"Up! Down!" Falcon's voice was sharp in the cold morning air as she gave commands to Skyborn. As Skyborn tucked in her large wings to roll under Falcon's belly to swipe at her.

Skyborn barely fit under Falcon's stomach her big wings sticking out. She was panting now, tired from her fighting exercise.

"All right, you can rest," Falcon said. Skyborn nodded and left the clearing, grateful for the break.

"Hey, Flappy," Falcon recognized Raven's voice, even though he was new. He dared to act like he'd had been at the academy longer than her?

"Yeah," Crow sneered. Crow was the one who'd started all of it, angling the bullying towards Skyborn. Raven just followed her lead.

"Need a wing trim?" Raven taunted.

Skyborn tucked in her wings in tightly, trying to make to look like regular wings. Skyborn hated her wings. SkyWings had large wings, but her wings were extra large. She had heard of the Elite, SkyWing army that was trained especially to fight in the air and hoped to join them one day.

She wouldn't be weird there. They would she how valuable she was.

"Shut up," Skyborn growled. "I can fly higher than both of you." Raven chose to ignore that.

"Pwoor, pwoor, Skyborn," Crow hissed, mimicking a baby voice. "Skyborn doesn't have parents to help her."

Skyborn wanted to snarl at them and challenge them to fight her, but Crow and Raven would tell Osprey, those cowards. "You don't have a mother either, do you, Crow?"

Crow roared. "She died fighting for her tribe! Yours died trying to get you here! They were scared of the war!" Still, Skyborn knew she hit a sore spot.

"You're not?" Skyborn said her voice cold. "Go on, join the army."

Suddenly Falcon sauntered over and Crow jumped. "We tell you to rest and you go around challenging each other? We might as well not have time to rest." Crow and Raven nodded their heads, backing away nervously.

"Really? I was under the impression that Skyborn was challenging Crow and Raven." Osprey had appeared out of nowhere, like the oversized bat he was. Skyborn knew Osprey hated her. Osprey was on their side. They both smirked.

"Crow and Raven challenged Skyborn," Falcon hissed angrily.

"If you insist, Falcon. Crow, Raven, go back to training."

Falcon stared at Osprey, and Skyborn thought she looked almost….afraid. Skyborn blinked and that look was gone. Her instructor was never afraid of anything. Storms, no. War, no. Lightning, no.

Crow and Raven are cowards. They're just scared of Falcon because she can punish them.

Falcon gave a faint growl of annoyance after Crow and Raven had disappeared. "Come on," she said, waving her tail. "We're doing flight battle today."

Skyborn's heart leaped. Right on the spot she extended her wings and flapped, hard. She was immediately shot into the air, faster than anyone would be able to blink.

The wind whistled in her face as she dodged wisps of cloud. Skyborn glanced down. Falcon was far below, catching up. Falcon flew faster than others. Swoop, Skyborn told herself. Folding her wings inward, she hurtled towards Falcon at a neck-breaking speed.

Her instructor saw her coming she swerved to one side, trying to get higher than her. Skyborn was forced to stop by spreading her wings out. She and Falcon circle each other for minutes. Skyborn knew that she could fly faster, but Falcon had more experience.

Well, she's never had a student like me, Skyborn thought. Instinctively, she propelled herself upward, giving herself an advantage. As Falcon spiraled up much slower, Skyborn aimed a stream of fire toward her.

Falcon turned and lunged towards Skyborn. "Try harder." Skyborn blinked, processing the information, but she was late to react by seconds. Together, she and Falcon grappled in the air.

Skyborn fastened her teeth around Falcon's neck, but Falcon kicked her hard. She beckoned Skyborn with a wave of her tail, shooting towards the earth.

Already over? Skyborn always had to return to the earth, a world she was unfamiliar with, but already?

Skyborn spiraled down quickly, landing in a matter of a few seconds. Even if she didn't show it, Falcon was excited.

"That was very good," Falcon praised. "But don't get distracted like that." She then waved her tail to dismiss her, as was customary for lunch, which meant hunting. Usually, she enjoyed hunting, but Falcon didn't feel like it. The adrenaline had already filled her.

As Skyborn left, she glimpsed Crow and Raven, but she veered away quickly from them, not seeking for a dispute.

She walked towards her cave, which was very close by. It was warm and welcoming, and as she entered the tunnel, a gust of warm air hit her. Entering her own room, she lay down on the moss nest and closed her eyes, trying to sleep.

一一一

Skyborn lay there for hours, but she felt cold and wet that could only mean something: rain. Thankfully, as her cave was solid rock she could not hear the walked to the tunnel and poked her head out the tunnel and groaned. The rain was pouring down heavily, and it looked like there might be a thunderstorm. She took a wad of moss and wiped her snout dry.

What do I do for the rest of the day? Skyborn stared into the rain.

She saw a shrouded figure was forcing itself through the rain, and as the figure came closer Skyborn recognized Falcon. The Sky Claw was drenched when she entered the cave and dripped water all over the ground.

Skyborn tried to avoid the puddles, hopping from claw to claw.

Skyborn blinked. "So… what are you doing here?"

Falcon rolled her eyes, "Think a little rain would cancel training? If you want to join the Elite, you need a new attitude about training. Also, you're going to get very wet, so there's no use trying to keep dry."

Skyborn tried to cover her surprise. How come Crow and Raven don't have to do it? "Yeah, of course, I knew that we would be training. I just didn't want to be muddy." Falcon snorted, skeptic.

Skyborn could tell she didn't fool anyone. "Come on." Falcon lead her into the rain. Skyborn shivered as thunder crackled overhead and the lightning danced across the sky, flashing.

"So, are we supposed to be flying low or something?" Flying low was no fun.

"No," Falcon's tail flicked back and forth in annoyance and impatience. "You need to learn that lightning is your ally."

"Ah." Another thought came to mind. "And what if I get killed like that?"

Falcon stared at her, unblinking. Her voice was cold and emotionless. "If you're not fast enough to survive, you're not fast enough to join the Elite."