That Magnificent Man and his Flying Machine

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    He remembered the day. The golden light of the sunset, bathing the world in its warm hue, like an ocean made of gold flowing beneath him. The feeling of the cool summer wind through his hair. The roar of the engine as the world slipped away. Nothing else mattered, except that one moment, that feeling, that sensation that burned itself into his mind, body, and soul. 

    The feeling of freedom. 

    Even when the cobbled engine sputtered and died, he kept himself in the air as long as he could until gravity pulled the wheels down into the golden ocean, the glittering waves of grass. Pulled him back to the ground. It filled him with a steadfast determination. To improve. To work harder. To build a better craft. To soar higher.

    Fly faster.

    Further.

    Longer.

    To touch the sky in his own way. Using a machine made by his own two hands. A machine that he'd poured his blood, sweat, and tears into. This was his dream, his goal, his pride. Maybe it could have been easier to just learn magic, but that only pushed him on. The idea of pushing forwards, to go the path less traveled and come out with something he could look upon with a full heart. At the end of it all, he knew that he would come out better for it. 

    Cayde had been seventeen at the time of his first flight. And it had been a defining moment in his life, even if the flight had only lasted ten minutes, and he'd only gotten a couple meters off the ground. He'd done something incredible, him, some home schooled kid off in the middle of nowhere cobbled together enough knowledge to create his own, powered flying machine. Incremental improvements had taught him how to fly further, stay in the air longer, push the craft faster, take himself higher. 

    The young man remembered how he would lay in the fields, staring up at the clouds as he watched birds soar past. How he dreamed of being up there with them. That day had pushed that dream into reality.

    He'd grown up in a small, two story home out in the plains of Avalon's Periphery, isolated from all but a few travelers that would pass by every so often. Sure, there were "neighbors" but  the walk to them spanned a handful of miles- an eternity to a young kid. The village was even further- an hour or so out by foot. Because of that, the only reasonable way for Cayde to really get an education was from his father, who had thankfully been a teacher in his younger years, and a scholar before the man had married Cayde's mother and moved out to his grandparents old home. 

    Cayde could say he had a good childhood. He lived a comfortable, happy life, with a wealth of literature to consume, and no limit to the adventures he could have. Besides the standard knowledge, he learned how to cook (and cook well), how to take care of himself, how to look after his little sister, and most importantly- how to build his own machines. 

    when his fascination with flight sprung up in his youth, his father and mother encouraged it, and helped it grow. His father would take him to The Junkyard, to gather up scrap and learn from the Skaven on how to be a proper engineer. By his teenage years he'd built his own motorized scooter, and took trips on his own to scavenge materials and continue honing his trade. 

    Life was good. 

    But eventually, road bumps will appear in one's path. The first came a few months after his first flight. His parents separated, his father choosing to go out on his own- to see the world and continue his search for knowledge. Soon after, his mother took his younger sister, now fourteen at the time, to the capital to get a proper education, leaving Cayde by himself. 

    Well, maybe not entirely by himself. He had his pet falcon, Ava, and a neighboring friend. Plus, his parents continued to write to him, and his mother would make trips every month to check up on him and make sure he was taking care of himself. The trips became less frequent as he grew older and proved his independence, until the visits became exclusive to the holidays. 

    But it was fine. He still had his own, lovely little house, lush green fields filled with soft grass, bubbling streams filled with fish, trees to lounge under, and of course-

    His flying machine to build. 

    As the sun crested the horizon, the morning light filtered through a window, warming up a lump buried in a heap of blankets. The air was filled with the ticking of a distant clock, breaking the silence with it's gentle clicks. From her perch, a falcon stretched her wings and let out a squawk. After a few moments of stillness, the lump would shift as a mess of  blond hair popped to the surface, the young man letting out a tired yawn. Good morning world, your fly boy has finally arisen. 

    Ava continued to give a few squawks as the groggy boy rubbed at his eyes, looking at the blond daredevil expectantly.

    "I know... I know." Cayde said with a yawn. He swayed a moment, the warm touch of sleep refusing to release him. It wouldn't be too bad to sleep a few more moments. As if reading his thoughts, the bird let out another impatient cry. After she gets her breakfast. The young man reached out to the window, missing a few times, before finally grabbing a hold and throwing it open. "Don't be too long." 
    
