Same, But Different

Chapter 14--We're Off to Find the Flock, the Wonderful Flock of Oz

(MAX)

Our hodgepodge, eleven-strong traveling party were camped out for the night in the middle of Central Park. I was up in a tree, seething at our non-winged companions. If we'd been able to fly, then we could've gotten back to the last place I'd seen Fang and Iggy before we got separated. But nooo. Because they insisted on following us we had to walk.

I still took the flock up to search as often as I could. I mean, c'mon. You expect bird kids to walk back to their fellow bird kids? Clearly, if Fang and Iggy were looking for us, they'd be in the air. They would've camped out somewhere and they'd be doing the same thing we were doing: going up to the spot we were last together and waiting for us. Eventually, our timing would sync up and then we could ditch these losers.

The skyline was just starting to lighten, so I decided I might as well go and snag some breakfast for my flock. And I guess our tagalongs. I hopped out of my tree and casually strode my way over to someone's abandoned bicycle. They wouldn't mind if I borrowed it, right? I just hoped I remembered which path lead back to the city. I frowned down at the park, looked around to see if anyone was around, then ran up onto a pile of rocks, snapping my wings out as I jumped. It wasn't the easiest takeoff, but it worked.

I brought back some donuts and popcorn. You know. Breakfast food. The others began slowly waking as I cooked the popcorn over a fire.

"What are doing?" Nico muttered.

I glared at him. "Making breakfast. If you don't like, go find your own."

"I think it smells great," Ron mumbled. A snore followed.

I rolled my eyes. Nudge would be easier to wake up than these people.

Gazzy came and sat next to me. "I remember the last time we had popcorn for breakfast here."

"And it was great, right?"

"The only thing you can't burn," Gazzy added with a mischievous grin. Then his expression fell. "I miss Iggy."

I gave him a quick hug. "I do too, but we're gonna find them okay? They might even find us first."

Hermione sat up, looking the most awake out of everyone so far. She frowned. "That's not a very healthy breakfast."

I shrugged. "We've lived this long."

She scowled at me, but didn't respond.

"What isn't worth it?" Angel asked her.

Ron, Hermione, and Draco all gave her a wary glance. "A Legilimens," Draco muttered. "Great."

"What's a Legilimens?" Leo asked, shoving fistfuls of popcorn into his mouth. I might be able to like this kid.

"Legilimens are able to read minds," Ron explained. "Legilmency is pretty rare, though, and bloody hard to learn."

I unfurled my wings. "We're not like you."

That was when Nudge screamed. I wiped around to find her fighting off an Eraser. I scowled. How'd they find us so fast?! The flock instantly got into fight mode as more Erasers came running up, appearing from behind rocks and hills.

"We need to get in the air!" I shouted as I leaped up, flapping hard.

"Uhm, hello!" Drew shouted. "No wings!"

Then Leo did something that nearly made me crash back to the ground. He caught on fire.

"Flame on!" he shouted, cackling gleefully as charged straight at a shocked Eraser. Yeah. I like him.

A hand grabbed my ankle and yanked me down. After that, I forgot about the others, focusing on battle mode. It didn't take long for the Erasers to retreat, however. I think the skeletons might've had something to do with that. "Wait, where did the skeletons come from?"

"That was me," Nico called weakly. He was half-collapsed on the ground, blood trickling from his nose. He looked a lot paler than before the battle.

"Let me look," Hermione said, rushing over.

Nico waved her off. "I'm fine." He staggered back to his feet. "It does that. It's nothing."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "If you don't let someone look you over right now, I'll kill you and send you straight to a hospital." I wasn't letting another macho guy nearly die from refusing to admit injury.

He scoffed, rolling his eyes as he dug around in a nearby backpack. "I didn't know I meant so much to you." He pulled out something that looked like a slab of honey and took a bite of it. "I'll be fine so long as I don't do it too often. Trust me."

"Do you have a doctor's note?" I asked, crossing my arms.

He smirked. "Actually, I do. The Hermes cabin made me sign a statement that I wouldn't shadow travel or raise the dead more than a certain number of times per week."

I shrugged. "Fine. If you die it's on you." I turned to see how the other tagalongs had done, only to stop and just stare, jaw slack.

"W-what did you do to them?"

Draco shrugged, his gaze fixed on the ground.

"Well," Ron said, rubbing his neck. "There was some petrificus totalis, some Killing Curse, some sectum sempra, ..." He shrugged. "Whatever was needed, I guess."

"I'm glad you're on our side," Gazzy said nervously.