Sheik: Hey, I had to re-fix this chapter because of a few mistakes. Thank you Angelan for that. Oh, and Anonymous person, what is a WTWB character? Well, I don't own Maximum Ride.
An hour or so after the whole ordeal, everyone was lounging in the kitchen. Yes, they were lounging in the kitchen. I walked in on them. "What are you guys doing?"
Fang hoisted a backpack over his shoulders. "We're packing up."
"Packing up?" When did I tell them to do that? "Why didn't anyone inform me of this?" Gazzy stuffed half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in his mouth. Iggy was screwing something into what looked like a tiny metal box. Angel and Nudge were packaging different plastic containers full of food. "Hello? Anyone care to answer?"
"There's a smell of death in the air." Someone said behind me.
I jumped and whipped around to see Kestrel. She was dressed in different clothes and her hair was dripping wet from a recent shower. "Don't scare me like that!" Her words sunk in. "The air smells like death?"
She nodded, eyes wide. "Total doesn't even smell them yet. About two or three miles into the woods. Hunters. They're here for us. I can taste the danger. We have to leave!" Her feathers were ruffled as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Different stories bring different dangers. Dance with the dreamer, Max. You need to learn. The Voice whispered in my mind. I was getting tired of the philosophy lessons.
"All right. Everyone in the backyard. We'll take off from there." Before I even walked two steps, I realized I couldn't leave yet. My photographs of the flock. They were in my room!
"I got them Max." Angel piped up as she ran past me to the sliding door. Thank the Lord to that then.
"All right. Everyone move and don't come back for anything." We all charged into the backyard and looked around. The sun was setting under the trees, the sky a brilliant blaze of red and gold. Before I unfolded my wings, something was dropped in my hand. A backpack. I looked over to see Fang.
"Thought you might need this." He gave me one of those rare smiles then unfolded his ominous black wings. With that, we all flew away from the cabin that could have been our home.
Of course it can't. People lived there at one point. They'll be back again. I was thinking again as I flew in front of everyone. Besides, Ari knows where it is now. Heck, he knows wherever we are because of me! The arm that housed the chip had a noticeable scar from when I tried to saw my arm off with a shell. Just thinking about it brought back the pain.
"We have to get as far from this place as we can." Kestrel spoke up from the rushing wind. She was gliding along the stream of air that was cradling us.
Iggy looked down at Total with his black sunglasses on. The Scottish dog was half-asleep in his jacket. "You're fired." Total gave a half growl then snuggled deeper into his jacket. Iggy laughed softly he stared ahead. "So, where are we going now?"
"Back to New York." When I said this, everyone besides Fang and Kestrel cheered with joy. "Not for the fun of it! We need to get our facts straight is all, and that place seems to be the easiest place to avoid Screechers."
"Aw, I was hoping we could go to Florida to visit Disney World again." Nudge whined playfully. I rolled my eyes while looking ahead. Kestrel pulled up beside me. Her arms jutting forward, wings spread beautifully, scooping then pushing the air out of her way. She made it look so simple. She made it look like rowing a boat. No, she made it look a like a bird.
Our wings found a rhythm and we coasted together. She was smiling while looking ahead. Her long raven black hair whipping behind her like a silk scarf. The sky glowed with a lovely light in her eyes. She had that all over childlike innocence of a little girl. Like Angel, or something.
Finally, one of us spoke, and it was her. "What's in New York?" She peered over at me, green eyes examining, waiting.
I folded my stopped flapping to glide for a while. "It's the closest place to home at the moment."
"Wasn't that house yours?" She folded her wings a few degrees and dipped under me then coming up on my other side. Her aerial dexterity was amazing.
The Gasman flew up next to her. "No. We found that house. No one lived there, so we stayed there."
She looked over us all. "You guys don't have a home?"
We all shook our heads. Nudge smiled sadly. "Hard to have a home without parents and safety. Do you have a mommy or a daddy?"
"A mommy or daddy? What the heck are those?" Her question shell-shocked us.
"You don't know what a mom or dad is?" Fang asked. Yes, Fang, the silent wonder asked a question. Actually, he had begun to talk more. Maybe this is a sign! Pft, yeah right.
