Wings

I ran into the deeper part of the forest, dragging my deer and my bow and arrows behind me. These Trackers ran pretty fast. And I did not like the torches part. Definitely not. I jumped up and used to forces to lift me up the highest branches of the tree, swinging the dead animal. The monster chasers ran past me and kept yelling unflattering insults. I let out a small sigh of relief. I was safe, for now.

I jumped from tree to tree with agility. Maybe because I was only part human. Long story for later. Anyway, I arrived at my home. I crouched and crawled through a big tree’s roots. Yes, that was my home. Are you going to judge? When you’re being chased by monster killers, it’s not always easy to build a home that they won’t be found. I couldn’t just build a house. Way too obvious.

I stood up. I plunged into another tunnel next to my bed (Hay and pine needles). There it was. My loyal pet. She was an albino tiger that I found abandoned in the forest. Don’t ask how she ended up there. And this tiger has treated me like a friend and a mom. The weirdest part is she had giant white wings on her back. The edges are starting to have golden feathers. Cia’s eyes were crystal blue. She roared with delight and pounced on me and started licking my face. A snake slithered by my feet and hissed. He coiled around my leg and inched up to position himself around my neck. He was a lime green cobra. My cobra had three peacock feathers stuck on his head. Instead of having a tail, he had a spearhead with three colorful bells attached to it. The snake hissed with affection and "hugged" me. "Thanks, Bells," I said, patting his head. Cia whimpered with jealousy. "Hey, girl, it’s ok. You’re the best." She purred and rubbed her snout against my neck. I laughed again. A falcon landed on my unoccupied shoulder. "Nala has finally woken up. Hello, sleepyhead." I said while rubbing her neck with my index. She cooed and cleaned her feathers. Nala is a sea blue falcon. She had a Lapis Lazuli stoned embedded in her chest. This stone was her life stone. On each side of her eyes were 3 healing stones. I know, weird. Doesn’t seem so weird after knowing Cia and Bells, right?

If you didn’t notice, I love weird animals. all these animals were abandoned because they weird beyond weird. I helped them out because they were like me. Rejected from the society because stupid scientists and Trackers want to study us or wanted our skin.

I’ve lived in the woods for about forever. How I was born? No idea. My earliest memory is me falling down on Earth. I should have died from a fall of that height. But I as mentioned, I’m special. And not in a good way.

Boring. That’s what my life is. Completely, utterly, boring to the core. I sat in a classroom, flicking a piece of paper while the teacher droned about history. The final bell rang and chaos broke through my class. The teacher shouted over the noise. But the high schoolers didn’t even acknowledge him. We rushed out into the village. I ran straight to the woods with my friends. Finally, some peace and quiet. We plunged deeper into the forest. "Yo, Gale were are we going?" Steph asks me. "Somewhere special," I answer mysteriously with a smile. "You sound so secretive. It’s starting to get annoying." John says irritably. I led my three friends Steph, John, and Thomas.

We finally arrived. It was a small semi-circle of high bushes. The bushes were just dense enough to look through them, but people from the outside can’t see us. I crouched and my friends followed my example.

"What now?" John hissed. "Wait," I said patiently. Thomas rolls his eyes. We wait for about half a minute. Then I pointed and said, "Look."

A beautiful girl was perched on one of the highest branches of the nearest tree. She was sharpening arrows with sea blue feathers on it. She had waist length wavy black hair that floated strangely. Her hazel eyes were distracting. She was dressed in white clothes like Rey from Star Wars. Her sleeveless shirt had a strange symbol on it, like a wave.

She had golden bracelets on her arms. Her sleek neck had a black and blue choker. He face was the most beautiful.

She had high cheekbones, a pointed nose, rosy cheeks, long eyelashes…

Anyway, she was the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.

I snake slithered up her leg. A very…strange serpent. It had peacock feathers, and spear for a tail and hissed at the girl. She laughed. She hissed back. Whoa, she was a Parselmouth, like Harry Potter? Bizarre.

The snake seemed to nod and slither back. Her perfect nose twitched and her color-changing eyes bore into John’s brown eyes. She knew we were here.

