The final bell for school echoed across the Junior Stratos Sub-Legion, signalling the end of the work day. Normally, Litvir would have hated that, because they knew they’d have to rush back to their tiny room in the main barracks, do as much homework as possible and then immediately rush off to do their actual work. Today though, Litvir didn’t need to rush. They had done all their homework during break times and, oddly, they hadn’t even been given much homework in general.
So, for once Litvir just… wandered around. They didn’t have anything that needed doing. Classes were finished, extra work was all done and Litvir didn’t need to go on patrol or anything. It was… oddly surreal. Litvir didn’t know what to do with themselves.
The wandering didn’t last too long. The playground, filled with all sorts of equipment, was in Litvir’s path. They almost never went to the playground, Litvir was always too busy. But also, it was a little out of the way even when Litvir had time, and was almost always filled with lots of other Rethan kids.
Today though, the playground was empty. Mostly because the kids had all gathered in the nearby open air cinema place, in order to watch some arena content. Tonight’s showing was an episode of Thirteenth Night, and the Big Bad today was the Rethan Wrath, a gigantic Rethan covered in terrifying armour. Litvir did consider joining everyone else, but Litvir didn’t like the horror shows. They always got this awkward feeling in the back of their head that Litvir hated.
But at least that meant the playground was free. And Litvir could finally try the one playground toy they had an eye on for a while.
The swing was quite large, and the seat was a recycled tire. Thee were other swings but Litvir liked the look of this one the most. It was old, rustic and weirdly cute and interesting. Clearly older than all the other swing sets. But also much more used, because many kids liked sitting in it.
After checking that the coast was clear, Litvir decided to sit down themselves. Having a tail did make the swings a little awkward, but Litvir found they could wrap their tail around the swing. They didn’t know how much time they had on the swing. Probably not very long, because everyone was watching the gladiator stuff, and they’d all come back to the playground after the show. But for now, Litvir could sit on the swing in peace.
However, Litvir had a new problem. They didn’t actually know how to use a swing. Litvir did somewhat kick off the ground to get themselves started, but the kicks didn’t last very long, and kicking the ground was somewhat awkward, as it made the swing somewhat bulky.
Litvir didn’t like this. It wasn’t comfortable and Litvir wasn’t swinging well at all. So they just sat there for a bit, staring out into nothing.
Eventually though, a couple of younger Rethans appeared. They’d been in the study hall, and were still carrying school bags. They rushed to one of the other swing sets, immediately sat down and started pushing themselves.
Litvir watched as the kids got higher and higher, unsure how they were propelling themselves. They had started the same way Litvir did, by pushing off the ground. But they quickly picked up speed, and were now no longer using the ground to move. Litvir watched a little longer and slowly started to work it out. With each swing backwards, they’d also lean back. And with every swing forwards, they’d lean forward as well.
After some thought, Litvir decided to copy what they were doing. They pushed off the ground, moving backwards, then leaned back as hard as they could, sticking their legs forward and their head back. This did seem to keep the initial momentum from the kick off. As Litvir swung forward though, they tucked their legs underneath and leaned their body forward as well.
Litvir continued doing this for a bit, and suddenly discovered that they could go pretty fast. And pretty high. Maybe a little too high. They awkwardly stopped leaning too far forward and back, and Litvir soon found a speed that they liked. Not too fast, not too slow. Litvir quickly got into a really nice rhythm. They weren’t going too high now. As Litvir grew more comfortable though, they started leaning harder and faster, once again picking speed. And a good height. Maybe a little too much height.
Suddenly though, Litvir realized they had a new problem. They didn’t know how to stop. Litvir considered grabbing the poles that held the swing up, but that would have really thrown the swing out. And it probably would have hurt.
Not sure what to do, Litvir decided to just try and jump off. However, Litvir mistimed the jump, and they almost went flying, and at quite a speed. Somehow, Litvir managed to land on their feet, stumbling just a little.
With no more weight on it, the swing gradually stopped. Litvir glanced up, then turned around, looking at the other kids. Both of them had stopped swinging and they both waved and cheered. They then started daring each other to go high and jump off.
Not wanting to get blamed for two other kids potentially getting hurt, Litvir decided to go somewhere else. But deep down, they were secretly quite pleased with themselves.
“I should do that again, one day…”