The ornithopter, at least this particular ornithopter, was made less for speed, and more for safety; its primary job was to not plummet from the sky. It did its job as Shoan nudged the stick, slowly tilting forward, and then, with the tilt, beginning to glide slowly forward through the air.

"Good." Yul said, giving her an encouraging nod. His hands were close to the controls, but his posture was relaxed. "Bring it to a stop, then try another direction. Get a feel for how it moves side to side, back and forth. Diagonals and turns are harder. Wait until you've got a handle on it before trying one."

She brings the craft to a jerk stop, over correcting slightly before turning it this way and that, the winds occasionally jerking the ornithopter this way and that.

"I...think I am getting the hang of it. You don't look worried so that is probably a good sign."
Shoan slowly gains confidence as she realises the ornithopter might not be idiot proof, but it may be be idiot resistant.

Relaxing a little
"I think you might have forgotten one thing though, Yul-san."

The slightly uneven ride was something Yul was perfectly used to. He watched, smiling, as Shoan began to become accustomed to the controls.

"Huh? Oh." Yul grinned. "You're right. Here. Just keep a steady hand on the controls" With an easy gesture, he pulled the aviators from his head, blinking at the change in light. He held them out, palm up, where she could easily see and take them. "You've earned 'em."

"Oh Yul-san, I'm sorry-"
Shoan reaches into a sleeve and extracts her newly earned Shirakawa Nagareboshi (TM) shades, sliding them on in one movement as she turns to face the Skyrider
"-But you aren't half as cool as me right now."
And she guns the ornithopter forward

Yul blinked, a surprised expression on his handsome features. "Whoaaaaa... coming in with your own pair of sunglasses? Look at you, Shoan-san. Damn." Shaking his head, Yul put his own sunglasses back on. "And seeing what this thing can do. You looking to join the Skyriders, or something?"

He glanced out the window, watching the terrain move beneath them, or so it seemed from their elevated perspective. "Pull up well before we reach those mountains, though." Yul said, still looking outside. "The winds coming off of them can be tricky."

"A lot of virtual baseball was played to win these glasses....I..I didn't recognise the brand, but I choose to believe they are particularly cool. Perhaps fitting for a skyrider's assistant."

Still, cool glasses or no, she starts pulling up well before they reach the mountains where low lying cloud is being sucked through the valleys and crevices at speed.

"Yeah." Yul nodded at her, his lips curling up into a smile. "They're pretty cool. I like 'em."

As the vehicle slowed, Yul took the controls again, just enough to steady them when Shoan took her hands off of them. "Pretty good, pretty good." He said. "You've got steady hands, and control, but also you've got guts. I think you could be a pretty good pilot if you trained at it."

He looked at her, tilting his head. "What did you think of it?"

She looks over and tips down her glasses just enough to arch an eyebrow before sliding them back up
"It had my adrenaline pounding which was odd, considering it should not have been particularly dangerous or difficult. I..am not sure I would be more than a competent pilot, Yul-san, but it's easy to see how you could want to spend hours a day feeling that same sensation."

Rubbing her hands together slowly
"And of course, most craft are even faster, which would be even more thrilling."

Yul grinned. "Actually, those look really good on you."

His expression grew more serious. "But yeah. That's why you do it. Or why I do it. But it's not just the adrenaline..." Yul chuckled, "-although that helps. But really, it's about the freedom."

Slowly, his usual smile came back. "But you like fast, huh? Okay. Here we go, then." Turning his attention back to piloting, Yul pushed the stick forward. The ornithopter began to pick up speed, the wind coming off the mountain whipping around the small craft...

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

D4EA, REAL piloting roll, TN10: 5d10o10k3+6 30

Shoan presses back a little in her chair as the craft picks up speed, rising and falling through the vicious air currents as it reached the mountains proper.

Several spontaneous waterfalls were in full force below and their spray was being whipped into a froth....but the lion was mainly focused on trying to keep her On as the nimble, ornithopter danced this way and that.

"The freedom? I think I can see the attraction, go anywhere, see anyone, crash into anything..."
When it becomes clear that despite all the chaos, their vehicle will really be fine, she works on relaxing again. Yul might say it's not about the adrenaline but...there's a lot of adrenaline.

Yul glanced at her, smiling gently. "Hey, we're not gonna crash. You trust me, don't you?" Indeed, despite the buffeting from the winds, the ride was surprisingly smooth.

He adjusted the path of the Ornithopter, guiding it along the ridgeline, and then a little lower, cutting down on the wind. At this altitude, the mushroom forest had given way to rocks and moss. And water. Right now, it was a lot of water.

"It's amazing how much the third dimension adds. And then once you get free of the gravity well... well, that's something else entirely. But at the same time, the things you can find on planets, the life..." Yul grinned, clearly excited by all this. "I guess that's why the Unicorn have always been explorers."

