(ROUGH DRAFT) Endless Sky ~Elemental Chaos~

Chapter Four

His body stung. His head ached. Everything was sore.
Avaro groaned as he squirmed, aware of the uncomfortable ground below him. It was dark, the day long over.
He staggered to his talons, feeling blood trickle from wounds carved by the trees he crashed into. Avaro looked around, his left eye swollen and practically useless.
"What the fuck happened?" He swore, trying to find what he could've possible ran into. But there was nothing. Only trees and plants. Avaro tried to find a large tree he could've ran into, but there was none. He didn't even recall seeing anything ahead of him at all. It was just more forest as far as the eye can see.
Avaro hissed in annoyance and pain, circling around a few times before taking a few steps forward. His face smacked into something hard, making him stagger back. "Eh??" He blinked, staring at the treetops and nothing above. Slowly, Avaro reached out with a talon. It made contact, with nothing but air. It was almost like the clearest glass he had ever seen, but it made no noise when he tapped on it.
"Forcefield..?" Avaro guessed, but didn't truly believe it. There was no mentions of any of the three species here who can make forcefields, or a reason to make one this far away.
He placed a second talon on the wall and gave it a strong push. Nothing.
Nothing happened. No sound, no movement, nothing.
Avaro stepped back and coughed up a fireball. Again, nothing. Not even a scorch mark or a reaction.
It was freaky honestly. A giant invisable wall in the middle of a quiet forest.
Avaro started flying, but a stinking pain made him wince. Looking over he noticed cuts on his wings, even small holes. None were enough to keep him from flying, but if he pushed himself too hard the tears could worsen. Avaro let out an irritated huff and continued, walking up the wall with his fore talons. He wanted to know how tall it went, if he could get over it. Maybe the source of the wall was behind it, maybe it slants like a bubble. But it didn't. It kept going straight up, higher and higher. Avaro started feeling his wings getting sore, the air thinning, his head aching more. If he pushed anymore he might pass out, guaranteeing a death when he landed.
Suppressing his annoyance, Avaro made his way back down, the cuts on his wings hurting even more now. It was a relief to land and relax in the splintered mess he made hours ago.
Then finally dawned on him.
It was dark.
Avaro said he was going to hunt, not sleep out here.
"Lucerne must be worried sick!" He panicked, looking around and then at the sky, his heart plummeting.
He knew the time and location well during the day, but he never bothered at night. Not even in his old home. The stars and moons almost always have different patterns that he was too lazy to bother with. Assuming he would never be in a situation like this. Far away, lost, and alone.
But all wasn't lost.
Avaro stood there, an idea and realization bubbling in his mind.
He had hit the wall head on, nor turned at all during his flight. If he put his back to the wall and flew. Maybe, just maybe, he might fly by the town.
He doubt he would be able to directly fly toward it, but if he stayed high up he might be able to see the camp from above, or catch Lucerne in the sky looking for him. As long as he was somewhat close to it, he has a better chance on being found than out here.
Avaro took a deep breath, knowing well this wasn't going to be a normal fun flight. He once again took flight, his wings already crying out in pain from the flight before hand.
It was exhausting and painful. Each flap was a struggle as he tried to remain in the sky. Occasionally Avaro felt an updraft, but didn't dare to go any higher. If his wings gave out, he would die. As long as he was close to the ground he can take breaks when needed, at the cost of a few trees of course. Avaro was starting to feel dizzy after awhile, unsure how long he flew before or now. He wanted to walk, but knew it would take longer. Knew if he went smaller, he would be harder to spot, harder to notice as oppose to giant wing beats and shadow.
Maybe he should wait until day, wait until his wounds heal at least a little bit. Avaro can hunt, he wasn't dying.
But the thought of Lucerne looking for him pained him too much. He didn't want to leave his friend worried all night, searching for him. He needed to go back, let the others know that he's alright. Just really really exhausted.
Avaro pushed himself between some trees, snapping some in the progress, to catch his breath. His wings were stinging, as if someone were stabbing him repeatedly with needles. The holes most likily doubled in size.
His head throbbed, definitely going to be bruised from when he smacked into the invisible wall.
The only thing that didn't really ache was his legs.
"Walking will take too long. Do too much damage. Going small will make me slower," Avaro told himself again at the thought of walking or running. He would give anything for the forest to thin out into an open field. But unfortunately, all ge could see around him were trees. More and more trees under the many stars above.
"Wait."
Avaro squinted at the distance, trying his best to see with only one good eye.
The stars twinkled in reply, but one seemed to, move around.
His heart leaped, causing him to flap into the sky once more. There was only one person Avaro knew who can look like a star in the night. One person who could basically glow in the dark.
Avaro flapped hard, new energy pulsing through his veins and giving him that extra boost. The pain didn't matter at all now.
The moving star got bigger, defined wings flapping to keep it afloat. Avaro only pushed himself harder, reconizing the familiar blue and white speckled body. "Lucerne?!" He called out as he got closer to his friend. His ears picked up when he heard the celestial call his name back.
