Allies

Third Person POV:

~Many years ago~

Sora sat comfortably in the center of the large nest. Her wings were wrapped around herself and her head was tucked into the feathers of her neck.

Her feathers—they had grown in recently so she was no longer the bald avian that she used to be. And while she was glad to have the feathers that not only protected and warmed her, but added to her beauty, she was also afraid because she knew that she would soon have to fly. She was afraid of plummeting to the ground and of being blown away. But mostly, she was afraid of leaving the safety of her nest and the two adult ravens that lived there along with her.

She turned her head slightly to stare at one of those adult ravens who was perched at the edge of the nest. He looked almost regal the way he sat with his chest puffed out, his tail flat behind him, and his wings curving perfectly around his figure. His beak was held out high and his eyes were set in a dead stare at nothing in particular.

"Father," said Sora softly. Her father seemed to be snapped out of whatever reverie he was in, and turned to look at her, bowing his head lightly.

"Yes, my child?"

"I want to be just like you when I get bigger!" she exclaimed happily. Her father's eyes seemed to suddenly glaze over.

"No, my child. You must be nothing like me when you get older. Become like your mother, she's a wonderful, caring raven, but not me."

"I love mother, but I want to be like you! And there's nothing you can do to stop me!" Her father sighed deeply and turned away from Sora, looking once again at nothing in particular. Sora shifted uncomfortably and looked down at the nest floor feeling guilty for what she had said. She thought that she must have angered her father.

"My child," he began, breaking the silence as well as Sora's thoughts, "you should not become like me. If anything become the complete opposite of what I am for I am a horrible being." Sora cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"What do you mean, father?" she questioned in curiosity.

"I have done horrible things in this lifetime that I greatly regret. I know that you know of the wolves and lunar flowers for I've told you many a time about them. We must help the wolves, putting even our own lives at risk, to reach paradise. After all, they protect us so 'tis only natural that we owe them our lives. But what I have done—it is absolutely inexcusable...

"About a week ago is when this happened. I was hunting with one of my friends. He was a wolf. And then a hunter appeared.

"I'm sure you know full well of our current situation: that the wolves are being slaughtered by those wretched humans, and many ravens, who have sworn their loyalty and life to the wolves with their birth alone, have begun to abandon them." Sora nodded, but said nothing, urging her father to continue with his story with the emotions playing in her eyes alone.

"The hunter came, my child. He shot my friend, the wolf. He was going to shoot me too. And the wolf, he was not dead yet so he stood up and attacked. And every time he ran at the human, the human would hit him with the barrel of his gun until his skull was shattered to pieces and you could literally see the gray matter oozing out of his forehead. Whimpering, the wolf still refused to fall.

"And I just stood there. The entire time, I was just standing there. I did not attempt to help him. No, I made no move to do such a thing. I just stayed there in midair, mid-flight—frozen.

"And then I ran. Before he was given the final blow, I ran like a coward only thinking of my own survival, leaving my friend to die. Leaving one of the wolves that I had pledged my life to, to suffer." Sora's father's gaze went down. He glared at the ground hundreds of feet below them.

"I'm such a disgrace," he whispered.

"Don't you dare say such a thing! You're no disgrace. You did what you had to do. Your instinct told you to run so you could survive and you did what it told you to do. That was the right thing to do. You're always telling me to follow my instinct, father! And if you would've died. Then," Sora began choking back a few sobs. "Then I would be left fatherless!" Sora shouted, finally letting the tears flow down freely. Her father, pulled her close to his side, covering her protectively with one wing.

"Ssh, my child. It's okay. You father is still here. He's still alive."

Sora's wails eventually died down and, wiping the tears from her face with her wings, she proceeded to look up at her father.

"I still want to be like you," she said firmly with her cheeks puffed out, and determination laced deeply into her eyes. Her father nodded.

"Just don't destroy your loyalty toward the wolves. Always stay by their side, my child."

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~A Few Days Later~

Sora sat on the center of the nest. She liked sitting there because it was as far away from the edge as she could get, and she didn't like the edge because, if she fell, well, it was one hell of a fall and Sora didn't know how to fly yet.

