Cyandi- Where Next?

Where am I?

What am I?

Who am I?

…

Itex…East Germany.

Experiment 713…

No one...

Hair billowing freely behind me, eyes closed, wind rushing past my face, caressing my smooth skin- that's what I feel when I fly…. fly. Almost as If I am finally free. Almost. However, the feeling was fleeting as a bolt of electricity hit me like a ton of bricks and I fell, helpless, back to the ground.

"Hmph. Your charts are going up, 713. You vill be able to live to shee anazer day. Zis time." A man spoke in a thick German accent, towering over my tired and worn body. His crystal eyes, behind thick-rimmed glasses, seemed to sparkle at the sight of my bruised body. "Get up!" he spat, kicking me hard with his thick leather boots.

Cringing, I managed to speak, though in a small voice, "N-Nein…" The man's face filled with rage and continued to kick me. Crying out, I finally cracked and stood feebly. The man smirked in triumph as he pushed his glasses up onto his slicked-back blonde hair. My head hung in defeat and my wavy blonde locks hid my tears from the man before me. I winced at I felt his firm hand stroke my light brown wings. I knew he was expecting great things out of me. However, his definition of great was far different of that of a normal man… he was what, among us recumbent life forms, would call a "white coat". "H-Herr Grechmeild…?" I uttered to the man. Grechmeild grunted at me in recognition to my calling. "I have been teshting for hours… Ven vill I be allowed to shleep…?" Grechmeild appeared to be mulling it over in his mind.

"Now… I shuppose… After all…." He smirked, "One does get incorrect data ven ze shubject isn't at zeir 'best'."

I lay motionless in the small cell I was kept in. I wasn't sure what it had meant, but sometimes I heard the guards talking about how this used to be a concentration camp and how many people died here. I wonder how many people died right here, in my 'room'…? My head was pounding from the exhausted, dehydrated, malnutritioned state they kept me in. I had to sleep- I knew it. But the cold, hard, dam, gray floor seemed even less inviting than usual. Half-willingly, I opened my eyes and stared at the identical ceiling and four walls. The only difference between the 6 surfaces was I lying on the ground, a door to my right, and a small, broken light bulb staring back at me from the ceiling. This had been my "home" for as long as I could remember- which wasn't long, considering I was about… 9-ish. Closing my eyes, I decided it was futile to ignore my need to sleep.

Suddenly, my eyes flashed open when a loud BANG! pierced my ears. Shooting upward, I turned to my left to see a boy- probably about the age of 15- with auburn hair, familiar emerald eyes, and canary yellow… wings! "Uh, no time for a full introduction, but I'm your older brother and we need to get outta here!" The boy spoke with an unfamiliar accent, so it was doubtful that he was my brother. But the sencereness in his eyes that I had not seen in any of the white coats, who "cared" for me, told me I had to trust him. Without giving a second thought, I dashed over to him. He raised a hand- a talloned hand!- to my neck and sliced off my collar. A grin spread across my face for the first time in… ever.

Within seconds, he and I were in the air and to my not-so-surprise, bullets raced after us. Never the less, I yelled out a scream. "Higher! Higher!" The boy commanded. I obeyed. Higher, higher, higher. The camp was getting smaller and smaller, then I saw Grechmeild run out of the building, brandishing his fists and yelling curses at me and the boy in German. Eventually, the boy and I were so high above the clouds and so far away from the camp that it was like a distant memory.

When we stopped to rest, I plucked up the courage to talk to him. "E-Excushe me…?" I muttered. He turned to face me, "Y-You shaid you ver mein brudder…?"

"Ah, yes, so I did," The boy answered, "I do suppose now is a perfect time for a formal introduction," he cleared his throught, "My name is Faulte Faukins- I gave it to myself, I am 15-years-old, I am more than twice as much avian as the current avian-recumbants are, and, most importantly, I am your brother. Or 'brudder' as you put it." The boy- Faulte, smiled at me.

"Brudder…." I smiled feebly back at him, "H-How did you know I vas your shishter…?"

He stared blankly at me for a moment, as though he was debating on whether or not to tell me. "It's a really long story. Too long to go into detail about- perhaps I'll tell you later, when your older. But to cut to the chase, I overheard some guys say that Experiment 94's-that was my number- sister was Experiment 713. I couldn't just leave you! Not when I knew you had to be suffering! "I smiled and hugged him tight. For the first time in my life someone cared. This brother, who I knew nothing about cared about me. Hot tears spilled from my eyes- not tears of sadness or pain as they always had been in the past, but actual tears of joy. Faulte wrapped his warm arms around me comfortingly and shh'd me softly till I had cried myself out.

Pulling away to face him, I rubbed my eyes childishly and smiled. "Now, sis, I've told you about me. How about telling me about you?" Faulte said, smiling back at me.

"Vell…" I began, "I am about…. 9… I zink…. And… I have no name…" I thought a moment, "But… I vould like to be called…. Cyandi."

Faulte nodded in agreement. "Cyandi it is! And, since you're my sister, you should share my last name! So we're the Faukins siblings!"

"Ja!" I agreed feeling… giddy?... for the first time. It was a wondrous feeling, "Faulte and Cyandi Faukins!"

My eyes opened slowly. My head was in Faulte's lap and his surprisingly soft talloned hands were stroking my hair. Blinking, I took in my surroundings. It was just before sunrise and Faulte and I were in the Swiss countryside. "You awake, Cy?" Faulte asked.

I grunted in reply. "I dreamed about it again…"

"What?"

"The day we met…!"

Faulte smiled. "The best day of our lives, you mean?" I giggled and nodded in agreement. It had been four years since that day. Since then, Faulte and I have been traveling all over Europe, learning about the world and history, seeing famous landmarks, and all sorts of things! We were also looking for a permanent home, but I doubted that we would find one; we were too happy being nomads.

The Swiss sunrise was gorgeous to say the very least. The colors of blood red, pumpkin orange, fruit punch pink, uniform blue, and black blended together perfectly around the glowing ball of yellow-orange that was called the sun. A blended feeling of pure peace, bliss and ecstasy washed over me as the sun rose its way through the heavens. Smiling, I stole a glance at my brother. Surely, this is how we would always be. Together. Experiencing the world side by side.

Surely no one could come between us.

Could they….?