[Isaac S.]

It was a windy day; a good day for flying. The great walls of the cloud palace blocked out most of the wind though Isaac could still feel a cool breeze that brushed across his face. He walked leisurely towards where he would meet for training. His eyes wandered to the morning sun which laid low in the sky. He had woken up a bit earlier than he had liked but at least he knew he wasn't going to be late. Training was hard enough without him giving the instructor an excuse to make it harder.
He was wearing a simple grey long sleeve shirt and some dark grey pants, both of which were a bit beat up from past training sessions. He also wore black tennis shoes, which were quite worn in and fit comfortably on his feet. The shoes were actually pretty bad when it came to absorbing the impact of a landing but he had had the shoes for quite some time and so he liked to wear them.

[NPC]

OOC// Andrew, an Apalos, played by Emma

IC//

Andrew grimaced. It was far too early to be up on this wall watching idiots fling themselves to the ground. He didn't know how Tami could stand this job, let alone love it, but she did and so when she'd hit a snag in scheduling and begged him to cover for her for an hour or so, he'd taken one look at that puppy-dog expression of hers and caved in with a groan.

That didn't mean he had to enjoy being up here like she did, though, despite her fluttering eyelashes. He knew she thought that an enthusiastic and kind teacher could make all the difference in the students, but his flight instructor had been an old battleaxe and he'd done perfectly fine.

Pivoting on the narrow wall, Andrew spotted a young woman about to throw herself off with her wings twisted back too far and shot forward with a harsh shout. "Oi! Do you want to break your wings before you hit the deck? Sheesh, girl." Bringing her wings forward for her with a rough jerk, he nodded as soon as he was satisfied they were in the right position. "Aerodynamics," he told her, completely oblivious to the well of tears in her eyes as she frowned at him.

Raising his voice, he repeated the word to the rest of the idiots on the wall. "It's all about aerodynamics!" About to launch into lecture about equations and vectors (no reason not to teach them some mathematics while he was up here, right?) he snapped his mouth shut as a young man arrived, apparently tardy.

Frowning at the kid, Andrew glanced at his watch. Eh, he'd let Tami deal with the fellow when she arrived. "Get to it, then," he instructed, gesturing to an empty spot on the wall where the young man could position himself.

Glancing at his watch again, this time hoping Tami would be making her appearance sooner rather than later, Andrew grimaced. Why had he agreed to this again?

[Isaac S.]

Isaac was surprised when he saw that everyone was already there. He could have sworn that he had set his alarm an hour earlier than needed. He probably could have spent the entire time of the practice wracking his brain trying to figure out how he could have been late even though he was 'an hour early', but it looked like the stand in instructor would have none of it. While he preferred nice instructors such as Tami and their very sweet and nurturing way of doing things, he could take a few hits from a battleaxe. He could thank his father mostly for that. Before they went away, his parents would actually teach him much in the same ways as the two instructors. His mother was generally very sweet and nurturing, while his father would generally be more blunt and say that Isaac had to 'get some thicker skin'.

Isaac quickly took his place in the empty spot on the wall. He had come just late enough to miss Andrew's almost lecture on aerodynamics. He still remembered some things from past training sessions so his form wasn't completely horrible. He flapped his wings a few times as a breeze blew by so he could reacquaint himself with the feelings of air on his wings. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply so he could push the thoughts about him being late to the back of his mind. He bent his knees slightly, placing his right foot a little behind the left. And then he jumped.

[NPC]

OOC: I'm so sorry, I totally read your first post wrong. I hope this makes up for it.

Andrew and his girlfriend Tami, both Apali, played by Emma (a dimwit).

So they weren't all completely hopeless, then. Andrew wasn't entirely happy with the newcomer's form but it was better than some he'd seen. Taking off with one foot behind the other wouldn't serve him well, especially if he was planning to become a warrior, and he wasn't holding his wings stiffly enough - one gust of strong wind or a quick whack from a fist or the flat of a blade would crumple them - but he was doing well otherwise and Andrew would say as much once the boy made his way back up here.

"You there, straighten your legs, you look like a cattle driver after a week's ride." Pointing at one of the students about to take off on the other side of the class, Andrew raised his voice to make sure he was heard. The boy immediately straightened out and Andrew nodded his satisfaction.

"Tormenting my students, Andrew?"

Hearing Tami's voice, Andrew whipped his head around, wobbling precariously on the narrow wall. "I thought you had someplace to be. That was the reason you asked me to cover your class, pet - right?" Propping his hands on his hips, he stared down at where she stood twenty feet below with her arm around the girl he'd chastised earlier. "Oh, come on, she was going to break her neck!" he defended grumpily, crossing his arms over his chest. He hated crying girls...

"Yes, pet," Tami acknowledged, mocking his endearment affectionately and ignoring his defence. "I was just on my way up now. But this class wasn't meant to start for another hour." She paused, eyebrows raised, waiting for the information to register. Andrew just stared down at her, the muscles in his jaw flexing.

