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“Hurry up, Dad; we’re gonna be late to the show!!!”
From the bedroom on the left rose a young Rico, scrambling to his feet to get his goggles from the jacket hangers because he didn’t really have a place to put them in his confinement, so…you get the point.
Running to the wooden door like a puppy containing his excitement for his toy, he waits for his father.
Meanwhile, it would be ok to spend the time making motions with his wings, or rather practicing air tricks he learned from multiple shows he went to on the weekends.
So he did.
His father then got out of his office, carrying a handful of books, appearing to not handle this sort of thing appropriately. But nonetheless, he had a smile on his face while disguising most of his exhaustion.
“I know, I know! I gotta put these books down before that,” he uttered with some strain in his voice.
“For Dove’s sake-! These are heavy…!”
The books toppled, a few looking like they were about to fall off the edge.
“Oh-! I got them!”
The youngster bulleted towards the scholar’s books, grabbing the first 4 off his burden, then handling them under his wings.
“Thank you, Rico, but those are a lot!” He sheepishly chuckled.
“No, I’m good; besides, I’ve gotten BIG and STRONG, just like Top-Rank Bullet is!”
Rico’s father reciprocated with a small laugh as he put the books down.
“I’m sure you did, buddy,” he moved his back a little as he forwarded himself towards the door.
“Your old man here isn’t the same when he was younger, so I’m glad you’re helping.”
Rico put the other 4 books on top and happily opened the door, revealing a majestic view of the Illuminatio Archipelagos, home of the Parrot Flock.
Quite surprising that a knowledgeable base could acquire a literal paradise consisting of multiple islands!
Regardless.
The day then begins as Rico takes off to the vibrant skies colored in blue hue, perfect for the weather ideals.
His father takes next, flying at a slower rate to help his back.
Past the lush greens and rushing waterfall just by their house, they fly to a clean area free of trees, considering that that’s where Rico’s request of location was.
From the looks of it, he was thrilled to go, unusual for the typical child of the Parrot Flock; all boys train to become scholars (leaders); females have a part in this too, by the way. They just don’t get elected as much (same for some males) and obtain vice, middle-rank, or ordinary jobs as assistants, propagandists, and vice versa.
Ugh, gender roles.
At least they’re not that bad, as Rico claims sometimes.
He zooms down to one of the jungles, dodging vines surrounding it and booming through gaps the trees make, which then, he includes a spin in this trick.
And finally, the big finale.
He shoots up into the sky again, and let himself stay midair.
Perfect for a grand fall-
WAIT WHAT??
His father looks at the falling parrot feather in alarm, flapping his wings harder to boost himself, and just when he did-
Fwoosh!
Did he just…
Rico flew up again, this time, on his back. He spun on his belly, proceeding to then somersault, then dive back into the forest.
He returned to normal altitude. Looking back, a cheeky grin spikes up across his face, full of pride.
So much pride.
A hint of cockiness, but merely pride.
“Did you see what I did?? My tricks??”
His father smiled despite his concern.
“Yes, but I believe you should be more careful. Top-Rank Bullet would tell you to be cautious of what you do, what if the fall was too much and you hurt yourself? I can’t possibly see my son unable to fly afterwards…”
“Come ooonn!” Rico spun himself on his back, groaning.
“In aviation, we all live FREE! No rules, nothing to take us down, just freedom within each flap!”
“But with freedom comes safety, too…”
He sighed.
“What am I going to do with you, you bundle of chaos…” He smiled at him.
“THERE IT IS!”
Rico was indeed correct; there it was, a portion of land reserved for one of the most critically acclaimed aviation shows; the National Illuminatio Aviation Show.
Their slogan; “In aviation, we all live free.”
Both the feathery lads landed themselves on the sandy grounds, inhabited with-
Oh goodness, there’s a lot.
A variety of parrot Celestids take 2/3 of the land, each with a reason of why they’re present and a distinctive appearance, depending on which island they live on.
A whole ton of conversation lit up the show, varying from normal volume to loud ones, usually coming from the kids whining about wanting to get a Top-Rank Bullet plush, such as the one throwing an actual temper tantrum right now.
“I WANT THE PLUSHIE!!!”
“Do you want to go home??”
“I. WANT. IT!!!!!!!!!”
Ok, so that wasn’t really important.
But anyways-
FLASH!
Pshhhhhh….
The brightest lights known to Celestid flashed on them, and the white smoke began to enter. The announcer was nowhere to be seen, but all could hear his voice booming;
“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for the moment you’ve been waiting for! WE’VE PROBABLY BEEN WAITING FOR A LONG TIME FOR THIIIIIIISSSS!!”
“EVERYONE GIVE IT UP FOR TOP-RANK BULLEEEEEEETTTTT!!”
The smoke got divided by a figure shooting up to the skies, immediately grabbing everybody’s attention as they cheer hard for every aviator’s idol.
There he was.
Top-Rank Bullet.
Rico’s eyes lit up with exhilaration and he started cheering along with the crowd, saying “YEAH!” and “WHOO!”
His idol came along with two other aviators under his training, spinning around and then shooting down into the smoke again. They shot up like geysers, intertwining and then switching directions as they did it again.
Bullet flew across the audience with his wing out to get high fives from above.
Perfect for Rico’s autograph!
“Dad, get me up there, QUICK!”
His father lifted him up, thankfully preventing him from getting squished.
He raised his wing, waiting for the perfect opportunity.
Just need the right time and place-
BAM!
