[Gift] I Can Fly

Winter had finally come to Warrenfall after a longer than usual delay.  That delay had left the people who cared about such things rather worried and the whole country breathed a breath of relief when they woke to find everywhere blanked in snow as it should be.  Ryker is not one of the people who cared about such things but the large-framed, thick-coated, Vayron did appreciate a nice cool bed of snow after the uncomfortable warmth of summer.  So, the morning found him stretched out in just such a snow drift savoring a very good dream.

Ryker dreamed of finding a sunken treasure ship with no help and no one else aware of the find, leaving the rather acquisitive Reosan to indulge his greed.  He dreamed of smashing open the side of the ship, in that ambiguous way of dreams that leaves you wondering exactly how you did it, and hauling the gold, jewels and many other fine things up to a hidden cave.  Once settled within the cave he had the leisure to carefully inventory every single item.  He was dreaming of counting all of his gold for the third time when he absently rolled to the side in his sleep and found nothing under his paws.      

That woke him with a start!  He completed that sideways role until he was standing upright… on nothing but air.  With eyes open so wide that it almost hurt he carefully bent his head down to look under him.  There were the rolling hills and deep forests of Warrenfall far below.  He turned his head to study each side of his body and found that he had not grown wings in his sleep.  So, how was this possible?  Maybe he hadn’t really woken up and had just switched dreams instead?  He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again… no change.  He gave his head a really hard shake and looked down again… still no change.  Hmmm…

Never one to dwell overly much on an inconvenience, Ryker quickly decided to simply go along with this oddity.  Now, the question was could he actually get anywhere or would he just be stuck floating in place until whatever this was wore off?  All he could do was try.  After some experimentation he found that simply walking forward didn’t work.  However, he could drag himself along rather like swimming but in air instead of water.  He could only propel himself in one direction though… North.  If he tried moving toward any other compass point he immediately ran up against an invisible wall.  This whole thing just got stranger and stranger.  Well, as this particular location had already become quite boring, North it is.     

The business of swimming through air was rather awkward and somewhat exhausting at first but he slowly adjusted and by the time dusk started to creep in he had covered a great distance… probably more of a distance than should have been physically possible.  Why not?  If he was stuck in some kind of ridiculous magical waking dream in which he could fly, why shouldn’t he also be able to fly unexpectedly fast?  Clearly this is just another thing he is going to have to go with for now.         

He finds himself looking down on a remote and rather hidden village.  He also finds that when he comes in over a cleared section of street he is actually able to move down towards the ground for the first time since he woke up in his current predicament.  That discovery is a huge relief and he takes advantage of it immediately.  When his paws touch solid ground he finds himself wanting to kiss the earth but refrains in order to avoid looking too foolish before any strangers who might be about.  This section of street appears empty but there are lighted windows looking out upon it and Ryker has no idea who might be behind them.  Seeing that the street turns a corner up ahead he decides to go that way.  

After rounding that corner he finds himself in a courtyard facing a heavily loaded sleigh.  “Ah ha!  The spell worked!  Here is my substitute reindeer at last!”  The voice is deep, rich and totally unfamiliar.  Turning Ryker spots a tall humanoid dressed in an odd looking suite with a small chaser in a jingling bell collar following just behind.  Noting that the other Vayron didn’t seem at all concerned, Ryker chooses to follow that example.  The humanoid strides forward to the sleigh and climbs nimbly into the driver’s seat with the chaser still following.  “Well then, come along my friend!”  The large puller dips his head in acknowledgement and walks up to stand at the front of the sleigh.  He is only mildly surprised when the harness magically resizes to fit him and settles easily in place around his body.  He glances back at the overloaded sleigh with some trepidation, not believing that he could possibly have the strength to get it off the ground.   “Up, up, and away!” The command comes and Ryker decides that all he can do is give it his best effort.  Rather bemusedly he starts forward and each step brings him further off the ground.  The overloaded sleigh glides easily along behind him and he feels no strain at all as the vehicle leaves the ground.             

So off they go into the night with Ryker wondering constantly what manner of treasure all those sacks are hiding and how in the world he might get his paws on it.