"You said... 8am."

"Yes, I was supposed to be up there at 8am."

Andrew checked his watch. It was a few minutes after eight. Knowing her, she'd popped by to see how he was getting on, knowing he was a reluctant teacher, and seen the crying girl. So he'd made her late. "And... class starts at... 9..." he remembered slowly. She'd asked him to cover because she knew the meeting would last at least an hour and a half, possibly longer. She'd hoped he'd only need to get the kids started and then supervise for a bit, so she hadn't wanted to cancel on the off-chance the meeting would run over. And he'd totally messed up.

Clearing his throat to cover his embarrassment, Andrew nodded. "Well, you'll be pleased to know they passed the test."

Tami's eyebrows went up into her hairline but she was quick on her feet and knew him very well. She should; they'd been friends for a long time before they started dating. "Test... yes. Well, good. That's good." She pulled a face at him, not even needing to ask him what the hell he was doing, but Andrew shrugged and made "go away, let me keep my dignity" gestures. It wouldn't do to let the students - his or hers - know he was a fool. "Right, then. I'll be off to my meeting. Be good, pet." Shaking her head in amusement at his expense, she drew her arm from around the crying girl's (who was no longer crying and more bemused than upset) shoulders and blew him a kiss. With a flap of her beautiful wings, she shot off towards the central tower and Andrew turned back to his class.

"Very good. That was a perfect demonstration of perfect form. Would anyone like to show me their imitation?"

All things considered, Andrew thought he'd handled that rather well...

[Isaac S.]

ooc: Beautiful. I was in comedy sportz for a couple of years so I do enjoy some good improv, and as long as you continue to justify them as beautifully as you do, I very well may have to encourage your slip ups.


Isaac's wings caught the wind and he started to glide. He felt rather good about his take-off and thought that he was doing rather well. He hadn't heard instructor Andrew say anything, so he must not be doing anything terribly bad. Wind rushed past his face and felt very nice. Isaac always liked the feelings of flying and liked how he could look out over the ground. He looked over and noticed that Tami was here. He could see that she was talking to Andrew and he had tried to listen to what they were saying but there was one problem: the ground was coming up rather fast.

Isaac suddenly tensed up as he realized he was about to hit the ground. His flying path became more horizontal though it was not enough to recover the glide. He landed hard on the grass, and then fell into a roll. He rolled sideways pinching his wings and scraping his arms. He used his momentum to bring himself back up to the upward standing position and tried to shrug off the situation as best he could (which was actually rather well). He stood still for a moment as he counted how many places he could feel pain. His wings hurt, his feet stung, his legs were bruised, and he had scratches on his arms. Then after taking full account of all of his pains he walked back to his place on the wall. He limped for a moment from the pain but soon got used to walking with the feeling of needles.

He had wanted to go over to Tami and talk to her, but he only had a chance to wave to her before she flew off. He had failed to overhear their conversation and so he still thought that he had been tardy and very much wanted to clear it up with Tami. Now, once again left with Andrew as the only instructor he thought it wise just to make his way back to his spot on the wall. Though, once he was there he just stood in place, trying to drag out the time until his next jump as much as he could. He had been lucky that his last try at flying had not resulted in broken bones, though he wasn't sure if his luck would hold out for two tries

[NPC]

OOC: Ah, that's good, haha, since I'll no doubt mess up again.

Andrew, an Apalos, played by Emma.

Andrew's lips pinched with mild disappointment as the boy tumbled, but it was to be expected, really. Tami would probably be down there reassuring him but Andrew's early attempts at comforting students had ended miserably and just made things worse, so he did what came naturally and turned away to save him some embarrassment.

Spotting the same girl he'd already made cry about to leap off the wall with her wings still too far back, Andrew shot forward and grabbed her before she could hurt herself. He didn't yell at her this time - he really didn't want her crying again because Tami wasn't around to shut her up this time - but his voice was still stern as he showed her once again what she was doing wrong. Her mouth wobbled as if she was about to burst into tears but thankfully she held them back and Andrew saw her off the ledge with the dim hope she'd actually heeded his instructions this time. Some people just never learned.

By the time he turned back, Isaac was back on the ledge preparing to dive off again and Andrew made his way towards the young man, correcting the stance of another student as he passed. "Hey, you," he called out to Isaac, not knowing the boy's name. "Try taking off with both feet and legs even this time, and stiffen your wings a bit."

[Isaac S.]

