Azaril stood at the edge of a small gathering in Lower Drift Isnd, observing rather than leading. After their discovery about the current control system and the initial success with mechanical wings in Zephara's performances, he and Silvius had been carefully expanding their understanding of Floating Isles society. Today's visit to what locals called a "wind wisdom circle" offered insights into how knowledge was traditionally passed among the lower levels.

  Mindflow, a middle-aged isnder whose wing injury had ended her career as a current navigator, sat at the center of a small group of children. Some had underdeveloped wings, others none at all. Unlike the formal educational structures Azaril had encountered in the Human Empire, this was something more organic—community knowledge sharing that existed in the margins of official society.

  "Who can tell me how to identify a safety current?" Mindflow asked, her gentle voice carrying across the small hollow carved into the isnd's underside.

  A young boy with stubby wings raised his hand. "Safety currents always flow away from isnd edges, so if you get tired or lose control, they carry you back toward solid ground!"

  "Excellent, Breezecatcher," Mindflow nodded. "And how can we tell these currents from others when we can't see them directly?"

  A groundbound girl pointed to a simple model hanging from the ceiling. "The Wind Jellyfish always cluster along safety currents during dawn hours. And Current Grass bends toward them, even when other winds blow differently."

  Silvius leaned close to whisper in Azaril's ear. "Notice how she teaches them to read natural signals? Knowledge that flight-capable isnders take for granted but is vital for those with limited mobility."

  Azaril nodded, watching as Mindflow distributed lightweight streamers to each child. "Today we'll practice with the drift ribbons," she announced. "Remember, the ribbon shows you what your eyes cannot see—the invisible paths of air that can either lift you up or carry you away."

  The children moved to an opening that faced the open air between isnds, releasing their ribbons under careful supervision and calling out current types based on the movements.

  "Ascension spiral!" "Edge bouncer!" "Deep return!"

  One particurly attentive groundbound boy meticulously charted the patterns in a small notebook, creating symbols that corresponded to the invisible air movements.

  After observing for some time, Futureview, the elder who had brought them to the gathering, guided Azaril and Silvius to a small alcove where they could speak privately.

  "What you're seeing is not officially sanctioned," the elder expined. "These knowledge circles exist in most lower communities, but they operate quietly."

  "Because teaching current navigation to the groundbound is discouraged?" Azaril asked.

  Futureview's expression tightened. "More than discouraged. The official position is that those without proper flight ability have no need for such knowledge. Practical safety information is permitted, but anything enabling greater mobility..." He let the sentence hang unfinished.

  "Yet Mindflow teaches them anyway," Silvius observed.

  "She believes knowledge belongs to all, regardless of wing size," Futureview said with evident pride. "Many of us share this view, though expressing it too openly invites unwelcome attention."

  As if summoned by his words, a disturbance at the entrance drew their attention. A monitoring official in altitude-specific attire entered the space, accompanied by two assistants. Contentcheck, as his insignia identified him, moved through the area with practiced efficiency, inspecting the current models and teaching materials.

  "Quite eborate for a lower level safety program," he observed, his tone neutral but his eyes sharp. "These current-mapping exercises extend well beyond lower altitude patterns."

  "Children benefit from understanding the broader environment," Mindflow replied carefully. "Even those who remain at lower levels must navigate the consequences of high-altitude weather systems."

  The tension in the room increased when another isnder arrived—Traditionflight, a middle-current parent whose son was participating in the knowledge circle. His wings fred in agitation as he confronted Futureview.

  "This is inappropriate for children of proper flying families!" he decred loudly. "My son returns home speaking of currents beyond his station as though altitude boundaries were merely suggestions!"

  "Your son has shown remarkable aptitude for current navigation," Futureview responded calmly. "These skills will serve him well as he develops his natural abilities."

  "He doesn't need to learn alongside groundlings," Traditionflight snapped, the derogatory term hanging in the air. "It creates inappropriate associations and undermines proper altitude awareness."

  Contentcheck observed the exchange with careful attention, his official neutral expression barely concealing his interest in this unexpected development.

  Azaril watched the interaction with growing understanding. As an observer rather than a participant, he could see the complex social dynamics at py—the official monitoring system, the traditional parent's anxiety about status, the quiet resistance of knowledge-sharers like Mindflow and Futureview.

