A Case of Catastrophes

XIII. The All-knowing Aircraft

"So, for today," Aerodine started, "we will begin with a simple trust test." She smiled innocently.
Aerodine suspiciously asked me and Cane to bring Spark and Cypress up to one of the top branches of the tree and go back down and wait for her signal.
"You two aren't allowed to fly until after this activity. Got that?" She told us before we went down. She stayed up with Spark and Cypress. 
We could barely see the three of them from bottom of the trunk. At first, we noticed Aerodine in between them, explaining something. Both of them stepped back as if in surprise and looked down at us. A second later, they were already hurtling towards us.
Awestruck, me, Cane and Bay scattered, trying to catch the two as they fell. Cove just walked towards the trunk and leaned on it so as not to get in our way.
Cypress was screaming hysterically and flailed her arms wildly. Spark, on the other hand, seemed calm and fell swiftly.
I cursed at the fact that we couldn't fly. It was such a disadvantage. I realized how held down Spark and Cypress felt when they couldn't fly.
Before I knew it, I saw Cane had already caught Spark. I felt a pang of panic and immediately looked for Bay. He wasn't holding Cypress in his arms. I wasn't either.
"Cypress!!!" I screamed.
Aerodine flew down beside me and patted my shoulder. She pointed at some random branch a few meters above us and on that branch was a shivering Cypress.
From afar, I knew that she was scared to death. Her wobbly legs barely held her up as she leaned on the trunk.
I felt as relieved as I could have ever been in my entire life.
"You did it Cypress!!!" Aerodine yelled.
"I did what?" Cypress asked, still in a state of shock.
"You flew!!! I saw it my self!!" Aerodine laughed.
"I- me... I flew??" Cypress laughed too. "I FLEW!!! I FLEW!! YEAH!!!" She jumped and nearly fell.
"Try coming down now!" Aerodine told her.
Cypress pursed her lips and closed her eyes to concentrate. Her left foot left the branched, followed by the right and BOOM!
She just fell. Luckily Bay was nearby and was able to leap over and catch her. They rolled and tumbled in the impact.
When Cypress realized that it was Bay that caught her, she pushed him away quickly and stood up, leaving him in a state of confusion.
"Great job Cypress!" Aerodine congratulated.
Spark yearningly gazed at Cypress and sighed hopelessly.
Cypress held her hand sympathetically. "You'll get it. I know you can." She smiled.
Spark nodded.
When we returned to the military camp, there was a sleek silver jet on the runway. We passed under its majestic wing and saw that the cockpit was open. Colonel Venti was inside clicking buttons and flipping switches.
I stopped and stared. I told the others to go on without me. After they (Cane most especially) gave me suspiscious looks, they consented. I was excited to see how the thing worked and how it was controlled.
Colonel Venti pulled a lever and the engine whirred. Before he reached out to close the cockpit, he saw me.
"Your highness. What brings you here?" He asked.
"Ah... It's looks fun." I didn't know what else to say that could possibly hide my enthusiasm.
He smiled. "If you want, Your Highness, I could teach you how to use it. It's a new prototype from StratoCo specially designed for wind wielders. I was just about to take it out for another test drive." He offered.
"Really? Is it okay?"
"Well it's here to be tested, so why not?"
I wanted to wipe the stupid smile off of my face but I couldn't.
The colonel let me sit on the driver seat of the two-seater cockpit while he sat shotgun. There was a panel laid out in front of us. Numerous buttons, switches and levers were color coded and lined-up on the panel and several screens and meters showed the statistics. At the center was the large lever that started the engine and another smaller lever beside it.
"It isn't very difficult to use." The colonel said, "since it's made for wind wielders, you just need to have control over the wind and this baby will certainly fly for you with great speed." He patted the panel.
"So how do you start?"
Colonel Venti explained everything to me. It wasn't a lot but I still felt I had to drill it into my brain.
Basically, you just had to switch on the controls, two switches for the left and the right side, check if all the other parts are running smoothly and start the engine.
"The engine is an eight-cylinder aluminum-alloy turbo respirator. First four cylinders are for siphoning in wind to convert to electricity, other four cylinders are for siphoning wind through the vessel for speed. Go on. Give it a try."
