bsumone | ❝ temper us in fire ❞

He couldn't believe this was real. He couldn't. This was freedom and he gasped as he looked at the world beneath them fading away. Growing smaller and smaller. He'd done it. He'd run away.

Cian was startled by a little laugh that escaped him, putting a hand over his mouth even as he kept smiling, trying to look at everything at once.

That note of laughter made everything worthwhile. If he were capable of it in this shape, Gaja would've smiled. As it was, he could sense the awe rolling off his companion.

"This won't be your last time flying." Rather than a spoken voice, the words were more like the notes of a song on the wind, a deep sort music that almost seemed to resonate more in Cian's mind than outside of it. As large as Gaja is in this form, he can cover a lot of distance quickly with those powerful wings. Which prompts his question:

"What do you want to see first?"

Cian shook his head simply because he had no idea. The idea that he could actually escape hadn't even been a dream. It had just been literally impossible. The fact that he was doing this now? It didn't even feel real. So he had no idea where to even start, eyes staring at everything at once.

Eventually he just...pointed. That way. Wherever that went. That was where he wanted to go.

That way. Eventually that way led to the ocean. As much as Gaja didn't enjoy being wet, he did admire the beauty of the sea and all its wonders. It held a vast number of creatures he could never know or even see; as true a mystery to him as the deep dark of space (which he probably could survive if he were ever inclined to leave the Earth).

It made him wonder if Cian has ever been over the ocean. It's so different than peering at its amazing size from the shore. Either way is amazing. But Gaja thought soaring above it was the best way to truly appreciate how long and far it goes. Even for as large a creature as Gaja is, the ocean was immense.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

He didn't need air to breathe yet he was breathless from the wonders around him. It almost didn't feel real. Like he'd wake from a dream any moment now to find himself back in his icy cold bedroom all alone again. Not here in the sky with this beautiful warm bird who wanted to show him the world.

"Beautiful," he whispered in awe.

Gaja, for all his long years, still found wonder in the world. The vastness of the sky, the deep dark between the stars, the perfect blue of the sea; there are man-made wonders, too: great architecture, canals, even the clothes they don can be breathtaking. Gaja loves them all.

Even with his preternatural speed, it will take hours for them to cross the ocean. They could admire the sun glistening of the ripples and the changing shapes of the clouds around them.

"There is so much in this world to admire," Gaja mused thoughtfully.

His fingers moved so they could touch feathers, move through them as they kept flying. To feel their softness as a reminder to himself that all of this was real. It wasn't some dream anymore. He'd escaped and his clan wouldn't know where he was.

Gaja had saved him.

"Where will we go?" he finally asked, relaxing while he watched the light change as it hit the surface of the water.

Gaja felt every ripple of wind in his feathers and soft touch of the banshee's hands in them. A rumbling trill (rumbling only due to his size) bubbled up as they continued to fly. Those strong wings beat steadily, sending the wind rushing around them.

"West. To the Americas." There were waterfalls and lakes and canyons and rock formations to be observed and adored. "I'll show you so many wonderful things," he sighed happily. How lovely it will be to experience these wonders with someone at his side!

The Americas. He'd heard about them, read about them in his books. But to think that he'd actually get to see them... It made him smile as he felt the wind rush through his hair, watched the way the light hit the feathers Gaja had. Had he ever been this happy before? He didn't think so.

"Thank you," he said suddenly, not even sure what else to say but wanting to show his gratitude to him.

There were so many places he could think of to take Cian first: Niagra Falls, the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Great Smoky Mountains, Iguazu Falls, Torres del Paine, the Galapagos, the Everglades, the Atacama Desert...! So many places just on the East side of the Americas! Waterfalls, glaciers, mountains, deserts, where to even begin? It has to be something larger than life that will take Cian's breath away.

He had hours to decide, and chose something he hoped would awe and astound the seemingly sheltered creature he carried. When the hours passed, they flew over cities and mountains, Gaja veered southward to the Argentine Patagonia. They remained high enough that they'd go unnoticed by any of the people so far below until the air grew colder and Gaja began his descent bringing them to the Perito Moreno Glacier.

The air around them grew so cold and snow started to appear around them. Perking up, he gasped when he saw the glacier, patting Gaja to show him it as if the bird hadn't brought him here. But it was so beautiful that he couldn't resist show it to him anyway. He'd never seen anything like this before!

"...beautiful," he murmured in utter awe.

Gaja himself wasn't terribly fond of cold, but his body also ran hot so it wasn't that much of a bother. And, well, his body heat could help warm Cian, too. Yet this was no colder than a mild winter day, so it wasn't such a dreadful thing. Even if the cold was bothersome, it was worth it to show this precious creature something new and beautiful.

If he could have smiled, he would have been grinning from ear-to-ear at Cian's enthusiasm.

"Do you want to get closer?"

He'll land and shift into a human shape if Cian wanted a closer look.

❝ temper us in fire ❞

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject