Claws

Blood

APOLLO

My Master was a shell of his former self.
I didn't notice the slow, methodical change until it was already complete.
These days, Luka spent all of his time in bed, endlessly scrolling through his phone. He hardly ate a thing, despite me constantly forcing food on him. Not even Kye could rouse him from his melancholy.
I spent every day split between my Master and my mate. Each required endless attention, and I was becoming stretched thin.
The awful day I was dreading was creeping up on me terribly quickly. Nightmares were common once again.
Aspen clawing out of Blizzard's belly, or exploding chest-burster style. Him being stillborn. George stealing the fledgling away, right out of my mate's arms. I even had a nightmare where once he was born, he began speaking in tongues.
What bothered me most, however, was the thought that he could have have a life similar to mine. I didn't want Aspen to have to suffer like me. I didn't want him to have to face molestation, or rape, or torture, and every other form of abuse I had encountered.
If Blizzard and I could just raise him, ninety-nine percent of our problems would cease to exist.
I decided I needed to talk to Roomba.
"Master?" I called through our home. Luka met me with a mumble.
"I'm going to be stepping out for a bit." I yelled to him, "Do you need anything? Have you eaten? Brushed your teeth?"
"No. Yeah." He replied, finally at an audible level.
"Okay, I'll be back home soon!" I responded.
Grabbing the front door knob, I carefully recounted the events of the morning before opening it.
Did I make Luka breakfast? Yes, four scrambled eggs.
Did Luka really brush his teeth? Probably not, but it wouldn't kill him not to.
When was the last time Luka took a shower? Two days ago. I needed to force him to take one when I got home.
Had the laundry been done? Check.
Plates in the sink? Just a few. It could wait.
An uneasy dealing permeated my body at the thought of leaving my Master, but I brushed it off. He would be okay.
Finally, my legs worked on autopilot to carry me out of Luka and I's home to the front door of Chiaki and Roo's. It was damn near on the opposite end of the ranch, and the walk took me a good twenty minutes, but the light breeze and cool air of a mid fall morning made it tolerable.
I preferred not to fly these days— I just wasn't as maneuverable or fast in the air as a smaller bird, and flying even short distances made my wings ache. I was still very much an on-the-ground athlete.
My mind wandered as I walked.
Luka was no longer interested in pursuing sports with me. Well, he was no longer interested in just about everything. One night about a month ago, I had begged Kye to train with me in protection sports and enroll me in some competitions, the first of which was next week. Hesitation infected my drive to perform. Attending competitions meant road trips, and subsequently, it meant leaving my Master for days at a time.
Kye, while saddened by Luka's downtrodden state, was eager to continue training with me. Luka's influence had effectively peaked his interest in lionheart sports. Now that my Master was—hopefully temporarily— out of commission, Dr. Lawerence was more than willing to keep me up to speed in my training. He was sloppy and inexperienced, but what he didn't lack was drive. Kye regularly worked me relentlessly until I reached my breaking point. The human was a fair but demanding handler.
Not only did the dark-skinned human train me in sports, he also gave me lessons in what was called human manners. I had gotten a smidgeon of exposure in this when I was in foster care, but Kye actually explained it rather than just expecting me to know it, and put everything in terms I could understand as a lionheart.
I loved Kye. But I much preferred my Master. I found myself loving a lot of people recently. Luka, Kye, Blizzard, Aspen, Roomba. I wasn't sure I could do this without them.
Eventually, I reached and knocked on the white door of Chiaki's navy-blue-painted-and-black-roofed bungalow. To my distaste, Roomba did not answer. The cold-hearted human was warming up to me slowly, but that didn't change the past she and I had. Memories of being paddled in the grass behind the mansion still reared their ugly head from time to time.
"Yes?" Chiaki asked flatly at my presence.
"Good morning!" I greeted the handler with as much human manners I could muster. "May I please speak to Roomba?"
Chiaki was physically taken aback. After a few seconds of stunned silence, she repeated, "May you?"
Humans were very confusing creatures. I repeated the words, concerned that she may not have heard me correctly. "Yes, may I speak to Roomba please...."
     Oh, there's one more word I can use!
"....ma'am?"
Chiaki let out the most startling guffaw I had ever heard. She literally doubled over, clenching her stomach. After about a minute of laughing, she straightened up and wiped tears from her eyes. I saw Roomba peek his head around the corner. He was surely as puzzled as I was.
