It was late December now, though without a calendar, it was hard for Brooklyn to remember the days. But he could tell that winter was on its way, hence the cold weather. He knew he had to say farewell to his dear friend, which pained him to think about.

He woke at 9:30, stretching but flinched from his sore muscles and scars that were practically healed after the past few painful days. Brook was grateful for Winter in playing his part of catching food for him instead. She had been great to have around. Winter heard him wake up, her tail wagging again, giving another woof. Smiling, Brooklyn reached to pet her, knowing this was their last day together, feeling his heart ache.

"Hi, girl. I feel up for fishing. You want to come?" He asked, trying not to sound teary while putting his empty bottles in his bag. Winter wiggled in excitement, licking Brooklyn again as the beaked gargoyle went to open the door.

The two strolled down the path one more time, Brooklyn gazing out at the island that had been his solitary, temporary home for a while; preparing himself for seeing humans again. They reached the river and Brooklyn allowed Winter to do her own fishing. She jumped in the shallow water, grabbing at the fish and sometimes missing them while Brooklyn pulled out one of his bottles and began to fill them up for the journey.

I have a feeling I will be talking about my wolf friend back at home, Brooklyn thought to himself, seeing Winter with a fish in her mouth then eating it. She also brought Brooklyn one he was willing to eat one more time.

He sat down after filling the last of his bottles, eating the fish with her to gain his strength for flying. The bandages had by now been removed since the bleeding had stopped. Winter sat down next to her gargoyle companion, seeing his ears flattened, sometimes gazing out towards the rest of Lake Michigan on the other side.

Brooklyn then turned to her. "I don't like to say this Winter, but I really have to return to my family. They miss me and I miss them. But you've been a good friend. I can't take you back with me because I don't think you'd be able to live freely in my city like you do here," he said, sniffling a little. Winter whined softly, pawing him gently. This made Brooklyn know that he would need something to distract her while he left.

He went to the river, where Winter watched with a tilted head. Brooklyn spotted a big catfish swimming in the river. Knowing it was a good choice, Brook dove onto the fish, pinning it down, then delivering the killing bite.

One last time hunting. Hopefully for good, the red male thought, shaking himself off. He then called Winter to him.

Tears now began coming slowly. "H-here, girl. W-wanted to say thank you for saving me. I wish I can take you with me but my life at home is much more dangerous for you than here, wish you'd understand. But I ha-have nice meal for you," Brook sniffled, putting the fish down.

Winter wagged her tail, licking Brooklyn one more time and he petted her once more too before getting up. The wolf began to eat the fish, ignoring Brooklyn now who knew this was his chance. Nodding to the wolf, he backed away, quietly sneaking off to the other side of the island so he could glide away from this place.

He found a rock face and climbed it to get high enough into the air before he took to the air spreading his wings. He hoped they wouldn't cramp up on his way across the rest of the lake.

Brooklyn got across the rest of the land and didn't even want to stop to look back at the island. It would just make him more upset that he was leaving Winter behind.

Back on the island, Winter finished her fish and noticed her friend wasn't around and she found his scent and followed it to where he climbed up the rock face to get into the air. There, she lost his scent.

While after having just started across the lake, he suddenly heard a lonely howl, likely from Winter. Brooklyn wished he could answer her call, but he had to keep going in the direction he was going. If he kept going strongly, he should be home no more than a couple of days hopefully.

The wind drafts over the lake could be pretty strong. Brooklyn tried hard to maintain himself high over the lake. He didn't want to land in that cold water.

It was lonely gliding over that endless path of water, almost wondering if he had gotten lost, but before too long, he began to see land. He would need to rest his wings for a while after he landed.

The red gargoyle started looking for a place to land and hopefully not get found out by anymore humans. By the time he got to a landing spot, his wings were so ready to rest themselves hence he hadn't done it in a little while.

Brooklyn was so ready to get store bought food again. He was tired of raw fish. He just hoped his stomach wouldn't get upset at transitioning from one food to any others.

