Do you know?

All birds seek shelter during the rain;

But an eagle avoids it by flying higher—above the clouds.

Sometimes, instead of being still and waiting for our troubles to go away,

Perhaps we should, instead,

do something to turn the tables

And change the game.

________________________

He remembered his mother. When she used to explain to him how birds learned to fly—that is, they didn't. There were no lessons; no 'flying 101' like those books she'd have about gardening but never get to the second page because the language was too heavy. He learned that nature gave no lessons and everything was somehow, already, within.

It made him wonder what was exactly was innate in humans that made them what they were. Did every living thing know that they would eventually deteriorate and die? Were they the only ones?

How did he come to know that he will die? It wasn't as though his mother had told him right in his face: Iolani, you will die. One day, you will.

He recalled how he had watched the baby finches fall from their nest in his backyard, pick themselves off the ground after fluttering around perfectly unsure of flight and the unfamiliar way in which they had to move their tiny wings.

He had observed the way in which the young birds would discover their affinity with the sky, or whatever it was that they'd come to fly with—the fall before the rise.

The fall before the rise.

*

Io turned to the instructor who he assumed would be the one teaching him the basics of how to fly (which he'd derived from the title 'flying instructor' pinned to the front of his jersey), wondering if all he needed to do was to push him down the very clock tower they were standing on.

It struck his heart like a moving tree on a night without wind. Dark and still.

Was it common sense? How birds learned to fly.

"Afternoon Marks. Mackinson here, but Coach will do just fine," the instructor nodded as he addressed the class brimming of excitement. Each were clad in attire specially designed for Winged during flight, streamlined and strangely warm.

Hands placed behind his back, Mackinson began to pace around and survey the students that gathered around him in a semi-circle—innocent by-standers who have come to take a look at what they deemed an interesting commotion, not knowing that soon they would be part of it.

"Well as you all know, I'm your flying instructor," he caught a raised hand and smiled briefly, "questions later, and no, there are no rules. A simple one really, don't die? I think we can all manage that."

They laughed.

All of them did. After all, there was no use in taking light-hearted jokes seriously and brooding over something unlikely. Right?

"In a moment, I'll be giving you guys a glimpse of what we are hoping to achieve by the end of the term. No worries if you don't," he reassured with a grin. "There's always time."

Curious murmurs swept the class, gazes searching the coach as they made a wild guess of his Avian and how he would fly.There was a hint of a smirk on the corner of his lips as he led Io and his class over to the open area of the clock tower, unlatched a gate that swung outwards to empty space and proceeded to move towards the part of the ledge that was un-fenced.

I've seen this before. That night, by the window—

"Watch closely...nothing special." He fell.

With the weight of his body leaning forward and his eyes meeting twenty-stories worth of air and space, the man fell.

Somewhere behind, Pipa yelped in shock and another gasped. Together, they rushed towards the railings and searched frantically for any sign of movement. They were met with a silence—just the sound of the wind's caress and then,

a feather.

It twirled, uneasy in the breeze before settling for a slow sink and landing on the head of a fellow student. Flapping. A beat.

The sound of wings. A swallow hovered just beyond reach, facing the clock tower with a strange expression that looked to Io very much like a...smile.

"Is that...?"

Before the class of thirty students could respond appropriately, the swallow dived—swooping in mid-air and catching the wind under its wings. It didn't go too far, retreating back to perch on the metal railings that separated them from the nothing. The swallow's head cocked to a side, as if in confusion at the expression on their faces that was a cross between fear and awe. Within a blink of its eyes that resembled a pair of black beads, there was a shower of feathers, a flurry that surrounded the bird—beforeit was no longer a bird.

Io found himself admitting the familiarity of the sight before his eyes. It was exactly how the eagle had done it, and although it'd only been a glimpse in the dark, the lack of an unknown made him feel slightly confident. He knew that the fascination and amazement harbored within was turning the sides of his lips up into a secret smile.

"I'll take it that you're impressed, kids," the coach snorted in amusement as he took in stunned expressions. "But it isn't going to be a piece of cake, just saying."

Heads turned to each other, glancing nervously. Then came the question of who would go first.

The class remained still. "Anyone?"

Not one student made a single movement, and it seemed as though all eyes found the floor extremely interesting all of a sudden, not making an effort to hide the blatant avoidance of the coach's steely gaze.

