Skyfall

Humanity

I sat in that tree for a long while, staring off where Ravar had flown.  She had disappeared into the glare of the sky very quickly, but I could almost imagine the darkness of her feathers glinting at me still.  

It seemed like no time had passed since that conversation with Akiki, where I explained the molting of Masli.  Now, my feathers were clumping and greying from disuse, and my stomach was becoming bare from my constant stress-plucking.  The feathers on my wings were mostly straightened out again, but there were many primaries and down feathers alike that would take months to grow back to their usual splendour.

I looked away from the glaring sun and instead to the City.  The tall buildings reflected the light back at me once again, making the view almost disappear in the blinding light.  Still, it was better than yearning for her to return.

There was nothing left to do.  Slowly and surely, I put my claws in the flesh of my tree and climbed downwards, breath steady and wings held close to my back.

I hadn't touched down on the floor since I fledged.  I had awful nightmares about the darkness and discomfort the ground held for Masli.  But, as an exile, I had to overcome this fear and become just as deft at traversing the ground as the canopy.

But as I neared the forest floor, I slowed.  I kept telling myself I wasn't afraid, that the memories of a babe were muddled and confused.  But I remembered when one of my nestmates were taken by a cat in the night, the terrible screeching that accompanied his death.  The jungle was the Masli's home, but it was a terrible place to be unlucky.

This was the human lands; they wouldn't allow any predators nearby.  But old fears die hard.

I flexed my talons once, then stepped onto the ground.  It was soft, the dirt giving way easily under my feet, and just as flat and barren of detail as I remembered.

I tried taking a step, and wobbled uncertainly.  How did I do this as a babe?  Two feet are incredibly awkward to stand on.  I leaned against the tree and examined one of my feet.

Ah, that was it.  Masli have five toes, just like humans, but laid out differenly.  Instead of a large piece of flesh with five stubby, useless growths, we had a small start of a foot below the ankle and five long appendages.  Usually for climbing, two toes pointed backwards and three forwards, for grip.  But as babes we learned to rotate the back two toes sideways for more stability.

Now, as an exile, I had to go even further.  All of my toes pointed forward, just like a human's.  My steps were easier now, almost as fast as a newly flighted fledgling going through the trees.  I smiled.

I was still slow and awkward, lurching on my legs like a newborn, but I was walking as a human.  The only problem is that I was still a ways from the City, and I would barely reach the outskirts in time for the sun to fall.  Sure, I had plenty of time to get there, but I almost never spent the night alone, and especially flightless as I am now, I didn't want to risk it.  Not with the echo of Rakki's death echoing in my ears.

So I went to the trees again.  Yes, it defeated the purpose of becoming a human, but I could be Masli for a few moments more.  It also was much faster than the strange human walk, and I had plenty of time to work on that when I came to my destination.

The sun was high in the sky when the trees started thinning.  Instead of reaching for branches, I was leaping for them, which made my cuts burn.  And even then, they continued spreading out.  Below me, on the forest floor, I could see large swaths of undergrowth cut away, to make a path as wide as one of my wings.  Humans meandered down these paths, smiling as they walked through this tamed wilderness, masters of their world.