FicWad

"Nowi."

Nowi, hearing Stahl call her name, walks out of one of the tents in the camp and makes her way over to him.

"What is it, Stahl?" Her lavender tinted eyes light up as she looks up at him.

"Well, since I've finished up my duties for the day, I figured that I should enjoy the nice weather while it lasts." He holds up a woven straw basket that is covered with a white and black checkered cloth. "I packed some food and drinks and was wondering if I could share some of it with you."

A smile like that of a innocent child appears on Nowi's face. "I would love that."

"Great!" Stahl smiles back.

"On one condition."

Stahl's smile weakens. Having known Nowi for a little over several months, Stahl, and everyone else in the group, soon figured out that Nowi could surprise any of them with the most random of ideas. Some were great and very helpful. Others were...not so productive.

"Alright. What's the catch?"

"I get to pick where we go."

Stahl mentally sighs. He had expected something a little more dodgy. "That's it?"

"That's it."

"Well, if that's the only catch, then lead the way."

"It's not exactly a close place." Nowi stares down at her feet.

"We can take my horse to get there. I'll even teach you how to ride on the way there. It's a win-win."

"Um..."

"Something wrong?"

Nowi gains the courage to look up at Stahl. "The place I want to go to...your horse can't get to."

Stahl raises in eyebrow out of slight perplexity. "Well, if we can't walk there and if my horse can't get to it, then how do you suggest we get there?"

Nowi's childish smile returns to her as she takes out her dragonstone and activates the power within it. Streams of light pink and white light flow from the stone and gently engulf her. As the light fades, Nowi's elegant manakete form rests on the ground.

"We fly, of course!" Her manakete voice cheerfully answers Stahl.

"Fl-fly?" His adrenaline spikes as he begins to imagine all the scenarios that could come out of this, all of them ending with him falling to his death.

"Stahl? Are you okay?" Nowi asks. Through her dragon eyes, she notices Stahl's eyes are widened and his breathing is quick and heavy. Even though she may act youthful, her thousand year old experience with humans has made her knowledgeable in reading people's body languages. She realizes the issue. "You're afraid of heights, aren't you?"

"It's not heights that terrify me. It's the potential of falling and getting stopped suddenly by the ground."

"Oh..."

"But since I agreed on you choosing the place and since the only way there is by flying, we'll do just that." Stahl grips the basket tighter in his right hand as he carefully climbs on top of Nowi. "I'll just keep my eyes shut and hang onto you for dear life."

"I'll be sure to go easy and fly extra carefully." She gently to him and begins to flap her wings, slowly rising herself and Stahl off of the ground. "Alright, Stahl. Hang on."

Stahl had already gripped his hands around Nowi's manakete neck, with the handle of the basket hanging on one of his arms. His eyes are tightly shut. "Don't worry about me hanging on. I got that part covered!"

Nowi giggles as she soon ascends above the clouds. "We'll be there sooner than you think."

"Not soon enough." His shaky voice is barely audible over the sound of wind rushing past him and Nowi.

Nowi continues her flight towards the location she wants to go. A couple of minutes is all she needs but for Stahl it feels like an eternity. He proceeds to block out all of his senses, focusing on the thought of him standing tall on the ground and breathing in fresh air deep into his lungs. His anxiety starts to fade as he continues to see that mental picture in his mind.

This isn't so bad as long as I keep my mind on anything but...that. As Stahl keeps his mind on his imaginary world he feels the wind blowing across his face slowly die away.

"We're here, Stahl. You can open your eyes now." Nowi's tone remains cheerful as she lies down on the ground so that Stahl can slide off onto the ground.

Stahl breathes a sigh of relief as he once again feels the solid ground under his feet. As he turns around he sees Nowi appear out of her fading light of the dragonstone. She returned to her human form with a bright smile on her face.

"Well, what do you think? Is this a great place or what?"

"Whoa." The young man is in awe as he realizes how beautiful Nowi's choice of place is. It is a small, flat, grassy cliff-side about a hundred yards in size. The only source of shade was a single, tree with a bushy top filled with deep green leaves. Beyond the cliff's edge lays the vast land of Ylisse with its grassy plains and crystal-clear rivers that cut into the landscape. The curvature of the world is theirs to see at this secluded spot.

"How did you come across this place?"

"A few weeks ago, when we had a break in the rainy weather, I decided to fly around. I came across this place and realized that nobody can get to it unless they climb a very steep mountain or fly here. I wanted to keep this place a secret from everyone, but I thought that sharing it with you would be much more fun!"

"Well then, let's keep this place a secret between the two of us." Stahl walks underneath the tree and sits down on the ground with the basket. "Flying here with me on your back must have made you hungry."

"You bet it did!" Nowi dashes over and quickly sits down next to Stahl.

Using the cloth he had covered the top of the basket with, Stahl lays it on the ground and sets several fruits and two bottles of young wine on it. "Thanks for sharing this place with me, Nowi."

"You're welcome, Stahl."

As both of them eat and drink together, they gaze down at Ylisse's vast grandeur. While each of them found the land they dwelled in beautiful and unique, they secretly cherished each other's company far more. Within time's natural flow would they make their love know to each other.

"You do know that in order to get back to camp we have to fly again, right?"

"That's alright. With you as my wings, I know that I can soar above anything."