Night Wings

Chapter 1: Caught!

Oh, shit, I thought to myself when I landed and saw a bunch of people staring at me.

I was just at some local coffee shop eating a donut with my best friends Aurora and Zara when some stupid little bird had to swoop down and take my phone. Then I had to be stupid and fly up and wrestle it out of its claws. Just as the cops had to come by for their morning coffee. Smart, right?

Aurora and Zara glared daggers at me as the cops surrounding us loaded guns and aimed. I smiled to myself. They don't know that we can't be killed by guns. So I just stood there firmly as they fired.

My friends and I fell to the ground from the shock of the blows, but we weren't even injured. All three of us just stood back up and crossed our arms defiantly. Then as everyone around us stared in shock and started whispering to others around them, we took off our sweatshirts and flew away.

*****

"Clover, what were you THINKING?!?!" Aurora exclaimed when we finally found a tree to hide in safely.

"That stupid bird took my phone!! You would've acted the same way, and you can't deny it!!" I told her as I played with a leaf.

Aurora glared at me and growled, but didn't say anything else. Her blue streaks started getting darker in her dark brown hair.

"Well, now what are we going to do? We can't go into town at all now since they'll recognize us," Zara pointed out.

"I guess we'll have to do the morning patrols now," I said blankly.

We all groaned. Morning patrols are boring. There's nothing to do, and nothing happens most of the time. They're usually chosen as punishments for camp members who break the code.

"Should we tell the camp what happened?" I asked.

"You don't need to tell us," a voice behind us said.

We turned around and saw the camp leader, Jay, glaring at us angrily.

"What... How do you know?" I asked.

"Some members of our tribe heard rumors of a group of teens 'flying away.' Care to explain?" he asked.

"The fu- I mean, stinking bird stole my phone!" I told her, stopping myself from cussing. Everyone knows to NEVER cuss in front of Jay. Once someone did that and got kicked out of the tribe. Well, the punishment we could be getting is probably going to be as harsh as that. Jay's voice didn't sound too promising.

"So you exposed your identity and the safety of all the others in the tribe for a stupid phone?" Jay questioned.

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Instead I looked down at the ground and at everything except Jay.

"Well, I have patrol to do right now. When I'm done, we'll discuss your punishment. All three of you be in my hut by sunset," Jay ordered. Then he and the rest of the patrol left us.

******

"You three will be in charge of morning patrols, afternoon chores, and scooping horse poop for the next two months. And you get last pick at the food," Jay told us.

All three of us groaned. Like I said before, morning patrols are boring, afternoon chores make you really sweaty and smelling like horse crap, cleaning horse poop from over 100 different horses wasn't exactly fun, and the last stuff at the food table is always cold, stringy, and tastes like garbage. And we're carnivores, so the only food we eat gets spoiled easily. We can't eat plants and stuff. They're nasty and make us barf. Literally.

"Just remember that I can do a lot more if needed," Jay reminded us. "Don't make me go further. Am I clear?" My friends and I nodded. "Good. Your new duties start tonight. You are dismissed." Aurora, Zara and I nodded and left Jay's hut.

So Aurora and Zara are ignoring me now. Fun, right? I almost got them to talk to me again in the middle of cleaning one of the last of the 100-something stalls, but then the food came in. They had started talking when they announced it, but then both Aurora and Zara glared daggers at me and went to scoop up the horse grain and hay. I finally gave up and finished with the horse stalls.

While I'm helping with the afternoon chores, I'll explain a bit more. My name is Clover. I have blonde hair, with the normal blue streaks, that goes past my shoulders. Both Aurora and Zara have brown hair, except Zara's is darker and reaches to just above mid-back. Aurora's hair is about an inch shorter and lighter. But both of them show the blue streaks that show what we are. We are part of the Blazing Flame tribe.

There are multiple tribes of us Night Wings. Each one has around 200 of us. Each one has a special power that is given to each member at a certain age, normally at 15. Our power is fire. We can do almost anything with it. But it must be used carefully or it can be taken away by Cirrus.

Cirrus is our god. He's the one who creates us, watches over us, and lets us join him if we die. He's deeply respected among all the Night Wings, so everyone must do what he says or very severe consequences are brought on you. If you mess with Cirrus, basically prepare for death.

I cleared my head as I gave the closest horse to me a kiss on his soft nose. Then I left looking for dinner.

Everyone had already made it clear that the food pile was almost empty. I grabbed three scrawny dead squirrels, headed to my hut, and took bites out of them as I read a book. Eventually Aurora and Zara came in and stopped ignoring, so I talked to them before I fell asleep with a book on my face.

*****

I was jolted awake by someone shaking me in the middle of a bad dream. My friends and I were caught by the army, and whipped half to death... And the last thing I saw was all of the army generals aiming a bow and arrows at me....

"Time for morning patrols. And I need help getting Aurora out of bed," Zara told me.

I groaned as I sat up in bed. I pulled on the usual outfit that the Night Wings wore: a sleek running shirt that clung on my body snugly with slits in the back for wings, lightweight jeans, and slightly dirty combat boots.

When Zara and I finally got Aurora out of bed, we finished putting our hair into half-up, half-down ponytails and headed to the horse stables.

I chose a pretty palomino mare named Diamond and tacked her up. I met up with the rest of the patrollers in the aisle way. Then we all left just as the sun was rising.

So here I am, just walking Diamond around in my section of the woods, waiting for something interesting to happen. And almost nothing did. Keyword: almost.

A twig snapping broke me out of my thoughts. I stared into the shadows, waiting for something. Then I saw a flash of navy blue. And a police department badge.

Fuck, I thought. The cops have found me.

******

Dun dun dun!!!! Cliffhanger!!! So what do you think so far? Comment and vote!! I need something to keep me moving on with this, so everything will be appreciated! Thank you faithful followers!! And sorry for the wait! I've been busy!