[Chapter 3] Arizona Skies

The story of magic in North America.
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Straken
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Re: [Chapter 3] Arizona Skies

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"I'll. Be. Fine," Lovell growled. Henry gave a light laugh.

"Alright, in that case let's get flying," Henry chimed as he set about preparing for take off. A few minutes later, everything was set. Henry throttled up and the plane began to move. Lovell was hunched looking like he was trying to get some sleep, but his body language showed him to be incredibly tense. Soon thereafter the plane was airborne and began to gain altitude. The small town of Tofte quickly shrinking into the vast expanse of verdant forests and azure mirrored waters of Lake Superior in the early morning.

"Alright, you can settle in, maybe get a bit more rest if you need it. Otherwise enjoy the sights," Henry said to Keelin. "Hey pup! Can you pour me a cup of coffee?"

Lovell's grumbling was drowned out by the engine, but he poured his dad a cup of coffee from the packed thermos, and gestured to Keelin to see if she wanted one.
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Kai
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Re: [Chapter 3] Arizona Skies

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The frizzy redhead nodded in acceptance, holding up one finger trying to convey that she wanted a single creamer poured into the drink to sweeten it up. Whether the young man understood or not was up to him. She took in the sights as they began their journey, enjoying familiar views that she had seen many times. She definitely noticed that the Turboprop-powered DHC-2 Beaver was much faster and more powerful than anything she'd flown before. "This thing really hauls!" Keelin exclaimed, a smile on her face as she rather enjoyed the feeling of being in the sky in an airplane.

Once the aircraft had reached an altitude that made it a bit harder to see any details, Keelin pulled out the navigation maps that Henry had plotted for the journey. She pored over the maps to make sure she would be familiar with the route when it was her turn to fly the plane. While not technically magic in the literal sense of the word, to the young druid, flying in an airplane was still a very magical experience.
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Straken
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Re: [Chapter 3] Arizona Skies

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"Damn straight," Henry responded in his usual gruff manner; a man of few words yet always amiable.

Lovell for his part dutifully poured Keelin some coffee and mixed in a splash of creamer. Tapping her on the shoulder, he reached his arm passed her a bit so she wouldn't need to twist to grab the cup. As he pulled his arm back he gave her a light slug on the shoulder. With that, he settled back into his seat with some coffee of his own. Contrary to Keelin though, Lovell had his duffel propped against the window showing he personally had little interest in seeing the view.

The flight proceeded smoothly. The view outside transitioning from the forested iron range of the North to the glacier-gouged lake filled plains of Southern Minnesota. From there, the land smoothed out as they made their way over South Dakota and into Nebraska. Lovell dozed off at some point, while Henry sat stoically in the pilot's seat. A short way over Nebraska the elder Bergman moved to stretch for the first time since take off hours earlier.

"Alright," Henry groaned. "Feeling up for taking over? You feel comfortable landing? I can let you take us down once we hit Colorado Springs, if ya like."
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Re: [Chapter 3] Arizona Skies

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Keelin tipped the cup of coffee a bit as a sign of appreciation to Lovell after taking it from him, sipping the hot drink as they continued, still watching the terrain changing beneath them. Perhaps it was part of her nature as a druid, but whatever interest the young werewolf was lacking in viewing nature from above, Keelin was quite enjoying it. right around the time her coffee ran out, Henry asked her if she was ready to take over flying, and she responded happily.

"Sure thing, hand the yoke over," she said, grabbing the controls once they were offered. "I'll let you know if I need any help landing, but I should be good." Once she had settled herself into the controls, the redhead looked over their remaining fuel, average consumption, and the distance left to Colorado springs. Thankfully, everything lined up, and it looked like they'd have enough fuel for a few landing attempts if need be, so she went to following the course on the recently upgraded GPS navigation unit in the cockpit.
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Straken
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Re: [Chapter 3] Arizona Skies

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"Atta girl," Henry said back as he swapped the yoke over. He let loose a rattling sigh as he stretched some stiff joints, resulting in a number of pops that would have been audible were it not for the oppressive thrum of the plane's engine. Limbered up, he looked back over his shoulder and pat Lovell awake; the younger Bergman looking displeased at having been woken. "Hey pup, pass up some more of that coffee and the book I brought along!"

With coffee, and a small novella, in hand Henry sat back and relaxed. It was predominantly smooth sailing save for a small storm that was just beginning to brew over the Colorado and Nebraska border, but the worst to come from that was patches of turbulence. A minor issue for the two airmen of varied experience, but Lovell was grateful Keelin was preoccupied and wouldn't see him trembling. Thankfully, they past the storm cell quick enough, and had a straight shot over to Colorado Springs. Once they were on approach, Henry downed the last of his coffee before handing the mug and the book back over the seat. Content to let Keelin handle things, the older man was merely observing while on standby should she feel like she'd rather hand the yoke over. Landing smooth enough under Keelin's care, the group grabbed a taxi to a nearby motel.

"Alright, got two rooms; one with two beds. Pup, you're with me, and Keelin we'll see you in the mornin'... 'less you two want to share the room," Henry laughed jovially as he handed over a key, but whisked the key away again moments later. "Kidding. Your mom would probably kill me."

