Flying Lessons

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By Zel

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Disclaimer: I do not and never will own Escaflowne

Damn, I haven't written an Esca-fic in A WHILE!

R&R!

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"No! I won't! You can't make me!" Van screamed, latching his arms firmly around the bedpost.

"C'mon, Van!" Folken grunted, "You gotta learn sometime!"

"Nooo!" Van wailed. Folken grabbed his younger brother's waist and pulled with all his might, "It's only the fifth floor!"

"Fifth floor?!" Van shrieked, hysterical, "Only the fifth floor!?! Are you nuts?!?!"

"Quite being so stubborn!" Folken ordered, his muscles beginning to strain, "Damn, kid! You got some grip!"

"Mommy told you not to swear!" Van said, struggling to maintain his grasp on the post.

"It won't hurt a bit!" Folken reassured, "Just let me throw you out the window!" Van's pupils dilated and the color drained from his face.

"Out…the window?" he breathed, "Mommy! Folken's tryin' to kill me!"

"Shut up!" Folken hissed, releasing his hold. Van clung desperately to the bedpost, using both arms and legs to solidly anchor himself.

"I won't! I won't!" Van managed over angry sobs, "I don't wanna go out the window!" Folken's scowl deepened, "Honest to God! You won't ever learn at this rate!"

"I don't wanna learn!" Van sniffled, "I'll stay on the ground!"

"You havta learn!" Folken growled, seizing Van's leg in an attempt to pry him loose, "What kind of Draconian is afraid of heights?!"

"I am!" Van snapped, fighting tears. Folken sighed with frustration which immediately gave way to a sly grin, "I'll give you candy, Van. How about that?"

"How stupid do you think I am?!" Van barked back at him. Folken groaned and let go of Van's leg setting his brother's grip firm as stone on the post again.

"Ice cream?" Folken tried. Van glared at him through narrowed eyes, "Would you jump out the window for ice cream?" Folken gave a nonchalant shrug, "If it were good ice cream…"

"What kind of ice cream is it?" Van asked precariously.

"The kind you like," Folken said, smirking.

"I'm lack, toast, and tolerate," Van stuttered.

"Wha?"

"I can't have dairy."

"Liar," Folken asserted, "And it's not 'lack, toast, and tolerate, it's-" Folken hesitated, "Okay, I don't know what it is, but I know it's not that."

"I don't wanna go out the window!" Van stated with renewed vigor.

"Don't you want ice cream?" Folken said again. Van let go of the post, teetering dangerously and clasped his hands over his ears.

"I can't hear you! I can't hear you!" he chanted.

"Argh, Van-"

"La la la la la!"

Folken frowned and grabbed his brother, wrenching him free at last and swinging him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Folken! No! No! Don't!" Van screamed, beating his brother's back with his fists. Folken winced with each tiny blow while stumbling ever closer to the open window. Van gasped and went into a full-throttle temper-tantrum.

"Folken! No! No! Put me down! Don't! No! Not the window! I'll tell mommy! You can't do this! It's not fair!" Van screamed lashing out at Folken violently while his brother attempted a façade of passive indifference.

"It's for your own good! You'll thank me one day!" Folken said. Van trembled getting a full-view of the ground below from the dizzying heights of the fifth floor.

"You can't do this!" he said shakily.

"Every Draconian's gotta learn!" Folken said, "And don't worry! If you fall, I'll catch you!"

"P-p-promise?" Van stammered.

"Yeah," Folken said, propping Van up on the sill, "Now fly!" Folken shoved his brother forward and Van screamed bloody murder. Gusts of cool air rushed up to greet the tiny boy, not hindering his five-story drop the slightest. Folken watched with wide eyes as his brother grew smaller and smaller, suddenly rethinking his motives.

Van was dizzy with fear, the ground getting closer and closer and then suddenly…a tree branch.

"Ow! Ouch!" Van whimpered, branches clawing at his face and clothes. Folken flinched, as leaves tore by Van's fall fluttered up to the window. Van finally cleared the tree, revealing the ground again. Van shrieked, "I'm gonna die!"

"Fly, Van! Fly!" Folken shouted, "It ain't that hard, Dammit!"

In a moment of pure panic, Van vaguely heard his brother's instructions and opened his wings. He jerked up as the wind caught him, dangling him like a fish on a hook. Folken was jubilant, "That's it, Van! Now fly!"

Van gave a weak swish of his wings, throwing himself forward. Folken flinched again and closed his eyes, fearing the worse. Van hovered half-heartedly in the air, mere feet from being smashed to a bloody pulp on the garden patio below.

"Hey, Folken! I did it!" Van said, hardly believing his own achievement.

"Thank god," Folken sighed, slumping back, "he's alive…I'm not dying anytime soon."

"Folken?"

"Yeah, Van?"

"How do I get down?!" Van shrieked.

~ Fin

Please review. Flamers will be subjected to unspeakable torture. Have a nice day. J

~ Zel