Hey, everyone! I'm sorry this update took so long; I've been busy with some other stuff. But here we are!

Please enjoy this final chapter!


The Diver

The Diver watched in horror as one of the younger wing people was pulled down—presumably by some creature. They wasted no time; they dove down immediately, using their echolocation to get a sense of where the winged boy was.

Realizing that he had been caught in an undercurrent, the Diver swam faster, boosting their speed as much as they were able to. Using their echolocation again, they finally had him in their sights. Using one last boost, they reached him just as he lost consciousness. He didn't have much time—they needed to get him to shore now. The Diver assumed that the other wing people would know what to do.

They boosted up and breached the surface, swimming as quickly as they could, keeping the boy's head above water. They swam for what seemed like an eternity.

Finally, finally they reached the shore. Retracting their fins back into their feet, they jogged the last few yards of the shallow water holding the boy bridal style, then gently laid him down on the sand. They immediately stepped back, giving a worried chirp as the older winged girl placed her ear by the boy's nose and mouth. The Diver stepped back farther as she straddled the boy, and began to press on his chest in rhythm.


The Flock

Everyone waited anxiously for the diver to surface. When it finally did, everyone was immensely relieved, though it didn't last for long once they realized that Gazzy was unconscious. They waited for what seemed like forever for the diver to swim back—even at its inhuman speeds.

The diver finally made it to shore, jogging up the last few yards. It gently set Gazzy down on the sand and made a worried chiming noise. No one noticed, but they stayed deathly silent as Max wasted no time checking for breathing.

"He's not breathing," she said, panic straining her voice. She immediately began CPR.

It didn't work.

Giving up, Max felt a hand on her shoulder. Tears streaming down her face, she looked up, expecting to see Fang or one of the Flock.

She did not expect to see the diver who had saved—tried to save Gazzy. The diver made a chirp that seemed to say, "It's okay, I'm going to fix this." No one said anything as Max got up, but everyone was crying. He didn't deserve this, Max thought. He was just a kid! He—

The diver knelt down, gently touching Gazzy's chest. The Flock looked on in amazement, confusion, and hope as the diver then put both hands to their chest, and, as they drew them away, a blue ball of something formed. The Flock held their breath as the diver pushed it into Gazzy's chest with a look of fierce determination in their eyes.

A tense few seconds passed, and just when the Flock thought that the last resort had failed, Gazzy started coughing up water.

"G-Gazzy?" Max whispered.

He coughed up the last of it, sat up, and took a deep breath, his eyes wide.

"GAZZY!"

The diver quickly got up and stood back as Max dropped to her knees, hugging him and holding on for dear life as his breathing went back to normal.

"M-Max…?" he said hoarsely.


The Diver

The pressing hadn't worked, and the Diver saw that the older wing girl was clearly heartbroken. They hated seeing anyone or anything in pain, and they hated seeing anyone or anything die.

They put a hand on her shoulder, and tried to communicate that they were going to fix this.

The older girl stood up as the Diver knelt down and gently put a hand to the boy's chest. The heartbeat was gone, but there was still life energy there—it just needed a little extra help to be able to start the body again.

They used the same energy that they had used to save the ocean; they pulled some out of their core and placed it into his chest. There was so little life there that it was an easy task, but the Diver remained just as determined to make this work.

A few seconds passed, and the Diver knew that these people were relying on them. This would work.

It had to…

…And it did.

A few seconds later, the boy started coughing up water, sitting up and gasping for breath. The winged people, who were all crying, seemed to be in shock, but the older girl yelled, "GAZZY!"—which, the Diver guessed, was his name—and quickly knelt down and gave him a hug. Knowing that they would probably like some space, the Diver stood up just as quickly and stepped back a few paces.

"M-Max…?" the boy—Gazzy said in a hoarse voice.


The Flock

The rest of the Flock were still crying, and Nudge was openly sobbing, but they were tears of happiness, now. Reluctantly, Max let him go, but held onto his shoulders as if she was afraid she'd lose him again. She smiled, eyes still watery.

"Gazzy, don't scare us like that again! If you die one more time I'll bring you back just so I can kill you myself!" she said jokingly, smiling through the remainder of her tears. She had stopped crying—she had to be strong for her Flock, and there was no reason to cry, now. Gazzy was back, and the diver- the diver!

Max helped Gazzy stand up. He was actually looking pretty good for having literally drowned a few minutes ago. Was it—Was it whatever they did? Max wondered as she helped Gazzy up, even though he insisted he didn't need it (and he really didn't).

The other members of the Flock rushed over to Gazzy, who seemed perfectly fine, now. He was even joking with a teary-eyed Nudge, who he was trying to get to not blame herself. Max slowly tore herself away from the post-near death experience reunion, and—still in shock over what had just happened—walked over to the diver, who looked like they didn't know quite what to do in this situation.

Wait, when did I start referring to them as "they"? she wondered. They're not human. But then again, neither are we.

Max stood in front of the diver for a few moments, trying to figure out just what to think of them. They saved one of our own, something usually only one of our own would do.

They made a confused chirp, and Max made up her mind.

They are one of our own.

She hugged the diver tightly, trying to convey just how thankful she was since she had never been good at "all that mushy stuff," as Gazzy had once called it. They, in return, just kind of. . .awkwardly patted her on the back. Max let go and smiled. I'd consider that a success, she thought.

She beckoned them over to come meet the rest of the Flock, who were watching them with curious expressions.

