10 years later…

Fang sat on the edge of a cliff at Lake Mead as he watched the hawks soar. It was mesmerizing. The hawks' beauty and majesty was just amazing. He got to his feet and stretched his wings outward. Just before he took off, he heard Max from behind him.

"Where are you going?"

He turned to face her. "I'm just going flying with the hawks. You want to come?"

She smiled, and then frowned. "No, I can't. I promised Nudge that I'd let her paint my nails. Can you just kill me now?"

Fang softly laughed. He turned and jumped off the cliff's edge and felt the incredible sensation of falling. Suddenly, he shot upwards. The cool wind brushed his skin. Fang saw the hawks a couple feet away and flew towards them, joining the aerie. He watched them as they flew so delicately, but with so much strength and power. It felt good to be flying. It was one of those moments where you can say "This is what I was born to do. In the sky is where I belong I belong." It was moments like these where Fang didn't have to worry about anything. Not M-geeks, not Itex, not Max, not anything. It was peaceful in the sky. Sometimes you'd hear the occasional screech of a hawk, but that was it. So peaceful.

After an hour or so, Fang was flying very far from the cave at which his flock was staying. The cool wind ripped through his hair. And, suddenly, he spotted something in the sky coming straight at him. It wasn't human, it didn't even look human. It had no skin, and it was made of pieces of metal bolted together. Its eyes were little red lights that looked right at Fang. It had no hands, just a knife and a gun. On its back was a rocket that kept the thing in the air. Just as it was within fifty feet of Fang, the thing raised its arm and shot at Fang. One bullet grazed Fang's shoulder, another just missed his ankle. The last one did not miss, but went right into Fang's wing. Before Fang knew it, he was falling, and then plunging right into the chilled lake water.

It took all his strength to raise his head out of the water. He saw the thing fly over him, and disappear from sight. Or maybe it was just Fang was too weak and dizzy to see anything. He was in the middle of the lake, and no one was around to save him this time. He tried swimming, but he had lost a lot of blood. "Help," he choked out, but he was sure no one could hear him. Slowly, he lost his strength and, before he passed out, he felt a pair of arms wrap around him.

Fang woke on the floor of a cave, his wings outstretched. He glanced over and saw a girl. But, she wasn't a girl. She had BLUE skin, and gills. Her hair was blonde and curly with little blue streaks. This girl was bandaging his wing with gauze. Just next to her was the bullet that impaled him, covered in blood. Had she dug the bullet out of his wing? Probably. She turned her head and looked right at Fang.

"You're awake." She stood and walked to the entrance of the cave and called, "Hey, Dolly, he's awake. Oh, and I got the bullet out. Good lord, that sucker was in there deep."

It took Fang a while to process what she just said. She turned back to Fang. "You got shot. I got this," she grabbed the bullet and held it for Fang to see, "out of your wing. By the way, nice wings. How are you feeling?"

"I…thanks for saving me. I feel…fine," he said.

Another girl walked into the cave. This girl looked fairly human in comparison to the other. Except, she had yellow eyes. This girl knelt down next to him and touched his wound. "Brooklyn, I think our guest is hungry. Can you please get him something?" the girl said. Her voice was quiet and calm. The blue girl, Brooklyn, stood and walked out of the cave.

That left Fang with this other girl. She continued wrapped his wing in gauze. The two sat in silence, leaving Fang trying to find words. "Um, thanks," he said, feeling kind of dumb.

"You're welcome," she said, not taking her eyes off his wound.

"I'm Fang."

"Dolly."

Fang just laid there without saying another word. A couple of minutes later, Brooklyn walked in holding a large, dead channel catfish. "Nabbed this baby right outta the lake," Brooklyn said, waving it in Dolly's face. Fang watched as Brooklyn waltzed into the cave, grabbed what seemed to be a purse, and walked out the cave entrance.

Fang's wing was starting to feel as if someone had set in on fire. His fists clenched and he gritted his teeth. Dolly must have noticed.

"I can fix your wing."

"How?"

Dolly pressed her hand to Fang's wound. There was a sound, like when clicks their tongue using the roof of their mouth, and it felt really tingly for a second. And the pain was gone. No more. No more hurt. None. Notta. Zip. Zero. It was if the wound had healed. Dolly unwrapped the gauze and, strangely enough, the wound was gone. Like it had never existed. "Whoa, how did you do that?" asked Fang, bewildered. Dolly gave him a face that made him feel like an idiot.

"You talk a lot," said Dolly.

Ironic, right?

Fang sat up and got to his feet. "Uh, thanks for fixing my wing. I appreciate it."

Dolly just nodded.

Brooklyn skipped in with an object wrapped in tinfoil. "Hey! I see Dolly healed your wing. Last week I stepped on some rocks in the lake and Dolly fixed me right up." She handed him the object. "Have a catfish!"

After Fang finished his catfish, he thanked Brooklyn and Dolly. "I'd really better go." He knew the flock was probably worried about him.

"Why?" asked Dolly simply.

Fang hesitated. He almost didn't want to tell them about the flock in fear that the two girls might be working for Itex. But I owe them. They saved me. "I have to go back to my friends."

"Can we come?" asked Brooklyn pleadingly. "We haven't met other mutants in ages!"

Now Fang was really hesitant. What if they attack the flock? What if they are working for Itex? Why did they want to meet the flock, anyway?

Before he could stop himself, Fang blurted out, "Yeah, okay." Brooklyn squealed.

"Thank you, Fang!" she said hugging him. Fang looked over at Dolly, whose expression hadn't changed. Dolly stood and walked to the back of the cave. Fang watched as she picked up a backpack that he hadn't noticed before.

"Let's go," Dolly said.

Fang couldn't help but wonder how Max will react when he brings two girls to meet the flock.

You guys probably hate me. I haven't updated in a month! I'm so sorry! It's just that school started and I have so much homework! I promise I'm going to try to update more often.