Earn Your Wings || Sumia & Belf
@perceptiveknight
He had told the brunette he’d wanted to see what his homeland had become two thousand years into the future… but this was not the way.
The poor knight had his white-knuckled hands clenched around the reins, close enough to his mount’s neck to tangle his fingers in its mane. The pegasus jerked underneath him; Belf realized he had nearly been strangling it and murmured an apology. But try as he might, he could not convince his body to relax into the same stance Sumia displayed; and if he could not convince himself to relax, he could not convince his winged horse either. This was just too much, too fast, and… he could feel himself getting lightheaded…
“Lady Sumia… please… we must land.” It cost Belf immensely to get even those few words out, but thankfully, those few words were enough. The veteran pegasus knight understood his distress and guided her mount and his to a safe landing in an open clearing.
The knight practically fell off his winged horse with relief. He might even have kissed the ground right there and then, were he not conscious of embarrassing himself and Grust before a lady and were he more certain that he could regain his feet after such a move. Instead, he sagged against the pegasus’s back, breathing laboriously and stroking its warm neck in an effort to ground himself once more.
When he thought he had calmed down sufficiently, Belf peeled himself away from his equine support and faced Sumia. “Isn’t there… some other way you can ease me into this?” he asked, voice plaintive. “I am… not so good at heights.” To say nothing of his shock at finding men could train in this capacity… Back in the Archanea he knew, male dragoons moved straight from horses to dragons without detouring into a feminine class.
Sumia hadn’t known about Belf’s fear of heights. If she had, she wouldn’t have been so excited to get him into the air. For Sumia, the sky was a place she belonged, a place she longed to be. She was able to fight astride her pegasus and just being up in the air, flying, was something she loved. She should have asked before they started, but Belf hadn’t really protested. Perhaps he was too embarrassed about his fear.
Sumia glanced over at the man with a concerned expression. She had thought he’d be happy at a chance to get a bird’s eye view of Ylisse, but he looked like he was ready to faint and she nodded at his request. Soon they descended from the sky back onto land. Once they were back on the ground, Sumia dismounted, moving towards Belf and his mount. She could tell that the pegasus was doing alright and she patted him on the nose, smiling.
She was worried about Belf though. Had they gone too fast? Once he admitted to his issue with heights though, she felt terrible.
“You should have told me. I wouldn’t have been so eager to get you into the sky. I am sorry.” She tapped a finger against her chin. While she wasn’t sure if they should continue on this path, she didn’t want to give up just yet. She knew from experience you only learn to work past your problems by doing it.
“You could ride with me. I can keep Lovebirds close to the ground. That way you’ll be with an experienced rider. We can start off not too far off the ground.”
It wouldn’t be easy. Pegasus weren’t meant to hover above the ground. They were made to be up in the air, even during combat. Although...
“Or we could try other ways! You could put yourself at a height by climbing up onto a small ledge or into the low branches of a tree. It’s not like flying, but it could help you get used to being above the ground at varying heights before you try again.”