"Oh my god," Chiaki said between lingering chuckles, "I never thought I'd see the day. Yes, you may speak to Roomba." The mullet-ed bird was guided forwards with his mistress's hand on his back. "Go outside, Roo Roo!"
Once outside, we started wandering. Roomba asked, "Are you feeling okay, Apollo?"
I cocked my head to the side. "Truthfully, I've been stressed out between the fledgling and Luka and sports. How did you know?"
"I've never heard you say ma'am before." Roomba chuckled.
"Oh!" I exclaimed, "Kye taught me about this thing called manners. Apparently there's, like, a secret code that humans use to show respect. Isn't that weird?"
"Huh." Roomba scratched his head. "They teach you to say sir or ma'am and Master or Mistress, in school, but they definitely don't teach you about "manners". Explains a lot of the punishments I've gotten out of the blue."
"So...." I started off, "I need to ask you about lionheart farms."
Roomba stopped walking, and I quickly followed suit. The other bird sighed and said, "Go for it."
"Is it really as bad as everyone says?" A worried hand ran through my hair.
"Well...." Roomba bared his throat in appeasement. It was clear he had bad news. The bird thought on how to continue for a moment, before deciding on a simple: "Yes." A gulp and a few seconds later, Roo confided, "In mine, at least, there was a lot of abuse."
A giant groan erupted from me, and I began to pace, exclaiming, "Fuck!"
Roo bared his throat to me to avoid displaced aggression. It took a minute for me to calm down enough to inquire for more information.
Finally slowing to a halt in my pacing, I asked, "One to ten?"
"Eh." Roomba averted his gaze. "Maybe a six?"
"Did you experience anything?" I pried.
"Um.... Not really." The other lionheart was incredibly hesitant to continue. He fidgeted, shifted his weight around, and stretched his wings one at a time. A big sigh, and then, "It's hard to explain. It's a lot like a boarding school mixed with a prison."
Roomba sat in the grass and looked up at me. "It was two fledglings to a room at the farm I was raised at. Room checks are every fifteen minutes, but a lot can happen in that time. But I don't think most farm are like that."
He raked his brain for more information. "The food is nutritionally balanced, exercise is forced, physical testing is frequent. Your career path is determined by your test scores, and whether or not you do foundational work depends on if you're purchased by a handler or not."
"What happens when you're purchased?" I asked.
"You could go to a trainer. Those can be good and bad. It just depends." Roomba imparted. "But that is for the very rich. Most aren't purchased prematurely, and just study and exercise and grow until they hit puberty, when they're auctioned off."
"Wait, what?" I was genuinely perplexed. This went against everything my old pack had told me. "Aren't you supposed to have a predestined pairing?"
"I've never met anyone lucky enough to go to their predestined pairing." The other bird hummed.
"Everyone in my last family matched with theirs." I remarked.
"I bet they were all wild caught." Roo guessed correctly. "Predestined pairings are more natural. From what I've read, they're kinder, and more fulfilling."
"I met my predestined pairing." I said, and a look of surprise twisted my friend's features. "It was terrifying. I was just a kid."
"You said you grew up in foster care, right?" Roomba was loaded with questions. "How did that work? Did you ever meet your parents? What happened to your Master or Mistress? What were they like?"
It was very difficult to keep track of his questions. "Yes, I grew up in foster care. I hunted for myself, and ended up being captured by a pack of humans. No, I never met my parents." I rocked back on my heels, trying to remember the line of questioning. "As for my Master, I never got to bond with him. He was.... Eccentric." I laughed at a memory. "He wanted to name me Croc, because I bit him."
"I could see Croc!" Roomba laughed through his words. Shortly after, he got more serious. "Everyone I've met here, except for you, was raised in a farm. We all turned out okay."
That assuaged my worries a little bit.
"Okay." A deep sigh left my lungs. "I just want the best for Aspen, you know?"
"You didn't tell me you decided on a name!" Roomba exclaimed. "I like Aspen." The bird got back on track pretty quickly. "And yeah, I hear you. But I think Aspen will be okay."
"Okay." I repeated. "I trust you, Roomba. I just wish I could raise him myself, but George is going to be buying him."