    The falcon darted out, flying away to find its morning meal, leaving Cayde to debate on whether or not he should eke out a little bit more sleep. Inevitably though, he decided it was time to get the day started. 

    Bare feet padded against the wooden floor. Model 'flying machines' hung from the ceiling. Some made from scrap, some from wood and paper, some a mix of both. A wooden drawing board held a detailed blueprint of a mono-wing aircraft on it, a small lamp (currently off) pointed down at it with a variety of scattered pencils and rulers strewn about- some broken, some worn, some new. 

    The blond haired daredevil stripped out of his nightwear and stumbled into the shower, washing away the remaining feelings of sleep as he cleaned himself, replacing it with new energy. Today's the day. He thought to himself, smiling as he shut off the water.

    He dried quickly and threw on his clothes- a black tank-top, tan cargo pants, steel toed boots, and his signature cap and goggles. Cayde paused at the bottom of the steps as his stomach grumbled angrily. Ok. Maybe I should take a hint from Ava and grab a bite to eat first. He couldn't lose himself in excitement just yet. At least not completely. 
    
    Cayde whistled cheerfully as he made up a hearty breakfast; Pancakes, eggs, bacon, grits, and a cup of coffee. The breakfast of kings- and he devoured it all like a king. Ok, more like a starving barbarian, but you get the point. The young man grabbed one last check of the blueprints, threw on his jacket and gloves at the door, and took the final step towards one of the biggest moments of his life. 

    Near the main house, a small barn stood. The Larris family hadn't actually owned animals since Cayde's grandparents, though, so when Cayde converted it into his workshop-slash-hangar, there were little complaints. Alongside it was a neat dirt path, wide and long, with a few tread marks in the dirt to signify its use. With a flip of a switch, the lights came to life, illuminating the darkness within the hangar-barn. The air was still and quiet. Machine parts were neatly organized, an old engine rested in a corner, spare propellers hung upon the wall, and in the center of it all was a large shape hidden underneath a cream colored tarp. 

    Cayde let his fingers dance briefly atop the handles of his scooter as he made his way towards the tarp. For the longest time he had made a career as a courier, utilizing his scooter to get from place to place quickly. Of course, he was more local than anything, there was only so far you could go. For now. Cayde yanked the tarp off and beamed at his project, the sleek, beautiful form of his flying machine sitting pretty under the lights. Just a few more tests and checks and she'd be ready for her maiden flight. 

    Wings fluttered as Ava flew in through the open barn doors, perching up in her own comfortable spot to enjoy a plump mouse she'd caught. Having a... generally weak stomach, Cayde ignored her... breakfast as he threw open the engine cowling of his flying machine. Years of experimentation and work had brought him to this day. Cayde grabbed his tools and spent the next few hours putting the finishing touches on it, before locking in the fuel source- crystalline Aero, smoothed and refined to function as a fuel cell of sorts. 

    The would-be-pilot gave a few more tests, and made sure to double check everything as noon came, bringing with it a sky full of clouds. The first few drops fell as he was about to knock away the blocks and push the aircraft to the runway. He'd missed the first few drops, but as though to make sure Cayde got the message, nature turned it up to eleven as rain beat the earth and thunder cracked and rolled in the distance. 

    Cayde and Ava stared out the open barnyard doors quietly for a time before the young man sighed and closed the engine cowling. "Aw nuts. Welp, Ava, guess we're going to have to hold off a bit."

    Next day. Next day will be the day. Cayde patted the flying machine and pulled the tarp on, looking back to his feathered companion. "I didn't bring an umbrella, looks like you're going to have to spend the night in here." 

    Ava squawked angrily at Cayde and the young man laughed. "Kidding, kidding." Cayde stuffed his gloves in his pockets and pulled off his jacket, holding it above his head. Ava flew down and squeezed underneath, positioning on Cayde's shoulder as the young man ran back to the safety of the front porch, perfectly dry and unscathed by the heavy rain...

    Is what he wanted to say. Admittedly, Ava had fared a bit better than he did, but Cayde had certainly gotten the worst of it. He turned back to the world outside and watched the rain with a sigh. Well, at least it's not all bad. When the time does come, I can set off earlier. Ava was quick to dart into the home when he opened the door, however, he had to stop and pause. "Oh boy."

    I left the barn doors open.

    While before he had gotten through fairly ok, this time around he had to change his clothes and hang his original outfit up to dry. "At least the rain cleaned the grease and sweat off me, eh?" 

