Post by Wildpelt on Apr 2, 2014 18:29:55 GMT -5
Chasing the Cloud
“Alright, number thirty-seven, you’re up!” The gruff voice that belonged to her flight instructor bellowed above the noises the others were making.
Venesca Owens, a tall and pretty blonde teenager stepped up to the plate on the cloud-city racetrack, watching the way the obstacles moved with her careful blue eyes. She ruffled her shirt so it was sitting flat on her back, which was getting increasingly sweaty. Her hands were stayed at her sides, and her legs were flat and locked in a runner’s poise. She was on the silver plate that marked the beginning and finish line, and there was nothing beyond that one little stretch of cloud and the obstacle course that lay constantly shifting in front of her.
Venesca had a special talent that they were testing today: she was able to fly. Most people were able to perform flight or levitate, so her being able to levitate and fly like a superhero without any machine was quite common. In the cloud cities she lived in, most of the people who were there usually just flew around using their own innate powers, and most modes of transportation were usually not needed. However, as she later learned, she also was set up to be much more than that.
As she had quickly learned, her ability to fly was more drawn out than most peoples were. Whiel some struggled to fly in a straight line, she could do loops, twist, turns and curls. She never had needed to learn how to do it; it was just natural. She was also much faster than the normal students were, and she could easily surpass most of them in a challenge. Venesca knew she was talented, but she also knew that she had been so unique she tried not to use it often.
That was when she had learned that there were others who could share her special talents and preform these gifts. They lived in the cloud city of Meran, which was located north of her settlement. She had flown there once in her youth, when her parents were still deciding if they had a unique daughter. The city was much larger and sported an extra track and arena, where flyers could be put to the test and race for awards. The city was famous for their ingenious techniques and flying teams, which all were only seconded by the best of them all: The Cloud Chasers.
It was her dream one day to fly with the Cloud Chasers, who were the best flyers in the entire land. They were group of interchangeable people, and they usually preformed at shows or live events for money. However, they were so widely known that they even had their own academy which, each year, they picked one student to become part of their team. Since they were a group of ten fliers that changed the ranking every year, this allowed for one to be under their wing for ten years.
The Cloud Chaser academy was located in Meran, and thus they had named the academy Meran’s Junior Flier Academy for the Gifted Flyer. If one was to go into the school, their chances of having a successful flying career were almost guaranteed. Many of the students there would go on to create their own flying squads, and some of the inventions they relied on to keep their cities on the clouds originated from their classes. Only the best of the best fliers were ever allowed to go there, and the selection process was all but secret.
The issue she quickly faced was the fact that her mother didn’t approve of her going to any school for flying. Her family had always been factory workers and they ran their own factory called Owen’s Exports. Her father had told her that, when she was old enough, she’d take over the factory and help to run it. It was also implied in his babble that it would be for the rest of her life. Her talents her family ignored and she was always shunned or looked down upon for expressing them or taking any classes to hone them in more.
That all changed the day a bright red letter from Meran Academy came in her mail.
Her family had reacted violently and tried to hide the letter from her at first. The only reason she was able to find it was she looked a bit deeper into the trash one morning to see if she’d dropped a contact in it. She had fished out the slightly damp letter and found it, at least on the inside, spotless. She had read it four times before she believed what it was telling her. The bets academy in the world for fliers wanted her to be one of the students! She could have a shot at being a Cloud Chaser!
Her father had been more than furious at her and told her that she couldn’t pursue this false dream and she had to take over the business. Her mother was submissive to her father and had nodded her head at everything he said. The last bit of the conversation had struck her so hard in her heart that she couldn’t make it go away from her memory:
Venesca sat on the couch surrounded by her parents and her home life. In her left hand held the carefully folded letter from Meran. The other hand was clutching the covering as her dad was spitting rage at her for her decision to go to the academy. To her other side, her mother was sitting on the other end of the couch, looking on with disdain. Both of them had red faces and angry eyes, both directed at her.
“You’re not going to some school for freaks!” Her dad exploded in her face, “You’re staying here and you’re going to be the manager of the company!”
Venesca was panicked by his statement and spoke up, “But maybe I don’t want to be normal like you anymore!”
