Flight School: Prey

Bright Night

The snowy owl; his nightingale; and the sparrow spoke little.

The three had met several other Nocturnes on the way to the main building—nothing of danger as it seems; they were simply wandering around the campus. Similar to how others would have done in the day.

But to Io's surprise, the Nocturnes didn't make a chance at them at all.

None of them dared to steal a glance at the nightingale. The sparrow, occasionally, yes, but as soon as Jiro tugged his friend closer and the predator threw a blank gaze their way;

They would look away.

It was then when the sparrow realized that he actually felt relieved, for once, that they had a strong predator around. He made a mental note to thank his roommate later, knowing that his company made things much easier.

It didn't take long for the three to arrive at the lobby of the main building; and the first thing that Io noticed was the still, quiet air that reminded him of an untouched blanket of snow.

The urge to make the first footprints would come, and like every other feeling, would pass.

And for Io, he found it so strangely silent that he would have liked to speak—just to hear the echo of his voice.

As if he was a human in a cave, or a mountain perhaps; who would have done so.

Yet, to the boy, there was a hint of pity that existed in that very urge to disrupt the quiet air. As much as he did not want to ruin the calming sight of untouched snow, Io did not want to disrupt such a peaceful silence either.

Again, none of them spoke—simply stood at the bottom of the grand staircase, waiting to Professor Callaghan to arrive.

"Cold?" A voice disrupted the quiet air to ask, and Io turned to see the predator shrugging his blazer off, soft gaze on his prey.

Jiro shook his head quickly, eyes urgent as he placed a hand on top of Slayne's to stop him from taking off his blazer.

He shook his head once more.

"Take it pet, I'm not taking a no for an answer," Io heard the Nocturne say. He felt a little out of place, wondering if this was a natural predator-prey relationship at all. "Besides, Nocturnes are used to the night breeze."

And of course, the nightingale was in no place to disagree.

There was a soft rustling, before Jiro donned twice the original protection against the cold—one, his own jacket, and now, his predator's blazer.

It was sort of silly, really. And Io wondered if the Nocturne could tell that his prey was very embarrassed. If he did, then perhaps he didn't mind at all. Or perhaps he liked it that way.

"That professor is taking long," Slayne noted in an unimpressed manner, turning to Io with a raised brow. "You sure he said nine?"

Io didn't need to look at the time to tell that it was past nine. He knew very well that Callaghan was late, and he couldn't help but wonder why. He also couldn't help but panic—for the snowy owl didn't look like a patient person.