Post by joshua on May 10, 2011 16:13:54 GMT -5
...5...
His pulse began to quicken. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead and in his armpits. Josh smiled despite his nerves getting the best of him.
...4...
Sitting in the large cup of the catapult, leaning against the gliderpack attached to his back, Josh began the process of calming himself. He wasn't afraid, he was excited!
...3...
This would be his first time being shot out of a catapult. To make it more fun, the catapult was on a large ship sailing past the Pokemon Academy. Josh began to clench his fists against the straps around his shoulders and then unclench, timing his breathing and inhaling through his nose before exhaling through his mouth.
...2...
Josh opened his eyes. The clear blue sky he was facing was tinged orange due to the goggles he wore. His mouth was shut to prevent bugs from getting in once he started flying, but his jaw wasn't clenched. The last thing one wanted when flying through the air was tension.
...1...
The droplets of sweat that had been forming on him began to run down his face. His nerves were steeled and the sun bearing down on him was warm. The air was cool, the sky was blue and clear, and the island was in sight.
...0...
Something snapped and the catapult's built up energy was released. T he counterweight dropped and the arm lifted at a high rate of acceleration. It came to a sudden stop at a predetermined point and Josh was no longer cradled in the cup; he was flying free through the sky.
Flying would not be the correct term. Falling with style! That was it. Josh's body was facing the ocean below as he continued to soar through the air, still rising at an angle, going ever higher and higher.
Then he hit it! That moment of freefall! He was hundreds if not a few thousand feet above the island's ground level and his upward movement had equaled gravity and there, for that split second, he floated, entirely weightless. That instant was the most fun, but the most thrilling was the entire process of falling.
And he began to fall.
The descent was at a sharp angle at first, and while Josh would have loved to let his speed build up, he pulld the cord on his gliderpack and the two light wings erutped from the side, catching the air and letting him glide further in to the island. He needed this versus a parachute to make it to the Laboratory. He had been warned that if he didn't go straight to the Lab when he arrived he could be expelled before ever getting accepted.
He could spot the building and his descent increased in speed. He banked hard to the left and began to spiral downards once he was over the building and then pulled another coard, releasing the parachute from the pack, making the wings fold up. Josh drifted downwards, tugging the strings of the chute to guide himself in as straight a line as possible.
Catching himself on the roof of the building he disengaged the parachute and the spring winder began to warap it back up in the backpack he had. He removed his goggels and looked around. He was pumped! He'd made it! He found the door on the roof that maintenance would use an ran to it, pulled it open, and then ran inside, down the stairs, looking for wherever it is he needed ot be, laughing with giddiness the whole time.
