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[~Teya~]

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Hok’ee (Hoe-key)
Treali (Tree-lee)
Kajika (Kah-SHick-uh)

Username; ~Teya~
Name; Hok’ee
Gender; Male

[~Teya~]

𝔓𝔯𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢

TTT𝔗he door opens slowly, scraping against the floor as the foul odor of cigar smoke hits the viscet’s senses. Older viscets sitting around multiple poker tables in the musty room turn to see who has entered; she holds her breath, pausing for a moment, soon regaining her composure and striding towards the front desk straight ahead.
A paw slams against the worn surface of the desk, holding a small stack of cash. The viscet positioned behind it raised his head from the strewn papers beside him, fixing his gaze on to the culprit.
“It’s all there,” she remarks in the most confident tone she can muster, watching as the male takes the money from her.
Silence fills the room, and he counts the money slowly, as if purposefully to prolong the females anxiety.
“There is only eight hundred here,” he responded, eying her suspiciously.
“It’s all I could get.” Rubbing the back of her neck, she carefully avoided making eye contact with the disheveled looking viscet as he peered at her back.
“Not good enough, missy,” he finally says, slipping the cash into a nearby drawer.
“Hey! Then don’t I get my money back?” she exclaimed in protest.
He raised an eyebrow, as if offended by the notion. “Not necessarily,” he said with a sneer, revealing his mustard yellow teeth.
She bit her lip, trying to hold back her growing impatience. “Please, sir, I need that money--”
“What’s the dough for, anyhow?”
Turning her head, her gaze landed on a sleek, gray viscet leaning on the wall closest to her. She mind as well tell him, he appeared harmless enough. “I’m looking for someone to guide me up to the Igasho mountains,”
“Now why would a lass like you want to go there? It’s dangerous, y’know.”
“It’s none of your business,” she found herself quickly snap in response, turning back to the male behind the desk. “Kindly give me back what is mine.” She demanded, failing to mask her frustration now.
“I can take you to Igasho,” the gray viscet persisted, walking over to her and holding out his paw to the one behind the desk.
She watched in awe as the viscet hesitated, giving him a dirty stare but proceeded to hand him her money.
“How did you . . . ?” her voice stammered as he smiled down at her.
“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it; follow me.” The viscet said, she obliged, accompanying him through the door of the building and outside.
“Wait here,” he ordered, walking away and approaching another viscet close by but out of earshot.
She shuddered, watching her warm breath evaporate into the cold city air; the sun was not yet out due to it being so early in the morning, plus, she was in an alleyway, so that didn’t help matters.
Watching the two viscets talk, she attempted to make out what they were saying.
“What am I doing?” she murmured nervously, her breathing becoming shaky. “Kajika probably isn’t even real.”
Turning her head slightly, she glanced back at her vibrantly colored wings, spreading them out wide and wrapping the feathers so that they closed around her arms and chest in an attempt to stay warm.
“Time to go!” the gray male announced with a bright smile as he trotted back over to her.
“Already?” she asked with a puzzled expression, only to have him motion her to follow.


* * *

TTT𝔗he low humming of the truck’s engine helped calm her nerves as she sat in the backseat with the gray. They had been driving through the city of Treali, and would soon be heading up the lone road leading to the mountains of Igasho, with little to no conversation.
“I just realized something,” the gray remarked, breaking the silence. “I never asked for your name, although I’m sure it won’t be able to match your remarkable markings.”
She blushed, looking away from his eyes. “Thank you. I guess I’m just so used to them it’s hard to realize how different others think they look.” She responded with a small laugh, stealing a glance at her purple and sky blue paws. “Harmosa is my name, Harmosa Armonía.”
“I think it fits,” he replied, then added after a small pause, “the name’s Quincy. You can call me Quince, if you’d like.”
Harmosa smiled, looking out the window as they turned onto the paved road away from the city.
“There is just one thing I don’t quite get, Harmosa,” Quincy began, causing her to turn back towards him. “You have wings, something I’ve never seen before; why don’t you just fly to Igasho?” he asked in a genuinely curious tone.
She laughed, saying, “well, even if I did manage to fly twenty miles there, I wouldn’t be able to carry much -- or know where to go from there.”
He shrugged. “I suppose you’re right; the Igasho mountains are very vast, afterall.”
“What did your parents think of you going off like this?” he questioned with a smirk, crossing his arms.
“Uhm . . .” hesitating, her eyes shifted from place to place awkwardly.
Quincy’s smirk grew bigger. “Little rebel running off without telling the parents, eh?”
Quincy seemed to ponder something for a moment, before adding, “just tell me one thing: why do you want to go in the first place?”
Harmosa felt like she owed him at least that much; what could be the harm in it? Except him thinking she’s a crazy broad of course. Taking a deep breath, she looked back towards the Igasho mountains as they began to grow closer.
“I want to know if Kajika is real.”
She could hear Quincy stiffen in his seat, and even the driver’s ears pinned back.
“I’ve heard about Kajika,” Quincy said in a reserved voice, continuing. “He is said to move without sound; his blood-colored, featherless wings assure maximum stealth when going in for an attack.” He now turned his head towards the mountains as well. “Not to mention he has a greasy mane full of fleas, and teeth so long they hang out of his mouth.”
Harmosa sighed. “I just . . .” her voice trailed off as she started playing with her fingers. “It’s so hard to explain.” The viscets, and even the vehicle they sat in seemed to turn into a sudden quietness as they continued down the road.
“Try me,” he urged, looking back towards her. Harmosa returned his gaze, resting her head on one of her paws. “Knowing that others are out there, like me . . . it would just mean so much to me,” she responded in almost a murmur.
Quincy nodded, his eyes falling away from hers.


* * *


TTT𝔗owering mountains with their highest points covered with snow from the previous winter, along with a beautiful array of trees and vivid wildflowers, were now filling Harmosa’s eyes with their nearly sinful splendor. The road had gotten increasingly more rough with the last few hours, causing the truck’s going to be slow.
But she didn’t mind, she had never in her entire life seen such a view. She was used to the city, full of fast moving cars and so many other viscets it was impossible to hear even your own thoughts, and had rarely ventured away from that life. But this, this made her want to stay here, regardless of Kajika’s existence, living out her days in bliss.
The truck slowed to a stop at a small clearing, where all three viscets got out of the vehicle.
“Nice, isn’t it?” Quincy asked smugly, causing her to whirl in his direction with a joyful grin.
“Nice? Is that all you have to say about it?” she responded playfully, stretching her wings out to their full length after the long ride.
“It’s getting dark; Joe, make the lady a fire,” Quincy said with a wink. The viscet, Joe, who had driven them all the way up here, nodded, walking off to presumably find firewood. Harmosa watched as he disappeared into the forest.
“Joe doesn’t talk much, does he?” she remarked, flapping her wings a bit. “Nope,” Quincy commented back a tad stiffly, surveying their surroundings with a keen eye.
Eventually, Joe came back close to dark with a large handful of firewood, and before she knew it a lively fire had been started.
It took a little longer than she thought it would for him to come back, but she guessed it was just hard to find dry wood.
“So, Harmosa, where do you think we’ll find Kajika?” Quincy inquired, the illumination of fire dancing off his coat and around him.
“Well, I thought you might have some idea,” she began, laughing a little. It sounded so absurd; being here, doing this.
“You’ll need all the help you can get,” he said with a smirk, “Kajika is known to steal sheep around here, and children.” Harmosa looked into the fire, rubbing her paws together.
“It’s all rumors and speculation, no one knows if they did any of those horrible things.” She responded, taking a long breath in.
“Is that what others would say, when viscets talked about your parents?” Quincy suddenly remarked in a completely stone cold tone.
“What?” Harmosa replied, her eyes widening, taken aback.
He ignored her, glancing off to her side and making some sort of paw gesture. Before she could look back, two large paws gripped the back of her shoulders firmly. She hastily began to flap her powerful wings to loosen their hold, only for another viscet to come help pin her down.
An ear piercing scream echoed through the valley as they put a peculiar “thing” on her wings, somehow attaching each wing to her hind legs, making it extremely painful to move them.
“Why are you doing this?!” she exclaimed angrily, snapping at the nearest viscet that held her down, just as a needle was jabbed into the side of her neck.
“Nothing personal, lass; purely business. You’re quite the prize, y’know.” Quincy responded cooly with a disinterested look on his face.
Her eyes began to close and her muscles weakened, but she refused to give up.
There was a sudden thud to the side of her; Quincy turned swiftly, his claws unsheathed.
A loud crash sounded a moment later as one of the viscets holding her down went flying through the air.
Quincy took one look at the viscet now on the ground, and hurriedly ran in the opposite direction.
Harmosa could just barely force her eyelids open, hearing the yells and blood curdling screams of viscets around her, and managed to steal a glance at the fire close by.
She blinked, not trusting what her eyes showed her.
He stared at her from the other side of the blaze; all she could focus on were his deep, blood red eyes and and gigantic wings; a commanding growl reverberated from his throat as her mind slipped entirely from consciousness.