"Alright, gang," she said. "This is. . . What's your name again? Do you have a name?" she asked, turning to the diver, who immediately perked up and nodded. They appeared to focus for a moment, as if remembering something, and then:

"D- (click) -i- (low, short chirp) -ve-r! (mid-toned whistle, ending in a chirp)"

They looked at the group expectantly, but the Flock all looked dumbfounded—until Iggy remembered the ocean and put two and two together.

"…Diver?" he said tentatively, to which they nodded and chimed happily in confirmation.

"Iggy, what would we do without you?" Max said, putting a hand to her forehead in both exasperation and relief.


The Diver

As the older wing girl—Max—approached, the Diver wasn't quite sure what to expect. They had saved Gazzy, and the rest of the wing people all seemed happy, but the Diver hadn't really had any contact with beings other than ocean life and the animals on the island.

Max stood in front of the Diver for a moment, just looking at them with an unidentifiable expression on her face. They made a confused, hesitant chirp, trying to figure out what they should do, if anything. Max suddenly hugged the Diver almost as tightly as she had hugged Gazzy.

Not being used to physical contact, they just kind of awkwardly patted Max on the back, doing their best to not seem uncomfortable.

Max finally let go, smiled at them, and beckoned them over to where the rest of the wing people were standing, watching the exchange curiously.

"Alright, gang," she said. "This is. . . What's your name again? Do you have a name?" she asked, turning to the Diver, who immediately perked up and nodded—they finally had a chance to see if their practice had paid off.

(The Diver could understand many languages, though they could speak none. They had spent time giving themselves names in various languages, based on what they did: dive. So, of course, "Diver" in English was a given. After they had figured out their "name" in that language, they would practice "saying" it through chirps, whistles, chimes, and clicks. Ironically, this is the same way parrots "speak": by altering the sounds that they can already make in pitch, tone, and length to resemble words.)

Focusing for a moment, the Diver tried to remember how they "said" their name in English.

"D- (click) -i- (low, short chirp) -ve-r! (mid-toned whistle, ending in a chirp)"

The Diver looked at the group expectantly. They all looked dumbfounded, until one of them said, "…Diver?" to which they nodded and chimed happily in confirmation.

"Iggy, what would we do without you?" Max said, putting a hand to her forehead in both exasperation and relief.


The Flock

"Anyway, as I was saying!" Max said, getting everyone's attention once more. "Diver, here, since they saved one of our own, is now one of our own! They are now an Honorary Member of the Flock. If you have any objections, speak now, or forever hold your peace!"

Max surveyed the group, watching them critically, but everyone just looked at each other, then cheered:

A "Congratulations!" from Angel.

A "Welcome to the Flock! We're all a really close-knit family but I think you'll fit in and you'll have a lot of fun and-" from Nudge.

A nod and a smile from Fang.

A "Welcome!" from Iggy.

And a hug and the most sincere "Thank you," that Gazzy had ever given.

"Great! Glad that's settled. Now, Diver, in accordance with these guidelines which I just made up on the spot, a new Honorary Member of the Flock who did us a huge, huge favor, gets a favor in return—something that is, of course, in our power to actually do. So, what can we do for you?"

Everyone watched the Diver expectantly, but they only needed to think for a split second before they made up their mind.

The Diver pointed to themselves, then at the sky, then made a flapping, flying motion with their arms.

"You. . .you want to fly?" asked Max.

They nodded excitedly, clearly hoping that the Flock would be willing and able to do this.

"Well, it looks like you just picked the one thing we're best at!" She then turned to Fang. "Fang, you're the strongest. You okay with this?"

"Anything for a member of the Flock," he said with a smile.


The Diver

The Diver stood at the edge of the cliff, their arms out in a "T" shape and their eyes closed.

Fang had explained to them what was going to happen: they would stand at the edge of the cliff as they are now so Fang wouldn't have to struggle with getting both himself and the Diver into the air. Fang would pick up speed before grabbing the Diver, fly up high, then dive down so they could hook their legs around his, allowing him to carry them more easily.

The Diver reviewed this plan in their head while they stood at the edge of the cliff. If they were being honest with themselves, they were actually kind of nervous about this. However, it wasn't long before they heard, "Here I come!" from above and behind them. The next thing they knew, they were climbing higher and higher into the sky.

"You're lighter than you look!" Fang said.

The Diver opened their eyes and looked down, letting out a surprised chirp at how high up they were. They looked up at Fang in panic.

"Keep calm! Think of this as a regular dive off the cliff, only you're not going to hit the water, you're going to fly. Now, remember to hook your legs around mine when I dive and keep them there. It will help me carry you.

They nodded and closed their eyes again as Fang started to drop, keeping them closed until they managed to do as they were instructed.

When they finally opened their eyes, they saw the water rushing up to meet them. A few moments before the Diver expected to hit the surface, the pair swooped back up into the air.

The Diver chirped happily as the rest of the flock joined them in the sky. Fang did all sorts of tricks—loop-de-loops, dives, spirals, and others for the Diver to enjoy.

And enjoy it they did. Letting out a long, happy whistle as they and the flock did another dive, they realized that their dream had come true—they were honest-to-goodness flying. They continued to chirp and chime and whistle with joy as they knew that now, having dove to the deepest depths, they were flying to the highest heights.


Whew, finished! I hope you all enjoyed the story, because I'm not sure how I feel about how it turned out. . .