~Melee~
Felix

"I don't care what you do. Get it there!"

"But miss, I-"

"Felix!"

She placed a wing on my shoulder with a firm grip, "I'll be right beside you."

Leaving the place where you grew up is a difficult thing. If I were stubborn, I'd've said no again; but one look into those begging eyes... You could convince people that black was white with those. Hesitantly, I nodded.

She nodded firmly. "Alright then. Everybody knows the plan?"

A pidgeot (we call him Jeff) nodded. "We haul tail, and make sure Felix doesn't get shot down."

"Right," she said. "Let's go."

Theme: ThePianoGuys, "Code Name Vivaldi"

One by one, the four of us ascended above the trees. The fourth of us, a skarmory, spoke a word of suggestion. "Stay low to the treetops," he said. "It'll mess with their aim and whatever they throw at us."

I nodded, "Acknowledged."

With that, we surged Northward. Quick Attack lending us our speed boost. Our message was simple. Three words. After our moves gave out, we resorted to old fashioned wing-power. We assumed a "V" formation with me in the lead. Even without our extra speed boost, the tree canopy flew by like bullets. Bullets…

Suddenly, oblong objects shoot past my right. Instinctively, I veer to my left, breaking formation. I hear someone cry out, and look behind to see Jeff's figure plummeting. To my relief, he recovers swiftly.

"You alright?" Logan calls back.

"Ha! Just a scratch!" he assures, rejoining formation. "It's not very effective."

Not a second later, more bursts of Bullet Seed rained up upon us. Not to be surprised a second time, we skillfully veer, dive, climb, to get out of the way. I hear distant shouts, and ever-so-clear were the voices.

"Intruders in the treetops! I count four!"

I grit my teeth as we continued to speed along. Then, a new move joins Bullet Seed in the endeavor of shooting us down. My senses warn me, and I look up to see a thick string hurtling directly towards my face. Instantly, a heat wells in me and I breath out, fire going with, now engulfing the string in flames. I charge through the fireball, the ashes of the web buffet my plumage. With new adrenaline from a close call, I power forth once again.

"Heads up! String Shot's in the air! We're really diving into the melee aren't we?"

We weave through the jungle of enemy fire like threads, and like threads, we are fragile. One String Shot screwing up our aim our course our flying, one mistimed turn, and the full fury of the enemy below will be upon us, and once we hit the forest floor… who knows what they'll do to us. Unexpectedly, a thunderous boom reaches my ears from behind, the shock wave knocking me off course momentarily. I swing my head back to find a charred figure disappearing under the trees. My eyes widen in horror. What kind of pokemon was capable of such power?! I do a quick head count. Jeff is the only one missing.

"What the hell was that?!"

"Solar Beam! It was Solar Beam! Jeffery's been hit!"

I glance further behind, and behold, more surprises. Eight ninjask in hot pursuit; and I see the skarmory lagging behind.

"Logan!" I scream. "Behind you! BEHIND!"

I barely see him widen his eyes before another String Shot from below catches him in the face. To further my horror, a ninjask dives down at breakneck speed, crossing its claws before it landed a direct hit on his back. I watch as he cries out before he too descends below the canopy.

Just then, I was reminded that Tanya was with us. The tranquill just off my left. "Keep moving, Felix! Stay close to the canopy!"

With those words, I renew my resolve. My heartbeat pounds, my wings ache. The cold air freezes rushes into my lungs, and I begin to taste blood in my throat. But at whatever cost, this message must be delivered. I chance another glance behind once again. This time, I see two ninjask speed forward from the other six. As if on cue, the torrent of Bullet Seeds and String Shots fade away; our speeding forms beyond ground reach.

I turn to the tranquill on my left, "Tanya, they're gonna try something!"

She too, quickly looked back. "I see it!"

"What do we do?!"

There was a moment of relative silence as we considered how best to deal with this threat. The buzzing of the ninjask's wings spurring on our thoughts. Then she had a brainwave.

"Felix!" she called, "the Thach Weave!"

I hesitated. The Thach Weave was a maneuver taught for only one attacker. Not two. She apparently picked up on my thought process as I hear her shout once again.

"Trust me!"

When have I not? "… Alright," I said decisively. "Let's make it quick!"

Skillfully, we turned into each other until we crossed almost wingtip to wingtip. We continued until we had effectively switched places. Then, switching direction, we repeated until the ninjask were close, looking down at us from above. Then they dived; one after each of us. I panicked as one dropped in on me from behind.

"Tanya! One's on my tail!"

