The Vagabond.

Chapter 5: Thunderous descendant.

The adolescent Dartrix flew through the storm, thunder striking all around him, with heavy rain soaking his feathers and making it progressively harder to fly.

He groaned in dissatisfaction and out of exhaustion, with the closest piece of land being about half a nautical mile away. It was a small island, just off coast of Akala.

The blue owl was getting progressively more soaked, the density and sheer volume of the water that stuck to his feathers dragging him down.

"No... I refuse..." He smiled widely and flapped his wings even harder, struggling to uphold the weight of himself and the water on top of him.

"I refuse... to die... like this!" Dartrix yelled out into the storm, determined to get to the piece of land that was just a quarter of a nautical mile away.

A little more! He knew he could do it; no, he WOULD do it! The owl closed his eyes and focused on his breath, not caring about what's going on around him.

The thunders may rage around him, the tides may crash against each other in an endless stream of cruelty, the winds may drag him down with immaculate force...

"...But even then I won't give up! That is not what my purpose is! I am not going to die alone, in a storm!" He yelled, doing his best to keep up his pace.

One tenth of the way remained. So close he could taste the cold and damp ground that spread underneath. Dartrix laughed, mere moments before disaster struck.

A thunder hit his back, causing him to instantly fall unconscious, spiralling down into the watery abyss below him. His wings fell limp as his eyes closed permanently.

Despite all his efforts, all the things he went through, all the people that were cheering him on... he still died and failed them all.

Dartrix's beak was the first to make contact with the raging waters, with the rest of his body following suite. He couldn't hold in his breath, and so he sunk with no air in his lungs.

The abyss below was so different from the one above. So peaceful, so... quiet. He laid under the crashing waves, still and unmoving. Careful not to disturb the quietude.

The sea slowly moved his limp body around, swaying him gently and rocking him back and forth. Multiple fish swam by him, staring at the underwater owl in curiosity.

It was dark. No sun could pierce through the stormy clouds or the oceanic waves. The water was slowly dragging him further down, drowning him slowly.

As Dartrix's life slowly withered away and drifted out into the endless stream, the sea slammed him against a rock, then a coral... It was playing with his limp body like a toy.

The coldness of the water was oddly warm, compared to the outside air. It was comforting, like the blue owl was back at his house again, enticing him to stay just a little longer...

And then, that same cold air that he had flown through just mere moments before had hit against him again. The ocean dragged him out to shore, where he laid motionless.

A sudden punch, coming straight for his chest, woke him up and caused him to eject all the water in his lungs out.

He rolled to the side, coughing violently as he slowly regained his vision. The smell of the salty water was horrid, and the taste wasn't any better.

His nostrils were full of water, and he sneezed time and time again, trying to get it all out. Eventually, he succeeded and laid on his side, out of breath and energy.

Dartrix tried standing up, but his legs would not obey. They were limp, and didn't seem like they were about to move in the slightest. The same thing was happening to his wings.