"Oh, that's great!" The bird declared rising to his feet in a snap, "You'll get to see them again! Most male birds go home around fifteen to eighteen years old. You'll get to spend plenty of time with him."
"But not enough." I replied, then asked, "Do you have any children, Roomba?"
"No, I'm not breeding stock. So I guess I wouldn't really know what you're going through." A little smile grew on his face, and his eyes grew kind. "But you'll always have me to lean on! And if you need me to babysit when Aspen comes home, I will!"
My own little smile lit up my face. In a split second, I was embracing Roomba. "Thank you for making this a little bit less difficult." I murmured to him.
"No problem, bud." My friend's voice was strained— I was squishing him.
Roomba and I got to lighter activities. Soon, we were running and playing on the ranch grounds like we hadn't done in months. Teeth chattered in Roo's mouth as we squared off, standing across from each other squat-ily. Two pairs of wings extended with ruffled feathers.
After a long standoff, my friend pounced, slamming into my unready chest. We both toppled to the ground as Roomba's momentum took us. Spitting and hissing and growling, we thrashed around and rolled like a pair of fighting cats. Finally, Roomba ended up on top of me, pinning my body to the grass.
A white-winged bird touched down near-silently. We only recognized her presence when she spoke.
"I thought I heard my mate screeching." Blizzard remarked, hand on her baby bump, "I had to come make sure you weren't being mauled!"
"Heeeelp!" I groaned from under Roo's weight, "I'm being crushed!"
Roomba huffed, leaning back on his heels and rising to his feet. A tan hand was extended, and I took the offer, standing after him.
The first thing I did was go to my mate's side. Nuzzling against the top of her head, I pulled the bird into a tight hug.
"I missed you." I hummed, placing a chaste kiss on her temple.
"You saw me yesterday." Blizzard reminded me.
"So?" I challenged her blithely.
"Enough PDA." She muttered, pushing out of my grasp. "Can I take you home for some affection?"
"Of course." I purred. Turning to Roomba, I hummed to the bird, "Duty calls. See ya later, Roo! Thanks for chatting with me!"
     "Of course." Roomba mimicked. Two-toned wings took off into the sky, and Blizzard and I were all alone as the third lionheart touched down in front of his home about a minute later.
My mate and I preferred to walk due to the difference in her center of gravity. I followed her silently, enjoying the cool weather and her soothing presence. About fifteen minutes later, we found ourselves at the barn.
I exchanged a worried look with Blizzard. I hadn't stepped foot back here since I broke her heart with the knowledge of Riya's death— and I was certainly and thoroughly exiled from the pack once I had tried to kill my Master.
"No one's going to be here at this time." Blizzard reassured me. And she was right.
As the barn doors slid open, I saw the same old gathering place. It reminded me so much of the birdcage, and I found myself aching for my old family.
The other bird sent me a pleading look with her words. "Can you please carry me up to the hide?"
"Okay." I obliged, picking up my mate bridal-style. "Hang on tight."
Blizzard hung onto me for dear life as I kicked off, my wings working overtime to catapult us to the top floor. We landed with a jarring thud. My mate seemed thrilled to be out of the air, and disappeared into the hide, myself hot on her heels. Before I knew it, I was being tackled to the ground by the pregnant lionheart.
A little "oof!" left me as we collided with the cushioned ground.
Hearty purring erupted from my mate's chest. Rubbing her jaw against my collarbone and wiggling her wings against mine, she left her scent all over me. My own deeper purring joined hers.
"We haven't done this in a while." I hummed to her as I engulfed her with my much larger black-and-red wings.
"I know!" She purred back, "I've missed this. And it's more important than ever now."
"You're so right." I responded. "I'm sorry for the neglect."
"You should be!" She chuckled.
Just a few minutes later, we were thoroughly coated with each other's scents, and snuggling peacefully in each other's arms. A few more minutes of comfortable silence were spent purring and nuzzling my mate.
Then, suddenly my purring stopped. Blizzard sent two sad eyes my way, and I held her even closer.
"Bliz," I hummed as softly as I could, "I don't think we can avoid sending Aspen to a farm."
Blizzard's purring stopped, too. Her words came out as barely a whisper. "I know. My Mistress talked to me about Luka's proposal, and told me she's not doing it."
Planting a tiny kiss on her forehead, I apologized. "I'm sorry, baby."
