Chapter 17

After the small quarrel in Renton's room, the family headed over to the bridge. There they meet Holland who stood crossed arm and tapped his foot. Holland stopped and smiled, "Renton, Eureka. Grab your boards, we're going to practice."

"Can we watch?" Maeter asked.

Holland grinned and patted her head, "Of course!"

All six headed over to the hanger room where all the LFO's were kept. Holland pulled down on a red leaver labeled "Open Hatch". A blaring alarm sounded and red lights blinked for a few seconds. The hatch lowered, revealing the light-blue sky. The sudden opening created a small vacuum, which started sucking air out.

The three children clumped to each other in order to avoid slipping out of the ship.

"Hey Holland! Isn't that dangerous?" Renton yelled into the onslaught of wind as he gripped Eureka tightly.

Holland stood calmly in the barrage of airstreams. He took a deep breath and yelled over the wind, "Everything is OK." Soon after he finished, the winds died down to a cool breeze. The children breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright Renton, show me what you got." Holland ordered.

It was the perfect day for reffing. The blue sky was almost with no hint of clouds and in the distant, skyfishes swarmed and sparkled in the sunlight. Renton looked at Eureka and nodded. He ran down the runway with his new ref board clamped tightly under his left armpit. Nearing the end of the runway, Renton jumped up with all his might and quickly slipped his board under him. He landed in a kneeling position and quickly stood up. Green sparks played around the board as he sped off into the sky.

"Hey! Show me what you can do!" Holland yelled from the launch pad.

Renton quickly executed several series of loops and turns. He crouched down and grabbed the tip of the board. He pulled up and did a loop.

"Cut-back Drop-turn!" All three children cheered.

Renton smiled; the reaction of the board was amazing. It moved effortlessly through the trapar thus causing a very low amount of rattle. With a slight lean to one side, the board would immediately turn the way he wanted it to go. "Yeah!" He cried in joy as adrenaline rushed through his veins. "This board rocks!" Renton thought as he did another cut-back drop-turn.

"Eureka, it's your turn!" Holland called. Eureka ran straight off the ramp and dropped down.

"Mama fell!" Maeter shrieked.

Maurice shook his head, "Look."

Eureka darted straight up into the sky towards Renton. Green sparks trailed her as she twirled back and forth. Maeter and Linck threw up their arms and cheered, "Yay! Go Mama!"

Eureka reached Renton and hovered next to him. Maeter started waving her arms and drew Renton's and Eureka's attention to her. "Hey Mama! Show him your special trick!"

Eureka nodded, glanced at Renton, and sped off. She quickly grasped onto her board. Her board literally climbed vertically and twirled. Gravity soon pulled Eureka down though. Her board slowed to a stop and spiked steeply down.

"Eureka!" Renton cried in distress.

Eureka quickly pulled up on the board, causing a massive amount of green sparks emerge at the tail of the board. Eureka stood up now and gracefully executed a cut-back drop-turn. The children cheered and

Renton breathed a sigh of relief as Eureka drew to him. "So, what do you think?" Eureka asked him.

Renton grinned, "It's beautiful. I can't even ref that well." Eureka smiled and blushed slightly.

Holland interrupted their moment and yelled, "OK! Enough wasting time! Race to that group of skyfishes over there!" He said as he pointed at the group of skyfishes in the distance. Renton quickly sped off leaving Eureka behind. "Catch me if you can, Eureka!" Renton yelled over his shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye, a streak of white and blue came up to him.

"Eureka!?! How did you catch up so quickly?"

She smiled and sped past him.

"H-hey! Wait up!" Renton yelled as he crouched down on his board in order to gain more speed. "Why can't I catch up?" Renton thought as he chased after Eureka. For a moment, he thought he saw green sparks emit from Eureka's wings. Eureka reached the group of skyfishes five seconds before Renton. "Wow! You're faster than me!" Renton gasped when he arrived. Eureka smiled and pointed at the skyfishes. "Look, they're starting around us." The skyfishes had begun flying around Eureka and Renton who drifted next to each other. "Wow!" Renton exclaimed. "They're so pretty." Eureka added as she looked at the sparkling skyfishes. "Not as pretty as you." Renton said and made Eureka's cheeks to turn pink. They held hands and enjoyed the view of the skyfishes. "Do you know why the skyfishes are doing this?" Renton asked Eureka as they stood floating on their boards.

Eureka shook her head, "Why?"

"Well, they respond to happy thoughts and such stuff. It's strange though."

"How come?"

"People say that they only gather when people are carrying compact disks. We don't have one right now though."

Eureka smiled, "Still, they're gathering around us."

At that moment, the group of skyfishes broke up. One flew and landed on Renton's head and another landed on Eureka's palm. Renton tried to grab the skyfish but was unsuccessful. Eureka's skyfish, however, did not fly away. It sat calmly on Eureka's palm and allowed her to pet it.
"How are you doing that?" Renton asked.

"I don't know."

She raised her palm into the air and released the skyfish. It quickly flew back to its group which was flying towards the setting sun. Renton smiled, "Let's go back." Eureka nodded and they flew on their boards back to the Gekko-Go where Maeter, Linck, and Maurice greeted them happily.