Right then, the confidence Io had before was stowed away in a corner of his cage, refusing to let the creature within be comforted by its presence.

"No? Really?"

"But sir! Aren't you going to tell us how to do it? Um, you're not just going to push us off the edge, are you? Haha," A student voiced anxiously, eyes darting around nervously for any sign of escape.

Mackinson seemed perfectly surprised by his remark. "Oh...but of course. What were you expecting, kid?" Io blinked in response before turning to Pipa to see that she was doing exactly the same thing.

"Huh?"

"Wait...what?"

"But—"

"...the teachers here are insane."

"I haven't written my will."

"Alright kids! Calm down," Mackinson hushed the crowd of fearful prey, pinching the bridge of his nose as though to say 'I've had enough of this shit every year'. "No one's gonna die, got that? I'll be jumping together with you."

And so the coach asked once more, just like a teacher asking questions in class and not necessarily expecting an answer in return because everyone was either too afraid to get the question wrong and embarrass themselves; that ot they simply, truly did not know the answer to it.

"Any volunteers? C'mon kids. Don't make me pick one of you," that's what they always say.

Not one member of the class returned his increasingly impatient gaze. After all, he was—like most gym instructors were—strict and demanding.

"Right..." he reached for the class list in a painfully slow motion, as though giving them a final chance to speak up.

No one did.

The coach sighed, scanning the class list till his eyes stopped at one. "Hm, nice name we have here. I like the meaning behind it."

"Felice. Pipa Felice," He looked up, searching for the owner of the name. Io couldn't help but turn to the girl beside him and upon the fear on her face, turned away—knowing that she had been thinking the exact same thing.

"Felice?" Coach scanned the class, unfazed by the silence. "We got all day for just one try."

The girl let slip a soft squeak that resembled a trapped mouse, hands clasped behind her back in effort to keep her legs from shaking.

"That's...me," she raised her hand half-heartedly, trying her best to smile. "Felice."

Mackinson nodded once, pleased underneath his hard features. "It means happiness, doesn't it? Your name. Well let's see what you've got then, Miss. Sunshine."

Pipa seemed a tad bit surprised by the sudden compliment, blushing a little as she looked elsewhere. "O-okay, Sir."

She took a tentative step forward—much like a bird leaving its cage and moving towards something curious, separating herself from the rest of the class. The canary turned behind, catching Io's eye with a smile.

Wish me luck, she mouthed with a thumbs-up. He nodded in response, returning her smile with one of his own.

"You can do it, Felice."

"Good luck."

"Don't panic!"

Everyone watched her with careful eyes, egging her on silently.

Io saw Pipa take a short glance at the fall and she step back immediately as though on instinct. He felt an immense amount of respect for the girl, knowing that his fear of heights would have stopped him there and then...but then again, not know why, or how. Would he have been able to move on? Carry forth?

Mackinson placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll help you with this."

He pressed forward gently, leading Pipa to the edge where the railings disappeared for a short opening. She glanced back once more.

"Alright, don't look down just yet—I want you to look up, got it?" Pipa nodded anxiously, following Coach's instructions. Her Avian, the canary, fluttered above in a nervous disposition. "Right, I want you to tell me what you see."

She raised her gaze to the skies above, feeling the chill as a breeze swept by. "Um, clouds? Blue sky...?"

Pipa paused, seeming to be searching her mind for an answer that was correct. The answer that she thought the Coach wanted. "I feel...small."

It was an honest expression of her thoughts, and the rest of her classmates could not help but feel the sincerity of one a fear so pure.

"Really?" The instructor laughed. "That is what I feel, too."

"But what does size matter when we have the ability to take it on?" He went on with a smile. "Take to the skies, Felice."

"I'll try," she nodded, happy that Coach didn't deem her answer incorrect.

Pipa had her arms by her side—and there was confidence in her eyes that shone through, much like the rays of the sun. She waited for instructions.

"All you have to do is tell your Avian what you will."

"You have to think with something...your heart," Mackinson explained very vaguely, successfully confusing the bunch of prey as he stepped closer to the edge. "Think with your heart, feel the destination—where is it pointing to? Where does your heart point towards?"

There was magic in his words that riled an emotion far beyond what Io could conceive as of now, and perhaps this was why the swallow seemed to be such an excellent flyer; for there was no cage for his heart.