"There's nothing we could have really done, anyways." Blizzard sighed. Tears quickly started to flood her big blue eyes. "I just don't want to give him up."
"I know, love, I know." I bit back my own sadness with the tiniest of fangs pressing against my tongue.
Blizzard started to cry, and my heart broke into a billion tiny pieces. All I could do what hold her tight against me and tell her, "I promise, promise it'll be okay, love."
I knew it wasn't going to be okay.
My mate started to sob harder and harder. I whispered reassurances to her, rubbed her back, and enveloped my wings around her tightly in small gestures of love.
"I can't do this, Apollo!" She yelled into my chest, voice racked with sobs.
"I know, Blizzard." I replied with just as much sadness infecting me.
It took quite some time, but eventually, the other bird's choking sobs turned into whines and little sniffles. Eventually, those little sounds turned to silence, and both of us laid side by side, being eaten alive by grief.
I'm not sure how long it took until Blizzard drifted into an unhappy slumber. I stayed awake a little longer, pondering the lionheart condition. Nothing about this life was fair.
Next thing I knew, I was roused from a deep sleep, a weak voice sounded out from the radio in my bird collar.
"Apollo?" Luka asked for me.
"Master?" I responded groggily, barely awake.
"I did something stupid, Apollo." The human sounded barely-there. Worry started to grow within my chest. Blizzard was awake now, too.
"What's wrong?" I asked, fear intertwining with my words.
"I'm hurt really bad." Luka murmured, and my eyes shot open twice as wide.
Blizzard and I sat bolt upright.
"Where are you?" I asked quickly.
"I don't know, hun." Was my Master's unhelpful answer.
"Damnit, Luka!" I growled. Before I knew it, I was throwing myself out of the hide and onto the first story, my wings barely catching me in time to avoid smashed ankles. Blizzard wasn't far behind.
"I don't feel good...." The human groaned, and then there was radio silence.
"Luka?" I asked the silent creature, "Luka?"
No response.
"Blizzard!" I half-yelled to the bird behind me, "You have to find Luka for me! Please!"
Wordlessly, the blonde powerhouse took the lead. She shoved open the barn doors with more force than I thought she could muster. Her body powered into the air, wings working much harder than they used to. Instinctively, I followed suit, and soon we were both soaring high above the ranch.
I smelled a lot of blood. It was impossible for me to pinpoint. Blizzard flew in zig-zags for several minutes. Without a single sign to me, she dove to the ground, and I rushed behind her as quickly as my weaker wings could carry me.
My mate landed on the front steps of the mansion perfectly. I, however, lost my balance as I hit the too-hard floor and ate the ground, smashing my bottom lip against bared fangs. The blood was coming from me now, too, dripping out of my mouth and down my chin in a little stream.
Blizzard paid no mind to my wounded condition— she was in her element. Instead, she set off once more, this time to an old oak that sat to the left when facing the mansion.
As I wiped the red liquid off of my face and followed the other lionheart, the smell of human blood became much more intense.
When we rounded the oak try, my jaw dropped.
Luka was slumped over in a red puddle of his own blood, a pocket knife in his limp left hand.
"Master?!" I called out to him, sinking to my knees in the wet grass. I didn't even notice the warm liquid that colored my shins crimson.
Claws protracted, fangs out, and feathers ruffled, I shook the human's limp body. A wave of relief overtook me at the little groan that came out of him.
     Frantically searching the bloodied man, I fished a cell phone out of his pocket. I thanked whatever holy thing was listening when it wasn't locked. Navigating to the contacts menu, I selected Kye's number. One ring, then two, then three, and I was about ready to throw the useless piece of technology across the ranch. Luckily, I didn't, because the doctor picked up on the fourth ring.
     "Kye!" I yelled into the microphone as soon as I heard a click on the receiving end. "Luka is hurt!"
     Dr. Lawerence didn't skip a beat. "Where are you?" Was his first question.
     "I—we're—" My brain was foggy with the smell of food. All I wanted to do was sink my teeth into—
     "Apollo, where are you?" Stress caked Kye's voice.
     "We're by the mansion, under the oak tree." I managed to force out of my heavy-salivating mouth. A line of drool dripped past my lips as I spoke.
     Kye's response was the simple dial tone of an ending call.
     My stomach growled hungrily. All I wanted was to just take a tiny bite.