She sat there preening her feathers because she knew that she would eventually have to learn to fly, and her feathers had to be in tip-top condition for that day because there was no way she was going to risk falling to her demise.

All of a sudden the silence was broken by a low humming that caused Sora's head to perk up.

"What is that?" she asked to no one in particular seeing as she was alone in her home. The low hum gradually grew louder and louder. Sora, in fear, hid, as much of herself as she could, beneath her wings, but when she felt a nearing presence a few moments later, she unfurled her wings to get a better look, and she saw her parents rushing toward her.

"My baby!" shouted Sora's mother as she landed on the nest. "We must go now," she continued as she used her beak to push Sora toward the edge of the nest. "They're coming. And if we don't leave now, we'll be killed."

"They?" questioned Sora. "Who's they?"

"That's of no importance now, my child," spoke Sora's father. "But as that humming gets louder, they get closer. You must spread your wings and fly. Your life depends on it." Sora looked down at the long fall downwards and gulped loudly.

"I can't," she shook her head and watched as a few stray tears fell down—falling the same fall she was so afraid of.

"Now's not the time for this, my child! If we don't leave now, we'll die."

"So leave and leave me behind!," she shouted."I don't want to fly yet," she whispered as she shook her head violently. "I'm not ready for that."

The two adults noticed how much time had passed as they heard that the humming had become drastically louder than it was before. They exchanged concerned, yet knowing, glances as they saw their demise beginning to come into view. Sora stopped her crying and looked at the large airship becoming larger as it got closer.

Sora's mother stood in front of Sora and wrapped her wings around her child, bringing Sora as close as she could to her body. Then, Sora's father did the same to his mate. Sora stood confused in her mother's embrace until she heard the airship attacking—she heard shots being fired and her eyes widened.

Suddenly, Sora's body began to feel wet, and her vision was blurring—only this time it wasn't with tears. Blood had splattered onto her. Blood from both her mother and father.

The bullet had been shot. It went through her father and her mother, killing two birds with one stone (or rather bullet). Luckily, it had not traveled completely through her mother as well, and to her.

She sat there, suffocating on her own tears under the corpses of both of her parents. Grieving under their cadavers, covered in their blood. At least the tears would wash away the blood, right?

Sora did not even bother to move until the humming was completely gone, thinking that all life had been taken. It was then that she fought her way from under the carnage to the outside world where she could breathe and see once again. Although, Sora may have wanted to remain unable to see anything when she was faced with the gruesome sight: both of her parents lay lifeless. Her father over her mother protectively who was now over nothing protectively. Their faces were frozen showing the unbearable pain they had suffered before their deaths—both emotionally and physically.

Sora couldn't stand it anymore. She turned around, facing away from them and toward the edge of the nest. She couldn't stand being in this nest anymore. She couldn't stand being anywhere near these rotting bodies anymore.

And with that thought, she spread her wings and jumped. At first she fell straight down, almost as if it were a dive, but just as soon as she began to fall, the wind picked her back up. She flapped her wings lightly, and flew wherever the wind decided to push her.

Yes, she finally flew.

But at the expense it took for that to finally occur,—the death of her parents'—it made her unsure if it was worth it.

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~A Few Days Later~

Sora woke up alone in a dark cavern. She was immediately filled with terror as she wondered where she could be. Then it all came back to her: her parents were killed. Sobs began to wrack her body as the memory burned her cornea.

"Are you alright?" asked a soft voice. Sora saw golden eyes through her vision which was blurred by tears, and she immediately drew backwards, stopping her crying as she did so.

"It's okay, pup," said the awfully feminine voice as the figure grew closer to her. That's when she realized that the figure belonged to that of a female white wolf, and she began to relax.

"Where am I?"

"You're in my den," replied the female wolf kindly. "You crashed into the ground around here and, seeing that you were a raven, I felt that I should help you so I brought you back to my den so you could be safe as your body healed itself. You seemed pretty exhausted—you were unconscious for a couple of days." Sora's eyes widened. "What happened to you, pup?" Sora looked down to the ground and the female wolf pressed her ears flat against her head. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Sora shook her head.

