~Chapter 3- Valr~

After a night's rest, Corri took to the sky again with Rojo, this time heading southward. She felt a resonance in the air - as if something was calling her. It was as she passed an island in the shape of an eye, with a temple to the Goddess on it. The Sky Deity, Ool, had told her it was 'a sacred place, not for mortals'.

She left it be and continued, staying at various sky towns as she traveled. When she looked down out at the lands far beneath her, she thought of how her father was likely traveling about freely. She couldn't help but be bitter.

After a time, Corri found herself flying over the great desert, and she landed at a large sky land in the area. Each day, she'd go out in search of the various birds Cielo had directed her to.

There was a peculiar breed of bird called ostriches, ones that barely stood up to Corri's hips and could only fly for the briefest of moments. Yet, they had still come to live on a few of the Sky Lands. With a simple offering of food, she was to get close enough to pluck a feather off them.

A falcon that nearly rivaled Rojo's speed was one of Corri's targets. She had Rojo chase it through the skies towards her position, and when it drew close enough, Corri jumped meters into the air, grabbed onto the falcon, pulling off a few feathers before dropping off. Rojo caught her as she fell.

Finally, she came upon a green phainopepla and discovered that the sketch of it didn't properly show its scale. It had to have been nearly 10 meters tall, with a round frame. It lived on its own island covered in trees and a small lake, undisturbed by other birds.

Corri snuck onto the island, figuring the best approach with this sort of bird is to get close and tug a feather off. She knelt and slowly approached the bird, careful not to make much noise.

A twig snapped under her foot, and the bird cawed. The phainopepla spread its wings, and with a single flap, a gust of wind launched Corri back.

Corri tried sneaking up on the bird again, but as soon as she made the slightest of noises, it blew her away. Next, she tried sprinting at the bird, reaching it before it could flap its wings. But even with her speed, she wasn't quick enough. She tried again, and when the bird was about to flap its wings, she lunged her arms into the ground, hoping to stabilize herself. But the winds still blew her back.

Maybe, if Aero or Jirro were here, they could get the feather... But she was on her own. No wonder Cielo thought she would struggle with this one.

The thought crossed her mind that she could launch a Focus Burst at the animal to knock it unconscious, but she would never do something so cruel. It was minding its own business.

Corri let out a sigh, realizing she might have to throw in the towel on this one. On her own, this might be too much for her to manage. She gathered every other feather Cielo asked for; she was sure he'd be happy with that.

Corri took to the skies towards the nearest sky town, but as she traveled, she saw dark black clouds brewing near her, lightning erupting from them. She pushed Rojo to fly faster, but the clouds moved unnaturally towards her. She peered into the clouds and could make out the shape of dark black wings. A familiar sight.

She gripped Rojo's reins firmly and readied herself. Soon, the dark clouds surrounded her, obscuring her vision as rain and thunder swirled around. From the clouds emerged a monstrous black bird, a crow. The crow lunged towards Rojo and Corri, but the pair skillfully circled around it and continued. The crow came again, as well as another, emerging from the blackness surrounding them.

Corri had Rojo dive directly down. A third crow appeared, and the group of them chased after her. As they fell through the clouds, Corri looked back and punched at the air. A burst of yellow light emerged from her fist and struck one of the crows.

Corri and Rojo passed by a series of landmasses and circled around them, hoping to use them as cover from the crows. She saw that there were now five crows pursuing her.

Rojo flew in between several islands as they chased them. Corri launched several Focus bursts back as they flew, hoping to scare them off. But when she looked back, there were even more crows chasing after them.

Corri weaved through the islands, but many more black-winged birds appeared in front of her, and she stopped in the air. A series of crows had surrounded her, blocking all escape. There were over a dozen of them.

Atop one of the crows was a cloaked figure, one with ebon arm, a bright white chest, and face. His luminescent orange eyes glared down at Corri. She had encountered him before, the one commanding these crows. Lunahreim.

Lunahreim simply stared at the red-haired girl. She couldn't tell if he wanted to do her harm; the expression on his face was blank. He simply stared. Corri looked for an opening between the crows to escape, but didn't see a way to get out of this unscathed.

Suddenly, several beams of purple light came from nowhere and struck multiple crows at once, sending the others into a panic. Corri looked for the source of the Focus beams and saw a hooded young man who appeared to be floating in the air. He fired several more beams at the crows, providing Corri the perfect opening. She flew towards him, past the crows that were struck.

