The sentence reverberated through his mind, traveled to his very core, remaining there.

He tried to think, "What's happen... [Dream of Flight]" His thoughts always drifted back to the Skill. Trapped in a vortex, pulled towards this single snippet, the image of the swallow midair, the longing of freedom he felt in that moment. Other thoughts couldn't even begin to form. He didn't want it to stop, the concept of want and need, impossible to comprehend.

As Jannick drifted deeper toward his new Skill, Mala could do nothing else, other than hold her sagging friend. His chin rested heavily on her shoulder, his shoulders pushing her down, his knees refused their service. "Come on wake up! what's wrong with you?", she called out for him. Her own thoughts and confusion rapidly making way for worries over the friend in her arms.

His mind was completely focused on the Skill, the current that had brought him there, forgotten.

She was completely focused on her arms, the strength in them rapidly draining.

The words [Dream of Flight] unfolded in his mind, he fell through.

He fell as a human, light brown hair, brown eyes, average height.

He landed as a swallow, glimmering feathers, red brown checks, the size of a palm.

To the very last moment she stubbornly held firm, not willing to hurt him.

She collapsed nonetheless, the weight of her completely inert friend becoming too much for her protesting arms. On her fall, she scraped her knees and instinctively guided the little creature into her lap.

The girl and the bird just sat there, breathing heavily. The girl looked at the bird, looked up, shook her head and looked down again. The bird tilted its head to the left, turned it back, and then turned it up and to the right. Their eyes met. Slowly the girl reached out, instinctively the bird hopped back, messing up the light dress it was resting on. Shocked the girl pinched her arm, wincing in pain. At the sound the bird seemed to wake up. Jannick opened his beak calling out to his friend, "witt-witt, witt plink plink".

Mala looked at the swallow in her lap. The call just now was so innately familiar, the pauses, the timing, her vanished friend. All together they coalesced to an outlandish idea, emerging from her shocked brain. "Jannick, i- is that you, a- are you here?", she wrung out of her tense throat.

"Plin witt, Plink witt plink witt pli...", the bird protested. "Stopp, stop! I can't understand any of that!", sadly the great speech was interrupted, "I'll ask again, are you Jannick?" The bird slowly raised its head its whole body only to lower it down again. "Was that a nod?" The bird shook his wings in protest, only to slow down and repeat the motion.

"Oh thank god, you're still here, you were frozen and almost fell and I held you and I let you fall, and you were gone...". A screech and a light wing beat interrupted her. Her bird friend demanded attention. She gave in to the demands, "Right, right, are you alright in there?". "witt, plink wiiitt" alongside shaking wings, came as an answer.

As wings caught air, Jannick was ripped away from his friend. His light body, at the mercy of his erratic movements. "What should I, do what if I fall? Nothing is working I'm just spinning, there is the ground... [Dream of Flight]", his thoughts were swept away. He saw the ground, felt the air rushing along his wings, the power in his flight muscles. In a steady stream instinct, knowledge, muscle memory flowed through his brain. It was so obvious, he just opened his wings fully and spread his tail feathers halting his rotation, then he pulled his wings up, waiting for gravity to do its work positioning him horizontally, he brought down his wings and shot forward, a slight tilt of his tail and he swerved around the obstacle in front of him.

Mala reached out to catch her flailing fried, only to jank her head to the side as the bird shot toward her. Only a last second maneuver made sure the wings stayed clear of her braids. Behind her, the bird was gone, an exited cry echoing through the empty forest.

"Criiii", he cried out in excitement. He was flying, it was so easy, just flap your wings and lean in the direction you want to go, just like riding a bike, second nature. He curved around trees stopped his flapping wings and dove under branches. He was free, more than ever before, he had gained a new dimension. With every flap each meter he crossed his excitement grew, he was the king of the sky, no man could match his agility, his rapid turns around tightly packed trees. No plane, no helicopter, not even a drone would be his equal.

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A challenger, an insubordination, a mosquito was buzzing around searching for victims, its tiny wings flapping erratically. Six legs dangling underneath the body zipping through the air. Sharp turns, hovering, it was mocking him and his graceful flight. "Scriili", he declared his challenge in outrage. The first flyby missed the nuisance by a whole wingspan. He wouldn't give up with just that though, he was the king of the sky, and he would prove his worth. In a gentle curve the swallow repositioned himself. His whole being focused, his eyes keeping track of the adversary, his wings beating faster than ever before, his mind plotting the path of the prey.

