Hello, everyone! This week has been really hectic, but I managed to get this chapter up! It focuses on Sierra and how he deals with things, and also offers a backstory on him and Danielle. The next one will focus on Rinkus, just because he deserves love and because there's a huge contrast between their characters. So, watch out for that. Anyway I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and as always, please leave a review or some kind of feedback. Thank you guys and have a great week!

The brown flyer looked on sadly at the faded hand drawn picture of what looked like two flyers made from remnants of soot on the cave wall. He knew very well what the illustration was supposed to convey. Him and the flyer who was supposed to be his wife.

He stared at the cavern wall for a long, long time. The pain in his eyes was clear — it seemed like a mix of sadness and anger, like a forest fire being mellowed down by sky water.

Suddenly, the pain of losing the only thing he loved seemed fresh. But then again, it had never really gone away. It was simply buried under layers of resentment. Resentment for everyone and everything.

Sierra ran a hand over the drawing, smudging it even further until the depiction of the flyers blurred, like a memory long past. He didn't want to remember any memories the picture would bring back. It reminded him too much of Danielle. Yet, he couldn't stop staring at it. All he could hear was her voice. Even after all this time, he still remembered her voice — that calm, melodious voice that could lull someone to sleep.

I can't wait to begin a life with you, Sierra. We're always going to be together, right?

You bet we are, sweetheart.

That was the conversation that took place when she and Sierra first moved into the cavern he was currently lingering by. Just then, he remembered. He remembered the day he first began to trust her, the day he fell in love with her. The day he finally understood what love really was. The feeling of being completed by another.

It was the afternoon after days and nights of endless sky water. During the days of sky water, Mrs. Farrah educated the young ones about the many dangers of the outside world, and how they could prepare themselves. Her students were young, but still old enough to venture out on their own. She split the group four ways — the clumsy Randy with Tress, someone who would keep him on task. Kyra with Pterano, as they made the perfect pair. Rinkus with Alexandra, who with their speed and agility, worked excellent together. And lastly, the kind and demure Danielle with Sierra, a brash and ill-mannered flyer.

Danielle had several qualms, all of which she chose not to voice out of respect for her teacher. She agreed with Mrs. Farrah — Sierra did have potential. He was quick and clever, and he had ability. But Sierra chose not to utilize it. Instead, he was lazy and rude. She expressed this to him before, which was how he knew what was on her mind.

The entire duration of the journey to their designated spot, Sierra complained about just how stupid the lesson was, about how he just wanted to go take a nap, and how they would never end up having to do this in reality. Danielle did not respond to any of his complaints. Rather, she simply nodded her head as she averted her gaze.

Soon enough, they reached an area with more cliffs and rocks rather than open land. They examined the rocky cliffs. Simultaneously, they both realized — they were trapped. Surrounded by stone, they were in quite the predicament. Danielle was a very weak flyer. She would never make it over the rocks. Sierra could have just left her there, but he knew Mrs. Farrah would tell his mother, and Sierra would never hear the end of it. So, he didn't.

However, his patience was quickly wearing thin. And so was Danielle's. Her fear was quickly being replaced by anger, but she didn't lash out. Eventually, she stopped making attempts to fly, which angered Sierra further.

"What's the matter?"

"I can't do it. It's too big for me to get over."

"Great. This is just perfect!"

He would never admit it, but he fancied Danielle. She was kind and quite easy on the eyes. She was as delicate as the rarest tree sweet. He only wished she wouldn't shy away from him so much, but there was no denying that that was his own fault.

"There's no point in yelling, Sierra." Her voice was somewhat deep, but instilled a sort of calmness. She reminded him of his mother sometimes. Did no harm, but took nothing from no one.

"Well, what do you suggest we do, huh?"

"Wait for help," Danielle suggested calmly. "They'll notice we're gone."

"Fat lot of good that does us! They'll never find us down here!"

Danielle sighed, walking off into a nearby cave.

"I hear there's going to be some sky water later," she said.