Her mother stood up and rested by her father, holding his hand gently as she looked down on her daughter, “Sweetie, we won’t let you pursue some dream that you don’t even know anything about yet! You can’t sit here and try to throw your lot in with something that you don’t know could work. The academy could reject you, or you could be getting nothing in return-“
“She won’t get anything in return if she goes to the academy! I forbid you to go anywhere near Meran!”
Venesca stood and finally she stood up, “I’m going to the academy! It’s all I want in life! I want to be a Cloud Chaser!”
Her father looked at her with unbridled rage and anger at losing his heir, then he looked at her mother and they both nodded, “Then you’re no longer our daughter! OUT! Get you things and GET OUT!”
At the starting line for her evaluation course, Venesca shed a tear as the memory replayed itself in her mind. Taking a shuddering breath, she placed her hands in position to launch off. The course was full of things to dodge, obstacles to complete and various tasks that had to be done. Most of it was constantly shifting to simulate the real experience. Most students warned the course was even harder than flying through a storm in real life.
The record for the course was 37.2 seconds. Venesca had timed the fake virtual simulation course at 39.1 seconds. She wanted to beat the record and be the fastest flier in the academy, and she wanted to do that for the three people sitting up in the stands.
There were three representatives from the Cloud Chasers: Aaron, Jason and Amelia. They were nicknamed Sun Flasher, Swiftbreeze and Storm Breaker respectively. That only put more pressure on her to succeed, for this was the day for them to pick the one that would induct into the team. And she was determined to be that one.
Doubts swam in her mind like little needles pricking at her brain, and she shook her head to clear them. What if she failed at one of the obstacles? What if one of her feet was caught and she embarrassed herself? What if they didn’t think she was impressive enough? Could they turn her down so easily? Was it even a shot? Was her dad right and she was just casting her lot in with a false dream, never to become reality?
The course swam in her vision as she started to doubt herself. The very thought of losing was too much for her. She was self-conscious enough that she’d probably talk herself out of doing it before her mind and body came to terms with themselves. She moaned out loud enough for the person beside her to hear, and they looked at her with a curios expression. She looked up to see him and she faked a wink to him. The trainer, still going on with the proceedings, paid her no other heed.
The three members of the Cloud Chasers had heard of Venesca and were leaning forward in their chairs. They all knew she was prime material, and thus they were going to be watching her more closely than anything. They wanted her on their team, but she couldn’t know that by their looks. In fact, they almost looked like they could care less.
Venesca started to count down the seconds until the buzzer would tell her to go. The point was to get through as many obstacles as you could in as little time as you could. Hitting an obstacle or failing one was an added 10 seconds. With her goal of beating the record, she couldn’t dare to miss even one. The worst would be picking up a ball in midair and tossing it into a large basket before zipping by it. It was only a 3 second add on if she missed, but 10 if she didn’t get the ball altogether. For her, getting that ball would mean the world.
“Number thirty-seven, are you ready?” The announcer called. With a trembling nod, she took her position.
Venesca was starting to look around the crowd when she heard a sneer come from her right side. She turned to look and her blood went cold. Her father and mother were sitting there, both wearing smirks and evil grins, obviously there to watch her fail. She started to tremble as he raised a hand and waved at her, and he was watching her trembles and sweat with glee.
They were there to see their daughter fail at her dream, and then would be there to sweep her up in her guilt and force her into service forever. She felt the blood that had just gone cold freeze into ice, weighing down her limbs.
She had ten seconds before the race started. She couldn’t do it now, not with her parents watching and waiting for her to fail. They wanted her to fail so that she’d have no reason to stay with her flying career ever again. They wanted her to fail at her one dream and be swept away in guilt into the one thing she couldn’t let happen. They weren’t there to support her; they were there to derail her dream.
She looked between them and the Cloud Chasers, and she saw something in the eye of Sun Flasher. She was starting to blink it off when she saw it again: he had winked at her. He then gave her a single thumbs-up and he smiled to her before turning and acting disinterested again.
Oh my gosh! He knows who I am! Her body trembled, but this time it was in sheer surprise. The one person on this world she wanted to know her name was paying attention to her! The Cloud Chasers were watching her preform today! She was on their radar! That was more than incredible to her: it was pure awesome!