He rested for a half hour then he found a tree and climbed it to get airborne again. There were really good winds tonight. He could feel a chill in the air from the west. It was sign he could feel that there might be a winter storm on the way. Possibly colder temperatures too. He had to get close to home before morning. Or at the very least, close to the border of Michigan.

As he flew over the landscapes, he saw lots of farmlands. At one point, he felt his stomach growl for more food. He knew he needed to find a town or city someplace and find a grocery store, even if it was a country general store or something.

He was in the northern part of the state. Brooklyn knew that he had to head to a town. His hunger was getting to him. Food would be necessary to give him his energy especially when a winter storm might hit soon.

Brooklyn had flown pretty far inland before he came to next nearest town. He came to Grayling. It was a fair-sized town. Towns were so pretty at night with their lights. Right now, he was admiring the scenery but at the same time, looking for a gas station or grocery store.

He soon came to one called the Back to Our Roots Farmers Market grocery store. It was after midnight according to a town clock that Brooklyn had seen a little while back.

The store was closed but as he looked inside, there were some fruits and veggies stocked in there. After eating fish for a while, Brooklyn was more than ready to get some produce in his diet again. He gently forced his way into the store and with his pack ready, he grabbed up some avocadoes, mangoes, peaches, bananas, apples, and grapes. Then he made his way out the same way he went in. He didn't know of security cameras, but he just wanted to get in and out. He wasn't sticking around. He still had to find a safe place to eat his food.

He got back in the air and went to go find a safe place to relax. A sheltered place where he could avoid the snowstorm coming. He also saw a tourist attraction paperstand. He landed and grabbed a map off of it before climbing a building and got in the air again.

Brooklyn flew to the outskirts of the town and was looking for a barn or something to stay in. The winds were beginning to pick up and he wanted to be out of that wicked air. He was already starting to feel the chill.

He soon found a farm with a good-sized barn. There were some animals like horses, cows, and pigs in the barn. He easily found the door that would let him inside the barn. Brook went inside and closed the door behind him.

The animals inside started making noises when they sensed the new intruder. Brooklyn ignored them and knew he had to find a place to hide. He saw up in the hayloft that there was a lot of hay. That could work. He just hoped he wouldn't be discovered up there. At least he didn't turn to stone and wasn't quite as vulnerable during the day.

He jumped up to the hayloft and went to the back to sit down and enjoy some of his fruits. He also got out a bottle of water. He would have to keep his pack close to him if he didn't want his waters and food to freeze as the temperature continued to drop.

It was cold here in the barn but better than being outside in that weather. But was getting to Brooklyn even in here. He wrapped his wings around himself for more warmth, but it didn't do the best. He left his pack where it was and went looking for a possible blanket. There were animals in here so there might be a blanket.

The animals all had their winter coats on except the pigs. They had to rely on red heat lamps for their warmth. The horses were all shaggy. They all shied away from the gargoyle.

Brooklyn looked for a blanket anywhere and found one in a saddle room in the barn. He grabbed two blankets off the rack and went back to the loft. He got up there and went to finish eating and drinking before he curled up with the blankets over himself and even pulling hay over himself to hide and added warmth. He made a pillow on the hay and tried to get comfortable. He kept his pack close to him to just keep his supplies from freezing.

Outside, the temp continued to drop and a little after two, it began to snow. Just as Brooklyn knew it would. He was glad to be inside, even if it was just a barn. The wind howled outside, and the winds blew good. Brook had fallen asleep by now. It just wasn't worth it to travel in that weather if it could be helped.

By morning, the temps were really frigid and cold, blowing wind and still snowing. It was a blizzard outside. Temps had fallen into the single digits.

Brooklyn awoke in the barn, and he had a look outside to see if he would be able to travel. The wind was raging, and he saw he wasn't going out in that. He had kept nice and warm thanks to the blankets and hay. He was better off continuing to rest and conserve his energy for hopefully traveling tonight.

Soon however, there was the sound of a door opening and it was a few humans coming in to take care of their animals. Brooklyn knew he had to hide and do it quick. He quickly covered himself in the hay.

