Post by Koa Leilani on Apr 10, 2020 6:36:48 GMT
Once the saddle was affixed to Kupuna's back and Koa climbed on, it was ready to begin the flight training. Koa was safely hooked to a harness in the event he fell, but with the foam cushions in the flight arena, he would be safe regardless. He took a few deep breaths as Kupuna started to raise higher into the air "Alright, I'm ready. Let's do this!"
They started slow as Kupuna soared towards the poles they had to weave through. Koa leaned left and right depending on where he wanted to guide her in either direction. Each pole was spaced out at different intervals with some being closer together than others. At the speed they were currently going, it wasn't too difficult, but going slow looked a little awkward. "Let's go a little faster." He said as he pat her neck. At the signal, she flew faster. This made weaving around the poles a little more difficult, but there was an undeniable thrill doing so. One by one, they curved and weaved along them at a decent pace, narrowly avoiding some of the tighter turns. Once they passed through all of them, Koa leaned forward and the two of them began to fly faster. He smiled brightly, clearly enjoying the freedom of movement. He looked down and shuddered a bit at the height, but he knew he was safe. He had absolute faith in Kupuna to carry him along.
t0eNZywfp_
So far everything was going rather well! The two of them soared to the next obstacle, a series of hoops of various sizes they would have to fly through. Once more, Kupuna started to go faster as she got used to flying this high for an extended period of time. Koa held on tight as they flew through one of the larger ones. As the loops got smaller, Kupuna straightened her neck forward as Koa leaned down against her to avoid them as well. "Whoo!" He shouted as they passed by a particularly small hoop. Next up the hoops began to move back and forth, and up and down "Alright...alright we can make it! Go!" At his call, Kupuna roared and timed her flight through the hoops, eventually even going through them at full speed, predicting where she would have to be! She dove down past one as it rose up to meet her and Koa let out a cheer "Good going! We're almost done, let's keep it up!"
p_
There wasn't much to this course left. Next up was a series of walls they would have to fly through, either above, below, or around, and they would have to make that decision fast if they wanted to get through in a timely manner. First, they flew upwards, Koa leaning up to guide her over the first wall. The next wall they had to swerve to the right to avoid, and Kupuna even did a little roll to give her that extra leverage to the side "Whoa!" Koa was a little surprised by the roll, but he was otherwise fine. They narrowly avoid a high wall by diving under and opening beneath it. Next up...did the walls start to move and shift positions? That was going to be tough "I trust you, just time it right and we'll make it through." He said to encourage her. The pair flew up and around the next few walls and started to get a feel for the rhythm so they could proceed at a good pace. "Almost there..." Koa said as they flew over one last wall that was raising higher and higher. Once they passed that one, they were free of that leg of the course.
p_
Kupuna was beginning to get tired, but hopefully this next leg would be the last. Thankfully it was something they could take their time on. A maze entrance presented itself to them and they were told they weren't allowed to just fly over it for reasons that should be obvious. Being able to navigate difficult terrain and memorize where they've been before would be invaluable. Though it didn't help that every turn of the maze looked exactly the same. There was an unreasonable amount of turns and junctions that the two of them got lost for...a while. "Hold on, hold on." He leaned back a bit to stop. He thought for a moment "Last part was a T junction...then we went right, that was a dead end...let's head back to that intersection and head left." Kupuna grunted as she followed the command and they retraced their steps. It looked like they were on the right track, going past multiple single turns and eventually they saw the way out. Relieved, the two of them finally made it out of the maze, though they didn't do very well on time there.
p_
Wait, where were they? This whole stretch seemed to be open without any obstacles...so what was...then it happened. There was the sound of something being launched out of something. Kupuna roared in surprise and dived down a bit, a ball flying overhead "Oh come on, really?!" He said, really not expecting this of all things. Evading danger while airborne is a real possibility, so...off they went! A series of launchers sent projectiles their way as they swerved and ducked to avoid getting hit. Thankfully they were soft, but were still surprising to get hit by! Koa almost leaned too far to one side as he clutched to Kupuna's side. She looked back, worried about him "I'm fine, it's fine, just focus on not getting hit!" He shouted as he hefted himself back on to her back. "Go!" She started to fly faster, towards what Koa really hoped was the finish line. With one final burst of speed and a bunch of objects flying past their heads, the two of them made it through, and...
