Cassarian August

August 9: Kiss

(This is an AU where everyone has wings, kinda based off of the Skyborn series. Varian is Crow clan, and Cassandra is Hawk clan but lost one wing. Also in this AU, Varian is seventeen and Cassandra is eighteen.)

Cassandra walked through the dark nighttime woods.

Come on, the medicine has to be out here somewhere, she thought, searching desperately. Suddenly, a pitch-black shadow appeared on a branch in front of her, wings unfurled slightly.

"Who's there?" She asked, drawing her sword. She snapped out her wing, trying to look threatening.

"Guess who," a playful voice replied. Cassandra gave a small sigh of relief and sheathed her sword.

"Hey, Var," she said, a small smile playing at her face. The Crow clanner leapt leapt upward off the branch, did a flip in midair, and landed with his wings spread. "Show off," she smirked, shoving the black-and-blue haired boy's shoulder teasingly. Varian gave a dramatic bow.

"It's what I do," he declared. Cassandra smiled and walked past him. He quickly turned and followed her. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?" He asked.

"I need to get this herb," she replied, eyes searching the ground. "The elder in my village is very sick." Varian smiled at her and began scanning the ground as well.

"I can help you with that," he volunteered too cheerfully. After a few moments, Cassandra turned to Varian with a sigh.

"You know, we can't keep doing this. It's pretty much illegal for high clans to be associated with Crows," she said sadly. "It's never worked out before." Cassandra gave a small gasp as Varian's hand slid into hers.

"Well, then we can be the first," he suggested. Cassandra gave him a side-eyed smile, but then dropped his hand and continued searching. She walked forward and, bush by bush, searched for the medicine. She turned around to check a bush behind her and then took a step backward. "Cassie!" Varian suddenly exclaimed, putting an arm out towards her. Cassandra's arms pinwheeled as she felt herself topple backwards over a cliff. With a soundless scream, she began free falling. After a few futile attempts at flapping with her one useless wing, she squeezed her eyes shut and braced for impact. All at once, her arm was jerked upward and her descent came to a screeching halt. She opened her eyes to see Varian, hand in hers, small Crow wings flapping madly to keep the two of them aloft. Very slowly, they rose over the edge of the cliff. As soon as Cassandra's legs were over solid ground, Varian dropped to the ground, wings like limp noodles. Once he stood back up, Cassandra grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

"What were you thinking?!?" She yelled. "You could have died!" A few small tears came to her eyes. "I would have never forgiven myself if you died because of my useless wing!" With a small huff, she dropped her hands to her sides.

"Cassie," Varian said quietly. He reached out and took her hand in both of his. "You know that I would sacrifice both of my wings if it meant you could have yours back. And I wouldn't ever regret it." Cassandra gave a small laugh and wiped her tears with her other hand.

"You're so stupid," she said, smiling. Suddenly, she leaned forward and kissed the seventeen-year-old, gently and quickly. Varian's face immediately lit up bright red. When she pulled away, neither she nor Varian could keep a smile off their face.

"Your dad's gonna kill me," Varian thought aloud. "His job as the Hawk general is to arrest Crow clanners like me." His face fell. "This is impossible."

"Maybe it is," Cassandra agreed. "But, like you said-" She looked into his eyes. "-we'll be the first."