Winged Ones

Ester Alice

I pumped my wings, the white feathers were rustled from continuous flying. I looked up at Corbin from under my lashes, I could see him blue eyes scanning the perimeter from enemies (Wolves/Humans). Thirty more minutes and we were to reach our destination. Just thirty more minute! I was practically jumping out of my wings.

"When will this ever end?" Corbin hissed through his clenched teeth. I shrugged, my eyes drooping from fatigue, "I don't know...I hope soon though. I could really go for a sleep right about now." I muttered watching a bird circling over the water below us.

Corbin laughed, "I think we all could." I grinned at him, turning back towards the deep blue water. "You think Kaylee will get mad if I go for a quick swim?" I asked, looking at a school of silver fish dart behind rocks as our shadows past over them.
"I dunno?" Corbin muttered, also looking down. I looked up too see Kaylee flying behind Blaise. Anika was whistling loudly and awing at the clouds in Ellie's arms. Blake and Michael were well ahead of all of us.

A silence spread through us. I blinked, the waters and the skies, they were so peaceful. Corbin flapped his wings sending a gust of wind battering it to my face. I grinned doing the same to him. Stopping Corbin pulled his wings back fully, extending the long wing span. Flapping them forward so that they arced in front of him, wind sped towards me forcing me to roll through the skies and pull back my wings to stop myself from collapsing into the icy deeps.

He laughed at my expression. Gritting my teeth together playfully, I dived towards him. His eyes grew, contemplating when to move. Instead of blasting him with an icy gust of wind at him, I twirled around to his back before he could pinpoint my movement and encased my wings around his body. I forced a maniac laugh, "Now you're mine-!" I stopped suddenly. My nose brushed against his, our eyes meeting together so close that I could see the fine detials of his eye lashes. We were close, very close.

>I don't know what color Ester's eyes are because the picture doesn't show it. So for now I just said that they were hazel. If I'm wrong then just tell me what color they are and I can easily fix it.<

Corbin~

I pushed a huge gust of wind playfully at Ester, sending her tumbling through the air. I laughed at seeing her surprised face. After getting a hold of herself she rushed towards me for revenge. But instead of forcing more air at me she flew around behind me. I knew what she was thinking and I quickly spun around. "Now your mine-" she started and then stopped as my face swung extremely close to hers. Our noses bumped and her soft hair brushed against my cheek. We were so close together that I could feel her warm breath tickle my chin.

Instantly my teasing smile dropped as I looked into her beautifully detailed hazel eyes. I had never been close enough to really be able to study her eyes like this, but now that I was I could see that they were beautiful.

I wanted to kiss her. The urge to kiss her was overwhelming. I loved her and here was the time to show it. What was I waiting for? Her lips were less then an inch from mine. But what if she didn't love me back?

Suddenly a strong gust of wind from behind pushed me forward, and our lips were pressed together.

~Ellie May~

I looked over to see Ester and Corbin kissing. I smiled and quickly looked away, wanting to give them privacy. Anika giggled in my arms, and I looked at her, looking at them.

Quite I thought to her. she looked up at me, still smiling. I kissed her hair, then looked back forward. This was the moment we all wanted to see. We were now crossing the ocean. I dipped down close to it, letting Anika reach out her tiny hands and gently touch its smooth surface. I did the same, laughing at I saw the fish swim away from us. I flew back up to join the others. I could just barley see the land ahead of us.

"What's the plan for when we get there?" I asked. "Stay hidden, and stay safe?" That was how I always saw it. If you stick together, stay low, then you will be safe.

Blake

Even though Michel was hurt and I was... well, I thought we all knew my flying habits..., we were in the lead, by far. I thought because everyone was going slower, more deliberate, and also because some were just plain goofing off. I looked back to see Corbin and Ester messing around and eventually kissing in the water.

Corbin and Ester... Blaise and Kaylee... Michel and me... even Anika and Ellie it seemed, were a pair, though in a totally different way. My point was, everyone had someone. Everyone except Caroline.

I felt really bad for her. She had sort of snapped out of whatever this morning, but we all knew it was a matter of time. Everyone looked at her like a bomb that could go off at any moment. As she was flying behind us, her head was drooped, and you could tell she felt absolutely terrible. And lonely.

I touched Michel's hand. He looked at me and I gestured at Caroline with my head. He nodded, and we both fell back, until we were even with her. She looked at us. I gave her a sympathetic, and somewhat understanding--had it not been days ago that I was the outsider that was more or less just... there, not a part of anything--smile. She seemed to cheer up a little about not being completely alone.

For a while we didn't speak at all, but you could tell it was comforting to her anyways; sometimes it's nice just to have someone there.

For so long no one was there for me. If there was a choice between saving me and another winged one, I was sure they would have chosen another one. Anyone from out group would have. Now I thought at least Michel might try and save me. I thought.