Avaro felt overjoyed as he took Lucerne's talons in his once he was close enough. Unable to hug him without knocking each other out of the sky in the progress.
"Where were you?! What happened?!" Lucerne cried, eyes wide with worry.
Avaro took a second to catch his breath. "Can't I- explain later?" He gasped, the energy that propelled him forward was starting to dwindle.
Lucerne seemed to have understood as he pulled back. "Alright, follow me," he turned and flew off, soaring through the night. Avaro had no problem keeping an eye on the glowing white wings Lucerne had.
Before long the celestial had tilted down and shifted into a bird to land in the camp, Avaro following but turning into his human form instead. Not planning on crushing a few cats under his talons.
"Do you need any food? Water?" Lucerne offered, shifting back into a human once his feet were in the ground. Avaro blinked for a moment, a bit dazed. "Uh, water is fine," he said after a few seconds.
"Alright, go back to the den and wait for me. Blaze is already there," his friend responded, walking away quickly.
Avaro watched him for a bit before heading off to the den. His body still hurt, his wings hurting just as much as his head, but he tried to ignore it.
Even in darkness, the moon still cast a nice glow onto the ground. Making each blade of grass have a nice shine to it. It must've been really late since there seems to be nobody awake, the only movements Avaro could see was the plants swaying in the breeze. Crickets and cicadas filling the night air with the occasional hoot.
Ducking down, Avaro slipped into the den he had slept in the past two night. A pair of eyes gleaming in the dark, watching his arrival.
"Hey..." Avaro waved, sitting next to Blaze. She looked at him, puffing out her fur. "Sorry I was gone, got lost. I'll explain tomorrow... Just really tired and sore right now," he explained, holding his wings close to his back.
The elemental just stared at him, not saying anything, making him feel uncomfortable.
Trying to ignore the piecing eyes, Avaro  went to examine his arms, pulling up his sleeves and squinting for any small cuts or bruises.
Even without light Avaro's pale skin practically glowed. It wasn't too hard to see a dark spot where it might've bruised or bled. Luckily there wasnt much there. Avaro would just have to check again in the morning when theres light.
Footsteps announced Lucerne's arrival as he slipped into the den, carrying a jagged wooden bowl full of water. "I got some water," he said, handing over the bowl to his friend.
Avaro gave his thanks as he took the refreshment, tipping it into his mouth and drinking. Avaro never felt anything more satisfying as the cool water slid down his throat. It was as if the queen herself had just given him the purest water, taken from the heavily guarded royal spring. But he knew that didn't even exist.
Avaro drank nearly the entire bowl before pulling back to gasp for air.
Lucerne was watching still, as if waiting for another order.
"I feel much better now," Avaro chuckled as he lowered the bowl, Blaze having started to purr.
"Need anything to eat?" The celestial then offered. Avaro felt a pang of discomfort, not liking the almost servant like actions from his friend. He shook his head and quickly chugged the rest of the water, setting the bowl aside. "I think it's better if we all went to bed, yes? It's late and I am very tired," Avaro said, reaching an arm to pat Blaze's head. She purred even louder.
Lucerne looked uncertain, as if debating whenever or not he should just go get food anyways.
"Come on, I can't sleep on this hard ground," Avaro pouted.
Lucerne sighed and shifted into the best he was the night before, curling around the two and resting his head on his forepaws. The elemental let out a little mew as Avaro leaned back onto the fluff, feeling relaxed.
"Night,' he said as be closed his eyes. The other two said their goodnights and let the silence of the night take over.
It wasn't that hard for Avaro to pass out, after all that happened. He was quiet glad to finally get some rest, knowing he's still going to try and fly a bit in the morning. No pain is going to stop Avaro from doing what he loved.
The night went by quickly, Avaro hardly aware of the sudden poking and prodding someone was doing to his arm. He shivered and tried to roll over, wanting to sleep a bit longer. "Leaff mmme alonnne.." he grumbled. Whoever it was stopped. There were noises, as if people were having a conversation quietly next to him, he ignored it.
Avaro heard someone raise their voice, then quickly found out why. A sudden wave a nausea flooded through him as he jerked awake, rolling and snapping his wings away from whoever was grabbing them. He sat up quickly, agitated. "What was that for?!" Avaro snarled, holding back a harsh swear.
A pale green cat was frowning at him, flowers growing out of her neck and tail with one behind her left ear. Lucerne was next to her, looking guilty. "I tried to warn her not to touch your wings," he quickly explained.
Avaro just hissed, shivering away the nausea. "Why is she even messing with me while I'm asleep, thats a little creepy," he growled. Lucerne frowned. "She was just checking your wounds, she wasn't going to do anything wrong," he said. "As if I would even want to," the green cat mumbled under her breath. Avaro huffed and crossed his arms."I'd rather deal with this myself thank you," he hissed at the cat, having lost any trust in her for ignoring Lucerne's warning. She shrugged before simply leaving the den, making Avaro realize Blaze was already gone.
"...Sorry about that..." Lucerne finally said. Avaro sighed. "It's alright, let's just, get something to eat for now."