Ten Years Later:

The Himalayan Avian Village Project

The sun burned brighter than ever as it shone through my black feathers and lit up the icy mountain side. I twisted around in a loop and felt my muscles work with strength and flexibility, gliding through the air like a weightless acrobat.

I was slowly starting to appreciate the lack of air resistance and worked on improving my flying to levels previously unimaginable. I was sent here about a year ago by The League of Myths and Legends with the hope that I could lead the growing numbers of escaped avian-human lab experiments to a sort of order. I myself had been freed from a lab experiment and knew the pains of growing up with an intense fear of needles. Raised by the league in a plushy French home that had a few feathers themselves I had more then recovered. Now it was my turn to lead my kind to the skies of freedom.

I stuck the landing with a twirl of wind and faced my second in command Brackle. He was taller than me by a couple inches and had an impressive blond Mohawk that many of the younger children just had to touch. Fair skinned with beautiful brown eyes that could melt an icy heart, I couldn't say no when he begged to be my second in command. Over this past year working together had brought us closer but taking care of the village took up much of our time so we weren't a couple.

Yet.

Brackle had dropped more hints then rain cloud at a downpour and tonight I planned to take him up on his offer of a date. As I flexed my wings slowly I caught his eyes wandering down my feathers and in a girly voice I squeaked.

"Oooh Brackle! A man is not his wing span! Stop being such a perv!"

I pulled my dense winter coat tight around my lean frame.

"But you know I can't help it Laborkio! Your feathers are just so damn fine!"

He played along smiling.

"Then you're just going to have to deal with watching them at a distance you horn dog!"

At that he scooped me up in his arms and whispered in my ear.

"You know I can't do that Laborkio…"

I wrapped my arms around his neck and we rubbed noses, breathing in the thin mountain air together. I smiled and closed my eyes as he leaned his forehead against mine.

"You know that date you've been begging for?"

His eyes opened and searched mine as he nodded slowly.

"Yeah? What about it?"

He asked slowly, but I could feel the excited energy building in his muscles.

"I've decided to take you up on it, tonight"

I felt my feet leave the ground as he twirled around with me in his arms. Holding me tightly as we left the ground. His huge golden wings spanning the entire alcove and pulled us both out into the sky. I danced with him in flight for a while before promising him a time and a place. Then I headed off to help in the nursery leaving him with his daily duty of collecting reports from the 8 outposts that surrounded and protected the main village center.

I did pretty much any job that came along, my main mission was to prevent arguments and make it so people knew I was trying to help. Yesterday I had helped with garbage collection because one person had fallen ill and today I was in the nursery to help my old friend Januari adjust to a couple of new kids that had been rescued over in America.

I walked in and hung my long overcoat by the door as I was greeted by a rush of children.

"La-La!"

A young blue winged girl cried out as she wrapped her small body around my leg and looked up at me with huge golden eyes. She had curly blue locks all the way down to her waist, I myself knew just how untamable it was. It was like it had a mind of its own!

"Hi there Nikia"

I gently pried her off my leg and pulled her into a big hug. She reached up and pulled on my long black hair that was falling out of my long ponytail.

"Silky Silky! La-La's hair feels nice!"

"Ouchy, don't tug on La-La's hair please Nikia"

I begged as I tried to separate her little fingers from the strands.

"Laborkio! Thank goodness you're here, the two new kids are trying to escape, and I told them recess is just in a little while but I'm afraid they'll take off!"

The nursery master, Januari rushed in with her glasses askew and head band falling into her eyes. I turned her around, pulled the head band tighter and ruffled her short spiky white hair. Looking over her shoulder with those milky grey eyes and snort of frustration.

"I swear, one day this headband WILL stay in place"

"Yes, and that day the sky will fall in on itself and we will all float into space"

I joked with a mischievous smile and a soft pat on her shoulder.

"Now, about those rebellious newcomers?"

"Oh dear! They are trouble with a capital T! One has been reading everyone's mind and scaring them and the other has been trying to build a mega bomb in the bathroom!"

"Sounds like we have a problem! Now let's see if we can find a solution"

Coolly walking into main playroom to find two sets of wide blue eyes staring at me from underneath blond locks of straw like hair.

"No… My name is Laborkio, who is Fang?"

They both gave one another a terrified look and stepped back.

"So, your Fang's evil clone?"

The little girl asked quietly as she shifted backwards slowly.

"I do not remember doing anything evil, in fact I think I do a lot of good things for people, which would make me a good person, right?"

I was trying to be comforting but these children were starting to unnerve me with talk of evil clones. I knew that several of the other children were designed to be clones but I never thought I could be a clone. Or maybe someone had cloned me? I doubt that.

"No, you're a clone! Fang is the original!"

The little girl almost cried out. Tears of confusion and anger rolled down her face but the little boy just stood there with shock in his eyes and a hand on the little girls arm.

"I want to go home! I want to see the flock again!"

Now they were both crying and I turned to Januari.

"These kids need to go back, I have a nagging feeling that my original will be wanting them back"

And that was the time I learned that there was more then one of me.

And that he was a total asshole.