W.L. LEFT

Chapter Six

-

The bright room shone in the Skylight swirl.
It felt like such a normal day.
But the flock said otherwise.

She shuffled into the gathering room awkwardly.
This was most definitely the opposite of how she'd thought her day would go.

She thought, 'Just train for a while!
I'll have a normal day.
Work on that new strategy Abolo showed me.
Maybe go hunting with Ze, or join in on their lesson with Ke.'
Given, Ke was no pleasant bird to be around, but Ze was.
She'd assumed it would be so simple.

Yet, this room seemed opposite.

Na made her way across the room and settled into a seat next to Ze.
On Ze's other side, Xefu, who Ze was mumbling to quietly.

Na nestled her wings behind her tensely.
"Ze..."
She whispered.
"Ze!"
Their dark feathers shuffled cutely.
The talonette turned to Na, smiling at Xefu before leaning in to hear Na.
"Hey, Na. You showed up!" They teased. "I thought you slept through!"
Na scoffed. "This late? Maybe you're half asleep! How could I ever rest that well?" She felt a smile rise as Ze chuckled.

It was nice to talk to Ze. Especially without Ke or Lila around.

After a moment, Ze stopped laughing.
"So, have you heard yet?"
Na frowned. "Heard what?" Ze seemed serious now. The meeting had to be important, judging by the talons' expressions.
"I didn't get the whole story but Mountai-"
Abolo stood up.

The room silenced as their leader rose.
Abolo was the only bird with such authority to make any bird stop talking.
A Feather, and one of the best from Canadia.
And Na's mentor.

He looked across at the gathering of their Talon-wing.

For a moment, the room was in complete silence.

The Feather spoke suddenly.
"Everyone's here. We can start."
The Talons nodded.

A room of tension.
The wing had seen no fear as they did now.

Calm was the world of the Starry Feather.
Yet such simplicity was now disrupted.

"Some of you may have heard word of this,"

Na noticed Ze nodding slightly and Xefu shifting.

"But for those of you who haven't,"
Abolo scanned the concerned expressions around the room,
"Canadia received a certain message from Mountainia."
Oh no...
Na had an idea of where this was going.
"And they'd like a 'transition' of territory."

Murmurs rippled across the gathering.
Confused,
Furious,
Shocked,
Fearful.
"How dare they!" And "What?" And "What's wrong with them?!"
Na wasn't sure what she felt.

Why Canadia?

"Talons!" Abolo called over the disarray.
The Wings' voices simmered into silence at Abolo's word.
"We need to plan for this."
A Talonet raised their voice. "We aren't giving it to them, right?" Na looked to her side. Her cousin, Ko, looked at Abolo in disbelief.
Next to Xefu, another trainee shot up. "Of course we won't!" Fi, Xefu's brother, who Na didn't know well.
Xefu whispered to Fi, and shortly after he sat back down to let Abolo continue. Na wondered if she should have spoken to Ko like that.
Like a responsible Talon.

Abolo looked at the chaotic trainees for a moment before continuing.

"The seven Talonplaces must come to a decision before we do anything.
Mountainia has given us thirteen Swirls before they do anything."

"One thing that moron could get right." Abolo glared at Ke after his remark.
Oh please kick him out!

To Na's dismay, Abolo said nothing.