    Cayde laughed as he started preparing dinner, cutting free a few slices of raw meat for Ava to eat, before throwing the steak into the pan with a generous amount of seasoning. 

    As he sat by the window to eat and read, he couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed at how the day had turned out. Once the feeling had died down, he relaxed and just enjoyed the look and feel of a rainy day, the delicious meal set before him and a good book in his hands. 

    At least the day wasn't a total loss. 

    The next day, even though the rain had stopped, the ground was still too wet for him to attempt his flight- the machine would have sunk into the runway. Instead, he spent the day working on his machine, making sure everything was in order for the day after. 

    When it came, there were only a few, small, scattered clouds. The sun was warm, the runway dry, the wind gentle. Cayde awoke early, and finished his tests and final adjustments. This time... this time he would fly. Wheels free of the wooden blocks keeping the aircraft in place, Cayde positioned behind the wing and pushed the plane out to the runway. Bird flew about, singing their songs. The glass of the windshield glinted in the morning sun. After one final check, Cayde climbed into the pilot's seat and strapped in.

    Ailerons... Cayde looked as he wiggled the stick, checking both wings as the Ailerons wiggled. Check. Flaps... Cayde pulled the handle for the flaps ...15, 25, 35, 45, perfect. After one final check of the dashboard systems, Cayde flipped the ignition switch, and slowly put the throttle up a tick to get the propeller spinning while making sure his foot remained on the brakes. A few moments later, the engine now likely warmed up, Cayde kept his foot on the brake peddle and throttled up, holding it for a few seconds to make sure they held and the aircraft didn't budge. It didn't. 

    Alright... this is it. Cayde throttled down and carefully pulled his goggles down over his eyes. Here's to hoping I don't crash. Cayde took his foot off the breaks, lowered the flaps to fifteen degrees for take-off... and throttled up to max. 

    The aircraft kicked as it came to life, keeping Cayde in his set as it roared down the runway. The small bumps as the wheels went over rocks jostled Cayde for a few moments, enough to make themselves known but not enough to be dangerous. Closer and closer he came to the edge of the runway, but he fought the panic and kept the nose up, resisting the urge to abort. Burying the fear that it wasn't going to work. 

    He'd spent so many years, made so many prototypes. The engine was powerful, the wings capable of getting him lift. It had to work. It would work. And it did. Nearly three quarters down the runway, the bumping stopped and Cayde felt the familiar feeling of weightlessness. Felt himself slowly rising up, an inch, a foot, a yard.

    Higher and higher he flew. Cayde's heart swelled as laughter flooded his throat. He was flying higher than he ever had before. Faster than he ever had before. Longer than he ever had before. It's working! It's working! "She's flying! Ha! I did it!!"
    
    Cayde raised the landing gear and flaps, and throttled down to eighty percent. The trees, meters below the aircraft's belly, blew past in a green blur. Joy filled his stomach like a swarm of jittery butterflies. He couldn't stop shouting "I did it!! I did it!!" at the top of his lungs as he banked left and right. As the tree line broke an another house came into view, the family that made up Cayde's neighbors rushed out to see what the source of the sound was. Cayde tipped the plane, using the rudder to keep him straight as he tilted the plane and waved down at the family, who cheered and waved back. 

    Next stop- the village. The young man straightened out and pulled up, gaining a bit of altitude and scouting out for the village. He'd visited it frequently for his job as a courier, but up in the air, his sense of direction was lost without his home for a point of reference. Thankfully, he had a compass in the dashboard. Soon enough, he'd be flying over the rooftops in his flying machine, waving and calling out to the people down below. When he straightened out again, he had to stop to reach under his goggles and wipe away a few tears that had formed. 

    He'd never been this happy in his life. Not since his first flight. It was overwhelming. After years of studying, testing, scavenging, working, dreaming... he'd finally achieved his goal. His dream had finally come true. 

    So many crashes, so many lost prototypes and wasted parts. Cayde reached outside and ran his gloved hand along the side of the plane lovingly. Cayde looked forwards towards the horizon and beamed as the ocean of grass below flowed past. 

    A loud, metallic bang brought him back to reality as the aircraft jolted and the engine sputtered. "Aw nuts." 