Pipa glanced up at the instructor, the clouds of doubt in her eyes clearing ever so slightly as she began to raise her gaze towards open air in attempt to answer his—

He pushed her over the ledge.

Pipa's scream pierced all hopes that formed in her heart just mere seconds before and there was a second before she finally lost her balance and fell into nothingness.

The class rushed forward to the railings just as Mackinson jumped after his student and Io found that his chest was pounding heavily; heart in his ears and eyes everywhere searching for his friend who'd fallen some twenty stories below. He couldn't see a thing.

"Pipa!" They called out one after another. Silent prayers and desperate hopes filled mind after mind as the sparrow exchanged anxious looks with another classmate he barely knew the name of.

All they could do was wait.

___________________________

She was falling—and despite it being a drop that rivaled that of a cliff, she could already see the ground and it was coming. Coming fast—

She could not think in the spare seconds she had. Coming, coming, the ground was coming, it felt as though it was falling, the ground was. Fast, so fast. Too fast.

A strangely foreign scene flashed before her eyes and it was her, looking in a mirror. Smiling. Was that it? Her life. Was that all there was to see before she would cease to exist? Pipa wondered then, just what she was doing and how this could possibly be the end, so insignificant.

And all of a sudden, the smiles she held so strong in regard were useless.

There was not a thing they could do, then.

Not now, no.

*

"Gotcha."

There was a force that went against that of gravity. It caught the girl by her waist—jerked a good deal of air out of her stomach and left her slightly nauseous. Pipa gasped at the impact; then, at how her nose seemed to be inches away from the ground.

It made her awfully aware of how close the end had been and for a moment there, it weighed upon her shoulders like iron.

"Ohgodohgod—"

"Calm down Felice, you're fine. Look, you're in one piece." Laughter sounded from above, coupled with the sound of beating wings. She felt it in her mouth, displaced. It was as though the fall had removed her ability to differentiate the external world and what was her.

Or perhaps she never did...?

The canary brushed aside useless thinking, hearing the voice of her Avian, Sylvester, chirp angrily at the back of her mind. "S-sir?"

"Yeap. Bringing you up. Hold on to me," she felt his grip tighten around her waist, and she lost her balance for a moment—falling forward with a yelp.

The instructor adjusted his grip at once. "You have to hold on to my arm. I might be a good flier, but I can't do well with an extra weight you know?"

She held on fast, feeling her heart pound loudly in its cage and craned her neck to catch what she hoped to be a comforting glimpse of her teacher. What she saw, instead, was a man with the wings of a swallow.

That...I wonder if I can do that.

What? Asking your Avian to lend you their wings? Sylvey finished promptly, acting as though everything was in line with worldly events and twenty-storey fall was a mere pebble in a garden.

The girl closed her eyes so as to remove the sight of a solid ground far below. They were ascending, flying back up towards the top of the clock tower.

I really like our wings, Sylvey. There was a lurching force as she was brought, against gravity, back to the top of the clock tower—the powerful beat of wings producing a tingling breeze that slipped through her hair. She sighed.

The weight on her waist shift ever so slightly, indicating that her instructor had turned around. Pipa's mind started with a key of anxiety.

"Something wrong, Felice?"

"No, not at all sir," she explained hurriedly. "A little disappointed in myself. That's all."

"I see what you mean," he laughed and they hovered in mid-air—neither rising or falling. "No one gets it on their first try, Felice."

The student nodded hesitantly, silently wishing that he'd continue with what he was doing before instead of leaving both of them hanging in mid-air. He did, fortunately. And the moment Mackinson lowered Pipa to her shaking feet, she gathered the slither of strength that was left in her heart that was weak to put forth what she felt was her best smile.

Her eyes were met with drained faces of shock and fear which disappeared almost immediately at the sight of the smile upon her lips. "Hi everyone!"

"Pipa?"

"Pipa! Are you okay?"

"How was it?"

"Were you scared?"

The canary couldn't seem to hear much of what everyone was saying for the sound of her heart rang in her ears. There was her heavy breathing; but there was nothing else.

I hope I'm smiling. I don't want to scare anyone.

___________________________

How did your first flying lesson go?

Io scanned through the neat words written on the notepad, glancing over at his roommate Jiro with a small smile. "It was...okay. I didn't get picked today. Not yet."

