“Where do the legs go?” Sirius asked as they reached the ship’s makeshift stable.

“Behind the wings,” Amanda replied as she held out a hand to the pegasus. “Easy boy,” she cooed.

“Both of us?” Sirius asked. “Doesn’t it throw the center of mass off?”

Amanda glanced over at him surprised. It wasn’t something she’d have thought to ever ask. The crew was right, for a guy who hadn’t finished high school Sirius sure asked some clever questions. Luckily it was one Amanda did know the answer to. “A bit, professional pegasus flyers will often weight the front so the pegasus can keep upright. For a single light rider it’s not so necessary. For us, since you’re probably quite a bit heavier, I’ll sit with my legs in front of the wings. You’ll hold onto my hips and tuck your knees up so they sit over the wings. You can rest them there that way and grip with your thighs to help stay on.”

“Is that going to make it harder to steer?”

Amanda shook her head. “I could steer from the neck if I had to,” she bragged. She had done so once before, not intentionally. She’d fallen off midair once and ended up hanging from under a pegasus’ neck. That was a long time ago though and she’d managed to land fine then. She still wasn’t sure exactly how this was going to go but based on the animal’s responses to her while in the hold she was reasonably confident.

She led the pegasus out. A glance at Sirius’s face told her that he was still wary but he also seemed curious as well. As long as he wasn’t objecting that was good enough for Amanda.

They got to the deck. About half of the men had returned to whatever jobs they had been doing before, but the other half were still surrounding Michael. One of the men was throwing bits of bread at the poor man.

“Jay, don’t waste food,” Sirius chided him.

“Sorry boss,” the man replied with a shameful look.

“Whatcha doing with that pegasus?” one of the men asked.

Michael who was still hanging upside down had looked very forlorn when they’d first stepped out onto the deck but at the sight of the pegasus he perked up. “Hey! That’s my pegasus. You can’t do that. Where are you taking it? Put it back.” He struggled to no avail but to much amusement of the men who surrounded him.

Sirius ignored them all except the crewman who had asked what they were doing. To him he replied, once out of earshot of Michael, “Taking it for a ride.”

Amanda led the pegasus to an open portion of the deck. “You might want to step back.” she warned the men and was surprised that they did what was asked. She glanced at Sirius and he smiled proudly.

“Now what?” Sirius asked her quietly.

“Now you get on.”

“Just like that?” he eyed the creature nervously but also with an assessing eye like even though he was unsure he was going to figure it out.

“Just like that,” she replied softly and warmly. She glanced around at all the men who had come to watch. For him to be so nervous and yet still choose to come out here and give it a try. Amanda decided he was quiet brave. It would have been easier to tell her no or…, well there wasn’t really an or, she could see that. She could also see he was curious.

“Alright,” He put his hands on the back of the pegasus. The creature snorted and shook his head but it didn’t scare him off at all. Anyone else would have flinched. It made Amanda wonder because he had seemed nervous walking up here. But perhaps he was just aware that he couldn’t let the pegasus know how he felt or perhaps he didn’t want the men to know that. Either way it was the correct response.

He ran his hand along its back, letting it know he was there. Then he grabbed the front edge of the wings and pulled himself up in one swoop. The pegasus moved around in response but Sirius didn’t hunch up or forward. Amanda was impressed, even the way he sat was relaxed and upright. “You’ve ridden a horse before?” she asked.

He started to shake his head and then paused think “Err, a couple times I think.”

“You think?”

“I had an aunt with a farm but I was quite young when we last visited.”

She nodded and then glanced around for the nearest crew member. She was surprised to see Shiv standing nearby with his arms crossed and an obvious look of disapproval on his face. She called him over anyway. “Shiv can you give me foot up?”

He frowned.

“Just cup your hands like this so I can step in them to get some height.” She showed him what she meant. Normally she’d use a fence post or a step ladder but here there weren’t any and she wanted the clearest spot on deck to take off from.

“I can give you a hand,” Sirius offered.

“It’s easier with a foot.” She flashed him a smile.

Shiv came over with a grumble. He gave Sirius a look but all he said was, “Fine,” and held out his hands in a cup like Amanda had shown.

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“Will the pegasus be able to fly with all this weight?” Sirius asked as Amanda put her foot in Shiv’s hands.

“You’d be surprised what they can carry,” she replied. “From what I know it’s not just the wings that gives them lift. They’re mostly for direction. There’s something else they do that stops gravity pulling them down so much, but flamed if I knew how it works.”

“They use magic to fly?” Sirius asked.

Amanda nodded and then boosted herself up using Shiv’s hands as a footstep. Sirius did offer her his hand and she gratefully took it. Now they were both seated on the pegasus. It shifted its weight a little again but not as much as it had when Sirius had gotten on.

“Now what?” Shiv asked from below.

“Now unclip the lead from the halter,” Amanda instructed.

Shiv reached around under the animal’s chin and did so. Then he stepped back slowly. As he shifted back the pegasus spread its wings. The circle the crew made widened in response and then without any warning the pegasus leaped into the sky.

Sirius gripped Amanda tight right around the waist without even thinking about where his hands were. All he saw was a blur of colour and then he buried his head in her hair, shut his eyes, and held on for dear life.

