The Free Fall

1~A Beginning

An eerie calm took over my senses as I braided my hair from the back of the plane. I was the only one back there, left alone to prepare. The monotonous motion of swirling the divided sections of my hair always brought me peace before an assignment. I allowed my mind to drift, to think of other things. 

Other things besides the bumpy turbulence. There were no seat belts on the small aircraft. There were two benches on either side of the plane that were cold and wildly uncomfortable. Planes weren't really my cup of tea, either. But it was the fastest way to get to where I needed to be.

The pilot approached me as I flicked my long braid over my shoulder. I didn't recognize him, he must've been new. "We're approaching the drop zone." I smiled without looking at him. This was the best part of my job, why I tolerated the dreaded plane rides. I stood, slipping on the catsuit that was pooling around my waist. Loose fabric tended to tear at my skin during the jump. I designed my catsuit, it was something all of us jumpers did. It was tradition for your first jump to wear your own hand-designed suit. They never last long, but with time I had developed it to be everything that I needed it to.

The pilot sat down where I had been sitting, and I turned to look at him as I pulled the cord to zip the zipper along my spine, with my braid tucked into my suit. He grinned up at me, sheepishly. "Sorry, I just-" he paused, wringing his hands, "When I heard you were the one I was flying out, I got so excited."

I smiled tightly. I felt guilty, he was not going to get my best side. Planes made me anxious and irritable.

He continued, "My son collects jumper cards, I was wondering," He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a black and purple card. "would you sign it?"

I smiled, taking the card. "Sure." I loathed these cards. They seemed to objectify me for my most prominent personality traits. On the bottom, written in gold, read:

Captain Scarlett "Scar" Faefuna. Bold, stubborn, and fierce.

In the picture, silver hair flowed around my jumpsuit. This picture was before I dyed the ends purple. My pointed ears stuck out slightly between my straightened hair. My makeup was done dark, which was farfetched from my usual barefaced look. My jumpsuit was outdated too, the picture showed me in my old black and purple one. I now had a thin gold stripe on either side along my ribs and waist, accentuating my form. I signed it with his silver sharpie anyway, knowing that his kid will be elated.

I handed it back to him, then walked to the door.

"Ready when you are, Captain." The pilot operating the plane shouted from the cockpit. I slid open the door and glanced back at the newbie. I gave him a mock salute then stepped backwards out of the plane.

This was the best part. Falling aimlessly, feeling the wind flow around my limbs and not retraining me. A few seconds felt like hours. Hours of free solidarity and weightlessness.

Then my connection zapped to life. I felt it in the tips of my ears to the core of my stomach. I snapped my eyes open and searched the skies for a familiar face. I flipped myself from my previous position of falling on my back to have my feet downward. Then I saw him. My co-pilot, the person I trust the most in the world.

Orion grinned at me, which earned him one of my own. He flattened his brown wings and zipped faster to me and swept beneath me. I quickly grabbed onto his shoulder with one hand and crouched on his back when he caught me. Once I was situated in the familiar position of crouching on his back, I turned and waved to the pilots in the ship above me as a silent thank you, then turned to face the front and tucked in tighter.

Most jumpers prefer to be held by their wings, either bridal style or front to front. Our way was much more practical, and luckily Orion agreed. We both had access to our hands and it was more comfortable this way for both of us.

The sheer speed that Orion could get to was impressive. He was faster than the jets and all of our wings. The wingmen were underrated in our society. Their race were lower-class than the elves. The society, however, tried to pretend that it wasn't there, but I learned my lesson when I took Orion out for a celebratory drink when I was a rookie. The looks I got were confirmation enough that our kinds can exist, work and live amongst each other, but should anyone cross the boundary of friends, you'll be scorned for the rest of your life.

Orion dipped low to the ground so we could identify the target. "How was the plane ride?" Orion asked quietly. I growled in response, which only made him laugh.

Orion was attractive, and he knew it. He had dark hair that was short and pushed up in the front. He was ripped, as were most of the wingmen. Their wings were branched from their backs and were magnificent. Orion had Carmel colored eyes that were framed by his dark eyelashes.

I was extremely lucky to fly with Orion, and I knew it. He was one of the most skilled wingmen in our operation. The bond that we shared between Jumper and Wingman was unique. Jumpers and Wingmen are bonded to each other, they are each infused with each other's blood. It connects the two so they can sense each other and work more efficiently.

Our assignment was in a old log cabin in the middle of the woods. This meant it was easy, more populated areas were more difficult to get in an out of undetected. Our jobs were to eliminate the threat of the human world finding out about us. The past has shown us that in order for us to exist, we have to exist in secret. The Elven race was nearly wiped from extinction thousands of years ago. Our Queen made sure that we never forget, from the haunting tapestries hung in city hall to the outstanding stone memorial in the square. Thousands of names were carved into a huge granite slab that stands concreted into the ground.

Orion moved to land just outside of the houses' line of sight. I jumped off and landed gracefully onto the forest ground. Orion landed right next to me and folded his wings in. He glanced over at me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, grinning. I scrunched my nose at him.

"Hey, what-" I began to shove him off me.

"You're tense." He accused, walking forward while keeping his beefy arm still wrapped around me. "What happened?"

I sighed, running a hand over the back of my braid. "The new guy asked me to sign a collectors card."

Orion laughed loudly. His laugh was deep and rich, I loved it. Whenever he laughed, I couldn't help but smile. "Come on, Scar, it't not the worst thing in the world."

I sighed, "I just don't like being on those stupid cards anymore. The only reason I did it was because I needed the money when I was first starting out."

"Do you still get a percentage of the cards sold?"

I shrugged, "Yeah, but I haven't picked up the check. Its just sitting in their office." Truth is, I don't need the money anymore. Ever since I climbed to the top of the Jumpers, I've had more money than I know what to do with. I thought wealth was what I wanted, but all it brought was a lonely existence. Everyone stopped seeing me as a neighbor, or a friend, and I became Captain. The top of my class. Untouchable, unrelatable.

"Well, if you don't want the money, I'll take it!" He joked, but I knew he could use it. Even though Orion and I had equal part in our job, he was paid less.

"Take it." I told him seriously, "You're already on the list for people who can pick up the check."

Orion smiled sadly, then took his arm off me. We had approached the back of the house just as the light in the bedroom clicked off. As always, Orion's timing was impeccable.

Author's Note:
Hey everyone!
This book is completely finished! Comment if you're ready for me to start publishing them! Thanks for reading!
Cheers!
-acidxskies