[~Teya~]

ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔬𝔫𝔢

TTT𝔖ame day, morning.

He awoke to the soothing hum of birds singing in the distance, his ears twitched, opening his eyes. Yawning, Hok’ee rose from the dimly lit cave in which he lived, strolling to the light of the exit.
It took a moment for his eyes to adjust when the warm rays of the sun abruptly hit his face from the rock perch he now stood upon.
Taking a deep breath in, he extended his wings wide. ‘Another day, another challenge.’ Hok’ee thought to himself as he leapt from the stone, his speed increasing with every second, diving straight down from his home atop the mountain. Just in time, he released his wings that lay flat against his body to make a bullet shape, now opening them up to slow him down as he began soaring close to the forest floor, scouting the area.



Keeping his ears open for disturbance, Hok’ee observed the life below. A group of pale yellow deer frolicked gracefully away from the viscet as he past, making their way back to the safety of the thick shrubbery.
For awhile he glided across the sweeping canyons and wide-reaching mountains with ease, simply watching for anything out of the ordinary.
Once closer to the outer edges of Igasho, however, he made sure to stay up high in the puffy white clouds, noting the scattered farms within the flatter sections of valley.
‘Much closer, and something will have to be done about those.’ he thought with annoyance, growling lowly and proceeding to lift his left wings drastically upwards while simultaneously lowering his rights wings to abruptly veer back the way he had come.


* * *


TTT𝔗he stars glistened above Hok’ee as they gazed up at them, there was something special about these stars tonight; with no clouds to block them, they shone so brilliantly even he was in awe, despite the fact that Hok’ee watched the stars every night, ever since he was a boy, with Makya -- until . . .
He shook the nasty thoughts that suddenly plummeted to the surface of his mind, choosing instead to admire the view.
Laying his head against the ground as it grew heavy and shutting his eyes, Hok’ee felt the wind blowing peacefully through his fur, starting to fall asleep.
A faint shriek could be heard throughout the mountains as he abruptly raised his head, fully alert within seconds.
Glancing all around to see if he could find the source, he saw nothing.
‘Why should I care? It was just a bird.’ Hok’ee pondered with a snort. ‘But, what if . . .’ their mind kept urging him.
“Urgh,” the viscet grunted, coming into a stand and soaring off into the night. ‘Might as well make sure.’ Making his way past a bend, he saw a light from afar; a fire. He drew in a breath, frozen in the air.
Shaking his head and regaining his self-control, he went plunging towards the light with a renewed sense of purpose.
‘No one goes this far into my mountains!’ he thought angrily, landing near the fire with a loud thump, just out of view of the viscets around the fire.
In an instant, he locked onto his first victim. A viscet who looked to be crouching close to the ground with his back facing him. With a swift movement of his wings he was in flight once more. Flying straight into the viscet, they hurtled in to the nearby ground. Now fixing his attention on the rest of the viscets around the fire, he fiercely whirled his wings up into the air and flew just barely above their heads to scare them; they all yelped and screamed as he swatted at their muzzles, purposefully missing.
Within seconds all of the viscets had cleared out away from the fire and zoomed away in their precious vehicle.
Going over to the fire once more, he noticed something; another viscet just lying there, probably hiding.
‘When will they ever learn?’ he thought, irritated, growling at them from across the flames. But they just stared at him, and then closed their eyes. Confused by this, Hok’ee inched a little closer, to the side of the fire where they were.
‘This . . . can’t be,’ he thought in a daze, his breathing becoming uneven. Swallowing hard, he nosed the feathery mass that attached to this extremely colorful viscet’s body.
“Wings,” was all he could manage.
The other viscets had put something on her wings, some sort of metal “pin” like object that dug into the wing and hind leg flesh. He winced at the thought, having to ignore that for now, he had to get this viscet out of here, he couldn’t just, leave her, could he?
No.
First putting out the fire, Hok’ee gently as possible laid them onto his back, barely managing to lift off into the air.


* * *


TTTℌok’ee stared intently at this new viscet now inside his cave, wondering what to do next. If he tried to remove the objects from their wings, they’d wake up screaming, and he definitely didn’t want that.
It was strangely eerie being so close to a viscet again after staying away from them for so long, he didn’t know what to think.
On one paw, it felt invigorating at just the thought of talking with someone again, but on the other paw, it scared him. A lot.
The viscet stirred, resulting in Hok’ee becoming motionless, making sure to be as quiet as possible. The female slowly sat up, scanning their surroundings.
The moon illuminated the part of cave where they sat, their markings shimmering in the moonlight. But its light didn’t reach Hok’ee, who purposely stayed in the shadows.
Turning towards Hok’ee, the gleaming viscet sucked in a breath, backing away slowly. He wasn’t quite sure how to react; should he speak? Now that he really thought about it, he almost never spoke; for close to ten years, he had been mostly silent.
They continued backing away, coming close to the exit. And he knew for a fact they couldn’t fly away; they were like a fly in a spiderweb, stuck. Deciding to walk in their direction, they muttered something along the lines of “I am not being eaten today,” in a shaky voice.
For whatever reason, he let out a laugh. They just stared at him, mystified.
“What are you laughing at, do you always taunt your meals?!” they abruptly exclaimed with a small squeak.
Hok’ee tilted his head, breaking into another uncontrollable laugh. “Eat you?” he asked, getting a grasp on his sudden emotions.
“You mean . . . I’m not your dinner?” she asked back, her pupils enlarging.
Hok’ee smiled slightly. “No.” he replied simply, still trying to get a grip on this conversation thing.
“Then why has Kajika taken me to his evil lair?” she questioned suspiciously, taking a step nearer to him; limping slightly.
Raising an eyebrow, “Kajika?” he wondered aloud.
“You’re him, aren’t you? You have the wings to match,” the girl remarked, glancing up at them.
Hok’ee stole a glimpse at his wings as well, turning back to her, still baffled.
“Don’t tell me you don’t know your own legend!” she added in disbelief, visibly clenching her teeth together.
He looked over one of her wings; they dripped with dark blood. Hok’ee made a move to help her, only to have her back away again, with a scared look embedded in her blue eyes.
“Please?” he pleaded, taking another step. This time she didn’t move, so he took another step, then another.
A moment later she slid to the ground, seeming to not really care anymore if he planned on eating her or not. Leaning down, he took a look at the metal “thing” planted in her wings. “This is going to hurt,” he commented plainly.
“Comforting.” she responded with a sarcastic smile, already cringing. For a while they were both silent as he worked, when she broke the silence. “If your name isn’t Kajika, what is it, anyway?”
For a second he looked back at her, “Hok’ee,” he replied lowly, going back to his work.
“I’m Harmosa, if you were wondering,” Harmosa said, tapping one of her paws on the stone floor. “So . . . what’s your deal?”
“I have no deals,” Hok’ee mumbled half mindedly, just as he jerked his paw up while clasping onto the metal object.
“Seriously?!” Harmosa exclaimed angrily, pressing against the new open wound. Hok’ee ignored her, staring at the object now completely detached from the viscet.
“So strange . . . it’s like they were meant for us.” He pondered.
“Us?” Harmosa questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“Our wings.” he responded with a solemn stare. “What else has wings as large as ours?” he continued, practically talking to himself now. Harmosa downcast her eyes, shivering a little. Realizing he wasn’t helping matters, Hok’ee added, “I’ll get the other one out and then you can get some sleep; it’ll be fine.”

[~Teya~]

ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔴𝔬

TTT“ℌok’ee, are you still with me?” Blinking a few times, he stared at the old viscet in front of him who had spoken his name.
“Makya?” he stammered, taking a look around his surroundings.
It was his old den, a small, wooden structure made by paw; just enough to prevent rain and the other elements from entering, with a lit fire in the middle.
“I still fail to understand why you steal all those books; you’re always reading them, what about my stories?” Makya questioned with a soft smile, his fatherly eyes staring down at him.
Suddenly he felt like a small child again, thinking he even remembered this conversation from so many years ago.
Glancing down, he was indeed holding one of his favorite story books about myths.
“I’m sorry,” he found himself saying, “I do love your stories, really.” Hok’ee added in a somewhat childish, apologetic tone, “I just want to understand why everyone hates me so much, and maybe these books can tell me.”
“They don’t hate you, Hok’ee, they’re just afraid,” Makya responded reassuringly, but Hok’ee fixed his eyes to the ground, giving out a frustrated sigh.
“Do you remember what your name means?” Makya scolded, and Hok’ee rolled his eyes, muttering, “yeah yeah, it means ‘abandoned’, what a kooky name.”
“Do you remember why I named you this?” the old viscet asked, locking eye contact with him when Hok’ee begrudgingly lifted his gaze.
“Because I should ‘wear my hardships like a badge of honor for all to see’,” Hok’ee quoted in a mumble.
“Exactly -- use the bad things in your life to make good; because it is the only thing that will ease the pain.”

