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"I remember days when the sun shone, and laughter could be heard from the tavern."

The green grass rustled under a soft wind, that blew cold yet gentle air from the faraway mountains. Bismuth ran around chasing flower petals that swirled in the air, dancing around her for a moment before the wind grabbed them and made them fly high up to the skies. It was a beautiful, sunny day on a hilly meadow that went on and on as far as the eye could see. Only a snow topped mountain peeked from the horizon, breaking the perfectly green and wavy landscape with it's cold, gray silhouette. It had been awhile since Bismuth had last time stretched her limbs outside on the meadow like this, and even though she always acted like she didn't really care about the outside world and was way more interested in helping Cyrus with his studies, it was still clear that the young aerial felt happy and excited dashing around the open land. That meadow was one of the only safe spaces where Bismuth could move freely, besides her home of course, since as a rare - and admittedly illegal - creature she would be captured immediately for further studies if seen by anyone. That was a price Cyrus had to pay for his curiosity, and even though it was sometimes hard to keep Bismuth hidden and there had been more than enough close calls, he still knew he had done the right thing; without his curiosity, Bismuth would still be nothing but a sample locked up in a dusty cabinet. And, just like Cyrus had predicted, no-one still wasn't aware that the little box containing long lost aerial species' samples was in fact empty.

"I wish she would fly instead of running around like that, this would be the perfect chance", Cyrus noted as he watched Bismuth trot on all fours, only sometimes flapping her wings as she jumped to hop a little bit higher.
"You do realize, mister scientist, that someone should teach her how to fly first", Arietta smiled with amusement, brushing dandelion blowballs off her dress while Cyrus glanced around the bumpy meadow and tapped his chin with his finger, clearly pondering something. The meadow wasn't too far from the city, but rarely anyone visited it - city folks were way too busy for silly walks outside the town, and besides, there already was a nice park within Everton's walls. Another reason why people almost avoided the meadow was that even though it was breathtakingly beautiful, it was also dangerous for those that weren't too familiar with the area: some hills had sudden, steep drops that could only be noticed when a person was already standing on the edge, and one child had already fallen to their death while running without looking. After that tragedy, many twisted ankles and broken bones, the people of Everton had finally decided to just avoid the whole meadow. It was still Arietta's favorite place, and she would often just walk around either daydreaming or reading a book. Cyrus often feared that his wife would also fall from a hidden cliff on one of her lone walks, but truth to be told Cyrus himself was more prone to that kind of accidents. After all, Arietta knew these hills better than her own pockets.

Even though Bismuth didn't seem to want to use her wings, Cyrus knew that she could at least glide with them. When the aerial was smaller she loved to climb up on top of an old, sturdy bookcase and sleep there as long as she could fit in the small gap between the ceiling and the bookcase. First times Bismuth climbed up there she would cry until Cyrus took her down, since she was way too scared to climb back down on her own. It took lots and lots of time for Cyrus to persuade her to come down on her own, and even more time to convince the aerial to use her wings to glide - Bismuth was clearly afraid of flying or heights, or both, but she couldn't really be blamed since she had always been with Cyrus and Arietta and naturally neither of them could fly, thus making Bismuth believe that she had no reason to fly either. There was no room to fly in the house either, which was where Bismuth spent most of her time. Now that she didn't fit on top of the bookcase anymore, there wasn't really any high places in her home where she could climb and then glide down. Well sure, her bed was built near the ceiling to save space in the already cramped study basement, but Bismuth was big enough to just jump down and land safely on her feet.