"You don't say?!" she replied with heavy sarcasm, a ninjask behind her herself. "Hold the maneuver. It should work just fine!"

She was right. The cycle began again, and we started to turn into each other. Like magic, the ninjask tailing her was in my line of sight, and my field of fire. Then, I knew what to do. My fire sac swells. I cloak myself in fire, and charge. Air screams past, and a second later, I score a direct hit, knocking the ninjask off her six. A smile creeps on my expression. It actually worked!

"Now it's your turn!" she called. "Loop back around!"

I did as told, but the other ninjask, having seen what happened to its comrade, did not follow. Instead, it pulled away, climbing to rejoin the mother group. But Tanya would not let it go. Breaking maneuver, she zoomed toward it in what I assumed to be Quick Attack, scoring a hit.

"Scratch two!" I exclaimed. "Keep this up, and we'll be the next Aces of Skyborne!"

Or so I thought. Suddenly, the air about us erupted in innumerable explosions. We both veered in opposite directions to escape. Once out of the initial onslaught, I could get a proper view. Several beedrill had joined the pursuit, and were hugging the canopy as we were, firing Pin Missile after Pin Missile directly beneath us. I could hear the faint order of one of the soldiers on the ground.

"Keep those damn birds off the canopy! We can't aim!"

Tanya's voice snatches my attention, "Felix! I have a plan!"

The explosions did not let up, and I found myself holding a conversation while taking evasive maneuvers. "Being?!"

"Use your Flame Charge!" she ordered. "It'll make you faster. Dive under the canopy and draw the enemy fire on their own forces. Fly on outta here-and don't look back! You'll be out of enemy territory in about another hundred yards! Just get that message to Skyborne!"

"And you?"

She smiled, strange in this situation. "You'll find out soon enough."

I would not be entertained with elusive speech. "You're not gonna try anything stupid are you?"

Punctual as always, another interruption cuts the conversation. I could hear the sizzling air of another Solar Beam behind us. Tanya also took notice.

"Break!"

Just as quickly as she said so, she made a hard left turn. I started left, but the move caught me on my outstretched wing. The Solar Beam spun me like a centrifuge, and flung me about like I was in a pinball machine. For a fleeting instance, I was blinded, and I was sure I had broken every bone in my body. To the song of my wings screaming in protest, and the beat of constant explosions, I manage to straighten myself out; more broken than fixed. The temporary blindness lifts from my body, and I catch a glimpse of the treetops. It was too late to stay above them.

I crash right through with another Pin Missile about to make contact. The pokemon under jump and shout in surprise as I pull up and to the left, leaving the Pin Missile to descend on its own. Some appear to have been waiting for me, and continue the onslaught of Bullet Seeds, String Shots, and Energy Balls despite the carnage of the Pin Missile on the forest floor. By some miracle, I appear to have survived this far. Resuming my evasions, I take on a new thought process. This was certainly a change from the quiet nights I've had patrolling the mountain interior, but even then, bein alone is nothing new for me. Having been separated by my last remaining wingman, I revert back to her orders. Use Flame Charge, get out, deliver the message… Don't look back… I will do just that.

My fire sac swells, and I am enrobed in an flame like none I'd ever made. More ninjask block off the path ahead, but they are no match for me. With reckless abandon, I crash through them all. No Scratch nor Bite nor Fury Swipe will knock me out of the sky, for my mission is just. They can burn the land and boil the sea, but they will never take the sky from me! Bug and Grass types alike bounce away, unable to match my fury. A few seconds later, and I am free. I had traversed the hundred yards left of enemy territory. Now, this message can be delivered, and my mission can continue unabated. I consider turning back, and perhaps help Tanya and the others… but my wounds begin to catch up to me.

I found that I couldn't fly straight, I couldn't right myself despite the fact that the mountain was so tantalizingly close. My wings ached-not to mention my left one was completely useless thanks to that Solar Beam. I breathed the cold and thin alpine air, and I tasted blood in my throat, coughing in up shortly after. They had done a number on me, a number or two… I can't make it all the way to Kitiro but maybe… Maybe I won't need to…

The entrance was close, I could land on it. However, my legs fail from under me, and I crash, landing on my side. My vision starts to fade as I vaguely perceive another fellow flyer beside me. Now is the time.

"C-Coronet… Coronet…" I choke out.

"Hey, save your breath," he says, but I don't listen.

"C… Coronet has fallen."

Thumbs up if you get the Firefly reference!

This marks the end of the Prologue.