Member
Spike
Azereiah
Skye's was now very aware of her ears to the point of being annoyingly self conscious of them. Since Bianca's casually delivered yet impactful words at their dorm room the fuzzy pair of extremities had cycled through nearly every expression they were capable of making. She had managed to not notice for hours as the pace of repeated perking and drooping was only a little above average. She had also become immersed in the first real time she had spent with all her teammates together and remained distracted by what the gorgeous feathered faunus said.
'You know you live here, right Skye?'
Thinking back on it now that moment was the start of the whirlwind of emotions that led to the almost flapping of her ears as if they were vestigal wings. Something would surprise her, catch her interest, or make her happy and they would instantly perk up on their own. A moment of nervousness, a sad memory, or a social faux pas and they fell to the sides of her head just as quickly. Having opted to raise her mask to rest on top of her head for once the combination of her facial and ear expressions must have made her thoughts and feelings at any moment plain to read.
She might have gone on oblivious to this all day but her recent realization of what their mission was, VIVE and JBLS mixed friendly and tense interactions, and her first ride in a small airship had her feeling more than a little oversensitive. Having Iris to talk to made things much easier to deal with, the ridiculously tall girl was a joy to be around. But this also brought to her attention the extreme highs and lows she was going through as the edges of her ears tapped against the mask on her head or tickled against her own hair. Then, as she stressed over the fact they would be facing people and not grimm she caught Iris' eyes flicking from her own to the emotional barometers on top of her head. The enormous girl didn't say anything about but it made Skye realize just how anxious and on edge she was, and how much that lack of confidence must be showing through right now.
Looking around everyone else in the cramped space seemed more or less calm despite what they were about to do and the danger they would face. Well, perhaps calm wasn't the right word for everyone present but no one looked afraid or even concerned about the mission itself.
That's right, a proper Hunter keeps their composure, no matter the challenge placed before them. The threat isn't always going to be grimm. I have to try my hardest not to let anyone down.
Looking at Luke and Jericho's faces and seeing how steady they were compared to herself only drove this idea home harder. She resolved to try and emulate this, drawing upon the limited calming exercises she already knew. She forced her ears and tail to stop twitching and sit still while she tried harder to get into her conversation with Iris over her own worries. After a few minutes she felt like she was actually doing pretty well with this.
Then of course the small space had to be flooded with noise and buffeting winds all at once.
All her hard work keeping it together crumbled in that single moment before she knew what was going on. Her mind immediately settled on the worst case scenario as she shot to her feet, grasping at whatever sturdy handholds were in reach. Her ears were rigid and the fur of her tail had puffed up dramatically to nearly twice its size while she looked for the breach that was to be their doom.
She was bewildered to see nothing had happened to the airship. Instead it looked like her team leader had opened the hatch while they were still in the air. She hadn't been listening to the other conversations around her so she didn't understand what was happening at all. Until, of course, Jericho Piper let himself fall out of the airship, pulling along the girl with the deep purple hair. Her jaw dropped as it dawned on her and her face drained of what little color it had as the question dawned on her.
Are we all jumping from this high up!?
Rokhang village had been a place surrounded by ridiculously high mountains and cliffs, so Skye was relatively used to heights. However, what she was not used to was being suspended this high in a small craft with no solid ground beneath her feet. She had managed not to dwell on this by avoiding the view and focusing instead on Iris or her own thoughts. But now she couldn't avoid the reality of the situation.
She felt a rather intense mixture of terror and despair when Vivianne Laurent commanded everyone to prepare for the very last thing Skye wanted to do in that moment. Her ears flattened to her skull, her will to mind her reactions lost in the wind. She gripped her current handhold fiercely, as if it offered hope that she might just stay here and the airship would land to let her off safe and sound. Of course she knew that wasn't going to happen. And she knew as much as she didn't want to with every fiber of her being, she was going to throw herself out of this aircraft like everyone else.
Right? We can easily survive a drop like this with aura. They wouldn't be making us do this otherwise. Yeah.
Despite trying to talk herself calm with reason the uncontrollable trembling that had come over her wouldn't stop. In this moment she wanted very badly to be reassured, and she found herself tentatively reaching out to Luke. She couldn't see his face but she did notice the tension in his shoulders, and...
Was that a shiver just now? Or the wind?
She stopped, then withdrew her hand. It seemed she might not be the only one having a hard time facing this after all. She pulled her mask down over her face, tried to control her breathing, and waited for the dreaded moment to come.
A countdown of five seconds, and then Skye watched as everyone in front of her began leaping into empty air one by one. She had hoped in vain that seeing more people make the jump confidently might make it easier. As each one dissappeared over the edge into the darkness her heartbeat and breathing only quickened. By the time it was her turn she was more worked up than ever and it took more effort than she expected just to let go. Then forcing her legs to move her forward made her a bit dizzy, or she had been hyperventilating despite her efforts. She knew she had to do this, was going to do this, and taking any longer was only making it worse. Still she hesitated at the last moment, almost losing her footing and tumbling uncontrollably through the air. She barely managed to turn that misstep into the final hop that sent her falling after her comrades.
In that moment she left the safety of the deck behind her she felt like the worst part was surely behind her. Once one took that last step into a frightening new experience everything was sure to fall into place. Again she was dead wrong. As the sensation of freefalling began her breath caught in her throught and it felt like her heart skipped a beat. Adrenaline shot through her body fueled by a terrible fear, one she lacked facing down grimm day after day.
The moment passed, the rushing of wind became the only thing she could hear, and her heart hammered in her chest. As she stared down at the ground far below it occurred to her she had no plan for dealing with the impact other than absorbing it with her aura. She had convinced herself that it would be enough but now she wasn't sure at all. The rooftop was getting closer far too fast. The others below should be landing soon, then not long after she would...
Use my legs to take the worst of it. Just. Don't. Die.
She put her arms in from of her face and squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself.