Chapter 1

Ember looked up at me with big brown eyes, shifting from foot to foot anxiously.

"Please mom? I want to try again" she whined and pouted.

I shook my head no for about the fifth time that day. Ever since she tried the last time and crash I've been nervous about her flying again. For weeks after, I had nightmares of her small, fragile body hurtling towards earth, dirty blond hair whipping and dark eyes filled with immense fear. The almost-accident hadn't fazed Ember as much, she was still a bit too young to realize what it would have meant if she had fallen, but the rest of us were shaken. But as much as I didn't like it, she knew I could keep her from trying again forever.

"It's too windy outside to try right now" I made an excuse lamely.

With a look of cold determination on her little six-year-old face, she stepped outside onto the porch and raised her arms. Obeying her command, the wind suddenly shifted and almost visibly disappeared over the horizon. The sun came out, illuminating the faded rainbow-like hues that filled the atmosphere.

It stilled amazed me when she manipulated the weather. The day we found out Jeb suggested that the self- mutations my flock had experienced must have carried down to the next generation. None of us should have trusted his judgment, most of all me, but over the last couple of years we'd learned to forgive him a little. But there would always be a part of me that would never take his word for anything ever again.

Ember looked back at me expectantly and I caved.

"Go on" I said and gestured to a nearby cliff.

She looked back to Fang for his approval, and he nodded with a lopsided grin on his face. But anyone who knew him like I did would have seen the worry on his face. He worried about her flying again just as much as I did. She practically ran out of the small house we had on a large flat cliff and waded through the thin river that separated our cliff from a much larger, towering cliff. Time had worn and aged it, not unlike my flock and the community that also inhabited this island.

Able to grab onto the large handholds carved into the side of the cliff, Ember quickly climbed the seventy feet to the top. Smiling, Fang laced his fingers through my hand and we climbed after her.

Once we got to the top she came to the edge and slowly extended her wings, all nine feet of them. Her wing were breath-taking, her primary feathers a deep purplish-black like her fathers, her secondary's brown with tan and white streaks like mine; a beautiful hodgepodge of shades and colors. I came and stood next to her and steered her face to me so I could look her in the eye.

"Are you sure you want to try again, after what happened last time?" I whispered and winced, remembering her almost going splat the last time.

She shook her head yes with a giant smile plastered on her face. I nodded, and she threw herself off the cliff. I held my breath for a moment and looked down past the edge, staring at the jagged rocks sitting at the bottom. Suddenly, she came soaring upward, into the clear skies. She flapped her powerful wings and got higher and higher, climbing hundreds of feet in seconds.

I glanced over at Fang¸ who was looking at me with a serene look on his face. I smiled back at him, unable to control the pure happiness coursing through me. We leapt off the cliff to join Ember. I dropped downward, feeling the air whoosh up around me and the rush that comes with free-falling. Fang unfurled his wings, and I unfurled my own wings and rose powerfully in the air.

The rest of my flock¸ seeing us in the sky flew up to join us. Nudge got to me first, and immediately started on her ecstatic ramble about her new boyfriend, Jonas. About thirty yards away Gazzy and Iggy were hurling small snapping fireworks at each other, cackling manically. I shook my head, smiling. Some people just never change.

"He'sjustsoperfectandIlovehimand -"Nudge said on hyper mode.

"Nudge, can you slow down? I can't understand what you're saying" I said, my mind buzzing.

She nodded and kept right on going. "Guess what he did yesterday? He made a romantic dinner just for the two of us! It was so amazing" she gushed. I grinned and nodded my head in agreement. She looked down and there was Mr. Perfect now, flying up to meet her. "I'll talk to you later" she said excitedly and flew with Jonas to a nearby tree.

"Eat sparks!" I heard Iggy yell in the background and a series of thunk thunk thunk's. He paused for a moment, and glanced down to wave at Ella, holding their son Finn whose little wings were flapping happily.

I glanced over at Fang, who smiled and shrugged. "Boys will be boys" he said and banked so he was only inches from me, our wings beating in perfect unison. Just then I was wondering where a certain little wind controller was when a moment later a big feathery ball of fluff crashed into me, giggling.

"Hi mommy!" Ember said. Mommy. I was still getting used to being called that after six years, still can't believe it's been six years since she was born. It feels like just yesterday she was turning two years old, using the wind to blow her candles out.

"Hi sweetheart" I said, hugging her.

"I'm going to go play with Finn, see you later!" she said and flapped away.

"Later" I called to her as she dived. Fang nodded and followed her down.

I looked just past where she was heading and saw Angel, sitting alone by Dylan's grave under a large banyan tree. Dylan. It felt like a freight train was slamming into my chest every time I thought about him. He died four years ago in his sleep, no one knows how. He was just dead, just gone. Some people think he expired, but it just didn't make sense when the rest of us would have likely expired at the same time. There was never a date found on the back of his neck either.

Angel, reading my thoughts, flew up to where I was hovering. When she got closer I could see that her face was red and blotchy from crying.

You ok Ange? I thought. Of all of us, she was the most depressed from his death. I myself didn't quite know what I felt towards him, and still don't really know. My feelings for him just sit in the back of my mind, waiting to be sorted out. Yeah, I'm ok. Angel replied.

Are you sur-. My train of thought was cut off when everything around me became silent. I looked around and noticed Iggy looking freaked out and pale, shaking. I flew over to him to see what was wrong.

"What's the matter, Ig?" I asked.

"I…I…I" he stuttered and trembled. He was seriously freaked, and keep in mind it takes a lot to freak any of us out anymore. He pointed a finger towards the horizon. "I hear something" he got out quietly. My raptor vision allowed me to scan the sky, and indeed there was something coming toward us in the distance. Oh great, what now? What could that even be? I thought right before whatever was in the sky came into focus.

And what I saw made my blood run cold, made me scared, and made me wish my whole family was locked underground, safe. What I saw, was Maya and Ari followed by a pack of Erasers. I'll admit, I am tough, I can be ruthless, and I've fought in more life or death battles than anyone should ever be in. I've been on the run from evil scientists, I've fought giant sea monsters, and I've faced psycho's intent on killing everyone. So what did I do when I saw two people who should be dead and a pack of half-wolf, half-human creatures, you ask? I fainted, at five thousand feet in the air.

Hey Peeps! So this is my first Maximum Ride fanfiction. I hope you liked it! I was going to make this a one-shot, but I got some ideas for it and figured I'd add in a good 'ol cliffy while I was at it. Critiques, suggestions? Leave a comment! R & R please!