A/N: Sorry guys! I missed a day but hopefully, it's okay... I didn't have time to write a super long chapter like I normally do so here's a really sloppy kinda okay-ish chapter.. Hope it's still appreciated! I've been really stressed with school and everything so I'm trying to write chapters whenever I have time. This is definitely not my best chapter so bear with me.

Updates: I got rejected from my number 1 college so I basically cried all of last weekend. So this week was frantically changing my number 2 college to early decision and hoping for the best.

Anyway, Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

(PICTURE OF WHAT PHOENIX LOOKS LIKE IS PROPIC FOR THIS STORY. In actuality, she would look a couple years older but that's basically what she looks like.)

~Harmony

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Max P.O.V

"Guys, she's still not back." I was starting to worry a little.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she's still playing with her friend… what was her name?" Fang looked into the distance.

"Fern." Angel spoke up. "She's fine, Max. I can still feel her thoughts. She's too far for me to listen to them but I sense that Phoenix is okay."

"That gives me little to no reassurance." I looked pointedly at Angel. "But at least she's okay."

Angel smiled. "Don't worry. It'll be fine. If you're still worried after half an hour, I'll go look for her."

I nodded at Angel.

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PHOENIX P.O.V

"Um do you know where we are?" Fern looked at me.

I shook my head. "If I did, I'd be guiding us back home."

How did we manage to get so lost? We were playing at the pond one minute and… we decided to play hide and seek. We didn't exactly specify the parameters so before we knew it, we were far from the pond.

"What time is it?"

"Maybe around 7:00?" I looked around for a clearing. "Start looking for a clearing, maybe we can get airborne and look for a way out of this forest."

Fern looked for a clearing, although in this situation, my sight was better. She took one side and I took the other.

"Hey, I found one! Its all the way over there though…" I mentioned Fern to come over to me. "Lets go!" We ran towards the clearing.

Well it was a clearing… but the tall trees had branches that were jutting out and I'm not exactly skilled in dodging them yet. To be honest, it kind of scared me.

"This is enough space! Come on!" Fern was getting ready to take off when she saw me.

"I can't do it." I looked a little embarrassed. "I can't weave through the branches… its scary."

"Well there is another option that you probably haven't tried."

Soon, I was climbing the tree to the very top. Fern was below me watching.

"Okay now once you're at top, stand on the tallest branch and jump and unfurl your wings!" She cupped her hands and yelled.

I took a breath and jumped as high as I could and unfurled my wings. I squeezed my eyes shut expecting to plummet back on the branches. I opened my eyes and found myself high above the forest. I flew back down a little.

"Come on Fern!" I had never seen her wings so I was excited. This was the first time we would be flying together.

Fern looked up and with the most graceful agility, she bounced from trees, branch to branch in a zigzag until she reached halfway up the tree. When she was sure there was enough space, she unfurled her huge bat-like wings and shot up into the sky.

"Woah… your wings are so cool, Fern!" They were thin like a bats wings but they had a little fur on the. She didn't have to flap as much as we did cause her wings caught air better because they were thin.

"Say's the one with the wings that look like the Angel of Death." She laughed. "They're so black… They're beautiful!"

"Thanks…" I smiled sheepishly. "Lets find a way out of here!"

My instincts kicked in and my body guided me to the east. "This way!" We flew some miles that way and soon enough, we saw the wide fields that we always went to. We landed at the edge of the field and decided that it was time for us to go home.

"Bye Fern!" I waved at her. "This was so much fun! Tomorrow again after school?"

"Yup! Wouldn't miss it for the world!" She smiled. "See you!" She ran down the streets to her house.

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MAX P.O.V

The door opened and closed. It was 7:45 pm. Phoenix.

"PHOENIX IS THAT YOU?" I was so mad.

"Uhh." She looked scared. "Hi Mommy!"

"Don't even pretend to be sweet." I put my hands on my hips and walked towards her. "Where have you been and don't lie."

"I was playing with Fern." She pursed her lips.

"And?"

"And… I was playing with Fern!" She crossed her arms and mimicked my expression.

"You know you have to be home by 5 and if you're staying late, you should tell us. But no you couldn't even be bothered. Do you know how much we sacrificed to stay in hiding?" I leaned down to her level. "If anything every happened to you, I would die. And don't say that nothing is going to happen to you because you never know."

"Well it's not that big of a deal... sheesh."

"Not that big of a deal! You had a human with you too! How could you be so irresponsible!

"She's not—" Phoenix stopped herself. "She's not weak, okay? Besides I could beat anyone."

"Oh don't even think about getting cocky because you still have a lot to learn Phoenix. Tomorrow, you're coming straight after school. No playing with anyone for a week." I decided that was good enough of a punishment.

"What! You can't do that! What am I supposed to do at home?"

"Oh I don't know… homework, spending time with family, learning to fight off the erasers who you so confidently feel you could beat." I replied sarcastically.

"Ughhh you don't even let me do anything!" She stomped her foot and proceeded to sulk as she went to her room.

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PHOENIX P.O.V

This is so not fair. I couldn't even tell the flock that Fern wasn't human because they'd get all paranoid and think that she was working for the school. Maybe I'll just hang out with her tomorrow for an hour. The flock will never know... I'll just say that I got afterschool detention or something.

I walked over to my backpack and took out some books. I quickly finished the homework and went to the living room to see what was for dinner.

"Iggy, what are we eating?"

"I don't even get a hi any more?" He pretended to look hurt.

I sighed. "Hi Uncle Iggy!" I went over and hugged him as tight as I could. I kept squeezing until he spoke.

Iggy coughed. "Okay okay fine, mashed potatoes, burgers, and ice creammm!" He laughed as I let go. "You know Phoenix, you're becoming really strong."

"Thanks… well Mommy doesn't think so. She thinks I wouldn't be able to defend myself against erasers… can you believe that?"

"Well you have to understand that she's worried about you. What we practice with you here, that isn't real fighting…. Real fighting is when you are put to the test. And when erasers come, I guarantee you're going to react differently."

"So… you don't think I could beat them also."

"No. I'm saying that if you fight the way you do here, you would definitely beat them. But in that moment, you can never know."

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REVIEW! Hope you liked it :)

~Harmony