Kestrel performed a somersault then did a little loop and glided beside Fang. "Nope. What are they?"
Gazzy smiled as he answered. "A mom and dad are who take care of you while you grow older. They teach you, feed you, protect you, and love you." His smiled wavered as he went into thought. We all get a little emotional when we think of parents. Since Iggy's discovery and pain, we tried avoiding the whole subject. It hurt me to see how bad it hurt Ig, even if he didn't say it outright.
The flock and Kestrel were quiet for a while. I listened to the rushing wind around me, feeling the rough pull of the air tugging on my clothes and feathers, and loving everything about it. We flew above the clouds so the ground was gone. The sky was dark and filled with sparkling diamonds. Magical. As we began to descend into the cloud again, Iggy started to sing "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day. Hey, I had to admit, the boy could croon.
"Guys, we're gonna have to stop somewhere." Kestrel spoke up after the song was finished.
I looked at her. "Why?"
"It's going to storm." She answered, her nose quivering. Was she smelling the air?
Before I could ask, Total yipped. "She's right. I can smell it." He started quivering in Iggy's jacket. Off in the distance, I heard the low rumble of thunder. When I thought it was too far off, a flash of lightening came a little too close to us.
"Holy crap!" Nudge screeched. She swooped down and accidentally knocked into Gazzy.
"Hey! Watch it!" He yelped as he dropped a little. Beating his wings faster, he reached us again.
Nudge was holding her heart as the wind picked up and dark cloud rolled over the starry sky. "Can we land? Please? I want to land! There's no need in getting struck by lightening now! Please?" I looked down and saw trees. Yeah. Trees. Wasn't there a town near here or something? We could rent a room in a motel or something. I still had this card.
"There's a cave down there." Kestrel piped up as she folded her wings and shot downward toward the trees. I exchanged glances with everyone then followed her. Folding my wings a few degrees, I shot down as well. It was as if I was riding an air flume at dangerously fun speeds. Amusement parks had nothing on this!
It started to downpour as soon as we reached the trees. I landed a little too rough and shook myself off. "Kestrel?" Trees. Trees and darkness. "Kestrel!"
"Over here!" I saw a flicker of silver and headed for it. Fang was beside me as we reached her. She was standing inside a cave on the side of a hill. She didn't look nearly as soaked as we were. "Get inside! It's dry!" We shuffled in then waited. The rain didn't seem anywhere near to stopping.
"Goody." Fang muttered as he sat near the back of the cave, shaking his head and wings dry.
Angel and Gazzy sat next to Iggy and Nudge as they all shook themselves off. Kestrel was standing near the front of the cave not doing anything. Her feathers were ruffled as she tapped her foot.
"Something wrong?" I asked while fanning my wings.
She didn't look at me. Just shook her head. "Nothing's wrong." Then she smiled. "This is good. Screechers can't fly in storms like us. We're safe for now." Her foot continued to tap. It wasn't just random tapping. She was tapping a rhythm to a song I knew.
"You heard of Panic! At the Disco as well?" I asked while tapping my foot as well.
She nodded. "As we flew, I heard it from a car on the road."
I stared at her. From a car? The road was a good twenty-three or more miles below us at the beginning. "Just how good is your hearing?"
"There's a pond about a mile from here right now. There are three fish fighting over the same frog to eat. Two foxes are barking to find their hiding spot to hide from the rain. Fang is singing Wings of a Butterfly by HIM."
Looking back at Fang, I saw him slink forward. "Wings of a Butterfly?"
He looked at me from over his shoulder. "It's a good song. Drop it." Hm, sounded girly to me, but if it's sung by HIM then it must be good.
The rain didn't seem to want to let up anytime soon, so I sat down and sighed. "Looks like we'll be camping here for the night." When I didn't get an answer, I looked back. "Guys?" I smiled. Angel, Gazzy, Nudge, and Iggy were all leaning against each other asleep. "You going to sleep to Fang?" He made a light grunting sound, which sounded oddly like hn then laid down on his side. Gee, thanks for the answer buddy.