Nixis Training Entries - Control + Strength + Bravery: Strength Training

Nixis was finally old enough and large enough to carry her rider, though she hadn't carried them yet, by now she had learned the basics of flying and how much she enjoyed it. So she was extra excited when she found her handler packing their things up. Every time they went out Nixis knew it was a chance for her to stretch her wings. She was also excited about the chance that she could go flying with her handler one day, she was really attached to them and everything was more enjoyable with them around. At least for Nixis it was more enjoyable, she was practically attached to her handler by the hip. She was always following them around and tended to stay near them, she really only wandered off to go attempt to hunt for herself. Even though she hadn't been able to take down anything all that large yet it was still very enjoyable to attempt at hunting. She didn't worry about her lack of hunting skills as she knew her handler would always take care of her. Once her handler was done packing the two would head out, Nixis happily following her handler to wherever they wanted to go. The two walked for a long while before they ended up at a cliff the two had been to before. Seeing this cliff only excited Nixis more, cliffs were always fun to glide off of and she still remembered how happy her handler had been the last time they came here. She would look towards her handler to see if they had anything they needed her to do, if they didn't  then she'd happily go for a joy flight. Her handler would ask her to stay before placing down their luggage. Nixis would stay and watch as they unloaded themselves.

Once they had finished unloading themselves Nixis's handler would walk up to her and would give her a soft pet on the head. Nixis would happily lean into the contact, she was a very cuddly tyto and loved almost any type of physical affection. Her handler would then run their hand down her side while saying something that sounded encouraging. Nixis just tilted her head as she listened to her handler speak, she understood the tone of the words but not their exact meaning. Either way she was happy for the encouragement and would chirp a thank you in response. Her handler smiled back at Nixis before patting her back, Nixis knew what this meant. Her handler had rid on her back before, just never while she was flying. She would happily chirp and nod, she would be happy to have her handler ride her. Her handler said something back in a pleased tone before carefully climbing onto the mostly white tyto's back. They were able to pretty comfortable slide into position in between her shoulders, Nixis could feel the extra weight on her back but luckily her handler was pretty small and light, especially without any of their luggage. Nixis would turn her head to peer back at her handler, her handler smiled back and ran their hand down the silky along her neck. Her handler would then ask for her to go forwards which Nixis would happily do. She walked forwards which was towards the edge of the cliff, the silken tyto would stop at the edge of the cliff and peered over the edge. Excitement bubbled inside of her and her wings seemed to itch for a flight, so she looked back at her handler quizzically and unfurled her wings part way. Her handler seemed to get what she was saying and nodded happily, they were gripping onto her silky neck feathers which she was fine with.

Nixis guess this was the plan all along and would fully unfurl her wings once her handler gave the okay to do so. After giving her handler a few moments to make sure they were holding on properly she would leap off the edge of the cliff. Her feathered wings would catch the air and with a few powerful flaps she was able to raise herself higher in the air. It took a little while of flapping and shifting her weight to fully balance herself out, she wasn't used to having a rider on her back. She found out that it was in fact a decent but more difficult to balance with her handler on her back. Nixis would spread her wings out as far as she could and did her best to maintain a gentle glide, though it was still quite choppy compared to ab experienced flyer's glide. She would then look back at her handler to see how they were doing, they were looking down at the landscape far below them. Nixis wasn't sure if her handler had ever rode a styrx before as she had never seen her handler with any other stryxes than herself. Either way it seemed they were enjoying it as they were smiling as they were observing the ground below them. After a few moments of this her handler would turn their gaze to her and gave her a big warm smile. She gave them a happy chirp in response and turned her head back to focus on where she was flying, she felt her handler lean into her neck. Nixis would fly higher so that she was just below the clouds, she could feel the moisture from them as the tips of her wings brushed through them. She made happy chirping and chirring sounds, the weight of her handler on her back felt nice. I'm response to her chirps and chirrs her handler would talk back in a gentle and caring tone, while neither fully understood what the other one was saying they did understand the intent behind the words and noises.

Nixis stayed high up near the clouds for some time before diving down, she tucked in her wings as she dove and felt her handler grip on tighter. Once she had descended as much as she wanted to she would flare out her wings to stop her descent, this ended up with quite the jerking stop that caused her handler to jerk forwards and hit against the back of her neck. Nixis wasn't the best at easing in and out of motions so her flying was pretty choppy and jerking, she did have a lot left to learn about flying. She would turn her head to check on her handler after they jerky stop and was happy to see that they seemed fine, if anything a bit shaken up. Right now she was more focused on enjoying herself with her handler than testing out new techniques for flying so she would go back to flying around. Overall she kept it simple with few dives or sharp turns. The two of them flew around for a while before landing to take a break, Nixis did find out that flying with a rider was more tiring than flying alone. While they were resting Nixis would curl around her handler and her handler would happily lean into her silky feathers. The two stayed like that for a little while before her handler mounted Nixis again and they began to head back to where they had left their stuff. Overall the fly back was slow and casual, Nixis let her handler soak in flying and how great the view was up in the sky. Once they had arrived back at the cliff where they had started Nixis's handler would slide off of her back and pack up their things. The two decided to walk back as Nixis was still new to flying with a handler and wasn't able to carry them for all that long. Her wings already felt much more tired than they had in a while but it was a good kind of tired, a satisfying kind. She was worn out but happy, Nixis was definitely looking forward to flying with her handler again soon and hopefully getting better at it.