Isaac looked over when Andrew called to him. He had felt a little nervous, and thought that Andrew was really going to be hard on him, but was delightfully surprised when it was just a couple of suggestions. He had thought to wait a bit longer before doing his next jump since not all of his pains had completely disappeared, but he was an anyeli and he was made to fly. He stepped up closer to the edge of the wall, this time with both legs even. He put his winds out and stiffened them, then un-stiffened them, and then stiffened them again. He did this a few times so he could feel the difference of how the air felt on his wings when they were stiffer. After feeling confident that he was stiffening his wings enough he jumped.
This time his wings deflected the air quite nicely and enough lift was created to keep him off the ground. On his last jump his wings weren't catching enough air to create enough force for him to stay up, but this time he was gliding along quite nicely. After he was slowed down a bit from drag he went into a shallow-ish dive to increase his speed. It was a bit too steep though and his speed increased a little bit more than he had liked. He panicked for a second, but then greatly increased the curve in his wings and flew upward a little which slowed him down. He slowed down a little bit too much though and so he had to make another shallow dive in order to increase his speed to a suitable level for flight. This dive was executed a bit better and Isaac felt that he was in control of his movment.

[NPC]

[d=auto]OOC:[/d] Andrew, an Apalos, played by Emma. (Feel free to time-skip a bit if you like. )

[d=auto]IC:[/d]

Andrew was actually starting to enjoy this, he realised, with some alarm, as he corrected the take-off pose of another of Tami's students. In his own classroom, he always found it so hard to concentrate on the teaching and was easily distracted by the numbers. There was something about mathematic problems that drew him in, sucking in all his attention and making him feel like he needed to solve it himself. Tami suggested once, when they were much younger, that he just didn't like being outdone (actually, she'd expounded on the subject to great lengths and even tried to psychoanalyse him at one point during her "I'm going to be a therapist!" phase), and maybe she was even right. He preferred to think he was just that passionate about maths.

But this, out here on the wall, there were no distractions. He could focus on the teaching, and it reminded him why he wanted to teach in the first place. Maybe if Tami got the new job, he could take over, although he doubted the kids would like it, especially the girl he'd made cry.

Watching the kids practise, Andrew rubbed his stomach absently. Had he eaten breakfast? He had vague memories of grapefruit and toast but that could have been yesterday. "Good," he nodded to a blue-eyed blonde who strangely reminded him of his mother, and watched her carry her near-perfect pose off the wall. His gaze skipped to Isaac as the young man's flight path wobbled, his eyes narrowing at the hasty corrections. It was a marked improvement, and it didn't look like he'd land on his butt or his head, but he looked more like a sparrow than an Anyelos. At least he'd listened to Andrew's advice, though.

[Isaac S.]

OOC: Thanks, I think I will time skip.


Issac flew down for another landing. His feet hit the ground with a thump and he stumbled forward before gaining his balance. If one didn't count the roll as landing on his but or his head, then Isaac hadn't had that sort of landing in a very long time. This didn't mean that his landings weren't any bit graceful-in fact they weren't-but at least he wasn't about to kill himself. He breathed in deeply and then let it out in a long relaxing breath. The practice felt extra long today. Issac guessed that it was because Andew was teaching today, and he wasn't as friendly as Tami, but he wasn't compltely sure. As he walked back to the wall his eyes wandered up to Andrew. Andrew didn't actually seem like the type that was overly strict. Isaac couldn't tell what it was but something about Andrew's demeanor or something that gave him this feel.

[NPC]

OOC: Apalos Andrew by Emma

IC:

Andrew yawned and stretched, trying to read the time on his watch as his hand waved about a foot from his face. When he finally did manage to see the numbers, he was surprised. Time had run away from him and he was surprised none of the students had complained about being late to their next class. Not that they'd overrun badly, but he figured most of them would want to escape as soon as possible. More than half were covered in bruises and a couple - the ones not still trying to refrain from crying at his teaching tactics - had been glaring daggers at him every time they passed him, no doubt on behalf of the ones who were trying not to cry.

He'd thought he'd been doing rather well, all things considered, but maybe teaching just wasn't his sport. Tami was such a natural, he almost hoped she didn't get the new job. It would be a shame to rob her students of her brilliance. He, on the other hand...

"Alright, wrap it up, kids!" Another yawn, and he rubbed his tummy, wondering what was for lunch. "You've all done... well, very well, I guess. I mean, I don't guess, because you have." Clearing his throat, he nodded sagely, lips pursed slightly to shut himself up. "I'm sure you'll be glad to hear Tami should be back next class, so... so yeah." And he had his numbers to look forward to.

[Isaac S.]

Isaac was one of the few people who were neither trying to stop crying nor glaring daggers. He was covered with a fair amount of bruises, but they really didn't bother him all that much. There was something about physical work that he just liked more then all of the academic classes, and found that when it came to physical activities he really didn’t mind having a strict teacher.
He heard Andrew announce that class was over. He hadn’t been paying attention to the time since he didn’t have any time telling device. He just found it easier to remember where he had to be after each thing he had to do in a day, and let everyone else take care of when exactly one thing began and ended.
He had had it in his mind that Andrew was some hardcore coach and that there was still some crazy punishment waiting for him because he was late, but the punishment never came, and from the way he ended the class Andrew didn’t seem all that hardcore. Isaac hurried off and disappeared to wherever it was that he needed to go next. He wasn't really looking forward to his next class so there wasn’t really any reason for him to rush off but he did seem have a habit of 'disappearing'.




((Isaac has left))