Skye Evans.

Clipped Wings.

      Falling.

      Falling with no way to get back up.

      Falling with no control over your failing body.

      Falling with the blood of your body flying beside you.

     Down
        Down.
          Down.

                                                              •༄──────✧༄✦༄✧──────༄•

      Ever since she was just a young fairy, and her wings had finished painfully forming on her back, she loved to fly. Her parents almost had to keep her on a leash to restrict her from jumping into the sky and drifting away, free, free, free. Just like every other fairy, they were apart of her. But she didn't feel the need to hide them. Sure, she kept them folded at her back to avoid knocking over things, but they were always there. Leaving little trails of feathers everywhere she went. She could never stop them.
      For her, to lack her wings was to lack movement itself. Always, she was careful to never get them injured in a way that would put them out of use for too long. Alike to her other limbs, she would train them, make them stronger. They should've been ready for anything she needed them to do. But they weren't strong enough this time.

                                                              •༄──────✧༄✦༄✧──────༄•

      Fingers curled up into fists, she went at the robot again and again. Over the years of training, she had become so good that she could easily beat it even on the hardest level, as she had shown her best friend a year ago. A theory had been beating in her mind; could she defeat it blindfolded? With half her vision impaired, she was already at a natural disadvantage, and had to rely on her other senses more. So, it wasn't really that big of a change. She was missing the light though, and constantly lazily dodging the attacks was getting boring. 
      Sidestepping another throw, she reached for the power down button, easily pressing it as she swiped off the cloth. It took her a few blinks to finally adjust. Learning how to fight in situations where she would be uncomfortable was a good idea. Considering what had recently happened at the GMG.. anything was possible. And with that school, probable. 
      Her muscles felt sore, her wings felt stiff. She yawned, looking around the house of stone and cloud. Light shone through the windows and even seeped through the walls. It'd been a while since she had visited her dad. Or even worse, gotten a chance to fly around. The islands were, naturally, amazing for that. There wasn't a lot of free space on campus. She grinned. No matter what happened, or what she was going through, flying always brought her joy. 

      Rays of sun beamed down on her as she stepped out of the house, almost instantly spreading her wings. To test them, she flapped them a few times. Unruly feathers flew everywhere, some even landing in her hair. After picking those out and throwing them down to be carried by the wind currents, she shot up into the sky.
      It was great as always. The pull of the air resistance, her hair flapping wildly everywhere, the thrill. Something she had been missing for a while. Dipping and diving, rising and tanking downwards only to pull herself back up just as quickly. Adrenalin. Blood rushing to her head. All sorts of fancy tricks that she didn't even have to focus on completing. They were as natural as her grabbing an item. People probably glanced at her. Years ago, this sort of thing was common. But she didn't see it as much anymore, for who knows why. 
      She landed gracefully onto a cloud, wings tucking in. Material shifted under her feet, solid for her and all the other wind fairies that walked atop it. It was squishy and rubbering, though not as much as the trampolines designed to be so. As a kid, she had enjoyed them a lot, though it was always such a hassle to get the shreds of clouds out of her hair. When she would accidently leave some in there, she would have floating hair for at least a few days. 

      It was falling apart though. As the seasons changed, the Storm Fields expanded then retreated, like the waves of the beach. Most areas that were gray had been blocked off, since they could still fall through those if they weren't concentrating. Skye knew all too well. Nothing like that would happen ever again. She was strong enough now.
      The world would put that to the test today.
      Her dad had asked her to pick up some groceries sometime today. The retired fae had gone to visit some vantage point everyone loved, for whatever reason. A smile twitched at her face. Classic him, making her run errands while he relaxes. Jumping up, she spread her wings and flew over to the main city. It was quite the distance, so she kept her theatrics to a minimum. Sometimes she just couldn't help herself, though. 

      The fairy chose not to land in the main street, opting for the hidden alleyway at the edge of the island. People always stared at her, making snarky comments. And although she had grown used to it over the past year, it took some preparation. She didn't even had the chance to let her wings fade off before she was met with a scene of chaos.
      A man, pupils the color of the wind and wings as feathered as hers, stood with a knife. A woman and a little boy stood next to each other, cowering as the attacker yelled demands. With each second, he took a step closer. Skye froze, stance immediately adjusting. The alleyway was open, she could fly away if she wanted, could call the police. Let them take care of it. But with each minute, her doubt they could get there in time grew. 
      A girl hardened by battle, what could she do? Definitely not stand by and let it happen. She didn't summon her sword. Maybe that was her mistake. As carefully as she could, she approached, trying to sneak up and get ready to tackle. And just as she did..

      The robber spun around, blade brought down upon her wings. In just a few seconds, she was slashed multiple times. She yelped, stumbling back. Pain seared, and her eye became blurry. She tried to come back from the disorientation. But she she couldn't. Not before it happened. 
      Despite her strength, despite the countless times she trained, despite her years of fighting, she wasn't strong enough to fight off this strangely powerful man as he grabbed her by the arms, and tossed her straight off the island. 

      Falling.

      Falling with no way to get back up.

      Falling with no control over her failing body.

      Falling with the blood of her body flying beside her.

      Down
        Down.
          Down.

      Skye panicked as she flailed about, trying desperately to use her wings. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get them to flap. The lack of use of her spells came back to bite her, as she fell thousands of meters, gaining momentum and completely forgetting about the presence of her magic. As the ground grew near, it finally snapped into her mind. Desperately, she raised her hands, trying to summon an air carpet. It did, slowing it, but quickly faltered out due to the wind.

     Trees were underneath her. Ten feet. She was going to hit them.

     Just barley. 

     She summoned a weak air carpet, slowing her to almost a complete stop. Then it disappeared, and she fell wing first into the trees.

     The girl screamed.