featherborn | Returning to Land

Returning to Land

The eagle circles one final time over the trees, wings stretched to their full. Freedom at its best. There is a slow spiralling dissent onto a tree in the middle of the forest. Moments later the eagle vanishes, and there is blond woman sitting in its place. Katya settles down on the study branch, swinging her legs while she reaches for the backpack she left there earlier.

She ties her hair back and slides the old faithful baseball down shading her face. Well, back to be landlocked for another day or so. She rips open a Mars bar with her teeth and toasts the skies and spits the wrapper to the ground cursing her employers at the circus.

If she could have her way, she would live in the forest where she could fly every day and ignore the rest of the world.

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That comment has Casper laughing out loud, his laughter very free and honest. "Yeah. Yeah, that would be your cue to get back down to the ground for a bit."

Katya comes to a stop outside of a block of run down flats, disappointed that the walk must come to an end. Her Russian boys would have a thing or two to say if she invited a man in even for an innocent cup of tea after so few meetings with him.

"I am a fan of bird humour," she says her eyes dancing as she reaches into her bag for the key. "I would invite you in, but I am afraid a warm my muscles are more in favour of a warm bath to ease tension from the performance."

"That's quite alright." If he had at all expected to be invited in he shows no trace of disappointment. Really, he had expected no such thing. If an invitation had come, he would have likely declined.

"Though if you wanted to go flying some day, care to give me a day when you're free and have the time?"

"Wednesday at noon," Katya suggests. "It is my day so I can make it evening if you are working." It is sometimes easy to forget that non circus folk have very different routines and hours "We could meet back at same tree in the woods."

"Noon is good." Work isn't something he has to worry about anymore but that isn't something he wants to explain.

"It's been nice, having a chance to properly meet you. I've enjoyed myself tonight."

"Me too," she says and sticks out her hand. "It has been a pleasure to meet you Casper. It is nice to have a friend who is outside of the circus again. Especially one who can fly. I know some few who can change their shape."

"The skies have been a bit lonely, I'll admit. I used to have a friend who flew as well, but we lost touch over the years." He shakes her hand, his grip firm and warm. "It'll be nice with a little bit of company again."

"That is a pity," she murmurs as she releases his hand. Sounds of a couple arguing start to float through one of the open windows in the flats. "And that is more if a pity," she says glancing towards the window.

"Well," she puts the code in to let herself into the common area hallway. "Until Wednesday. You have my number in case anything changes and you can no longer come."

"I'll let you know if something comes up," he readily agrees, sure that nothing will. "Otherwise I'll just see you back at the tree."

His gaze flickers up to the open window at the sound of angry and raised voices. "Very much a pity," he murmurs in agreement.

She hopes the daughter is safely around at her aunt's. Katya knows more about the family than she should through the walls. And with a final look back she steps inside, making her way towards her rooms. She finds the daughter out in the corridor, sitting with her hands over her ears. Like she has done on more than one occasion, she draws her with her to the flat for hot chocolate and somewhere comfortable to hide until the argument passes.

The raised voices stay raised, loud through the thin walls in a sadly common quarrel. It is as it so often is.

But there is something different, for those sensitive enough to such things to notice; a presence, like someone calmly watching and perhaps waiting. And there's a sound, a strange sound, like huge and mighty wings beating in the air.

A sound that Julie picks up on as she creeps back hugging the wall. She pauses nervously, before scurrying along at a faster pace. Down one set of stairs, three doors along and she puts her ear to the door. It is still. Very still. Fingers trembling, she opens the door.

Dad on the couch, mum in the bedroom. She can see the light under the bedroom door. Quietly, she puts the blanket over her dad who barely makes a noise in response. There are bruises at his throat this time.

She shivers and walks to the window, looking out as though she could escape through it.

That sound again, louder now, a heavy rustling sound from above. Then the figure appears, floating slowly down from above and coming to hover outside the window. Long dark hair. Kind hazel eyes. And wings, pale and bright against the dark of the night.

He holds out his arms, beckoning and welcoming.

Startled, Julie takes a step back. Her mouth forms an 'o'. The image of the man is straight out of the stories her dad told her, that there would always be an angel watching over her. Slowly she steps forward and opens the window. There is a cigarette burn visible on her wrist as she stretches her hand out.

"Are you real?" she whispers.

The angel's eyes doesn't so much as flicker to the girl's wrist. He doesn't need to. He knows what's there. For a moment he can almost feel his own back crawl and burn in response to it.

He nods in response to the girl's question, and then speaks. "Come fly with me."

She hesitates and turns her head back towards the couch. "Dad...."

He hears her. With an effort he raises his head enough to see the scene at the window.

"The angel has come like you promised."

Mark smiles a tired smile, he doesn't know if his mind is playing tricks on him. It is an answer to prayers. If it is a delusion, it is the happiest one he's experienced in years. "Yes...yes he has. He will take better care of you than I could." His eyes contain gratitude for the winged man as he lowers his head again.

Julie bites her lip and pushes the window fully open. It's a fire window and easy for her to come and perch on the ledge. "What is your name?"

For a moment the father's and angel's eyes meet, and there is an understanding. No fear. No fear.

The wings beat slowly, even though it's not needed. The laws of gravity doesn't apply here.

He considers not answering the girl, worried that it will trickle to the young lady next door. But here and now he doesn't want to deny the girl anything, and he won't lie.

"Casper," he says, and repeats his previous invitation. "Come fly."

No fear. Simple relief. Peace. All he wants for his daughter is to be safe. He's stayed to protect her, knowing that he would never be granted sole custody of her.

Julie holds out her hands to grasp his. "I have never flown before, even on a plane."

"Really?" He smiles warmly at her, then grins. Taking her hand he pulls her up, right into the air as if she weighs no more than a feather. "Then it's about high time, I'd say. Hold on tight."

He brings her closer. With his arms around her securely his wings beat harder and faster, sending them to soar up through the air.

Her head twists to look back at the window, watching it become smaller. Bye dad she thinks to herself and turns her eyes up to the sky. "Where are we going?" she asks a little shakily. "Mum is going to be mad."

"We're not going anywhere in particular. Just out for some air and some new sights for a bit." New sights indeed, as he takes them higher. It should be cold up here, but strangely enough it's not.

"Don't worry about your mom. It's going to be alright."

Her grip on him tightens as she dares to look down at the town spreading out below them. "It....looks pretty from up here," she ventures and swallows. "Dad always promises that it's going to be alright that someone's been looking over me. I had almost stopped believing him."

"Your dad's right. I promise you that he is." There's no areal acrobatics, no swoops and dives. Just calm soaring through the night air.

"It's not always going to be easy. You're so young that you shouldn't know that already, but you do. But it is going to be alright."

It's soothing, so much more soothing than she's known. She could stay up here for hours. Scream. Cry. Let everything out.

"I...I'm tougher than I look honest. It was just a bad night. Mum....isn't ....she can be nice."

He brings them higher still, up to the clouds. Clouds are just water vapor, certainly not with enough mass to hold anything up. But for now the rules simply doesn't apply, and Casper brings them down to a particularly dense one, setting them down on a surface that feels like snow, only not cold.

"That she can be nice doesn't make up for the times when she's not." He sounds sad, but also sure and firm as he sits down cross-legged on the fluffy surface. "And yes, you are tough. And that is good, because for a while it is going to be hard. Very hard. But it will get better and it will be alright. And, there will always be someone watching over you."

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