I Am A Flyer

Never Going Back

 

"You have got to be kidding me." A large flyer peered over the edge of the ravine. He was a River flyer, as his blue suit hinted, and he seemed to be contemplating jumping after the kid. After all, he had his own student, who happened to be a trembling friend of Iern's, and figured that students should be controlled with an iron hand. He was a friendly, fun kind of guy, but when it came to students...let's just say he took things seriously.

Raven didn't speak, didn't move. He just looked down at the raging water below, his gaze dark and unreadable. Jett was nowhere in sight. The kid was probably half a mile downstream by now. And since he decided to rip off the tracking bracelet, Raven wouldn't be able to use it to find him.

"What is going on?" A large mountain flyer pushed his way through the crowd that was forming. Nibran found Raven standing motionlessly at the edge, and went over to his friend. He frowned as he saw everybody looking down into the gorge, and heard everyone murmuring in disbelief. He noticed the dark expression on his friend's features, and finally got a hint of what was happening.

"Raven, where's Jett?"

"Down there," Raven answered, his tone dark.

"What do you mean, 'down there'?" Nibran wasn't sure he liked what he was hearing.

Raven smiled a strange, creepy smile. "The kid fooled me, Nibran. He rushed me, grabbed my knife, and ran right over the edge. He used the knife to cut off the tracker band, too."

The big man looked down at the water below, and grimaced. If that small boy managed to survive the fall, that he'd probably be beaten to bits by those rapids. But knowing that determined kid. . .Nibran smiled. Knowing Jett, he'd definitely survive. That was one tough kid.

A chuckle startled him. He turned to see that Raven was chuckling darkly. Even though he had known the man for years, Nibran was creeped out by that laugh. "Raven?"

Everyone had fallen silent, and was now warily watching the Legendary Talon.

"I've been too slack," the violet-eyed man softly stated. "I will go, and when I find him, I will make him understand." And still laughing softly, he took two steps forward, and walked right off the cliff. As he fell towards the river before, he gracefully flipped around, and took flight.

xXx

It hardly could be called a river; it was too shallow and calm. It was more like a creek, being filled with cool, clear water. The creek was a far cry from the savage river that fed into it, way upstream. At the edges, tall, lush grass trimmed it, along with several water-type plants.

A small body squashed a few of these plants, being half out of the water. The body was deathly pale, the upper part sprawled out onto the grasses and plants that hedged the creek. It lay motionless, until a black animal winged out of the sky, and landed on one wet shoulder.

Ravia was definitely not pleased to see her master in such a state. Croaking and squawking loudly, she viciously pecked him. It took quite a while before Jett started to show signs of life. By that time, his entire shoulder where his friend had jabbed him was one giant bruise.

An single eyelid drifted open halfway, revealing a glazed, ebony eye. For a moment, it seemed that the eye would close again, but instead, the other eye opened as well. Officially back in the world of consciousness, Jett began the slow and miserable process of figuring out what was going on.

Several moments of sorting out jumbled thoughts, he came up with a few things. Number one: he hurt. And that was to put it simply. Hurt was such an inadequate word...

Number two: Ravia was with him. Despite his pounding head, and her earsplitting squawks, he was glad she was there. Already he felt somewhat better.

And what else. . .he was wet. Wet and cold. But how -