Regona City: Flight (BK2)

First Racer's High

Sahara shifted. The smallest movement caused the board beneath her to react. She watched another racer disappear around the corner only to realize that she had unintentionally slowed down. Trying to pick up her pace she leaned forward, regretting it instantly. Somehow, she made it around the corner, almost crashing into it at one point.

She let out a sigh of relief as she found herself on a straight, the other races in sight before her.

"You're already falling behind." She almost fell off the board in surprise as she heard Terrell's voice in her ear.

"What in the world!" she exclaimed. "Why can I hear you?" she shot a glance around, yet Terrell was not in sight. She hadn't switched on her bracelet to communicate either, nor had she picked up a call.

"Relax, I just hacked the system a bit," Terrell told her in a bored tone.

"You what?"

"Don't worry about it."

The board swerved slightly and Sahara tensed as she tried to regain control.

"You're not doing too good," Terrell's voice commented.

Sahara clenched her teeth. She didn't need him to tell her. Seeing a pile of boxes her eyes widened. She lifted the board slightly high and yet not high enough. The board skimmed the boxes, knocking the top one over and almost sending Sahara flying.

"That didn't sound good," Terrell commented.

"Are you going to help me?" Sahara asked.

"Against the rules."

"Then why are you bothering me?"

"Is that what it feels like?"

Sahara didn't reply as she leaned forward in an attempt to catch up to the racers who were rapidly widening the gap. As her board sped up, she felt herself slipping backwards.

"This is impossible," she murmured. "You're board is too hard to control!"

"Really?" Terrell asked.

With frustration, Sahara noticed the gap had gotten even wider between her and the other racers.

"I'll let you in on a little secret," Terrell suddenly told her. "With my board, the faster you go, the easier it is to stay on. That's especially the case when you aren't using gravity control."

"What?" Sahara asked in disbelief. "I just tried that. It got worse."

"That's because you aren't going fast enough," came the calm reply.

Sahara bit her bottom lip. Truth be told, she was actually quite terrified of the thought of going even faster.

"Impossible," she finally whispered. "I can't do this." She watched the other racers draw even further away.

She heard Terrell chuckle. "You're really silly," he said.

"Silly?" Sahara asked in surprise.

"I've told you before the secret to boarding before, haven't I?" Terrell told her softly/

Sahara didn't reply as she tried to figure out what he was trying to say. Her eyes widened as she remembered her conversation with him a good while back. Imagination and courage. Let go of all fear, picture yourself doing things you never thought impossible. By doing that, you'll make even the impossible become the possible, Terrell's voice echoed in her mind.

"Maybe you need to actually listen to my advice one in a while and try it," Terrell told her. "Stop thinking of everything that can go wrong; trust yourself a bit. You've been training a lot so your body knows how to react."