Wow! I definitely forgot to upload the next chapter *d'oh* But I will do it asaptual! So, later on today, you should be able to find out what happens next. Sorry for the delay... if there was anyone who was actually following this :sweat:

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Chapter Four

The landing pad was in sight and she flew past it, she was going to her house to see if Oainix had left a clue in the letter that morning. Maybe something that she hadn’t noticed before like a small detail that could tell her where she could find him. The streets of Moirai were far less crowded than the ones in Pacifios. Landing just in front of her porch she fumbled with the lock to the front door and considered bursting through it. She ran inside and went straight for her room to snatch the letter off the pillow where she had left it.
She read over it again quickly, her eyes darting back and forth on the page. There was nothing unusual about the note, it was a normal love note that you would write to someone. One thing stood out to her though, he had said that he would see her tonight. Obviously he hadn’t planned on doing anything that would go against this.
Zephyr folded the letter and stuffed it into the pouch on her hip. The two Winglies that were following her might be catching up any time now so she had to get away from this place. They wanted anything that had to do with Oainix but she wasn’t going to be offering any information. She clenched her claws as she ran to the doorway preparing to fly as soon as she stepped across the threshold.
Zephyr reached the entrance and froze.
There were two large Winglies wearing suits with small black eyes coming up the path towards her house.
Zephyr swallowed hard and flushed as one of them spoke to her. “Miss Zephyr?” She nodded in response but inwardly was getting tired of hearing her name being spoken in that manner today. “May we come in?” She hardly moved before they had pushed past her and stepped into her house. “We’ve been sent here to watch you and make sure that you stay,” he paused, “safe.”
The emphasis he put on the last word made her think that they had exactly the opposite in mind. It sent a chill down her spine. She caught herself starring into the dark eyes of one of the Winglies. They showed absolutely no emotion on their faces at all. One stood by the door with her and the other walked around her living room slowly eyeing all her possessions that were on display; photos of her, interesting rocks she had found on the ground and other various knickknacks.

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“Yeah come on in. Why don’t you make yourself at home,” she said through her teeth.
“I think we will,” the one standing near her replied with what might have been a smile.
The Winglie that had been inspecting her possessions was a little smaller than the Winglie beside her. He nodded and said, “Thank you Miss.” Rounding the couch he sat down and put his arm up over the back of the couch. She half expected him to prop his feet up on the table in front of him but thankfully, for his sake, he didn’t. The other winglie wasn’t ready to sit down yet and he followed the same path the other had just taken looking at her pictures. He stopped in front of one with Zephyr and Oainix. They were both smiling from ear to ear with their arms around each other.
“What a happy couple. It’s a tragedy that he turned to a life of crime.” He turned to look at her with those cold dark eyes and frowned. “While we’re here, why don’t you give us a tour of the house?”
Zephyr held back a growl. They had some nerve barging in here and then asking for a tour as if they really were her guests. What’s next, she thought, tea and cakes?
“Sure,” she said coolly, “Through the door on your right is the kitchen, the one beside it is the bathroom and the last one, the one on the far left leads to my bedroom. That’s all there is to my house.” She crossed her arms and squinted back at him. “Feel free to show yourself around.”
The winglie that was on his feet still nodded and walked into the kitchen disappearing from sight. The smaller winglie looked out the front window and surveyed the street. The seconds ticked by like a hot summer day at noon without a cloud in the sky. Zephyr watched the seated winglie closely as she walked around behind the couch. She’d have to think of a way to give them the slip if she wanted to find Oainix before they did.
From behind the couch she wondered if she could quietly take out the small guy while the bigger one was gone and make it out of the house before he noticed. There was a large silver candle stick on a table beside an old family photo. She wrapped her claws around it tightly and turned back to the couch. Quietly making her way closer to him she lifted the candle stick high over her head but a loud groan from the kitchen made her jump and hide it behind her back.
“What was that?” The small winglie jumped up and dashed to the kitchen doorway. He stopped there for a second and then was knocked backwards from something or someone around the corner. He stumbled and held his eye shaking his head. “You--”
Clonk.

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Zephyr hit him over the head with the candle stick and he fell in a heap onto the floor. She gasped as a cloaked winglie stepped into the kitchen doorway.
“Stay back, who ever you are. I know how to defend myself!” Zephyr clutched the candle stick in front of her like a sword and brandished it in the direction of the stranger.
“I think I already know that.” The hood of the cloak fell back.
“Oainix!” Zephyr flung herself towards him and held him tightly dropping the candle stick as she did. He caught her by her waist and pulled her into a loving embrace. “Oainix, what happened? You left this morning and I didn’t see you, then at the meeting they tried to tell me that you had killed--”
Oainis put a claw to her lips. “Not now. I’ll tell you everything tonight. For now, hide. I need you to just find a safe place on the ground and hide.” He spoke quickly. “Meet me at your place, your favorite place. Do you understand?” Zephyr nodded with her eyes wide. She searched his for some hint as to what was going on. He just smiled at her. “Good. I love you, Zephyr. Hide.”
With that he turned and folding his wings close to him, he dove out the window he had used to enter. In her back yard he smiled at her once more and flew up over the house where she couldn’t see him. Zephyr ran from the kitchen through her living room and out the front door looking up, trying to catch a glimpse of Oainix but he was already gone.
“I love you, too.”
Hide was what he had said to do. Hide. She looked back in her house and saw the winglie she had hit over the head begin to move.
Uh-oh. Time to go, she thought.
Turning away from the house she ran not looking back. She was leaving everything she owned in the world back in the house. Knowing that there had to be an explaination for all of this she wanted to find out what it was and was willing to let go of her worldly possessions to do so. Especially if it meant finding out what had really happened to her father.
Zephyr pushed away from the ground and flew above the city taking it all in. Then she zoomed out over the side and down, through the clouds, straight towards the trees under the city. She found an opening between the trees and landed softly on the ground looking around her. These trees didn’t get as much light as if they had grown anywhere else so they were dense but not good enough to hide in. She would need a location far from the city that offered enough cover to conceal a winglie and possibly some protection from the elements.
One place came to mind. There was an old human town that was about a twenty minute fly south from Moirai. Movement on the ground would be much slower but it was the safest way.
After half an hour of walking the sky called to her. It temptingly blew the old leaves around her feet and lifted them into the air. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to fly there, not even for a few minutes. It was far too risky to chance being seen.