>Sorry its not much, but it pushes us forward a little bit<

~Ellie May~

Even though I had flown a lot the past few days, it felt good be in the air. Anika had her head on my shoulder, fast asleep. It was amazing that she could sleep through the loud pounding of the wind on our wings. I pushed my wings, wanting to pass out right there. I hadn't sleept, for worry that the wolves would attack, and I wouldn't be ready. We continued to fly above the water, the large land mass in front of us getting closer. I would be so happy to be there, but we had to hide once we got there.

This wouldn't be unusual to us, though. We had been in hiding for a while. I had only vague memories of what humans looked like. They had drugged me so much, I wasn't sure if those were dreams, or hulusinations, or if they were real. But I would soon find out.

Ester Alice

My body froze, my eyes wide open. My lips were pressed against Corbin’s; I could hear soft breath gushing in and out of his nose. His lips were so – soft.
"Oh my God!" I heard Ellie shout. Anika screeched piercingly, her eyes growing wide. I pulled away from Corbin instantly, regret filled me instantly. Turning I stared up at a long, metal like bird. It whisked past us, sending the whole flock tumbling away.

Large dagger-like things spun rapidly in large metal-like circled. I felt my mouth drop instantly, the words "Qantas" were spelled across the side in a deep red colour. "What the hell is that thing?!" Kaylee screeched. Unable to tear my eyes away, the loud sound of something screeching filled the air. A bright light flickered on and off.

A human boy had his face pressed to a small translucent like rectangle. He stabbed at the window with a chubby finger; his eyes wide as he took us in. "Get down!" Michael shrieked. As if his voice had unlocked my body, I dived towards the water my heart racing. Plunging into the cold surface, I felt the others do the same.

Blaise swam in front of me. Pointing at me then to the surface he nodded. I nodded back, getting his command. Kicking my legs I resurfaced, gasping for breath. It hadn't spotted us...what ever it was. Stabbing through the clouds, the metal bird disappeared, a small fog following after it. The others instantly surfaced, coughing and spluttering out water. "What the hell was that thing?"

Blaise

I stared towards it. "There were humans IN IT," I said, panting, shocked.

I heard Anika say something, and people gasp. I turned around. "What?" I asked.

"I know what it is," she said nervously, not liking everyones eye on her.

"What?" Ellie asked. I could see the connection of their brains moving at top speed. Then Anika spoke.

"When I was living with the wolves the scientists came in those things. They called them pla-anes," she said, struggling with the word.

I stared at her. Finally, someone spoke.

"Well, if that human saw us, we're screwed."

I spoke up now. "But c'mon. Sometimes, people don't believe humans that young.... kind of like a lot of us wouldn't believe Anika if she spoke of a monster that she was seeing. It's because we have small minds and they have imaginations.

Someone laughed, but it was forced out, I could tell.

~Ellie May~

I listened as Blaise tried to figure a way that we were safe. I nodded. This could be a good thing, or a very bad thing, letting our minds ease up like this. I wanted to believe that they saw us, so that we would be more careful. So I told myself the opposite of what Blaise said.

Anika looked at me. I forgot that she could hear my thoughts. I knew what she was thinking. She was thinking I was right, but so was Blaise. I nodded to her. She was worried, and so was I, but I continuously told her and myself that we would be safe in just a little while.

Corbin~

A scream pierced through the air and me and Ester broke apart. Suddenly, flying medal machines broke through the clouds and we all dove for the water. We all stayed as low as possible until the deafening medal bodies were far enough that we were out of site.

I remembered those things, some where in the back of my mind I remembered them. But I couldn't remember the name. "Pla-ain," I heard Anika say. That was it! I remembered it now, they were called airplanes.

Everyone continued to talk about what to do, and I sighed in boredom. I was feeling restless, for some reason. Deciding to have some fun, I sucked in as much air as I could and dove under the water to have a look around. I could hold my breath for a long time and I hoped that I would be able to see something pretty cool.

I saw something dark directly underneath me and I swam toward it. It was an old fishing net. Just as I got there I realized that I was running out of breath so I turned around to make a mad dash for the surface. But just as I was about to shot up for the top I was pulled back. A strand of rope had wrapped around my foot. I kicked my foot violently to loosen it, but I just made it worse and now a couple of the ropes were in knots around my ankle. By now my lungs were pleading for air and I couldn't think straight. I reached my hand down and yanked on the rope, it seemed only to make it tighter. I decided to use my knife to try to cut the rope. So I tried to pull my hand out of the net to get my dagger, but it too was stuck. Now I was freaking. I couldn't breath and I knew that I was going to die. My mind was going blank and I was beginning to lose my sight. With what little will power I had left I reached for my dagger with my other hand. But my grip wasn't tight enough and it slipped from my hand.

Help I thought desperately. That was the last thing I remembered.

Blake

I saw Corbin as he dove for the water. I watched and waited. Surely by now he would have come up? Minutes passed. Even he couldn't stay under that long. It was sketchy.

Sucking in a huge breath, I dove under. Opening my eyes, I saw that he was caught in some fishnet. I pulled out my dagger and started to cut at the net. Then something weird happened.

The net came at me. It wrapped itself around my knife, and around my wings. It yanked me down. By now I was begging for air, so I couldn't imagine how Corbin was doing. He seemed unconscious, but alive. Don't ask me how I knew, but I did.

