Boarding with Legends

     The great booming of a waterfall crashed its way above the sound of rushing wind. Burn crouched down in anticipation for the jump, his eyes squinting with concentration. There! A wooden ramp! There was a slight moment of resistance as his trusty blue riverboard caught on the rough material, then he was soaring into the air. He couldn't suppress a shout of exhilaration as his wings filled with air and he began a crazed, half-flying half-falling spiral back down toward the river. There was a sudden moment of calm just before he hit the water, when he banked his wings so he faced the right way. Time seemed to stop for a few seconds- the pounding of the waterfall like the beating of a heart- and then the rush was back, and he was shooting down the rapids faster than ever.

     Suddenly, huge rocks seemed to thrust themselves up out of nowhere. Caught off guard, Burn managed to weave himself through the first few- then a jarring crash jolted through his body as his board struck solid stone. The impact whipped him off the board and into the water, gasping for the breath the crash had knocked from him. Cold liquid rushed over the glowing Korbat and he was dragged under the surface. He only had a few seconds to panic before he struck another rock, bringing him to a dead stop against it- but still under water.

     Pushing against the force of the water, Burn managed to bring himself to the surface. He took a moment to rub his pounding head, then climbed up onto the top of the rock with a quiet scrabble of claws. That had been unexpected- but not unusual. The Korbat always seemed to wipe out sometime during his runs. Like that time he’d gone spiralling into a tree... or when that old lady with the bowl of noodles happened to be walking across a bridge at the wrong time (he’d smelled like sauce for weeks after that one.) It had just been slightly more scary this time.

     He flapped the water off his wings and hopped to the rock where his riverboard lay firmly wedged. It had already been worn and scratched countless times, so another gouge was nothing new. He could always have bought a new one, but he liked this one- its colour almost matched that of the water, so it almost appeared he was skimming the surface on his claws when he was going especially fast.

     "Hey! Are you okay?" a female voice called worriedly from some point behind him.

     Without turning around, the Korbat replied, "I'm fine. Gonna be sore in the morning, though."

     The mysterious Neopet behind him laughed. "I'll say. Don't worry, we've all done that sometime."

     Burn finally turned around to see the pet. He was confronted with the sight of a tall white Lupe, with silky black hair and a green robe-like outfit. She also clutched a riverboard in her paws, although hers was much better than Burn's beat-up thing. Like her clothing, it was a deep earthy green with golden highlights. Wait- he knew her. She was one of the pets who helped make riverboarding famous... she was...

     "You're- you're Cassile!" Burn announced in awe. He'd never thought he'd actually see her in person... She was practically a riverboarding legend!

     She laughed again, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "I noticed. So who are you?"

     The glowing Korbat looked down at his claws, overcome with an unusual bout of shyness. "Well, um, it’s Gynmburnin. It's kind of weird, so everyone just calls me Burn."

     "Well, nice to meet you, Burn." Cassile extended a paw to shake with Burn. He hopped from his perch on the rock to the shore where she stood and did so. Now he felt really stupid for messing up- in front of a professional riverboarder; it figured.

     "Hey! You coming back, Cassile?" another voice called over the splashing and roaring of the river. Yet another riverboarding legend appeared over the lip of the rocky landscape- a bulky Techo grabbing a red board. Bowe, of course- Burn had scorched the image every famous riverboarder into his mind permanently.

     Burn frowned. "He didn't see me mess up too, did he?" he muttered, just loud enough for Cassile to hear. One legend seeing him crash was enough, wasn't it?

     The Lupe rolled her eyes. "Who cares? All of us riverboarders have wiped out at some point or another. The object is to realize what you did wrong, then fix it next time you get out in the river. That's why it's helpful to go boarding with a buddy- they can usually spot your mistakes even if you can't.”

     "Hmmm..." Burn thought about that for a second. It made sense. The buddy thing, too- but he didn't know anyone else that liked riverboarding. It was either 'too dangerous' (his owner) 'too wet' (his brother) or 'just not my thing' (pretty much everyone else). Cassile was the only other riverboarder he'd ever met, really. It just happened that she was a professional.

     Bowe had approached them now, his feet leaving puddle-sized wet footprints on the stone. Cassile briefly introduced him to Burn, for which period the Korbat pretended to be engrossed in staring at the scratched surface of his board.

     "Hey, Burn." Bowe grinned. "That thing you did at the waterfall- that was awesome. Crazy. I wish I could do something like that- ‘course, I don‘t have any wings, so it wouldn‘t work."

     Burn blinked, surprised. "T-thanks." He managed to stammer. He never really thought about the things he did while boarding as special moves- he didn't plan them out or anything- they just happened in the midst of the adrenaline rush. You didn’t think when you boarded. You just did what felt natural, and it seemed to work most of the time.

     "Yeah, we saw you go over the jump, and when you hit those rocks, Cassile here went to see if you were okay." The Techo shifted from foot to foot, evidently unable to stand still for long. "Hey, you wanna board with us?"

     "Board? With you?" With the masters of riverboarding? Who probably surpassed him in every respect possible? Who would probably wipe the floor with him in a competition?

     "That's what he said." Cassile grinned, heading back to the river's edge. "Want to or not?"

     Boarding with legends?

     Burn's face broke out into a grin. "Sure." The Korbat scooped up his board, brushed away the fur from his eyes, and ran into the frothy surf with a new friend on either side.

     And so next time you're at a boarding competition, cheering on the famous competitors, keep your eye out for a little glowing Korbat with an old blue board clutched in his hands. Who knows? Maybe, someday, he'll be the top boarder. He'll be the legend.

The End