Wings

[LightofHeaven]

Lex sat on the edge of the wooden dock; his feet dangling above the still water of the lake below. His hand gripping the firmly as he reeled in his catch.

“Ready for lunch, Lady?” he asked, glancing over at the hawk perched beside him, whose sharp eyes watched the flopping bass as it was reeled closer and closer. Lady, the Sparrowhawk, wasn’t any ordinary hawk. She had been there with Lex since they were both little. It seemed the two were somehow connected in a way Lex wasn’t sure about. No one, not even Cerie, could understand Lady like he did.

Lex released the fish onto the dock and watched it flop around as Lady tore into it with sharp talons and sharp beak. It was an appalling sight at first, but Lex had gotten used to it.

He baited his hook and cast out the line again. Time to catch dinner.

 

[deepgreen11]

Cerie set her sander down on the tarp beside her on the lawn. The ship was almost sanded, and soon she could seal it. She sipped some water from her jar and wiped her hands on an old rag. Breaktime. She noticed Lex fishing on the end of the dock and wondered how long it had been since he got there. She had been so engrossed in building and planning the first ship in her fleet that she was oblivious to all else. Cerie quietly walked down the length of the dock and sat next to Lex. "Catch anything yet?" she whispered. The warmth of the day was rough. There was no breeze. Cerie adjusted her hair into a higher messy bun and admired Lady, Lex's gorgeous falcon. She was perched contentedly on one of the spires of the dock.

 

[LightofHeaven]

"Yep." Lex replied; looking over at Cerie who had sat down next to him. She was a pretty face, but Lex thought the messy bun of hair looked better when it was down.. He'd never pointed that out to her; and he wouldn't, at least not now. Not that he didn't care about how she wore he hair, she just...couldn't fight with her hair in the way. "A small bass. Lady had it for lunch."

 

[deepgreen11]

Cerie smiled at Lex. "Lady sure made a mess with her lunch, didn't she? I was building the ship and didn't see you come out here. What have you been up to all day?" She and Lex had lived with a professor in this home for awhile now, and they had grown to be close friends. She had his back, and he had hers.
Cerie wondered now just what the future was for her. She sometimes thought about just living on the sea, but then she would get this feeling like there was something she was supposed to be doing. She just didn't know what it was.

 

[LightofHeaven]

Lex reeled in his line a little. "Oh, I've been thinking." He paused; what exactly had he been thinking? "About how I'd like to accidentally knock someone into the lake." He smirked at Cerie jokingly; wondering how much fun he would get out out of that. Of course he was bored. "Actually, I was just wondering what life would be like without wings."

 

[deepgreen11]

Cerie playfully shoved Lex. "Not if I knock you off the dock on purpose first! Ha! Honestly, Lex, I'm barely even sure what life is like with the wings, let alone without them. I'm just learning all about them. Some days it's like it's the day I found out. It's still vivid in my mind." Cerie looked over at the other side of the lake and imagined it was the world's horizon. I could go anywhere she thought. But what is this feeling inside? What is it I need to do? Cerie wondered if Lex knew or ever had a feeling like that. She unbound her hair and it fell loosely over her gray work shirt.

 

[Donkey_Kong_JR]

There was a quiet knock on Paul’s door. “Paul?” came his mom’s voice from the other side of the door, “It’s open.” Paul responded. His mom opened the door and found Paul examining his wings in a mirror. “Paul! I thought we told you not to...”
“It’s fine mom, no one can see in.” Paul looked into the mirror, “I think they’ve gotten bigger.” He commented. His mom let out a small sigh. “Come on, your father will be home soon, if he sees those he’ll flip out. Come on get the brace on.” Paul did as he was told. It was more of a strap then a brace really, just a simple piece of leather that his dad had gotten shortly after his wings had appeared. Paul squeezed it on and shook his back a little. “You think dad could get a new one? This one’s starting to feel a little tight.”
“I’ll talk to him about it later.” She shook her head, “What are we going to do with you?” She muttered under her breath. Paul heard her but didn’t respond.
------------------------------------------
“John Newport? Newbort? What is that I can’t even read my own writing.” Jakob “D” Hunt read off a piece of paper. He stood in a quiet alleyway, just him and this John. In his left hand he held the piece of paper and in his right he held his combat knife. John was cowering against the side of the building as Jakob spoke to him. “I gave you a simple task, create a gang and keep it going long enough for me to get some information. That’s not asking too much is it?” Jakob shook his head, “And not even two months after you create said gang it falls apart.”
“I-it wasn’t my fault I swear, things just started happening and-” Jakob stopped him, “I don’t want excuses from you. Only results. Now take off your shirt.”
“W-w-what?
“Am I really that hard to understand?” He slowed down his voice, carefully enunciating each word, “Take off your shirt.” John did as he was told. “Now turn around. Good! You don’t have wings. Do you know what that means?”
“Wings?”
“Yes wings. Anyway, it means that I don’t have to capture you.” John let out a heavy sigh of relief, “So, I can just kill you.”
“What!”
“Nothing personal, just business, you know.”
“No wait! Wait! Stop!” John’s body flopped to the ground. Jakob wiped off the blood on the body and slipped out of the alley unnoticed.

