Air Born | Generation Icarus #1

Tui - Rendezvous

"So ... uh ... hi," H said. "Thanks for the rescue."

"You're very welcome," Miguel said, smiling. Hawk and Kestrel were still checking out the surroundings like they didn't quite trust we were safe.

"So, we're hoping you guys have some kind of master plan," I said.

"Obviously, you're free to do whatever you want. You don't have to go along with our plan just because we yanked you out of a building," Hawk said with a smile.

"We yanked them out, Hawk, you showed off for the cameras." Kestrel nudged him with her wing.

His grin only widened. "Oh, come on, Kestrel, I did all the hard—"

"Okay, I have to ask," H interrupted. "What's with the bird names?"

"Uh ... it's kind of new," Hawk said like he was embarrassed. "We just decided last night. In recognition of our new lives, and ... stuff."

"And some of us didn't like our human names much," Kestrel added.

H's wings fluttered in excitement. "Oh, man, that's awesome. Can we choose names too?"

The three of them laughed. "Of course!" Kestrel said. "Is H actually your name, or—?"

"It's just a nickname," H said quickly. "But a bird name would be so much better!"

"What would you choose?" Miguel asked.

He didn't hesitate. "Falcon," he said.

"You're sure?" Kestrel raised an eyebrow. "You don't want to think about it first?"

"I'm still thinking about mine," Miguel added.

H crossed his arms. "It's the only one I want."

"Works for me," I said, grinning. "Falcon."

"How about you ... uh ... Tui?" Hawk asked.

"My name is a bird name already, bro," I said. "Coincidentally, I swear. It's a native New Zealand songbird."

What I didn't say was that Tui had also been my grandmother's name, and so I would never give it up. It was part of me, my whakapapa, my lineage. It was one of the very few things I had left to connect me to my home. The other was the pounamu jade pendant that I wore around my neck. Also from my grandmother. I touched it briefly. That wasn't going anywhere either. "So while the idea's sweet as, I don't need a new name."

"You beat us all to it," Falcon said. I smiled at him. Falcon suited him, and he knew it. He was already standing taller and generally less aggro, as no one hassled him to find out what the H stood for.

Feeling everyone's eyes on me, I looked at Raven. "I wasn't the only one."

They followed my gaze. Raven's cheeks went pink, and she ducked her head.

"She chose Raven," Marcus said after an awkward silence.

"Before or after your wingbirth?" Miguel asked kindly.

Raven fidgeted but didn't look up.

"After," Marcus said.

"Okay, so Raven's a bit shy, no problem," Hawk said. "Don't worry, we don't bite, Rave."

Raven glanced up when Hawk shortened her name, as if confused. Marcus's forehead wrinkled slightly, but otherwise they didn't react.

"And you, Marcus?" Kestrel said patiently. "Do you think you'd like to take a bird name?"

The forehead wrinkles deepened, but it took him a while to reply. "I will think."

As the rest of us stared at him, not sure exactly how to talk to this tall, reserved, and awkward guy, he looked like he suddenly remembered something.

"English is hard to me," he said, almost sounding hopeful.

"Oh!" Everyone else relaxed. Suddenly, Marcus and Raven's behaviour made a lot more sense.

"No worries, bro, it's hard for us sometimes too," I said, wanting to reassure them. Although now I was wondering whether Raven even understood that much.

"So, just to recap for the folks at home," Hawk joked, "we have Hawk, Kestrel and Miguel," he pointed at himself and his friends in turn, "Falcon, Tui, Marcus, and Raven. Did I get it right?"

"Yep." Falcon scratched his dark crew cut. "I can't believe there are seven of us."

"Are we all going to stick together?" Kestrel asked. "At least for a little while, as we figure things out?"

"Sounds like a plan," said Falcon.

"It is logic," Marcus added in his odd way.

"But, is there an actual plan?" I said. "Now that we've sussed the rescue, the car chase, oh yeah and being shot at. Apart from hanging out like one big happy whanau of course."

All the others, except for Marcus and Raven, cracked up. I rolled my eyes. Humour was clearly going to be an issue with them.

"I'm looking forward to picking up a little conversational Māori with you around, Tui," Kestrel said through her laughter.

"Sweet as, Kess. We'll probably start with your pronunciation. But, yeah, back to business."

Miguel smiled at me. "When we left camp this morning, we were planning to head into the desert."

"What the hell do you want to do that for?" Falcon demanded.

Hawk flicked a wing. "To take advantage of the massive thermals to improve our flying, obviously."

Falcon's aggression dropped away. "All of you can fly? Properly?" he asked. I could hear the envy in his voice and I understood it. We'd seen Hawk drop from the sky when we were on the roof, but then the whole world had already seen Hawk falling from a plane and jumping from a hospital. As my stomach flipped in hope, I glanced over at Marcus and Raven, and saw the longing on their normally-blank faces too.

"We only figured it out yesterday," Kestrel said. "Long story short, you will be able to as well, but you'll need to make yourselves some tails first."

Miguel reached into the cab of the mustard pickup and pulled out a black feathery kite. "It helps reduce the deadweight of your legs."

We all crowded close to have a look. Kestrel explained how they'd ripped apart their tents for the raw materials.

"You don't happen to have any more tents lying around, do you?" I asked, semi-joking.

"Let me check the truck." Kestrel walked around to the back of the pickup.

She gasped.