The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

#96 Test Flight

[Sophia]

Another week later, trying our best to train as hard as possible. Although, from my perspective, it wasn't so much as actual training as it was just messing around and trying to think of anything we could to keep us motivated and focused. Teri in her little pond, waving her hands around wildly in the air and making all sorts of shapes and patterns with the water. Apollo was still trying to help the Twins reveal their powers again, hoping some sort of method might work. It's been a struggle for the both of them, but at least they were trying. Apollo demonstrated some of his own abilities lightly, trying to get the Twins to understand. And I was over here, by myself doing... whatever.
Okay to be honest, I know I should be doing something a little more productive, but I really couldn't think of much. Teri occasionally tried to get me to practice with her, obviously trying to get me to be involved. And I guess it wasn't really much of practicing together, instead it was more like combining our powers and seeing what we could do with them.
Could Teri control other liquids besides water?
I put out four different glasses, one with water, one with grape juice, one with soda, and one with milk. The tests was conclusive: she cannot. She can pull water out of other substances if she focuses hard enough. Like separating water from mud and it's just regular dirt.
Could I combine my ability with hers to create the ultimate super move? Actually yes, in a lot of ways actually. I started with something simple at first, creating a perfectly generic object then having Teri mess with it with her manipulation. Making it bounce and slide as any other normal object would.
Could I manipulate my power with hers at the same time? I think we can, but it's a little hard to coordinate. But we did prove that using the paintbrush with water is a lot more difficult than how I normally use it. I mean, you all know what happens to paint underwater. Turns out we all could combine our powers in some way. It was fun trying to do crazy stunts like that.

One day, while I was making tiny bird creatures walking up and down the low table absentmindedly with the brush, Teri approached me. I waved my arm across the table and they all disappeared in a small colorful puff.
"Hey Sophie, I was just thinking about something and I was wondering if you could help me."
"Yeah sure, what is it?"
"Could you... possibly teach me more about flying? I just wanted to see if we could practice more with it. I'm the only one without actual wings and you seem pretty experienced so..."
"Yeah, I can do that?" I stood up and let my wings open up. I was perfectly prepared to teach her more about flight.
I draw myself a lot and I try to be as anatomically accurate as possible. If you look at my old drawings compared to my new ones, you can definitely see the levels of improvement. I've done a lot of research for drawings where I show wings and through it, I even learned more about them realistically.
While Apollo and the Twins hung back to keep practicing on getting their powers to show, Teri and I headed out to the waterfall to begin her lessons.
"Okay, where should we start?" Teri asked. I thought about it for a moment. Maybe longer than I should have until I just went with the first thing off the top of my head.