p_
Victory! They made it through all of today's specified courses. The two of them flew down to the landing zone as Koa hopped off, weak-kneed from the experience. "Oh man that started off so well too...but we made it..." He sighed and walked over to pet Kupuna "Good going...I knew you had it in you." He said. She grunted softly, appreciating the praise as they went to get their certification.····
They started slow as Kupuna soared towards the poles they had to weave through. Koa leaned left and right depending on where he wanted to guide her in either direction. Each pole was spaced out at different intervals with some being closer together than others. At the speed they were currently going, it wasn't too difficult, but going slow looked a little awkward. "Let's go a little faster." He said as he pat her neck. At the signal, she flew faster. This made weaving around the poles a little more difficult, but there was an undeniable thrill doing so. One by one, they curved and weaved along them at a decent pace, narrowly avoiding some of the tighter turns. Once they passed through all of them, Koa leaned forward and the two of them began to fly faster. He smiled brightly, clearly enjoying the freedom of movement. He looked down and shuddered a bit at the height, but he knew he was safe. He had absolute faith in Kupuna to carry him along.
t0eNZywfp_
So far everything was going rather well! The two of them soared to the next obstacle, a series of hoops of various sizes they would have to fly through. Once more, Kupuna started to go faster as she got used to flying this high for an extended period of time. Koa held on tight as they flew through one of the larger ones. As the loops got smaller, Kupuna straightened her neck forward as Koa leaned down against her to avoid them as well. "Whoo!" He shouted as they passed by a particularly small hoop. Next up the hoops began to move back and forth, and up and down "Alright...alright we can make it! Go!" At his call, Kupuna roared and timed her flight through the hoops, eventually even going through them at full speed, predicting where she would have to be! She dove down past one as it rose up to meet her and Koa let out a cheer "Good going! We're almost done, let's keep it up!"
p_
There wasn't much to this course left. Next up was a series of walls they would have to fly through, either above, below, or around, and they would have to make that decision fast if they wanted to get through in a timely manner. First, they flew upwards, Koa leaning up to guide her over the first wall. The next wall they had to swerve to the right to avoid, and Kupuna even did a little roll to give her that extra leverage to the side "Whoa!" Koa was a little surprised by the roll, but he was otherwise fine. They narrowly avoid a high wall by diving under and opening beneath it. Next up...did the walls start to move and shift positions? That was going to be tough "I trust you, just time it right and we'll make it through." He said to encourage her. The pair flew up and around the next few walls and started to get a feel for the rhythm so they could proceed at a good pace. "Almost there..." Koa said as they flew over one last wall that was raising higher and higher. Once they passed that one, they were free of that leg of the course.
p_
Kupuna was beginning to get tired, but hopefully this next leg would be the last. Thankfully it was something they could take their time on. A maze entrance presented itself to them and they were told they weren't allowed to just fly over it for reasons that should be obvious. Being able to navigate difficult terrain and memorize where they've been before would be invaluable. Though it didn't help that every turn of the maze looked exactly the same. There was an unreasonable amount of turns and junctions that the two of them got lost for...a while. "Hold on, hold on." He leaned back a bit to stop. He thought for a moment "Last part was a T junction...then we went right, that was a dead end...let's head back to that intersection and head left." Kupuna grunted as she followed the command and they retraced their steps. It looked like they were on the right track, going past multiple single turns and eventually they saw the way out. Relieved, the two of them finally made it out of the maze, though they didn't do very well on time there.
p_
Wait, where were they? This whole stretch seemed to be open without any obstacles...so what was...then it happened. There was the sound of something being launched out of something. Kupuna roared in surprise and dived down a bit, a ball flying overhead "Oh come on, really?!" He said, really not expecting this of all things. Evading danger while airborne is a real possibility, so...off they went! A series of launchers sent projectiles their way as they swerved and ducked to avoid getting hit. Thankfully they were soft, but were still surprising to get hit by! Koa almost leaned too far to one side as he clutched to Kupuna's side. She looked back, worried about him "I'm fine, it's fine, just focus on not getting hit!" He shouted as he hefted himself back on to her back. "Go!" She started to fly faster, towards what Koa really hoped was the finish line. With one final burst of speed and a bunch of objects flying past their heads, the two of them made it through, and...
p_
Victory! They made it through all of today's specified courses. The two of them flew down to the landing zone as Koa hopped off, weak-kneed from the experience. "Oh man that started off so well too...but we made it..." He sighed and walked over to pet Kupuna "Good going...I knew you had it in you." He said. She grunted softly, appreciating the praise as they went to get their certification.····