The Sun Caught In Her Raven Hair

Awakening

Esmeralda awoke to the dawn breaking through the gap in the cave, her first night she hadn't spent alone and already she loved it. She knew the trust she had and was aware of the bond she would make and hoped would never break. she moved away from the other birds to stretch her wings, they were always sore in the mornings, and so she flew down to the cave floor which was now damp with water vapor. She flew out to the entrance to watch as the sun came up above the low cloud line. Fog littered the stone ground where she stood and nearly surrounded her whole body. After a while of watching and listening to the quietness, she heard rustling from inside the cave and Magpie sat down on the ledge of the cave next to her, his human form shadowed her small bird build.

"There was a reason I was anxious about bringing you in. You have the potential to have great power and therefore are being hunted. I have been in this position before, and know what it is like and so I have to protect this group as much as I can", Magpie told her.

Jay climbed up the steep rocky path up to the cave, she had gone out to collect firewood and supplies from the closest village, it was always safest to travel at night or early in the morning when people would cease to recognize a face from a name. She saw the two on the ledge and came to sit beside Magpie, leaning her head against his shoulder and listened intently to the mostly one sided conversation being held. After a brief sigh of the new warmth feeling, Magpie continued to explain what he meant by hunting and her being classed as prey. 

"There is a collective of birds we know of, they are hunters by design, their leader is the golden eagle. He took me once, and, since you are more feared by many, he will look to find you too. They hurt and broke me until the point of building me up again to work alongside them in their hatred. Jay saved me, she was being brought into become their new play toy when we locked eyes and realized we had the same destiny, to fight against the ruling party. We are here to protect our own kind from corruption, especially you". 

They trio sat and watched the sun rise high into the sky before Jay stood up taking her satchel with her into the cave. Magpie followed soon after ushering Esmeralda inside with him. The other birds were stretching and flying around now, waking up and exercising their wings before Jay gave them their breakfast. They all congregated in the middle of the room, the kindled wood in the hearth ring and a bowl of mixed seeds; sunflower, pumpkin, nyjer, and safflower, along with pieces of bread small enough for their small bird beaks, Jay and Magpie ate bread together before returning to their bird selves to eat with the changelings. 

Their daily routine consisted primarily of feeding and flying, since none of the youngsters could transform yet the day to day activity was repetitive and to us humans, boring. To Esmeralda and the rest, this sense of stability was what they needed to keep going, to not spiral downwards into a haze of sadness or hate for their forms and to keep them from straying into the territory of the Eagles. They were constantly told that one day, when they could transform, they would learn all about their powers as humans and therefore each of their purposes in this world. But for now, there was nothing they could do but fly and live as a small flock of secretive, shy birds.

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So, I would like to apologize for the long wait for this chapter, and i can wholeheartedly say that this is not my best work but i thought i might as well upload something to show i'm still alive and such. To be honest, with the increased stress of A levels i have had no motivation and similarly when i have had any i have sadly lost creativity and inspiration to write. hopefully now that i have started to put aside time to read books again which is always great for inspiration I might slowly start getting the chapters together.