Snippet #2164456

Maya was somewhere beneath them in the forest and Quetzal's form was becoming closer and closer. Aubrey took a deep breath and relaxed against Bren, running her fingers through his neck feathers. Even after her self-disappointment with not helping with the Behemoth, she'd gotten the flag back, and they could leave soon, she hoped. She felt Bren tighten his grip on the flagpole, reassuring them both that they had it. Aubrey smiled warily and Bren left his wings out to soar, wobbling them a little to each side so that they almost bounced in the air, earning him a giggle from his rider.

Her enjoyment was cut short however, when the air around them changed. Aubrey sat up stiffly as Bren's amiable wobbles became uncontrollable as something rose up from beneath them. Aubrey looked down but couldn't see anything other than the flagpole in Bren's grasp until a split-second later when she felt the huge gust of wind throw them even higher through the air. Bren cawed as he felt the weight of his bond leave his back when she was thrown from him. He was pushed up into the air but it took only a few moments for him to right himself as he flapped crazily to turn in search of Aubrey. She went up, then down, tumbling through the air as she plummeted to the ground. A panicked shriek wrenched itself from her lungs as all she saw was blue with some brown-green flashes before she squeezed her eyes shut.

The griffin located her and dove in, beating his wings to be faster then her rate of falling. Her cry was cut into a gasp as Bren barreled into her and grabbed her with his talons as gently as he could and spread his wings and brought his upper body up in efforts to slow them as they were berated by leaves going through the tree canopy. Even so, Bren could not pull up from such a fall and they reached the ground quite quickly.

Landing on his hind legs, Bren pulled in his wings and twisted to his back. Aubrey was thrust from his grasp and propelled forward until she was stopped by slamming into the base of a tree. The wind knocked from her lungs and her head snapped back. She sat for a moment, finally gasping then coughing when she could breath again. Green-blue eyes opened suddenly, glazed and wet with the beginnings of tears, but landing gratefully on her bond who was already stumbling to his feet. He walked over to her, seemingly okay, and stuck his large head into her face and then around her body, checking to see that she was okay as well.

"Oh quit that and help me up," Aubrey croaked, leaning against Bren on legs that felt like jelly. She grit her jaw, leaning over to brush debris off herself and asses the damages. She was certainly alive, and it didn't feel like anything was broken, aside from the fact that her head swam and her vision was fuzzy, and her abdomen hurt. Some scratches and bruises already forming, but she ignored them as best as she could and turned to Bren, running her hands across his back and down his legs. Nothing more than a few deep cuts and bashing from the trees.

Aubrey sighed and buried her nose in his neck. "Better lay off the flying and walk for now, I s'pose." she mumbled, aware that they no longer were in possession of the dratted flag. Bren snorted and flicked her gently with his tail. "Or you walk, I ride. That works too."

She climbed onto his back with a groan, carefully avoiding putting pressure on his wings when he let them drape at his sides as he made his way back through the forest in the direction they'd come. Aubrey blessed his avian's sense of direction as they came out of the forest line into the valley ((am I right?)) and found the others where they'd been the whole time. (Which she supposed wasn't actually all that long.) She ducked her head, embarrassed that even after all that, she hadn't gotten the flag. She'd been so useless to the others this whole trip! She wasn't sure if she even wanted to tell the other students about her pathetic fall except that Bren chirruped at the sight of Babur and Aubrey could only hold on and sit still.