The wind blows strong as a short scruffy, grey yinglet in a patchy vest stands on the edge of a rocky cliff.
“Breck! Get zhe hell down from zhere now!” a voice screamed from below
Breck shimmies over to the edge, looking down at the Val Salian yinglet enclave below with Vizlet and a couple hundred yinglets all crowded around for the show
“Breck! Are you listening to me?! Breck!” yelled out Vizlet once again
Breck ignored the cawing from the matriarch as he looked out over the horizon, lost in thought as to what brought him here. Every since Breck was a small fluff he had wanted to fly, spending hours of the day daydreaming about becoming a bird and flying away as he spaced out into the circles of birds above. That’d often get him a whap on the back of the head and a demand that he finish his chores. They’d call him crazy, lazy, empty headed but Breck knew the real truth. The truth that they were all just too afraid to try, afraid to dream about doing such a thing.
Breck looked down at the four giant mountain eagles in front of him slowly regaining consciousness. Each of the four birds dwarfed his own size by about half, each lying with a rope tightly tied around their waists. Their lines all-converging on a small harness secured over Breck’s waist and chest. Breck had spent months trying to find the best way to capture the eagles that crowded around the enclave skies. Many of his first attempts were to simply tackle the birds while they were on the ground. Breck could still remember trying to tackle the large birds often leaving with some deep claw marks and an awful rodeo bucking that left him soar all over. Breck almost gave up after his hundredth or so attempt, sitting by the enclave’s swampy stream and washing his wounds. Almost in a form of mocking, multiple mountain eagles had come down to fish from the same stream. Breck watched in awe as the gang of birds easily scooped some vibrant blue fish from the river. After eating the fish, the birds seemed to become docile and tired, almost drunk. In that moment Breck knew how he was finally going to fly.
“Breck! I am giving you one last chance! Don’t make me put you on scrubbing duty!” yelled Vizlet her voice sounding hoarse and dry
“Sorry Matriarch, Breck knows is dangerous, Breck not care. Breck gonna fly whezher you like it or not” said Breck peeking his head over the edge of the cliff
Vizlet has a moment of internal screaming, nearly ripping her headscarf in two before calming collecting herself with a deep breath.
“You wanna jump and kill yourself infront of zhe enclave? Fine, go ahead! Wouldn’t be zhe first time.” Says Vizlet in a collected cloud of frustration as she walks off from the center of the crowd
Breck smiles as he makes motions for the crowd to part for a landing spot. The crowd parts as he gets into position, his toes curling around the lip of the cliff. Breck looks back at the now mostly conscious and confused eagles getting to their feet, some nibbling at their cord.
Breck takes one long drag of air as he raises his arms like wings
“It is time for Breck to fly” Beck said simply to the crowd below before taking two steps off the cliff
Breck feels the wind rush for about two feet before being abruptly yanked by his harness. Breck opens his eyes to see that he is dangling in mid air, supported by his cords from above. The sound of sudden screeching and clawing come from the cliff above as the eagles wake completely in a frantic frenzy. The cords visibly start to tangle as Breck lowers a couple more feet. Breck’s mind races as the distance below becomes more and more intimidating. Before Breck can do anything, the eagles scramble over the edge, plummeting all of them to the ground below.
Breck slowy comes to as his mind is swirling and ringing as his body reverberates in aches. Breck leans up, the four eagles standing calmly a couple feet from him as the crowd of surrounding yinglet spectators just ooo and ahhh at the pretty birds
“Stupid birds! Supposed to fly!” yells Breck as he picks a small rock off the dirt and flings it at the eagles.
The eagles immediately snap, flapping wildly as they try to get away from Breck. The crowd of yinglets immediately disperse with a chorus of tiny squeeks and screams. Breck is pulled along the gravely ground as the birds try to take to the air. Breck can feel his speed increasing as he struggles to pull his homemade harness off his chest. Breck can only cover his face as the eagles drag him through the enclave’s crop patch, destroying much before slamming him into one of the poles of the enclave’s watchtower. Breck coughs, grabbing his side as groaing and creaking can be heard coming from the tower. The tower waves back and forth for a second before tipping towards Breck. Breck puts his hands in front of his face waiting for the wooden giant to smash him like an insect. Just as the tower falls, the eagles drag Breck once again out from the tower and out towards the shore. Breck opens his eyes, as he looks back, the tower smashing into a thousand pieces of flimsy driftwood on the ground. As the dust settles, the sound of Vizlet screaming and cursing can be heard coming from the enclave.
Breck lets out a wild howl of laughter before being quickly snubbed by a mouthful of sand. Breck spits out the gobs of sand, raking his fingers over his tongue as the onrush of the ocean and beach comes closer. Breck eyes go wide as he grabs fruitlessly at the sand beneath him. Soon, everything goes wet and dark as a wave crashes over the yinglet. As much as Breck struggles, water surrounds him completely. Breck flails and pulls at his harness but as much as he tries, the harness won’t give. Briny ocean water pours into Breck’s mouth as he gasps hopelessly for air.
Just before Breck’s vision goes dark, he feels himself pulled upward and out of the water. Breck spits and coughs out lungfuls of water before looking up into the rays of the sun and sky. Above him Breck sees the four eagles flying in perfect formation. Breck’s heart jumps as he looks down below.
“I….I…..I am flying…Breck is flying!” said Breck with amazement as he tries to take in every sight
Breck could see that he was about hundred feet in the air, looking around at the entirety of the enclave and the scenic view of Val Salia and its Teeth not much further away. Breck felt a well in his chest and a tear to his eye, realizing his childhood dream had come true.
With a creek and a snap Breck’s harness finally breaks, plummeting the yinglet back down into the ocean below as the eagles scatter amongst the sky. Luckily for Breck, the eagles did not drop him far from shore. With a little doggy paddling and some help from the awaiting crowd back at shore, Breck made it back to land. The crowd cheered, gathering Breck up on their shoulders and paraded him back to the enclave.
Waiting for them back at the enclave is a visibly pissed Vizlet, arms crossed and tapping her toes.
“Breck, how do you intend to fix zhis?” said Vizlet through clench teeth
“Next time Breck uses six birds!” exclaimed Breck followed by the cheer of the crowd
