skirmishes in order to protect his home. Sometimes he'd be gone for days, simply flying around the countryside. He enjoyed flying, and sometimes he'd wish that every creature could have that experience.

But then a day came that changed Jet-Vac's life forever. On his fifteenth birthday, Windham had been raided. His own regiment hadn't been on guard duty for the borders- in fact, the birds that were supposed to be on guard that day decided to play hooky. Soon it didn't matter as the floods of raiders came in, attacking anything on sight. Every single regiment had been called to protect the citizens and get them to safety.

Jet-Vac fought with beak and claw, helping as many people as he could. He glanced toward a house that had been broken into, and rushed to see if there was anyone still inside. All of the valuables had been broken, and Jet-Vac looked in horror as he saw a young mother trying to defend herself against three giant, bloodthirsty raiders. She had opened a window, and was trying to urge her small children to safety.

He couldn't stand by and let this happen. But the mother had been backed into a corner, and there was no way out for her. Jet-Vac looked at his special bracelet, thinking about the consequences of his next decision. Trading wings with a female was unheard of, and it would only get them both in trouble. It would be even more trouble if the mother failed to save her children. His mind was made up.

"Ya brutes better stay 'way from the lass!" Jet-Vac cried.

They stared at him. He directed their attention away from the mother for a split second, and now they stomped toward him. Jet-Vac swiftly took his bracelet off and threw it in the air, and the bracelet was caught by the mother. Jet-Vac felt pain as his beloved wings shriveled off of his body, and he found himself kneeling on the ground.

The mother, baffled by the strange action, could only look at him with fear and confusion.

"Get yer kin out o' here!" Jet-Vac said through the pain. "Go! Go with my blessin'!"

The mother nodded. She put the bracelet on, scooped her children up and flew out the window with newly-sprouted wings. It was a messy flight, but at least she had a chance. More of a chance than Jet-Vac had with these brutes, because the pain still lingered. It hadn't hurt this much when the wings had grown out of his back. Why did it hurt so much now?

Jet-Vac dashed out of the house, with the three brutes following after him. He noticed that the battle outside was drawing to a close, with the raiders fleeing and dropping valuables to the ground. A Sky Baron looked back to see Jet-Vac getting chased- the other Sky Baron was his father. Jet-Vac's father rushed in to defend him as he tumbled to the ground, exhausted and in pain. His father swiftly took out the brutes, knocking them both unconscious. A crowd soon gathered around Jet-Vac, who now found himself in too much pain to get back up.

"Son, what did ya do!?" his father gasped.

"I gave my wings to a lass, a mother that was cornered...," Jet-Vac wheezed. "She needed 'em ta escape."

"What did ya do that fer? Do ya know what happens if ya give yer wings away 'fore yer ready?"

"Do you, Dad?"

"Well...no. But I 'spose it can't be good! Look at ya! Yer in pain!"

"She needed 'em...I had to!"

"I believe ya, son. Just hang in 'ere, and I promise we'll find a way ta help ya!"

"And I believe I know how," an unfamiliar voice promised. The crowd moved away, and a strange man with a white beard came forward. He knelt down toward Jet-Vac and whispered some kind of word that he didn't understand. Whatever the word was, its effects made Jet-Vac feel sleepy and made the pain dissipate. As Jet-Vac slid his eyes closed, he heard the strange man say to his father, "He'll be all right. And if you're willing, I have a proposal for your son..."

A knocking on the door roused Jet-Vac from his thoughts. He opened his eyes, and looked to see Chill still sitting next to him. He got up and opened the door. Outside was a short, blue gremlin named Pop Fizz.

"Everyone's waiting for you," Pop Fizz told him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just gettin' ready," Jet-Vac replied. "I'm ready now."

"Okay, I was just making sure you were all right."

Jet-Vac gave a smile and walked out of his room, with Chill following after him. Chill whispered, "Are you all right, Jet-Vac?"

"I am now," Jet-Vac told her. "Thank ya fer comin' in. I needed the push."

Soon they made it to the center of the Citadel, and everyone applauded for Jet-Vac's long-overdue arrival. The ceremony was actually a lot like the day when Jet-Vac received his long-lost wings. Portal Master Eon, who was the man that had been at Windham the day of the raid, gave a speech. Jet-Vac could understand more of it now- it basically said that Jet-Vac was a good edition to the Skylanders, and that everyone can grow stronger with him around. Jet-Vac said a vow that meant he swore his allegiance to the Skylanders. At the end of it, Master Eon presented him with a gift that made Jet-Vac gasp with joy- a vaccum device that would allow him to fly again.

Now Jet-Vac soars higher than any Sky Baron ever had with wings. He never gives in to fear, which can only hold you back. He's aware that his good deeds were what attracted Master Eon's attention. He knows not to doubt himself.

It is often the noble who don't see themselves as noble.

In this chapter, I tried working with giving these characters dialects. (Stemmed from the idea long ago that Jet Vac had a Scottish accent)