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OWLS HOOTED TO communicate with one another; enticing a mate, announcing a catch and warning its parliament of danger.
Peering into the ominous amber eyes of the mysterious soft-feathered bird perched atop the guard's post, Aria found herself captivated by its abilities - Owls couldn't lose their hearing. They were always born with it and nothing could even slightly damage it. Communication was never an issue for them.
Sometimes, Aria envied Owls. For more than just their hearing - though, that was certainly the main appeal - she was jealous of their ability to break into flight and travel the world by simply flapping their wings. They didn't even have to learn, they just knew how and that was the most infuriating part.
Aria loved her life at The Hilltop. She loved the people there most of all; Leo and Enid and Jesus. Alden and Tara. Earl and Tammy-Rose.
They were her family.
But she yearned for freedom. Not consistent freedom, not leaving Hilltop or living alone, just the ability to take a lone walk in the woods and clear her mind on the mornings she woke up far too early and couldn't get back to sleep.
Her age wasn't the problem. Her fighting skills weren't either. It was her hearing - or lack thereof. It wasn't safe for her to go off alone when she wasn't able to sense danger in the same way that the majority of others were.
Leo wasn't the slightest bit prejudiced, and Aria knew that. She knew he was just concerned for her safety. He was taking care of her.
But it still sucked.
She could detect danger - albeit not in the same way that a hearing person could - and she was just as capable as everybody else. She couldn't hear a twig snapping but she could feel the vibration that reverberated across the ground. She couldn't hear the snarling of a Walker but a prickle on the back of her neck alerted her to the presence of others and it was yet to fail her. She couldn't call for help but she was capable of screaming and blowing the danger whistle Enid had given her.
She could handle herself.
They just didn't believe she could.
Now was a prime example of that - Leo wasn't back, he'd been gone for hours, so long that the sun had faded and the sky above was a dark blue blanket of night, dotted with a thousand glistening stars. Naturally, she'd wanted to send a search party out to find him after the third hour but she'd been pawned off as paranoid and now on the tenth hour, he still wasn't home and she was caged between walls unable to rescue him from whatever trouble had arisen to keep him from her.