With a jolt, Hok’ee found himself back inside the cave, now morning.
“I didn’t realize the Great Kajika snored,” Harmosa observed playfully as he turned to her.
“How’s your wings?” he asked curiously.
She shrugged, simply saying, “I’ll live.” Glancing towards the cave’s exit, she added, “so, what do you do around here, anyway? It must be pretty lonely.”
Hok’ee thought for a moment, getting an idea. “Come with me,” he replied, walking over to the exit and out onto the rock ledge. Harmosa followed, stealing a glimpse past the ledge, “that’s quite the drop,” she commented hesitantly. Hok’ee smiled, “don’t worry, all you have to do is open up your wings, and soar.”
Choosing not to wait for her response, he leapt from the ground, spreading his wings wide.
Flying through the air for a moment, he veered back to face her. “Coming?”
“I . . .” Harmosa’s voice trailed off, looking to be pondering the offer. “I actually haven’t flown in a while,” she confessed, rubbing the back of her neck.
“It’s time we changed that, then.” he persisted, whirling the other direction and not looking back.
“Where are you going?” Harmosa asked, but he said nothing, instead, continued on the usual route he took everyday through the mountains of Igasho.
Not soon after, he spotted something colorful out of the corner of his eye. He smiled to himself, glancing back at Harmosa who now flew beside him.
“It’s so beautiful out here,” she remarked in awe; as the pair soared above the seemingly endless mountains.
He always liked to think of the mountains that towered above the forest floor like old guardians of the surrounding young valleys and forests, keeping them safe.
“I’ve lived here my whole life.” he remarked, looking down at the lively, rushing river they were passing from above.
“I didn’t know anyone lived inside Igasho,” Harmosa mused, facing him. Hok’ee bit his lip in thought, “well, not many do.” he replied, hoping she’d drop the subject.
They flew now without speech; making their way through the mountains as they descended into the low morning clouds, barely above them. Harmosa giggled, extending one of her front paws to the surface of the fluffy mass. Hok’ee smirked at her childish nature; but still couldn’t resist doing the same.
The white of the clouds mixed in with the last traces of yellow from sunrise, giving off the illusion they were glowing.
He felt something scrape against his back paws; looking down, Hok’ee realized they were getting very close to the trees, but before he could point it out something suddenly hooked onto his tail, causing him to lose his momentum and fall face first into whatever lay below the clouds.
“Argh!” Hok’ee exclaimed as he flailed about, now upside down, his tail still caught in the vile tree branch.
Harmosa soon landed on the nearby ground, staring up at him from the tree.
“Need some help there?” she questioned, not able to hide her amusement.



“You think?” he sneered, slitting his eyes at the viscet.
She openly let out a laugh now, “going back to your roots, I see? A bat hanging upside down.” she remarked gleefully.
A moment later, Harmosa lifted off the forest floor and attempted to release him from the branch that had snagged his tail fluff.
“Very funny, but I don’t have bat wings,” he countered, just as his tail gave way and he plummeted to the ground.
“Are you alright?” Harmosa asked, giggling, just as Hok’ee got to his feet, brushing the stray plants and dirt from his fur.
“I’m fine.” he responded in a slightly bitter tone, looking around the thick forest they were now emerged in.
“Well . . . since we’re here, why not go exploring, eh?” Harmosa inquired, strolling off into the woods before Hok’ee could respond.
Following close behind, he watched as she almost “frolicked” through the forest happily, looking at the many flowers and creatures close by.
“You haven’t been in a forest many times, have you?” he questioned, looking her way. She stopped, pondering his words for a moment.
“No, I haven’t.” she said with a shrug, adding after a pause, “I was born in the city, not Treali -- but still.” Harmosa sighed softly, kneeling to the ground to look at a small butterfly that had landed on a nearby pink flower.
Hesitating a moment, Hok’ee sat beside her in the grass, fastening his eyes on the black and orange butterfly with splotches of white; as if someone had decided to flick white paint on the tip of their wings.
“You know, these butterflies are quite special,” he began, Harmosa turning to him. “They all fly here, from somewhere far, far away, and stay for a while in spring, reproducing, and then die.”
She gave him a weird look, as if saying, ‘seriously, that’s what makes them special?’ He laughed, continuing. “That’s not all. After their children grow up, they leave too; flying off, far, far away, to see the world.” Both saying nothing, he then added in a lower tone, “something I can’t do.”
“Why not?” Harmosa responded quickly, glancing up at him curiously.
Hok’ee straightened his posture, his features becoming somber. “I have to protect Igasho from the others; it’s the least I can do.”
“But . . . why?” she persisted, however, Hok’ee was stone set in his ways. ‘She wouldn’t understand if I told her,’ he thought, a pinch of sadness entering his mind.
“Wait,” Harmosa said slowly, “what do you mean, ‘the others’?”
Hok’ee stiffened. “Other viscets, they do nothing but destroy.” He replied, looking away from her.
“But . . . that’s not true, not all viscets are like that,” Harmosa contradicted, “and shouldn’t others be able to see and enjoy Igasho?” she asked, causing him to whirl back to her.
“You’re too young and naive to understand these things,” he responded in an irritated tone.
“I’m not that much younger than you,” Harmosa countered once more, crossing her arms.
Hok’ee shook his head, “normal viscets aren’t like us, they do nothing but hurt others who are different.”
“It’s not their fault they may treat us differently, Hok’ee; because we are different!” Harmosa said in growing exasperation, he sighed, not caring enough to respond.
The two stood there in silence for what seemed like an eternity, just looking around, making sure not to make eye contact.
“You know,” Harmosa began, a mischievous smile creeping across her face. “For someone who says normal viscets are ‘evil’, look who’s talking; you eat visclings.”
He stared at her blankly, taken aback.
“I do not!” Hok'ee protested, while Harmosa laughed, saying, “according to your own myth, you snack on the children that enter Igasho.”
Hok’ee found himself give out a laugh as well, “you have got to be joking,” he chuckled, but Harmosa shook her head. “It’s funny how wrong myths can be; about their own myth.” she said, giggling.
“We should be heading ba--” abruptly cutting his own sentence off, he twitched his ears.
He heard something.
“What is it?” she asked, looking around; confused.
“Get down!” Hok’ee hissed, lowering to the earth.
Harmosa continued looking about, still puzzled. “I said get down!” he muttered once more.
Rolling her eyes, she laid in the grass next to him.
Not even ten seconds had passed when a large truck came up from around a bend, driving mere feet away from the pair, but thankfully, they were shielded by a few trees and shrubbery close to them.
“That creep--!” Harmosa growled, raising her head, only to have Hok’ee push it down again.
“What are you talking about?” he asked in annoyance, stealing a glance at a viscet in the passenger’s seat of the vehicle; a viscet of silver color with a bored expression on his face, looking slightly familiar.
“That’s Quincy; the little weasel who tried kidnapping me, we have to follow him!” she demanded, once the truck passed Harmosa got to her feet.
Hok’ee grasped onto her arm, making sure she didn’t do anything stupid.
“Let me go, he’s going to get away!” Harmosa begged, attempting to loosen his grip, but she was no match for his strength.
“No, Harmosa, they’re probably just on their way back to Treali anyways, and what would you do, kill him?” he questioned adamantly, Harmosa ceased struggling, looking up at him with a trace of mist in her eyes.
“But it’s just not fair,” she said in a close to inaudible voice, lowering her gaze.
“Hey,” Hok’ee began, raising his paw to her chin so she would meet his eyes. “Life isn’t always fair, take it from me. But, there’s a lot of good in it, too; wouldn’t you rather see that first before willingly being captured?” he asked with a half smile, hoping he got the message across.
Harmosa returned his smile half heartedly, saying, “let’s go back.”
He nodded, “okay.”


