I'm Starling. Just Starling, I don't believe in using a last name because that would be representing my family name and I don't have a family. Not anymore. Have you ever felt like you've lost so much that you just can't seem to bare anymore of it? I have. I've lost my family and squadron. And everyday I feel like I'm losing myself.
I lived a very typical life on Terra Rex; I had a family with a father, mother and brother. Life was simple back then. I enjoyed it a lot, we were together; we were a family and I was happy. But I was naïve to think that that'd last.
My brother, Heron and I were very close. We did everything together. It was that morning that we decided to fly to Terra Tundras to gather up some fragments of crystals. This was before Tundras was ruled by Cyclonia. We got our sky rides, Heron's was a skimmer and mine was a heliscooter. We were ready to take flight when our father instructed us to watch out for any danger. He worried too much, I was young and I knew nothing of the world; I didn't think that there'd be any danger besides falling off your ride. I learned different that day. He decided to come along to supervise us. We were almost to the Tundras when we saw a couple of Talons. My father told me to fly away, far away and to stick close to my brother. That was the last I saw of my father.
Heron and I managed to get back to Terra Rex, when we got home we waited for our father's abrupt return. He never did. We waited for him, at first it was a few agonizing hours, and then it was days, eventually we came to terms that he didn't make it. My mother was traumatized for years.
Years have passed and as my mother were still recuperating from that haunting day I spent most of my days in my room. I feel so accountable at what my whole family has gone through because of me and my self-indulgent thoughts. I've been the one responsible for breaking this family apart.
I always tried to help out as much as I could as to make up for all of the wrong I've done. Nothing satisfied me. Heron and I drifted apart then; we weren't as close as before. He was very distant and never said much to me. This made matters worse. He uses to be so happy but then I had to destroy it. I wrecked every good thing that was this family.
I soon grew into a miserable outcast. I didn't fit in at school and I didn't have many friends to begin with. And the friends that I did have broke apart from me just like Heron. At first was I devastated; but then I just grew silent. I didn't talk to anyone at all, I only spoke when questioned. Otherwise I kept my distant and shut my mouth to keep myself from harming anyone else and myself.
I was getting tired of living like this so I stopped going to school. Nobody cared if I went or not. I felt free without school but yet I felt so trapped; in a world of people who despise me. During the free time that I had, I wandered through the Terra Rex's forest.
One day I roamed into the forest a little too far and my heliscooter broke down. It would have taken hours to walk back and lug my heliscooter with me so I tried to repair it with my bare hands. I managed to cut my hand; the cut was deep and was oozing blood. Great, now I was losing blood. I started to feel light headed and eventually I lay down on the damp ground. I started blacking in and out. I tried to stay conscious but due to the loss of blood and the heat it was difficult to.
I heard a distant noise, it was coming closer and I was able to make out the sound. It was a skimmer. I called out for help but I don't think it would be heard over the noise. Fortunately the skimmer stopped and the next thing I knew a person came to my aid. Rough hands grabbed my wrist to examine my cut. The person walked away and I called for them to come back. The person sat back down and bandaged up my hand. Then spoke to me.
"Hey, are you alright?" a male voice said.
"Uh… think…" I mumbled.
"Try to stay with me here. What's your name?"
"Star…ling…" I slurred.
"Alright Starling, can you get up?"
"Unno."
"Alright then."
The ground disappeared from under me. The guy was carrying me, to where exactly? I had no clue. But I didn't care – at the moment.
"Okay, I'm going to need to you sit down… just don't fall over, please."
"Hmm…"