She looked to her parents and something in her snapped. There was one last chain to them she felt break, and the clock was about out when it did. She turned and took her stance, determination setting in her limbs to win this race. No, they wouldn’t have her. She’d break the record and she’d be a Cloud Chaser. There would be no way she’d humble herself to that level. She was a flier and she was going to pursue that.
She wouldn’t let her family take her down. She was going to pursue her dream at that very instant. She was going to go and chase the clouds.
Venesca took her last stance and the clock went off. When she shot from the plate, she felt the chains her family fall, and a new chain to the Cloud Chasers form.
Venesca came in at 35.9 seconds. She beat the record by 1.3 seconds.
When she finished, she felt the sheer adrenaline flow out of her and she started to lean against the nifty column that was placed there for her. She took the towel and wiped off her sweat, only to have it all come back when she was told the time that she had made. She blinked in disbelief until she was shown the stop-watch itself. She nearly fainted when she learned she’d done it.
Over the remainder of the day, it was made apparent to the trainer and the academy staff who it was the Cloud Chaser’s had picked for their own member. She wasn’t informed of anything, yet it was also apparent in the way that her trainer was looking at her, and how some of the other people around her were acting. It was as if she had become awesome all over again.
She was sitting quietly during the speeches when she heard her name get called up to the stage. When she stood up, she realized the spot where her parents would be was vacant. Instead of feeling upset, she only felt a dull pity that they couldn’t’ be here for her. She wished that they’d be able to understand what it meant to her, yet she also wasn’t going to shed tears over it if her family didn’t want someone like her.
She arrived at the stage and Swiftbreeze greeted her, “so you broke the record I set, eh?”
Those words made her become more stunned than anything. She broke the record set by some of her favorite performers?!?
“And so we’re looking to take on a new member to the team.” It was Sun Flasher who responded, “Are you willing to become a Cloud Chaser?”
She felt so stunned her couldn’t get her mouth to move at first. When she did she slowly shook her head up and down while she beamed. The three representatives smiled and sat there, looking at her until she finally stopped.
The two of them pinned a golden cloud onto her shirt and then put a small robe over her that was painted red. She then looked at them and they handed her the standard blue-and-yellow uniform they wore. She looked at them with more thanks than anything in the world. They all clapped as she started to pant with excitement.
She was a Cloud Chaser.
She’d fulfilled her dream.
“Alright, number thirty-seven, you’re up!” The gruff voice that belonged to her flight instructor bellowed above the noises the others were making.
Venesca Owens, a tall and pretty blonde teenager stepped up to the plate on the cloud-city racetrack, watching the way the obstacles moved with her careful blue eyes. She ruffled her shirt so it was sitting flat on her back, which was getting increasingly sweaty. Her hands were stayed at her sides, and her legs were flat and locked in a runner’s poise. She was on the silver plate that marked the beginning and finish line, and there was nothing beyond that one little stretch of cloud and the obstacle course that lay constantly shifting in front of her.
Venesca had a special talent that they were testing today: she was able to fly. Most people were able to perform flight or levitate, so her being able to levitate and fly like a superhero without any machine was quite common. In the cloud cities she lived in, most of the people who were there usually just flew around using their own innate powers, and most modes of transportation were usually not needed. However, as she later learned, she also was set up to be much more than that.
As she had quickly learned, her ability to fly was more drawn out than most peoples were. Whiel some struggled to fly in a straight line, she could do loops, twist, turns and curls. She never had needed to learn how to do it; it was just natural. She was also much faster than the normal students were, and she could easily surpass most of them in a challenge. Venesca knew she was talented, but she also knew that she had been so unique she tried not to use it often.
That was when she had learned that there were others who could share her special talents and preform these gifts. They lived in the cloud city of Meran, which was located north of her settlement. She had flown there once in her youth, when her parents were still deciding if they had a unique daughter. The city was much larger and sported an extra track and arena, where flyers could be put to the test and race for awards. The city was famous for their ingenious techniques and flying teams, which all were only seconded by the best of them all: The Cloud Chasers.
It was her dream one day to fly with the Cloud Chasers, who were the best flyers in the entire land. They were group of interchangeable people, and they usually preformed at shows or live events for money. However, they were so widely known that they even had their own academy which, each year, they picked one student to become part of their team. Since they were a group of ten fliers that changed the ranking every year, this allowed for one to be under their wing for ten years.