* * *


TTT𝔗he pair of viscets sat in the dimly lit cave as darkness fell, with a fire separating them.
“How did you learn to make a fire, Hok’ee?” Harmosa asked curiously, staring into the dancing flames.
“A long, long time ago.” he responded, stretching his wings a bit as he too fixed his gaze on the blaze, shaking slightly at the thoughts that came to the forefront of his mind.
Before she could pester him with anymore risky questions, he changed the subject, inquiring, “so, where did you come from? You never said.”
Harmosa sighed deeply, fidgeting on the stone floor where she sat. “When I was a child . . . other viscets showered me with gifts, and opportunities you could only dream off,” Harmosa began hesitantly, continuing. “Everyone wanted a piece of me, especially my wings. They all said I was going to do great things, I mean, my name literally means ‘beautiful harmony’. Some would even go as far as to say I’d bring world peace, it was insanity.” She remarked, scoffing at her own words. Pausing, she looked down at her paws. “I just, wanted to make them happy, so went along with it.”
“Did your parents ever stop to think it was getting out of hand?” he asked, astonished by the sheer opposite childhood they seemed to have had.
Harmosa glanced up at him for a moment, saying, “uh . . . I was raised by my mother’s sister, my mom died in a car crash, and my dad went overseas to fight in a war shortly after I was born, never came back.” She shook her head, anger written in her features illuminated by a soft, yellow glow. “I’m kind of cursed, I guess -- some viscets think my parents made a deal with an evil entity to give me wings; and it killed them in return.”
“So . . . your parents didn’t have wings, either?” Hok’ee questioned, his eagerness showing through.
Harmosa shrugged. “Nope.”
“My parents didn’t have wings; and I know for a fact they never made any sort of deal.” Hok’ee commented, containing the resentment coming into his voice.
Harmosa raised her head to look at him once more, all her attention on him.
Hok’ee bit his lip, should he divulge any more? He just wouldn’t tell her too much, that would only lead to more questions. “I never met my parents . . . when I was hatched, they saw my wings and declared me an ‘abomination’,” he remarked bitterly, resuming. “They outright refused to feed me, thinking I was a sign of death and bad luck because of my ‘bat’ wings.” Hok’ee muttered, a low growl escaping him. “The leader of the tribe told them to either take care of their son, or leave, and you can guess which option they chose.”
“That’s horrible,” Harmosa responded apologetically, he shrugged, “it’s not your fault.” he murmured, adding after a short pause, “we should be getting some sleep; night, Harmosa.”
“Good night, Hok’ee.” she whispered.

[~Teya~]

ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔢𝔢

TTTℌok’ee stirred, shifting from one side to another, eventually forcing his heavy eyelids open. Sighing, he sat up, looking over to Harmosa.
‘I shouldn’t wake her,’ he thought, coming to a stand and walking out of the cave.
He felt restless, but wasn’t sure why. Looking up at the sky as it began to lighten in the beginning of a new day, Hok’ee opened up his red and rusty brown wings, going into flight.
Taking a different route than usual, he decided to head to the borders of Igasho, ascending high up into the sky so as not to be seen.
Almost a half hour had passed before Hok’ee found himself near the borders where a single dirt road snaked into the valleys and a few small farms were located, going down to take a closer look.
Everything was quiet; almost too quiet. Flying above the outskirts he saw nothing but trees, mountains, and the occasional small structure.
Gliding over a tall hill that had blocked part of his view of the road at the point where it crossed right inside Igasho, his eyes suddenly greeted him with a large group of viscets, some in neon vests with orange helmets, and monstrous sized metal “things”, like cars somewhat, but much, much bigger. One even seemed to have an alarmingly colossal sized “arm” with a hook. For what, he didn’t want to know. Whatever it was, it wasn’t coming into Igasho.
Rapidly swooping down, Hok’ee hid in a large tree near the base of all the chatter and noise; a viscet that looked to be the center of attention, standing on a stage of sorts.

“Viscets of Treali, who have graciously come to the opening, thank you for coming!” the viscet said through some sort of device that made his voice louder, the viscets cheering and clapping echoing through the mountains. “This is truly a special day for the citizens of Treali city; we have gone through thick and thin together, but now, we have something that may even go down in history to celebrate!” the crowd went silent as the male continued, Hok’ee’s confusion and dismay growing. “Before this day, any construction around Igasho was very limited, due to some being afraid and others not able to obtain the necessary papers to build farms and houses here.”
His heart skipped a beat as the viscet continued to drone on; already realizing what he was leading to.
Eyes widening, his claws dug deep into the tree bark.
“Don’t let it be true,” he murmured, in his mind begging the viscet not to say it.
“We cannot prolong this forever, folks, so without further ado, I, mayor of Treali, open up Igasho for new homes, and most importantly, more farms!” the viscet declared, yells and more cheers erupting from the other viscets as they jumped up and down.
“No no no!” Hok’ee exclaimed angrily, the other viscets drowning out his words. “They can’t!” he muttered, his outrage close to boiling over. “They’ll destroy Igasho; everything ever good within it will be lost . . .”
He made up his mind quickly, diving straight for the viscet on the platform. Smacking right into the viscet, the two tumbled off stage.
“You scum, if you come anywhere near my mountains again, I’ll personally rip out your throat!” Hok’ee snarled menacingly, looking down at the viscet he had pinned down.
“My God -- !” the mayor stuttered, returning his gaze, terrified.
“And that goes for the rest of you!” Hok’ee exclaimed, turning his head to the crowd; eyes full of an untamed wrath that could never be matched.
The other viscets stayed back, gasping when he spoke.
One viscet caught his eye; they seemed more amazed than scared, and his gray face looked unbelievably smug.
Recognizing him, Hok’ee swiftly lifted into the air, flying off as fast as his wings would carry him, leaving the others in the dust.

* * *

TTT𝔐aking his way back to the cave, he landed so abruptly onto the stone ledge his paws slid a few feet forward.
“Harmosa,” he gasped out of breath, taking a moment to regain himself.
She was already awake, walking over to him.
“Where were you?” she asked in a fairly uninterested tone, yawning.
“Viscets are going to start building in Igasho much more, I saw it all myself!” Hok’ee finally said, pacing through the cave.
“Cool it, Hok’ee, you’re going to hyperventilate,” Harmosa remarked with an uneasy laugh, adding, “what’s all the fuss? So what they’re building more, that’s a good thing.”
He spun back to her, confused by her response. ‘Why doesn’t she care? This is serious,’ he thought, “good? How could this possibly be a good thing?” Hok’ee demanded with irritation, awaiting her response.
There was a brief silence.
Harmosa sighed, putting one of her paws to her forehead.
“I already knew this was going to happen; I spent a month in Treali scraping up money to come here,” she replied slowly, visibly wincing at her own words.
Hok’ee paused, not sure how to respond.
“You already knew, and didn’t tell me?” he asked simply, pronouncing every word in such a way as to make them feel like sharp needles to the ears of Harmosa.
“I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d do something rash,” she admitted with a hint of regret, swallowing hard.
“Oh yeah, thanks for that,” Hok’ee sneered, taking a few steps away from her, his anger overwhelming him.
“They have a good reason for wanting to do this, you know,” she shot back, continuing as he glared at the cave wall. “Treali has been plagued for years with overpopulation; as well as those on the street not being able to buy food because it’s far too expensive, since most food is imported.”
“That’s not my problem,” Hok’ee interrupted with a snap of annoyance, making Harmosa walk closer to him and face the viscet.
“Stop being so self centered for God’s sake,” she remarked in exasperation, Hok’ee chose not to return her gaze.
“I want to protect my home, what is ‘self centered’ about that?” he asked, looking into her stubborn eyes.
“You’re impossible,” Harmosa declared with a heated sigh, striding towards the cave’s exit.
“Where are you going?” Hok’ee quickly inquired, trying to act like he didn’t care in the least.
“I just want time alone, alright?” she responded, turning back to him for a moment before spreading out her elegant wings and flying off.
Watching as Harmosa soon flew out of sight, he leaned against the stone with his arms crossed. ‘She’s just . . . too young to understand the real reason.’ Hok’ee thought to himself, remembering back to when he was around twenty one like her; but she acted more like she was a teenager compared to him. He was now twenty six, but it felt like it had been an eternity since his teenage years.
A smile came across his face as he recalled some stray memory; but quickly grew solemn once more.
A sudden thought thrust into his mind, one he had hidden away for years.
He had to go back.
He had to warn them.
Raising his head, Hok’ee aggressively extended his powerful wings, springing from the ground and into the sky.
Hok’ee knew what he needed to do; just wasn’t sure if he had the courage to do it.

