Guiding Winds

Percy had always found enjoyment in being outdoors. His job as Arthur’s assistant and ward could get to be very stressful. It wasn’t to say that Percy didn’t care deeply for Arthur, he did, but sometimes he just got to the point where he couldn’t handle it.

Luckily, he’d get a break from all the madness today. Arthur wasn’t feeling well enough to go out today but he had been tracking an aria storm for quite a while. The job had been passed on to Percy to go out and collect some samples. To say that Percy was excited was an understatement.

Arthur’s condition wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t good either. The old bird had spent an hour too long down in the basement studying the most recent artifact to come across his path. He had definitely acquired some sort of acute fysa poisoning. It wasn’t too terrible, Arthur would survive, but fysa always did a number on his already dwindling mind. He just needed some rest and he’d be good as new.

Percy helped him into bed and sent a quick message to Lohrian. Hopefully, Lohrian wouldn’t be too busy and he’d be able to come watch Arthur for a few hours. Lohrian had just stumbled into the tower one day asking about dreams and aria and ever since then he and Arthur had been pretty much inseparable. At least when Arthur remembered him. They’d talk for hours about various topics, all of them involving aria in some way. Percy thought it was cute. It also gave him time to relax. Needless to say, Lohrian was a very welcome presence in the tower.

Percy made sure that Arthur had everything he needed. A sandwich (placed inside a glass case so Acacius wouldn’t mess with it), a water pitcher and a glass, and several large signs that clearly stated where Percy had gone. Arthur was forgetful and Percy didn’t want him to get flustered if he called for Percy and didn’t get a response.

With everything set up for his boss, Percy took to the skies. Flying was… well he couldn’t quite describe it. Divine, absolving, like the shackles that held him down had been shattered. He could soar freely without a care in the world. There was nothing else quite like it.

Percy rode a gust of wind high into the clouds. A simple tilt of his wing and he began swaying back and forth between the fluffy white puffs of vapor. Flying set his soul at peace. He felt like he could just close his eyes and glide along with the clouds forever.

He reached out and ran his fingers through a cloud as he passed by. It was cold and wet, like walking through the thick fog that would sometimes descend on Ichorrai early in the morning. Percy pulled his hand out, rubbing his thumb across his damp fingers, feeling the tiny water droplets that had formed on his skin.

Then, he tucked his wings in close to his body and fell headfirst into the cloud. The wind whistled and tugged at his hair as his dive turned into a free fall. Suddenly the cloud around him vanished as Percy popped out the bottom. The leyr threw his four wings open and controlled his fall until he was able to land on a grassy knoll below. The grass was damp, dripping from the aria storm that had just passed through. Time to get to work.

Percy wandered around the area, collecting water and plant samples. He even found a very tiny feral daemon and managed to capture it as well. His heart ached for the tiny mouse-like creature, but he knew it would die soon regardless of whether he captured it for Arthur’s study or not.

With samples collected Percy took to the skies once again. Time to enjoy the last few minutes of his free time before returning to the tower. Or maybe he’d take a detour, Arthur might appreciate some more time alone with Lohrian.