Neko No Tenshi{ON HOLD}

The Cloud

I was wakened by an excited Alduin, her short, slicked back Black hair all fluffy, like she was in a rush to brush it out. Her draconic, blueish gold eyes were about an inch away from my face, and her dark gray leathery wings were spread out behind her. She was pretty tall, so she had to kneel down to fit in my room. "Cmon, Gem! Today's the day the Cloud is coming back! That means Kitta's coming home!" She squeaked. Despite most of us being Neera in Meranoshi, she was a draconic version of us. Sometimes she would get made fun of at school, but she paid no heed. Her tail was waving excitedly, almost hitting my dresser full of stuff collected from Ranio, or "Earth", as the humans call it, to the ground. "Okay, okay, I'm getting up, just be careful with that tail of yours, don't break anything." I said groggily as I sat up in bed, rubbing my maroon eyes. She stop swinging her tail around. "Yeesh, are you a mess! Who let the humans get to you?" She joked, looking over my messy hair and wings. "Let's get you cleaned up." She half led, half dragged me out of bed and into the bathroom. She set up a full body mirror and placed me in front of it. "Fuck, I am a mess. Ugh.." I said, disgusted. My long, light red hair was tangled in a giant mess, and my silvery feathers were ruffled everywhere. "Let's get this fixed." Alduin said, with a brush in her hand. It took around an hour of brushing for it to be at least somewhat straight. She put it into a simple braid and went to work straightening my wings. Finally, I looked at least decent. I slid on a pair of Jeggings and a light green T shirt. I met Alduin downstairs making toast. I shoved a piece in my mouth and half ran, half flew out the door. Since we live in the air, technically there aren't any roads. We do have semisolid cloud things that bear the weight of us called Frias. There weren't any people on our Fria, but that was to be expected. Most everyone was at the Edge for the returning of the Cloud. If you don't know what the Cloud is, it's a large group of specially chosen kids, from the ages 14-18 , that are sent on Retrieval missions to Raino, to get necessities that we are unable to provide here, like Flowers and Water. We call it the Cloud because when they return and leave they are bunched together like a small cloud, so as to not raise suspicion from the Humans. They're normally gone on their missions for about a year, some take longer, but some... Some never return at all. My family has a long line of Clouders, starting with my Great-Great-Great-Great-Great Grandfather Paul Escres. It worked its way down to my Mother, Me, and then my Sister, Kitta. Luckily this is her last year going so she will be out of that playing field. I checked my watch. 8:26. SHIT! I'M GONNA BE LATE! I flew as fast as I could, which was pretty fast. I got there just in time, making my way over to the group of VINs. I was elected to be one after bringing the most valuables back when I was 15. I folded my wings and took my place next to Layrin, a girl about 3 years older than me with calico ears and tail, short, soft, chocolatey brown hair, gleaming golden wings, and caring violet eyes. I don't remember completely, but I think that she was in my Cloud, considering her age. She was elected for saving 4 young boys from getting captured, but it sadly ended with the result of losing half her left wing. Luckily, though, we have extremely advanced mechanics that were able to replace the missing feathers with steel ones, which work just as well. She gave me a soft smile as the crowd settled down. Finally, after what seemed like ages even though it was only 20 minutes, the leaders of Meranoshi— Sivra Danre and Frem Grun— came out onto the stage. Both were in their mid 40s, Sivra having a large black bun and silver eyes, while Frem had fluffy blonde hair and emerald green eyes. Both were nice people, never did anything wrong, and led Meranoshi perfectly. Sivra began her normal speech on the history of the Cloud tradition. I kinda dozed off until Frem started speaking with his deep but calm voice. "Now, as we grow closer to the Cloud's arrival, we have a few guests here today. They are members of past Clouds that proved themselves worthy by completing stunning feats while on missions; Layrin Ptah, for rescuing several members from Capture," she stood from her chair and took a place next to Frem, "Gem Isatos, for bringing back an abundance of much needed supplies at the age of 15," I slowly got up and walked to my spot, tail twitching nervously. I looked out over the crowd, rows upon rows of cat ears and wings, with Alduin's curving horns and leathery wings barely visible in the sea of Neeras. Frem called up the last 5 VINs to the stage. In the distance, a small silver cloud was making its way here. As it grew closer, you could make out the bodies of many winged kids. They were coming at around 30mph, which was pretty quick for a Cloud. I focused my eyes and looked for my sister. Finally I saw her, she was kinda in the middle, her jet black wings helping make out the darkness of the clouds. Her hair flowed behind her like a wave, semi-braided, starting as a royal blue at the roots and fading its way into a light pink. A single rose was tucked behind her light gold ear. After about 4 minutes, they arrived, their satchels filled completely with supplies. A roaring applause erupted from the crowd. Sivra gave the signal that the ceremony was over, and after depositing their satchels at the loading area, the crowd swarmed the stage, looking for family members. Me and Alduin locked eyes, and I made my way to her before being swept away by the crowd. "Hey! Lookit you, being all up on stage." Alduin said, slightly punching my arm. "Oh shut it.. Let's go find Kitta." I said, grabbing her hand and leading her through the crowd. "Ugh this isn't working. Cmon." I launched straight up, dragging Alduin with me. "Okaahy." Alduin said, struggling with flapping her wings. Finally she got them into the beat. "Okay, let's find our little Cloud Cat." I joked, pulling her along.