Rico lowered his wing, finding extreme joy in the fact that Top-Rank Bullet had JUST HIGH FIVED HIM.
This is all he needed, recognition from his number 1 IDOL!
The lead flew up with such boisterous energy, looking below the audience bringing the excitement.
He laughed with such superiority, it pretty much became an iconic thing many parrot Celestids become reminiscent of.
“Thank you all, I appreciate the love you give me and my students in training. They’ve really gotten big and I thank them for the effort they put in.”
He sounded genuine as he put his wing over his chest, looking at his two students in training.
“Y’know, when I started a school, I thought things would be difficult. I think the teachers know what I mean by this,” he pointed at the teachers, smiling at them.
One of them fainted of simping.
The rest took care of the individual.
“But with support from, well, ALL of you guys, I was able to recruit a bunch of youngsters, child or teenager, into it. And to be honest, they’ve been really working their tails off to show you how awesome they are.”
“I’m proud,” a tear could be seen from his eye, and he wiped it off.
“Thank you for the work!”
Everyone from that point on screamed loudly as wonderful cheers burst out from the sound barrier (awfully loud).
“That reminds me,” he turned around to his assistants at work.
“Let’s show them what we got!”
The two birds prepared themselves, and so did Bullet.
Was it really-?
Rico could tell it was, judging from his eyes widening wide.
Bullet dove down.
He could not be seen.
He then shot up to the sky.
Midair stationary.
Grand fall.
Upward. Somersault.
Dive.
Normal altitude.
The Sky Dive 360 was just PREFORMED by Bullet FOR EVERYONE TO SEE.
So did his two students. Although one did trip up the somersault, the other did as exactly as Bullet did so.
The audience felt like a stadium now, almost having a goal to break the sound barrier.
Rico was having the time of his life, compared to his father, who was covering his ears with his wings.
“NOW,” Bullet yelled.
“Which one of you can try and do the SkyDive 360?”
The youngster’s mouth widen into an “O” shape, his eyes widening again with a glimmer of determination.
He’s been practicing this for so long, he lost count of how many months he worked on it.
So today’s the day he can prove himself worthy!
While a bunch of boys rose their wing up for the opportunity, he went all out and hopped on his dad’s shoulders, waving his wing all over the place.
Bullet scratched his chin.
“Hm…you there!”
The youngster was in shock.
“Wait, ME?!”
“Yes, you, get up here, you seem very excited to show us your moves!” He flashed his iconic smile again.
Oh my Doves! He had just been chosen! And now look at him, and this opportunity! It’s standing right in front of him!
Within a second, he hopped off his dad’s shoulders, flinging himself right next to the master of aviation, even looking at the eyes of a professional.
Bullet moved aside, mouthing “Good luck, kid!” as he added a little wink to it as well.
So this was it.
Flying above a stadium of many Celestids.
He’s been waiting for this for so long, everyone will know his name after.
Goggles, on.
First, the dive.
Upward shot.
Midair stationary…
Grand fall.
Upward again.
Somersault.
And…
Dive.
Normal altitude!
Running out of breath, he watched the audience. As expected, they would cheer-
Wait.
They’re not cheering.
Did he…
That’s impossible, everything was-
…
…
A second of silence, and the crowd absolutely went wild over a kid who, in this case, PREFORMED THE SKYDIVE 360, NO FLIP UPS, PERFECTLY ORCHESTRATED LIKE TOP-RANK BULLET.
The idol stood there absolutely bewildered, and so bewildered that he almost lost his grip on his microphone.
“Kid…that…was AMAZING.” His breath was almost lost but he still smiled WIDE.
Flying over to Rico, he took out a paper and a wooden pen, penetrating his autograph. He gave it to Rico, genuinely smiling.
Along with the paper given was a pamphlet of what seemed to be the information for-
…
HIS SCHOOL???
Oh MY DOVES THIS IS THE GREATEST DAY OF HIS LIFE-
He had just won the fucking lottery just by his Skydive 360; he was worthy of this profession, and it felt so good that he thought it would offer him an auspicious future…
Quite an auspicious one.
Rico did a little victory dance as he enjoyed his time.
Don’t worry, he also waved at his father too.
In response, his father was happy for him.
But considering that this type of thing was also dangerous, there was a pang of concern hitting him too.
Even with his constant coughing and his time.
Someday, the Parrot Flock leader would have to go with his celestial beings, above the stars and in the night sky.
But as long as he’s ok, Rico’s dreams could never be crushed.
Present day:
Looking at the paper and pamphlets he still kept was like keeping a portion of his memory. A fragment he can never lose since all the ones making his dream up are long gone from the present.
Still on his bed, he looked to the other side, the one with books about knowledge, and even one called “Grow The F*ck Up; Celestid Version”.
He never deserved this as an 20 year old who had to drop out of college for this job, and college was hard.
But being a leader is such a harder job than being a student.
Always preferred to look up rather than be looked upon.
Looked upon.
By so many people.
It’s such a misery to be looked upon with those eyes of theirs.
They sting.
It hurts.
Hurts so much.
H o w would he survive in the v o i d h e h a d t o f a l l i n
T h i s w a s n ‘ t a g r a n d f a l l
T h i s i s s u i c i d-
Knock, knock.
Oh.
Another visitor. Just act fine.
Rico limped to the door, opening it.
“Heeeeyyy! Who is it?”
“Rico?”
His eyes softened a little.
The figure was none other than Althea.