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"

Dandelion had camped for the night, drowsing contentedly with her back to a rock wall, the overhang sloping over her head protectively. It was difficult as a traditional prey animal to be solitary while traveling - It could be dangerous to let your guard down even long enough to graze, let alone sleep. But it was what it was. She had traded safety for freedom, and she wouldn't regret that. But late today she had entered unfamiliar lands,and had not had time to see much before darkness fell and she had needed to make camp. Now she stood with her packs on the ground and only the blanket that cushioned her from them still tied over her back, one hoof cocked and head bobbing slightly with each breath, sleeping but lightly, ready to spring awake at a disturbance.

And a disturbance there was, though not an expected one. She opened her eyes just in time to see an awkward, barely-fledged young bird of a type she had never seen before landing in the grass before her temporary shelter. The way it peered around, it seemed lost. Lost, and maybe frightened.

"Are you all right, youngling? she questioned, still within her shelter. She didn't want to startle him by leaping out at him before the poor thing knew she was there.

The absolute last thing Zephyrus expected to hear in the depths of night here, lost and questioning his life choices was a voice. It was a kind voice speaking kind words, but breaking the silence after he'd keyed himself up imagining cougars and bears had managed to shock him instantly out of his feathers. He abandoned his not-so-tiny huddle in the grass at speed, tripping near-instantly on his frantically flapping wings and crashing his chest into the dirt with a thud.

A few beats of his racing heart later he recalled the words themselves, twisting his head over his shoulder toward the source and staring it down with wide, frightened eyes. "Yeah, no, I'm fine." He breathed, working much too hard to feign nonchalance and failing miserably. "I just, uh..." Crap, there was absolutely no logical excuse, not one that wouldn't immediately clue in a predator to his vulnerable state away from his 'nest'.

Zephyr clambered back to his talons, craning his vulture-like neck low to the ground to peer through the grass at the speaker. It was an animal he'd never seen before and it was larger then any creature he'd ever laid eyes on. Larger then his parents, larger then any of their companions, larger even then a bear. "Please don't eat me." The stranger did not look particularly predatory to his eyes, but her thick muscular build was a far cry from any deer he'd ever seen. From his long four seasons of experience, muscle tone spoke to a warrior, and warriors were always deadly.

"Zephyr"

Dandelion snorted in surprise at the sudden explosion of movement and feathers as the young bird flailed, but stood still. It would hardly do for them both to be ratcheting around as though their tails were both on fire. She waited until he had calmed enough to spot her in her shelter, then carefully made her way out - slowly, though with a light clatter of hooves as she stepped through the rocky shelter. "No, of course not," she assured him. "I am a horse, so a grazer, not a carnivore. Though if you happen to have any honey candies I might prove a danger to them," she added laughingly, seeking to put the young thing at ease. "My name is Dandelion. Are you lost?"

So many questions bubbled to the tip of his beak and Zephyr had to clamp it shut to keep them from spilling out from nervousness. The creature had a name, a species, clicky clacky hooves, a snort that sounded like thunder, and a fondness for something he assumed was food. Only the reminder that he was still very lost kept him from demanding story time from the stranger. He tip tapped his talons in place uncertainty as she began her cautious approach, suppressing the instinct to flee with the clear knowledge that he'd not get very far. "Like a big deer?" The raptor asked hesitantly, lifting his head slowly as she grew nearer. This 'horse' was large, but on closer inspection, so was he. Being comparative in size to her made him feel a lot less like the fluffy ball of down that had been attacked so long ago in his tower.

"My name is Zephyrus, I.. am lost, yes." His gaze dropped in shame. "I'm not very good at flying and I flew too far. I didn't pay much attention to where I was going. My parents will be very upset with me if I don't get home before they wake up. Have you seen a castle anywhere around here?" A sudden thought occurred to him and he gasped in fear, his head snapping upwards to meet her kindly gaze once more. "Oh no, am I even still in Auster?"

"Zephyr"

Dandelion careful suppressed a laugh at his initial question. "A bit like a big deer, yes, though we do not grow antlers. You may have seen onagers or asses on the plains? Horses are more closely related to them."

The young bird explained his predicament, and Dandelion nodded gravely. "I saw the castle in the distance when I came this way from the land-bridge. It should be..." She thought back to her route that she had taken since the last sight of the castle. "Somewhere north west of here." She hesitated a moment, considering him closely. He was young, barely fledged. He clearly hadn't had a great deal of practice in flight yet, since he said he wasn't good at it, and he had flown quite far. Would he be able to fly back? Would a bird as large as that even be able to make it into the air without something to drop off at this age? It seemed unlikely, as well, that a diurnal bird this young had had a great deal of night navigation training. "Would you like a ride back?" she asked gently. "I wouldn't mind. Besides, I could trade with your pack while I was there, so it would not take me out of my way."