    The engine struggled for a moment but it couldn't hold on, dying on him and leaving him to glide. Thankfully, he had enough time to find a nice flat field to land in, lowering the flaps fully and starting to work on slowing for a landing. He'd come so far, done so much... he wasn't crashing this plane. Not here, not now. He wasn't going to lose this. Cayde tried to slow himself as much as possible, while trying to glide as far back towards home as he could without risking flying straight into the forest like a dart. 

    Gear down, breaks ready, the wheels touched down. Bounced once, bounced twice, and finally stayed as blades of long grass whipped past. After leaving a long trail of flattened grass, Cayde finally came to a stop- the aircraft still intact, Cayde still alive. 

    "I flew. I really flew." The pilot slumped in his seat and stared at the sky, a smile plastered on his features even after his misfortune. Finally, the young man unbuckled from his seat, gray eyes darting around the area. Aw heck... where even am I? "Hello...? Is anyone out there?"

    I'm... probably alone... He was probably alone. 

[[God] - Gale Windess]

The winds have many stories to tell. Of course, very few could hear their voices. Gale heard then naturally. She was their master after all. Well, one of them anyways. Imagine her surprise and interest when she heard a mechanical murmur carried by one of them. She rode the breezes, keeping out of sight, seeing a large something-or-other fluttering about in the sky. Remarkable.

The pilot wasn't skaven. They didn't really like the sky. But it was just as surprising that it was anyone who crafted a mount that would fly them about. It was commendable effort really. Of course, the loud bang got her worried and she flew closer to watch and make sure the pilot wasn't going to hurt themselves. There was word in the wind that someone aspired to build their own wings to earn them. This must have been that person.

After the craft itself was on the ground and the pilot was out, it didn't take long to see he was clearly lost. Gale stepped out of her hiding spot, likely appearing from seemingly nowhere to Cayde, but announcing her arrival with a single applause and a soft breeze lifting strands of her hair behind her, as well as the skirt of her dress. It was simple, and to be honest, its design didn't really appear to try to be secure in covering anything around her chest. "Impressive! Impressive!", she started, still applauding and stopping when she was in front of him. "Quite a wonderful invention you've made here.", she said looking at the craft. She stepped around him to take a closer look at its buildup, not to see what went wrong but more to just look at this contraption.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Cayde would blink in surprise at the sudden sound of applause coming from behind him. Oh no! Is it a bandit!? Oh NO! Is it a monster!? OH NO! I hope they don't scratch the paint on my flying machine! It'd take forever to buff it out! Priorities aside, Cayde didn't spend much time actually panicking. Instead, when he turned around to face Gale, he'd find more time being taken up by surprise than anything else. Of all the places he expected to see a beautiful woman, the last place would have been out in the wilds after an engine mishap. 
    
    Still, whoever they were, they seemed impressed by his machine. Instantly, Cayde felt his heart swell with pride as he gave a cheerful laugh. The young man rubbed the back of his head as he spoke. "Thank you kindly ma'am. I've been working on her for a while now. I call her The Mako. Unfortunately, I still have to work out the kinks with the engine but..."

    Cayde ran his hand over the wing, his eyes sparkling with a quieted joy. 

    "For now, I'm going to take pride in the fact that she actually worked... and that I actually flew. It's been a long time coming, and a lot of hard work and sleepless nights, but the fact that it worked-" Cayde smiled and shook his head. "-It's almost like a dream."

    The Mako, as Cayde called it, wasn't exactly pretty in the conventional sense. It used a lot of external rivets, and it bore a rugged appearance. However, the shape in itself was fairly sleek looking, for what it was worth. Seeing as it took a lot of junk to build, the wings had a lot more straight edges, rather than anything rounded, but it all came together in a way that wasn't offensive to the eyes. 

    "Oh!" Cayde blinked and let out a small awkward laugh. "Eheh, sorry, excuse me I got a bit caught up in the moment. Now where are my manners? My name is Cayde, Cayde Larris. It's a pleasure to meet you Ma'am. While I can't say I expected to see anyone like you out here, I also cannot say I'm too displeased by that fact. It's been a while since I've had a conversational partner, though, so forgive me if I'm a bit rusty."

    On the topic of conversations, Cayde wasn't exactly a... shining example of a social butterfly. He certainly like to talk, and he was very friendly... but that didn't mean he talked to a lot of people. His mother kept in contact with him just enough so that the young man wouldn't go crazy from isolation, but that didn't exactly give him an A+ in striking up conversations. 

