Alita takes no offense when the other girl ribs her for not being able to pronounce it. “I can’t say a name but you can’t fly,” she says bluntly, rolling her shoulders and then giving a devilish smile. “So really who is weird?” Her smile deepens in the corner and she feels a strange warmth in her chest—something like companionship or something and she relaxes into the sensation, into the feeling of being known.
She watches quietly as Isilme dismisses her zebra friend, jerking her head silently as if in agreement with what she said silently, but her attention it trapped quickly by the other girl again.
“I’m ready!” she exclaims, taking a step back and resting on her heels as she watches as the other mare flaps her wings and takes off a little bit. She laughs a little, mostly in response to the contagious feeling of Isilme’s laughter, and then takes a step forward, bumping her nose against the girl’s cheek.
“That wasn’t too bad,” she giggles, sharp teeth glinting. “But it helps if you’re going fast and you have to try and flap them a few times.” She scrunches her face in concentration. “It’s not easy to just go up and stay there—but if you’re moving forward then it can be a little easier I guess. I don’t know.”
Not great at words, she decides it’d be better to just show her what she meant.
She takes a step back, face falling into sterner lines as she concentrates. Then without any preface, she digs in and begins running, wings flaring out at her sides and beating powerfully. She leaps into the air and lets the wind catch her, beating her wings to catch momentum as she swoops up and then curves around. After a few minutes, she glides, arcing in the air and then circling back around to Isilme.
She brings her wings in and dives to the ground, landing and taking a few running steps forward.
She shakes the dirt from her shoulders and looks over her shoulder.
“Now you try!”
Alita
@[Isilme]