I looked over the lush lanscape that passed below me, made thick and green by the ever present rain showers. I made sure to fly in the cover of the clouds, I'd had a hard enough time convincing Haziel, the leader of our pack of Watchers, to come up here to Forks. I don't need to spotted by a human to give him reason to leave. I let my thoughts drift as the steady flapping of my wings lulled me into a state of calm.
"Why do you want to go to Forks?" Haziel had asked her, his forever emotionless face looking up at me, from the book he was reading.
"I just thought it would be a nice change of scenery, and we haven't been to that area in almost two decades. I think - " he cut me off by snapping his book shut.
"You're looking for your brother again, aren't you?" He asked, without even a blink to indicate any of his feelings towards the subject.
"I have a new lead, a really good one this time! I really think that it will be him this time..." I petered off uncertainly as he stared at me. For spending more than one hundred years with Haziel, I still couldn't read his emotions at all. They were there. I knew they were, even though he said he was without them, he was just extremely talented at hiding them. Most guardians were. They believed that they were higher than emotions. That emotions get in the way of the job that needs to be done. But I can see in the younger guardians, that as the bloodlines get more diluted, the want to hide their emotions is slipping. It seems the younger guardians are rubbing off on the older ones as well. Nathaniel, older even than Haziel, was beggining to show that he had quite the sense of humour. I guess years of suppressing your humour isn't good for you, if he's anything to go by.
"Why do you continue on this quest? You must know in your heart that he had passed on long ago. It said so in the hospital records. Why don't you just put your mind to rest and just accept that. You cannot fully do your duty as an angel until you have let go of everything from your past life." He stood there looking into my soul with his eyes, or at least that's what it felt like. I'm sure he was just staring intently though. I know for a fact that he can't see souls. Maybe if he could I'd be more sold on the idea that we are angels. I don't believe that we are angels, other than our wings, I see no other resemblance. Although being only part "angel" myself, I don't know if I can talk. Haziel strongly believes that we are messengers of God. That we are here to banish the demons and to enforce God's law. Many of the other guardians are skeptical of the idea of angels themselves, all they know is that they fight for what is right. They fight for the truth. No one can tells lies around us. Except anyone with guardian blood.
"I have been doing my duty! I fight for anything we need to with my whole being. I pour myself into everything we do." I yelled at him. I was disgruntled at the thought of him thinking I hadn't done my part.
"Elsie." He said quietly. He hadn't used that tone for years, and even then, only a handful of times since we'd met. I loved it when he broke his facade and his emotions showed. It proved that he actually did have emotions. "I know that you work hard. You are one of the best guardians that we have. I'm just worried that you haven't found a Calling yet." I stared at the ground. Not willing to meet his eyes. I knew what I would find there. For all the years I had known Haziel, the only times I'd seen him show emotion were times when he called used that voice on me, and times when my Calling, or lack of Calling, was brought up. All I had ever seen in his eyes was pity. Pity for me never having found a Calling. Something to fight for. Something to live for. Something to die for. It pained me to think of that look in his eyes, and it pained me to know that I hadn't found the one thing that our kind gives everything for. It's not like I've never wanted to fight for a cause I believed in, but that was on the human level. Guardians fight for things so strongly because they are Called to. It is what we were made to do. Many guardians die while fighting for their Calling, sometimes because they are killed, and sometimes just becuase they have finished with their Calling and after it is over they are not needed anymore, so they pass on. Many guardians have many Callings, and I've heard that one has the ability to choose whether they want to pass on after a Calling, or if they'd like to continue with their fight. The Callings dictate everything. Where we go, what we do. The feeling of kinship is strong with out regement, and one guardians Calling is everyone's Calling. There are usually enough of us to help with each major Calling, but guardians are allowed to go off to smaller Callings if they feel safe to do so alone.
I suddenly had an idea, and looked up into Haziel's eyes, "Actually, that is what I wanted to talk to you about. I had a feeling, that I need to be in Forks." I looked up at him hopefully, knowing that it was a long shot.
He looked at me, and stood there like stone, I wondered if he had actually heard me. I began to open my mouth to say something, "Alright" he said. I closed my mouth, shocked, "You may go. I will give you a week alone, and if I haven't heard word from you, or I sense there is anything wrong, I am sending Nathaniel's fleet up there to come get you." He looked at me meaningfully before standing up and crossing the room towards me.
"Be careful" He said, giving me a hug and striding out of the room.
I stood there shocked before leaving to gather everything I would need for my journey.
I smiled at the memory of Haziel breaking his emotional constraints for just a minute. I didn't have much time to dwell on the memory though, because I realized that I wasn't in the cover of clouds anymore. My daydreaming had made me unaware of where I was going and I was much lower than I should be, there were also houses scattered through the trees. I was flying over a town. Anyone could see me from here. I tried to get back to the safety of the clouds as fast as I could, but not before I heard a gunshot, and everything went black.
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I was on patrol when I saw the unusual shape break from the clouds. I looked too big to be a bird, but it had bird-like wings. I would say it looked human shaped if I didn't think that was impossible. It was too far away even for my eyes in wolf form to see, but I didn't have time to wonder about it long before I heard a gunshot, and the shape began plummeting towards the earth.
I don't know what came over me. I just started running. Faster than I've ever ran in my life. I didn't know where I was running to, just that I felt like I was being pulled in the direction of whatever it was that had fallen from the sky. I had to get there. I had to see it it was okay.
I could smell blood now. It was hurt. The thought made me crazy and it scared the only part of me that was thinking clearly. The very small part of me that had no control over my legs.
And then I saw her. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. And it hurt me to look at her broken and bleeding. I shifted back into my human form, put on my shorts and ran over to the small form lying crumpled on the ground. I checked if she was breathing, and if she had broken any bones, but it seemed that she was just been scraped from the fall through the trees. I ripped up the shirt that I had carried with me and bandaged her up as well as I could. Then my eyes came to her wings, and the deep red spot that was staining her white feathers. I took what was left of my shirt and tried my best to stop the bleeding with it. It seemed like it would be able to hold, for a little while.
Now I had to figure out where I was going to take her. I couldn't take her to a hospital because they wouldn't know what to do with her, and I'm sure she doesn't want humans knowing about her. Taking her back home would do no good; where can I find a doctor that is used to strange patients -
I wanted to smack myself for being so dumb. I looked down at her beautiful face, taking in her creamy skin, small nose and full lips. Her bronze curls tangled from the fall made me want smooth them out, but I picked her up carefully and cradled her to my chest. I desperately wanted to know what colour eyes she had under those long curled lashes, but I would have to wait until she awoke to find out.
