Rising Wind [Almeria & Emilie]

((dont sweat it!))

Emilie listened to Almeria intently. She nods as she imagines what it would be like. “Feet flat…that make sense since the feet have to be on the rudder controls at all times!” Hearing about keeping good posture sounded like something straight from a textbook but considering she would be in midair, it was better safe than sorry.

“Got it! Anything else?” Emilie was very tempted to jump into the cockpit right away, but felt like she could get more instructions from Almeria. After a few seconds of no responses, Emilie noticed the airman’s eyes were fixated elsewhere. She waves her hands through his gaze.

“Does the posture prevent something from happening? I can’t really think anything,” Emilie suspected there has to be a good reason for maintaining a good posture; Almeria did emphasis it to the point where it could be dangerous without it.

When he mentioned ‘steering wheel’, this perks Emilie interest. She did show him the controls in the cockpit. Perhaps this was from envisioning his training with the military aircraft. Either way, it was a start to knowing the controls of common military aircraft. “Uhm,” Emilie carefully interjects, “this uses a stick but I understand what you are trying to say about controlling the aircraft: stay relaxed and move with your body.”

The sound of the popping rhythmically engine spinning rang through Emilie’s ears while Almeria was thinking of something else to say. A smile creped on her face as she listens to the engine’s light purr, satisfied to hear its running smoothly. Upon hearing Almeria instructing again, she looked around her fruitlessly for a helmet until she checked her pockets, pulling out a pair of goggles. “Not exactly headwear, but probably just as important, right?” Emilie followed up with a forced laugh, knowing she did not have some kind of headgear at hand, but concluded it would not be that much of an issue; she has pretty short hair to begin with.

“Well certainly, it’s not a wheel!” Emilie giggles. She knew there are designs that use a wheel instead of just a stick, but those were more finicky to make.

As Almeria explains the importance maintaining a posture, Emilie could clearly tell through his description that this concerned with combat. “Gee! It sounds like you expect me to be dog fighting in the near future!” She’s beginning to find the instructions amusing as they were obviously for fighter pilots. Despite that, she could see the value of what Almeria is talking about.

Remembering the propeller was spinning, Emilie jumped in a small panic and climbs into the cockpit. “Not to rush or anything, but I don’t want to keep this spinning on idle for too long; alchemy materials are hard for me to come by…”

Sitting in the cockpit with the engine running made her crack a smile. Emilie sat up straight, trying to keep a good posture like Almeria said. She rests her feet on the two bar pedals and pushed them in and out, looking back to the rudder moving side to side. Her right hand grabs the stick in between her legs and in front of the seat, shifting it side to side and front and back, moving the ailerons and elevator respectively. Everything was working just as she demonstrated earlier. She puts on her goggles but kept them on her forehead as she turns to Almeria for any last minute advice. “Well…anything else you want to tell me?”

She noticed a change of tone in Almeria’s voice but after he had nothing else to say, Emilie’s heart pounded with the thoughts the moment to come. She pulls down her welding goggles over her eyes and moved brought left hand down to the throttle, nudging it slightly forward to hear the increase in power. Wearing a wide smile, she turns to Almeria and gave him a salute.

“Thanks for the tips! Wish me luck!” Emilie looks down at her left hand on the throttle, still wearing the gloves she had on earlier. She took a deep breath and shifted her gaze in front. She slowly pushes the throttle higher until it’s at full power. She could feel the engine power pulsing through the aircraft as well as the gust from the propeller. Soon, the machine began to move, and fast. Within seconds, she already rolled a couple of meters away from Almeria and the distance grew longer as the aircraft rumbled on the grass. She no longer felt the gust from the propeller, rather the air around her began to race past her. She could feel the tail of the aircraft lifting up. Almost! She nudges the flight stick from side to side, and felt the entire machine waggle, but a slight pull on the stick towards her body made stomach drop, as if she was falling. The rumbling sound was gone and felt like she was rocking. That’s when it hit her. She has lifted off.

