The Winged One

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PART TWO OF CHAPTER TWO: TRAPPED IN THE JAWS OF A CANYON
(THIS IS IT FOR NOW. MIGHT WRITE MORE? PLEASE ENJOY. AND SORRY FOR BEING GONE SO LONG. I HAVE JUST LOST INTREST IN WRITING.)

An uncomfortable amount of bright light forced Rakou to slowly peel his eyes open, grimacing at the glaring sun. Then, it hit him. He had crawled into some sort of rock formation, but all the rocks that had been above him were gone. Grunting, he painfully pushed himself into a sitting position. His wings were crumpled and dusty. All his wounds had been cleaned but with his movements some of the bloodied scabs had split open, new blood running down his arms, legs and even a few trickles of blood ran down his wings, staining the gray white feathers a unhealthy red. Rakou glanced to the left, then the right. No one was there, making him uncomfortable. Someone must have seen him and decided to save him. So where was his savior? Suddenly, a large form landed inches away from him. Rakou flinched, throwing his bloodied arms up to defend himself, hissing in pain as his back protested with the sudden movement. The form spoke. “Careful. Your back is still healing. Don’t be too reckless.” Rakou lowered his arms a fraction, though he kept his eyes narrowed. “Are you the one that saved me?” A light chuckle. “You could say that. You’re interesting though. I haven’t seen one of your kind around before. So...what kind of tested are you?” Rakou frowned. “Tested?” The form sat down. “You know...like in a lab. We folk aren’t born naturally you know.” Rakou squinted at the stranger. “Are you a tested too then?” Something fuzzy brushed against his leg. Rakou glanced down, starting a bit as he saw a sandy yellow tail twitching against his leg. Looking up, Rakou took a good long look at the stranger. By the voice he could tell that it was a female. Black striped yellow ears were pointed fowards with interest. The girl had short sandy blonde hair. Her eyes were a sand baked yellow. Her pupils were slitted like a cat’s. She wore a black t-shirt and light blue shorts. She wore no shoes, and her toenails were sharply pointed, like claws. Her fingernails were too. Every time she talked, Rakou could see glimpses of sharp fangs. She was lightly tanned, and a bit dusty. Rakou guessed that this girl has spent most of her life in the canyon. She had a wild aura coming off her, ferocious and mischievous. “What’s your name?” He asked hesitantly. The cat girl waved a hand. “Eh. Just call me Sandy.” Rakou nodded. “Okay....Sandy.” Sandy smiled at him. Rakou blinked and looked away, suddenly shy. The cat like girl stood up, walking behind Rakou. Twisting his head around, Rakou blinked at her. “What are you doing?” Sandy rustled around, lifting up a few stones, then pulled a dusty rag out, sneezing at the dust. Rakou watched her, curious. “I’m going to rinse this cloth, because I need to clean you up. Just because you’re feeling better doesn’t mean you’re perfectly healthy. And you got blood all over you.” Rakou looked down at his wings, the blood had been washed off, but they were still broken and mangled. His back still had streaks of blood, and crusted bloodied skin around his wounds. He sighed. “I guess it’s going to be awhile before I can fly again.” Sandy looked him up and down. “Yeah. You aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.” Standing up, she left Rakou to dwell in his unfortunate fate. As the sun climbed higher into the sky, Rakou tried getting up, his legs shaky. Finally, he was able to bring one knee up, the other leg laying awkwardly on the dusty ground. Panting, he looked up to see Sandy approaching him, holding the now damp rag and an armful of various berries. Dumping the berries beside Rakou, she stared down at him. “Stop pushing yourself. You’re gonna die at this rate.” Shaking his head, the winged teen simply said, “No. Determination!” Grunting, Rakou forced himself up, swaying a bit. His vision blurred, making him dizzy. Stumbling over to a rock wall, he leaned against it for support, turning his head to smile at Sandy triumphantly. Sandy sighed. “Even if you force yourself to walk for days...you won’t get anywhere. You’re stuck in this canyon as I am. Now get over here before I drag you back myself.” Hanging his head in defeat, Rakou made his way back slowly, flopping down in the spot where he roughly was before. Sandy squatted behind him, scrubbing his back, being careful not to touch his wings. Rakou flinched. “Ow...not so hard.” Sandy didn’t say anything, and didn’t increase or decrease her pressure on him. Rakou grumbled to himself, wincing whenever she struck a sore spot. Finally, after about ten or more minutes, she stopped. Rakou leaned foward and fell onto the ground, eyes closed. “Thank goodness it’s done.” He whispered. He could hear Sandy snort. “You’re such a baby.” Rakou lifted his head, glaring at her. “What was that for?” She shrugged. “I don’t know. I just thought that it wouldn’t hurt you this much.” Sighing through his nose, Rakou spoke. “I hate rough treatment. It reminds me of when I was tortured.” Sandy went rigid, the fur on her ears and tail bristling. Rakou sat up, tilting his head. “Sandy?” She blinked, and looked at him. “Yeah?” Rakou narrowed his eyes. “Is, is something wrong?” She smiled fakely at him, her fangs flashing. “It’s nothing. I was just...thinking that’s all.” Rakou turned his head to look at the ground, tracing lines in the dirt with his finger. “Oh.” Was all he said. Sandy turned away from him, biting a nail. ‘We’re all the same. Tortured. Beaten. Used for nothing but tests and observations. What makes us think we can survive on our own? When we’re so broken inside? When all we want to do is survive but can’t see past our own noses?’ Something touching her startled her. She turned, seeing that Rakou had laid a hand on her shoulder, icy blue eyes narrowed with worry. “Hey...are you sure you’re alright?” Sandy studied him. Broken wings trailed uselessly through the dirt. Scrapes and scabs were red and dirty. Silver blonde hair draped over one eye and was just long enough to touch his shoulders. Icy blue eyes held a strange fire behind the dull expressionless face. She shrugged his hand off walking to the entrance of their little hideout. Moving her head to look at him, she smiled. “Let’s go scout out this place. A canyon can’t hold someone like you down here. You are meant to be in the sky. Free.” Walking to stand beside her, Rakou nodded. “But if I’m escaping this wretched place, you’re coming with me.” Tucking a strand of sandy blonde hair behind one pointed ear, the girl looked up at the sky peeking in through the jagged spires of rock near the top of the canyon. “Ok....Rakou.”