Cyrus had been staring at one of the hills for suspiciously long, especially since he knew it was one of those dangerous hills that had a sudden drop. His eyes moved between the hill and Bismuth that was still playing with flower petals, and Arietta knew instantly what was going on in her husband's head.
"You are not kicking the poor thing off that cliff", she said and pinched Cyrus' cheek, making his pondering expression shift to a shocked, yet guilty look.
"I-- I wasn't going to do that!" Cyrus yelped while Arietta just laughed at her panicking husband.
"I would never kick Bismuth, just give her, you know, a gentle push to encourage her to use her wings. I mean, she has to learn how to fly at some point, right? Besides, a flying creature being afraid of flying is so ironic it's almost funny, if it wasn't so sad", Cyrus explained and nodded his head. Arietta didn't seem too convinced, yet she just kept smiling gently.
"You know, instead of forcing her off the cliff, you could jump first and show her how it works", Arietta teased playfully, but unfortunately it gave Cyrus an idea.
"Hey, that's actually not a bad idea... I need to give her a good reason to fly! Panic is the best motivator after all", the alchemist said with excitement twinkling in his eyes.
"That was just a very dry joke, you do realize that?" Arietta reminded but it was too late, Cyrus had already made up his mind as he dashed towards Bismuth.
"Goodness gracious", Arietta sighed.

Bismuth stopped chasing the flying petals as soon as she noticed Cyrus approach, and greeted him with a grin so wide her eyes squinted. Naturally she thought it was time to head home, so Bismuth was more than surprised when Cyrus decided to grab her and lift her up on his shoulders.
"How about we play a little before going home?" The alchemist suggested, and of course Bismuth was more than happy to have fun - being totally unaware of her handler's true intentions. The aerial cooed happily as Cyrus ran in circles and jumped around like a young foal, and even though he held Bismuth by her ankles the aerial's wings were spread to help with balance. Cyrus saw it as a sign to act, turning around and running towards that one hill he had stared earlier.
"Sorry in advance, girl", Cyrus stated with a little grin on his face, confusing poor Bismuth who wasn't sure at all why her handler would say something like that. Only a second later she noticed where Cyrus was carrying her, seeing the sudden drop and realizing what was about to happen. Bismuth didn't even have time to let out a scream when Cyrus took a huge leap off the edge, leaving them both in the open air with sturdy ground so far down they could get seriously injured if they fell.
"I guess you have to fly now, Bismuth!" Cyrus laughed as Bismuth finally found her own voice and just screamed in full blown horror, especially as she realized how Cyrus' grasp on her ankles suddenly loosened giving her no other choice than to start flapping her wings and hope they would work enough to keep them alive. Heart pounding in her chest like a war drum Bismuth tried both to spread her wings and grab her handler's hands with her feet, realizing how they were mostly falling instead of flying. With open wide eyes Bismuth let out another high pitch cry and flapped her wings as hard as she could, but the ground was still approaching fast.

Just as Bismuth thought they were going to die because of her inability to fly, a strong gust of wind grabbed her wings and flung them wide open, giving both of them a much needed lift towards the skies. At that point Bismuth had closed her eyes tightly, not even realizing that with the help of the wind her wings were keeping them in the air - only when Cyrus cheered with excitement the aerial opened her eyes, noticing the green meadows below them.
"Yes, Bismuth! I knew you could do it!" Cyrus laughed, which then encouraged Bismuth to smile a little as well. Her heart was still going crazy and there was a knot in her stomach, but feeling the wind on her feathers and the pure freedom of flying that was something Bismuth had never felt before, or even imagined, made the fear slowly wither away.

- - -

XIII - I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost
Fear is a force that drives almost all creatures in times of great stress. Learning to stand and face your fears is important, but it’s also important to learn when to back down and acknowledge that you’re afraid for a reason.
° Draw or write about a time that your Kukuri was scared - what or who were they scared of and how did they deal with their fear with their handler, and what did they learn from the experience, or did they learn nothing at all? Being afraid of flying and heights Bismuth didn't really want to learn how to fly, but Cyrus decided it was important for an aerial to be able to use her wings. "Panic is the best motivator", Cyrus said before jumping off a cliff with Bismuth, forcing her to use her wings and make her realize what she had been missing out on for not wanting to fly.

Bismuth 8486
Cyrus Flamel

Timeline HUB

Kukuri-arpg

Description
"I remember days when the sun shone, and laughter could be heard from the tavern."

