Floating Earth Chapter Two: Arrival

Just as Lord Kai had said, the car arrived to take Mishka to the airport bright and early the next morning. He'd packed all his things the night before, several times before deciding that he would still only need one suitcase to carry all his things. He'd never been one to buy things with his money, spending it only sparsely, where it was needed.

So, he probably had a good amount of money saved up in his account, which no one but him could touch. He'd learned that hard lesson long ago when his mother had borrowed his money to buy his sister something when he was planning on using it that day. Needless to say, the money wasn't there, and he missed out on buying something that he had wanted.

Now it seemed so trivial, but it had taught him a lesson he wouldn't forget.

The car outside honked as he stepped from the elevator and through the doors into the blazing sun. He'd heard that there were talks of a dome to stop the ultra violent rays coming through, but that was it; Rumors.

He dashed into the waiting car, and they sped off, the driver already impatient.

The ride to the airport wasn't a long one, but it was silent and uncomfortable, so Mishka spent the time staring out the window and watching passers by. Watching the trees and buildings flash by at amazing speeds, everything blurred together in a mass of colors, and his mind wandered. He thought of Lord Kai, how every movement he mad seemed fluid, as if it was all part of one grand design, a plan to make people look at him as above them.

Dark eyes and high cheekbones filled his mind, and he was sorry he hadn't said goodbye. Though he hadn't really said good bye to anyone. To him, good bye was too final, something to be said to someone when one was dying, or never coming back.

The car ground to a halt, and if he wasn't a little more polite, he'd have sworn that the man had practically thrown him out of the car. He'd have to talk to Lord Kai about that when he wrote him.

Which then reminded him that he needed to buy a writing pad and a pen to keep in touch and write his progress. So he stepped into the airport gift shop. He'd heard that back before Floating Earth airport gift shops were big, with gifts from each continent, and every city in that one country. Now-a-days, it was more like a hospital gift shop, with post cards, novelty items, and junk food.

He found and bought a simple pad of paper and a feather pen, like one in Shakespeare's times, something he had studied extensively in high school. He liked the texture of it, and the way it fluttered when he wrote. It's fluid movement made him think absently of Lord Kai, and he began writing the first of many, many letters.

The instant his pen touched the paper, his mind was absorbed into his task, ink flowing onto the paper, releasing his innermost feelings and fears, things he didn't have the courage to say out loud.

His plane then came, and he boarded the private jet, one of Lord Kai's own, filled with every luxury afforded to a King. The plane was decorated tastefully yet elegantly, with a private wine and liquor cabinet, a bedroom and bathroom, and a large selection of foods offered. Mishka thought he was in heaven.

The flight was short and uneventful, Mishka spending half the flight in the cockpit, watching the pilots. He was fascinated by all of the separate dials, knobs and switches that lined the control panel. The pilot and co-pilot were helpful, telling him the meanings of every dial, which he logged away in his mind for later use.

Although he knew he didn't want to fly the large jumbo jets, or passenger plane, he figured it would be good to know.

After they had landed, Mishka found himself inside a smaller airport than the one he had been in, about a quarter of the size actually. It was a small town-like thing, somehow run-down and pretty at the same instant.

The chairs were greyed with use, but comfortable, the counters and maps were worn and sun bleached, yet legible and welcoming. Even the people seemed worn yet upbeat. The revelation made Mishka smile to himself.

“Mishka Terie?” Asked a voice, smooth and commanding, from off to his left. He looked toward the source of the call and saw a representation of everything he wanted to be standing there. The man was tall and ruggedly handsome, a blue scarf cascading down his chest and goggles strapped up on his forehead. His dark blue eyes held infinite wisdom and the remembrance of a million breathtaking sights that most people would never see. His attitude indicated a proudness achieved by years of living a dream, and he smiled at Mishka, his perfect white teeth gleaming in the bright light streaming through the windows.

Humbled, the boy could only stare back. The man smirked and stepped forward, closer to Mishka's side.

“I am Lian Kire, Lord Kai said you would be coming.”

Mishka nodded dumbly, making the older man smile. “I'm parked outside, we hafta leave before I get a ticket.” Still nodding, Mishka extended his hand for a shake and Lian took it and shook it, brisk, businesslike.