"Okay, you know how I told you that me and Apollo are the only people with wings like this?" I asked her. Teri nodded.
"Yeah, and you said it was like taking a pair of wings off a bird, making them bigger and putting them on the back of a human."
"Yeah, the human part is normal, but there are actually some types of bird wings that are different than others."
"Really?" Teri tilted her head.
"Yeah, my wings are small and light which makes me faster, and Apollo's wings are bigger and can keep him in the air longer. We basically have  the basic types of wings." I explained. I pulled my paintbrush out of my bag and started making tiny strokes in the air.
"Some bird species have different shaped wings based on their different attributes. Mostly so they can hunt prey or get away from predators."
I painted a small hummingbird and let it hover around for a moment.
"Hummingbird wings are tiny, but they can move around in all directions."
Teri watched closely as the hummingbird moved up and down, backwards and all around her head. It came back to me and I began to paint over it. Showing a variety of different birds and their wing shapes.
"Owl wings make them super quiet when they fly, so their prey can't hear them coming. Falcon wings are bigger and they can dive at high speeds. A lot of other birds just have different shapes and sizes for their wings."
I didn't want to overload Teri with too much information, but she seemed to get the gist of it.
"So, should I have different wings too?" Teri asked.
"Well, you don't have to. Since we're just practicing, you can do whatever fits best with you."
"Hmm... okay. What are we gonna do then?"
"I think... for now, let's just go around the lake. Just to see if you remember how to do it."
"Yeah, okay. That sounds good. How big should I make them this time?"
"I dunno, like I said it depends on what fits best. Smaller wings make you faster, but it's a little harder to control. Bigger wings might be easier so you don't have to worry about balancing yourself."
"Yeah... okay, I think bigger wings might be easier."
I unfolded my wings from my back and let Teri see them so she could copy the shape for herself using the water rushing over the falls and making them slightly larger. She moved her arms to the side and let herself relax.
"Your remember how to take off, right?" I asked. Teri nodded and waited for me to lead her. I ran away from the edge of the cliff, positioned myself and sprinted towards the cliff. Beating my wings downwards until I felt myself being lifted into the air and I lost contact with the ground just before I went over the edge. I pulled myself upwards and hovered in the air, waiting for Teri to get behind me. I saw her peer over the edge, unsure if she could make the jump.
"You don't have to jump over it, just come over here!" I called to her. I saw her nod and she took a couple steps back. Breathing deeply before pushing her liquid wings into the ground and she steadily began to rise. She looked down at her feet nervously as she got higher off the ground.
"Just look at me! Don't look down, keep your head up!" I advised. She was finally level with me, but kept glancing back down every so often. She leaned forward, getting closer to me before finally giving me a confirming head nod.
"Okay, just follow me! Keep your head up!" I glided downwards and we steadily began our journey over the lake. Teri caught up with me and didn't seem to be struggling too much. She got close to me a couple times, but I was able to speed up and get some space. I could hear her laughing from behind. We continued to glide downwards until we were just above the surface of the lake. I looked down briefly at my reflection. It looked as if I was swimming in the sky above me. I glanced behind me once or twice to see Teri a little higher up, understandably not wanting to get too close.
This lake stretches on for a while, even I haven't seen the other side of it before. But eventually, I began to pull myself upwards and Teri followed me. Basically going around in a large circle. She got beside me once and I could see the surprised look on her face, eyes wide and mouth agape as we got further from the ground. From swimming into the depths to soaring above the ground. I could only imagine how hard that was for her to believe.
I remember that feeling myself.
I still do.
It's an unimaginable feeling and I never stop getting excited about it. Like a rollercoaster without a track. The ability to defy gravity is something I'll cherish forever.
We went around in circles for while until we eventually stopped and landed on the edge of the cliff to take a break. We sat down and let our wings drape behind us comfortably.
"How'd I do?" Teri asked.
"You actually did really well! How does it feel?"
Teri giggled to herself, "It's amazing. I still can't believe that's what it really feels like. And you've been doing this for your whole life! Do you ever get used to it?"
"After a while, yeah, kinda. Sometimes I just like to fly around here just for the fun of it. It's really cool though." I stretched my arms and leaned back.
"You know, I just realized... how do you live with those all the time? I mean, is it ever uncomfortable to sit in a chair or hide them in your shirt like that? How do you sleep?"
"Okay, you think it looks uncomfortable, but actually wings are kinda flexible so it's not that much of an issue. I can lean back and stuff and it doesn't hurt. I'm pretty sure... our bones are hollow like actual birds and our muscles are pretty light. So like... if I sit or lay down, it's not that bad. And it's not that hard to keep them behind my back. My wings are smaller than Apollo's, so it's not that big of a deal. But since his wings are bigger, it's a bit more difficult to hide them."
"Ohhh... I see."
"Sleeping isn't that much of an problem either. See, look." I leaned forward and carefully lied down on my stomach.
"Technically, it would be more comfortable to sleep like this, but it's actually really bad for your spine so I don't do it. I'm a side sleeper, so I sleep like this." I turned over on my side and moved my wings behind me.
"It's better like this because then the wings aren't in the way, and if I wanna turn over I can just do this." Instead of facing up and rolling over, I push myself up a bit and fold my wings over to the side. You could do it the other way, but then you'd have to pull your feathers beneath you and make sure they don't get stuck in the blankets or whatever. I can also fold one wing over my shoulder to act like a blanket too. But since I have a ton of blankets already, I can just leave them outstretched behind me.
"What about lying on your back?" Teri asked.
"I can do that, but sleeping on my side is more comfortable for me. But like I said... wings are a lot more flexible so it's not uncomfortable to lie on your back and sleep like that. But you gotta be careful when you get up because you don't wanna pull on your feathers accidentally."
"Ohhh..... you know, I've always wondered how that would work, so I'm glad I asked you."
"Trust me, it's not as painful as it might look. But it can get a little irritating sometimes."