 

[LightofHeaven]

It feels the same. Les thought. But he knew there was a difference. He wouldn’t tell Cerie what it was; at least not yet. He would wait until she understood enough. Or he could tell her now.

If he told her now, would she be better prepared? If he told her later, would she curse him for not telling her now?

Before he could say anything, his bobber dipped and the rod was nearly yanked from his grasp. He tightened his grip.

“Looks like a big one.” he said; pulling back the rod. “Ugh…Cerie, hold this so I can get up.”

 

[deepgreen11]

Cerie steadied herself on the dock in her work boots and grabbed the net off the dock, watching Lex eagerly and waiting to assist with the capture. Sometimes Cerie got a little too excited about fishing and the lake. She remembered her cousin and his friends fishing and just jumping in and grabbing the big ones.
"Watch out for the fish guts that you don't slip as you reel!" Cerie said quickly. She muttered something about making a lady out of Lady and teaching her some table manners as she held the pole securely in her grasp.

 

[LightofHeaven]

Lex got to his feet. "Watch out for the fish guts so you dn't slip!" he heard Cerie say. Lex looked and saw the mess, he grinned inwardly as he took the pole from Cerie.

"Cerie," Lex said when the fish was close enough. "could you grab the net and scoop up our dinner."

 

[deepgreen11]

Cerie scooped up the beautiful gleaming catfish and watched it flail in the net. Its skin gleamed in the sun. She unhooked the fish from Lex's pole and carried it over to the picnic table, where she quickly gutted it and made fillets with her utility knife. She set the fillets aside and walked back down the dock to help Lex with his fishing stuff.

 

[K9Guardian]

“All’s clear, Lance. You’re good to go.”

Zeve Beraht laid aside the cutting tools and picked up the Glock resting by his feet. Before him gaped his handiwork, a neat hole hacked expertly into the side of the building, just large enough for its purpose. Lifting his left wrist, he spoke into the small communication device strapped to his wrist, keeping his voice just above a whisper.

“Lance to Katana: I copy. You code four, Spear?”

The wrist-com crackled, and a somewhat cocky male voice responded.

“Spear to Lance: I’m nice and juicy, captain. Ready to cover your butt. You going in now?”

“In a moment.” Zeve gripped the handle of the gun in his right hand and glanced down both ends of the shadowed alley. Not many cars passed through this section of town, so the silence seemed eerie for a city as large as this. “Katana, you sure nobody’s around?”

After a moment a woman’s voice came through, crisp and businesslike. “Not a soul in sight from where I’m at, captain. Careful in there. Keep in touch.”

“Copy. Going in. Over.”

Zeve took a deep breath and chevck his weapons for the fifth time that evening. Besides the Glock, the hilt of a long sword rose above his left shoulder, which he adjusted for quick draw. The four large jewels set into the back of the steel gauntlet on his gun forearm glittered in the bit of light from the street. Once satisfied, he slid into the building with the ease of a kitty using a cat-door.

He was now inside Warehouse 88B.

 

[LightofHeaven]

"Thanks." Lex said as he closed the tackle box. He stretched an walked over to where Lady sat perched atop a spire. By noe, the sun was set and the sky was fading into dusk. "Tomorrow," he said; strokng Lady with the back of his finger and gazing out at the horizon, "I’m going into the city.”

 

[deepgreen11]

Cerie looked over at Lex. He had a determined gleam in his eye, and he looked like he was staring right through the horizon and into a completely different universe. A look like that could mean anything, and a stare like that could shake, Cerie thought, just about anybody. Cerie held the net and asked, "The city? Why the city?" She could feel herself getting just a little nervous. When Lex makes plans, there's no stopping him, she thought.

 

[LightofHeaven]

"Good question." Lex answered withouttaking his eyes from the horizon. Why exactly was he going to the city? He wasn't really sure why he was going to the city. Did he miss the crowds and the tall buildings?

Maybe.

Was there some kind of oower calling him there?

Maybe.

Was there something he needed?

Just maybe.

