Flightless, Part 2

   After the incident, every day felt the absolute same, so much that Pit began to lose track of time: Wake up, eat, school, eat, go back home, stare out the window, sleep.  His legs might as well have been chained to Skyworld for all he cared; no flight meant no going outside of Skyworld at any time. He could barely even show his face to other angels, who would just oggle at him like he was a freaky alien or something. Whenever he went out, he would always just hear things like:

    "Woah, its a flightless angel!"

    "Thats weird. How can an angel not fly? He didn't fail flying, did he?"

    "Haha, what a loser! What kind of angel doesn't fly, anyway?"

    "Hey mom, look! Its Pit! He can't fly!"

    "Now, now, son, its rude to point."

    He was already tired of  being stared at and called names. So most of his days were spent inside, away from the eyes of his fellow angels, just cooking and doing his own laundry and practicing his kung fu skills. Okay, maybe he didn't have kung fu skills, but who'd pay attention if he said he was practicing archery? Every centurion and their mother could use a bow. Not like he was anything special... aside from being flightless.

    Every once in a while, he met up with Selena at the Hot Springs, in the hopes that everything was just a bad dream and that he really could fly, really! She would watch as Pit stretched out his wings and jumped off the edge of the island, only for her to shortly take flight when it was painfully obvious that his wings weren't working. "I'm sorry, Pit," she told him countless times. "I don't think willpower will make your wings work... And I'm getting a bit tired of flying to catch you when looking down makes me scared!"

    Pit never responded to her. His wings would just droup every time as he sulked on home.
    The truth was clear: He would never be able to fly on his own, short of some miracle. Palutena wouldn't have much use for an angel that couldn't fly, anyway. What was he going to do when other troops tried to invade and THEY could fly? Try to hit them from the ground? His aim wasn't THAT great. Yet.

    So it was a surprise when centurions knocked on his door and dragged him all the way to Palutena's Temple.

    They dumped him at Palutena's feet and bowed. Pit got up and dusted himself off. "You guys could have at least been more gentle," he grumbled as he smoothed out ruffled feathers on his wings. He stopped when he finally looked up at the goddess. "L-L-L-Lady...Lady Palutena!" He got down on his knees faster than he could eat a turkey drumstick. "I-I didn't see you there, I swear! Erm, what is it that you seek, Lady Palutena? Is that how they say it?"

    Palutena chuckled a little and took his hand, pulling him up. "No need to be so formal, Pit," she said with a smile. "And its kind of cute seeing how flustered you are! Never get a chance to go out of the house to see me, do you?"

    Pit's eyes widened as he frantically flailed his arms around. "Yes! I mean, maybe! How do you even know I stay home most of the time?"

    "With my All-Seeing Eye of Palutena!" she answered. "I am a goddess, you know. And I know a whole lot about you!"

    "L-L-Like what?" Pit secretly hoped that the goddess didn't watch his attempts at flying. Or him burning his food. Or his lame scores in Mario Brothers. That would be horrible.

    "Nevermind that. Right now, though, I'm looking for someone brave, strong, and kind to command the centurions."

    "Don't change the subject!"

    Palutena went on as if he didn't say anything. "Right now I have a lot of other duties to attend to, so I need someone to handle the centurions in case a war breaks out. And you seem to fit the bill!"

    Pit stared at her as if she was crazy. "You're nuts!" he said, his feathers getting in a ruffle. "YOU, Lady Palutena, Goddess of Light and protector of the humans, are asking ME, Pit, a flightless angel, to command the centurions? Shouldn't you get someone more capable?"

    "Nobody trains as diligently as you, from what I've seen. And wasn't one of your wishes to be a part of my personal guard?"

    "Y-yeah, but-"

    Palutena patted his back pretty hard. "Then I don't see the problem here," she said happily. "Welcome aboard, Pit! As your first duty as captain, you should go get some of the vegetables from my garden!" She began pushing him away. "Hurry up! Otherwise I won't be able to make a welcoming dinner for you!"

    Pit didn't move at all.  "Lady Palutena... Doesn't it matter if my wings don't work right? I can't do much if I can't fly... And I'm a weirdo to everyone else. Doesn't it matter?"

    Silence filled the air as  the goddess seemed to think on her answer. She smiled at him and said, "I think it doesn't matter if an angel can fly or not. I care about you all the same. Now you should hurry and get those vegetables!"

    For the first time in months, Pit's eyes brightened up and his heart beat in excitement, pounding hard against his chest. "Aye aye, Lady Palutena!" he said with a salute, before he became confused. "Wait, what does being captain have to do with getting vegetables?"

    Palutena giggled mischeviously and replied, "Oh, didn't you read the job description? A captain doubles as my servant! Now chop chop, Pit! We're on the clock!"


    Pit was about to say didn't, but realized how embarassing that would sound. He never did learn how to read. So instead, he said nervously, "Oh, of course! I read that! Yep! Off I go!" With a smile, he headed off towards the garden, happy that at least Lady Palutena could see past his messed up wings and see him as a whole. As long as she had his back and believed in him, it didn't matter much that other angels saw him as a freak.