The green grass rustled under a soft wind, that blew cold yet gentle air from the faraway mountains. Bismuth ran around chasing flower petals that swirled in the air, dancing around her for a moment before the wind grabbed them and made them fly high up to the skies. It was a beautiful, sunny day on a hilly meadow that went on and on as far as the eye could see. Only a snow topped mountain peeked from the horizon, breaking the perfectly green and wavy landscape with it's cold, gray silhouette. It had been awhile since Bismuth had last time stretched her limbs outside on the meadow like this, and even though she always acted like she didn't really care about the outside world and was way more interested in helping Cyrus with his studies, it was still clear that the young aerial felt happy and excited dashing around the open land. That meadow was one of the only safe spaces where Bismuth could move freely, besides her home of course, since as a rare - and admittedly illegal - creature she would be captured immediately for further studies if seen by anyone. That was a price Cyrus had to pay for his curiosity, and even though it was sometimes hard to keep Bismuth hidden and there had been more than enough close calls, he still knew he had done the right thing; without his curiosity, Bismuth would still be nothing but a sample locked up in a dusty cabinet. And, just like Cyrus had predicted, no-one still wasn't aware that the little box containing long lost aerial species' samples was in fact empty.

"I wish she would fly instead of running around like that, this would be the perfect chance", Cyrus noted as he watched Bismuth trot on all fours, only sometimes flapping her wings as she jumped to hop a little bit higher.
"You do realize, mister scientist, that someone should teach her how to fly first", Arietta smiled with amusement, brushing dandelion blowballs off her dress while Cyrus glanced around the bumpy meadow and tapped his chin with his finger, clearly pondering something. The meadow wasn't too far from the city, but rarely anyone visited it - city folks were way too busy for silly walks outside the town, and besides, there already was a nice park within Everton's walls. Another reason why people almost avoided the meadow was that even though it was breathtakingly beautiful, it was also dangerous for those that weren't too familiar with the area: some hills had sudden, steep drops that could only be noticed when a person was already standing on the edge, and one child had already fallen to their death while running without looking. After that tragedy, many twisted ankles and broken bones, the people of Everton had finally decided to just avoid the whole meadow. It was still Arietta's favorite place, and she would often just walk around either daydreaming or reading a book. Cyrus often feared that his wife would also fall from a hidden cliff on one of her lone walks, but truth to be told Cyrus himself was more prone to that kind of accidents. After all, Arietta knew these hills better than her own pockets.

Even though Bismuth didn't seem to want to use her wings, Cyrus knew that she could at least glide with them. When the aerial was smaller she loved to climb up on top of an old, sturdy bookcase and sleep there as long as she could fit in the small gap between the ceiling and the bookcase. First times Bismuth climbed up there she would cry until Cyrus took her down, since she was way too scared to climb back down on her own. It took lots and lots of time for Cyrus to persuade her to come down on her own, and even more time to convince the aerial to use her wings to glide - Bismuth was clearly afraid of flying or heights, or both, but she couldn't really be blamed since she had always been with Cyrus and Arietta and naturally neither of them could fly, thus making Bismuth believe that she had no reason to fly either. There was no room to fly in the house either, which was where Bismuth spent most of her time. Now that she didn't fit on top of the bookcase anymore, there wasn't really any high places in her home where she could climb and then glide down. Well sure, her bed was built near the ceiling to save space in the already cramped study basement, but Bismuth was big enough to just jump down and land safely on her feet.