    All the same, though, he did seem genuinely happy to see Gale. Aside from it being so long since he'd met a new person or made a new friend, the woman seemed to appreciate his invention and it made the boy feel not just happy, but proud of himself. He just had to remind himself not to get too excited.  
    

[[God] - Gale Windess]

"Mako? Like the sharks? Funny, sharks don't really fly unless... Well, that's not important!" Gale turned to look at the wings, noting their rough appearance and then looking at a component that could very well hide the engine. A grin settled on her face, she could feel the Aero crystal's power within its metallic home. "Gale. Gale Windess.", she said, extending a hand out for Cayde to shake. It didn't seem to matter is the name rung a bell or not to her, introductions were important nonetheless.

Although the way she looked in her eyes despite her smile, there was a slight concern. "I'm no expert to mechanic whozie-whatsits, but I am an expert with magic." The goddess gestured to the cap that contained the crystalline engine. "May I take a look?"

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    "Yup!" A goofy grin formed on the young man's features at the mention of his aircraft's name "Obviously the name has nothing to do with sharks flying, it's more to do with speed. When the engine actually works, she has quite the kick." 

    Speaking of the engine, this Gale person seemed to be interested in giving it a look. 

    "Oh! Of course, it's honestly not the prettiest of things but it gets the job done." Cayde approached the engine cowling, twisting two screw locks top pop it open, revealing the engine within. "I've had to do a lot of trial and error with this. She uses Aero crystals for the base of her fuel, but the engine can't process raw Aero so I've smoothed them out into rods, wrapped them in copper wiring, and submerged them in a special solution that reacts with the Aero to create a battery."

    "After two years of- hff-" Cayde grabbed onto a small handle atop the right side Aero Battery, twisting and yanking it out. "-testing, I've optimized the whole design and solution mixture to get me half a days worth of power without sacrificing performance." 

    The young would-be-pilot turned to Gale, holding the glowing battery in his hands for her to look at and take. "The problem though is that it sometimes overworks the engine. However, seein' as I was actually able to fly, and fly for a while, I assume this wasn't something to do with the battery this time around. It's probably something stupidly simple but I'm caught out here without any of my tools to actually do anything about that." 

    It was apparent how much time and passion went into every little detail of The Mako. Cayde had been chasing this dream since his youth, and the effort he put in could be felt from just his words alone. Once Gale took the Aero Battery, he would prop himself up and start digging into the Engine housing to look for what had gone wrong (If she didn't take it, it was going right back where it belonged).

    Throughout all his testing, the most common problem he faced was the battery overworking the engine, and he'd spent literal years working on both so that it wouldn't happen- or at least wouldn't happen as frequently. He was comfortable saying that the issue right now likely wasn't anything to do with the battery. But he could be wrong. 

    "If anything, I think I just got way too excited and forgot to do a proper pre-flight check of everything. It could be an issue with the spark plugs, or it could be something with the air intake. Honestly, I don't know right now." The man let out a soft sigh, pulling his arms out of the aircraft to rub the back of his neck. The real pain was going to be pushing this thing back to his workshop. I suppose if i can get this to a road I can follow that back home, but I'll have to find a path through the trees that the Mako can fit through.

    Maybe if the issue is simple enough I can give it just enough without tools to make it back home. Cayde relented, holding his arms against himself as he looked at the engine, his mind just going through a checklist of potential solutions.

    After a moment, he turned and clambered up onto the wing, leaning into the Cockpit to dig out a compass and a map... wherever he shoved them. As he searched, he kept Gale at the edge of his vision, clearing his throat before speaking up again. "So, what brings you all the way out here Ms. Windess?"

[[God] - Gale Windess]

Gale picked up the rod, looking at it carefully and closely. She seemed to be testing its weight, looking at the inserts for the engine and then back at the rod. "Word on the wind is that there was something in the sky that was rather unique." Her brow furrowed as she kept in thought, a soft breeze swirling around them and the crystal glowing and lifting. It spun around slowly, Gale fixated on it before the breeze ceased and the crystal landed back into her palm. "Hmmm..."

Gale looked over at the engine, or at least whatever part of it Cayde wasn't eclipsing from her view. The crystal itself was fine, and she was sure he knew that much. Gale could only think of one of two things. She didn't read far enough into the crystal to determine too much though, in case it was one thing over the other. "I have a bit of an odd question. Have you tried using just the crystal on its own outside of your craft?"