Mishka hefted his backpack up and walked after Lian, wondering where he would have parked his car.

They stepped through the big double doors at the end of the building and stepped out into the dazzling sunlight, the boy following the man.

After Mishka shook off his sun blindness, he spotted Lian's vehicle. He had been mistaken in believing it would be a car, because there sat the most glorious plane Mishka had ever seen. Blindingly silver, reflecting in the sun, it had a wing span of about fourteen feet as far as Mishka could guess, it's cockpit dome nearly black.

Stunned, he stopped mid stride, one foot an inch off the ground and stared as Lian continued to walk, not noticing Mishka's stupifycation. He stood near his plane, and a light breeze came up, blowing the blue scarf as Lian turned to inspect his plane.

The view was like something out of a painting, a picture no one would ever see again, a frame in time designed to capture and hold the imagination.

The pilot had his back turned, facing the magnificent plane, his proud body lean and fit, keeping his appearance for the plane, his life. His dark scarf fluttered out, whipped by a light wind which also ruffled his golden hair, shining in the sun.

Then, the pilot turned, the sun glinted off the goggles rested atop his head for a moment, blinding any who were looking his way, enhancing the surrealism of the moment.

His face was proud and his chin was held high, shoulders squared against anything the world could throw at him.

He waved his hand, beckoning to the inexperienced boy who stood waiting for him.

Mishka ran after him, the moment imprinted in his mind forever as the first moment when he really met Lian Kire.

During the flight Lian was business like, making Mishka sit in the back and stay there, not teaching him anything. Slightly put out, Mishka stared out the window in a grump. Beautiful landscapes passed by below him, but he couldn't get into the moment, still mad at Lian for making him sit by himself.

The plane was only big enough for two, maybe three people, if they sat one in front of another, but Mishka didn't logically think about that. All he could think about was the fact that he wanted to watch Lian fly the plane.

For about half the trip, the boy sulked in the seat behind the driver, staring at the back of the seat in front of him, wondering if Lian would notice if he were to peek over his shoulder. He sat up a little taller in his seat, trying to see over the broad shouldered man.

The plane rolled to the right, throwing Mishka back into his seat, thankful for the seatbelt. He glared ahead but couldn't be entirely sure that Lian had even noticed he had moved. Perhaps it had been an accident.

Restless, he looked out the dome to his right, catching a glimpse of a herd of deer running across a grassy green field.

Flashes of white off their rumps told the tale of their species, tall, glorious antlers held high on three of the leaders. They leaped and frolicked, joyously romping through tall grass and short brush, the babies in behind their mothers, trying so hard to jump and play like their elders.

Mishka was amazed, so much so that he didn't notice their descent, a slow spiral toward a rocky driveway which could hardly be called a runway.

They hopped out of the plane, and Lian looked at Mishka expectantly. “Well?” Remembering being told to sit in the back and be quiet and the roll that nearly threw him from the plan if not for his seatbelt, he glared back at the man, who was only a little taller than he. “What did you see?”

Still a little miffed Mishka realized all he could remember seeing was the back of Lian's seat . . . But there was the deer. “I saw a herd of white tailed deer.” The description he gave was simple, partly from anger and partly because he wanted to keep the deer vision to himself.

“Good. I flew around for an extra half an hour waiting for you to see something rather than try to see what I was doing.” Confused, Mishka stared at him blankly.

“First rule of flying. View. The view is an amazing facet of flying, it soothes angers and hurts. Pay attention to it, instead of just making the machine go.” The blank look didn't move from Mishka's face.

“You were mad at me, and all you wanted to do was see what I was doing. What I'm doing and what you will do, are two entirely different things. The way I fly and the way you fly will not be the same thing. You need to feel the plane.”

Mishka glared at him, cold anger in his hazel eyes. This man had nearly killed him, and all because he wanted him to enjoy the view? “Fine, view, look out the window. How did you manage to throw me into my seat when I was looking over your shoulder? You couldn't have seen me...”

A smirk played across the lips of the older man's tanned face. “Mishka, rule number two, is to know your plane. It can become a part of you, if you let it, an extension of you, or it can just be a machine that you command. It's your choice.”

With that as his first lesson Mishka was led to his residence, and from there, he began the next five years of his life.