4
First flight
Jasper four
Max twenty two
Jasper Talon Ride was exactly four years old to the day when Fang and Max decided to take him on his first flight. Tiffany-Krystal wasn't quite ready to take to the air just yet, so the family of three went out alone.
Fang thought the whole idea was bad to begin with. Teaching a four year old to fly just didn't seem like the right thing to do. What if he wanted to run away? What if he decided to show someone his amazing skill? Max had all confidence in him though. She thought any person with wings as great as theirs, should be taught to fly as soon as possible. She didn't want her child to live a decade of his life unable to fly, as she had spent her childhood. She was also adamant that he would never feel the compulsion to run away from home.
"Come on, Jazzy," Max called, letting herself free fall backwards off the sheer rock cliff. Little Jasper ran happily toward the edge of the cliff. So far, he had shown promising signs of super human strength, speed, and fearlessness. A nasty combination.
Fang grabbed the back of Jasper's blue crew neck, slit backed tee shirt. He gave his toddler a stern look, strictly forbidding him to follow in his mother's shoes. Max floated back up to the grassy flat at the top of the cliff. She had her arms across her chest and a pouting look on her face.
"Max," Fang started sternly. "He can't just go leaping off cliffs like that. He's hardly used his wings." Max smiled at him tolerantly.
"I would have caught him," she said matter-of-factly. Jasper nodded exuberantly. He also had all confidence in his mother. She never let him down.
"It's my birthday!" Jasper said indignantly. "I want to jump off the rocks like momma did!" he demanded. He also knew what he wanted.
"Yeah, dad," Max taunted. "Let us have a little fun." She smiled widely at him. He stared at her for a moment, finally stepping back, muttering that he thought it was a bad idea. It wasn't that he was worried Max wouldn't catch their child, he was worried that the child would try to do something stupid. Like using his limitless super speed to evade his mother and ultimately hurt himself.
"Yes!" Jasper exclaimed, punching his fist in the air as he'd seen Uncle Gazzy and Uncle Iggy do.
"Let's go!" Max crouched over and grabbed the boy around the waist. He giggled gleefully. Fang smiled at the sight of his wife and child on the cliff; the long grass swaying around their twirling feet, wild flowers lolling about, wispy clouds spread over the sparkling royal blue sky free of smog. Max set the boy down and looked at Fang, an infectious grin on her beautiful face. Not a spec of make up on her face.
"Mommy!" Jasper demanded the attention of his mother. She kept her eyes on Fang and stepped backwards off the cliff again. Jasper chanced a look back at his father before jumping off the cliff. His shrill scream could be heard echoing off the canyon walls. The scream turned to piercing giggles as his mother caught him. Fang walked quickly to the edge of the cliff and looked over. Max was flying Jasper back up to him. He was wriggling, trying to get out of his mother's arms. He wanted to fly, not be carted around.
"Okay, Jasp," Max said. "Let's fly!" The two landed on the ground next to Fang. Jasper hopped in circles around Fang and fluttered his ashen wings. The tip of his left wing brushed Fang's face; startling him sideways a few steps. He crashed into Max, knocking her down. Fang tripped over her helter-skelter legs and landed on his rear next to her.
"I'm sawwy," Jasper cried, eyes rounded as he crouched down next to his parents. Fang chuckled. He grabbed Jasper to his chest and tickled him in all the right places. He giggled uproariously. Max collected herself and towered over the two, unable to keep the smirk off her face.
"Wait! Stop! I wanna fly!" Jasper managed between involuntary bouts of laughter. Fang released him with a smile on his face. Jasper jumped up and shook himself off as Fang stood next to Max.
"Alright!" Max said, clapping her hands together. "Release those wings!" She instructed in an authoritative voice. Jasper grinned and with a slight crouch, he snapped out his wings. "Flap, kid, flap!" Jasper began to flap his nine foot span and was soon hovering above the grass, if a bit unsteady.
"Nice," Fang congratulated. He walked a slow circle around the toddler and nodded his head approvingly. "Go higher," he commanded. The child hesitated before slowly gaining altitude. He faltered at five feet above ground and fell to the earth. "It's okay, try again." Fang said calmly. Jasper, needing no encouragement, leapt off the ground and whipped out his wings again. This time, there was no grin, only sheer determination. He flapped until his wings were holding his body up. Then, more quickly, he elevated to five feet above the ground. "Good, steady, steady…" Fang coached. Max unfolded her own wings and floated up next to her son. Fang offered a few pointers before rushing up to join them.
"Let's go higher," suggested Max. Jasper nodded and furrowed his brow in concentration. He rose a few feet, faltered, righted himself, and found his rhythm. "Great, yeah, that's it," Max congratulated.
Jasper flew in a self conscious circle around his parents. Max smiled at him, Fang regarded him with a cool expression, as was normal for him. As Jasper became more confident in his flying, he began to grin again.
"Let's see what these bad boy's can do!" Max challenged. Jasper shot up between Max and Fang, ready to lead the way.
"I'll lead the first time around," Fang said, maneuvering his way around the small boy and his erratically moving wings; nothing a little more practice couldn't fix.
Fang started off towards the expansive forest, keeping his distance from the deep canyon. He glanced behind him, seeing if Jasper was following alright. He was. Max flew beside him, ready to catch him if he fell. But he did well. His wing strokes got steadier, the beats more regular. He began to have fun, instead of worrying whether he was about to fall or not. He looked like a natural, because flying would come natural to him, as it did to birds.
They flew a mile above the forest before heading home again.
I'm trying really hard to finish this ff. So please bear with me. I'm working on the next chapter now. So It shouldn't be as long in waiting as last time. Review.