Flight - Chapter one: The one with the gold

Chapter one: The one with the gold

the wind howls with anger as I try to get everyone in order. this is out first storm with the new crew, and it's not going very well.

"Get those sails up before they split! Kathryn i could use some help!"

I hear a chuckle from behind me "but you are doing so well." i can hear the gloating smile in her voice.

"Just do something!"

i watch as Kathryn goes around, putting people in their place and doing whatever has not been done to protect the ship during a storm.


By the time the storm had abated, i could see the next island. it was kinda hard to miss since we were practically right next to it.

"Land-ho!" the lookout needlessly shouted.

"what island is this?" someone form below yelled toward Kathryn.

"Ornitheopia... where a city of unknown treasure lays.. everyone get ready to dock!"

I made my way toward her, intent on telling her about the bad vibe i got from this island. when i finally reached her and opened my mouth to tell her so, her hand prevented me from speaking.

"shut it Aiden"

"but captin... I..."

"Ayh said shut it."


okay... that went well...

we eventually get everyone together to head to the island. when we get there we are met by knives and an odd assortment of weapons, most likely taken in a rush by the fact i swear i see someone holding a spoon.

well of course Kathryn would have none of that, she walked to the front of our group and spoke to the offending natives. "we mean no harm! we are explorers form a distant land! please put down your weapons and let us talk!"

"you carry the flag of a pirate! why should we trust you?!" someone from the back of the group yelled, the others nodding in agreement.

"because we have guns and swords and you have knives and spoons, and yet you still stand unharmed."

good point if i do say so myself. thankfully the natives saw that she was right and went about their merry way... well except an elderly man who comes toward us.

"sorry about that" he said, "we've had trouble with pirates coming and attacking us before, and we had to be careful."

like no one has that problem, but that's beside the point. i know Kathryn understood what he meant, and she would never attack a village anyway... not that these people knew that, we are not yet that famous, or well infamous.

Kathryn bows to this man and says in her most suave voice "it is quite alright my good sir, we are pirates after all, we get used to it." a smile and all seems well. we get permission to restock and explore anyway, though I'm sure they plan to keep an eye on us.

it only takes two hours to get all the supplies bought and taken back to the ship, and in that time Kathryn comes across a hint about the so called treasure of this land.

"so, you gonna come or not Aiden?" not that she'd tell me where of course, but like the good first mate i am, i run after her, never asking any questions.


we come to this cave, of course. friggen caves... so cliche. anyway we decided to go in. and by we i mean she did and i followed. next thing i know I'm on the ground with a knife in my side.

i hate caves.


turns out the natives were following us and we stumbled upon their sacred grounds, which i am now bleeding on, so they must be more pissed at us. if that is possible.

everything turns a little blurry as Kathryn and the young man argue about who is wrong. personally i think that both are wrong, but I say nothing. i look past the two and notice something glinting in the corner. I slowly get up, wincing as i jar my wounds, and go to investigate.

"well, whaddaya know..." i whisper, picking up the object that had caught my attention.

'uhh aiden... i would put that back if i were you..." i here Kathryn say... i wonder what-

"oh shit." i look up and notice the HUGE bird towering over me. i look at the object in my hands, a pure silver egg of all things. and contemplate if i can run fast enough to escape the bird, who i KNOW is gonna come after me whether or not i put the egg down. i have that kind of luck. slowly i place the egg exactly where i found it and back away slowly. the bird, whose feathers i had to note were a marvelous shade of the friggen rainbow and had to of stood a good 10 feet off the ground.

as the bird sniffs the egg, Kathryn grabs my arm and tells me to prepare to haul ass. like i need to be told THAT. the bird brings it's head up and glares at me, which i had no idea a bird could do, and i feel a pull on my arm and then I'm running faster then i have ever run before, or since.

When we reach the town I dare to look behind me. no bird! i whoop with joy, then remember that i just recently had a knife between my ribs and promptly meet the floor.

"well hello there my friend floor, how are you today?"

"you're nuts Aiden."

"no more then you my dear."

and then i knew no more.


i found out later that the wound was not that bad, and it was just the combination of blood loss and exhaustion from running that caused my collapse. lucky me.

and so ends out adventure on Ornitheopia island. a place i am sure i will never come back to. no matter what.

flight - prologue

"I can remember the first time i laid eyes on her. we were young, just past out sixth year, and i knew then that i loved her. her long red hair floated around her oval face. her eyes were sparkling emeralds. and as she performed the most difficult part of the ritual she was preparing for, i saw her strong legs and arm, stronger then most of the men in our village, yet womanly, their looks deceiving of that strength. her wings a perfect white with just a bit of tan at the tips of her feathers. i ran off before she could see me, i knew i needed to practice my own part for the ritual. the ritual that would betroth us, though i did not know that at the time.the ritual was called the time of the orchid, and was rarely performed, but this young girl was special, she was to be the next priestess, the next leader, and bring us out of the age of tyranny that was the government. I wondered if she knew all of this, or if she was as ignorant about the business of adults as i was." I pause in telling my story to drink a bit of water.


"i thought you said that you and her were never together." the child sitting upon my lap looks up at me confused.

"we never got to finish the ritual, the government had caught wind of the rumours about her and they 'crashed the party' as you would put it. they kidnapped men, her and her younger sister and took us to their building and kept us as prisoners."

" what happened?"

" stuff of nightmares. they held her sister against us, telling us that they would kill her if we didn't give in.and that was all it took, she loved her sister so much, that she just gave up, although we begged her not to. they took her off to another room... i can remember it like it was yesterday. mea nd her young sister curled up in a corner, me covering her ears against the screams that echoed throught out the underground. whenthey finally let me and her sister go, i went back to get her, and when i found her, she was almost dead. they had ripped off her once beautiful wings, and taken a whip to her.wounds littered her body and her robes were in tatters. she was so pale, I never want to see anything like that again. i grabbed her and ran as fast as i could to the doctor in our village. they shot at me while i was running and i tried to fly but my wings were too weak. when i finally got her to the doctor, all they could do was sew her up, the rest was up to her. she was feverish and kept moaning in pain. when she was awake she was barely coherent, the only thing she managed was to tell everyone to go away, she didn't want anyone to see her like this. i stayed though, and took care of her the best i could.i was so afraid I would lose her."

"did she make it?"

I hear steps coming toward me and a female voice saying "Yes I did, and it's all thanks to your daddy here."

I smile, "well hello there Kathryn, i was wondering where you went off to."

"I went to check the sails of course, since you seem to be a little too busy to do your part." she says fondly. "and why are you telling such a morbid story to a child for anyway? you should be telling of princes and princesses, slaying of dragons.."

i open my mouth to respond but a little voice pops up instead " but those are boring! i wanna know how you met!" i look down at the pouting face and smile sadly.

Kathryn glances at the pout, " but there are better tales, tell her of that time we fought the with the locals over some treasure only for it to be taken by that giant bird!" she laughs, and i grin, fondly remembering that time. we never knew what hit us.

I feel a tug on my long ponytail, "ooo I wanna hear that one!"

"yes dear. it all begins in a storm, as all great tales do..."