Chapter 11: A Wolf Falling Through A Tree Isn't a Quiet Thing
Fenn's POV
"Pay closer attention to the angle at which your wings are tilted," Welkin called to Fenn as they soared through the vast open sky.
Fenn straightened his wings and tilted their backs upward slightly. "I don't see how this changes anything."
"The difference might be subtle," Welkin cawed. "But this change will smooth your flight.
"My flying is smooth. I just need to flap less."
"fewer," Welkin corrected. "you only need to flap fewer times. Your flying may have improved to a great extent, but your grammar has not. Furthermore, you keep drifting from side-to-side. That is not efficient or elegant by any metric."
Welkin was like a second father to Fenn. The wise old raven could be a grump at times, but it was clear to Fenn that Welkin cared deeply for him. Welkin had been teaching Fenn to fly since the young wolf had been old enough to see.
"Noted." Fenn flapped his wings in short, swift wing-strokes in rapid succession for a burst of speed. Soaring felt great as it usually did, but he was bored.
Fenn and Welkin had been practicing various techniques for most of the day. Around Sunhigh, Fenn had caught a hawk using a technique that Welkin had taught him. He had sworn, to Welkin and to himself, that he would never kill a raven.
Their lessons together had started rather slow and gentle, not accomplishing much with each session, but, in a short time, Fenn had learned the basics, such as various methods of taking flight, and landing. Fenn had also learned a few more complicated, intense maneuvers like tight upward and downward spirals; and barrel rolls without losing control. At the moment, Fenn was learning about matters that were even more intricate, such as the angle of one's wings, the position of one's wings in flight, and the length of one's wing strokes in flight.
Fenn flapped his wings, steering himself downward. Before Welkin could prevent his mischief, he folded his wings and ears, dropping head-first through the open sky. The backdraft from Fenn's dive pushed his fur against his face, cooling it.
Moments before Fenn collided with the treetops, he unfurled his wings. The momentum of his dive was too great for this maneuver, and he crashed back-first into the branches of a pine tree.
Fenn thrashed his legs, wings, and tail to gain a grasp on a branch. Pine needles exploded into the surrounding trees, and branches snapped under the strain of the sheer momentum of Fenn's dive-assisted fall. Branches snagged his feathers, ripping some of them out of his wings. A few feathers had been loose, but most had not.
Author's Note: sorry for the late chapter. My homeschooling started up for this year, and my sleep schedule had gone haywire because of other unrelated factors.
Æri's POV
Æri prowled toward a buck. It was drinking from a spring. It was large enough that Æri could not take it on by himself. It was healthy looking, except that one of its back legs was injured, making it an excellent target.
The buck glanced at Æri, but did not move. It had not seen him. Æri shot Keo a glance. Keo nodded. She stood beside a bush. She was ready to strike.
Æri's role in this hunt was the spring. It was his job to startle a prey animal toward the chasers. The chasers would then steer the prey toward the striker, who would in turn lead the attack. The different hunting roles were usually interchangeable, and were often variable during a hunt, but in this case each wolf had an assigned role that best fitted their attributes.
Keo, Vargir and Ellyk were quick on their feet and were chasers. Fenn was in a unique position where he had a dual hunting role due to his wings. In the air, he was for the most part, a solo hunter. On the ground, he was either a chaser or a striker. Æri and Azlune could both take the role of either spring or striker, depending on the circumstances.
Æri leaped forward. He landed just short of the buck. It leaped into the air and ran past the bush that Keo was hiding behind. Keo leaped into action. She, Vargir and Ellyk drove the deer toward Azlune, harassing it with their teeth.
Before Æri could join the hunt, a sound of snapping branches emitted from a tree several paces behind him. He rushed to the tree, following a trail of Fenn's pained whimpers. Æri leaped onto the tree trunk. He gripped the trunk with his claws as he hauled himself onto the lowest branch. Æri had not climbed a tree since he was a Nightclan apprentice, but he would not let unused skills stop him.
He leaped between the branches until they could no longer support his weight. The pine tree was massive, but Fenn needed help. Æri crawled up the tree, using the branch basses as a ladder.
He placed a hindpaw on a branch, lifting a foreleg to place on a higher branch. Before he could make another move, Fenn began his soft whimper again. Æri stepped on top of a branch and walked toward Fenn. Fenn sprawled across a mat of broken branches. His legs and tail were splayed out; and his wings were unfurled. They too were stretched out on the matted twigs. Æri gently nudged Fenn's wings until they were folded against his back. He grabbed Fenn by the scruff.
Æri stepped onto a lower branch. He would not be able to accurately leap down branches. Æri stepped onto another lower branch. He was using the tree as a massive spiral staircase.
When the branches were too far apart, Æri leaped the short distance. Landing on one of the lowest branches, he leaped to the ground, rolling to spare Fenn and himself injury. Æri set Fenn on the ground. Fenn rose to his feet after much difficulty.
"What happened?" Æri asked Fenn.
"I was flying alongside Welkin, learning of the intricacies of flight, when I decided to dive like a falcon."
"And that failed?"
Fenn nodded. "I unfurled my wings at the last moment, but instead of rising, I tumbled into the tree."
Æri sat down. "But are you alright?"
"Yes I am," Fenn said, "except for my wings. They took a powerful hit during my fall. It will be days before I can fly again."
"Can you walk?"
"Yes."
Æri stood. "Let us walk to den. You need rest."
Fenn nodded in agreement and they walked to the pack's den. Once there, Fenn laid on his belly, near the cave walls. Once Fenn was settled, Æri walked to a nearby clearing. He wanted to hear what Welkin had to say about the incident.
Welkin landed a few paces in front of Æri. He walked towards the wolf, hopping in between steps as ravens usually do.
Æri sat. "What happened?"
"I was teaching Fenn some of the intricacies of flight, when he must have decided to perform a dive. He performed it flawlessly, except that he unfurled his wings too late. I did not however, see where he landed." Welkin told Æri, confirming Fenn's previous statement.
"What of Nightsong?"
"I have seen no sign of him."
"Is there any other news?"
"Yes," Welkin said, "I saw a big cat traveling northward."
"Describe them."
"The cat's fur was tan with black stripes. They seemed to be in a hurry."
Æri stood. "Thank you for your time." That sounds like Welkin was describing Jaggedshadow, he thought. But what was Jaggedshadow doing outside of Nightclan territory?
"Of course," Welkin replied. "Where is Fenn?"
"He is in den, resting. He says he will not be able to fly for few falls."
"May I see him?"
"Yes. Will you join us for meal?"
"Of course," Welkin said, "I wouldn't mind a few scraps."
"Will Muninn, Regis and others be there?"
"Yes."
"Good. I will signal you when I find Azlune, Keo, Vargir and Ellyk."
Update 01/23/2021: fixed a few lines of dialouge