He heard the man climb the ladder and scrape around some hay. He was getting it for the animals no doubt. He hoped the man wouldn't scrape hay back here. There was a lot of hay in the loft.

The man pushed a lot of hay down from the loft. When he was done, he climbed down the ladder and went to serve it all to his horses and cows. He gave special food to his pigs. He didn't want to be in here anymore than he had to. The farmer was happy to have his animals inside versus outside in that dreadful weather.

When he left the barn, Brooklyn could sigh in relief. He was glad to not be found. The animals were calmer now but still nervous about the new creature in the barn with them. It wasn't doing anything to them though.

Brooklyn was still sleepy. He went back to sleep.

Later in the day, he woke up again and opened his pack up and ate some more fruits. He also drank some of his water. These fruits sure tasted like heaven to him. His belly was also satisfied too that it wasn't getting raw fish anymore.

The snowstorm continued to keep going through most of the day. But by nightfall, it stopped but there were still some strong winds out there and still very frigid. Brooklyn didn't want to stray far from his spot. He knew the farmer would be coming out again soon to feed the animals again no doubt. They too needed to keep warm in this weather.

Brooklyn's intuition was correct when the farmer came out again that night to feed the animals. He scraped some more hay down and gave it to the animals. Brook knew he had to get going before he was discovered.

Likely, New York would be facing the wrath of this blizzard by now. But Brook had to get out of here. He would have to brave the elements if he wanted to get home.

He ate some more food and downed some more water to give himself the energy. He had done good keeping his supplies close to him to keep them from freezing.

He gulped at the idea of gliding in these frigid temps. He had done it many a time though. He was just more sensitive to the cold than his clan was, at least when the temps were in the single digits or below zero.

Before long, Brooklyn knew he had to get out of here. He brought the blankets down with him and left them on the rack again. They were covered in hay but oh well. He opened the barn door and climbed the wall of the barn to the roof and with his pack on him again, he felt there were some good drafts to use. He spread his wings and took the air once again. The wind was pushing from west to east. Just the direction he needed to go.

He glided all through Michigan that night and soon saw a big lake again that he had to cross. He landed on some ground that was near the lake. It was Lake Huron.

Brooklyn felt a cold wind hit him and it chilled him to the bone. He wrapped his wings around himself. He pulled out his map and made sure to keep a grip on it. He looked at where he could be. He had left Grayling. Now he was near Oscoda. Either way, he had to get his bearings and cross that lake too. He was getting desperate to get home. His journey was getting really close to ending. He knew he never wanted to leave his clan again like this.

He rested his wings for a bit before he finally got up the nerve to set to the air again and at the least, get across this lake before morning.

There were some bits of ice flow over the lake but there were still parts of the water that were not frozen yet. Definitely not a good time of year to be boating in this lake, or swimming.

It took a couple of hours to get across the lake. When Brooklyn landed after getting across the lake, he felt he had a need to get warm again. He shivered. The winds were really cold tonight. He wasn't going to travel much farther tonight. It would be daylight soon and he wanted some time to get warm and get some more rest.

Brooklyn reluctantly took the air again to find some place to get out of the air. He soon found an old junk barn again. There were some small animals in there but no livestock. It was sturdy enough to withstand him pulling open the door to it. He wrapped his wings around himself for warmth.

He went to the farthest stretch of the barn and there was some straw bales in it. This would have to do for now. He sat down and saw to his food to see if anything was still edible. The water was almost frozen. He ate some more apples and avocadoes, plus a banana too. He threw the peel away then got cozy in the straw to sleep and conserve his energy.

He was now in Canada. But he wouldn't stay long. New York was on the other side of the border. He was getting so close to being home soon. But then, he remembered that Xanatos had a northern state retreat. Maybe he could find that and rest there.

Brooklyn fell asleep and he got warm as he slept. Later in the day, he awoke again, and he took out his map. He wanted to try to follow the land bridge from Canada that would take him straight into New York state. He didn't want to cross another big lake. The next one would have been Lake Ontario if he dared cross it.