Amanda watched as white sails disappeared away before them to reveal blue sky and an open ocean. The view took her breath away. When she finally sucked it in again she could smell the salty air more clearly than ever. She couldn’t help but smile. Up here she felt free. Sirius was holding on a little tight but she didn’t mind.

A part of her wanted to keep climbing but she knew how quickly the temperature would drop, not to mention the increased risk of a fall. She leaned her weight forward to try to coach the pegasus downward. She couldn’t be sure how he would respond. Pegasi were usually sensitive to touch and easy to train but this was still a wild pegasus. The fact that it was one that had approached her was a good indication though. Amanda was pleased and a little relieved when it responded as she’d hoped.

As the pegasus reached its peak and began to level out Amanda took her hands away from it’s neck and threw them out wide. It wasn’t good practice but she was feeling daring and on top of the world now. She shifted her weight back subtlety to indicate a desire for a decrease in altitude and was amazed when that was all it took for the pegasus to understand and respond. A burst of laughter flowed from her. “Are you seeing this?” she called back to Sirius.

She let the pegasus drop a little and then she put her hands back on his mane and relaxed her position. Let the pegasus decide where to fly.

“No. I’ve got my eyes shut,” Sirius called back in a muffled voice.

She tried to look back at him but all she could see was the top of his head tucked down into her shoulder.

The pegasus climbed up a metre and then dropped down two in a smooth curvy swoop.

“Oh, you’re missing so much,” Amanda called back.

Every time the pegasus changed direction even a little she could feel Sirius tighten his grip.

“I don’t really…” Sirius spoke but the end of his sentence trailed off in among her hair and the breeze.

Amanda reached forward and took back some semblance of control of the animal. Once more she was impressed that it even listened. She wondered if it had had riders on its back before, if it hadn’t perhaps been a fully wild one at all. It wasn’t unusual for pegasi to be like this though. Amanda was never sure if they responded how they did because the shift in weight made it more comfortable to fly a certain way or if they’d just evolved to understand what the rider wanted. A wild unicorn would never behave like this and a regular horse took weeks to get to this stage.

She leveled the pegasus out so the flying was more smooth, had him circle back toward the ship without aiming to go directly over it.

“Relax, he’ll fly steady for now. Nothing to lose by having a look.” she spoke back over her shoulder.

Sirius felt the movement smooth out and he wondered how she’d managed to make the animal do that. He risked a peek. Through strands of her bright red hair he could see the contrast of blue. The beauty of the two colours struck him and made him feel brave. Without loosening his hold he raised his head higher. They were above the ocean, not too high but higher than he’d ever been before. Maybe twice as high as the crow’s nest. He looked down and he could see the sparkle of the water below them, and out on every side of him open air. It wasn’t so bad. It didn’t look so threatening. He knew a fall from this height would likely hurt a lot but for some strange reason he didn’t feel so heavy. He wondered if the magic of the pegasi made them lighter too or if he was just imagining it. Whatever the reason was it didn’t matter. As he watched the world rush by he felt his fear leave him.

“Can you see? Did you open your eyes?” Amanda asked.

“Yeah,” he replied so softly he wasn’t sure if she could hear him.

“Good,” she said.

He felt her shift her butt. A heat flared through him in response and he tried to focus on the view instead of the woman pressed against him. Luckily for him as she moved her hands down the creature’s neck the pegasus dipped suddenly and then all Sirius could think of was holding on. His stomach was left behind. He could hear her laughing with joy. Then she moved again and the pegasus pulled out of the dive and into a climb. Then up and over, down again. Sirius found himself laughing as well. Oh there was still a little bit of fear there but it only made it better. As he got used to the movement he started to pay more attention to how she was telling it where to go. He was almost starting to think he could do it, maybe.

All too soon he realised she was guiding the pegasus back down to the ship. He wanted to ask for more but no this was good. It was better she brought it down.

As they touched down she turned to him slightly. “Pegasi are a bit like greyhounds, they’re strong and fast but they tire quickly. They do best in small bursts.”

“Maybe we could ride again tomorrow,” he suggested as he slid off the pegasus’s back. “He needs exercise regularly right?”

He could see her smile, although she didn’t turn to look at him. Perhaps she didn’t want him to know how happy that made her. Didn’t want it viewed as trade. When she did finally turn as he offered her a hand down her face was neutral again. “Yeah, sure. That’d be good. Although you’re gonna have to deal with Michael again.”

“Mmm, speaking of it’s probably time I let him down.”

Shiv, having reattached the halter lead handed it to Amanda. “Might want to get this horse below deck before you do that,” he suggested.

Amanda took the lead with a nod. She didn’t even bother to correct his usage of the term ‘horse’. Sirius let her lead it away as the crew surrounded him with questions about the ride.

Amanda walked away smiling at the excitement in their voices. She took the pegasus below deck. She couldn’t find any brushes so she used her hands to give the creature a rough comb. She’d ask Sirius later if he had any hairbrushes or combs on this ship. With the length of his own hair not to mention half the rest of the crew she was sure someone would have one somewhere. How keen they would be to let her use it on a pegasus was another question. Given how much Sirius had seemed to enjoy his ride this afternoon she figured she had a half decent chance of convincing him that it was needed.