Sierra remained standoffish. "Yeah, and?"

"I'm just saying, I wouldn't want to be out there when it hits."

"I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm sure."

Danielle didn't quite believe him, but it wasn't as if she could force him to come inside.

Sierra passed the time by kicking tiny pebbles into the nearby lake, watching them skid across the water. He would occasionally glance back at Danielle, who had her back turned towards him. She looked to be sleeping peacefully.

At some point, ominous looking clouds began to loom. There were several loud claps of thunder preceding a visible crack of light blue lightning which signified the start of a storm. Water began pouring from the sky, producing a small pitter patter as it hit the ground.

Sierra wrapped his wings around his body, hugging himself as a breeze traveled through the air.

Danielle turned slightly, watching as Sierra shivered in the wind. She lowered her brows, folding back her wings as she approached him slowly. The slightest hint of concern shine in her azure eyes.

"Sierra," she began, "You can come inside. I don't want you staying out here in the cold."

"I'm fine," he growled.

"I know you're fine, but I would really feel a lot better if you would come inside."

"I ain't coming inside."

"Why not? What do you hope to achieve by standing out here? You'll just be cold and wet, or worse, you could get sick!"

"You're not my mom, okay? Now lay off!"

"I won't lay off," persisted Danielle. "Just come inside, please."

Sierra clenched his fists, gritting his teeth. "Why do you care so much?!"

"Because I care about you!" Danielle cried out, her voice audibly cracking and her eyes becoming moist. "I know that you have it hard at home, and I was trying to be nice to you, but I was wrong to think that you could actually swallow your pride and appreciate it. I wish I'd never been paired up with you!"

Without another word, Danielle tore away from him and flew off into the shelter of the cave.

Sierra was awestruck — both by how he'd managed to anger someone as sweet as Danielle, and how it became suddenly apparent to him that she didn't hate him as much as he thought she did.

Sierra had ruined multiple friendships over the years. The only reason Rinkus struck around for so long was because he had the same dry sense of humor that Sierra did. Every time Sierra drifted apart from someone, or someone was reluctant to approach him because of something he said, the brown flyer could hardly be bothered to do anything about it.

Not this time. He couldn't let her drift apart like everyone else. Sierra always found himself feeling much more pleasant when in her presence, and he genuinely cared for her. Even if they never had anything more than a friendship, he'd be content just being able to see her.

He decided to go inside the cave sometime after night fell. Danielle was already asleep, her tail curled around her petite body. Sierra's expression softened upon seeing her peaceful face. He used his claws to push some dirt out of the way, and made himself a makeshift bed near the opening of the dark cave. His yellow eyes were cast out towards the cliffs, keeping watch over both of them.

By the morning, the sky water had stopped. There were huge puddles reaching at least a foot deep scattered all across the grass. Danielle opened one eye, yawning. When she raised her head, she looked around and noticed that Sierra was gone. To her right, she saw a pile of leaves. To her left, were various assortments of fish.

Danielle rose to her feet, lowering her head and sniffing the fish. They were fairly fresh. Her stomach empty and begging for nutrients, she buried her head in the pile, snacking on a large silvery fish.

Then, the flapping of wings slicing through the air caught her attention. She pulled her head from the pile, curiously raising her brow. Cautious and quiet, she slowly inched outside.

"Sierra?"

Elsewhere, a little ways from the coves, Sierra was cornered by a large sharptooth flyer. On all fours, he slowly backed away, nearing the cave ledge. In an attempt to bring Danielle more food and show her that he wasn't actually as callous as he seemed, he raided the nest of another flyer.

The sharptooth flyer took a jab at him, and then another. Sierra was lucky, but with each attack, the beast's aim improved.

Sierra, as quick as lightning, continued to dodge the attacks. The sharptooth, startled by Sierra's sudden movements, became more aggressive. It pinned him to the cave wall, digging it's claws into his shoulder blade. Sierra, in pain and agony, screamed and managed to dive out of reach.