The sophomore smiled back, a knowing curve that seemed to shine through any fog.

You were relieved?

The sparrow nodded upon reading his words, reaching over the bed for a bulky textbook titled Mechanics of Flight. Apparently, flying wasn't as easy as birds made it out to be. Or perhaps it was how humans perceived how birds made it out to be. After all, everything, even now, as he was looking at his friend—

"I might not be cut out for this after all," Io laughed listlessly, leaning back against his headrest.

Jiro smiled kindly. He picked up his pen, and jotted something down on his notepad.

There is a Japanese saying: 猿も木から落ちる—even monkeys fall from trees at times.

Similarly, some birds cannot fly.

The nightingale reached into his bag and pulled out a bar of chocolate, handing it to Io with a sheepish smile.

I took this from my Predator's food table. Don't worry. He saw me, but didn't punish me or anything. ^^

Io's eyes widened anxiously and he couldn't help but ask if he was telling the truth. "Are you sure? H-he...didn't hit you or anything, did he?"

Jiro shook his head quickly.

^^ He didn't. Don't worry! Please take it, and good luck on your lessons.

The sparrow read the words carefully, bottom lip quivering. It was strange how the kindest people seemed to smile the brightest. He needed time to consider the reasoning behind the humanity of such.

"Thank you, I'll treasure it," he took the chocolate bar, noting the foreign German brand and smiling to himself. "It's..." been awhile since I tasted something sweet. "Delicious, for sure."

Jiro laughed, and it was a beautiful sound. He was sure that if nightingales could laugh, this would be exactly how they'd sound like.

Perhaps not everything about this school was bad. It could be better, yes—but looking at the gentle glow in Jiro's eyes, and the unwavering smile on Pipa's face, Io felt as though a light could exist in the dark. Somewhere, along the way...there must be something beyond the cloud in his face.

But what of the darkness? What should one do when all that existed was that, merely, and there was not even a single flicker of light in it to choose?

_________________________

[One night]

What drew him towards the darkness. Io knew not.

What brushed aside his fear of heights, he knew not also.

What made him do what he did—

Io? It's a minute before curfew! I was so afraid you would get caught! Where were you? Why did you come back so late?

His roommate questioned relentlessly, pushing the notepad into view and pointing at it with an anxious disposition. Jiro's gaze searched the sparrow's, worried—as the latter tried to catch his breath that didn't seem to be coming.

Io was surprised when the questions were left hanging, as though his roommate couldn't quite tell what was on his mind and wanted him to provide the answers.

He couldn't—and he knew not why.

"It's...it was nothing. Just caught up, I didn't...didn't notice the time."

Why are secrets kept?

Why do some things belong in the dark? Do they like it there? In the dark.

Okay, he scribbled—and I saw that his fingers were trembling. But you should be careful. The doors—

"Yes I know they lock after curfew," Io nodded, swallowing nervously as he heard the last bell chime. "It won't happen again. I was just...just thinking. Today."

Yes, but if you were locked out, the night class. NOCTURNES—

Jiro's writing enlarged, panic in his words. "I know, I know, don't worry Jiro. I really won't do it again," the sparrow held the sides of his shoulders, perhaps, to some extent, understanding his fear. He thought that perhaps, he'd experienced it before. Being locked out. "I'm sorry."

___________________________

Luka landed silently on the balcony of the tree house. The night was hushed; as though it had a reason to be so. Shadows kept their secrets which winds would yearn to tell—accompanied by the moon that watched from above.

The eagle shifted, separating Winged from Avian.

Victoria settled on the windowsill, magnificent wings folding after a long flight. She was at peace, and so was her Winged. For they were where they had always been. Up here, alone...

No.

No, there was something else.

They were not alone. What was it?

Prey.

Victoria answered with a smile similar to that of a victor that relinquished in her prize.

It was the scent.

He didn't catch it at first, and neither did she. That was because they were used to hunting with their eyes, but there it was—

The scent of a prey.

___________________________

A/N:

I really like people who make an effort to smile despite how much they have been through ^^ I dunno, they make it feel as if the world isn't such a bad place after all.

On a side note, does anyone know how it feels like to fly? In a dream, for example.

Because if you do, then you'll know how amazing such a feeling is.

-Cuppiecake.