Skyfall

The Avatar Reunion

It was only a few days later that the Nixes announced the full moon. The flock rejoiced; it was time for the four species of Kiemo to come together and celebrate.

Reunions are very special in Masli society; they are headed by the Nixes of every race, and take place in the Plain of Skin, Scales and Feathers. For a week straight the four races slept under the same sky and ate the same food, to an extent. Kalo and I would be honoured because of our upcoming joining. Then every species would take a piece of themselves - feathers, fur, scales - and place it in their element's domain, then part ways again for a time. The offerings of our bodies was for Kiemo - it promised good luck and fortune until the next Reunion.

The preparations were frenzied. The Nixes bounded through the trees, their primaries all shorn for their deity, and warned the Masli flock. Parents collected children from the forest floor. The Lik'ma ensured the work required was evenly distributed throughout the flock.

The fledglings were in charge of finding food and gifts for the Reunion. Kalo and I sped off to our favourite foraging grounds, a wild valley with many ripe fruits and dense tubers. He fashioned a basket, and I started on the nuts and cherries that hung on the trees.

"You ever think about what the other races eat?" Kalo asked, catching the small bits of food I threw at him.

"Not really. I can't even look a K'mess in the eye during meals."

"Yeah. I couldn't imagine eating other beings for food everyday. And raw, with the blood and everything..." He made a choking sound.

I giggled. "And the Boa? They don't eat at all! They only whisper and pet the ground all the time. It's creepy."

"Boa always scare me. They never blink."

"Oh, and the Issili! They're white skin and short arms and webbed feet? Gah! And all of that water all of the time," I shuddered, trying to pelt his head with chestnuts. He lifted the basket, woven from green reeds, and the nuts made a dull thud as they hit.

"But you have to wonder what they think of us."

"That we can fly? That we live off of the land? That we are a group and cannot be divided?"

He laughed. "Silly bird. As we insult them, so they insult us, with our spindly limbs and vanity." All I could think of was the hiss he issued whenever I brought up humans, the pride he felt for us over them.

"They're just jealous," I said, jumping to a tree with a passionfruit vine choking the trunk.

"Obviously. Air is the superior element. No one can live without it."

"Except the Issili, of course."

"Well, those ones are weird. Water is so... different than everything else."

"But it's our lifeblood, too." I glanced down at him, but instead caught sight of a leaf cupping a small puddle of rain water. I turned back to the vine, carefully picking off the fruit, then quickly pulled the tip of the leaf down, pouring the ice cold contents on his head. He screeched in surprise.

"Hah! Finally got you!"

He shook out his crest, then looked up at me with gentle annoyance. "Silly, silly bird."

.:***:.

The flock departed the next morning. Each parent carried their grounded chick on their back, the babe holding itself carefully off of the wing joints. The fledglings carried the baskets of food. The Nixes darted through the trees, easily keeping up with the flock above. We all cawed and screeched in ecstasy for the coming celebration.