I looked back at my friends. John was mesmerized by the girl’s stare. Thomas gaped. Steph just stared, shocked. Thomas and Steph said in unison. "Is she your girlfriend, Gale?" I shook my head. Steph was head-over-heels in love or drunk. He stepped into the clearing. "Hi there, my lady!" He bowed quickly. As quick as lightning, She pulled out her bow and nocked an arrow on her weapon and pointed and Steph. "What do you want?" She demanded. Steph backed up slowly. "I want to know you," he said flatly. The more he backed up, the more the girl lowered her bow. John, Thomas and I quickly scrambled to Steph. Thomas accidentally stepped too close to the tree. She shot the arrow. It landed between Thomas’s feet. He gulped and ran towards to rest of the group. She loaded 3 arrows at a time on her bow and pulled back to string and asked harshly, "Tell me at least one reason why I shouldn’t kill you."

"We don’t want to harm you." I answered loud and clear. I put my hands in the air and advanced slowly. She let me advance. When John tried to follow me, she let the four arrows fly. The four arrows whistled past John’s ear. He did the smart thing; stop following me.

Meanwhile, I started climbing the tree, she shot me a warning arrow. I stopped at the base of the tree. "Names." She demanded. "I’m Gale. This is John, Thomas, and Steph." I said calmly. What’s yours?" She just shook her head and lowered her bow. She just said, "Don’t come back." But she wasn’t looking at me. She was looking at my friends. She looked at me after but didn’t say anything. Does that mean I have permission to come back? She whistled. and a white tiger came out of nowhere. It swooped low and she jumped on. I know. A tiger can’t swoop because tigers can’t fly. But this one had gold and white wings. The tiger landed next to her. She wrapped her arms around the tiger and slide down. She was hugging the tiger’s chest now. The tiger started running towards my friend's direction. The girl reached out to grab the arrows she wasted on us. She slid back up the tiger’s back after she was down. I one swift movement, she waved us farewell and the tiger beat its wings and flew away.

Another boring day. I ran out of class, as usual, to meet the mysterious girl again. This time she was sitting a the base of the tree, petting a blue falcon. When the animal saw me, it cawed with alarm. The girl cawed back and rubbed the falcon’s neck for reassurance.

I approached with no sudden movements. "May I?" I pointed to a small pile of leaves next to her. She just stared back curiously. I took that as a yes. I sat down. She took my hand. I flinched but I let her take it. She examined my hand as if it was a new species of animal. Then my arm and shoulder. I was kind uncomfortable when she slightly lifted my shirt. Then, quickly she took an arrow and stabbed my hand.

I yelped in surprise. The arrow point didn’t sink that deep. Just enough for some blood to trickle down. She mumbled sorry and stared at the red blood as if it was magical. She stood up went to pick off a leave of a nearby tree and put it on my hand. Immediately, the leave wrapped around my hand like a Band-Aid. "Thanks," I say. She nods and asked "Why is it red?" I shrugged. "All humans have red blood." She stabbed herself, revealing golden blood. A bit of my blood was on the arrow, so it mixed in. "I’m not human. That’s for sure." She said watching her blood drip onto the ground. Wherever the blood touched to the ground, the moss turned a bit, greener, a bit healthier.

She touched my cheek. and said "Hum." I let her touch my cheek. She traced my eyebrows with her thumb. She suddenly tensed and looked around. "Can you help me?" She asked skeptically. I nodded. "Cover me up then." She jumped up the tree. It seemed like the air bent for her. A gust of wind lifted her into a patch of thick needles.

Ten seconds later, Trackers showed up. One of them asked, "Did you see her?" "Who?" I played dumb. "Keara, the guardian of the winds." "Why do you want her?" I ask. So this girls’ name is Keara, hmm? " She is the beautiful girl in the kingdom, mate." Answered another. "If we sell her as a slave or wife to the king, he will be pleased and we will have money. Bloody hell! So much money we will have!" said a British Tracker. The others guffawed with him. "Or we will cut some of her hair, sell them as lucky amulets! Bottle her tears for potions! And her blood have incredible healing powers!" One added after they were laughing.

"Well, I have no idea who she is," I replied. One smart-looking Tracker narrowed his eyes. He crouched, touching to the patch of moss where Keara’s blood was spilled. "She was here!" the Tracker announced. "Are you sure you didn’t see her?" the Tracker asked accusingly. "Ok, fine." I relented. "She went that way. " I pointed behind them. They rushed away. After I couldn’t hear their stupid chanting for money, I called that the coast is clear.

She was already behind me. "Thank you." She whispered. She kissed both of my cheeks. Even if a was only a sign of friendship, it still made me warm inside.

