Of Birds and Wolves

Down in the forest, there as a homey little clearing full of logs for perfect seats. Though they weren’t as comfy as they looked.

Bryce was massaging shoulders and around wings on everyone while they relaxed. He really knew what he was doing. “Wonder what they’re going to DC for,” Bryce muttered as he was working out the kinks in Kaylee’s shoulders.

“What even is DC?” Pigeon asked, as he was lying in a pile of dirt. Leara rolled her eyes and reminded herself to keep him out of the filth.

“I remember the white coats talking about it. It’s huge and where the president lives. Oh, to the left a little more, Bryce.” Kaylee seemed to be enjoying herself.

Leara shrugged her shoulders. “Who knows; maybe Fang knows about it.”

A couple snickers escaped from the flock’s lips as she turned red. Something tugged on the side of her shirt and Leara looked to see Toronto smiling back at her.

“It’s okay, Leara,” he said soothingly. “He feels the same way you do. But he’s kind of confused, too.”

What could he be confused about? Maybe it’s just something in his mind… Letting her thoughts wander for a moment, she recalled their fight with the Erasers a couple days ago.

“Alright guys, I’ve got something new I want to try,” she announced, trying to sound more leader-like.

Bryce paused his kneading of Lacey’s back, making her frown.

“You all remember a couple days ago when we fought those Erasers, right?”

“How could we forget? We got our as—butts kicked.” Kiera bit her tongue. That was all they needed: mutant freaks with potty-mouths.

Only nodding, Leara declared in a softer tone, “Well, next time we’ll be the ones kicking butt. To get there, we need to have some daily training. Max helped me learn how to fight, though there’s still room for improvement.”

Lacey gave Leara a sad look and whined, “But, I don’t to fight. It’s not nice.”

“It’s either you fight, they kill you, or they take you back to the lab,” Kiera stated. Her glare was a bit too serious.

As her face flushed to a pale white, Lacey muttered, “Guess I’ll fight…”

With a stern glance at Kiera, Leara clapped her hands together. “Okay. Pop quiz: Erasers just dropped from the sky. What do you do?”

“Make them feel pain,” Toronto said, causing Leara’s face to flush. Every head turned to the four-year old. “What?” he shrugged his shoulders, as if his response was normal.

“You are one freaky kid…” Bryce muttered, with an almost disgusted look on his face.

“It’s a start,” Leara said. “An easy way for self-defense as well.”

“Can I burn them?” Kiera smiled. Leara rolled her eyes. “You have to be careful, Kiera. The last time you did, you burnt yourself. Speaking of which, are your hands okay?”
“Just dandy,” Kiera held up her hands to show a couple blisters and some red skin. Nothing horrible and with their healing, her hands would be like new in the next couple days.

Pigeon stood up and kicked at the dust. “Great, just great! Everyone has something to do except me. Except for me! Why can’t I do something cool?”

“But you do have something special,” Leara said as she squatted down to Pigeon’s size. “You have awesome will power, Pigeon. During that fight, you gave it your all. You didn’t go down easy and you got some good hits in before you got knocked down. I don’t think my will power is as strong as yours. You tell yourself that you can do it and I’m pretty sure next time no one will want to mess with you.” The older kids could tell she was more trying to comfort Pigeon, even though she was partly right.

With teary eyes, he gave her a little grin. “You mean it?”

She chuckled, “Of course. Now, what I’m saying to you goes to all of you. With will power, you can do what you thought you couldn’t. It’s about believing in yourself and the rest of the flock. We’re fighting for each other so we don’t end back up in the lab. How about we start off with punching?”

About an hour later, Fang and Nudge walked into the clearing as Leara was helping Pigeon learn to kick while still in flight.

Nudge squealed with delight. “Leara, I thought I’d never see you again! Max kept saying she never wanted to see you again. You remember Total, right? Did you ever have a dog? Oh wait, never mind… We’re on our way to scout out DC! I planned out a map and everything. The rest of the flock went back to New York and are hiding out there. But we’re here and boy, am I excited! I--”

In the strangling hug Nudge was giving Leara, she managed to cover Nudge’s mouth. “I know. Fang found us earlier, so we all know. Jeez, you talk just as much as Kaylee.”

