Load up the bird

Once Mina had calmed down from her cry session and had eaten her breakfast, she went out and joined the rest of the group. Old Lady Sofos invited her to join in on some lessons with Panos and Nik.

“A sharp mind is more important than a sharp blade.” She’d said. The lesson was strange; Mina could mostly read everything but she had to adapt to it. Other than that, it was relatively easy as Old Lady Sofos was mostly just trying to gauge her level.

Once the lesson was done, she went out and helped Natalia and Vasilis in the farm area for a couple hours, watering the plants and feeding the animals. This lasted till about lunch, which Mina joined for this time. Athan and Agapi both asked her if she was ok after what happened in the morning, but she told them she was fine. Then after lunch Mina went over to the training area and practiced, doing some physical exercise and other training, ending in developing her goddess powers more, and Mina got to show off her new rain making skills.

“Incredible. Just one day and you’re already able to do this! Especially after how much struggle you had during training yesterday.” Agapi exclaimed as Mina created a small rain cloud with just a wave of her hand.

“Eh, it’s not that hard now that I know the trick to it.” Mina said. “I just have to actually think the process through instead of just want it really hard. Bring the water in the air together around other particles in the air so it forms a cloud, then condense and cool that cloud so it forms ice crystals and water droplets, then make those droplets heavy enough to fall down with gravity.”

Mina’s explanation had both Agapi and Lefteris looking at Mina like she’d grown a second head, and Mina belatedly realized that their society might not have figured out that part of science yet.

“Well, it seems being Uraina’s chosen has blessed you with some… unique interpretations.” Lefteris said somewhat awkwardly. “So long as you are capable of understanding it, how you do so is irrelevant. Now-”

“Hey, is your guys’ training over yet?”

As one, the three turned to see Natalia walking up to them.

“Not quite, but close. Is something wrong Natalia?” Lefteris asked.

“No, not really. We were just about to go into town to sell yesterday’s harvest, and I was thinking of bringing Mina along if you guys were done with her.” Natalia explained.

“Ah, that sounds like a great idea.” Agapi said. “I’m sure Mina would enjoy exploring the city with everyone. What do you think Lefteris?”

“I suppose there’s nothing wrong with letting training end a bit early.” Lefteris replied. “We’ve made good progress today, and given how yesterday she had a breakthrough thanks to some time off, I have no qualms with allowing her to join you.”

“Alright. Well Mina, what do you say?” Natalia asked as she turned to said girl. “You wanna come help out with our delivery?”

Go out and explore this magical other world city? Mina couldn’t agree fast enough.

“Absolutely Miss Natalia!” Mina excitedly said. “Are we going to ride the fiterolta?”

“You got it kid, though you’ll be riding on the back of one behind someone else, not taking one on your own.” Natalia explained, and Mina couldn’t help but be a tiny bit disappointed. “Now come on, lets go.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Natalia lead Mina over to a part of the island she really hadn’t paid attention to before. It was a small clearing right on the edge of the island that had a few markers that reminded Mina of a helicopter pad. There was also a small shed beside the clearing. In the clearing, Vasilis, Iro, and surprisingly Foteini were all working together, loading up a trio of fiterolta with all sorts of supplies, while Nik and Panos watched from the side. There was also a big net filled with bags and boxes, and there were 3 thick ropes branching off from the net to each fiterolta, clearly meant to be hooked onto them.

“Hey guys, I brought Mina. How’s the packing going?” Natalia called out as they approached.

“We’re just about done.” Vasilis replied as he tightened a rope. “Just need to hook the main load up and we should be good to go. We’re not forgetting anything, are we Foteini?”

“No, everything has been checked and accounted for twice over.” Foteini replied. “Additionally, I had assumed Mina would be coming, and I’ve already accounted for her in the weight distribution. We in fact are good to go.”

“Alrighty then, lets get in the air.” Natalia said. “Nik, Panos, come hop on. Mina, you go with Vasilis.”

Mina nodded and walked over to said man, who was by one of the bigger birds along with Foteini. Meanwhile both Panos and Nik walked towards Iro who was standing by a different bird, only for Natalia to come in and grab Nik and pull him with her towards the last bird.

“Nuh uh mister, you’re coming with me.” She said.

“But, I thought maybe this time I could go with Iro?” He asked, but his mom shook her head.

“No can do kid. We’ve already loaded up everything, and you know how important weight distribution is for these deliveries.” Natalia told him. Nik grumbled slightly, but didn’t argue further as he got ready.

Over with Mina, Vasilis and Foteini had already hooked on the rope, and were now loading themselves onto the bird. They hopped on the back of it almost like a horse, with Vasilis and the front and Mina in the middle, leaving Foteini to go onto the back. They even hooked in with some safety belts, much to Mina’s surprise.

Mina impatiently waited for everyone else to load up, excited to get to fly. She hadn’t even flown in a plane before, and now she was about to ride what was essentially a flying horse. She couldn’t wait to experience it, to feel the wind in her hair and they shot through the skies, blasting through clouds at speeds she’d never felt before, untethered by the ground.

“Everyone ready?!” Vasilis called out after a moment.

“Ready!” Iro called back.

“Ready and waiting little bro!” Natalia called back, making Vasilis roll his eyes.

“Alright then, lets fly!”