[pd] believing in unbelievable things

Breed: Thestral Age: 5 Gender: Male
Traits: Genius (bonus to intelligence rolls).
Slow (not good at racing or moving quickly through
obstacles). Perfectionist (easier to keep focused).

When Jaspar had started Beauxbatons, he had been indifferent to horses. He'd never been around one, certainly never ridden one, and he would have been fine if that had just remained the case for the next six-plus years. But, instead, Fate seemed to have other plans. In his second year, he fell off of one; in his third, he was accidentally signed up to help clean out the stables, and in his fourth, he almost got bit. By the time the fifth year came around, the wizard was terrified of the things and wanted nothing to do with them, but as was typically the case, a pretty face changed all of that. He'd been adamant about not joining the Pegasus Derby when it was announced, but a housemate convinced him otherwise. And it had been…. Okay.

He still didn't like them, but at least he wasn't terrified of horses anymore. And he was even coming around to Unicorns despite the giant sword on their head. Abraxas and Hippogriffs were a bit of a more difficult sell, but sixth-year taught him that just because they could fly didn't mean their number one purpose in life was to fly him up high to drop him. In reality, the majestic creatures seemed as if they couldn't be bothered by his existence. The rest of the student body appeared to share the sentiment, not that Jaspar minded; it was better than being singled out.

And now, in his seventh and final year, after having a great summer and coming back with more confidence than he had had the last six years combined, Jaspar signed himself up for the Pegasus Derby without needing to be convinced. And because Fate was a cruel witch, he was assigned a Thestral.

"How are we supposed to fly together if I can't see you?" Jaspar half-whispered, half-shouted, because honestly, he had no idea where the creature was standing. A hoof kicked at the straw lining the floor of the pen, and Jaspar jumped back. Too close, that was too close to his toes. He'd had ample time to practice leading up to the Derby, and he'd even managed to do pretty well during the unscored practice runs, but now that the time had come to really perform, he was insanely nervous. "Alright, let's just try this," He said, reaching out toward the seemingly empty space in the stall, his hand holding a bit of raw meat out as an offering, and the other went to cover his eyes. Why he felt the need to cover his eyes as he tip-toed toward something he couldn't see anyway, Jaspar would never know, but there he was, walking blindly toward a creature that could squish him.

The next thing the wizard knew, they were up in the air, and if he chanced looking under him, he was sure he'd die from vertigo or wake up from this nightmare, but he didn't dare it. So instead, he focused on the fence that was hovering like a menace in front of them. Then, he saw the wall rising and falling, and he felt the Thestral sped up underneath him. Knowing that the creature didn't want to trip as much as Jaspar didn't want to fall was a slight relief. But as the Thestral broke out into a gallop, Jaspar wished he was still too much of a chicken to do anything this risky.

Rolled 1d6 : 5, total 5

Roll #1: PASS!

As they reached the gate, it fell one last time, and the timing was perfect. It was almost as if the Thestral had calculated the fence's movements and made sure to be just fast enough to reach it in time for a good jump. And Jaspar imagined that was exactly what happened because Merlin knew his riding skills had absolutely nothing to do with their current success. Thestrals were wicked smart, which was the only thing they had going for them because Jaspar was a terrible flyer, and the creature before him was relatively slow compared to the others.

As they finished the jump, Jaspar made the mistake of looking through the invisible creature and at the ground and nearly lost his lunch. His stomach dropped and then jumped back up his throat. He covered his mouth quickly with his hand. "you won't hit the ground, you won't hit the ground," He mumbled between his fingers, convincing himself that just because it looked like he was plummeting didn't mean it was going to happen. The Thestral's hooves hit the ground with a thunk, and the beast slowed down to a near walk as they ventured down the mountain. Jaspar was happy with the pace.

And then he saw the edge of the cliff they were headed for and pulled back on the reigns; at least he could see those. "Wait, Merlin, wait!" He uttered, but the Thestral either didn't care or wasn't paying attention because it continued, and Jaspar saw the rings. "Oh boy," He gripped the reins tighter than before, situating himself on the saddle, and took a deep breath as the winged creature leaped from the mountainside. "Toward the ring!" He hollered over the wind as it tore through his messy blond hair, and some got stuck to his goggles. He shook his head, trying to get the hair-free without taking his hands off the reigns, but he probably shouldn't have done that so close to the first obstacle.

Rolled 1d6 : 5, total 5

Roll #2: PASS!

Jaspar had no idea what he had signed himself up for, but he certainly wasn't prepared for this. As they headed for the rings, the Thestral seemed like he was growing bored, and Jaspar had to keep talking to him to keep him from veering off toward a patch of trees on the cliffside. "Almost done," He offered, but they had only successfully navigated two gates. Jaspar missed the third by underestimating how fast it was moving. They made it through the next few, but only by the barest of margins, and Jaspar might have been missing a little hair on the top of his head. "Okay, just a few more, Merlin, and then I will give you more snacks." He lied. They had another obstacle after this, but how would the Thestral know that?

As if it read his mind, the winged horse grunted and bucked a little in the air, and Jaspar felt the air between his bum and the saddle and screamed. "Hey! What was that for!" He cried as they reached the next ring, and it spun around at the last second, they missed it entirely, but thankfully they had beat enough of them to win the challenge and move on to the next one. Again, though, Jaspar doubted he'd survive. They had just navigated a bunch of rings; what else could be in store for them? Jaspar hoped it didn't have anything to do with fire like the last time. He rather liked his eyebrows, currently.

What he saw was even worse than he had imagined, and of course, there was a fire. Not just fire, though, a freaking-fire-breaking-freaking-dragon! "You wanna quit?" He asked Merlin, but the horse just grunted at him and kept flying. "Well, that is just unhelpful."

Rolled 1d6 : 4, total 4

Roll #3: FAIL!

As they headed for the obstacle course, Jaspar was pretty sure they would not make it. He could hear the thunderclouds, and he could see the smoke billowing up from where he was confident the dragon was waiting to sneak up on him. Mini dragon or full size, it didn't matter; it was still going to lit his ass on fire, and Jaspar was not at all prepared for that. Maybe if he was a little braver, or a little more athletic, or heck, maybe if he could see what he was riding on! It didn't matter. He went into the final obstacle, ready to fail and fail what they did.

The pair barely made it to the first of the events dedicated to ruining their day. It wasn't the lightning storm or the fire-breathing dragon that would do them in. Jaspar and Merlin did not even make it that far. Instead, and most humiliatingly so, it was the dreaded Flemish pixies that caused their demise. And they had been doing so well (aka, gotten extremely lucky so far). "Get off of me!" He hollered, swiping at the fairies that swarmed around his head. One of the tiny terrors attached themselves to his goggles, and the feeling of their teeny little feet pressing against his cheeks as it tried to remove his goggles forcefully was unbelievably creepy.

Jaspar swatted at them again, and instead, his hand smacked into something invisible, and Merlin bucked again. "No, no, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it!" And of course, he hadn't, but the Thestral didn't care. It bolted, and Jaspar was barely hanging on as the creature flew toward that beloved patch of trees. There was a small clearing between the trees, flowers, and rocks, and it was pretty peaceful until Merlin kicked his hind legs up, and Jaspar was flying right at it. "Merlin!" He shouted just before he ate a mouthful of dirt and skinned both knees.

Well, they were out of the running now. Jaspar looked back at where the other competitors were, seeing them navigating through the obstacle field, and sighed. So this was why he hated flying.


Also I'm sorry I got mixed up and added too many rings to obstacle two lmaooo