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Cayde grabbed out the map and compass and quietly looked it all over. He... was actually kind of far from his home. It really didn't sink in just how far flying could take him until now. So... the man had to really hope that whatever the issue was... it was fixable here. 
    
    The pilot dug back into the machine, listening to Gale speak. He found it interesting that someone would come out all this way to see him. Made the young man feel all warm and bubbly inside. It was nice! Though, at the same time Cayde definitely felt as though he didn't deserve it. Who knows what sort of things could happen to Ms. Windess's pretty dress all the way out here in the woods! All the bugs and dirt. Cayde would hate to be the cause of someone's clothes getting all mucked up from the wilderness. 

    Or even grease from the engine at this point. 

    "It doesn't do a whole lot." Cayde said flatly. Not flat as in rude, mind you, but flat as in he was a bit lost in thought right now. "I mean, I use it for power in my home because the energy is clean and keeps the lights on, also a little motor bike I created. But other than that, there's not much use for it. I mean, personally I don't have any magical potential, unlike my sister, so there might be stuff that magicky people can do that I can't..."

    Cayde went quiet a bit on the last part. It had always bothered him a bit that he was, quite literally, physically unable to learn any sort of magic. While Cayde would still have this goal of making his aircraft- he believes- the boy always felt like he had been put second place to his younger sister, the prodigy of the family. There was nothing he could do about it though, so there was no use in getting bogged down. 

    The Pilot would make his own way in this world. 

    "If you mean, like, attaching it externally..." Cayde said, grunting as he tried to hand tighten a bolt. "Unfortunately that could mess up the air flow. I don't think it'd unbalance it too much, but little things have the potential to drastically effect flight capabilities."
    
    "Plus, the current issue isn't the core... something came loose internally..." Cayde sighed and gave up, moving and hopping up on the wing. "And I don't have any tools to fix it... and according to the map I'm... really quite far from home. I'll figure out something though. Always do. I have to."

[[God] - Gale Windess]

"Air flow with magical items can be a bit different from.." Gale waved her hand around trying to think of the right word, passively making a light breeze in the direction her hand went. "Science." It still seemed to be a relatively new word for her. "While the craft you're using isn't magic, its power source is." Gale seemed to settle back, watching the young man at work. "I could help you get back. You'll just have to tell me what the place looks like and the general direction.", she said, sitting down as if there was an invisible chair present and crossing a leg over. She didn't seem in much a rush herself, but what did she really have planned for today? Nothing.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    "Hmm, well, like I said I don't know a whole lot about magic. I just know tech, it makes more sense to me." Cayde hummed. It was really quite fancy, her being able to just sit in the middle of the air like that. The young man wondered how much a person would have to train to be able to do that kind of stuff, or if his sister was  near that level. Must have been really useful, being able to sit down anywhere whenever you felt like it. 

    "Oh!" He'd perk up suddenly when Gale offered to help him get home. His smile was like a beacon of purity as he hopped back into the cockpit and started digging around. The pilot almost had a childlike innocence about him as his top half vanished into the machine, leaving his bottom half waving around madly in the air. "I just had the darn things, now where did I put them!?" 

    "Ah! There you are you slippery son of a gun- Ack! Get back here fiend! How dare you escape my grasp!" He'd gotten the map, but the Compass was  now proving difficult in these trying times. first he dropped it, and now it was rolling away from him and being a general pain, the little bugger! Finally, though, the young blond would pop back out of the cockpit and immediately clamber around the wing in her direction.

    Of course, falling on his rear end in the process after he tripped. 

    There was a moment where he blinked in surprise at the landing. Cayde quickly recovered with a bright smile as he bounded over to her, map and compass proudly in hand. He'd give Gale the compass and then unfold the map infront of her, pointing at a spot. 

    "We~!" He chimed. "Are right here!" 

    "My house is-" He slowly slid his finger up in the north-east direction, stopping on a small blue dot he'd made with a pen. "-right here! It's a bit far on foot though, so if you know a good way to help me back, I would certainly appreciate it!" 

    The pilot would offer the map to the goddess for a time, just happily letting her look it over if she wanted to. It was really nice that someone was offering to lend a hand in this time, and it made him happy that she stumbled across him. There were some bad hombre's out there, and he wasn't exactly a... fighter. So unless he managed to talk his way out of something like that, he'd be stuck there without a way out. 