[~Teya~]

ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔣𝔬𝔲𝔯

TTTℑn the midst of the sole part of Igasho where Hok’ee rarely ventured, he scanned the familiar landscape. Every mountain, stream, almost every tree, he recalled.
Passing by a point where he could still see the reminiscence of charred and burnt trees, Hok’ee grimaced, looking down at the withered, black, dead trees that had not yet fully decayed.
Eventually making it past this point, he looked for any signs of life. But not just any life.
On the horizon, he could’ve sworn he saw smoke from a fire.
Going in for a closer look, Hok’ee dove from the protection of the clouds, gliding above the land.
Once relatively close to the smokes source, Hok’ee let his wings guide him to the surface of the earth, his paws moving through the grass before touching the ground peacefully.
Taking in one long, nervous inhale, he headed for the smoke once more, folding his wings away.
Walking the span of a few minutes, he made it past a patch of thick brush, seeing the source of the fire still a little ways away, with multiple small, wooden structures surrounding it.
“Hok’ee?” someone uttered in shock.
He froze, whirling to face the voice. In front of him stood a reddish brown viscet; although it had been a long time, he knew who they were.
“Hello, Risco,” Hok’ee responded, bowing his head a moment in greeting.
“I thought you would’ve died by now, or left the mountains completely,” Risco mused in a genuinely surprised tone.
Hok’ee slit his eyes in annoyance for a second, but let it go, saying, “I need to speak with Makya.”
Risco raised an eyebrow. “I should’ve known,” he commented, seemingly to himself as he waved for Hok’ee to follow him. “I can’t wait to see the tribe’s faces,” Risco added with a smirk.
Before long, the pair made it past the trees and into the open area where the rest of the viscets were located. Immediately, a viscet carrying a basket closest to them stopped, dropping what they were carrying and stared at Hok’ee as he passed by them, mouth open in shock.
Ignoring the other viscets that came from their wooden dens as they whispered amongst one another, he followed behind Risco.
Farther into the heart of the village of sorts they went, other viscets peeking from behind doors and visclings attempting to hide behind their mothers, curiously stealing a glance at Hok’ee. Others gave him dirty looks as he past, muttering things under their breath.
A light, sandy-brown viscet appeared from within one of the weathered oak structures, appropriately placed in the center of the others. The viscet instantly locked eyes with Hok’ee.
Risco stopped, backing away from him.
Hok’ee barely let out a single breath as the old viscet walked slowly towards him, looking him over. The viscet’s expressionless face suddenly turned into a bright smile, holding his arms out.
Hok’ee hesitated a moment, almost thinking the viscet was tricking him.
Embracing the viscet and closing his eyes for a moment, he allowed the memories to come flooding back to him without pushing them away.
It felt strange, but a good kind of strange; he hadn’t let another viscet come so close to him in a long time, yet, it felt right.
Releasing Hok’ee from his warm embrace, the viscet looked up to him once more.
“You . . . have grown,” Makya remarked, chuckling a little.
“You look as good as ever, Makya,” Hok’ee commented with a soft smile, noticing his fur had a lot more white than he had recalled.
Makya scoffed, changing the subject. “After all this time . . .” his voice trailed off, attempting to read Hok’ee with his keen yellow eyes.
Hok’ee instantly felt extremely guilty; for eight years, Makya had been left to only speculate what had happened to him. “None of that matters now,” Hok’ee began, but Makya interrupted.
“It does, Hok’ee, it matters to me.” He urged, his expression becoming serious.
Hok’ee looked away, feeling the many prying eyes fixed on him.
“The viscets from the city are planning on taking over Igasho,” he abruptly added, glancing back to see Makya’s reaction.
He was silent, contemplating Hok’ee’s words. The other viscets around them continued to whisper loudly.
“How do we know you’re not lying? So you can have Igasho all to yourself!” a viscet in the crowd suggested.
“He always was real quiet; like the ‘lil bugger was plotting something,” another muttered suspiciously.
Hok’ee’s irritation grew steadily as the viscets continued ganging up on him. ‘Are they honestly too inept to realize their well being is in danger?’ he thought to himself in exasperation, trying to contain his aggravation.
“I never trusted ‘em, that’s for sure.” a third viscet insisted, staring at Hok’ee with judgmental eyes.
He couldn’t take anymore of this.
“You treated me like dirt, like I was a lesser viscet than the rest of you,” Hok’ee snarled, glaring angrily at the viscets before him.
They turned from a roaring crowd to deathly silent within seconds, some looking from one to another for support.
“When my parents left me alone in their den after I hatched, waiting for me to die, because of my ‘curse’, none of you did anything,” he continued, a slow burning fury kindling within his eyes, and his voice echoing throughout the valley in a somewhat haunting way. “An innocent, starving viscling, crying, screaming for food, and what did you do? Every one of you took one look at me, and turned your backs.” he finished, looking each viscet in the eyes. Without fail, they glanced away.
“Hok’ee,” Makya murmured, laying a kind paw on his shoulder.
Turning his neck, Hok’ee gazed at the only viscet who had ever truly cared about him, refusing to allow the sharp sting in the back of his eyes to turn into tears.
“I believe you,” Makya said, eyes full of understanding.
“What are you going to do about it?” Hok’ee asked, sighing deeply to help regain his composure.
Makya shrugged, “the only thing we can do. Nothing,” he remarked, removing his paw.
“But, Makya --” Hok’ee argued urgently, only to have him raise his paw to be quiet.
“We cannot stop them, Hok’ee -- we can only hope they leave us be.” Makya confessed, his face solemn with defeat; nothing could change his mind, and Hok’ee knew better than to try.
“I’m not going to let them, I promise -- for you.” Hok’ee replied, standing tall.
Makya shook his head, “no, Hok’ee, I don’t want that!” He pleaded, as Hok’ee unfurled his wings, rising into the air. “Hok’ee, don’t go!” Makya begged desperately, but it was already too late.

* * *

TTT𝔗apping his claws against the cool rock floor, Hok’ee sat in the cave, alone. Still awaiting Harmosa’s return.
Sunset was readily approaching, and he was beginning to worry, wondering what could be keeping her. She couldn’t have been mad enough to leave, right? Flicking a tiny pebble across the room, he groaned in annoyance, laying his head onto his right paw.
A moment later, Hok’ee heard the sound of paw pads walking close to the cave. Quickly lifting his head, he observed the bluish-yellow of a viscet’s face from outside the cave opening.
“Hi,” he remarked, twitching his ears.
“Hey,” Harmosa responded simply, sitting just outside the cave, saying nothing more.
Hok’ee stayed where he was for a while, masked by the darkness of the cave.
Slowly getting to his feet, he paused, before walking over to her and sitting once more.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Harmosa began sincerely, turning to him.
Hok’ee smiled a little. “It’s alright; it’s not like this could have been prevented if you did tell me.” he commented with a shrug.
He watched as the sky went from its normal blue to an array of pink, orange, and purple; bathing the surrounding mountain landscape with its vibrant color as far as the eye could see.



There was another period of silence, the pair of viscets gazing at the view. He hesitated once more, before eventually building up the nerve to say what he was about to say.
“Would you like to . . . know more about me?” he asked, biting his lip, he just knew that came out wrong.
Harmosa smiled, “I’d love to,” she remarked, letting out a small laugh at his obvious awkwardness on the subject. “Tell you what: You tell me about your childhood, and I’ll elaborate more on mine.”
“Deal,” Hok’ee replied, returning the smile. ‘Where do I start?’ he thought, puzzled, turning his gaze back to the mountains.
“Well, when I was a viscling . . . unlike you, I didn’t have any friends,” he began, fidgeting a bit. “Since everyone thought I would bring them bad luck, amongst other worse things, I mostly lived in solitude, left with my own thoughts . . . except for Makya, of course,”
Harmosa tilted her head, “Makya?” she questioned.
Hok’ee looked her way as he continued, “Makya is the leader of the tribe; they took me in when he exiled my parents.” he said, the last two words leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.
Harmosa nodded, allowing him to resume.
“Anyways, my childhood wasn’t anything nearly as interesting as yours; one of the few joys in it was Makya’s stories he told before I slept,” Hok’ee admitted, smiling at the thought.
“Like what stories? I’m curious,” she inquired, glancing up at him.
Thinking back to when he was a child, he tried to pick out a certain one. “Makya liked to tell me of the adventures he had had when he was much younger; like the time he and his father encountered an enormous sized bear while on a hunt. Or, the year it rained so much the tribe had to relocate temporarily because of all the mudslides,” he said, a scene flashing through his mind of Makya and him, sitting by a fire as they talked.
“Wow, sounds like Makya had one crazy life.” Harmosa remarked with a laugh, making him laugh as well.
“He did alright,” Hok’ee replied, a hint of envy in his scarlet colored eyes.
“So, how did you manage to escape those viscets who ‘worshipped’ you?” Hok’ee asked with a small smirk, intrigued.
Harmosa waited a moment to reply, stretching out her wings instead.
“Until I was around twelve, I was fine,” she started, rubbing the back of her neck. “But, then I started to realize something. My friends didn’t actually care about me, they only cared about what I could do for them.” Sighing softly, she added, “I was afraid of being alone, so I still hung out with them, but . . . it was never the same; I began to notice almost everything I did, was for others.”
“So, what happened?” Hok’ee asked, completely enthralled at this point.
“By the time I was seventeen, I was miserable; I didn’t even want to go outside, fearing others would take pictures of me,” she confessed, her gaze locked on the mountains straight ahead.
“I tried to cut off my own wings, once,” she said, all emotion drained from her face as she turned to him for a moment.
He sucked in a breath, it was almost impossible to even fathom the notion.
“That’s when I realized something; even if I did that, the viscets of my city wouldn’t stop. And I would be left with no wings, and flying was one of the only things I loved,” Harmosa remarked, a smile brightening her features. “So, I left; my aunt knew I needed to go, so she didn’t stop me. Now here we are, four years later.” she said, her tone much more cheerful as if a large weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
“That’s great,” Hok’ee responded with a smile, looking her way. “I’m glad you got away from that.”
Harmosa blushed a little, “wanna get some sleep?” she questioned, gazing up at the sky as the stars began to show in the growing darkness.
Hok’ee nodded.

