Wings of Honor: Saving Grace

Chapter 6: Northbound And Down

Every day spent away from the people I knew, who truly knew me, chipped at the edges of my confidence, bit by bit.
I had to be very careful not to betray too much. Thank God I was a natural to drama as Marvin was, so I managed to make a convincing case. Over the next day or so, I spent bringing Turtle up to date with everything that had happened. He was a little suspicious, but he didn't ask too many questions. Peril would barely talk to me for some reason. And her mind was mostly empty, with the occasional comment about Turtle's lack of stamina. Which- I'm mean- okay, he's a bloody SeaWing. I'm a Nightwing, and my wingspan is almost the same as Peril's, although I am bigger than both of them now. Still! Turtle also is more preference to SWIMMING, not flying. He's told me as such. You can't just expect a flying fish to be able to fly ten miles without traveling at least some of it swimming. That's what they're more efficient at, so why not prefer it? And also, flying fish cannot exactly fly, they can only glide. And they also cannot exactly breath air I don't think, so either way... Just all these random things Marvin knows.
At least one good thing came out of it. I can read Peril's mind a bit more clearly. I guess Marvin's adaption during his time in the deserts, plus our fire resistant scales or something, allows me to get clearer insight into Peril. I know Moon couldn't get anything more than a few glimpses through her mental inferno. I mean, sometimes It gets a little hot for me too, but not as quickly or as often. Why? I have no idea. And, like Marvin, there is just a certain point where I quit questioning certain things anymore. This hurts my brain just thinking about it.
But when I looked up, a cold front struck me.
This place looked familiar. The trees, the river underneath me, my reflection. Turtle and Peril weren't too far ahead of me, within earshot.
It was then I realized why everything was familiar. It was then a deathly presence entered my mind.
"CLIMB-CLIMB-CLIMB!"
Flack ripped through the air. Tracers lit up the evening sky. Turtle stopped midair, nearly colliding into Peril.
Peril looked to be struck, with uneven wingbeats.
Without a second thought, I put myself between them and the machine gunner. I let loose my frost breath, shaking my head wildly.
A huge, white, cloud wafted up in front of us, providing concealment. But flashes of light kept streaming through, looking almost like fire breath, or comic plasma bolts.
I followed Peril's mind, climbing as high above the clouds. Shifting to camouflage as I left the cloud.
I managed to rondevue with them, flapping had to catch up.
"What was that!" Turtle gasped.
"Those little bits of firey rock hurt me!" I should go back and set whoever that was on fire!
Peril flew with a limp. I saw a couple divots in her scales. Thankfully, none seemed to be hurt or bleeding. And if any were, they would be cauterized instantly.
I looked back towards where we were, and where the machine gunner was. He was still there, and he was scanning the skies. I didn't realize I was talking myself through my thoughts, like Marvin..
"What?" Turtle suddenly said.
"What's a... machine gun?" Peril asked.
I shook my head.
"Very dangerous. It fires really fast, and can hurt us quite easily. We need to stay above the clouds for a while, and we need to get away from here."
They both looked on to me, then started flying. Peril started winging away, with Turtle flapping after her.
I decided to dip below the clouds, trying to see where Goldman was, but I didn't see his nest. Or he was camouflaged really well.
Damn bastard.
I beat my wings hard, flying after my friends.

We eventually got far enough away where I didn't have to worry about Goldman anymore, so I worried about everyone else instead. The second day, I couldn't get Travers or McManus out of my head. And it was then that Peil and Turtle started debating again whether or not to even go to Possibility. I pitched in. Saying that, even though I carried most of their intel, I know Marvin wouldn't stop gathering information. Plus, it was closer to that Vally where we last contacted Scarlet. Admittedly, I was impartial to meeting Scarlet as Turtle was, having more people to back us up, and we were still barely able to fight off that Nightwing. Almost... Kinkajou, Winter Gone, and me...
alone.