Fly With Your Heart

Chapter Nine

WARNING! The video above depicts a eagle KILLING a rabbit, watch only if you want to, and if you do, and don't like it, its not my fault.

Thank you.

     I sat on the branch and studied the slope below me. Kinosew perched beside me, and both our stomachs rumbled at the same time. We hadn't eaten almost more than a day, and my friend was hoping to catch us something.

     The gray rock was barren, save for the occasional patch of wind-blown grass. We were perched in the only tree, which almost wasn't even a tree. It was so small that it barely rose two wingspans above the ground. Hopefully, the sparse needles would conceal us enough. I scanned the ground, and froze.

     "Kinosew," I whispered, scarcely a breath, "there's a rabbit." My companion looked at me with a quizzical expression. I nodded windward from where I was facing. Kinosew turned to look. He began to open his wings, but then stopped.

     "Watch what I do very closely. Basically, the point is to get there as fast as possible without it noticing me. When you hunt, make sure your shadow doesn't cross too close to the animal." I nodded as he said this, and turned back to the rabbit. Kinosew dropped down, and flew low to the ground. The rabbit was a league away, and it seemed as if he didn't want it to see him coming.

     That made sense. If the rabbit saw him, it would run away faster than an eagle could fly. Kinosew was now half the distance. The rabbit still sat in the same position, munching the grass. I watched in awe as my friend got closer.

     And closer.

     Closer.

     The rabbit was facing the opposite way, so when Kinosew landed on it, it didn't see him. I cheered from my spot as he caught our meal. I launched myself into the sky and flew over quickly. Kinosew stood proudly over the kill, and I shrieked in joy as I landed next to him.

     He smiled and began to rip off a piece for him before passing the rest to me. I stared at it for a while. I'm grown, I thought, I need to learn to hunt my own food. "Kinosew, I... I think I'm going to try and catch my own prey."

     He grunted in response and continued eating. I waited for him to finish, impatiently shifting my weight from talon to talon. Kinosew seemed to take forever, and before he could take a good breath, I took to the air. "C'mon! Let's find another rabbit!" I called, my friend following me slowly.

     We glided among the fleecy white clouds in silence. I scanned the rocks below, keen eyes searching. Kinosew seemed somewhat uncomfortable, I had no idea why. We flew longer, wings never sore. Still, the eagle next to me seemed impatient to say something.

     "Kinosew, what's wrong?" I asked, and he seemed to shrink away.

     "Kîsik... I think I should go."

     That shocked me. My wings stilled for a moment and I missed a beat. I caught myself right away and looked at him. "Kinosew?"

     He sighed sadly, "I... eagles never stay together for too long, and I think that it's time for me to leave. I'll stay until you catch something, but then I need to go."

     I glared at him, mad, "go where? I've never heard you talk about family before."

     Kinosew shook his head. "I don't know where, just not here. I'll miss you, but there's really no reason for us to stay together. I'm old, and you're young." I thought that was a silly reason to separate, but in time, I saw his point. We were not family, we were not blood. We continued flying together, but I realized we were further apart.

     The time had come for me to grow up.

     My whole life, I had had someone by my side. Now was the time to start living like a true eagle. I shook my head and dropped lower in the sky, renewing the search for dinner. The barren rocks passed by, gray and brown blurring together. The occasional patch of life showed in stark greens, but that was it.

     No movement, nothing.

     I hissed internally. I had had to find something soon. Or maybe not... if I stall, I might keep Kinosew with me for longer. Just then, a tiny moving dot caught my eye. It was a rabbit, hopping leisurely across the ground. It had no idea that two hungry birds of prey were flying above it.

     Hunger overpowered my senses and  I dropped down. I stopped still above it, high enough to get a good glimpse and double-check its position. I moved with care now, making sure it didn't see my shadow and bolt. I tucked my wings in, and dove.

     I closed in on it, wind blasting my face and dragging on my feathers. My shape cut through the air like an arrow, whizzing down at a very high speed. I was approaching it at an angle, not directly from above like a tree. The closer I got to the ground, the more I inched my wings open. The more my wings opened, the slower I flew, but still closer.

     The rabbit looked up, saw me and sped off. I glided after it with my speed, and reached out. I was so close! I could practically hear its heartbeat. I spread my wings, launched my talons forward...

     And I missed!

     The rabbit got away, still running, and I shrieked in anger. A stupid mistake, I had aimed where the rabbit was, not where it was going to be. I realized that in a heartbeat and took chase again downhill. Without my momentum, it was hard to catch up. I detected a dip in the ground before the prey – a hole in the ground.

     I pumped my wings, hoping I would make it. Faster, faster! I thought fervently. I was gaining somehow. The burrow was farther than I anticipated and I was able to reach the rabbit. I thought before I acted this time, and before I knew it my talons sunk into the flesh of the creature.

     Its squeal echoed across the mountains, and I bit into its head quickly. My beak bloodied, I set the body down in triumph.

     I did it, I thought, I caught my first prey! I cried out in joy, singing my praises to the sky and thanking the rabbit for the nourishment he gave to me. I apologised to it, bowing my head before digging in. I picked the limbs apart and swallowed them whole, too hungry to care about anything like 'manners'. Each bone was succulent, marrow trickling down my dry throat.

     During my time with the featherless creatures, they had only given me dry, tasteless meat, and I drank from stagnant, fake water. Out here, back where I belonged, the experience was quite different. I caught the food, and it was good. It was real. I could drink from waterfalls if I wished, for I was the ruler of the sky.

     I looked up at that vast blueness, a reflection of my soul. Kinosew flew in circles above me, and when I noticed him I waggled a wing. He returned the gesture, and cried out. I called back, and he carved one last loop in the air before winging away.

     I looked after him sadly, then shook my head. Now was not a time to be sad, it was a time for renewal, for freedom.

     Goodbye friend, I thought, good luck.