[~Teya~]

ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔣𝔦𝔳𝔢

TTT“𝔗ell me again, Makya!” a little Hok’ee exclaimed happily, scooting in closer to the brown viscet, and looking up at him with curious eyes.
Makya chuckled, “alright, alright. But just one more time,” he stated sternly, but couldn’t help but smile down at the child. “When I was about your age, the tribe was in a nasty shortage of food; and around this time me and my brothers decided to travel as far as we could to find more.”
“Don’t tell it so fast; I don’t want to go to sleep,” Hok’ee whined, glancing at his bed.
The adult viscet scoffed. “I’ll try,” he commented playfully, resuming. “After we all left, trudging into the unknown, it took us two full days before seeing anything bigger than a rabbit -- but then, we saw them. Right before sunset.”
“What did you see?” Hok’ee asked, mesmerized, despite the fact he already knew.
“We saw three deer, grazing by a nearby stream; but there was something special about these deer,” Makya said, letting out an untroubled sigh as he recalled them. “They were white deer, very special indeed.”
“What happened, then?” Hok’ee inquired eagerly, hooked on every word.
“My brothers suggested we try to get two of the deer, but I refused,”
“Why?” the viscling asked right on cue.
“I didn’t think it was right to kill such beautiful animals, but at the same time, the tribe needed the food, badly,” Makya admitted, continuing, “we compromised. There were two male deer, so we decided to take one of them; then there would still be a male and female, so in spring, there could be even more white deer.”
“But don’t your people come first before a simple animal?” Hok’ee countered with a yawn.
“You have to remember, Hok’ee, you cannot always get your way. You must compromise, and in the end, that compromise might just turn out to be a good thing.”
Hok’ee made a weird face, “whatever you say, Makya, I gue--”

He awoke, his peaceful dream suddenly thrown away from the center of his mind, as he was being gently shaken.
“What’s the matter?” Hok’ee muttered, still in his drowsy state.
“Come with me,” Harmosa responded a bit mysteriously, attempting to drag him from his sleeping place.
Hok’ee took a look around his surroundings; it was still pitch dark, and probably the middle of the night.
“Where are we going?” he demanded in irritation, refusing to budge until she told him.
“It’s a surprise -- now let’s go,” she pestered, wandering over to the cave’s exit.
Hok’ee shook his head in annoyance, resentfully getting to his feet and walking out of the cave exit with her.
“Follow me, alright?” Harmosa instructed, jumping from the rock ledge and soaring into the air.
Leaping off the ledge to join her, Hok’ee followed Harmosa into the night. There was nothing but the moon and stars that were still high up in the sky, to illuminate the pair of viscets with its inviting glow.
Past many mountains and meadows they went; farther and farther away from where they had started. And he still had no idea where she was taking him.
Before long, he found himself flying past the borders of Igasho, and that was when it finally came to him where they were going.
“Why are we going to Treali?” Hok’ee questioned, his deep annoyance showing in his voice.
“You’ll see,” Harmosa replied simply, in the same ‘mystery tone’ as earlier.
Hok’ee groaned, becoming tired of her games. He should just go back; there was nothing stopping him.
But, he didn’t. For some reason, he found himself nevertheless following her. The faraway, foreign city lights growing ever closer.
More time passed, and before he knew it they were coming into the outskirts of the sleeping city.
Well, not really sleeping -- it was still busy despite the late hour.
Hok’ee’s eyes widened in astonishment at the sheer scale of the buildings, before him where structures made by other viscets, as massive as mountains! It was hard for his brain to comprehend, but here they were. Near the base of these buildings, more cars than he had ever dreamed to see in his whole life time zoomed about, in all different shapes and sizes.
The lights. There were lights all over; covering the city with their marvelous glow. So many colors, from white, to red, to green, to blue, almost every color was somewhere in Treali in the form of a light.

“What do you think?” Harmosa questioned, turning to him with a smug smile.
“It’s . . .” Hok’ee began, his voice trailing off.
“Let’s go in for a closer look, shall we?” she suggested, descending closer into the city, eventually landing on a nearby building that wasn’t quite as tall as the others, Hok’ee following suit.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my entire life,” he mused, looking up at the towering, shining city that filled his senses.
“Why did you bring me here?” Hok’ee asked, slightly confused.
“I wanted you to see it for yourself; with your own eyes,” she remarked, her eyes reflecting a few of the various vivid colors in the city.
Extending his neck off the edge of the rooftop, Hok’ee stared down at the lively streets below him, still in a state of awe.
He observed the many unique viscets below, wondering what they must do with their life. Most viscets walked down the sidewalks quietly, just minding their own business. Others off in the distance could be heard shouting at one another; why, he’d probably never know. The viscets in cars he could barely see.
Noticing a group of viscets now, they were situated in between two buildings. Each one had a thin blanket as they crowded around a fire, shivering in the cold. Looking closer, he could see a number of visclings mixed in with the adults.
He turned his gaze swiftly away, choosing instead to admire the skyscrapers once more.
Little by little, however, his eyes kept falling back to the gathering of viscets.
A thought flashed through his mind; that of him as a viscling, shuddering in the night as he cried for his parents, and for food, but they never came back.
“Let’s go back,” Hok’ee said half mindedly, moving away from the edge.
“You sure?” Harmosa asked, turning to him.
“Positive.”


* * *


TTT𝔄s the pair of viscets flew back into the familiar territory of Igasho, Hok’ee was silent.
He needed time to think, to contemplate what he had seen in Treali.
What if . . . Harmosa had been right this whole time, and he was just being selfish, thinking of no one but himself?
But that wasn’t true, at least, he thought so. He wasn’t trying to protect Igasho for himself -- he wanted to protect it for the mountains, the life that would most likely be destroyed, and for Makya.
The visclings of the tribe never wronged him either, why should they have to flee their home?
‘Why should visclings in Treali have to starve because there isn’t enough food?’ Hok’ee’s own thoughts shot back, his mind beginning to feel like it was having fighting matches with itself.
Coming close to the cave, he had an idea.
“Harmosa, you had your fun guiding me where you wanted to go; now it’s my turn,” Hok’ee announced, motioning her to follow him.
She obliged, allowing him to take the lead, with him veering in a different direction.

