The Sport of Gods (Oswin)

[Garchomp]

The air here was strange, but Garchomp was getting used to that, to the strange smells of different atmospheres and the ways vibrations carried differently from planet to planet. Besides, this wasn't a hunt, or one of the many, many times they had to run for their lives or wait for her to tear a path out of the current building while being shot at. This was just for fun, and Makya was looking forward to it.

They were perched on the largest mountain she had ever seen, and barren and rocky, without the snow that Coronet had. That was a good thing, of course. Snow was awful and she would have bitten something if it turned out the mountain she was going to fly on had snow on it. How could anyone fly properly when there was cold, wet stuff clinging to your legs and fins and making even flying feel slow and lethargic and too much effort?

But no, the atmosphere here somehow ensured the planet was warmer and mostly covered in vast plains, deserts and mountains like this one - if not quite so tall. There was no snow, just dry rock, and her footing on the peak was secure. She dug in her claws, scraping slivers of stone from the ground, and stretched - a long stretch, arching her neck and extending her fins and tail until every muscle strained just a little. Then, with a proud tilt of her head, she turned to Oswin, grinning in a way that someone not used to her would have found very disconcerting and threatening.

"Well, ready? This will be much faster than last time we flew." The words were lower and raspy with excitement - clear diction was hard to grasp when she so desperately wanted to share the sheer exhilaration of flying with the one she considered her closest friend.

[Oswin Oswald]

When Oswin had discovered that Makya's fins doubled as wings, the first question out of her mouth had been "think you'd be able to take me with you?" Sure, she'd stood at the doorway of the TARDIS on multiple occasions, whenever the Doctor just let her drift for awhile, watching the stars go by, but could that compare to actual flying? They'd tried it on the flat plain that they'd been on when Oswin had first asked, but apparently leaping from somewhere higher up was even better than that exhilaration. If that sort of flying had been freedom enough to temporarily wipe any memories of ever being trapped anywhere, Oswin couldn't imagine what it would be like if their starting point was the highest mountain in the universe. But she was more than willing to find out.

It had taken more than a bit of persuasion (and pleading and constant prodding and reminders and finally threats to hijack the TARDIS) to get the Doctor to bring them there, but he'd finally relented. Honestly, just the view from close to the top of the mountain alone would've been enough to satisfy Oswin normally, but with the promise of actually jumping off this thing and flying, there wasn't much time for her to enjoy it.

Still. Highest mountain in the universe, it was enough for anyone to take pause. Perched on a rock near the edge of the cliff, Oswin looked out over the surface of the planet they were on. She hadn't caught the name when the Doctor had told her, way too keyed up on excitement to focus on anything besides getting out of the TARDIS to see where they'd landed. He hadn't come with them, and Oswin couldn't imagine why. Maybe he'd seen it all before, but how could you honestly look at this and be unimpressed? Miles and miles of desert and mountains stretched out for what seemed like forever below them. Maybe the view would be even better one they were soaring over them.

Oswin grinned in return once Garchomp caught her eye, hopping down off her rock and approaching the dragon she'd managed to actually befriend and take aboard the TARDIS with her. It had really only started as an offer to find some way to get Makya back to her own world, but really, that could wait a little longer, couldn't it? "Haven't got to tell me twice," Oswin replied with a smirk, briefly laying a hand on the dragon's flank, a warning before she began hoisting herself up onto her back, "that's sort of why we came here, yeah?" For once, her small size came in rather handy, and with a little bit of shifting, Oswin got herself comfortably settled in position. Bit hard with Makya's dorsal fin in the way, but she managed.

"Ready!" she called over the wind that had begun to pick up (favorably, of course), getting a hold on Garchomp's back. Her heart pounded with anticipation and a healthy dose of exhilarating terror. Call her an adrenaline junkie, but Oswin really did need stuff like this to keep her going. A little excitement, a little adventure and a whole lot of freedom. Not just time and space laid out at her fingertips, but the skies as well. It was incredible.

[Garchomp]

It was nice to see Oswin as excited as she was - though admittedly she was used to humans being afraid of heights, not inclined to hurl themselves off them with the same wild abandon as she did.

