Caelum followed, looking around at the beautiful clearing. "Wow,"
he breathed, and looked at Melez. "Um... I think I could fly the
rest of the way. What about you? I mean, if you feel more
comfortable walking we can walk, but since you offered--" He
stopped himself and cleared his throat. "I don't know why I'm so
nervous all of a sudden... Maybe I'm just excited."
She lets go of his hand and stretches her shoulders as her deep red
wings unfold from her back and spread under the white moonlight
making them almost glow. "If anyone would be uncomfortable flying
it wouldn't be me..." She chuckled as she flapped her wings once
and was lifted a foot off of the ground. "I can see why you would
be excited... Its a beautiful night!" She takes a deep breath, her
wings flapping under the moon silently, like an owl's.
Caelum followed suit, unraveling his wings as well and leaping up
into the air on wobbly wings. He steadied himself with sheer
determination and barely had time to respond. "Yeah," he sighed.
"It is pretty!"
She offered him her hand to help steady himself. "Its not that
far... Probably only a minute away now that we're flying..." She
turned her head up to the moon, she muttered some words in another
unintelligible language.
Caelum gratefully took her hand once more and flapped his wings
again, no longer wobbling and only shaking slightly. "I can do it,"
he exclaimed, smiling. He looked around at the sky and sighed:
night was so peaceful up in the clouds, where he was encased in
cobalt blue and the clouds were a murky grey. It wasn't unnerving,
the darkness of these colors, but rather quiet and calm. At this
point, Caelum began to wonder if there was a way to remain in the
air while sleeping. Certainly, he wouldn't mind sleeping in the
sky.
Melez held his hand tightly as she flapped her wings several times
and pulled him with her above the trees and high into the dark
cerulean sky. The shadowy expanse above them glittered with the
shimmer from thousands of diamonds, millions of miles away. The
deep verdant trees below gently waved and flowed like seaweed in
the gentle current of the ocean. After a while she began to descend
towards the flowing green trees. There was a break in the canopy,
with what seemed to be a giant mirror at the bottom. She landed
with him at the edge of said mirror. But what looked like glass was
pure, clear water. She looked over to Caelum and smiled. "What do
you think?"
Caelum could only murmur a quiet "wow", his eyes wide as he took in
the beautiful landscape. He looked down at the pool of
crystal-clear water and blinked, seeing his reflection in the lake
below him. He knelt down and gently tapped the surface of the water
with his index finger, watching the ripples with awe. "It's... it's
so... beautiful," he exclaimed, seeing the ripples disperse and
eventually fade. "How long have you known about this place...?"
She walks around the pool to the other side watching the ripples
fade and bounce. "I've known about this place for a while... Its
one of my favorite places..." She spreads her wings and the light
bouncing off of the pond hits her wings and reveals silver bands on
her feathers. Making them shine and glow. She smiles, "I'm glad you
are here to share this place with me..."
"Me too. Thank you for sharing it with me," Caelum smiled. "It's
easy to want such a beautiful place like this all to yourself..."
he trailed off, once more captured by the water. He folded his
wings slowly and sighed. "Everything here is so pretty..."
She sighs as she relaxes her wings to rest at her sides. "It is
easy... But then you don't get to see the reactions from other's
faces..." She sits down by the water's edge and dips her fingers
in, sending out little waves of silver. The pool is as though its a
liquid mirror.
Caelum smiled and nodded in agreement, finding himself gazing
around the beautiful pool once more. He dipped his feet in and
sighed--the water was refreshingly cool. "It feels nice," he
declared. The sand at the bottom of the pool felt warm against his
feet and, although conflicting with the water's cool temperature,
it still managed to make him feel happy.
She smiled. "I meant to ask... Where did you call home, before..."
Her voice trails off as she restrains from saying a painful word
for her. No matter how many times she tries to say it, it always
manages to stab deep within her. She looked over to a red rock
laying next to her to keep her from locking eyes with Caelum.
Caelum hesitated, his carefree attitude getting dampened a little
by Melez's words. Still, he forced a smile and answered, "I lived
in a town a while away. It was a pretty gloomy town, but my family
didn't have enough money to just move to another place. Our town
had a lot of factories and the air was polluted around us, and I
got sick because of it. I wasn't getting better, and my family was
about to just leave the town without a home to get me to a better
hospital, but I d-died before they could. I don't know where they
are now..."
She looks over at him trying to hide her sorrowful expression.
"I... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked... Don't let me ruin the
beautiful night..." She stands up. "I'll be back in a few
moments..." She turns around and walks off into the dark wood.
"It's fine," Caelum called after her. He was only lying a little
bit--he wasn't overly protective of his past, but it did make him
feel a longing to see his family once more. He wanted Melez to know
that it wasn't her fault, but he needed to figure out what to say
carefully. He didn't want to make her feel more guilty.
She stopped once she felt that she was far enough away from him.
Why does death have to claim those who have not truly lived yet?
Why must death be so cruel... Why didn't I die to be born? If those
who look like me are dead or have died, does that make me dead as
well? Am I dead now? Her mind was consumed with thoughts as she
stood, consumed by the dark night.