~+Thorns And Asters+~

_-Chapter 1: The Sky Village-_

Aster wakes up, disoriented and confused for a second. He wipes his eyes free of sleep, then takes off his bedsheet and hops up, legs shaky from waking up quickly. Stumbling over to the closet, Aster takes in the features of his room. Mainly bare, except for a green moss-like carpet, a mattress on the floor, a desk cluttered with things, a cupboard, and his window. The window has huge leaves as curtains and no glass, with a bamboo frame. Out of everything in the room, the window is probably Aster's favourite. It looks over all of his beloved Sky Region, one of the four regions on the overworld, or at least in this cluster. There must be more regions and clusters outside of this one, but Aster has never been.

After around 12 minutes of looking at the clothing in his closet, Aster decides on a good outfit -finally- and puts it on. Sleeveless black turtleneck, red fur brimmed leather jacket, baggy dark denim jeans and black lace boots, with the accessory of black fingerless gloves. Checking himself in the mirror, Aster clips on his earrings and leaves the house, onto the entrance balcony. Sky Region houses are made from wood and weather-proof clay, built on the sides of mountains. The houses would have fallen off, but they're sealed to the rock with pillars of irodite, a stronger-than-titanium metal from the magma of amethysts. Funny enough, irodite isn't purple. It's a matte black.

Aster locks the door to his house and stretches, spreading his huge cream wings. He flaps once, twice, then takes off, up into the air of Mount Brindle. Aster hovers in mid-air, looking around for the place he needs to go. It's Thursday, so that means market day. Aster spots his destination, then dives, keeping his wings folded tightly. Just before he reaches the ground, he spreads his wings, -faster than you or I could clap our hands- catches wind, and lands perfectly. Walking into the bustling crowd of the market, Aster blows warm air into his hands, then stuffs them in his pockets, desperately searching for the stall he needs to be at.

The market is built in a cave, lit up by lamps full of orange glow worms. If you ever end up visiting the cluster here, go to the markets, it's truly a sight to behold. Once in a lifetime, one might say. The stalls are made of wood and bamboo, very sturdy. The cave system is huge, but there are openings with landing pads. Aster sees the stall he needs -Avery's Bakery- and speed-walks through the crowd of bustling Avians. 

"Morning, Avery," Aster mumbles, looking down. "Hello, Aster." Avery laughs. "Here for just bread again, or do you want to try something different for once?" Aster smiles, then hands her the money for 'just bread'. Avery, a plump, red haired Avian with speckled brown wings -like a quail- has been in this store since Aster was born, and was now 43, with thin -almost not visible- streaks of grey in her fiery hair. Avery had always been kind to Aster, like a second mother to him, or the mother he never had.

After giving Avery a hug -and getting flour on his shirt- Aster waved goodbye with a smile and journeyed back to the landing pad. Once he got there, he took a bite of the warm, sweet bread that Avery always has ready for him, and took off, ready for his morning fly.

The view from the sky is beautiful up here, you could see for miles. The beautiful, shining, crystal-clear lake of the Lake region, the deep, mysterious forests of the Magma region, and the sprawling, dazzling green meadows of the Plains region, where Aster could see goat species running around. Aster did a low swoop over the Plains, then the Lake. The merpeople and Fish species were already swimming around, gathering coral and seaweed and walking their eels. The goatspeople in the meadows were gathering daisies, to feed to their cows, and to mush into flavouring for cakes and puddings.

Taking one last swoop around, Aster sees metal in the forest region. Startled, he flies down to look. It looks like a metal bear trap, with nets on the bottom. Strange. Aster lands in the net, keeping his wings up and stretched, as they can't fit. He bends down and touches the metal rod on the bottom, then -SNAP- the trap crunches shut, faster than Aster could blink. Pain shoots through Aster's body, hotter than one million spears stabbing through him. Then, slowly, he looks up, realising why he was in pain so bad he could barely breathe. Asters beautiful cream wings were crushed, crumpled under the jaws of the trap. There was blood running down, staining the feathers a deep red. The wings were twisted in a grotesque way, obvious broken bones, and feather were falling off by the pillow-full. Aster screamed, begging for someone to help him, anyone, but no answer came.

Slowly, Aster's eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped, slightly hanging off the ground. All he could see was red and black. His hand was tangled in the rough netting, and it felt twisted and/or dislocated. Then, all pain faded away, as his consciousness left his body, and Aster passed out.

(a/n "Don't worry, just see and he'll be fine")

890 words.