Panic flared in Danielle's eyes. Her pupils became dilated, and she dashed off.

Sierra scrambled across the ledge, disappearing into a small. The sharptooth flyer pursued him, relentless.

Danielle bounded towards the cave walls, beginning to climb. At first, it seemed she was stuck, just like before. Then, with a powerful burst of effort, she hooked her claw around the upper lip of the cove wall. She heaved herself over the top, and took to the air.

The flyer closed in on Sierra, making way to enter with it's large body. Just as it prepared to finish him off, Danielle swooped in, pouncing on it's back and digging her sharp and serrated teeth into it's wing membrane.

Danielle and the sharptooth flyer tumbled into the air, locked in a toothy, viscous fight. The sharptooth snarled as it pushed Danielle off.

Sierra, worried that she wouldn't be able to make a landing, grew panicked. "Danielle!"

Danielle landed on the wall of a cliff, crawling and clinging to it like a sand creeper. She then lunged for the monstrous flyer, screeching loudly in it's ear as she managed to slam it against the wall.

The sharptooth flyer relented at last, bellowing in defeat and dipping it's head before fleeing the scene. Danielle watched the creature depart. Once it was gone, she flew over to Sierra.

"Are you alright?"

Sierra's beak stood open in astonishment. "What was all that about? I didn't know ya could be so...y'know...fierce."

Danielle scoffed in amusement. "If you can be sweet enough to bring me food while I'm asleep, I can be aggressive enough to fend off a sharptooth."

Sierra grinned slyly for a moment before the realization suddenly struck him. "Hey! You got over the walls! And all on your own!"

Danielle grinned triumphantly, lifting her chin. "That means we can finally go home. I'll race you? I bet I could beat you…"

Sierra snorted contemptuously. "You wish."

And so, the two flyers spread their wings, waiting for the perfect breeze to be carried through the air. Once they could feel it, they took off, flying off into the warm afterglow of dawn.

There was an entire slew of reasons why Danielle's death ruined him, but one of the more significant ones was that she kept him steady, and helped maintain a balance in his life. When she died, his life was thrown out of balance. She fulfilled him. But no one ever understood that. And no one ever would.

His grief came in huge, turbulent, ever-present waves, and it did not get any easier as the days passed. Although he still forced himself to live each day, he couldn't convince himself to think any of it mattered. He'd lost a great deal of weight. He was gaunt. He was in trouble.

Rinkus, despite having a breakdown at least once in a short while, was handling things better. He'd never gotten over the loss of Alex, but he'd gotten used to it. It was his new normal.

He turned around to see his friend looking forlornly towards the landscape.

"Sierra, are you going to sleep?"

Sierra mumbled something incoherent, flying to a distant spot of the cavern, away from Rinkus.

Rinkus paused briefly. "Look. I miss Alex. There hasn't been a day where I haven't missed her. But I know that sulking miserably isn't going to do squat to bring her back."

"What's your point?" Sierra asked with an attitude, the clouds above overshadowing the very faint gleam in his eyes.

"My point is," began Rinkus, sitting upright, "Danielle is gone. Forever. And moping about it won't bring her back."

"I know it won't. And what's it to ya, anyway?"

Rinkus sighed, at a loss. "I'm just saying...Danielle wouldn't want you to be like this."

"Well, Danielle ain't here," Sierra spat, venom lacing his gruff voice.

"If only she was," Rinkus said with finality, turning around to return to his slumber.

"If only," Sierra mumbled. He knew Danielle wasn't coming back, and he was resolute — he didn't care if he was throwing away all the hard work he had accomplished over the years in order to improve himself. If the one flyer who fulfilled him most wasn't even there to witness his achievements, there was no point in it at all.

He felt dead. Physically, he was alive, but the flyer who had once been, died along with his love. His heart cold and empty, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, his only sense of peace. Hopefully, tonight, he would dream of her. If he could dream of her every time he slept, he would sleep forever.