But then, she had enough proof now to guess that Oswin had meant to be a dragon of some sort, and merely been stuck in a human body for the time being. She had so much pride and determination, after all, and the desire for freedom and movement and the open sky - there was no other possibility. Of course, it wasn't something she actually wanted to mention, especially not to Oswin, but as an idle thought, Makya was rather proud of it. And Oswin proved herself again now, climbing onto her back without a trace of fear or hesitation. She waited until she was sure she was settled, and Oswin called out an affirmative, before starting forward. Her chosen place had enough room to take more than a few steps, just enough to gather some speed, so without bothering to waste time, she lunged forward.

Two, three long strides, and then she didn't bother with tethering herself to the ground. There was a lurch as the Garchomp leaped forward, fins fully extended and aligning her body so that, as gravity took hold, she swooped into something far more like a glide than a fall.

And at this height, with the ground sprawling out beneath them, and the wind rushing past with a sound like thunder, it was as much like flight as anything she had ever tried. The inevitable landing could wait - right now, she was in the sky and she intended to stay that way.

[Oswin Oswald]

'Wild abandon' was sort of Oswin's thing by now. Really, though, that was what traveling with the Doctor was for, throwing herself in the most dangerous situations possible and emerging relatively unscathed and ready to face whatever adventure was coming around the corner. It was the life Oswin had fancied for herself for so very long, and the same one that had very nearly been ripped away from her forever. So, the fact that she jumped at every chance she could experience some new thrill was hardly a surprising one, especially considering what this particular one involved. The open sky, the rush of speed, the wind in her face and freedom. Things she'd gone for so long without and things she'd likely not be taking for granted anytime soon.

Gripping tightly to Makya's neck as she lurched forward, Oswin steeled herself, the seconds it took for them to be airborne lasting what felt like hours. Finally, the ground held them no longer, and Oswin took a breath, her whole body tensing in anticipation.

And they fell.

Before the wind took hold of them was a good thirty seconds of pure terror as the ground rushed up to meet them at a speed that very few would have thought possible. Oswin held on tightly enough for her fingers to turn white as they plummeted towards the planet's surface below. Death-defying would hopefully be a good word for this little stunt, if they actually managed to defy death. And for those brief thirty seconds, Oswin was unsure of whether or not they were actually going to make it. But that was what this was for. Getting the blood running and the adrenaline pumping without any guarantee of safety. Guarantees of safety were boring.

Oswin's scream of fear became a cry of wild joy as the wind suddenly caught them, sending them gliding rather than falling. Her hair fanned out behind her as they rushed over the ground they'd just been falling towards. Her clinging became less tight and Oswin found herself able to actually sit up a little now, looking out over the planet's surface spread out before them. They could go anywhere if they liked. They were free. She was free. Not longer confined to a single planet, let alone one tiny pod buried deep in the ground of a planet full of monsters. She threw back her head, exhilarated laughter bursting from her lips before she could stop it. Not that she would have anyway.

[Garchomp]

At first, Garchomp thought that perhaps this had been too much - but then she felt Oswin's weight shift, no longer clinging so tightly to her neck, and she hissed with pleasure. Good - they were both enjoying this. It wasn't the same as a fight -

And she doubted she would ever be able to explain to Oswin how combat could possibly make her feel calmer. There was something in action, and movement, and the thrill of facing off against an opponent that let her cut away at her fears and doubts and anything else that could distract her. She could bury them in the rush at her enemy and the clarity of twisting away or finding an opening. Fighting was meditation - it let the world sort itself out while she was in the perfect mindset to react.

Flying, on the other hand? That was just for fun. She couldn't deny that there was quite a lot of exhilaration at the thought of plunging off of the tallest mountain in the universe. Even now, with the wind buoying her up, every time she chanced a look at the ground she felt a mix of instinctive fear and excitement. She had never gone this fast before. She hadn't even dreamt of it. She could feel the air gathering at her fins, slicing out behind them. If this world had predators, they would have no chance at even coming close.

But still... this wasn't enough. She might not have been able to fly properly as most Dragon-types did, but she could still manage something even better than this. "Hold on," she snarled, doing her best to be heard above the wind - and then promptly folded in her fins and let them begin to dive down - at a rate much faster than before.