[[God] - Gale Windess]

The boy was amusing. Gale just simply smiled as she was watching Cayde rummage about his craft and exclaim at it with a pure and wholesome attitude. Her fingers clasped over each other and rested at her knee as she waited patiently for the boy to get what he was looking for. In this instance, it appeared to be a map and a compass. That he just dropped. He was clumsy too, but that was fine. The boy was actually quite lovely to be around.

She leaned forwards to get a closer look at the map and followed where Cayde was pointing. The goddess put a hand to her chin thoughtfully, looking between point A and point B as well as the compass. At least she knew enough about a compass to tell its direction in correspondence with a map.

After a few thoughtful moments, Gale would fold the map up and hand Cayde it back along with the compass. "You should get ready to go, it'll make this go by quicker.", she said. It didn't seem all that far a distance to go and the terrain didn't really seem to rise too much outside of the trees. Oh gods would Willow have such a story about how her trees were touched by a plane, and not even a standard one of Machina's following. What a trip that would be for Gale to explain the extra details Willow's trees could not.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    "Oh! Yes of course!" Cayde smiled and pocketed the compass and map again, turning away from Gale to return to his flying machine. Now, he didn't know what he was going to need for a travel, but he supposed the bottle of water, the map, and the compass should have been good enough. Right? Cayde had honestly never done any on foot travels further than a few neighbors houses, and given the distance it didn't seem like it was a far walk...

    Cayde paused. Gale didn't look like she was getting ready to move, and for a moment, the young pilot was confused. Until it clicked and he patted his forehead with a gloved hand. Of course you doof. You even said it was far on foot, so of course a wind mage like her would want to fly instead.

    Admittedly, being so used to not having magic allowed Cayde to forget how useful it could be. It was a bit embarrassing, but thankfully, he didn't start packing up. That would have probably confused the poor woman. 
    
    Play it cool Cayde, she doesn't have to know you're stupid. 

    the young man played it all casual-like, stowing the compass and map back where they belonged and hopping down from the wing. The engine cowling had to be placed back on before they could do any flying, and for that, everything he took out of the engine had to be put back. Thankfully, with how long Cayde has worked on the aircraft and how many times he's had to strip down the engine and put it back together, the process actually went by relatively quickly. 

    After securing the cowling back in place, Cayde climbed his way back into the pilot's seat and buckled in. All that was left was to raise the flaps and they were good to go. The pilot pushed the lever forwards, lifting the flaps back into place and beamed a cheerful smile back towards Gale. "All set!" 

[[God] - Gale Windess]

"Alright, let's go!", she said rather excitedly. Gale got up from her invisible seat, closing her eyes for a moment. Soft green markings lit up against her skin and sprung off into visible streaks of wind that shot towards the plane and lifted it up.

The goddess took a step, her foot sideways and taking a full rotation of a spin towards the plane. She lifted her arms, almost as if enacting a dance. Magic was a dance though! The plane was lifted and sent in the direction of Cayde's home. Of course, Gale wouldn't leave him at that, she'd have sprung into the air alongside him, skirt flowing behind her wildly. She didn't seem to make much more of a movement after to keep the wind flowing, perhaps it was more a show of power or just a little bit of flare for fun? Who knows.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Cayde made sure to drop his goggles down once they took flight again. Even though it wasn't by his own power, a smile was still drawn wide across his features. He was still flying high above the ground. And, hey, technically the pilot was still inside his plane too! So, his plane was still technically flying!

    Little victories. 

    To reduce drag (and to make sure they didn't snap off if they went too fast) Cayde lifted the gear back up into the wings. The young pilot would be lying if he said he wasn't curious how much control he was given back up here. With the help of Gale's wind, he was technically gliding... so did that mean he had a bit of freedom, or was he more locked in. 

    Over the sound of air rushing past, there wasn't much of an opportunity to ask her. Not like she'd hear him anyways. So there was only one way to find out. Cayde took hold of the controls and yanked hard, applying full ailerons, while also pushing down on the rudder gradually, allowing him to do a full roll. 

    If he was more locked in to Gale's powers, that maneuver would do... absolutely nothing, and he'd release the controls after a few seconds. If he had full freedom, then by the time the pilot returned to level flight, he would be looking at the goddess, beaming happily with a goofy smile on his face.  
    