    A new plan for flight came into mind as he worked, though. After all... Palutena IS a goddess, right? Maybe she could help...

Flightless, Part 1

    
 WARNING: THIS IS A ROUGH DRAFT, SUBJECT TO CHANGE. BECAUSE I USUALLY DON'T GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME AROUND AND TRYING TO NAIL ESTABLISHED PERSONALITIES IS SOMETIMES HARD
--------------------------




      Flight was the only thing Pit could ever wish for. The ability to soar through the skies, feel the rush of air, the gentle sun, the rush of blood through his veins. He was so excited to fly, he couldn't shut up about being able to fly with his fellow classmates in Skyworld's school. He counted the days before the teachers decided that they were old enough to be trained in flight. A month became a two weeks, a week, a day in a blink of an eye for the ever-excitable angel.

    The day of flight finally arrived at the Skyworld school. Angels were buzzing about how well they would do. Some were nervous, trembling at the thought of having their feet no longer touch the soft, safe ground. Others were already planning how to impress the teachers, claiming to already know how to fly. As for Pit...

    "WOOHOO, I'M FINALLY GOING TO LEARN HOW TO FLY, YEAAAAAAAAH!"  he shouted at the top of his lungs, waiting in line with the other angels as, one by one, they were tested. "I'm finally going to learn to fly! This is the best day ever! Only way it can get any better is if I get a nice big dinner tonight! Wooooo!" He turned to a big angel in front of him and asked him, "Have you ever been so excited? Its great, right?"

    The bigger angel stared at him and said in a deep, low voice, "It'll be great once I'm finally out of the line and away from you. You're annoying."

    His words stung, but Pit just kept on smiling. "Oh, heh heh, guess you're just, uh, really excited." The excitable angel then turned to an angel girl with long brown hair behind him and asked, "Aren't you excited?"

    "I'm more nervous, actually," said the girl, looking down at the ground and shuffling her feet. "I had a fear of heights even when I was a little baby. They said that fear would go away once you begin to fly, but I'm not sure." She looked up into Pit's blue eyes and smiled. "You're really looking forward to this, huh?"

    "That's right! I wanted to fly ever since I was little! I mean, come on, its exciting! And then I can actually visit the overworld! And Lady Palutena might consider me for her personal guard!" The girl could see his eyes brighten up with each word he spoke. His grin was as wide as a watermelon slice, or as close to it as a little angel face could possibly get. "Anyway, I'm Pit. What's your name?"

    "My name is Selena," said the girl, unable to resist grinning back. "Pit sounds like a weird name, though... I wonder why they gave you that name?"

    Pit scratched the back of his head. "I dunno, maybe it was some sort of dumb joke? Maybe I liked playing in holes when I was a baby?"

    "I'm not sure, but look! Its almost our turn!" Pit turned around to see that the line had gone up and hurried to take his spot. His heart beat faster against his chest as he watched the next angel take off. Finally, it was his chance to fly with the birds. He would fly gracefully, doing loop-de-loops and spins as the wind ruffled the feathers on his wings. The teachers would stare, the girls would swoon, the guys would say, "Man, I wish I was as awesome as Pit!" And then he'd get a reward and Lady Palutena would welcome him to the guard with open arms and he'd even impress Medusa-

    "Kid, hurry up." The harsh voice of the teacher broke the little angel boy's daydream. "People are waitin. Now flyin is simple: get a running start and flap your wings until you get high enough, then glide through."

    Pit smirked. "It's that simple?"

    "Easier said than done, but you get used to it after a few minutes. Now hurry up! We don't have all day."

    The little angel boy spread his wings as much as he could and dashed off the ledge, spreading his arms out and yelling happily...

    He plummetted like a sack of potatos.  Pit looked down and stared at the ground, a long ways to go. His limbs went numb as fear began to set in. Why wasn't he flying? Why wouldn't his wings flap or glide or anything? "Come on, you can do this," he told himself as he focused on trying to flap his wings. Nothing. His wings didn't budge.

    Well, there was only one thing left to do.

    "HELP MEEEEEEEEEE, SOMEBODY! PLEAAAAAAASE!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    It was the most embarassing day of Pit's life. Selena had to rescue him, in spite of her great fears. The other angels commented on how weird it was for an angel to not be able to fly. He went to the hospital and got his wings checked out, but the nurse bore bad news: "You see, Pit, all the bones in your wings are there. Its just that... well... How do I say this to a kid... Basically, the brain can't tell your wings what to do, like it can with your legs and arms."

    "Will it listen if I talk to them?"

    "No, Pit. It doesn't work like that. I'm sorry, but you can't fly on your own. Not at all."

    Pit couldn't hear her voice anymore. Her lips continued to move, but the words went through one ear and out the other. He could only stare blankly at her, feeling all his greatest dreams slip from his fingers and crumble to dust. His heart sank like a ship's anchor.

    He couldn't fly. In spite of his hopes, his dreams, everything, he couldn't fly.

    Skyworld's first and only flightless angel.

    As he headed home, hot, salty tears streamed down his cheeks as he finally realized just why he was named Pit.