“Bet she can’t,” Kaylee challenged. “I’m the champ when it comes to talking.”

“Have you got a challenge! I once talked for three straight hours. Ready?” Nudge confidently strode up to face Kaylee. With both of them at the same height, everyone else could see the sparks fly from their eyes.

“Dear God, someone save us all before we explode!” Bryce mocked, throwing his hands in the air.

“That can be arranged,” Kiera smiled evilly.

So the chaos began: Nudge and Kaylee kept talking and talking while Kiera had a little flame on her fingertip, trying to set Bryce on fire. Toronto stood silently as Pigeon threw a handful of dirt at Lacey, who began to cry because her new shirt was dirty.

Leara groaned as Fang chuckled, “Not easy leading, is it?”

“You want to take my place? At least while we scout out,” Leara asked as she walked over to Lacey and brushed the dirt off of her shirt. She shot a dirty glance to Pigeon and he knew he was in trouble.

“Nah, you should keep your place. Think I might lose my head if I tried.”

Squatting down to Lacey’s size, Leara said softly, “Lacey, you remember when we bought your clothes and I said they’ll probably get dirty?” Sniffling, the eight-year old nodded her head. “This is what I meant,” Leara continued. “Though I promise that someone won’t throw dirt anymore.” Pigeon blushed and looked down at his feet.

Forcing a smile, Lacey seemed to be in brighter spirits.

“Ouch! Alright, that’s it…” Bryce yelled.

In a split second, Leara was in between Kiera and Bryce as they were about to fight. Giving them both a dirty look, she said sternly, “And what example are you setting for the younger ones?”

Both of them sighed and relaxed from their stances. “Anyone have some bandages?” Kiera asked aloud as she looked at her hand.

Once again, her fingers were red and covered in blisters. A couple of them was blood blisters and had popped open, looking painful enough.

“Here,” Fang pulled a long piece of fabric out of his pocket. “What?” he asked as Leara gave him a weird look. “We each have cloth strips just in case someone gets hurt. They make good bandages for on-the-go trips like this.”

A good idea, nonetheless. “So when do you think we should leave?”

“Soon,” Fang said as he looked to the sun. “We should’ve been half-way there by now.”

“Shoot. Well, let’s get going. Everyone all rested up?” Leara did a double check over her flock. Bryce was helping Kiera tie the bandages on her fingers. Kaylee and Nudge were still talking nonsense; but otherwise, everyone seemed ready.

“Alright, up and away, guys,” Leara commanded. They were able to take off one at a time so no one hit a tree on the way up.

In the air, Leara and Fang took the lead, followed by Nudge, Kaylee and Toronto. Pigeon and Lacey flew right behind with Kiera and Bryce tailing them, in case someone started to fall.

“Down in the woods, I heard movement other than ours. I think someone’s been following us, so let’s lose ‘em,” Fang gave Leara a sideways glance as he began to bank to the north. “There was a river back this way. Maybe if we just keep going back and forth, we could lose them.”

“Let's give it a shot. Toronto, keep your mind alert. Let us know if we have any company,” Leara looked back at the four-year old, who nodded. She smiled at how tough he was acting and the serious look on his face. Though it was surprising how serious he was for a four-year old.

Kaylee and Nudge were still talking endlessly. “I saw the cutest shirt when we were shopping the other day. It was pink and had ruffled sleeves,” Kaylee explained.

“Really?” Nudge mused. “That’s cute! Oh you should’ve seen the pants I saw! They would’ve matched perfectly. Jeans with rhinestones all over and…”

“God, those two really are going to talk forever,” Leara sighed. “Hopefully we’ll have some other sort of entertainment…”

When Fang’s cheeks turned a little pink, Leara instantly realized what he took it as and bit her tongue. I didn’t mean it like that… Oops… But a little smirk grew on his lips as he looked forward. Her stomach did a flip and she could feel the rising heat in her cheeks. No doubt they were beet red.

“There is something down there; two somethings,” Toronto announced.

Fang nodded and said sternly, “Alright then. Nudge and Kaylee, you’ll have to put a pause on your competition for now. We have to be quiet for awhile.”