I meet a human the other day. He was nice enough to lie to Trackers. That was probably the first time I trusted a human. He was nice, too. He knew my limits and which subjects he should not push his luck. His name was Gale. Wind. Gale means wind. And I’m the guardian of the winds. It must have been a coincidence. He just seemed nicer and more understanding than the other.

He could have been my brother. He had the same jet-black hair as me, but he was spikier. His eyes were electric blue. He had a nice face and all. He always joked about the village. He also had a lopsided smile that teachers would hate. I knew he was either the class clown or the troublemaker. ‘My second human friend.’ I thought. He looked at me funny. So did his other goons. He was very different from my first human friend.

My first human friend’s name is Jacob. He was funny and nice. Laughed a lot. But deep, down, inside, I knew he loved me, but it was not a mutual feeling. He was a brother to me, not a lover.

One day, he got impulsive. We were talking, and he just kissed me. I dunno why. I pushed him back. I told him that this couldn’t last and walked away.

But Jake wouldn’t leave me alone. He kept pestering me, telling me that he was sorry, that we could be friends again. I told him it was too dangerous anyway. He just wouldn’t stop bothering me.

One day, he pushed me to the brim. Cia was just a baby then. But it doesn’t mean her teeth weren’t poisonous. She bit him. I healed him after and told him what to do to not get it infected. He didn’t listen. He died from an infection 5 days later, in my arms. His last words were. "Don’t be stupid. Don’t kill humans, alright? Do it for me, ok?"

I swore on my life.

The weather started turning cold. The snow was now about 2 inches on the ground. Snowflakes danced around Keara.

"She’s beautiful, but she’s dangerous," John told his friends, giving a group of 20 boys intricate details of Keara. He promised he wouldn’t tell anyone else about Keara except these 20 dudes. The friends swore up and down that they wouldn’t try to visit her.

And that’s how the trouble started.

John’s friends pleaded him to go visit her. He promised he’ll manage to make her visit them.

It’s been three weeks since he promised his friends that. It’s been about a few days that his friends stopped annoying him.

One day, John, Steph, Thomas and I were walking by the creek. "Gale, you should go on a walk with Keara. To get to know each other. You know, that nice part by the creek, upstream from here." I shrugged and plunged into the forest. I guess that wasn’t a bad idea.

Every day, I visited Keara. She was expecting me every day. So today, I walked into the clearing. She tackled me and we landed in the snow. Our laughs echoed in the valley. She brushed the snow off her clothes and stood up. She took my hand and helped me up. "Wanna go on a walk by the creek?" I proposed. "No stupid jokes? No Trackers? No weirdos that will come out of nowhere and attack us?" She asked skeptically. "None that I know of." I grinned. She laughed and clutched my hand as we ran into a deeper part of the forest.

Gale and I ran into some big trouble. I absolutely hate that upstart John who thinks he owns me just because he saw me once. I made a mental note to run when I see a new human next time.

So basically, Gale and I were joking around by the creek, tossing snow into the water. I heard a twig snack behind me. Instinctively, I pull out my bow and pointed to the sound. "Wait here," I instruct Gale. He nods. I approached the area. Nothing. When I come back, Gale was gone. "Gale?" I raised my voice. I heard a muffled cry then Gale’s voice "Run!" he screamed frantically. I didn’t listen him. I ready my bow and advance to where I hear the yell. Suddenly, 20 boys, I didn’t recognize surged forward, enclosing, me in a tight circle. I couldn’t hurt them. I swore on my life. But they didn’t know that. I knocked five arrows on my bow pointed them at the nearest group of boys. Gale was pushed forward next to me. He had a cut next to his eye. I lower my bow and touch his cheek then I demand the mob "What do you want?"

John comes forward. He pointed towards his crowd "They want to meet you. Then perhaps the king wants to meet you. Then I would be rich. " He smiled with triumph. My blood ran cold.

The king? He was hunting me this whole time. He was the one who saw me when I was younger. He intended to keep me until I was old enough to marry. Then he would give me to one of his sons or himself. The king was such a cruel weirdo and he was differently crazy enough to think I was going to love him on the day. I mean, He was a prince when I was a girl, so he’s about my age. But it doesn’t mean I loved him.