The Cloud Chaser academy was located in Meran, and thus they had named the academy Meran’s Junior Flier Academy for the Gifted Flyer. If one was to go into the school, their chances of having a successful flying career were almost guaranteed. Many of the students there would go on to create their own flying squads, and some of the inventions they relied on to keep their cities on the clouds originated from their classes. Only the best of the best fliers were ever allowed to go there, and the selection process was all but secret.
The issue she quickly faced was the fact that her mother didn’t approve of her going to any school for flying. Her family had always been factory workers and they ran their own factory called Owen’s Exports. Her father had told her that, when she was old enough, she’d take over the factory and help to run it. It was also implied in his babble that it would be for the rest of her life. Her talents her family ignored and she was always shunned or looked down upon for expressing them or taking any classes to hone them in more.
That all changed the day a bright red letter from Meran Academy came in her mail.
Her family had reacted violently and tried to hide the letter from her at first. The only reason she was able to find it was she looked a bit deeper into the trash one morning to see if she’d dropped a contact in it. She had fished out the slightly damp letter and found it, at least on the inside, spotless. She had read it four times before she believed what it was telling her. The bets academy in the world for fliers wanted her to be one of the students! She could have a shot at being a Cloud Chaser!
Her father had been more than furious at her and told her that she couldn’t pursue this false dream and she had to take over the business. Her mother was submissive to her father and had nodded her head at everything he said. The last bit of the conversation had struck her so hard in her heart that she couldn’t make it go away from her memory:
Venesca sat on the couch surrounded by her parents and her home life. In her left hand held the carefully folded letter from Meran. The other hand was clutching the covering as her dad was spitting rage at her for her decision to go to the academy. To her other side, her mother was sitting on the other end of the couch, looking on with disdain. Both of them had red faces and angry eyes, both directed at her.
“You’re not going to some school for freaks!” Her dad exploded in her face, “You’re staying here and you’re going to be the manager of the company!”
Venesca was panicked by his statement and spoke up, “But maybe I don’t want to be normal like you anymore!”
Her mother stood up and rested by her father, holding his hand gently as she looked down on her daughter, “Sweetie, we won’t let you pursue some dream that you don’t even know anything about yet! You can’t sit here and try to throw your lot in with something that you don’t know could work. The academy could reject you, or you could be getting nothing in return-“
“She won’t get anything in return if she goes to the academy! I forbid you to go anywhere near Meran!”
Venesca stood and finally she stood up, “I’m going to the academy! It’s all I want in life! I want to be a Cloud Chaser!”
Her father looked at her with unbridled rage and anger at losing his heir, then he looked at her mother and they both nodded, “Then you’re no longer our daughter! OUT! Get you things and GET OUT!”
At the starting line for her evaluation course, Venesca shed a tear as the memory replayed itself in her mind. Taking a shuddering breath, she placed her hands in position to launch off. The course was full of things to dodge, obstacles to complete and various tasks that had to be done. Most of it was constantly shifting to simulate the real experience. Most students warned the course was even harder than flying through a storm in real life.
The record for the course was 37.2 seconds. Venesca had timed the fake virtual simulation course at 39.1 seconds. She wanted to beat the record and be the fastest flier in the academy, and she wanted to do that for the three people sitting up in the stands.
There were three representatives from the Cloud Chasers: Aaron, Jason and Amelia. They were nicknamed Sun Flasher, Swiftbreeze and Storm Breaker respectively. That only put more pressure on her to succeed, for this was the day for them to pick the one that would induct into the team. And she was determined to be that one.
Doubts swam in her mind like little needles pricking at her brain, and she shook her head to clear them. What if she failed at one of the obstacles? What if one of her feet was caught and she embarrassed herself? What if they didn’t think she was impressive enough? Could they turn her down so easily? Was it even a shot? Was her dad right and she was just casting her lot in with a false dream, never to become reality?
The course swam in her vision as she started to doubt herself. The very thought of losing was too much for her. She was self-conscious enough that she’d probably talk herself out of doing it before her mind and body came to terms with themselves. She moaned out loud enough for the person beside her to hear, and they looked at her with a curios expression. She looked up to see him and she faked a wink to him. The trainer, still going on with the proceedings, paid her no other heed.