     But instead, I cradled the still-bleeding human in my arms. Listening carefully, I could hear the weak pulse of my Master's rattling heart.
     "What the fuck did you do, Luka?" I groaned, placing my forehead against his own balmy one. Every part of the human had broken out in a cold sweat.
     Searching for the source of the crimson stream, I scoured the man's body. It wasn't long until I found the weak spurting of blood out of Luka's right wrist. Dozens of parallel gashes scored his oozing flesh, eating past the beige skin and working well into red meat.
     In one fell swoop, I ripped off the white t-shirt I wore, tying the fabric off as tightly as I could right below my Master's elbow. I wasn't sure if it was going to be a very effective tourniquet— but it had to be better than nothing, right?
     "L-Let me do it." Blizzard's voice shook. "It—it needs to be higher up."
     My mate nudged me out of my way, untying the tourniquet as she took my place. The other bird tied the fabric high and tight, several inches above Luka's right elbow, and felt for my Master's declining pulse at his carotid artery.
     A snarl of frustration left my throat. "Where the FUCK is Kye?!"
    Slow as molasses, several minutes passed, until finally our ears perked up at the sound of an SUV approaching. What felt like eons slowed to a crawl as I watched blood now trickle out of Luka's deep wounds and into the ruby-painted grass.
     Dr. Lawerence hopped out of the burgundy vehicle, a large briefcase in tow. Seemingly unperturbed by the sight, the doctor— who apparently was versed in human medicine, too— began his work by sterilizing a patch of Luka's left forearm. Working quickly, the doctor started an IV with equipment from his briefcase, and handed me a bag of.... Human blood?
     "Stand up and hold this high!" The man barked. I was quick to do as I was told.
     The next order of business was to replace the impromptu tourniquet Blizzard had placed with a proper one. Well, it was just a thick band of blue rubber tied tightly at a slightly different position, but I trusted Kye's experience more than the flimsy fabric my mate and I had affixed in our panic.
     Dr. Lawerence produced a syringe filled with lidocaine. The doctor immediately got to work injecting it into each gouge taken out of my human. Luka stirred and whimpered at each injection, but otherwise did not rouse. Kye waited a monumentally-long minute for the drug to absorb.
     When the dark-skinned human began to sew closed the gaps in my Master's flesh, not an inkling of a response lit up the patient. Kye's stitching was efficient and practiced, only taking a few minutes to finish. He seemed worried at the lack of response from the other man.
     "Luka?" Kye took his knuckles and rubbed them harshly against the unconscious human's sternum. "Luka? Luka?"
     A groan. A sigh of relief. And now, a rush to load the wounded man into the SUV.
     "Blizzard, take the blood bag." Kye commanded, "Apollo, help me load Luka into the back seat."
      The two of us rushed to do as we were told. It was awkward, but we were able to jam my now barely-conscious Master in the leather seats of the back of the SUV. Dried blood made his caked body stick to the slick material. Kye wordlessly took the bag of blood from Blizzard, which was now a third-full, and hung it from a hook on the inside roof of the vehicle.
     Blizzard and I were barely able to pile into the trunk by the time Kye sped off. He wasn't driving particularly carefully, hitting what seemed like every pothole and exposed root on the way back to his home, but he sure did get us there quick.
      Once we arrived, the conscious human slipped away inside for a moment without releasing my mate and I or fetching his patient.
      It was a painfully long two minutes before Kye reappeared, and required my help to get my Master, who was only now beginning to wake from his nearly-comatose state. Blizzard opened the front door for us, and Kye guided me towards his living room, where a hospital bed had materialized behind his couch.
     At my look of surprise, Kye addressed me, "I always have one on hand for emergencies. You never know when you'll need to observe a patient twenty-four-seven."
     We wiggled Luka into the hospital bed one half at a time: top half first, legs next, and when he had been situated, the patient finally opened his groggy eyes. Kye didn't notice— he was too busy changing out the now-empty blood bag for a full bag of O-negative.
     But me? A wave of red-hot rage began to build up like a tidal wave inside of me. Claws and fangs hadn't been put away since finding my Master in such a state.
     "You—" I began, and Kye shushed me with a SHHHH!
     "You...." I growled regardless of the doctor, "You were going to leave me!"
     "....Hun?" Luka groaned, eyes barely able to fixate on my quivering form.