I shook myself out of my thoughts. Gale kicked John in the groin. His friends tightened the circle. I let the arrows fly. All of them found their mark, but and landed in places enough to hurt yourself really badly, but not kill you. Like a limb or feet.

But I had other problems.

The crowd was overpowering. I couldn’t hurt them all. I grabbed Gale and ran.

I was so stupid! John is turning into an evil little tattletale. Keara led me into her home to heal me.

After we were done, I thanked her. "I mean, I’m sorry. I didn’t know John was thinking that. I thought he was being nice, but actually, he is such a thick head. I’m so sorry-" She shut me up with a quick peck on the lips. "Shut up." She shoved me out of her house playfully. Before I left, she said, "Meet me at sunrise tomorrow." I nodded and ran away.

I returned to Keara’s place before sunrise. John tried to catch me on my way home, but I took a detour for my house.

when I entered, Keara was packing…Or her hair was. She just paced around the room, occasionally taking something then passing it to her hair. Tendrils of her long wavy hair grabbed things and put them in a handmade duffel bag. When she saw me, she took the stuff from her hair and packed by hand. "That was so cool." I gaped. She slightly blushed. "I think I look like a freak when I do that." It was kinda true. It looked like she had an octopus on her head. I shrugged. I had my stuff in a simple denim backpack. Her duffel wasn’t much bigger. She zipped up and put her index finger and thumb in her mouth and whistled.

Cia the tiger came romping in. She flopped on the ground next to Keara for an ear scratch. "You know, Cia rarely likes humans. But I believe you’re a special case."She smiled and laughed at my expression when Cia stretched than paced towards me, pinning me down with one of her massive paws and licked me.

I laughed with her. Today was going to be the best day of my life.

So I guess my being-hunted-by-a-bunch-of-weirdos days are over. But I’m still worried about one thing; Nala was gone for about a week and hasn’t returned.

As if it was planned, Nala flies from in a window followed by five baby falcons. She screeches and lands on my left shoulder. (I’m assuming) her children pile on my other shoulder.

A small blue falcon is pushed off my shoulder. I catch it just in time. It was blue like her mother, but her wings were a bit purple. Her eyes shined with intelligence. She cooed softly. I squawked in falcon language "Your children?" Nala caws a yes. Their father must have been a red bird. A boy falcon was red with a bit of purple on his tail. Another younger-looking falcon was completely purple except for his tail that was blue. One little falcon was completely red, glinting brightly in the morning sun. Last but not least, a small female falcon was red with blue wings. She looked at me curiously. A smiled back.

"Ready?" I asked Gale. He nodded. I saddled Cia and he sat behind me. I roared at Cia "You sure it’s not too much weight?" She growled back "Am I that weak?" I giggled and bared my teeth. "No. I’m just concerned." She sheathed her claws. Gale hugged my waist. The little red glinting falcon settle on Cia’s head. The completely purple one made itself a nest in Gale’s hair. With my hair, I shaped a small bowl-like nest for the falcons. They dove right in. Bells the snake slithered around my leg and we set off. Nala tailed behind. Gale hugged me tighter. I turned and pecked him on the lips. He blushed.

For once, I didn’t mind that someone was hugging me.

We settled in a small cottage far away from the kingdom. Bells had children. Cia also had children. Keara and I were the only one who didn’t have offsprings in this house.

Bells had been hiding his egg in the closet the whole time. But when it hatched, I must have a what-the-flipping-hell-is-that look because Keara laughed so hard, she snorted.

We named Bells’ sons Zig and Zag. They had one body; yes; but two heads. So yeah, It was one snake with no tail. Just two heads on each side. Zig was blue. Zag was green like his father. Zig had inherited a small spearhead on his head with three tiny bells. Zag had inherited the three peacock feathers.

Meanwhile, Cia’s child also had one body. But three heads.

So yeah, it was a three-headed cat. Not a tiger. A cat.

The kitten was completely white except for the middle head, who had a black spot on her neck.

We named them in the following order (from right to left): Peanut, Butter, Jelly. They usually played with each other. They didn’t have wings but they did have her claws of ice.

Keara and I were a couple now, but I wasn’t ready for the next step.

But we’ve got time.

You might think our journey and story is finished.

But we’re on a journey towards tomorrow. A story never truly ends.

Author Notes: I wrote this a reaaally long time ago. As you can see, writer's get better as they write. I mean, hopefully. Maybe this is as bad as my writing now. XD Anyway, thanks for reading!

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