"I was flying for a really long time," stated Sora plainly. "Flying away from my parents' killer." The wolf's eyes widened.

"Oh you poor thing!" she said, placing a paw behind Sora in reassurance. The paw was warm and comforting and she couldn't help but lean into it. It reminded her of her mother's touch: so gentle and caring. Closing her eyes, she put all of her weight on the paw and relished the feel. The wolf smiled lightly seeing her do so. Silence filled the den.

"BOO!" shouted a childish voice that broke the silence. Sora jumped and screamed in surprise and terror, and, then, fell flat on her face as she lost her balance. The female wolf drew back her paw and looked sternly at the cause of the sudden racket. The small white wolf pup was lying on his back, laughing at Sora, but when he sensed his mother's stare he immediately sobered up and sat down with his tail between his legs and ears flat against his head.

"Kiba!" shouted the female wolf at the young pup angrily.

"Sorry momma," he replied softly and guiltily, refusing to meet his mother's gaze. "I won't do it again."

"You better not," she threatened. "Now apologize to the raven." Kiba turned around to face Sora and, with his ears still flat against his head, and his tail still tucked safely between his legs, he apologized.

"I'm sorry Ms. Raven," he said. Sora stood up from the ground, shaking her wings free of dirt and dust, and glared lightly at Kiba before reluctantly accepting his apology with a nod.
Kiba's mother smiled lightly.

"Now," she began,"I can't just go around calling you 'the raven'. What's your name, pup?"

"My name," Sora began to reply, "is—," but she was cut off by howling heard from outside followed by a wolf rushing into the den.

"The humans have started a fire! They're trying to burn us! We must leave now!" he said before taking off himself. The female wolf's eyes widened as she grabbed hold of her son by his scruff with her mouth and motioned for Sora to follow her.

As soon as they reached outside, they were met by the intense heat of the fire.

Sora witnessed as the wolves ran around, howling and whimpering trying to find an escape path. Some only helping themselves and some helping others. She watched as the beautiful lunar flowers, like the ones that used to grow around her home, vanished into thin air, leaving only their ashes behind. And she saw as the kind, female wolf she had just met tried to frantically find a way out of the inferno for herself and her son.

Letting go of her son, the female wolf fell to the floor and started coughing and gasping for air. The smoke had already more than filled her lungs and she was beginning to asphyxiate.

Kiba stood before his mother's body, pawing at her nose and nudging her snout.

"Momma! Momma! Please get up, momma! You need to get up! If you don't get up we're gonna burn here."

"No," wheezed out his mother, "I'm going to burn here. Not you. Run now. Find a way out."

"No, momma!" Kiba began to look around frantically for help, but everyone seemed to be too concerned with themselves and their own loved ones to stop and try to help the pup who's mother was dying before his very eyes.

"No..." he whispered as tears began to form in his eyes. The fire began to roar even louder, and a flame lightly licked one of Sora's legs causing her to cry out. She immediately took flight and started flying higher, following her instinct that kept telling her to survive.

As she flew, she took one last look down and saw the raging fire. She saw dozens of wolves still straining to escape and dozens more who had failed. And she saw a small, white wolf pup with golden tear-filled eyes staring straight at her pleadingly as he stood next to the carcass of his mother.

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Sora scoffed as she looked at the moon.

These memories had just resurfaced. She had buried them deep into the recesses of her own mind for years and, yet, for some reason, they resurfaced.

"Seems like I ended up becoming just like father—just like I wanted to be," she whispered to herself.

"So is it really instinct that motivates me—because the last time that instinct motivated me, it told me to run away—or perhaps something else? Guilt?" thought Sora. "And of all the people I abandoned, it was directly him. So is this truly love that I feel for him, as I thought—or perhaps I subconsciously felt guilty for abandoning him all this time..."

Sora stood from her perch on the tree branch and jumped into the air, transforming and taking flight. She flew in the air, staring at the figured below her.

There, sat Hige, Tsume and Toboe on a rock. Kiba was a couple of feet away with one of the humans they had encountered next to him. They were speaking.

And as Sora flew around to clear her thoughts, they wandered to a certain white wolf the way they had been seeming to be doing quite often as of late.