Name: Denahi
Gender: Male
Power: Wood+Earth
Art of any kind: A pixel sprite by me c:
Give this EGF a story: For reference's sake, Vega, female, Earth EGF.
"You've never flown before?" Vega was genuinely surprised. She was right to be; being fully grown, it was amazing that Denahi hadn't tried out his wings.
"... I'm afraid of... falling." Even though he'd known her for over six months, even though she'd been the least judgmental and most trustworthy of his new friends, even though she would help him however needed and never spill a single one of his secrets, it was still hard to tell her. Heights scared the crap out of him.
And, immediately, her empathy kicked in; Vega's capacity for understanding was incredible. Her big brown eyes stared back into his own green and brown ones, and Denahi saw every emotion in them: sadness, regret, reluctance, even excitement and... joy? But he saw no pity. Vega understood too much about life to ever pity a creature; it would be too cruel. Still frowning, voice low, "Everyone is, at first." But she cracked a tiny smile with her next words: "I can help you."
He hesitated.
"We'll go very slow. I promise."
Then they were both smiling.
__________
After weeks of training and a rough initiation into Vega's "ground school," it seemed Denahi was finally ready for flying from a proper height. The two foxes stood at the top of a good-sized hill, the tallest perch they could hope for in the center of the decidedly flat Midwest. Plains country was not exactly the best place to learn to fly, but in the case of his fear of heights, perhaps it suited them perfectly.
But crouching at the tip of the hill, inches away from the sheer edge and a sure plummet to his doom, Denahi was having second thoughts. "Maybe I should have another week in ground school..." he mumbled.
Vega was ready, fully expecting his last-minute regret. "You've got two sets of strong wings, you should use them." In the face of the wind, vigorous and playful atop the grassy hill, she no longer sounded like the meek and shy fox Denahi had come to know. Her voice possessed the firm power of someone completely confident in themselves; despite being heavier than air, despite being an earth element, despite having fallen from the heavens countless times, she could do this. Had done it. Vega had survived every fall, and still found the courage to pick herself up and leap again. He could do this, too. He had four wings, for Pete's sake! To accept anything less than absolute victory would be a disgrace to his teacher, and to himself. It was unacceptable.
Without further thought, Denahi leapt from the hill, straight into the headwind; it caught him, lifted his wings, snapping them open as if showing him that it was alright. He took off up into the sky, seemingly miles above the hill, and began to drift away on the breeze. Vega threw herself from the hill, just catching the tail end of the gust. Her experience allowed her much more speed and control than Denahi, and she caught up easily. He was still stunned, unable to muster even a thread of thought, much less actual words. She just grinned at him, and they soared through the sky in silence.