My fingers shook in sheer excitement so I tried to do things as carefully as possible.
Seat belt on. Flip, flip, click, turn, click, pull.
The vessel lurched forward a little. My seat was vibrating. The screens and meters lit up. The colonel closed the cockpit. I was finally about to drive this thing.
Colonel Venti made me wear a helmet, just in case.
"One last thing," the colonel said, "to get this thing moving. Pull that second lever."
I rested my hand on the handle and hesitated for a second, wondering if I could ever pull this off. Pun unintended.
What the heck.
I pulled and the jet started moving forward.
From that moment on, I became aware of the air that surrounded the vessel. It seeped into every nook and cranny the jet had. The eight cylinders were like my lungs and the wings were my arms. I felt like the I was the jet itself.
I inhaled. It felt like my body was inflating and absorbing the air. My whole body became as light as a feather.
Exhale.
The vessel jetted forward swiftly. The next thing I knew, I was flying the plane over the Nimbus valleys. I was thrilled.
"Nice job, your highness."
Once I got the hang of it, I opened the glass dome of the cockpit and let the air flow in.
"WOOOHOOOOOO!!!!"
Adrenaline flowed in my veins like fuel. I did barrel rolls and loop-de-loops. I flew upside down. Colonel Venti looked scared but I saw the tinge of enjoyment in his eyes too. 
I stared at the panel and all the buttons were blinking. I pressed a random one labeled hyperdrive and it made the plane go so fast that I felt like my face would peel right off my head. I pressed it again and it stopped. I looked at the colonel who was pale as the clouds. He managed to give me a nervous smile. 
I wanted to press, flip, and click everything.
"What do the other buttons do?" I asked.
The colonel made a sour face. "You can't use them now because the plane isn't loaded yet but they're for missiles, torpedoes and other weapons like that."
"What for? It's perfect the way it is."
He shifted in his seat. He looked uncomfortable about the topic. "Well your highness, the only reason I can tell you this is because you are a prince. The Reverian Alliance is planning an attack on the Umbrae once the sentinels find the Umbrae headquarters. It is rumored that they've been building an army against us and have been creating weapons of mass destruction using Dusk's power so we've been creating weapons that could take them out before they can make the first move."
Warp was right. Dusk was awakened and she's planning to take Reverie out.
I let that sink in. All of a sudden, the adrenaline vaporized and my body felt limp and numb all over. My head leaned on the headrest and I suddenly felt like I wanted to sleep.
"Are you getting tired already, your highness? We should head back."
Not to brag or anything but, when in the air, I naturally know the aeronautical stats of where I am. We were really high up and really far from the camp, so I supposed that it would be a long ride going back.
Upon arrival, the colonel told me to rest. "The machine might've used up all your energy, especially since you used the hyperdrive mode. I'll report that to StratoCo right away after I bring you home."
When I got home, I went straight to Silvie's room to tell her everything. As I opened the door, I saw Cane and Spark  there standing in shock just as Silvie came crawling in from the window with a dark blue cloak on. She must have heard us because she froze where she was.The four of us looked immensely surprised.
"Get down from there!" I ordered Silvie with concern. What the heck was she doing?
"I can explain..." She told me as I helped her get into the room.
"Where've you been?" Cane asked.
Silvie became alarmed at the question. She then frowned. "I just wanted to get out of this place, okay? The mountains, the forests and the beaches! I love the smells, the sounds, the way everything feels outside! Way better than this cold, boring old fortress." She pouted." I just mope around all day when you guys aren't home." Her white eyes brimmed with tears.
The three of us looked at each other then at Silvie.
"It's alright," I rustled with her silver hair. "I'll take you out tomorrow if you promise us not to go out of the fortress. It isn't safe for you."
Silvie hesitated at first, but then she just nodded. "Take me out where?" She asked as her eager white eyes sparkled.
"The colonel taught me how to drive a jet especially made for wind wielders. It's probably pretty safe as long as you got me around." I pinched her nose and she wrinkled it.
"That's awesome, bro! When are you gonna take me out on plane ride?" Cane joked.