Ember | 14 | F | Red winged blackbird | Mentions: Sasha (ind)

The young teenager was still asleep for the majority of the camp stirring and starting their mornings. In fact, if it wasn’t for Sasha calling breakfast, she may have never stirred at all and slept through the entire day.

Ember had been nifty in creating her own sleeping arrangements, slinging a hammock high in the branches of a tree and using the remains of a shredded tent, with wigs to weave a roof over her so that the rain wouldn’t bother her. After having spent the majority of her youth locked away in her parent’s basement never knowing of the sky, she had begun to enjoy being in high places and feeling the wind in her feathers. Being this high up almost felt natural to her.

The hammock swung softly in the morning breeze, almost rocking Ember back to sleep, but the voices below her were to loud for her to return to her slumber. Her wings unfurled slowly from around her, releasing her from her feathery cocoon. Outside the air felt cold and nippy, Ember felt exposed as she yawned and stretched.

Propping herself up on her elbow she observed the active camp below her. She liked it up here, watching everyone without being bothered.

Ember sat there for a while, not bothering to get out of bed, choosing to instead to preen her wings with her hands, gently removing any dirt they had collected overnight. Gently, she tipped the water from a large leaf so that the water pooled in one spot and she drank it. It was surprisingly good considering it was rainwater, but not as good as the clean water the protectors gave her sometimes.

It was nice here she thought to herself, nicer than her home. Here she was free as long as she was safe, but here she didn’t have her parents and here she didn’t understand a lot of things. What would have happened if she never left her basement? If those bad men never came so that her parents didn’t abandon her. What if she had followed them home? Were they safe? Do they think of her? Were the bad men coming? Did they love her?

Ember used the back of her hand to smother the tears before they started and flopped backwards into a hammock. Maybe she’ll just stay up here all day again.

"How have I not earned it? I've treated that cat with enough respect and even shared our food in the winter and our beds with it." Alessandra sighed. "I think I've done plenty for Beast." She didn't really dislike the cat. She was actually quite fond of the creature. Sandy just wished that he would be more appreaciative of her efforts.

"I was thinking that we could try fishing or hunting today?" Sandy suggested. "We haven't got all too much food left. I'd like to avoid looking for any around normal humans." She added. Going around villages or shops where unsafe. Anybody could spot them and try to capture them for the bounty money.

-

Alessandra looked around the area. The birds where singing pleasantly. She watched as one bird swooped down, grabbed a worm, before noticing Beast and flying away. Birds where pretty creatures, but they could never stay around this area for long. Sandy had always wanted a parrot or a budgie when she was younger, admiring how graceful they where in flight. She wished that her own wings where as easily functional as a bird's. Her wings twitched a bit as she thought about this. Maybe they'd function better in the future, but she'd never know until then.

Esprit grinned at her friend. " No, this is him being nice to you. As much as you might want another cat friend, you already have one, me." Whisp pushed her hair out of her eyes again as she stared at the ground. "And I appreciate it."

Esprit tried to quickly blink back tears at the memories of her father came back to her. He wasn't her real father but her was the only one she had ever known. And he was gone.

-

Beast came over and rubbed his head against her hand. Esprit sprang up onto her feet and turned around. "I think we should go... that way," she said, pointing some way in the east direction. " I'm pretty sure there was a lake over there. Or a field?" Whisp shook her head. "Either way, we get food."

-

Esprit waited by a tree. Maybe she should climb it. She turned back to look at Sandy. Eh, she wouldn't mind. Whisp grabbed the lowest branch and pulled herself up, getting higher and higher until she was near the top. From there she could see the forest from overhead. Her ears twitched at the sound of birds flying overhead and she resisted the urge to chase one. First of all, she would fall. And be injured. Or die. Esprit knew death and wounds were inevitable being...what she was.

-

A lake in the distance shimmered in the sunshine. Perfect, fishing today.

Cyro tickled Maybells feathery wing before standing and walking over to the others he poked around and realised that most of the camp was still waking up. Cyro snorted, shoving a hand in his pocket and pulling his hair into his eyes.

Cyro turned and walked away, they clearly weren't ready for the patrol. Cyro walked further down a rarely used path, tugging at branches, here and there. Cyro walked over to a small Brook, the water was clear as it darted between rocks of various sizes. Cyro layed down by the brook side, he had left a clear path for others to follow, if in any case they were to find him. Cyro touched his horns and looked at his fingers, they were dirty.

Cyro sat up and grabbed a hand of water, washing his horns so that they shone in the sun. Cyro layed back into his relaxed position