Ptera watched anxiously as Lon'qu approached with a saddle and harness. She bared her fangs at him in a warning and swished her tail dangerously.

"Sane, keep that Wyvern from biting my head off..."

"Yeah, no promises..."

I was beside Ptera. Her head was hanging low and I was stroking her jaw in a reassuring manner.

"It's okay girl... Lon'qu's just putting a saddle and harness on you, if you don't like it we'll take it right off. Everything will be alright..."

The closer he got to Ptera, the slower and more deliberately Lon'qu moved to avoid upsetting her. I watched him as he gently slipped the harness over her snout and secured it in place. It was much like watching someone saddle a horse, except he didn't put a metal bit in her mouth. From what I could tell, the harnesses for a Wyvern were just some sturdy leather that go on either side of the head. When it was tightened, it stayed in place without interfering with the jaw or Wyverns breathing. The saddle was also mounted in a similar fashion to a horse. When Lon'qu had the harness and saddle in place, he took ahold of the reins and jerked his head toward Ptera.

"Get on the saddle."

I've had some experience on the back of a horse before, so I knew a little about how to climb into the saddle. Ptera wasn't exactly doing a good job of making it easy for me to get in though. She tried to rock her body and crane her neck so she could have a better angle of what I was doing. Although her movements weren't anything major, since I was getting into the saddle unassisted I would've been grateful if she could've kept her movement to a minimum. When I was seated and Lon'qu was sure Ptera wasn't going to fly off when he let go of the reins, he walked around to her side and looked at the straps that were supposed to hold me in place, since I wouldn't have the strength or experience to stay in the saddle myself.

"Okay, now you just tie yourself down."

I struggled with the leather straps. They weren't flexible enough in my opinion for me to really tie down, and their thickness was also making it even more difficult to tie any form or knot. Eventually Lon'qu got tired of watching me struggle and made an impatient huffing noise.

"That's enough."

He walked over to me and took the leather straps from my hands and began to fashion them into a complicated knot with a weird loopy thing that looked like it would be the first thing to come undone.

"This will let you get out of the saddle on your own, just pull this little bit here and you should be able to hop right out."

For the brief moment he was fixing the saddle straps for me, Lon'qu seemed to have forgotten his crippling fear of women, but once he was finished it returned and he backed away from me. I took the reins in my hands and stared at them for a while thinking about what my next move was going to be.

'Maybe it's just like flying a broomstick?'

"Up." I said to Ptera in a firm voice.

She turned her head to look at me. Her eyes were narrowed in bordem and condescending disbelief.

"Raise? Fly? Ascend? Rejoin your Pterodactyl brethren the *heck* am I supposed to say to you to get you to fly?"

"You use the reins Sane, that's what they're there for."

'Oh yeah...'

I pulled back on the reins, my extensive knowledge of left analogue sticks telling me that no doubt controls would be inverted. Still, Ptera did nothing. She just stared at me and pulled back.

'This is hopeless...'

"Hm..."

Lon'qu was staring at Ptera deep in thought. He would periodically look up at the sky and back towards the Wyvern stables and then back to her.

"I have an idea. Sane, wait her. Don't leave the saddle."

'Yes mother...'

He began walking towards the stables with a confident stride. I rolled my eyes and leaned forward to rub Ptera's neck.

"Look at that punk, thinking he's all awesome and junk..."

Ptera hummed.

"One of us oughta take him down a notch or two, ya know? Maybe I can have Tharja curse him so he can only quack or something."

I fumbled with the straps holding me onto the saddle, intending to follow Lon'qu and tell him that he didn't need to bother teaching me how to fly a Wyvern after all. I was able to get the straps undone much easier than it was for me to attempt to fasten them and was about to climb out of the saddle when a green, blurry shape darted across the sky. Ptera growled and I could feel all her muscles tense underneath me.

'Oh crap.'

Ptera jumped up and flared her wings. Quicker than I thought possible for something her size, Ptera was flapping her wings and gaining altitude. I clutched the reins for dear life, knowing that at this point if I let go I could very well fall to my death. Ptera was chasing after the green blur. She quickly caught up to it and I saw Lon'qu riding it.

"I hope you don't get motion sick!" He called to me.

I tugged back on Ptera's reins, hoping that it would stop her.

"Lon'qu!" I shouted. "I'm not attached to the harness anymore!"

My voice was drowned out by the wind and speed. Lon'qu had his Wyvern arc through the sky. Ptera followed it without me even having to guide her, but if I tugged the reins she would turn slightly in that direction. Lon'qu guided his Wyvern in more complicated patterns as we soared through the sky. I grew more worried with each passing moment, fearing that for sure I was going to fall out of the saddle.

"Ptera, you need to stop, you're flying to erratically, you need to calm down!"

Ptera wasn't listening to me, all she cared about was getting Lon'qu and his Wyvern. I decided that if I wanted her to stop I was going to have to be more firm with her.

"Enough!"

I practically yanked her head straight up with the reins. Ptera roared and spun her neck around. She bared her fangs at me and opened her jaws wide.

"Stop. You are not going to act this way. If I'm going to be your rider, even if it's just for this once, you are going to listen to me. I'm not going to be some whip-cracker, but I'm not going to sit here and let you drag me around either."

Ptera snapped her jaw shut inches away from my face and seemed to stare at me in almost discontent, like she was upset that I wasn't going to let her do what she wanted.

"I don't know how to take care of a Wyvern, but I'm going to assume that taking you flying is one of the things I'm supposed to do to keep you happy. I can't take you flying though if you're just going to whip around in the sky with no regard to me. We're going to be a team in the sky, alright?"

Ptera made a low growling sound in her throat and nodded her head.

"Good. Now why don't we land for a minute? My saddle is all buggered..."

Ptera floated back to the ground and I hopped out of the saddle. I took the impact a bit harder than I had anticipated, but then again isn't that why our knees have cartilage? Lon'qu followed shortly after me and dismounted his Wyvern. Somehow he managed to make it look graceful.

"Giving up so soon Sane?" He almost taunted.

I looked at him with a sheepish grin.

"I uh... Kind of undid the harness... So I think it would be best for me to land before I become a puddle of Sane..."

He shook his head.

"Can't you follow simple directions? I told you to leave it alone."

"Technically you just said don't leave it, you never said anything about messing with it."

Lon'qu glared at me.

"How are you supposed to be the Tactician for the Shepherds if you can't even follow a simple command?"

'Ouch, right in the feels.'

"I think I'll manage."

He heaved a sigh.

"I've wasted enough of my time. Fly with Ptera yourself."

He led his Wyvern back towards the stables. I patted Ptera affectionately.

"It's never good the first time." I told her.

"We'll just have to do this again."

Ptera hummed in approval and flicked her tongue. She then head butted me affectionately before waltzing off to the stables.

'Just who's the intelligent one between the two of us anyway?'

Sorry it's been a minute since my last update, I would've had a chapter last week if I wasn't practically dead last weekend from strep throat. I'm feeling much better this week, although my throat is still killing me and I have to take these GINORMOUS pills twice a day. I'm hoping to get back to a weekly upload schedule soon. Enjoy!