“What did he say?”

“He found a flying machine.”

“A… A flying machine. Oh. Ah. Yes. We’re going to leave you to it, okay Atzi? Just make sure he doesn’t destroy anything else…”

As the Natls took flight again, their curiosity not quite satisfied but their instincts screaming “get out of here”, Atzi helped Gründ take foot on what was left of the platform. She checked him for any damage, but nothing seemed worse than usual. “All right Gründ, explain to me, in order please, what exactly happened that led you up here, will you?”

And so Gründ told the story, back from the very beginning. How Atzi’s wings has sparked his curiosity and given him the desire to fly, how he had made countless attempts at building wings, how Haylir had helped him in the end. He told of the ruins he had found, the writings on the walls, his incredible discoveries. He omitted none of his failures, none of his mistakes, some of his sudden accesses of despair. Atzi listened quietly, she was completely dumbfounded.

“... and that’s how I discovered that winds were stronger up here. Sorry for the platform, by the way, I couldn’t control the machine at all.” His mouth was dry, but he was happy that he could tell his tale without interruptions.

Atzi was thinking hard, trying to place all the pieces together and understand what had gone wrong in Gründ’s latest flying attempt. She was impressed and proud of him, but mostly she wanted to help him and make sure he wouldn’t destroy anything else. She took a good long look at the thing. Slowly an idea came to her, an idea that could explain his issues, something that was completely natural to her but foreign to the ground-dweller.

“Gründ? What do you know of air currents?” The look on his face was enough to answer her question. “Okay. Here’s what we are going to do. I am going to find us something to eat and something to write on, and you will listen to me. There is a lot more to flying than merely flapping your wings.”

The Töskr obediently waited while Atzi went to fetch some of her personal food. It wouldn’t do to let him eat the tribe’s reserves, they were already angry enough about the platform… She knew that he meant no harm, but the Natls only had her own word to rely on, and they could be very fierce when it came to protecting their home.

She returned to the platform as fast as she could to find the poor Töskr surrounded by angry Natls. They wanted to make sure he wouldn’t go away or destroy anything. Gründ was, to put it lightly, a little scared. He sat completely still, not daring to even look around, trying to breathe as little as possible. He was really excited about learning how to fly, and not showing it took a lot of effort. He was panting when Atzi finally landed next to him.

“All right, off you go! I’ll make sure he doesn’t crash on any of your houses! Go back to your work now, go on!” The Natls grudgingly obeyed, keeping an eye on the walking catastrophe and grumbling to themselves. “Don’t worry Gründ, they’re just a bunch of grumps. They won’t harm you.”

AN: Have a little preview for the comic! <3