  The confrontation ended with Traditionflight removing his son from the gathering and Contentcheck making extensive notes before departing with a warning about "altitude-appropriate content guidelines."

  After the disruptions cleared, Mindflow approached their small group, her expression troubled but determined. "This happens periodically. They increase monitoring for a while, then attention shifts elsewhere, and we continue our work."

  "How long have these knowledge circles existed?" Azaril asked.

  "In some form? Always," she replied. "But they've become more organized in recent generations, as more of us question the rigid limitations pced on those without perfect wings."

  "And with the recent mechanical wing performances..." Silvius began.

  "Exactly," Futureview nodded. "Zephara's troupe has created new possibilities in people's minds. The authorities respond by increasing surveilnce of any activity that might connect to that inspiration."

  Azaril considered what he'd observed. "The knowledge you're sharing seems fundamentally practical—current safety, weather reading, navigation basics. Why would this threaten the authorities?"

  Mindflow exchanged gnces with Futureview before answering. "Because understanding currents is the first step toward controlling one's movement through them. A groundbound child who can read the air patterns today might find ways to ride those patterns tomorrow."

  "Knowledge creates possibilities," Futureview added. "And possibility challenges the narrative that altitude position is natural and immutable."

  As they prepared to leave, Azaril noticed the boy who had been meticulously recording current patterns. "His notation system is quite sophisticated," he observed.

  "Driftchaser has created his own method for mapping currents," Mindflow said proudly. "He's never left his home isnd, yet he can chart patterns all the way to the middle currents based on what he observes from below."

  "May I?" Azaril asked, gesturing toward the boy.

  With Mindflow's approval, he approached Driftchaser, carefully examining the symbols in his notebook without touching them. "This is remarkable work," he said sincerely. "You've developed a nguage for something most people can't even see."

  The boy looked up, surprised to be addressed directly by a visitor. "It helps me remember them better," he said simply. "Each current has its own shape and way of moving. Once you know the pattern, you can predict where it goes, even if you can't follow it yourself."

  "Yet," Azaril said with a small smile.

  Driftchaser's eyes widened slightly. "Yes," he whispered. "Yet."

  On their way back to their temporary quarters, Silvius and Azaril discussed what they had witnessed.

  "The knowledge circles already exist," Silvius observed. "They don't need us to create formal education centers—they need protection and enhancement for what they're already doing."

  Azaril nodded. "And connection. Each isnd seems to have its own system, but they operate in isotion. If these knowledge-sharers could coordinate their efforts, share innovations like Driftchaser's notation system..."

  "A network rather than centralized institutions," Silvius agreed. "More resilient against official suppression, and more appropriate to their existing cultural structures."

  In the following weeks, Azaril and Silvius carefully expanded their visits to simir knowledge circles on different isnds, always positioning themselves as interested schors rather than organizers. They asked questions that prompted knowledge-sharers to consider new possibilities, facilitated introductions between isoted groups, and occasionally shared observations from other areas that might be useful.

  When a seasonal storm created dangerous cross-currents between isnds, two young flyers from middle-altitude families found themselves caught in wind patterns beyond their experience. A group of children from various knowledge circles correctly identified the nearest safety current and guided the struggling flyers to it, preventing what could have been a tragic accident.

  The incident created an unexpected opening. Parents who had previously viewed the knowledge circles with suspicion now showed cautious interest in the current-reading skills that had saved young lives. Even Traditionflight reluctantly acknowledged the practical value of what he had previously dismissed.

  "They still resist the deeper implications," Futureview observed during a gathering where Mindflow was showing parents the current-safety techniques. "But they accept the immediate practical benefits."

  Azaril nodded, watching as a mixed group of children demonstrated current-reading techniques using drift ribbons. "This is how change often begins—not through imposing new structures, but by supporting and connecting existing wisdom."

  The education current was already flowing through Floating Isles society—knowledge passing between generations despite official limitations. Azaril and Silvius hadn't created it, but through careful observation and subtle encouragement, they were helping to strengthen its flow, creating connections between isoted pools of learning that might eventually reshape the ndscape itself.

  Rather than founding institutions as he had in other realms, here Azaril was learning a different approach to change—finding the currents that already existed and helping them flow more freely, just as the children were learning to read the invisible air paths that connected their world.