I Am A Flyer

II: Aftermath

Gray's eyes widened when he first saw the battlegrounds. Even at this distance, he could make out the smoking ruins of five metallic war machines. As he drew even closer, he also noticed the number of the fallen. Compared to what he'd seen in the past, it wasn't a lot. However, for this camp, for the number of brave fighters it contained, it was completely colossal. At first glance, it seemed that the entire camp had been destroyed, and that every last soul had been annihilated.

It wasn't until that he was about to drop in for a landing that he noticed a few people standing. They all were gathered into a tiny group around something, all of them strangely motionless. Gray cut off his boosters, and drifted silently downwards, tilting his body so that he angled in towards the group, with Fent close behind.

His boots hit the ground, right next to a burnt corpse. He hardly noticed it, and started walking towards the others, who just now seemed to take notice of him.

"Hey," he called out, disengaging his helmet. "What's going on?"

Wordlessly, the others -(three trainees, and four flyers, Gray quickly took count) - stepped aside, revealing Raven, who was holding. . .

Gray nearly skipped a step. The other Talon held a black humanoid form close to his chest, while the thing emitted a terrible stench of burnt meat. Gray stopped a few feet away, and stared down with a grimace.

"It it alive?"

Raven jerked his head up, his violet eyes strangely misty. Gray couldn't help but stare. "Raven?"

"Ah. . ." The black Talon glanced down again. ". . .yes. He's alive. Barely."

"He saved us. . ." a tall River flyer murmured, drawing Gray's attention. "If it weren't for the kid, we would've been dead long ago."

"Huh." Gray took in the survivors. He's seen the five remains of the machines, so it must have been one nightmarish battle. It was written all over their faces; exhausted, pale, haunted faces. He found himself glad that he hadn't been here.

"Does anyone have any medical supplies?" Raven spoke up then, taking command of the situation. "It'll be a few hours until the others arrive, and we need to patch up the wounded."

"I have a kit," one of the flyers began digging into one of his pouches. He withdrew a small case, and handed it to Raven. The dark Talon shifted the blackened body in his arms, then carefully laid it down on the ground.

Gray stared. It was just a kid. A small, pale-faced kid who was burnt really -

"Huh?!" It was that kid, that annoying brat who just wouldn't die! Oh yes, Gray remembered him! The biggest annoyance he had ever met. . .it was a good thing Raven was around to take it away, but really, it was still alive? Gray was sure that the kid would've been killed within the first few days of Raven's training.

Then something connected in his brain. "Wait." He jerked his gaze upwards. "Did you just say that this. . .this kid saved you?"

There was just no way. That puny, wimpy brat who looked like he'd be killed by a mere ant had saved the day?

Raven's chuckled grabbed his attention, and he saw that the dark Talon was smiling like some kind of proud father while he began looking over the boy's injuries. "Now you know why I wanted to train him."

A frown passed over the gray Talon's features, as he tried to figure things out. Raven. . .wanting to train this kid. Yeah, sure. Raven, who vowed that he'd never train another flyer. And then he sees this brat, and after one look decides, hey yeah, I wanna take on this kid?