Most of her life in the bunkers, her environment was always very stable and the same. Same walls. Same food. So when one of the bunkers rooms had flooded when an underground spring broke through, Phoenix had been scared of the dark swift water invading the room. It was unpredictable and a intruder to her then sheltered life. But Gazzy had come up with the idea to fold old food packages into little boats and they all raised them through the stream. That made the spring seem less scary to Phoenix.
Phoenix smiled to herself as the fond memory passed.
She breathed in the crisp morning air before exhaling sharply. The scent of the conifer and pine forest below the saddle of the mountain had wafted up to her like a friendly greeting from a stranger she wasn't expecting to approach. A light shiver travelled down her body, her feathers lifting instinctively to trap heat.
The breeze had quickly picked up; despite its cool force she like it was welcoming, beckoning for her. She raised her wings and closed her eyes imagining the wind like a wave, propelling a boat. A paper boat in the water she giggled to herself. She looked out across the valley and her eyes held the yearning to become a part of the space between the sky and ground. But the goose bumps raised on her arms were not just because of the cold.
She was a foot away from the edge of the cliff she had been standing on. She had promised her parents that she wouldn't try this on her own yet. That she still needed guidance and practice before flying alone. Yet now, something in her was making her want to take the chance. Not chance, she knew she could do this.
It had been two days since her last flight and that had been her third time flying. Her wings had ached afterwards, flight muscles still getting used to being used. But as she lifted her wings in a rolling shrug, she felt they were stronger.
Phoenix found herself snapped out of her thoughts and her eyes were drawn across the vast landscape. The world on the outside was so much larger than what she could of imagined. Phoenix had seen the outside world through movies during her first years of being in the bunker. She could hardly contain herself when the flock had decided to venture out for the first time. The movies couldn't have prepared her for the smells, the texture of the grass and dirt beneath her feet and the way the suns light felt like a force, hot against her skin. There was so much to this new world that she yearned to explore.
A rustling in a nearby bush caused Phoenix to flinch and look behind her to only see that it was one of the rats with wings as her mom had called it. Or rock dove according to her father. A few days earlier Gazzy had flown after one of them in the hope to catch and cook one. Nudge said she would rather stick to the canned peaches and lab grown mush from the bunker kitchen than get radiation poisoning.
Seeing the small bird propel itself through the air made Phoenix want to do the same. Without another thought, she lifted her wings feeling their position on her back. She took a few steps backwards before running towards the edge of the cliff and leaping. She felt the rush of wind over her body, her feathers smoothing out with its force. She spread out her dark wings fully and angled them slightly to slow her descent. She could feel her primaries like the fingers on her hands and positioned them to create an airfoil.
Now she was doing a slow descending glide. She whooped at the world when she felt a hot wave of air lift her up effortlessly higher. Flying above the valley Phoenix felt a though she had conquered the air. Suddenly, the bubble of hot air that had lifted her rolled away and Phoenix screamed as she plunged downward, the surface getting closer too quickly. Her heart thudding, she scrambled to reposition her wings. Instinctively, Phoenix began to row her wings through the air. Phoenix remembered her parent's advice to fold the wrist of her wing slightly inwards on the upstroke to decrease air resistance and drag and to widen her wings on the down stroke to generate lift. Pushing the air beneath her like a lizard climbing up hill over rocks. Phoenix was gaining altitude, which was better than falling however she was beginning to tire, her muscles burning with the work. She was panting with each of her fast flaps. Her stomach cramped with worry when she felt fearful about how much longer she could fly for. Also anger because the flock made flight look so effortless and it was being hard for her.
Phoenix looked turned her head, her plait whipping behind her and sighted the cliff. She was lower than it now and felt that she could land back on it if she kept gaining altitude.
As the cliff edge came closer, she misjudged and landed below it banging her head against hard rocks. She scrambled for a handhold and tried to heave her self to the top ledge but her wings hung behind her, their weight pulling her backwards. Phoenix whimpered as she began to loose her footing and grazed her forearm against the grimy stones. She knew it wouldn't be good if she fell straight down so leapt backwards back out into the air. Her vision was blurry with tears as she frantically looked for another place to land. With lungs burning and wings beginning to cramp from exertion she sighted a small lake and decided to try landing in that.
Phoenix glided towards the lake, tilting one of her wings to turn in a wide circle as she was beginning to overshoot it. When she was about twenty meters above the brown water she let her legs drop towards the ground and tilted her wings back. She dropped five meters and began to furiously flap to slow her descent to the water. She jutted into the water, her arms and wings making a loud slap as they made contact with the liquid. The sting from the speed of the impact resounding through her limbs. Phoenix's feet made contact with the muddy floor of the lake and trudged her way to the shore.
Once out of the water Phoenix shivered and looked up the hills at the cliff where an even higher walk was back to the bunker. She was tired and sore and hadn't mastered taking off from the ground even if she had energy to. She felt very alone and wished she hadn't attempted to try this flight without her parents and the flock. Would they come looking for her or would they be too mad? She looked down at her feet and saw the smelly grimy mud from the lake. She hated having dirty feet.