Nina whispered to Apollo. "If you ever have a father they will be the best father you ever had." Nina said. "But for now I will take as good of care of you as I can." She then picked up Apollo. She smiled and then looked around. She stopped smiling. The place was huge and it was shocking. She wanted to step back and admire it all.

Rose Petal nodded a hi to Juhi.

Tatsu, Ashleigh & Ainsleigh

Tatsu was very, very excited. He would be giving his baby girl her very first flying lesson! He was very careful about selecting his tack and a tandem flight rig with only three feet of tether so her little wings could fan out but he could reach out and touch her. He had to lay her out like he was changing a diaper to place the rig correctly, and in some places it would be a little uncomfortable. Ashleigh fussed a little bit over some small discomforts with the tethers, but daddy showed her he was rigged up too. So if a grown up does it, she figured it would be okay. Some other flyers were looking on in disapproval at how young Ashleigh was. But Tatsu didn't care. Every one of his winged offspring got early training to break their fear of falling as early as possible.

Ainsleigh walked along with Blue and Tomen, she was stroking Blue's fur. Something she dared to do at great risk but expected there friendship would make her recognize it was a comforting gesture. "Don't you fret over that bully," Ainsleigh said, "he isn't the only fighter in this guild that sees by-laws as guidelines and not just rules." She spoke with reassurance. She stopped rather suddenly and looked out. "Here comes the moment of trust I dread in silence." She told Blue looking over to where Tatsu had his little girl tethered and held in his claws with her feet on his belly and wings outstretched.

Ashleigh kept looking back at Tatsu, uncertain of what was going on, but she seemed to think it was a fun game. "Uh oh!" He said looking straight out. And when little Ashleigh faced to look where Tatsu was, Tatsu ran out as fast as he could and launched himself into open air! At first Ashleigh, squealed with excitement! Then all of a sudden they weren't going out, they were falling down! The baby Draeyl screamed with fright as the air caused her eyes to water and her little wings flapped desperately but had no effect to stop her descent. Ainsleigh watched in silence, her heart had bobbed up into her throat like it did every time Tatsu did this, and she grabbed a claw full of Blue Jay's fur, thankfully not her pelt. Every time she wanted to run out and catch her baby! But she was with Daddy doing the one thing she could never do.

Ashleigh was frightened and hysterical and forgot she was with somebody. Instinctively she stretched out her arms and legs when her little wings didn't stop the fall. When she did that, Tatsu pinky fingers were right there for her to grab a hold of. Her little hands grabed a tight hold and she looked up to see her daddy's face smiling back at her. "I'm right here Ashleigh. And as long as I am here no harm will come to you." He flapped his wings hard once, then a second time so she could see his were moving and she started doing the same. They had fallen below the cloud line when Tatsu finally glided an arc so they could both see the land below the clouds. The tandem lines holding her horizontal to the ground.

She flapped instinctively and looked around at how beautiful and free flying was and what wonder a bird's eye view of the world was. She would occasionally look up at her daddy and soon the grimace on her face turned into a smile, then a look of wonder and excitement. Now that fear had been overcome, Tatsu began flapping to give them lift and recover the hundreds of feet of drop they had. Ainsleigh saw Tatsu clear up from the cloud and she relaxed. "Sometimes, I think I mated an idiot."She said to Blue and Tomen. Once they were back above the deck of the vessel, Tatsu called for a tether and he and Ashleigh glided like a kite the rest of the trip. Father and daughter laughing and cheering with glee at the exhileration and freedom of flying!

Blue feeling her fur beheld in one place by her companion she stopped and turned to watch as the two flew through the air, She wondered if their other child would have wings someone for Tomen to go diving with as well. She smiled at the promised hatching of the little one, before Ainsleigh spoke.

["Sometimes, I think I mated an idiot."]

She chuckled " Don't we all" she said thinking.

Tomen and Riker were already walking with Juhi and had not heard what the two had said.

"We should see what info this meeting has then I think getting a room would be a wise idea..... We have traveled quite a ways and this little one needs some time to sit still." she said nuzzling the egg before catching up with the others.

Nina jumped in shock and turned around. "Oh hey thorn." Nina said. "Need anything?" She smiled. She always appreciated how kind he was to her. But why did it sound like he wanted to say more?

"Yeah it's been a while." Nina admitted. "Ever since that one quest." She smiled. She then looked at Apollo. He had ran inside and now she was pretty much alone with Thorn.