The next morning, they departed early. Henry was checking over the plane while letting the kids rest up a bit more before take off. Soon enough, they were airborne. This time, Henry let Keelin handle take off, seeming happy to let the young Druid get more flight experience in. The flight was smooth as they flew, the terrain below them transitioning from forested mountain valleys into the burnished ochre Southwestern landscape. Somewhere over the Four Corners Henry took over the controls, giving Keelin a chance to admire the view outside the plane. The skies were as clear as pristine sapphire as the plane began to descend, and with practiced ease Henry landed the Beaver at the airfield. As the plane rolled to its desired location, Henry turned to the kids.

"Welcome to Sedona," he called over the quieting engine.
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Kai
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Re: [Chapter 3] Arizona Skies

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The flight, for Keelin, was a wonderful time, and while she did eventually tire and the yoke passed between her and Henry several times, she still enjoyed it. Despite what Lovell may have wished, however, the redhead did indeed notice the young werewolf's distaste for flying, augmented by the tiny familiar Siofra telling on the young man. With it, and the thrill of the landing in the new to her aircraft, Keelin made ready to give Lovell an earful before Henry managed to blow the wind out of her sails with a tease of his own, causing the girl's cheeks to match her hear and make her turn away in embarrassment, muttering something about Papa Bergman being right about her mother, despite the fact that Keelin had begun living on her own now. Still, it was enough of a distraction to stop her from chiding her friend, and by the next morning's flight, she had forgotten all about it.

---

When they finally arrived in Sedona, Keelin was rather excited. She'd never seen such views with her own eyes before, just through pictures in books or on the internet, and they were more beautiful than she could have imagined, what with growing up in a sea of green, white, and blue in the Great Lakes area. "What a view!" she told Henry, excitedly, as the painted valley was awash all around them, and her senses were going crazy as she tried to make a connection with the local land and its new Flora and Fauna, which she figured would take a while. Siofra, for his experience, seemed rather nonplussed and decided to simply hide somewhere within his master's clothes, trying hard to remain as small and out of sight as possible.

"What's our next move, then?" she asked, unlatching the door and hopping to the ground, finding the set of wheel chocks and sliding them in the way of her side's wheel, to stop the plane from accidentally rolling away. without waiting for an answer, the girl busied herself with the tasks of getting the plane strapped down and ready to wait for their next flight, however soon that may be.
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Straken
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Re: [Chapter 3] Arizona Skies

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“We meet up with the contact, get caught up on the situation, and drop stuff off at the motel,” the elder Bergman replied as he casually ran through a mental checklist of steps he had done a hundred times before. Lovell meanwhile made himself useful by unloading and hauling the group’s gear out of the plane so that Papa and Keelin could stow the plane. He wasn’t technical enough to help with it, but he was plenty well suited for the menial labor. Loaded up with duffle bags, backpacks, and a hockey stick bag, the young man made his way off to the exit to set down and wait for the others.

Setting the packs down against a fence and stretching, Lovell enjoyed the feeling of being on solid ground even if the day was obnoxiously warm. Heat aside, the Canadian refused to part with his flannel attire, and wore the light brown button up open with its sleeves up, a thin white shirt underneath, denim pants, and his usual work boots. God he hated the heat.

“You mus’ be Henry’s son,” called a voice from a short distance off. Turning to look, Lovell saw a man a little older than he was accompanied by a white haired woman roughly Keelin’s age. The man’s accent sounded Irish with a hint of something else that he couldn’t quite place.

“That’s me,” Lovell responded somewhat hesitantly. He knew they were meeting a druid down this way, but that didn’t change the fact that he wasn’t keen on meeting new people. The man continued approaching and offered a hand to shake which Lovell returned before nodding to the man’s companion. She was cute, and her hair was strikingly pure white. “I’m Lovell Bergman. My dad will be along shortly, same with a… friend of mine who’ll be helping out.

“Ah’m Druid Ruarc Flynn, and this is my familiar Laoise,” the man introduced himself and his companion.
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Re: [Chapter 3] Arizona Skies

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In the time it took for Lovell to move the bags and lean them against the fence, Henry and Keelin were able to easily secure the plane so that Sedona's winds wouldn't cause it to go on an unwanted journey without a pilot. Getting dismissed by the elder Bergman to help Lovell see if they could fetch a trolly from the terminal. The redhead looked about for the first time, noting what appeared to be a small hotel resort just north past the terminal, and a building to the east that had the telltale billowing column of smoke of a restaurant's grill vent. the parking lot next to the fence held a fleet of white rental cars and a few signs pointing toward the rental agency, but it also seemed to currently be residence to a rather tall, broad man and a young woman with abnormally pure white hair.

Keelin made her way over, commenting something to Siofra whom was hidden down the back of her shirt, the squirrel chattering at her in response until they came close enough that he might be heard, and she waved to Lovell. "Hey, you know you don't have to carry those all the way, right? Henry says we can borrow a cart or something from the terminal. Also, who're your new friends?" the curly headed young keeper trotted to a stop near the younger Bergman, and waved at the two on the opposite side of the fence in greeting. "I'm Keelin Vaughan, by the way, nice to meet ya!"
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