fly so high that i need to come down for oxygen

There wasn't much Zephyr found more thrilling than the praise of the wolves who had raised him. The growing raptor's plumage fluffed out in pride, a pleased grin on his beak as he basked in Artorias' approval. Zephyr's every goal had been to live up to his wolf family's expectations and to embody the values that the Hallows and its knightly wolves stood for, and in doing these things he had hoped to make up for the unfortunate fact that his bloodline didn't quiiiite match up to that of Artorias or Briar's. His adoptive parents had never made him feel any less of their son for being a bird, but it was a difference he was never fully able to get over when he considered where he fit in his family... and where he might fit later, when one day his mother and father had biological children of their own.

The statement that he could choose to winter elsewhere shook him a moment, his bright eyes blinking in soft bewilderment. He could? Without his family, without the pack? Zephyr didn't know how to feel about the thought, and he stood quiet against the strengthening winds as he absorbed it, his father's paw upon his talon.

Collecting his thoughts into an appropriate and not overly-emotional question was difficult, and it took time it did not appear they had. The winds were growing stronger and the rumble of thunder had begun to sound. Storms were not new to Zephyr and they were definitely not new to Artorias, so why had it turned the Aegis so serious? Artorias explained that he was familiar enough with this territory to know that there were caves within, and requested he scout ahead to find shelter. For a brief moment he hesitated over his answer, but in the end his desire to please the man won out over the soreness in his wings. "Sure!" Stepping back from the wolf, he turned back to the cliff-side and faced off against the approaching, darkened clouds.

The storm seemed to grow closer with each passing second, and before he could waste any more time in contemplation, Zephyr leaped once more into the skies. Spreading his wings wide, he banked a sharp turn and rode the ocean breeze up and past his father, racing the storm as he searched the towering rock wall for anything that might signal a cave or a den.

An intermediate flier at best, Zephyr was unprepared for the rage of the storm. The winds he was so used to gliding were violent and unpredictable, forcing him beyond his comfort zone to where he had to frequently flap and adjust direction. Rain had begun to fall, the droplets hitting with such force that he could swear they were shards of ice. Occasionally he'd glance down and catch sight of Artorias where he ran, but the requirements of simply staying in the air were too demanding of him to risk it with any regularity. The muscles in his chest burned hot with pain, and each breath he took felt suffocatingly thick with moisture. Never before had he seen a storm so violent, nor one that came on so quick.

Just as he was ready to angle himself into a steep spiral back to ground to where he hoped he'd find his father, Zephyr caught sight of a peculiar darkness higher up on the cliff as well as a waterlogged route up towards it. He threw his wings back to interrupt his forward movement, beating them hard until he was hovering unevenly above the path. Letting loose a desperate, eagle-like call (for he knew his voice would be too hard to hear through the hurricane) the raptor signalled Artorias, though it was cut short by another much louder crack of thunder.

No longer with the momentum to soar and relying on his strength alone, Zephyr was tiring quickly. Before he could determine whether or not Artorias had caught sight of him and the cavern he had found, the winds shifted once more. He found himself sucked  violently to the side, like an icy claw had swatted his tiring form out of the air and into the nearby stone wall. His feathered form slid down the rock, landing in a shuddering heap on the outcropping. Shuffling away from the edge, Zephyr pushed himself up tight against the wall. His talons scrabbled to find purchase on the carved stairway, fast moving water flowing down between his toes. Once more, the argentavis called out. "DAAAD!"

Total Word Count: 2492

"Zephyr"