"I want you to stay here and do your thing." he finally said, looking over at Cerie. Of course, the city could be dangerous, but only because the Agents were there. Hewould not take his friend there, into danger. Not until she was ready. He wished he hadn't said anything, but the last time he went off without a word to her, she'd been worried half to deaththat he'd ended up with a bloody nose. "And try to discover things."

 

[deepgreen11]

Cerie was very confused and very mad. She fidgeted with the net for a moment, then completely lost it. Whirling toward him and standing close to the edge of the dock, she shouted "I can't take this! If you're going to go and risk your life, why can't you take me along? You keep saying how much better I'm doing and how quickly I'm learning! I'm not a stupid ten year old! I'm just as old as you and probably smarter! So why don't you just give me a chance for once? Let me have some fun! I need adventure. The fleet can wait! Come on, Lex...I deserve this!" She looked at him and barely wanted to give him a chance to answer. He always told her no. He always had a reason why she couldn't go. She crossed her arms and started to turn back toward the lake, not believing it was possible that she was now more confused than she had been just minutes ago.

 

[LightofHeaven]

Despite her shouting at him, Lex managed to remain calm. She always did that when it came to things like this."Ceris...do you know why I can't take you?" he paused, waiting for her to answer. "It's not beause I don't think you are ready. This is not a game, Cerie. It's not about having fun either." He stopped stroking Lady and moved slowly toward Cerie. "Do you that I, the leader o--WHOA!"

Lex's foot slipped and he toppled into Cerie, who fell three feet into the lake below.

SPLASH!

"Oops!" Lex said between laughs.

 

[K9Guardian]

As soon as his body cleared the hole, Zeve got to his feet with care. Concentrating, he focused his mind on one of the jewels in his gauntlet and spoke a word, “Darksight.”

The pitch blackness brightened as the spell took effect. Stacks of crates stood floor to ceiling with narrow aisles running in between. Chittering and scuttling noises came from several of these aisles.

Tense and alert, Zeve took a few cautious steps and strained his ears, listening. If anyone was here, they were doing a good job hiding.

“Lance to Katana,” he spoke into the wrist-com. “Nothing but crates and rats. I’m going deeper.”

“Copy,” came the reply. “Still good out here.”

With slow strides, Zeve made his way through the maze of empty storage units, turning his head from side to side to peer into darkened sections of the room. Occasionally a cat-sized shape would scurry across his path, and once or twice what sounded like a faint footfall gave him pause. Minures passed.

“Katana to Lance: Code four, captain?”

“Code four. Still nothing.”

He turned a corner and stopped. There was the back wall, and a pair of metal doors, both hanging wide open. Going into a crouch, Zeve turned aside so that his back pressed against an adjacent stack and whipped his gun first one way, then the other. Nothing.

“Lance to Katana: Suspicious sign. I’m on code zero.”

“Copy. Still clear.”

Sliding along the crates, Zeve edged over to the doors and poked his head into the opening. It appeared to be a smaller section of the building, about half the size of a basketball court. With another glance behind him, Zeve entered the room.

In the aisle behind him, something heavy struck the floor. The doors banged shut, and there was an ominous click.

But Zeve moved like a tiger.

“Force Blast!”

The spell struck the doors with the velocity of a boxer’s fist. One, yet to be locked, flew open and struck whoever had been about to finish the job, causing a yell of pain. Zeve caught sight of a shadowy figure dashing out of sight into the maze of crates.

“Lance to Katana: Target sighted. I’m on the hunt.”

Zeve gave chase.

 

[LightofHeaven]

((o_o))

 

[Sayci]

They were only trying to lock down some "supplies", at least that's what her brother told her. Jazen, her older brother, had once been an agent or a hunter of the bearers, he had a change of heart when she, his sister, had become one of those hunted ones. Now he spent his life trying to keep her safe. Just before sunset he had led her to a strange warehouse, he called it, "Warehouse 88B". Elana had no idea what was in it, but she went with him. It must be important, she told herself, but something in her had grown nervous about the strong building.

Then things had begun to unravel, another agent arrived on the scene. Jazen knew he was there because of the old transmitter he still kept to monitor nearby movements of the agents. He'd heard him come over and had hidden Elana in one of the empty crates. The lid was on top but she was able to break out if need be.

"Stay here until I come for you, all right?" His blonde hair kept falling into his eyes, it always did when he was worried. She had, so far, but the sound of a door being shoved open and then Jazen yell out in pain had seized her with fear. She heard silence after that, broken only by her quick shallow breaths. 'What was happening? Please, don't die Jazen...' She breathed a silent prayer and stared into the cut planks surrounding her on all sides, feeling more and more like a caged animal.