**Chapter One~The Best Birthday Ever Is Crashed**

16 1 0
                                    

     I was running. And running. Silver katana sword sheathed to my back, wings out full size. My windbreaker was zipped up so it wouldn't catch anything, and my dark brown hiking boots strapped tight. The indigo windbreaker shone navy in the moonlight, and my olive skin looked darker than it was.

     The ground was littered with crazy bushes and ferns, sticks all over the ground, scratching at my legs. I couldn't take more of this down here! I couldn't fly away, the branches above me were too thick to fly through them.

    Then another idea formed. I found the closest climbable tree and threw myself up onto the first branch. I realized that the branches of the trees were all reachable from one to another, and I could climb from tree to tree like a squirrel from up here. 

     One after another, swinging from branch to branch, ducking under twigs, straining my eyes to see in the dark. I felt around with my foot for a place to step, but felt nothing. I heard yelling behind me, but I forced myself to keep going and not look back. Like River had told me: if you focus on everything behind you, you are going to miss whatever's right in front of you. Ugh, he was probably talking about memories and emotions and all that stuff, but I needed to get away. 

     Eventually I found a place to slip my toes. Finally! I tried to grab something in front of me, and found a rock wall. 

     Oh god. 

     I was cornered! 

    Well, when you have walls all around you, just look up. So that's what I did, and I began to climb.

    Oh, sorry, I should probably explain what's going on. Don't worry, I'll be okay. Mostly. Not going to spoil it for you, though!

     Anyhow, remember me? Cirocco Arellano? Also known as Bug Wings, Little Miss Fierce, Raspberry, Angry Door Owl Lady, and Dragon Bird? Oh. Sorry. Forget the last one. Okay, now I'm not going to accidentally spoil anymore.

     So. Anyhow, remember the Soarers adventures and mishaps from last time? Well, this is gonna just get bigger here on out. Also, if you don't, go. Read. It. Find the first book: Soaring. Don't spoil the awesomeness for yourselves!



     You still reading?

     Good. This means you like the stories and have actually read the first one! My friends and I appreciate you so much, thanks for sticking around!

     Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah! I was about to explain how I got into that annoying situation. It all started a week before, December fourth, my seventeenth birthday.

****~~~~****

"Happy birthday to you;

happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday dear Cirocco,

happy birthday to you!"

     Neil Everton, Ari Birche, Audra Brookes, Raina Jarrell, and River Jarrell sang as Neil and some restaurant waiters and waitresses came to the restaurant table with the large cake.

     The cake was large, circular, and was iced with red and purple with white edible roses around where it read my name in cursive. 

     Everyone clapped as Neil cut a bunch of slices into the red-velvet-with-chocolate-chips cake. I, of course, got the first slice, but waited until everyone had theirs until I bit into mine.

"Holy smokes," Ari cried with a mouthful of cake, "This rocks!" His curly black hair had grown since the beginning of November, so he'd pulled it up into a tiny ponytail that literally just just looked like a small bun.

Soaring Over The World (Soaring Saga #2)Where stories live. Discover now