I started seeing spots and just as I was about to black out, something pressed itself against my mouth and air came in. Breathable air. At first all I felt was relief. I looked down and saw Corbin getting the same treatment, reviving, but I also saw something else: humans. Humans in wetsuits. The scientists.

I thrashed and kicked, but I couldn't get away. The net seemed to have a mind of it's own. It got tighter and tighter. Even with the oxygen mask, I almost couldn't breathe, it was constricting my lungs so much.

The scientists took me and Corbin and started pulling us to something down, down. A submarine, it looked.

HELP! I mentally screamed. Scientists.... Help!

But no one would hear my thoughts because they were just that, thoughts.

My breathing started to get heavy. The air they were giving us smelled slightly off.

Help... I thought before drifting to unconsciousness.

Ester Alice

Corbin? Blake? Where are you? I scanned the seas, hoping that they were just joking and were pretending to be drowning till the popped out of the water laughing at our horrified faces. I laughed nervously; Oh please let that be the case!

"Where are they?" Anika had climbed up onto Ellie's shoulders, avoiding the cold seas all around us. Ellie kicked her leg, her cheeks red from exhaustion.
"I'm going down there!" Sucking in a deep breath I dived downwards, swimming low I looked around the darkness. Where the hell were they?!

Michael was suddenly next to me, blinking rapidly at the salty waters. Kicking even lower, my lungs wanting air. I ignored it, looking around frantically. Where were Corbin and Blake? Corbin! Blake! Michael searched, his eyes narrowed desperately. Bubbles escaped my lips. I felt tears begin to float around me.

Maybe they were deeper down. In the shadows! I began to swim frantically towards it, my ears popping. Michael's hand grabbed at my elbow stopping me. He motioned for the surface. I shook my head, Michael's nails dug into my arm. His eyes were fierce; I knew what he was thinking. And he was right; we couldn't save them if we had no air and were drowning to the floor.

I shook my head tyring to pull away from him. Where ever they were, I wasn't going to let them die while I took in air. My lungs thought different, they agreed with Michael. Michael began to kick fiercely, leading us towards the top. Surfacing I gasped horrified, Michael spluttered water. I began to thrash crying out loudly. Corbin!

Michel

My lungs fought for air, and my eyes stung. I clenched Ester’s arm. We wouldn’t be able to find them if we were drowning ourselves. My mind desperately wanted to go deeper into the murky water, but right now I needed to help Ester. It was harder for her to swim because her feathery wings bogged her down.

I broke the surface gasping. Then after a minute I flipped down this time using even my wings to propel myself. Out of the corner of my eye I saw some of the others. As I dove deeper my ears popped, and tons of rock were crushing my skull. Then I saw something. Hair. My body screamed as I gave a few more kicks. It was Blake. Blood from her leg made the water red. I grabbed her in panic, then started to wildly kick.

I hit the surface again. This time I started to cough. Kaylee grabbed holding my head above water. I struggled just to breath.

“Something’s down there! I didn’t see Corbin anywhere. We need to find him. Something pulled them under and-” Kaylee cut me off putting a finger to my mouth,

“Shh you need to let yourself recover if you are going to help.”

~Ellie May~

My sister was gone, I noticed too late. I couldn't just dive down there and find her, because Anika was on my shoulders. Of all the times someone has taken Anika from my arms, now couldn't be one of them? She understood, reaching for Blaise. He took her, and I dove down, searching the dark water. As I got lower, I began to have to use my wings to swim. I saw something far below me, and I thought it might be Blake. But as I neared it, it seemed to large to be her, even if her wings were spread. I realized a little too late what it was. I was too close to it, and too far under the water. I couldn't escape. It swam towards me at full speed, opening its mouth. I was being attacked by a shark. A giant one at that!

I pushed myself away from it, but it grabbed hold of my wing, pulling feathers from it. I used my other wing to knock it away, but my breath couldn't last long. I saw Ester, far, far away from me. I could barley tell that it was her, but, for some reason, I knew it was her. Farther down, I saw Blake and Corbin, being pulled farther down by nets. I ignored the shark, pushing myself. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears from holding my breath. I was too insane. I pushed myself, straining to hold my last breath in behind my pierced lips.

Blaise

Anika was hearing Ellie's thoughts, I knew. I saw her concentrate on something. Had she helped them? I wasn't sure. I didn't see any weather but, then again, it was all underwater.

I wanted desperately to help them but I had a duty to do. My sister needed me, and I needed her right now.

I wished I could help.

I really wished I could help.

Anika

I sent a bubble of air down. I didn't know if it reached anyone, but if it did, it would revive them for a few moments.

Ellie?

I called out with my thoughts.

No reply.

~Ellie May~

Ellie I heard in my head. I knew it was Anika, but I didn't have the strength to reply to her. I saw a buble of air coming down. Thank God for Anika! I swam towards it. As I entered, I exhaled, then sucked in another breath, not taking the time to actually breath. That would last me about two minutes...