Fang stood precariously close to the edge of the cliff, watching the majestic hawks swoop around him. Why he was there, he wasn't sure. After all, he still had 19 years and 363 days (he had an official countdown) left until he was supposed to be there. But as he was flying, he felt an irresistible pull to the cave, one he just couldn't ignore.
A bitter laugh escaped him as he thought of the last time the Flock had split. The sudden sound caused the hawks to pause their show momentarily to stare at him with wary eyes before returning to their acrobatics. When the Flock had been separated because of the disagreement over Ari, he'd at least had Iggy and The Gasman, and he had known that they would soon be returning to the others.
At the time, he couldn't imagine anything more difficult. This certainly was.
He had known that leaving the Flock would be harder this time, but he'd had no idea that the pain would be so intense. Leaving, and knowing he couldn't return, was like ripping his own heart from his chest.
Fang still found the hawks pleasant, which struck him as quite odd, as he had found very little (nothing, in all honesty) pleasant since he had left the Flock. In fact, if he was being honest with himself, Fang would realize that he hadn't found much pleasant since he'd first known that he would have to leave Maximum.
He stopped himself from continuing that train of thought. Max. He couldn't afford to get caught up in visions of her hair streaming out behind her as she flew, the beautiful color of her wings, the way her eyes softened when she looked at him...
He would become lost in memories. But there was work to be done, so Fang threw himself forwards and plummeted into free fall before unfurling his wings and starting his journey.
MAJOR thank-you to whereXtheXlinesXoverlap for being an amazing beta reader!
Disclaimer: I sadly do not own the Maximum Ride series. I did however create this particular work.
Thanks for reading!