"I trust you and your skills implicitly Yul-san, it's my nervous system that I am working on convincing."
The lower altitude made their speed even more evident, but it also added to the thrill. And for once, no mushrooms.

"No argument from me on the exploration. It would have been a short exodus indeed if the sons and daughters of Shinjo had no interest in new lands. I enjoy travel as well, but I think I have journeyed in a...slower and perhaps less interesting fashion than yourself."

Yul shrugged. "Everyone takes their own path."

The ridge curved; or rather, one massive cliff became another, set at a slightly different angle. Yul kept close, about twenty feet, still following the cliffline.

"So... what's the most interesting place you've been to. Or... the best thing you've seen?" Yul's lips quirked. "I know those aren't quite the same thing. But that's okay, answer it how you want to."

"There was a small asteroid base I stopped at on the way to Matsu Prime. The whole space had been hollowed out and the locals had tried to sculpt the environment to be as faithful to Rokugan Prime as possible. Of course, it was not a particularly large asteroid so the replica of the imperial palace took up most of the available space and all the other old landmarks were crudely packed together."

Shoan stretches her neck this way and that with some faint popping sounds
"But the local were so adamant...so, pure? I suppose? In wanting to make it right, wanting it to be the same as our ancestral home. I appreciated that."

As for best
"The best thing I have ever seen were my transfer papers after my last campaign. The cartography was unremarkable and I don't imagine many have travelled to them, but at the time it was like perfect."

Tilting her head slightly to watch Yul nimbly navigating the ornithopter so close to the ground
"I'll travel more one day, then I shall have better stories, I hope. What about you Yul-san? I'm sure a Unicorn such as yourself must have stories that put mine to shame."

Yul grinned. "That really sounds like something. I wouldn't mind seeing that someday."

He pursed his lips as they flew along, considering. "There've been lots of things I could say. My last ship had a patrol run threw a nebula. Where stars are born... but the most amazing thing I saw was the first time I stepped onto New Hope Castle, and looked down at Shinjo's grace. Here I was, on this marvel of Unicorn shipbuilding, and beneath me was the planet I'd lived on my whole life. I could see everything... I imagined I could even see my little city, although I probably couldn't. It was like I was seeing my past and my future at the same time."

For a few moments, they flew in relative silence. Yul looked at Shoan, his lips pressed together as he studied her face as though searching...

"The worst thing I saw was my first wingmate's engines detonate, followed by a fireball consuming her ship. Her pod started to eject, but it couldn't outrun the explosion." Yul's usual smile was nowhere to be seen, his lips tight. "I know that's not the question I asked. But I think it fits better, somehow."

Her tone is sombre, there weren't a lot of bushi in Rokugan who hadn't lost a valued squadmate somewhere along the way

"Sometimes our memories of the best in our lives dredge up their unpleasant mirrors. I know it is probably just a courtesy coming from me Yul-san, but I am sorry for your wingmate. Remembering her and continuing to fly with honour...I hope that helps."

She glances over and catches Yul's searching look

"I appreciate that." Yul said, his tone gentle, if a little strange. "It was the worst thing I've seen, but I've pretty much come to terms with it. There wasn't much I could have done. Except maybe be better, but that's something that I always try to do." Yul sighed.

It seemed he was almost flying leisurely now. The ornithopter passed between where two ridges joined, into a lake valley. If it weren't raining so hard, it might have been peaceful. As it was, the water whipped and churned.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I just thought I'd share that. Seems like your last campaign was pretty bad, too."

"You can always share things like that with me, if you wish. I...think I understand, at least a little."
The silence sits for a few long moments as they soar over the whitecapped lake below

"That last campaign....people died. Good people, bad people, some people who just happened to live nearby. It wasn't what I thought war would be, but it's what war is."

More silence, just the sound of the wind outside
".....This isn't normally what I talk about on my dates....but maybe this is better."
Shoan isn't looking at Yul and she's certainly not looking down, but one of her hand reaches out and delicately lays rests on top of Yul's as if checking whether a stove was still hot.

Slowly, Yul nodded. "Yeah. I thought you might. I guess I wanted to show that it went the other way, too." He took a deep breath. "I don't know what happened in that last war of yours. It sounds complicated. And really bad." He smiled without humor. "I guess I don't know where I'm going with this, exactly. It's not like I can just say 'that's rough, buddy' and make it better. But... I feel like maybe just having stuff recognized helps, sometimes."

As her hand gently touch his, Yul paused a moment, holding his breath, as though he might startle her off. When it seemed that he wouldn't he gently turned his hand, so that they were palm to palm

"I think it's good." Yul said. Then he chuckled. "It's certainly not the worst date I had in a flying vehicle, that's for sure."

"Better it be said in the open then left to fester inside, that only brings regret."
There's an ever so slight tensing when things go palm to palm, so fast, so forward! But then the Lion relaxes

"Yul-san, you realise you cannot simply hint at some kind of disastrous flying vehicle date and then not elaborate?"