     "Why?" I demanded an answer from the weak human. "WHY?!" The roar left my throat with a tsunami of anger.
     "I'm sorry...." Luka burst into tears as the words gushed out of him. "It's just, I— I'm not happy."
     "Do you think I'm happy, Luka?" I asked genuinely, spite biting its way into my voice. "No. But you don't see me slitting my wrists like a little bitch."
     "AHT!" My Master corrected me, even in his weakened state.
     "Seriously, what the fuck, Luka?" I continued despite the correction. "None of us are happy— and the rest of us aren't hurting ourselves."
     I pried ever-further. "What's wrong with you?"
     Luka looked crushed, and it looked like I wasn't going to be getting the answers I needed. Growling in frustration, I turned on my heels and stormed out of the house. No one followed me.
     As soon as I made it outside I kicked off and flapped my wings once, twice, thrice, and four times until I was in the air above the ranch. I wasn't particularly fast, but I pushed myself until my limbs ached and my heart pounded furiously. One, two, three circles of the ranch passed. Eventually, I came to a speedy descent, touching down with a running stop in front of the barn. My feet paced of their own according in front of the building.
     There was something building up inside of my chest. I decided not to stop it. My lungs heaved, dragging air in and out until my blood was thoroughly saturated with oxygen. And then it happened— I howled an angry, demanding, heartbroken howl.
     Roomba and Blizzard howled back. Blizzard, in such a way that communicated she shared my pain. Roomba, in a "Stay put!" fashion.
     What I wasn't expecting was the bursting-open of the barn doors. Atlas and his petrified mate, Ember, at his side appeared through the doorway.
     Atlas scoffed at my appearance— I was still covered in now-dried human blood. "What did you do, Apollo?" He demanded through a growl.
     "I didn't do anything!" I screeched, and the alpha male bared his teeth.
     "Don't lie to me!" He snarled, "You are covered in your Master's blood!"
     "I—I didn't do anything!" I stuttered out as the alpha approached, unsheathing his claws and puffing up his wings.
     Ember pressed her into the arms of Cornbread and Fig Newton as the rest of the pack gathered to watch the altercation. Fawn peaked over their shoulders. Onyx and Obsidian were at the front of the crowd, clattering their teeth together to egg us on.
     My eyes snapped back to Atlas as he roared, "It's time I squashed you like the violent little bug you are!" and charged at me.
     While slightly faster than my alpha, I was no match for him in terms of strength. The alpha's arms bulged with veiny muscles as his rippling hands grasped around my throat.
     "S—Stop!" I choked out through his grasp. The grip only became harder.
     Atlas lifted me up by my throat, then brought me crashing down onto the soil beneath us. I choked and sputtered and clawed at his hands for even the slightest trickle of air. His sharp, black claws were biting into my throat and tickling my windpipe.
     A well-timed kick to the gut made Atlas drop me. As he stumbled backwards, my shaking hands gripped the grass I collapsed onto, struggling to get air into my aching lungs.
     Before I knew it, he was back on me, grabbing me by my hair and throwing my body like a rag doll. I hit the ground with a THUD, all of the air knocked out of my lungs.
     As I gasped for breath, the alpha was on me again. Claws dug into my shoulders where he lifted me into the air. Again, I was thrown, this time into the thick trunk of a crape myrtle. I saw stars momentarily. Then, I saw Atlas approaching.
     He's going to kill me.
     I struggled with my boots. A handful of claws was raised into the sky.
     He's going to rip my throat out.
     Freeing my talons, I brought my now-bare feet against my chest. Atlas closed the distance between us with lightning speed.
     But not if I have anything to say about it.
     My clawed feet kicked and tore and thrashed for the alpha's chest. It caught him by surprise when I clenched my toes and twisted, knocking him off balance and bringing him to the earth with me.
     The alpha wasn't taken down that easily, though— in less than a second he was straddling me, hands around my throat once more.
     "Good riddance, Apollo." He murmured to me almost-sweetly as I coughed and choked.
     I spied two-toned wings growing lower in the sky.
     Please.
     The world started getting dark.
     Please, Roomba.
     "RAAAAAAGGGH!" A vicious war cry sounded out from above us. For just a moment, Atlas lifted his left wing with curiosity.
      Roomba came crashing down, claws-first in hunting fashion, right where the center of Atlas's left wing rested. A sickening crunch and suddenly my best friend was tackling the alpha off of me.
