Of War And Wings

The daring escape of prince Siren

Siren sat on his bed, bored. He looked at the bookcase standing in his room. He's read all of those books over 7 times at least. His mother had locked him in his room and locked his window so he couldn't make another attempt to escape. But that's okay, he's already used two methods, and he's seen around the castle, so this is gonna be easy. Carefully and quietly, he flew up to the ceiling. It wasn't as quiet as he thought it would be, she was definitely gonna come in, but that's okay. The point was for her to come in. He climbed onto the chain holding up his light and waited. He heard the lock to his door twist, and then it creaked open. His mother looked around his room hesitantly, and then Siren jumped down, kicking his mother down and knocking her out. It's quite hilarious actually, no guards are nearby. Whoever saw Siren in any way was killed. Nobody is allowed near his tower, nobody can check on her. He dragged her by her arm into his room and grabbed the keyring from her hand. He searched her of any weapons and disposed of the ones she had, then he tied her with a sheet to his bed. That should do it. He walked over to his window and tried every key on it till he heard a click, and it opened. Siren hopped out and slid down the walls of his tower. Last time he tried escaping was to scope the place out and make things easier, he was never trying to escape. Why couldn't his mother leave him with a map of there castle? That's the only useful knowledge that would be coming in at the moment. He jumped from his tower onto the ground, gliding for a bit to make his landing soft and quiet. Then, he ran. He ran to the woods as fast as he could. Almost there! Almost there! His happy expression quickly faded into pure terror once hearing a gun shoot, and feeling a shot of pain in his left wing. He yelled in pain and looked over at it. Blood oozed from the wound like rain from the sky. He looked in the direction that the bullet came from and hissed. Of course there's scouts! And then once again, he ran into the woods.

Siren shot through the trees, making swift movements to avoid getting a light from any lanterns shone on him. The shot on his wing stung in the open air, but he kept going. He ran, and ran, and ran, and ran, until he dropped. He had realized how much he was paying attention to how quiet he was, he didn't even notice the cliff. But he can't fly! His wing! If he hits that water, it'll be as hard as stone. He'll most definitely not survive it. Painfully, he stretched his wings out to glide. A shot of pain went through his left wing, but he stayed sturdy. He landed quite softly in the water and immediately held his breath and went under. There was a slight problem.. he had no idea how to swim. Since he's never been outside, he's never been to a river, he's never swam. The closest thing he's done to swimming is floating in the bath. He let himself drift down into the depths of the waters, watching the blurry figures outside stare deeply into it. He prayed for his life in those moments, his heart was pounding, it felt like it would rip out of his chest. He's never felt so much relief when he saw the lanterns light slowly fade away. Well, I guess practicing holding your breath comes in handy every once in awhile.

Siren walked tiredly through the woods, his clothes were now dry. He decided that he had done enough walking once seeing the distant light of a sunset. He crawled up into a tree and tucked his wings closer to his body. As uncomfortable as a tree sounds, he found it extremely comforting. The leaves rustling in the wind, the rough bark covering the wood, the sounds of little forest creatures, he didn't even mind the breeze going against his healing wound, in fact, it felt quite nice.. he felt so.. free. A nap doesn't sound too bad right now. Just a short.. nap.