    Regardless, Cayde wouldn't actually have a whole lot to do on the trip home. Well, he could keep rolling over and over again but that would get old quick. Might even make the lad a bit ill. He could flip upside down... but that would make him dizzy, what with all the blood rushing to his head. He might even lose his flying cap! So... it was probably best for Cayde to just sit still and relax. Not like he had much of a choice. 

    That wasn't to say the young man wasn't thankful for Gale's help! Of course he was! This was incredibly kind of the woman, going out of her way to help him fly back home. Who knew how much magic she was expending with the spell she was using to help him fly! So he was insanely thankful for this. Just a bit bored is all, nothing to do with her, more to do with him. 

[[God] - Gale Windess]

Cayde would find Gale's winds would only keep the plane aloft and moving forwards. Otherwise he was able to move freely. It wouldn't seem like he'd notice how in tune to the element she was. Being a goddess meant she was one with the element. Actually, Gale wasn't totally sure if he knew exactly who she was. Didn't really matter to her though.

But back to the element talk, Gale could feel everything the winds did. There was plenty of leeway for Cayde in his flying contraption for him to perform tricks, the wind turning along with the plane. She could feel every flap moving up or down, every slight tilt. It was more a matter of eyeing the pilot's movements to see if he actually wanted to do such tricks or if he was adjusting the balance of the craft. Truthfully, she could also hear him, but she doubted he would have known that. But at least he seemed to be enjoying himself.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Once Cayde learned he had a lot more freedom... he... sort of abused that a bit. The young pilot happily soared around, flipping and looping. However after an almost stall, he kept it in a bit more moderation. It was easy to forget that he was still just gliding, and wasn't flying by his own power. Sure, Gale gave him a bit of help with her wind, but that still limited him a bit. 

    It was fine, he probably should have been behaving in the first place. 

    "There!" After a little bit, Cayde would point and shout, even if Gale couldn't hear him. Maybe if he shouted loud enough, she'd be able to pick up something? Whatever the case, with him pointing, it should have been enough for her to get the memo. They had arrived at their destination. 

    Cayde lowered the landing gear and steadily lowered the flaps as he prepared for landing. He didn't know if Gale was just going to let him glide in or was going to guide him in herself, so he was playing it safe here. 

    Whatever the case, once he was on the ground, he would quickly unbuckle and... fall flat on his face as he excitedly tried (and failed) to hop out of the plane and run over to Gale. Well, ok, the running over to Gale part happened, just with a lot more dirt on his face than he would have liked. 

    "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Cayde was practically vibrating as he hugged the green haired woman, a bright, beaming smile on his features. When he pulled back he was bouncing on his feet slightly. "That was amazing, I didn't know you were so skilled with your wind magic! That was so much fun getting to fly back like that! Oh my gods, thank you for helping me get back home, you obviously went out of your way to do something that nice for me, how can I repay you?" 

    "Oh, oh, oh, I know! I can teach you how to fly the Mako. Oh! Or I could take you up in it for a quick flight! I could show you the blueprints too!" Ava's wings fluttered as she landed nearby, watching Cayde bubbling in excitement. It seemed as though this wasn't a... unique occurrence for the bird to witness. "If you want, I can also whip you up something to eat? I'm actually a pretty good cook. Well, maybe not as good as I am a mechanic, but I'd say I make some great stuff!"

    "Oh, ah, hm- um- hm. Ah jeez I still need to dig into the engine and fix it. You know what, I can do that later, I have a lot of free time. Besides, guests come first. Are you a guest? Well you are on my property, so I suppose that would make you a guest. Or does that only apply when you enter my home? I don't get many guests out here. Oh where are my manners! Would you like to come in and have a seat? I'm sure having to focus like that had to drain you just a little bit? Oh! I can go put on a pot of tea, what kind of tea do you like? Let me go see what I have!" 

    Cayde quickly turned and started jogging towards his house... only, maybe too quickly as he took a  few steps and tripped over his own feet... again. The boy would pop up, dirt covering his lenses as he scrambled to his feet. "Ah! It's all dark, what happen- oh! Eheh... uh, whoops. Forgot to take these off."

    After brushing off the lenses, Cayde made sure to prop them back up onto the flying cap. "Where was I again? Oh! Yeah, right! Would you like tea?"