Cyrus had been staring at one of the hills for suspiciously long, especially since he knew it was one of those dangerous hills that had a sudden drop. His eyes moved between the hill and Bismuth that was still playing with flower petals, and Arietta knew instantly what was going on in her husband's head.
"You are not kicking the poor thing off that cliff", she said and pinched Cyrus' cheek, making his pondering expression shift to a shocked, yet guilty look.
"I-- I wasn't going to do that!" Cyrus yelped while Arietta just laughed at her panicking husband.
"I would never kick Bismuth, just give her, you know, a gentle push to encourage her to use her wings. I mean, she has to learn how to fly at some point, right? Besides, a flying creature being afraid of flying is so ironic it's almost funny, if it wasn't so sad", Cyrus explained and nodded his head. Arietta didn't seem too convinced, yet she just kept smiling gently.
"You know, instead of forcing her off the cliff, you could jump first and show her how it works", Arietta teased playfully, but unfortunately it gave Cyrus an idea.
"Hey, that's actually not a bad idea... I need to give her a good reason to fly! Panic is the best motivator after all", the alchemist said with excitement twinkling in his eyes.
"That was just a very dry joke, you do realize that?" Arietta reminded but it was too late, Cyrus had already made up his mind as he dashed towards Bismuth.
"Goodness gracious", Arietta sighed.

Bismuth stopped chasing the flying petals as soon as she noticed Cyrus approach, and greeted him with a grin so wide her eyes squinted. Naturally she thought it was time to head home, so Bismuth was more than surprised when Cyrus decided to grab her and lift her up on his shoulders.
"How about we play a little before going home?" The alchemist suggested, and of course Bismuth was more than happy to have fun - being totally unaware of her handler's true intentions. The aerial cooed happily as Cyrus ran in circles and jumped around like a young foal, and even though he held Bismuth by her ankles the aerial's wings were spread to help with balance. Cyrus saw it as a sign to act, turning around and running towards that one hill he had stared earlier.
"Sorry in advance, girl", Cyrus stated with a little grin on his face, confusing poor Bismuth who wasn't sure at all why her handler would say something like that. Only a second later she noticed where Cyrus was carrying her, seeing the sudden drop and realizing what was about to happen. Bismuth didn't even have time to let out a scream when Cyrus took a huge leap off the edge, leaving them both in the open air with sturdy ground so far down they could get seriously injured if they fell.
"I guess you have to fly now, Bismuth!" Cyrus laughed as Bismuth finally found her own voice and just screamed in full blown horror, especially as she realized how Cyrus' grasp on her ankles suddenly loosened giving her no other choice than to start flapping her wings and hope they would work enough to keep them alive. Heart pounding in her chest like a war drum Bismuth tried both to spread her wings and grab her handler's hands with her feet, realizing how they were mostly falling instead of flying. With open wide eyes Bismuth let out another high pitch cry and flapped her wings as hard as she could, but the ground was still approaching fast.

Just as Bismuth thought they were going to die because of her inability to fly, a strong gust of wind grabbed her wings and flung them wide open, giving both of them a much needed lift towards the skies. At that point Bismuth had closed her eyes tightly, not even realizing that with the help of the wind her wings were keeping them in the air - only when Cyrus cheered with excitement the aerial opened her eyes, noticing the green meadows below them.
"Yes, Bismuth! I knew you could do it!" Cyrus laughed, which then encouraged Bismuth to smile a little as well. Her heart was still going crazy and there was a knot in her stomach, but feeling the wind on her feathers and the pure freedom of flying that was something Bismuth had never felt before, or even imagined, made the fear slowly wither away.

- - -

XIII - I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost
Fear is a force that drives almost all creatures in times of great stress. Learning to stand and face your fears is important, but it’s also important to learn when to back down and acknowledge that you’re afraid for a reason.
° Draw or write about a time that your Kukuri was scared - what or who were they scared of and how did they deal with their fear with their handler, and what did they learn from the experience, or did they learn nothing at all? Being afraid of flying and heights Bismuth didn't really want to learn how to fly, but Cyrus decided it was important for an aerial to be able to use her wings. "Panic is the best motivator", Cyrus said before jumping off a cliff with Bismuth, forcing her to use her wings and make her realize what she had been missing out on for not wanting to fly.

Bismuth 8486
Cyrus Flamel

Timeline HUB

Kukuri-arpg