The three members of the Cloud Chasers had heard of Venesca and were leaning forward in their chairs. They all knew she was prime material, and thus they were going to be watching her more closely than anything. They wanted her on their team, but she couldn’t know that by their looks. In fact, they almost looked like they could care less.
Venesca started to count down the seconds until the buzzer would tell her to go. The point was to get through as many obstacles as you could in as little time as you could. Hitting an obstacle or failing one was an added 10 seconds. With her goal of beating the record, she couldn’t dare to miss even one. The worst would be picking up a ball in midair and tossing it into a large basket before zipping by it. It was only a 3 second add on if she missed, but 10 if she didn’t get the ball altogether. For her, getting that ball would mean the world.
“Number thirty-seven, are you ready?” The announcer called. With a trembling nod, she took her position.
Venesca was starting to look around the crowd when she heard a sneer come from her right side. She turned to look and her blood went cold. Her father and mother were sitting there, both wearing smirks and evil grins, obviously there to watch her fail. She started to tremble as he raised a hand and waved at her, and he was watching her trembles and sweat with glee.
They were there to see their daughter fail at her dream, and then would be there to sweep her up in her guilt and force her into service forever. She felt the blood that had just gone cold freeze into ice, weighing down her limbs.
She had ten seconds before the race started. She couldn’t do it now, not with her parents watching and waiting for her to fail. They wanted her to fail so that she’d have no reason to stay with her flying career ever again. They wanted her to fail at her one dream and be swept away in guilt into the one thing she couldn’t let happen. They weren’t there to support her; they were there to derail her dream.
She looked between them and the Cloud Chasers, and she saw something in the eye of Sun Flasher. She was starting to blink it off when she saw it again: he had winked at her. He then gave her a single thumbs-up and he smiled to her before turning and acting disinterested again.
Oh my gosh! He knows who I am! Her body trembled, but this time it was in sheer surprise. The one person on this world she wanted to know her name was paying attention to her! The Cloud Chasers were watching her preform today! She was on their radar! That was more than incredible to her: it was pure awesome!
She looked to her parents and something in her snapped. There was one last chain to them she felt break, and the clock was about out when it did. She turned and took her stance, determination setting in her limbs to win this race. No, they wouldn’t have her. She’d break the record and she’d be a Cloud Chaser. There would be no way she’d humble herself to that level. She was a flier and she was going to pursue that.
She wouldn’t let her family take her down. She was going to pursue her dream at that very instant. She was going to go and chase the clouds.
Venesca took her last stance and the clock went off. When she shot from the plate, she felt the chains her family fall, and a new chain to the Cloud Chasers form.
Venesca came in at 35.9 seconds. She beat the record by 1.3 seconds.
When she finished, she felt the sheer adrenaline flow out of her and she started to lean against the nifty column that was placed there for her. She took the towel and wiped off her sweat, only to have it all come back when she was told the time that she had made. She blinked in disbelief until she was shown the stop-watch itself. She nearly fainted when she learned she’d done it.
Over the remainder of the day, it was made apparent to the trainer and the academy staff who it was the Cloud Chaser’s had picked for their own member. She wasn’t informed of anything, yet it was also apparent in the way that her trainer was looking at her, and how some of the other people around her were acting. It was as if she had become awesome all over again.
She was sitting quietly during the speeches when she heard her name get called up to the stage. When she stood up, she realized the spot where her parents would be was vacant. Instead of feeling upset, she only felt a dull pity that they couldn’t’ be here for her. She wished that they’d be able to understand what it meant to her, yet she also wasn’t going to shed tears over it if her family didn’t want someone like her.
She arrived at the stage and Swiftbreeze greeted her, “so you broke the record I set, eh?”
Those words made her become more stunned than anything. She broke the record set by some of her favorite performers?!?
“And so we’re looking to take on a new member to the team.” It was Sun Flasher who responded, “Are you willing to become a Cloud Chaser?”
She felt so stunned her couldn’t get her mouth to move at first. When she did she slowly shook her head up and down while she beamed. The three representatives smiled and sat there, looking at her until she finally stopped.
The two of them pinned a golden cloud onto her shirt and then put a small robe over her that was painted red. She then looked at them and they handed her the standard blue-and-yellow uniform they wore. She looked at them with more thanks than anything in the world. They all clapped as she started to pant with excitement.
She was a Cloud Chaser.
She’d fulfilled her dream.