“Are we there yet?” Harmosa grumbled, glancing up at the sky. Sunrise had already begun, streaks of yellow and pink showing in the early hours of morning.
“Patience,” Hok’ee responded, gliding above the trees as he maneuvered his wings. “Here,” he added hastily, slowing his wings as he landed on the nearby ground.
Putting one paw up to his lips, he signaled for her to be quiet, and proceeded to walk through the thick weeds.
Once up a small incline, he crouched to the grass, gazing down at the little valley below him and Harmosa, where the tribe resided.
“Is that your --?” Harmosa questioned slowly, Hok’ee soon interrupting her.
“Yes, it’s my old tribe.” he remarked, his tone solemn.
“But I thought -- well, I don’t quite know what I thought before,” she admitted, seemingly bewildered.
“Tell me one simple thing, Harmosa,” Hok’ee began in the same serious tone, facing her. “What will happen to them, if all of Igasho becomes filled with plantations and neighborhoods?”
Harmosa opened her mouth to speak, then hesitated, closing it once more. “Not all of Igasho will be like that, they could close off certain sections?” Harmosa responded hopefully, returning his gaze.
“How do you know Treali would do that?” he countered, expecting this optimistic response from her.
Her eyes wavered, but refused to give in. Harmosa shrugged, obviously not knowing what to say.
There was silence, both of them looking back towards the homes of the tribe.
None of the viscets were awake it seemed; the world around them still.
“Why did you leave?” Harmosa asked curiously, keeping her eyes on the wooden structures below.
Caught off guard by the question, he pondered if he should tell her.
She told him about her past that wasn’t all pretty, why shouldn’t he?
“By the time I was eighteen, believe it or not, the tribe started to warm up to me. I even had a few friends,” Hok’ee began hesitantly, moving his tail slowly back and forth. “Around this time, me and my friends decided to explore Igasho for fun. What we didn’t expect to find, however, was an old campsite,” he sighed, continuing. “Long story short, being the dumb kids we were, we had the idea to play with the matches we had found, since we were used to making fires naturally, we thought it was cool . . .” his voice trailed off, pausing for a moment. The painful memories rushing back.
“By this time, I had decided we should go back. But they kept going, stacking all of the items strewn about to make a fire.” Swallowing hard, his expression turned angry. “They lit the things with a match, and for a while, it was normal,” he said, his words one by one growing faster.
“But then . . . suddenly, there was a hissing sound from within the blaze, and before we could do anything, noises so loud you had to cover your ears erupted from the fire, along with terrifying, fiery masses of color that were the source of the ear bleedingly loud sounds, blew from the fire and hit us, but mostly fell to the ground, setting fire to the grass within seconds in multiple places.” Hok’ee stopped, staring down at his paws and closing his eyes.
Harmosa looked towards him. “You don’t have to go on, Hok’ee,” she suggested gently, placing part of her wing over his to comfort him.
He flinched, yet didn’t pull away. “No, no. You should know,” he replied, glancing in her direction for a moment, her caring eyes staring into his for a moment.
“I attempted to fight the fires, while the others ran away, but I couldn’t do it. There wasn’t water nearby, so by the time I found some, the flames had grown out of control into the dry brush,” he said, his tone dignified.
“I left, completely defeated. Flying back to the tribe, I found that everyone was already packing to leave.” Slitting his eyes, he resumed. “The other viscets began yelling at me, saying it was all my fault -- despite the fact I was the only one who even tried to put out the fires.” He couldn’t hide his anger anymore, and chose not to. “Almost the whole tribe chanted for my execution, because somehow it was all my doing that this had happened. They even started turning on Makya, since he was the one who raised me.”
Harmosa’s expression turned to shock mixed with disgust, stiffening.
“Makya was furious, pointing out to the parents of the other viscets who had been with me, would have to be executed as well. That’s when it turned from execution to exile. But only me, not the others, because I wasn’t redeemable; but they were.”
“That’s insanity!” Harmosa exclaimed lowly in exasperation, shaking her head.
Hok’ee shrugged. “Anyways, the tribe turned on Makya, full force this time. They said they would kick Makya out of his own tribe if he didn’t exile me, so . . .” his voice trailed off, Harmosa anxiously awaiting his next words.
“He wouldn’t do it. And I knew how much the tribe meant to him, he had kept the peace for so long, helped them prosper, tried to teach them how to be wise . . . but in their blind mob rage at losing their homes, nothing would stop them.” He paused, straightening his posture.
“I knew then what I had to do; I spread my wings wide, and flew away, never daring to look back.” Hok’ee finished, gazing up at the much lighter sky with a grim expression.
“So . . . that’s the real reason you protect Igasho?” she asked.
“Something like that,” he replied plainly, coming to a stand. “We should go back, they might see us.”
She nodded, opening up her wings as he did, and lifting from the earth.

[~Teya~]

ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔰𝔦𝔵

TTT“𝔇o the mountains ever become less impressive?” Harmosa inquired, smiling blissfully as the two soared on their way back to the cave.
Hok’ee laughed. “No, I don’t think so; there is always something new to discover within them,” he remarked, gazing down at the scenery below. From cascading waterfalls full of power and grace, giant redwood trees that no one knew the true age of, to the smaller things, like purplish yellow wildflowers and the soothing songs of the birds, he took a moment to appreciate it all.
His ears twitched, picking up a peculiar humming noise off in the distance.
“Do you hear that, Harmosa?” he asked, a bit perplexed.
“Um, just barely?” she replied, glancing in every direction, looking for the source of the sound.
The two continued to twist their heads about, failing to find what was making the strange hum.
“It sounds like . . . multiple razor-like objects, moving very fast through the air. Kind of like if we flapped our wings as fast as we could, it makes an ‘airy’ sound?” Hok’ee suggested, even more confused than before.
“Hok’ee, I think I migh--” Harmosa paused her own sentence as a large, dark gray flying object appeared from within the thick clouds they were below.
“What in the?!” Hok’ee exclaimed, jaw dropped, despair consuming his mind.
“It’s just a helicopter, Hok’ee, it will probably fly right by us without a second thought,” Harmosa quickly explained in an attempt to calm him.
As the helicopter approached from above, it looked to be passing right by them.
A second later, however, it dove straight for the viscets.
“Why are they doing that?!” she screeched, the both of them not wasting any time to propel themselves in the opposite direction as swiftly as possible.
Before Hok’ee knew it, this ‘helicopter’ was gaining on them incredibly fast, mere yards away now, the raging noise of the thing close to deafening.
“We have to land before it catches us!” Hok’ee yelled, trying not to look back at the ominous helicopter.
“What?” she yelled back, the sound of the big, blade-like things simply too loud to hear anything.
Sneaking another glance back at the helicopter, he caught a glimpse of two viscets; one of which was the color of gray.
‘Could it be?’ he pondered, struggling to concentrate on his own thoughts.
Something suddenly flew before his eyes, halting his speed completely as he struggled to free himself, the rough net seeming to compress the more he moved.
He saw as Harmosa made it past the trees, landing somewhere unseen. She probably hadn’t noticed his disappearance; he only hoped she remained hidden and didn’t try to free him.
His eyes made their way upwards, glaring at the viscet who hung his sleek head out of the window, pointing something at him.
A moment later, something stung his shoulder.
Glancing down, he realized it was a dart, removing it from his skin.
With one last whack of defiance to the constricting net, barely able to move at this point, Hok’ee’s vision blurred, colorful spots appearing before his eyes until there was nothing left but a neverending abyss of blackness.


* * *





TTTℌe stirred, feeling a cold metal surface beneath him. His wings were wrapped tightly in cloth, rendering them useless.
Refusing to open his eyes for fear of what he would see, Hok’ee listened. At first, a heavy silence filled his ears, hearing nothing but the constant ringing in his own ears.
A single, bone-chilling scream echoed throughout the halls, alerting him to being inside a building of some sort.
Sucking up the courage to raise his eyelids, he looked around his bleak surroundings. Dim lights hung from the ceiling, revealing the large cage he lay in, and the number of other viscets in the room as well.
“You should’ve tried harder to get away,” one viscet murmured.
Turning their way, he stiffened with regret at doing so.
Their eyes were bloodshot, drooling profusely as they chewed on the cage bars. From their mouth, tusks protruded out, that were lined with marks where some of the tusk had been chipped or broken away.
“How long have you been here?” He asked, also regretting asking the question the moment it left his lips.
“What is . . . not here? There is only here, always here,” the viscet replied, biting harder on the steel bars.
Hok’ee closed his eyes for a moment, taking in a long breath as he attempted to stop himself from panicking.
‘I’ll find a way out of here, I have to,’ he thought shakily.
The door to the room opened with a squeak. “Hey sunshine, had a pleasurable nap did you?”
Hok’ee didn’t look at the male, fixing his eyes on the white wall opposite the door.
“I do hope our accommodations are to your liking,” he added with a happy laugh, as if oblivious to where they really were.
The viscet stooped to Hok’ee’s eye level now, smirking to show his pearly white teeth. “You’re even better than her,” he remarked in a low tone, his smile growing bigger. “The things we could do with your wings, mm.”
“I’d like to see you try,” Hok’ee shot back, a growl reverberating from his throat.
The gray laughed once more, just with more of a sense of a laid back psychopath brewing inside them.
“You’d be surprised by the things we have learned to do with a sole, mutatious viscet,” he stated, getting to his feet. “Purely for scientific purposes, of course,” he added innocently, strolling back to the door. “You’ll see what I mean later.”
“What did you do to them?” Hok’ee asked with a snarl, pushing his entire weight against the cage, but nothing happened.
The viscet turned for a moment, pausing.
“What is necessary,” he said, stone faced, leaving the room.
Hok’ee’s heart felt like it was leaping from his chest when he heard the ‘click’ of the door closing. Swallowing hard, he let his gaze fall back to the other viscets around him.
The first he noticed had an ice blue fire coming from where the fluff on their head should be, while another possessed multiple long and short horns growing in a few different places. Yet another had small, delicate, butterfly-like wings attached to their arms.
Every one of the viscets’ expressions were either frightened, or blank, no emotion left in their tired features.
“I’m going to break out of here, and get you all out,” Hok’ee promised, trying to sound as convincing as he could muster.
“No one ever leaves this place, it’s useless to try,” a female with triple ringed eyes and messy hair muttered, eyes welling up with tears.