She saw that it was a young man, maybe 15 or 16 years old, who was somehow flying. Corri had Rojo circle behind him. There was no time for questions - both Corri and the boy fired Focus Bursts of yellow and purple at the ensuing crows.

Lunahreim came forward. The hooded boy raised his hands into the air, and a purple sphere formed. He chucked it forward, and the Focus orb struck Lunahreim and knocked him cleanly off his black-winged bird. All the crows went into a panic and fled.

As Lunahreim fell, the dark black clouds surrounding them disappeared and returned to their more pristine and tranquil state, and the flock of crows was gone.

The flying young man descended to the nearest piece of land in the sky, and Corri followed him. As she landed, the boy turned to her, "Are you okay?"

Corri undid her goggles and stepped off Rojo. The boy pulled down his hood revealing his light skin and messy brown hair, as if it hadn't been cut in a while. He was muscular for his age too, like Aero and Jirro.

"Y-Yes I'm fine. You saved me back there!" Corri stammered.

"It can be dangerous around here! I was surprised to see you all alone like that," The young man replied. As she looked closer, she noticed he had bright green eyes. She couldn't help but think he was cute.

"...I'm used to being on my own," She replied, "My name is Corri. What's yours?"

The young man paused for a moment before answering.

"Valr. Do you need any help getting back home? I'd feel bad about leaving you alone after something like that."

"Yes!" Corri excitedly responded. She realized she must've sounded overly eager, and calmed her voice, "Yes. I'd appreciate that."

Valr gave her a nice smile, "Okay, what direction are we going?"

Corri pointed vaguely northward, "Would you like to ride with me on my bird?"

Valr raised his hand to her, "I'm okay, I'll fly alongside you. Just go a little slower for me. I doubt I can keep up with that sparrow of yours."

Valr levitated off the ground and took to the air. Corri rushed on top of Rojo and began flying with him. "How can you fly like that?"

Valr flipped in the air so that he could look at Corri while flying, "It's something my mom taught me. It's an ability we share. I've heard there are others who can fly like us too, but I've never met any."

"It's a pretty cool ability!"

"Definitely," Valr folded his hands behind his head as he drifted through the air, "You seemed to know some tricks too. You were using Focus back there, weren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Where did you learn how to?"

"From some old lady named Modi. Where did you learn?"

"My dad. But my mom taught me a few things too."

"You have some pretty cool parents," Corri smiled, "You're pretty strong too! I heard that guy commanding those crows was supposed to be incredible, but you took care of him pretty easily."

"That guy? He's no big deal." Valr flipped in the air and looked forward.

Where did this guy come from?

"As strong as you are, you would've done really well at the fighting tournament last month," Corri remarked, "There was a guy there who could fly just like you."

"I'm not interested in anything like a tournament," Valr responded.

The two continued to fly along. Although for Corri's bird Rojo, it was more of a leisurely glide. She thought about how strong Valr must be to bring down someone like Lunahreim. Maybe he was as strong as Aero and Jirro. Then she had an idea.

Corri lightly pulled on Rojo's reigns to slow the bird down and Valr slowed down in response, "I know you already saved me from that Lunahreim guy, but could you help me with something else?"

Valr smiled and nodded.

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The two flew south, back towards a familiar island. The one home to the massive green phainopepla. Corri landed on the island, and Valr landed beside her.

"Do you think you can get a feather off that bird? Without hurting it, of course." Corri asked.

Valr floated into the air to look at the full size of the bird. He smirked and cracked his neck, "I'll be right back."

Valr glided through the air towards the bird, slowing down as he drew closer to it so he wouldn't startle it. Corri watched closely to see how he would handle it. He floated cautiously towards the bird before breaking forward at full speed. The bird flapped its wings and created gusts of wind, but Valr simply powered through them.

The young man gripped the feathers off the bird before flying back, allowing the gusts of winds to carry him. He stopped in the air and levitated back to Corri's position with his hands behind his back. He theatrically brought his arm forward presenting the green feather he had acquired for her, "Is this what you were looking for m'lady?"

Corri took the feather from his hand, "Thank you so much!"

Corri impulsively hugged Valr. But just as quickly as she wrapped her arms around him, she backed away, realizing how over-excited she must seem. "Umm, my friend really needed this. It'll help!" Corri said, brushing her red hair behind her ear.

"No problem. Glad to help," Valr said, averting his eyes and blushing slightly.