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She leaned against an old tree and hunched over putting her hands on her knees. She hadn’t walked this much since she was a hatchling. Rubbing her legs she thought of the good old days in Moirai with her two best friends, Oscoro and Oainix. She smiled. Things were so much simpler back then. They had everything they could ever want, all three of them being the only children in their families.
Zephyr stretched her arms upward and spread her wings. Sighing deeply she continued walking south and thought of her first flying lesson.
It had been early in the morning and the sun had just started to make it’s journey into the sky. They had waited, impatiently for their lesson to begin. In truth Zephyr and Oainix had been excited about the lesson but Oscoro didn’t seem to care much. Though he had supposedly hatched two months before Zephyr he secretly confided in her the fact that her really didn’t want to fly.
Usually hatchlings were taught to fly within their five years but it had been too dangerous with the war going on and then the Raids. No one wanted to risk their safety so they were to remain grounded until the time was right.
Sitting on the guard rail that surrounded the perimiter of the city they passed the time talking about what they had for breakfast, what they thought of the homework they were given and what they thought it was really like to fly.
Oscoro leaned forward a bit and looked down at the passing clouds. “I don’t think there’s anything great about it. It’s just flying.”
Oainix had been sitting beside him and promptly shoved him back. “You dummy! What happens if you fall off the city and don’t know how to fly? What are you going to do then?”
“And I think flying is going to be amazing, Oscoro!” little Zephyr had beamed. “I can’t wait to feel what the wind is like without having something beneath my feet!”
“I bet it’s the same.” Oscoro sighed and looked over at her. “I’d rather still be living on the ground.”
Oscoro had originally been born on the ground. He spent his first three years down there and had only recently started living with his adoptive mother. He always seemed happy but kept to himself apart from his friends.
“So,” Oainix craned his neck towards him, “what did you do down there?”
Oscoro looked up and shrugged.

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Before he ever got a chance to answer they were all tumbling and falling towards the clouds. The instructor had come up behind them while they were chatting and with one sweep of his tail he had knocked all three of them off the guard rail. He was known as Mr. Pleasant because of his “pleasant surprise” he gave to his students whenever he had a chance.
Zephyr remembered wondering who had screamed when they fell, later she found out that it had been Oscoro. She had quick reflexes and had opened her wings without thinking twice about it. Oainix had opened his wings and floated shortly after her but Oscoro just fell.
And fell.
And fell some more.
He tumbled in circles, head over heels and then around and around on his side. It wasn’t long before he had reached the clouds and vanished in them like a fish diving into the water. He hadn’t even tried to open his wings and catch himself.
Zephyr brushed a low hanging branch out of her way and chuckled at the thought. That day she and Oainix had been scared to death, especially when the instructor had to dive down after Oscoro. They had flown back up to the city and huddled together, not saying a word. She had started crying with her face in her claws, Oainix had wrapped his wings around her trying to comfort her.
It seemed like forever since Oscoro fell through the clouds. They were sure that Mr. Pleasant hadn’t managed to catch him in time and he had made it back to the ground that he loved so much, just not in the way that he would have wanted.
A few more minutes passed and Mr. Pleasant finally returned with Oscoro in his arms. As soon as he landed both the small winglies ran to their instructor and began to pummel him with questions about what had happened.
“Is he ok?”
“How far did he fall?”
“Is he going to die?”
“Is he dead already?”
The instructor had laughed and assured them both that he was going to be fine. He had only passed out from the shock of falling and he just needed to get some rest. They both walked along side him looking up at their friend all the while. They watched as his mom took him into her arms and back to his bed. She had returned and thanked Mr. Pleasant and told them that Oscoro would come to get them as soon as he woke up.
Oainix said that he had to go anyway and he hoped that Oscoro would wake up soon but Zephyr had refused to leave her friend. She got permission to stay and took up a post beside his bed. She had watched him with great curiosity. He was definitely breathing and once she was sure that she saw him open his eyes and quickly close them again. After waiting for hours for him to wake up her mom came looking for her and told her that she needed to come eat dinner.

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Reluctantly she left but asked Oscoro’s mother if she could please keep her informed on how he was doing.
“That’s very kind of you to be worried about him like that,” she had smiled. Zephyr replied that he was her friend and she didn’t want anything to happen to him.
The next day Oscoro came by Zephyr’s house to ask her what had happened. He had said that he didn’t remember anything after they started falling and just came to in his room. These days they can all laugh about it but back then she had really worried about him.

As promised! Ill try not to forget again!! I'll need some suggestions kinda soon... if anyone is following :sweat: