Random Oneshots

OoO - Land, Sea, and Sky

Little handmade world au. Half animal-half human creatures, split by land, sea, or sky. I already chose animals for everybody, but that won't be explored just yet.

Starting with Bryan's POV, per usual. It's fairly obvious who my favorite characters are.

  •—————•—————•—————•—————•

Sharp winds buffeted his smooth feathered wings as he flew over the dark clouds that surrounded his home. Thunder rumbled nearby, a reminder of his time limit. He'd have to be to the mainland and back before the storm fully hit, or risk being stuck there for an undetermined amount of time.

His blue and brown toned wings flapped strongly as he came upon the last pillar that provided a bridge between his home and the other kingdoms. It landed just below the clouds, revealing a grey day.

He threw out his talons as he moved close and landed with a light 'oof', pulling up grass and dirt and scattering it over the edge. His wings folded close, curling around his body to provide more warmth. Not that he needed it; it got rather cold up high in their mountain home.

"How beautiful." He mumbled, looking across the mountain gate that welcomed travelers to the kingdom of land.

The entrance to Terra was imposing with its tall mountain walls that bordered a large gulf of water in a canyon shape. It was a good safety net; sea-farers couldn't climb very well and sky-farers wouldn't risk flying that high without knowing if there were safe stops. Anyone who wanted to enter another way would either have to go through a hot desert or a densely guarded forest. The gate was the safest entrance.

He leaned to the edge of the pillar, tail feathers fanning out to balance him as he did. One push off and he'd be flying over. He would land on the lower part of the cliffs, wait until the gate-watcher was not paying attention, and dart in without being noticed. Then he would be free to track him down and see what he was up to.

"Should be a piece-of-cake." He said to himself, or so he thought.

"What are you doing, Bryan?"

A sharp trill escaped Bryan's lips— their species' form of a scream— as he fell forward. He quickly threw open his wings, catching an updraft that brought him back above the pillar, allowing him to spin to look at the speaker.

His shoulders dropped, a sheepish grin forming on his face. "Oh, Bri. Didn't see you there. Come here often?"

"To the entrance of Terra? No, Bryan, I don't." His sister landed on the pillar, the stern look on her face telling Bryan to land, which he reluctantly did.

Up close it was fairly obvious they weren't full siblings. While they were both primarily mourning doves like their mother, Bri's wings had more spots speckling the outer feathers, a reference to her secondary turtle-dove heritage. This fact, however, did not stop her from acting like a full-blooded sister.

"So..." Bryan tapped his fingers together, wings tucking close to appear smaller. "What's up?"

"Oh come on, Bryan." Bri sighed. "I'm not going to stop you from exploring, but the patrols flying around will. You're supposed to be on house-arrest, dummy."

"Says who?"

"The council, Bryan!"

"Oh, and you listen to the council." He crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at his sister.

"I-" she stopped, hesitating her next words before exhaling in defeat. "Okay, fair. Why are you even here? You never visit Terra, at least you never used to."

"Well, um..." His face grew hot as he tried to find the words. "You know. Curious. I'm-I'm really curious. I don't... know many people there, and just, I don't know."