The mosquito couldn't react, as the bird shot toward it, its last zip was interrupted as a wide-open beak caught it.

[Dream of Flight], seemed jubilant at his victory, its excitement bled over and he increased his speed even more. If only he could get through the dense canopy of needles and leaves. The roof of trees, that Jannick had praised an hour earlier for blocking the scorching sun, now became his bane, he longed for the sky. Resigned he slowed down, flying in the forest like, this zipping around trees, was enough for now, he would fly higher later. He calmed himself, the rush was amazing, but he didn't want to end up tangled in a bunch of leaves and branches.

"Jannick, Jannick where are you!", just as he had settled down on a small branch a voice reached him. The voice cut through the daze of his success. It carried with it a crushing truth. His best friend completely forgotten, pushed aside as he flew off into the forest. He needed to get back to her. Needed to apologize, tell her about the amazing feeling of flying, talk to her!

"splee", Jannick answered, as he jumped of the branch. Giving his all to reach his friend, he flapped his wings. He couldn't remember the way he came. It just blurred together into a big mush of freedom and excitement. Luckily her repeated shouts didn't just spur him on, they also provided a rough direction for him to follow.

Mala was slowly spinning around, her dress scratched up. Her eyes were glittering with tears, her hands shakily formed a funnel in front of her mouth in an effort to project her voice just that little bit further. A step forward, a step to the side, she looked around, the shouting stopped. A last look around, and she sank down on a nearby stump quietly sobbing, "You, why do just leave like that? Is this some trick you are pulling? Is visiting me so terrible, you just run away?" "Spliiieee.", a woosh, a gust of air rustled her hair. Slowly, carefully she lifted her head. "Witt, witt", her friend added quietly. Teary eyes opened, catching sight of the small bird. "You are back!?, what were you doing!"

Mala didn't know why he had flown away, if it was even Jannick sitting before her. But she knew for certain, she wouldn't let him do that again. Desperately she wanted to know, needed to know what was going on. So, she leaned forward, reaching out towards the creature sitting just under a meter away from her. The bird chirped, sang and protested, but luckily it didn't flee. "Let's talk!", she declared, "explain yourself!" only to receive another string of undecipherable jilps.

"No, no, I don't understand any of that, I'm gonna ask the questions and you answer yes or no, one sound or two sounds, understood." "Spllee!!" Finally, she got a workable answer. "You are Jannick," "Spllee!!" ", that wasn't the question, only he could be such an idiot, do you have any excuse for yourself?" "Sple!!", came the confident reply. "You somehow became a bird," "Witt?" "and you thought, it would be a good idea to just fly off at the first possibility" "Splee!", Mala raised an eyebrow, "Witt, Witt", "Really what is going on you are worse than usual." "Whitt, plee" "Not a question", she answered. "Are you gonna fly away again?", she nailed him down with her gaze, "witt, witt." "Okay good!" She sat him down next to her.

"You know, all that doesn't help not really. 'talking' to you is better than nothing. I guess but actually want to hear from you. Why did this happen, did you hear the voice as well? Why did you go limp? Will you ever go back?" Jannick just sat there, next to his best friend. He was lost. The fun, the rush from earlier still burning in his mind under his wings. The barrage of questions, he could more or less answer, but now he just wanted to hug his friend. Something usually only reserved for breakups or trouble with their parents, now qualified as well he felt.

[Dream of Flight] flashed again lit up his mind again. It felt reluctant, questioning him if he was really, really sure and then he stretched his arms. The motion felt stiff, uncoordinated, just slightly wrong. She winced, when he touched her shoulder. Eyes widening in shock, emotions tumbling in relieve. She quickly sunk into the hug.

A quivering breath steadied in his arms. Tears started drying. Meanwhile, the chirping birds, the rustling leaves and the gentle rays of sunlight calmed him down. The argument flashed through his mind, the shouts of his best friend. The sight of her sunken defeated form on the log. Now he could see the relieve, the honest pure relieve in the eyes off his friend.

The apology, that would have been insincere moments ago, was now easy,"I'm so sorry." Mala didn't react, he could only feel her leaning against him a little more.

A few minutes later Mala, rubbed her eyes, dispersing the last signs of her tears and breaking the hug, "Shall we get going? We are almost at the top we might as well go all the way there."