Siren woke up with the sun hot against his clothes, making him feel warm. "Mmmmm.." he mumbled as he sat up. "That.. was the best sleep.. I've had in awhile." He yawned, stretching. "Rise and shine pretty boy." He heard a voice say, making him jump. He was about to say something to them, but when he looked up he paused. Perched on the same branch as him was a gorgeous boy, he had long dark hair and yellow eyes that almost looked like they shone. On his back extended gold and red wings that he held at his side carefully, and a feathery tail running down his spine. Siren had read about birds, that was a Goldfasan. "Who-Who are you?" He asked, now noticing how weird the situation was. "Oh I'm nobody, I just like to help out the newcomers of Tsubasa no aru tochi, or you could call it Ile ailewu, or Chutesoleil. Whatever you want really." He smiled. "No need to get to know me, I'm just here to help out." He hopped down from the tree and waited for Him. "Um.. where exactly is this place you talk of?" Siren asked hopping down next to him. "Hm? If your a hawk I definitely thought you'd have at least heard of this place.." The boy mumbled. "But anyways, we're already here silly." Siren looked around expectedly. "We are?" The boy laughed. "Your really clueless huh? Alright then, just follow my lead okay? We need to get in somehow." The boy grabbed his hand and held it up. "Just walk in a circle.. follow what I do." The boy started walking around and Siren followed what he did. Hr jumped around and took steps backwards, holding his hand over the ground. Siren followed. Soon into their 'dance' thing, Siren noticed the ground sort of.. glowing. Their steps outlined a circle, and their hands outlined markings in the circle. "Alright. We're finished." He said. "What now?" Siren asked quietly. The boy looked up at him, with a suspicious expression. "Who are you? Every single person I've known has at least heard of this place, especially hawks. Bedtime stories? Myths? Rumors?" Siren shook his head. "Well, my mom kinda locked me in a tower my entire life with no knowledge of the real world and didn't really talk to me for 19 years so.." he laughed. The boy didn't laugh. In fact, he looked concerned. "Oh.." he whispered. And then he held out his hand. "Kappa." He said. "Hm? What's a Kappa?" Siren asked. "No, you asked who I was.. my name is Kappa." Siren looked down at his hand. "Do you want me to take that?" Kappa looked up at him once more and then sighed. "Never mind it's okay, what's your name?" He asked. "Oh, it's Siren." He said. "Well Siren, it's time to go." Kappa stomped on the ground and they both fell into a tunnel. Siren, instinctively, should've screamed, but it was actually a nice feeling, falling. But soon that falling ended, and they were shoved out from the earth and into another place. Siren looked up at it, shocked. He's never seen such a beautiful place in his life. Although most of it was books.. It was like.. and underground burrow! But it was huge! And it had buildings and people and light and colors and happiness! "Welcome! This is where all of the winged fellows come to be safe from the cruel outside world!" Kappa gave him a little shove with his wing. "Can you fly?" He asked. Siren glanced at the gash in his left wing, wincing. "I'll try." He said. Kappa looked up at it too and scowled. "Those damn hunters... don't worry you don't have to fly. Some people are less fortunate too, they need a way to get around." He led Siren to a staircase and he walked down. "Make yourself at home here. Everyone has their own story, your not alone." Siren looked down the stairs at people walking in a path, people sitting up in their houses baking and talking, it was peaceful. "Igor! There's a new boy!" Kappa yelled from behind him. A man flew over to the end of the staircase and waited till they got down. "Mister Kio? Where's Igor? He usually comes right away." Kappa asked. "Kappa, Igor is in the healers den." He said with a worried expression. "What?.. why?.." Kappa stepped infront of Siren to have a face-to-face conversation. "He was attacked during his patrol last night, I suggest you go to him fast, I don't know.. how long he has left." Siren gasped. Seems as if he's come at the wrong time.. "Kio, please tell miss Rosetta to tell Siren where he will be staying." Kappa then jumped up on the staircase railing and took off into the sky, heading to what Siren assumed was a healing den. "Oh dear.." Kio whispered. "Rosetta!" He yelled. A woman with spotted owl wings landed infront of him. "I need you to show this young man where he will be staying, afterwards get a healer to fix up his wing." She looked over at him and nodded. "Of course, come here darling." Siren walked over to her. "Alright, go with her, they'll get you somewhere, and then someone will come by to sort out your problems and answer questions you have and stitch up your wound." Siren nodded and turned to Rosetta. "Lead the way." He said. Rosetta led him through crowds and paths till she got to a door. She twisted the knob and opened it for him. "Woahhhhh.." Siren looked around it. So.. cozy! "This is your home now. Do whatever you want with it, just know that you have roommates. Call for me if you need anything." Rosetta closed the door quietly and left Siren. "Pretty..." Siren mumbled looking around. "Well well, we have a new roommate!" He heard a voice say. He turned around and saw a boy leaned up against the wall. He was a.. humming bird. "Names Pagoon." He walked over and reached out his hand. "Gosh.. why does everyone keep doing that?" Siren whispered looking down at his hand. "..It's a handshake?" Pagoon said awkwardly. "What is a 'hand shake'?" He asked. Pagoon stared at him for a long while. "Well.. my name is Siren." Siren smiled awkwardly. "Um. I'm Pagoon." He said again.

Siren had gone outside to look around the place, exploring what's inside this magical place. He got onto the roofs, being careful not to make noise as he trotted around looking at the ground below and the people flying around. It looked magical.. he stood on top of one of the roofs and looked at the ground, at the people walking around. He smiled. But.. the moment that he fell silent he heard... crying. Muffled crying. Oh no, something must be wrong. He looked around, trying to follow the sound of the crying, wherever it came from. There was.. a boy on the roof. Curled up and sobbing uncontrollably. Those wings.. that isn't just any boy, it's Kappa. "Hey, are you alright?" Siren asked quietly, sitting down beside him. Kappa moved away, startled by his sudden appearance and scrambling to wipe his eyes of tears. "I-I'm okay." He stuttered. Siren grabbed his wrist gently, pulling his hands away from his eyes. "No you aren't, what's wrong?"

"I don't wanna talk about it. I need to get back to work soon it's fine." Kappa hid his face with his legs. Siren sat with him for awhile. "You know, it's okay to be sad. It's okay to take a break. You look like you need one." he said quietly. "No you don't understand I can't..." Kappa lifted his head slightly and looking down at the ground below them. "I can't let myself have nothing to do. I can't let myself think about him." he said. "Is there a reason you don't want to remember him?" Siren asked calmly. "I just.. It hurts too much to remember him at a time like this." He gripped onto his legs tightly. Siren stayed quiet for a bit. "But, If you don't go through the pain, then You'll always be haunted. 'If you have to write an essay, write it In the morning. Then you feel better knowing you have nothing else to do the entire day'. I remember reading that once." Kappa looked over at him. "Go on, let all of your repressed anger and sadness out. You'll feel better once you've got it all out." Siren noticed Kappa trembling in his seated position. "I don't.. I don't want anyone to see me at my worst." he mumbled. Siren opened his arms. "Then don't have anyone see you." Kappa hesitated before him. Was he really about to let all his emotions out on this person he met just a day ago? Was he? "I can promise you, I'm never telling a soul about tonight. Whatever happens here stays between us only." Siren said quietly. Kappa's hands shook as he reached over to him. He slowly crawled over to Siren and wrapped his arms around him tightly. "It's okay. I'm not leaving." Siren covered him from the eyes of others down below with his wings. He held Kappa close to himself as he cried quietly.

-1 hour later-

Kappas grip on Siren slowly loosened after awhile and he let his body be less tense. "Are you okay?" Siren asked quietly. He didn't hear anything back for awhile. Just silence. "I'm okay now." Kappa answered after awhile. Siren unfolded his wings and Kappa rolled over to sit next to him. Both stayed quiet for a long time. "Thank you... for listening." Kappa said quietly. "Of course." Siren answered. "But.. why? We met a day ago." Kappa asked. Siren hummed and looking down at the ground below. "I wish I knew."

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End of chapter one
Word count: 2392