The words Dandelion used in comparison to her own species were as foreign as the word 'horse' was and Zephyr looked sheepish as he shook his head in reply. So that was why he had been drug around to hunting lessons, he was missing a wide gap in knowledge of the world, especially as it had barely been a season since he'd actually wandered any distance away from the castle. A flightless bird was not easy to travel with or protect, and growing as quickly as he did, Zephyr didn't like to stray too far from food. His stomach rumbled at the thought. How had he forgotten to bring snacks?

The horse explained that she did indeed know from which way he came, north-west was a good starting point, but how to find it when the sun was gone? "Do we need to wait until the sun comes up to find our way home?" He asked, his discomfort clear. As time passed it was becoming less and less likely that he was going to get away with this adventure unreprimanded.

"Would you like a ride back?" Snapped from his thoughts, the raptor's beak curved instantly into a grin. Rides were one of his favorite activities since the moment he'd been adopted, the closest thing he could get to flying that wasn't actually flying. His wings were tired. The smile faltered for a moment as he remembered his immense size (combined with the fact that he no longer fit upon his wolf family's backs) and consideration was clear in his eyes as he tried to come up with an answer that was not ignorant or rude but also... well, just not rude. "I would love a ride, if you think -" He intercepted his words, already knowing it would come out either calling the horse fat or insulting her strength. "Yes, please." If he was too heavy, she'd say something, right? He ambled over to her side and idled there a moment, struggling to determine the kindest way to climb up.

"Zephyr"

Dandy smiled encouragingly at the bird as he sidled up to her nervously. "Give me a moment and we can make this easier for you." She clattered back into the shelter, picking up each pack in her teeth and reaching back to place it onto the harness over the blanket on her back, shoving it slightly so the prongs on the bottom caught onto the harness and held. Returning to the bird, she knelt down. "You can hold onto the pack so you don't claw me but you can keep your balance,", she told him as he hopped into place. Carefully, she rocked back to her hooves and waited a moment for him to settle himself. "All right, youngling, let's see about getting you back. I'm from the north, so normally I would use the north star to navigate, but down here the north star and Ursa Major aren't visible, so we'll need to use other constellations." Turning towards the south, slowly so the bird didn't fall, she indicated a slightly crooked cross-shaped constellation. "One way of navigating in the south is the southern cross. It isn't as accurate as the north star, but it will lead you south. Draw an imaginary line through the longest part of the cross down about five times it's length, and that will point just off south. But since we aren't going south, we are going northwest, we need a different method." She turned again towards another set of stars. "There are constellations called equatorial constellations that are visible in the north and south hemispheres. But they are each only visible at certain times of the year - during the summer you'd see here a constellation called Scorpio. We're looking for one called Orion - the hunter." She showed him the shape of the constellation, locating it in the sky. "These three stars are Orion's belt. These three up here form his shoulders and neck. Take a line from the middle star in the belt and go up just to the right of the middle star in the top and that is about north." She faced the direction the stars indicated. "But we want to go northwest, so we need to orient to the left of north." Moving again she faced about halfway between north and west. "To navigate this way we want to pick out a landmark on our path, go to it, orient to the star again, and pick a new landmark on the route until we get there, and the last landmark will be your home. Ready?" Waiting for his assent, she set off towards the first landmark.

The horse seemed uniquely equipped for carting things upon her back, quickly retrieving and setting into place a pack that Zephyr immediately envied. He needed to get himself one of those, it must be very helpful for carrying snacks. Climbing up as directed and finding his balance, he awaited the beginning of their journey. Dandelion was a wonderful teacher, taking the opportunity to not only assist him in finding his way home but explaining the subject of star navigation with clarity, the lesson tailored perfectly to his young mind. Zephyr nodded along at her words, his colorful beak tipping with interest with each direction she spun to to indicate.

First was the south cross, a constellation he'd noticed in the sky but never had a name for before now. It looked almost like a sword, and he decided that the irony of the fact that it would likely never lead him home would be enough for him to remember the direction it signified. North of the castle was ocean, the southern cross would only lead him further and further from home.

The next set of constellations were harder to follow and remember, but he did his best as she pointed it out to him in the clear starry sky above. It was a lot of steps to memorize to find the point that would direct him north, and Zephyr was forced to accept that he'd likely need to practice this type of navigation more in the future. Dandelion declared that north was still not the direction they were looking for, they wanted north-west, and that made sense to Zephyr as he knew that the western border of the castle was water as well.

Now that they had a foundation of where both north and south were, east and west were distinguishable even to his inexperienced mind. The next step was, as she explained, to navigate by landmark. He blinked as she explained the process and confirmed his readiness to leave, bracing himself against her pack as they headed off toward the northwest.

"What does the landmark do to help us?" He asked as they walked. "Can't we just follow to the left of the star all the way home?"

"Zephyr"