That night, the frigid winds had died down more, but it was still cold out. Brooklyn was glad for that. He ate some more food and water then left the barn and took to the air again. He was tired of all this traveling. His wings were tired of gliding for so long despite the rest that he had all day.

"I really can't take much more of this constant traveling." Brook said to himself. "But I want to see my clan more than anything now. Once I'm home, I'm home, I'm not leaving the castle for a good long time."

He traveled well through the night through Canada and took a different direction to find that land bridge that would take him straight into New York state versus crossing another lake. Even if he ran out of food right now, he wasn't going to stop again except for sleep. He was determined to make a grand homecoming hopefully within a couple days.

....

He traveled well across the state the following morning. He had at last made it to New York state. But he still had a lot of state to cross. He went to find the next nearest town to at least find out where he was and grab a few pieces of food. He had been eating a lot in the past few days trying to keep his energy stores up.

He soon came to Rochester. Brooklyn was going to go into a store, but it was too close to sunrise. He had to find a place to sleep before he was seen. He found a hole in an abandoned house, and he was able to get in and out just fine.

Brooklyn finished off his food stuff and his last water bottle. He would go later to a store and grab some more food and drinks. He wanted something else besides water. But he probably wouldn't grab as much since he was closer to home now.

He again slept through the day and got out that night. He headed for a store somewhere downtown. He found a gas station first. Again, he broke into it and grabbed some pop tarts, bread, lunchmeat, some crackers, and some water and soda. He was just wanting something different. But before long, he also stepped in a red beam and an alarm went off.

Brooklyn was startled and knew he had to get out of here, fast. He went back out the same way he came in. He jumped to the roof and took to the air before he was spotted. Now he was going to be gliding east.

From what he saw from the air, places in New York had also gotten that horrid snowstorm two days ago. Brooklyn was so glad he was getting closer to home.

....

Brooklyn followed his new map that he got in Rochester to help him find his way to New York City. He had to keep heading southeast or so. It would take a good few hours to get there but he wanted to at least get there tonight. He would wait on a homecoming till the following night. He just wanted to make it back to the city that was his home tonight. Or get very close to it before sunrise came.

....

Brooklyn flew over many towns and landscapes and farms on his way towards the southeast and he was more determined than ever to get home.

As he was nearing NYC, one of his wings suddenly got a terrible cramp in it and that made him cry out in pain. Just when he was getting so close to home too. Brook knew he had to rest that wing. He was currently near the town of Middletown. He had come so far over the last five hours coming this far south.

Brooklyn landed in the middle of a clear meadow. His wings felt relief as soon as they were able to relax. Stone sleep would have been so good for them right about now. But that wasn't a luxury right now. He knew he had to get to some cover.

It wasn't easy trying to find cover when the snow was up to a foot high. He was knee deep in the snow clear out here. He kept on trudging through the snow. He saw a house and some trees around it in the distance.

He managed to get to the house by morning. He saw an old shed in the yard. There was also a garage but sadly no barn. He went into the garage to get out of the elements. There was no car in it luckily. There was a lock on the door, and he had had to break in. He hoped he would be alright in here. He would have glided to another farm, but his wings were sore and worn out.

There was a bench in the garage. He went and sat down on it, testing it. It was fine. It took his weight just fine. Brooklyn then took out some food and drinks to restore his energy. He was exhausted. He wanted his own room so badly. His bed especially. But his home and clan more so.

He ate his food and a mountain dew, and he laid down to sleep.

....

He slept until well after sunset. He was a bit stiff from the bench, but he had to get going if he was going to make it to New York tonight. His wings were still sore too, but he would make it.

Brooklyn climbed a tree and he had to force his wings to work again. Through his desperation to get home he forgot to re check his map.

For another hour, he flew in the same direction he hoped it was. But he soon saw New York City's lights against the clouds in the sky. He was getting close to home!

He came to the Staten Island first and he found a church with gargoyles on it. He went into the most inside part of the church to find shelter for the night. His right wing was super sore right now and he needed more rest before he continued the rest of the way home.