a little out of wing

Flying, Zephyr discovered soon after he'd fledged, was everything he'd hoped it'd be.

It had been late at night (and perhaps too early into his flying lessons) when the urge hit him to break the rules for the first time in his young life. Under any other circumstances he would have doubled down on his obedience. He would have stayed confined to the castle out of his powerful desire to please the family who had adopted him, he would have restrained his urges and instead flapped wildly around the great hall, producing more feathers for Lia to clean up in the morning. Zephyr considered this option and others, but eventually after hours of restless fidgeting in his bed, had instead planned for escape. Temporary escape. Flight.

Everyone around him had been telling him how big and strong he was getting, how good he was at flying, how fine a raptor specimen he was. Surely it was time, right? Zephyr repeated the assumptions to himself the entire way up the stairs, which was a rather long walk considering the stealth he required. In reality he knew nobody would bother him if they caught him out of bed and he explained he was going to his room, the Goose Room, but no secret mission was complete without a little dash of ninja. He had a very clear goal and a vivid picture in his head on how he'd achieve it, and the higher he climbed the more excited he became at the prospect of a little bit of mischief.

Reaching the Goose Room and quietly sliding behind the door, he bee-lined it to the window. The panes had been broken long before by the murderous avian who'd once tried to ravage him, and while he was growing excessively large he was sure he'd still be able to fit. He climbed up onto the sill and from it, onto the parapets, overlooking the castle's courtyard from it's highest vantage point.

Zephyr did not linger long upon the edge, feeling already the nervousness begin to rise at not only the idea of getting caught, but also at realizing just how freaking high this castle was. He'd glided from trees, rocks and small structures, but never had he felt the open air from this high up. He leaped off before he could overthink it, put aside the instant feeling of fear and regret, and allowed his instincts to take over.

The young raptor found quickly that flight was much more enjoyable when it was at length, over distance, and beneath the stars. It felt as if the air was forming around him, encouraging him onward and enjoying the journey as much as he was. With so much height to start out with he found the effort reduced as well, relying mostly on the ability to glide with the occasional burst of flapping to lift in height as needed. Not five minutes into the flight and he was already wishing it would never end, the grin on his beak never lessening. Trees, rocks, valleys, hills, rivers, they all looked different from up high. Even the sky looked different, like he was almost among the stars. He lifted his right wing slightly, aligning it with the center star of the brightest constellation he could see, imagining he could nearly touch it. His vulture-like neck craned around further to inspect the night sky, but he was forced to focus forward once more as he realized that he had a tenancy to turn whatever direction he was investigating.

Eventually, everything had to end. Zephyr felt his altitude dropping and with it, felt the heaviness of his wings. Even without frequent flapping there were minute adjustments of weight and angle he was required to make, and with the momentum of his glide beginning to vanish, he felt the effects of the strain much harder. He craned his neck downward and to each side, looking for a suitable spot to land and eventually deciding upon a less-than-crash landing onto a particularly flat expanse of soft-looking grass. As he neared it he began to flap against the wind as hard as he could, slowing himself so that when he did hit the ground, he took only a hard tumble and didn't break every one of his bones.

Getting back to his earth-bound talons was as disappointing as anything he'd ever experienced so far, almost as disappointing as the realization that he was lost. Keen eyes blinked rapidly, taking in the darkness and the trees and the rocks and grass and... why did everything around here look the same??? His feathers shrunk in against his body in fear, suddenly aware of the precarious position he'd put himself. There was no way he had the ability to fly all the way back, not when the best he could accomplish was a glide and no tree in the area gave anywhere near enough height to glide all the way home. He couldn't even determine which way was home if he'd had the ability to fly back, not after his dizzying tumble. The sound of running water reached his ears but even that couldn't help him pinpoint where in Auster he'd landed. Suddenly he wished he had paid more attention in his lessons, that he had asked his adoptive parents to share more of their navigational knowledge. Belatedly the thought occurred to him that if he did manage to make it back to the castle alive, his parents were able to dismember him as quickly as any hungry cougar could.

Crouching down in the grass, Zephyr made himself 'small'. It was quite a feat as he rivaled the height now of the average wolf, and doubted he could hide behind even a berry bush if he could find one, but the instincts of a downed 'chick' were strong. This was dangerous and not the fun, sneaking out of your room and ninja-walking up the stairs in hopes your parents don't catch you sort of dangerous.  


Word count: 1003

"Zephyr"