My heart was thumping so hard and fast, it worried me a little.

Flying above the large rock formation, I kept my eyes on the two figures in the distance. Their shape was clear and obvious to me, especially the way their legs dangled a bit underneath them as they flew.

They were like me. If not owls, at least bird-people with wings on their backs and not where their arms should be.

Celine had not lied. Honestly I was surprised, even if I shouldn't be.

Still… why were they flying so oddly…?

I picked up the pace a little and flapped my wings a bit harder, as to catch up to them. The two were likely a mile or so ahead of me, and although I'd only been following them for a few minutes now I couldn't help but feel as if neither had noticed me.

Maybe they hadn't…? I was following behind them, but… I mean…

I glanced around, and hated how clear the sky was. There were a few clouds here and there, but they were small and the kind you could see through. No storms. No thick white ones that made you soaked when you flew through them… just a clear summer day as far as the eye could see.

They really should have noticed me by now. Unless they were stupid or something, or thought I was just some bird.

Or… maybe they just thought I was one of them? After all Celine had said multiple owls. Plural. Maybe it was a whole village?

Still…

I glanced down and behind me, but knew there was no reason to. I didn't see Vim at all, since I'd flown too far away from him.

Hopefully he doesn't get upset with me for flying off…

"Focus," I chastised myself as I looked ahead… and found I was catching up to one of them.

Flying higher up into the sky, I watched the way the woman's long hair danced behind her back as she flew. Did my hair look like that as I flied too? I didn't let it grow that long, but it wasn't short either…

"Hurry up!" A man's voice drew my attention to the other one. A bit farther ahead, flying almost as high as I was, was the man. His wings were darker than mine, but it was now clear that they were what I had assumed, and hoped, they were.

They were like me.

Owls.

Smiling at them, I took a deep breath as I flew faster. I flew over and above the woman, and lowered enough to shout at her. To begin my introductions, and start the dialogue between us. I'd done it many times over the years, having traveled with Vim as we met people who didn't belong to the Society. I knew how to do it. How to do it right and…

"No!" she screamed and startled upon noticing me above her. Her wings snapped open, forcing her downward and for her to tumble as if to dart downward. It happened so fast I almost wasn't able to react to it, as I too turned and altered my own flight path as I watched her swoop down to the ground.

Was she… was she falling…!?

Yes. She was. I wasn't sure how or why, but it seemed her seeing me flying above her had scared her enough to lose self-control over her own wings.

Panicking I folded my wings and darted after her. I fell more than flew, and nearly caught up with her thanks to the fact she kept trying to re-open and re-situate her wings. Before she hit the ground, they opened wide and she floated more than flied as she landed on a small hill.

Flapping my wings, I too slowed my descent as I grimaced at the way she fell to her knees. Her left wing looked like it was stiff, and wasn't curling the way it should. She had hurt herself.

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Just great. Vim was going to yell at me, and I'd deserve it! Hurting someone on our first meeting was so hard to overcome when inviting people into the Society… to say the least of me finding a mate amongst them!

"Verna!"

I flapped upward a bit as the man flew past me in a rush. He didn't even land next to the collapsed woman and instead picked her up, scooping her into his arms as he flew back into the sky.

Watching them fly off, I groaned as I slowly lowered to the hill they'd just been on.

I didn't pursue, since I knew I had screwed up. I had startled the woman which had been uncalled for. I wasn't sure why she had panicked as desperately as she had, but it didn't matter. Because of me she had gotten hurt.

Taking a deep breath, I sighed it out as I glanced down at a couple feathers stuck in the grass nearby. One was even pointing upward, since it had fallen tip first.

They weren't like mine. They had darker browns and different patterns… but they were definitely my kind of feathers. Owl feathers, without any doubt.

Bending down to pick one up, I bit my tongue, I decided to wait for Vim.

I'll let him be the next to attempt first contact. Since obviously I had done something wrong.

But… what was I supposed to have done? I had simply flown up next to her. Above her a little, sure, but I had only done that for my own safety… though maybe that was my fault. Maybe I should have flown up to her on her side, instead. Or maybe not done so at all, and had simply waited until they landed safely…

"At least he seemed to have a backbone," I said with a frown as I thought of the man. He had flown right for her, and had picked her up without hesitation. I glanced up into the sky, and saw them on the distant horizon. They were sailing towards a mountain, one covered in dense trees. Likely their home.

Though, maybe not a real one. If he had been like Vim he wouldn't have ran at all, but would have confronted me before the woman could have gotten hurt.

"Well…?"

I startled, and spun around. The feather I had been holding crunched a bit as I squeezed it in shock, as I watched Vim walk up the hill towards me.

"Vim!" I shouted at him, shocked he was here. He must have ran! I'd known for a long time he could run fast, but gosh sometimes he was something else!

"Did you get in a fight with them or something? I saw the one tumble," he asked as he glanced around, likely noticing the feathers all over.

I sighed and nodded. "I scared her, I think. She lost her balance and fell, and barely got her bearings back before hitting the ground. I'm… not sure how I did it, but I did," I told him the truth.

"Hm… I warned you, Lilly, they might not be like you. They might be more like… well…" Vim gestured lightly at the world around us, and I knew his meaning.

"But I didn't do anything! I didn't even get the chance to say hello or anything, she panicked at the mere sight of me!" I shouted as I pointed with her feather off into the sky.

Vim laughed at me.

"Don't laugh! This is serious!" I shouted some more. Why was he laughing! He knew why we were here, and why this was so important for me!

He slowly nodded. "Okay… you can be scary, Lilly, but not in appearance. You're too adorable to be frightening. Odds are they are… well…" he went quiet again, as he once again shrugged and gestured at the world.

"Cowards," I spat.

Vim gave me a gentle smile as he reached over and patted my shoulder. Oddly thanks to him doing so, I realized I felt hot all of a sudden. I was angry. Upset.

Though was I more upset with myself, or them, I couldn't tell yet.

"Let's go meet them. And hold your disgust and don't dismiss them just yet, Lilly. I myself have fled on many occasions during battle, as to find victory in other forms," he said.

"Feh. Did you scream, lose feathers and almost crash and die in the process?" I asked as I tossed aside the now broken feather. I had crushed it even more thanks to my anger.

"Well, no. But I've lost a shoe once or twice," he said.

I smirked at that and nodded. "How cowardly."

"It is!" he agreed as he stepped down the hill, heading for the distant mountain.

I joined him, choosing this time to do so entirely on foot.

"They could have also been kids, Lilly. And who knows? Maybe you'll get lucky and their warrior or something will rush out to meet us any moment," he said.

I scoffed at that. Now that was a fantasy if I ever heard one. "I only need one of them to have a spine, Vim," I said.

He glanced at me, but nodded. "So you say."

So I do say. I only needed one.

A single man. One with a backbone.

One I could put up with, at the least.

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