Surprisingly, both of them instantly stopped talking. “That was easy,” Leara mouthed to Fang, who chuckled under his breath.

For a couple hours, the enlarged flock flew over the river again and again, until they finally lost their trackers and left them in the dust. They were approaching a suburban area as the sun was getting dangerously close to the horizon.

“Bet the Erasers don’t like the suburbs. Way too many people, but not enough to blend in, like New York. Maybe we could find a place to stay down there,” Nudge pondered out loud.

“Good thinking, Nudge,” Leara rewarded. “Now everyone, keep your eyes open for any place that…”

“How about that tree house?” Kiera pointed almost directly down. The little house seemed empty and unused for quite some time.

“That’ll work,” Fang agreed as he swooped down to check it out. Leara kept the flock in the air until Fang poked his head out of a window and gave a thumbs-up.

Inside, it was a little cramped with nine people, but it would have to do. “Alright, let’s get some shut-eye so we’re ready to go tomorrow,” Leara looked at her flock while Nudge and
Fang tapped fists like they did with their flock.

Within an instant, Toronto, Pigeon, Lacey, Kaylee and Nudge were out cold.

“For only four-years old, he keeps up well,” Fang mused as he eyed Toronto. His black and blue wings were slightly wrapped around himself, almost making himself look like a baby blue jay.

Leara smiled. “He is just a little stronger than your normal four-year old. A lot more serious, too.”

“And creepier,” Bryce muttered. “I’m sorry, but that kid really freaks me out.”

“Angel is the same way.” Fang seemed to take Bryce’s comment personally. “It’s just the gift they have. They’re only little kids; you can’t blame them.”

“True,” Bryce had a guilty look on his face. “Well, I’m going to sleep.” He shot Leara a glance that said, “And if you two are up all night…”

Kiera saw the glance and cuffed his shoulder playfully, her bright eyes giving away her good mood. “Oh, leave them alone. Just because you want to ‘get-to-know’ Max…”

“Shut up, Kiera!” Bryce flustered, but took his voice down so not to wake the kids.

“Pssh, good luck,” Fang muttered as Leara chuckled. Though Bryce and Max probably would make a good couple… They could annoy they crap out of each other.

“Tomorrow, we need to get into DC. That’ll be our main goal; then we can try to find someplace or something to eat,” Fang whispered.

“There’s still some money on this card. Maybe just enough for a decent meal for all of us,” Leara whispered back, patting her pocket.

“Good. I’ll take first watch. Want me to wake you up next or Bryce?”

“Just wake me up,” Leara nodded. Bryce and Kiera had already gone and lay down by the kids. “Bryce needs his beauty sleep.”

“I heard that,” he growled in retaliation. His voice was muffled because he was curled into a ball so he wasn’t laying on anyone.

Soon, the light breathing of the extended flock was all the noise that was around them. In her chest, Leara’s heart began to thump again. She suddenly felt Fang’s hand on her chest, over her heart. “You really should tell your heart to not beat so loud. It’s going to wake up the whole neighborhood.”

Too embarrassed to reply, she looked down, watching Fang’s hand moving with the beating motion in her chest.

Under her chin, she could feel Fang place his other hand and lift her face back up so she was looking at him. Knowing what was happening, she quickly shut her eyes as her cheeks grew bright red and her stomach was a swarm of butterflies.

Only this time, it wasn’t just a peck. Since she’s never kissed before, she didn’t have anything to compare it to. It was more than she got earlier. The kiss was sweet and tender, but yet, she could feel something else with this kiss. Something warm inside her that made her want him even more than ever.

It lasted longer, too. On her sides, she could feel his hands, warm and almost protective. Trying to think of what to do herself, she wrapped her arms around his neck out of instinct. He instantly pulled her in closer and she was sure her chest was beating heavy against his.
After what felt like an hour later, he broke away and they were able to breathe again. “You should probably get some sleep. Long day tomorrow,” he whispered, his gaze never breaking from hers.

Her mind felt muddled and confused, still stuck on what had just happened. Only nodding, she laid down next to where Toronto was curled up. She heard Fang as her eyelids became heavy and sleep was taking over. “G’night.”