Now that Tsung Yue has familiarized herself with how dragons act in terms of hunting, it's time for her to learn to fly like one. As I mentioned in Chapter 0, she has yet to know anything about draconic instincts, and unfortunately, that involves flying too.
One of the major problems Hairong will face when teaching Tsung Yue to fly is that they're extremely different, both physically and mentally. Tsung Yue does not possess wings that can at least mimic Hairong's flying technique, so she has to rely solely on her own body. What Hairong can do, however, is to support her by anchoring her both on land and air. So, Hairong needs to think of not one, but multiple ways for Tsung Yue to learn. Of course, she can't push her off a cliff like a mother eagle does to her chicks, so, she decides to let her experience the feeling of flying first. In other words, Hairong will float Tsung Yue up like a kite when she's flying. Wrapping a rope securely around her body, then holding the start of the rope with her mouth and letting the wind do the job.
After they've found the perfect place to run and fly on without the interruption of mountains or rocks, Hairong spreads her wings and takes off. The dragon who was tied up had to follow her ascent regardless of her running skills. So there they were, surrounded by clouds, the wind slamming against their faces, which wasn't a problem for Hairong, but for our "fledgling" here. You can imagine that gravity force against a kite and a dragon is completely different. Poor creature can't even comprehend the joy of being able to fly, much less learn to do so. And to think how fast Hairong is going to keep Tsung Yue up in the sky, I doubt she can even breathe up there.
After such a joyous experience, Tsung Yue had the time to express her gratitude for the ground, and then ponder on how to whoop that flying, scaled bastard's a** for making her go through such an adventurous journey of beating up a bull and then becoming a kite without her consent.
-"So, did you learn about flying yet- ack!"
The last sound Hairong made was influenced by no one other than Tsung Yue. She was doubting if Hairong actually wanted to help her or just mess with her so she could eat her later. I mean, who wouldn't get angry if someone promised you a flight, then go fast as a *peregrine falcon* and expect you to learn to fly? So there she was, trying to strangle Hairong, which was unexpected but still useless. You can't kill an ancient spiritual being just by choking her.
-"Are you doing this on purpose or what?!"
From Hairong's perspective, she was being secretive just for the sake of surprise. Despite being as old as time, she's a bundle of joy rather than a wise lady. And to think it was one of her first times teaching could explain how inexperienced she can be. Plus, she's teaching a dragon who she barely knows, even less about her physiology. So, you can't blame either of the two.
-"What? No. I was just trying to hold you up in the sky. And remove your claws from my neck, you can't really strangle me to death."
Hearing this, the white dragon let out a long sigh, releasing her grasp from the winged beast.
-"But still, I couldn't even hold myself up there, we should think of something else. But, what I did see was that you use your wings to fly, so if I flap my forearms hard enough, maybe I'll fly too."
-"…"
Hairong was too stunned to speak. To use arms as wings to fly is completely impossible. But, since long dragons use magic to fly, maybe it'll awaken her ability to do so too, she hoped. Desperately.
Tsung Yue raises her arms up high, staring at the sky, confident in herself that she'll soar into the air in a moment. So she jumps and flaps her "wings" and…she's still on the ground. How heartbreaking to see such hopes shattered right in front of her. But she jumps again and again but to no avail.
Hairong had the heart not to laugh. She tried her best to cheer up her companion, but all she got was a curled-up dragon, hiding her face from her. Realizing how inevitable it is to pester her like that, she resorts to different measures. Modern problems require modern solutions after all. She quickly flies off to somewhere else, leaving Tsung Yue behind, but the latter is too upset to realize it.
Sometime later, Tsung Yue did register that the atmosphere was silent. Too silent. She raised her long neck to check her surroundings, but she didn't see the winged creature anywhere, just an orphan wind gently caressing her face from time to time. She feels a bit scared, now that she's alone, what will she do? She can't remember many survival skills. Who will guide her? What now? What's going to happen?
Just when she was almost about to have a panic attack, Hairong landed skillfully near her from the sky. She had something in her claws, but Tsung Yue was too worried to realize it.
-"Where did you go!? You just disappeared in one second without telling me!"
Hairong didn't expect this reaction at all. In fact, she didn't even expect Tsung Yue to look for her, considering how she was feeling before she left. It was baffling, but it was positively amusing at the same time.
-"I wasn't that far away, but it doesn't matter. Look what I got."
Opening her claws, Hairong showed Tsung Yue some berries she picked up from a nearby forest by a mountain. Some of them were crushed, and their juices were dried, but most of them were still edible. Apparently, Hairong saw Tsung Yue picking up the same berries while on the search for wild vegetables before and thought it would cheer her up a bit. Seeing this, of course, Tsung Yue would be happy.
-"Well then, your efforts are really appreciated…Thank you very much, Hairong. Do you want some?"
-"No, I don't eat any plants, mostly because I never ate one, I can't digest them."
Tsung Yue was surprised by this, since she thought Hairong only refused to eat vegetables because they tasted bad, but to understand that it had negative effects on her health, made her take in that not everyone's the same.
-"Alright then…I won't pry any further. But, still, it's weird for me to just eat on my own, okay?"
-"Really? What can we do then?"
-"I suppose we can find things you can eat."
-"Like hunting?"
-"Yes, that. I'll get you something to eat this time."
-"Hah. I bet you can't even get me a rabbit."
-"Hey, I am being considerate here. Have some compassion for me, will you? Besides, it's best for me to have more experience."
After deciding to hunt, nothing else mattered much to Hairong anymore, and she dismissively waved her claws and encouraged Tsung Yue to get up and go with her as quick as possible.
-"Fine then. Let's go."
Another day has passed, and so have the memories created in their minds. The life in the land is still calm, the wind blowing mindlessly as if playing with the grasses and flowers, cooling down the animals cloaked in the sun's heat from time to time. Such peace and tranquility, but it wasn't always like this, now was there?
***
Word explanation
Peregrine falcon: A species of the Falconidae family. It's the fastest animal on the planet, reaching 320km/h during the hunting stoop.