     An agonized screeching filled the otherwise-silent ranch.
     The world slowly came back into focus as I concentrated on getting deep breaths into my lungs. I could hear a bird rolling around in the grass, accompanied by whines and whimpers and hisses of anguish.
     Gradually, my vision stopped spinning and the star around my head disappeared. In their place was Roomba, extending a hand out to help me to my feet.
     "Let's get...." He huffed and puffed, "....out of here!"
     I took the hand, and looked back for just a split second. Atlas was cradling a bent left wing with clenched teeth, Ember coddling him at his side. The rest of the pack watched our getaway in disbelief.
     The two of us fled into the air with mighty jumps and a sequence of wing beats.
     "What was that about?" Roomba had to shout over the wind to be heard. "And why are you covered in human blood?"
     "Let's talk about that when we aren't pushing sixty!" I hollered back.
     Blindly loyal, Roo followed my lead all the way back to my home. We touched down gently and slowed from a jog to a walk as we approached the front door, which opened with a twist of the knob.
     I held the door open for my friend. When it closed behind us, I plopped down on the couch horizontally and groaned, "Why does drama find me of all creatures?"
     "Why was Atlas throttling you?" Roomba asked seriously. "It looked like he wanted to kill you."
     "I think," I attempted to piece together the puzzle in my head, "I think he thought I hurt Luka." I scoffed. "I am, of course, covered in his blood, and I have done it before, so really that had to be the only rational answer." Again, I groaned. "But why would he try to wipe me off the face of the earth because he thought I hurt Luka?"
     "Atlas runs a tight ship." Answered Roo, "And he's been on edge ever since he and Ember came into season."
     "Tch," I sounded off, "They're in season? That makes a whole lot more sense."
     "Yeah...." Roomba mumbled, "I feel bad for breaking his wing, but it really looked like he wanted you dead."
     "He can take a number." I retorted.
     "Are you okay?" My friend took a seat next to me, nuzzling against my outstretched wing.
     I pulled the mullet-ed bird closer with my left wing, proceeding to sit up and hug him. "Not really." The confession came out with a sigh. "Luka hurt himself today. He lost a lot of blood, and had to get stitches."
     "He what?" Roomba was floored.
     "Humans are strange creatures." I hummed, before explaining, "He took a knife and cut himself all down his right forearm, called me for help, then passed out from blood loss."
     "Is he okay?" The other bird asked.
     I shrugged. "He was coming around when I left." A sigh left my lips. "I know I shouldn't have, but I got really angry with him."
     "Why?" Questioned Roo, "Clearly he's hurting. We're supposed to be, like, emotional support animals in those situations."
     "We're supposed to be what?" I was very confused with my friend's terminology.
     "Nevermind." The two-toned bird scratched his head. "The point is, you're supposed to support your human when they go through stuff like this. You need to go do your duties and comfort your Master."
     "He tried to leave me." I stressed, "Why should I comfort him for his own decisions?"
     "If he really wanted to leave you, he wouldn't have called for you." Roomba rationalized.
     I hated to admit it, but Roomba was right.
     "Ugh." I grumbled, "Why do you always have to be right?"
     "You'd rather I be wrong?" The other bird laughed.
     "I want to be right for once." I mumbled. "But I guess I should go apologize for being an ass.... Again."
     "I guess you should." Roomba hummed. "I, on the other hand, need to go kiss Atlas's rear end so I don't end up on the wrong end of his testosterone rage."
     "Thanks, Roo." I replied, "For the good advice and for saving my skin."
     "No problem, Apollo. That's what friends are for."
     I chose to walk back to Kye's place rather than flying. I needed the time to think about how to best ameliorate my actions. The good fifteen-minute walk passed with me deep in thought, but when I came to Kye's front door, I still had no idea what I would say.
     Deep breath in, deep breath out, and the front door opened with the twist of a knob.
     "Hey." I greeted the three creatures awkwardly as I stood motionless in the doorway. "Hey, Bliz. Hey, Kye.... Hey, Luka."
     The silence was painfully unpleasant as I walked over to my Master's hospital bed. With a deep sigh, I let my heart pour out.
     "You scared the hell out of me, Luka. You can never do that again." My weight shifted from foot to foot. "And I'm sorry for yelling at you."
     "Apology accepted." My Master hummed.