As she ascends, Emilie peeks around her cockpit to see the grass move further away. Judging the stronger gust in her face, she figures she was accelerating steadily too. When she tries to extend over to the side, she senses the aircraft tilting and immediately bands back to sitting up straight. It was a little scary, but seemed like the aircraft was an extension of her body. She tried to wiggle the stick again but it felt much heavier that usual. She turns her head to the left and slowly pulled the stick in the same direction. Upon seeing the ailerons shifting up, the whole aircraft spun almost on its side, directing Emilie’s gaze to the ground. Out of impulse, Emilie pulled the stick back to her gut, making a sharp turn with the aircraft. The student picked up on this movement and tried to move the stick back to the center and slightly towards the right. As a result, the aircraft slowly tilted back to flying straight.

Emilie decides to hold off on fooling with the controls to catch her breath. Her heart was beating intensely the whole time since lifting off. She gazes to her left again to notice a view the field, workshops, and the university. Never did she imagine seeing familiar places with a different perspective. She even spots Almeria, but barely could make out his figure.

Emilie’s throat began to chock up, not knowing how to feel, simply because there were too many feelings to process. She started squealed with joy, wiggling around in excitement. Unable to contain it anymore, she threw her arms up from the control and cheered at the top of her lungs. A split second after gushing out, she felt a sudden drop her stomach prompting her to pull down her arms back into the cockpit. Emilie then realizes the nose of the aircraft was point towards the ground, and Almeria was in sight.

Emilie could see Almeria more clearly as seconds passed and it became more apparent that he was yelling. She couldn’t hear him, but his posture suggested he was. Her first instinct was to pull both her arms back to the flight stick, with her back scrunched over out of insecurity, but her arms froze in place, squeezing on the stick tightly. A tense wrist will crash the aircraft. Those words echoed in Emilie's head.  At the same time, the plane was accelerating faster as she dove longer…she had to reduce...speed!

She sat up straight, swung her left arm to the throttle and pulled it all the way back to cut the engine. The plane went silent but she was still diving, but not as fast as before, giving her more time to react. However, the ground approached really close where she can hear Almeria screaming at her, thanks in part to the cut engine. Emilie had to pull up somehow…pull…up. Pull… PULL! With both her hands, she grabbed the flight stick and pulled it hard to her gut. She felt a drastic change in direction, as her stomach felt like it jumped up to her chest and her vision slightly became woozy, but she does not see Almeria or the grass anymore.

She relaxes the stick to its center position and looks around her. Clear skies once again, but Emilie felt something off. The wind was not as strong as before and she has slowed down significantly, plus it is rather quiet. Of course, the engine! With her hand on the throttle again she pushes it to full power, causing the engine to growl back to life, accelerating up to speed once more.

She catches her breath, contemplating on the events that have just taken place seconds before. But her face did not show terror. A smile grew with every breath she took. It was exhilarating. Emilie then remembered a secret feature she added to her machine, one that only she knows how to activate. Checking her left had to see it has the glove on, she takes a deep breath and adjusts her grip on the throttle handle, rubbing it slightly in her grip. The engine’s purr changed into a roar as the plane accelerated faster than before. Confident in her controls after the dive recovery, swung the aircraft up and back around to Almeria and started a shallow dive back towards the airfield, pulling back the throttle to slow her approach.

While she was still diving, Emilie saw Almeria walking towards closer to her flight path. It would be rude if she was to do what she planned, so she cut the throttle completely and prepared to land. She flew past Almeria, catching a glimpse of his face, all scrunched up as if he was trying to suppress something. She waved, hoping to lighten up his mood, somehow.

While taking off was easy, she found that landing required more finesse. She had a feeling that pointing the nose too steep would damage the front of her machine, but trying to stay level kept her in the air longer. As she decelerated closer to the ground, she felt the plane descending too quickly, so she opened the throttle, knowing she will pick up a little more speed to give her time to land properly. Emilie can see the ground inching closer in front of her and decides to pull the nose down to land. *THUD* The wheels hit the ground too hard, bouncing once before touchdown. Immediately, she felt something was wrong with the wheels as she rolled to a stop.

After cutting the engine completely, she jumps out of the cockpit to take a look at the wheels. Sure enough, they were popped and dented. She pouted, but it didn’t distress her. She turns around and waved towards Almeria to her plane, a little nervous about discussing that close call.