Avian Trails: Lost Feathers

Chapter 1

It had been one week since her sister and mother had gone to their Father's, which was in the heart of the Starlight Bay tribe. She had gone there once or twice before, seeing the beautiful glittery bay. It looks like hundreds of thousands of stars, even during the middle of the day. The water tasted different from usual water, but made you feel better and stronger. That was kind of concerning but honestly pretty cool, considering it was a once in a lifetime experience if you weren't a Rain Avian. She reminisced those memories, it was easy to hold on to since they were happy family-bonding times. Starlight Bay was supposed to be their home but their mother didn't like the place and her Father had some kind of duties to attend to. He was always seeming nervous and discreet whenever they visited years ago, she had noticed it even from the age of a hatchling.
She couldn't fathom how being in a ramshackle treehouse was much better than a beautiful palace-like home near Starlight Bay though. It was especially strange from her mother, who loved expensive and bold and glitter that said 'LOOK AT ME, I'M SO EXPENSIVE AND SPARKLY!!' She had seen tapestries on the walls of houses through giant windows, stalls that sold beautiful jewels and treasure and expensive food. She had always had an eye out for something special and shiny for Jiggit. Misty was always too argumentative and aggressive to have been gifted something so delicate and shiny but food was a good start.
The thought of Misty dragged her back from reminiscing. She sighed, shivering in the coldness of the room. It wasn't just the cold that made her shiver; she had a little bit of fear too. It had planted itself in her mind as she watched her mother and sister reduce into no more than speck in the sky a whole week ago. She always had this kind of doubt, that her sister and mother wouldn't return. What if Misty got attacked? What if their mother got attacked? Misty was kind of mean but—
   "VINELLI!" She heard her name being called, it was her brother. She stood up in her small, dark room and strode to the door which was made up of tangling vines and strips of color. The house was barely lit, only flickers from small flames of candles every now-and-then.
    "What Jiggit?" She was directly looking at Jiggit. Jiggit had dark brown hair, and brown wings with tan ends. He was at the end of the hall, holding up a rock. Vinelli paused, furrowing her eyebrows. "What's with the rock?"
    "Can you make this into like, uhm.." he was putting on his thinking face, clasping the rock tightly. He fidgeted with his green coat for a little bit after. There was a long moment, and Vinelli looked more annoyed by the second. "..like, squish? Or mush, or something," he said finally.
Vinelli sighed, going towards him and taking the rock. "Okay, but you won't bother me afterwards," she proposed, tilting her chin up a little. Jiggit hesitated, then nodded begrudgingly. He always likes pestering people with questions and requests, she thought with a smile, but it does get annoying SOMETIMES.
She then moved her hands in an ever-so familiar way, waving her hands in slow and flowy motions. The rock turned liquidy and then mushy. She grumbled with the rush of exhaustion that came after she made something a different state of matter. Though, it was a very powerful skill and not many avians had magic or matter manipulation at all. Her mother always wanted her to use it for her own gain of power, but it was too hard for Vinelli to use it. Though that was mostly a lie, the ginger-haired avian just wanted to not be exploited. The exhaustion was infact real though, the headache was too.
    Jiggit cupped his hands, looking excited. "Thank you Vinelli," he said quickly in a high-pitched voice. His eyes shined as he looked at the rock-mush. She dropped the mush into his cupped hands, and then went back to her room after telling him that it was "no problem." The tangled vines that made up the door to her dark, dark room was adorn with ribbons and beautiful fabrics that her mother sometimes came home with. Their mother usually travelled to markets or other places a lot, leaving a lot of time for her and her siblings to argue and fight and not bond at all.
She pushed through the tangled vines, engulfed by the darkness in her room. She had felt something soft-ish as she pushed through and looked back, maybe moss started growing on it. Vinelli then looked back towards where she was walking, careful to watch her step. She didn't mind that it was dark, avians saw just as fine in the dark than light- though a bit hard to make out certain, tiny details. The cold was harder to bear with, though. She spread out her wings and they felt uncomfortable. She realized hadn't gone trying to fly anytime soon and her wings were getting sore from being dragged around all day.
It was too dangerous to go out lallygagging or flying though, maybe unless it was a certain someone she was hanging out with. She shook her head in the thought. I shouldn't be thinking about her, she told herself sternly INSIDE her mind. Not saying that aloud of course, Jiggit would hear her and get all nosy if she ever talked to herself. She kept her thoughts mostly to herself either way, unless it was important- really important.
She strode over to her plantstuff bed and just laid there. She spread her wings so they could touch the floor, and huffed to herself. It was alarming that she could barely see her own breath in her room out of all places. How cold is it in here? The freezing temperature sparked another question: How could Snow Avians or Ice Avians or WHATEVER avians survive these freezing temperatures year-round? They must be fairly special to survive in the glaciers and the top bit of the island where it was all tundra and ice and freeze, she concluded. Why am I bothering myself with these questions anyway, she asked herself, it's like I'm turning into Jiggit. She glanced at a long strand of her ginger hair and looked down at her blue and then tan and then red wings. Okay, not actually turning into Jiggit, she assured herself with a tiny giggle.
She closed her eyes, breathing out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She had a tendency to hold her breath for a little too long and with a breath a little too short. She wrapped herself up in her wings, her soft black gloves and red coat wasn't doing any good against the cold. Her wings were freezing. She knew and anticipated Jiggit would also come in her room once he had enough with his rock mush (or lost it) and would be hungry and tired and cold, overall a smart-mouth and a little idiot.
Why did her sister and her mother think that she could handle Jiggit, let alone herself? She suddenly thought with such sudden hate. They held too high standards for her, the MIDDLE child of the family. Misty, out of everybody, should have higher standards, she thought enviously. She sighed after a good moment, regaining control of her emotions and thoughts, I shouldn't be thinking like that, she scolded herself. Maybe I just need some sleep, she declared to herself, she herself was thinking like an idiot. She squeezed her eyes closed tightly and after quite a while, she found herself sleeping. It wasn't much of a peaceful sleep though, more of a nightmare wonderland decorated with demons and fire and 'RAHHH!!'. Nonetheless, she was stuck dreaming until she would be woken up, either by herself or Jiggit.