Young Writers Society

Kiran looked about her at the group.

"So...what now?" she asked, resisting the urge to look back up at the sky. It had felt so good to be up high like that. To not be so restricted by this humanoid form for a change.

But it was time to move on. She bid the sky, her sister, a silent farewell and awaited an answer.

Helenah smiled gratefully at Rayden, "I guess you could give it a shot."

If he hurt Ruby... And if Ruby got a lifelong injury, Helenah would never in a gazillion years talk to Rayden.

"Please." Ruby added helplessly. Only a soft chirp could be heard by the others.

Rayden took a deep breath, and took Ruby in his palms. She was so light, he couln't even feel anything.

Running his fingers over the wing, he tried to determine the amount of damage done. There didn't seem to be any blood, which was a good sign. That meant the break was minor and would heal fast.

Bird's bones were lighter than human's, he remembere. More brittle. Ruby trembled a little in his hands as he lightly pressed against the wing. "It's okay," he said softly, using the voice he'd used on countless of other kids.

He had a bandage tape in his pockets somewhere; he always had a roll. Placing Ruby lightly in Helenah's hands, he turned out his pockets, searching, searching.... a ha! There it was. Woefully little, but hopefully enough for the tiny wing.

He gestured for Helenah to hold Ruby up. She obliged and he carefully wrapped the tape around the wing, careful not to bend any of her feathers, then secured the wing against the bird's body.

"She won't be able to move it for sometime," he said. "It'll take a while to heal, but she'll be able to walk around, I think." He didn't know how he knew, he just did. It was like a sixth sense. He'd always been able to recognize different injuries, and known just what would help.

He decided not to dwell on it.

"If your bird friend... Ruby, yeah? If she needs some calming after all that my Moonstone is an option," offered Dara. She'd collected herself enough to stand straight and walk without feeling like her legs would fall off, although recovery wasn't as generous with the state of her hair. For a rare few minutes Dara's impassiveness won over her compulsive cleanliness. And she couldn't care less where they were, where they would go next, if they would find a passage back to their homes, and whether they would get that far.

Yet even as her resignation flared, she was soon combing her fingers tactfully through her hair as if that would set right every wrong she had encountered so far.

Aegeas groaned, flopping onto his back and staring up at the sky.

"Do hummingbirds even have legs?" he said. The otter set a paw over his eyes to block some of the sunlight filtering through the trees. "And does anyone have any idea of where to go from here?"

The otter also just remembered that Kendrik hadn't been with them. Which didn't unsettle Aegeas at all, even if Kendrik could move pretty fast. Ugh, the hound had better get here soon.

Now that everyone had gotten to their feet or rolled off of him, Lex took it as a sign to get to his feet as well - everything still ached, but the pain was starting to fade from the forefront of his mind. It wasn't as pressing of an issue as figuring out where to go.

He looked around.

It was partially obscured by the few trees scattered across this side of the formerly floating forest, but he could see something that actually wasn't that far away. If he strained his ears, he could even hear people.

It was a village.

"I think I know where we should go," he said, pointing at the village in the distance.

Helenah was relieved to know Ruby would be fine. She hugged Rayden and said a quick thank you. She let go and looked at Dara. "It's okay. I feel bad about before too... Thanks again for healing my leg." she smiled.

Hearing Lex's words, she squinted - her eyesight wasn't the best - to see the village and a grin spread across her face. "It's about time we took shelter." She perched Ruby on her shoulder and waited for the next step.

Dae looked in the direction Lex pointed with interest. However, when he saw the village, something inside him recoiled, accompanied by the overwhelming urge to get away.

He immediately shifted into a tiny amphithere, only about five inches long; two small wings protruded from the tiny wyrm-like body, and Dae immediately flew to the shoulder of the closest person, which happened to be Kiran.

She flinched and almost grabbed him but stopped herself just in time to keep from shocking him.

"Don't surprise me like that!" she chastised.

The village looked promising, but she wasn't too intrigued by it. She would let herself get really interested once they were there, once she knew it couldn't possibly be a trick. Illusions could be so very tricky.

"Where are we going?" Aegeas said. He was having a little bit of trouble motivating himself to get off of the ground, so the most he could catch was the commotion out of the corner of his eye. "What shelter?"

"There's a village past the trees," Lex said. He tried to get a better look at them from where he was standing, but the little bits of building in between tree trunks was the best he was going to get. "We might be able to find out information on why we're here if we go there."

Kiran nodded along with his plan, thinking, absently, that she might be able to find a replacement pair of gloves while they were at it. Being a danger to everyone around her wasn't as fun as it sounded.