* * *


TTT𝔗he next time Hok’ee came to, he found himself being dragged from his cage by two viscets.
Before he could process what was going on, they were pulling him forward through the blindingly bright halls, it taking a while for his eyes to adjust.
By the time his vision focused, he was being thrust onto a metal table and strapped in. Fighting was futile.
A second later, a group of viscets entered the room with clipboards, looking him over.
“Quincy, you've truly outdone yourself with this one,” one viscet commented, taking a step closer to Hok’ee.
Hok’ee snapped at them, growling madly. “You all sicken me,” he retaliated angrily, pulling at his leather bindings.
“Hot-blooded, I see,” another joined in, propping his glasses up.
Quincy smirked. “Everyone knows they are the funnest to break,” he remarked, returning Hok’ee’s infuriated glare, while adding, “imagine if normal viscets could grow wings; we would all be millionaires selling that.”
“Do you think it’s achievable?” one countered, skeptical.
“Anything's achievable, Louis, even if it takes years of figuring out how something ticks.”
Hok’ee continued to attempt to loosen his straps. “You’re mad, all of you!” he sneered, forcing his mind to keep calm and not scream.
Quincy rolled his eyes, looking uninterested at Hok’ee’s accusations. “Joe, could you shut him up? I’d rather my paw not be bitten off, as well.”
A large viscet walked up the Hok’ee, holding a black object in his paws.
Hok’ee quickly made a move to bite the male; only to have them clamp his jaws shut forcefully, and place a bizarre device on his muzzle so he could no longer open his mouth.
Hok’ee shook his head violently in a frugal attempt to remove the ‘thing’, but it was no use.
His heart beat faster and faster with every passing moment, feeling like it was almost pushing against his rib cage, as one viscet cleaned a syringe.
The viscet walked over to him, sticking the needle through his skin to draw blood. Another viscet cut a few hairs of his neck fluff, and after that, took a tiny knife and scraped a part of the skin on his wings away, putting it in a bag.
He tried desperately to scream and yell for help, but all that came out was a pathetic, muffled noise. The more he fought, the more the pain worsened.
Closing his eyes tightly, Hok’ee held his breath; praying for it to end.


* * *


TTT𝔖ilence.
The other viscets had left, leaving him on the stiff table with his thoughts.
‘Where is Harmosa right now?’ He wondered, a little dejected. ‘At least she’s probably safe,’ Hok’ee thought, his spirits lifting. He would rather himself suffer than her.
His body stung from all the poking and cutting, but he’d live. He was more afraid of what they would do next.
If this was the start, what was the ending?
Everything that had previously been in the center of his mind; the tribe, Treali, everything, now appeared distant.
Why was he so stubborn, was this his punishment? Had all of the mistakes he had ever made led him to this point, is this where he would die, being experimented on?
Was he doomed to be a labrat for the rest of his life, when he could have accomplished so much more given time?
But, would he really have done anything? For eight years, had he really done very much, besides brooding in the mountains and scaring away other viscets?
Hok’ee shook the many clashing thoughts that raced through his mind away; none of it really mattered anymore, not really.
An alarm suddenly blared through the halls, echoing far and wide.
Hok’ee swiftly looked to the door, seeing no one.
Confused, he started tugging at his restraints.
Maybe there was an error in the system, and this was his only chance of escape?
He began to lose hope, they were simply too tight to twist his way out of them. He couldn’t give up, however, pulling as hard as he could and ignoring the burning sensation he now felt.
Hearing stifled noises in the distance, Hok’ee stopped.
He could barely make out viscets shouting to ‘get down’ -- that was the only comprehensible words he heard.
The sounds grew closer, when he thought he heard a familiar voice.
“Hok’ee?” the feminine voice questioned from somewhere in the hallway.
He banged the back of his head repeatedly on the table, trying to get her attention. The cruel device around his muzzle still hindered his speech.
The door opened, revealing a viscet of striking colors who couldn’t be mistaken for anyone else.
“Hok’ee!” Harmosa exclaimed, a smile of relief lightening her features as she rushed over to him.
Unbuckling the straps on the thing around his muzzle, she hurriedly added, “my gosh, are you okay? I was beginning to think I’d never find you!”
Hok’ee paused, just taking in the fact that he was, indeed, free. “I’m . . . great,” he responded, laughing a little.
“Did they drug you?” Harmosa questioned doubtfully, raising an eyebrow.
He grinned happily, “no, I just, thought I was going to die, that’s all,” he remarked with a shrug.
Harmosa’s concerned eyes softened, finally relaxing. “I can understand that,” she said jokingly, working to remove his leather bindings and wing restraints.
Once she was finished, Hok’ee slowly got off the table, wobbling slightly.
“How did you manage to not only follow a helicopter -- but break into wherever we are as well?” he asked, puzzled.
Harmosa blushed. “I had some help; come see,” she urged, walking into the hall.
Hok’ee followed.
Eventually, the pair turned a corner, where multiple other viscets were located, some wearing blue hats with golden badges in the center, who were leading out the viscets Hok’ee had seen in the cages near him earlier.
Making their way out of the building, Hok’ee realized where they were.
The outskirts of Treali.
“Surprised?” She asked, looking up at him.
“A little,” Hok’ee admitted, adding, “who were those viscets in there?”
“Law enforcement,” she replied with a slight smirk. “You sort of owe Treali now,” she remarked with a giggle.
Glancing behind Hok’ee’s shoulder, her expression sombered.
Hok’ee turned to see what she was looking at, to come face to face with none other than the mayor of Treali.
“Why did I have a feeling she was talking about you?” The mayor commented, a faint smile crossing his face, but still stayed back a little from Hok’ee; probably fearing he’d tackle him again.
“I, uh --” Hok’ee stammered, scratching the back of his neck.
“When your friend here barged into a police conference with me in it, since the front desk thought she was a bit eccentric, I couldn’t help but see what all the commotion was about,” he added, nodding at Harmosa.
Hok’ee didn’t say a word, shocked the mayor hadn’t thrown him in jail yet.
“Anyways, Harmosa told me rapid-fire what had happened to you, and also mentioned your predicament with Treali,” the mayor continued, unable to hide his grin now. “You should have asked, Hok’ee -- we already knew about your tribe, we’ve known about them ever since the ones who started it left Treali to ‘do only what is natural’. We blocked any sort of construction within a ten mile radius of them, is what I’m trying to say.”
Hok’ee’s jaw dropped for a moment, suddenly feeling incredibly stupid.
“Well, I’ll be seeing you. It was nice meeting you again.” The mayor finished with a wink, strolling away and getting into a nearby car.
“I didn’t realize you two had met before,” Harmosa commented curiously.
“Briefly,” Hok’ee muttered, clearing his throat as he avoided her gaze, trying to find something to change the subject.
At that moment a helicopter flew overhead, quickly making its way into the distance.
Hok’ee slit his eyes, growling low. He just knew Quincy was in there.
“That’s the same helicopter!” Harmosa exclaimed angrily, “whoever’s in there is getting away,” she huffed, sighing deeply.
“Let’s not worry about that now, Harmosa, there’s nothing we can do. Why don’t we head back to Igasho?” Hok’ee suggested, looking out at the faraway mountains.
Harmosa was quiet, her eyes downcast in thought.
Turning back to her, he tilted his head, wondering why she was hesitating.
“I . . . can’t go back with you, Hok’ee,” Harmosa announced slowly, meeting his bewildered gaze.
Hok’ee tried to speak, but she held up her paw.
“Knowing that there are other viscets out there like us, who could be heartlessly experimented on as we speak -- I wouldn’t be able to live with myself staying,” she said, her tone confident. “But, I don’t want to go alone. Hok’ee . . . will you come with me?” Harmosa asked, her desperate blue eyes clinging to hopefulness.
He paused, glancing back at Igasho once more. “I can’t,” he replied, swallowing hard.
Bowing her head in defeat, she spoke. “Good luck, then.”
With that, Harmosa turned away from Hok’ee, opening up her wings and getting a running start before flying off.
Hok’ee watched as she made her way farther into Treali, not looking back.
He wanted to call out to her, tell her how he really felt.
But Hok’ee simply stood there, watching silently.

An idea suddenly crossed his mind, causing him to rapidly sprint after her, lifting into the air.
Before long he caught up to Harmosa, the pair now deep within the city.
Harmosa’s eyes widened when she noticed him, her expression mixed with happiness and shock.
Landing on a nearby building, she whirled to face him once more.
Hok’ee grinned mischievously. “What if . . . there are other viscets out there, in cages, being experimented on? Well, they will need somewhere to recover, won’t they?” he asked, looking down at her.
“Igasho?” She responded enthusiastically.
Hok’ee nodded.
“Does that mean you’ll come with me?” she asked, looking to barely believe her own words, unable to contain her excitement.
Hok’ee paused, pretending to contemplate the offer.
“With you?” Hok’ee questioned playfully, looking her over.
A second later, he found himself impulsively kissing her. “How could I possibly refuse?”

[~Teya~]

Credits:

Story done by me
Big thanks to everyone who read / gave me advice on my story!

Word count: 13,907

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