Two of a Feather Heal Together

Sosio sat at the edge of the hill that met the pond on the bottom of the slope. Her knees were bent, and she sat on her feet. Before her lay her loose wing, sprawled and disheveled on the ground. She stared at it, lost in thought.

What did I ever do to deserve the loss of flight?

She sighed and used her other wing to push the broken one behind her and stared ahead. The calm water of the pond lapped gently against the sandy dirt that lined its bottom and edges, silty yet soft. Sosio's favorite tree stood off to the left of her, blowing quietly and sweetly in the soft wind. The Pond was more empty than usual as the late day reached sunset. A beautiful time, yes, but hardly enjoyable with no company, and definitely without the ability to fly. Maybe she would never feel the wind lift her wings again...

The gentle breezes that disturbed the leaves of the trees that surrounded the small pond also ruffled the feathers of Arietta's wings as she glided overhead, enjoying the view of the sunset from her aerial position. She was often too focussed on challenging herself as she darted across the skies of Grassveil than she was in taking in it's sights, but when she did there was no question that she appreciated their beauty.

The hues of blue faded gently into orange, and if one looked carefully enough they could also identify a line of purple on the horizon. Such beauty and colour was a daily norm that only became incredible when one stopped to appreciate it.

Arie relaxed in the air as she witnessed the sun beginning to set, gliding along on the gentle breeze and only flapping her wings when she drew too low to see the the sun over some of the taller trees in the area. The young Fletchling felt so free in the sky and it definitely showed in her behaviour as she enjoyed ever second of it.

Sosio's attention to her surroundings was quickly averted as a familiar mess of feathers flew overhead. The identical blue-grey feathers and the reddish-orange head that belonged to this bird being lifted by the evening sea's breeze filled the grounded Fletchling with an irrelevant rage.

It's Arietta... Sosio muttered in her thoughts.

Without much reason, Sosio had a burning hatred for her fellow Fletchling. The injured one felt like the other was a bit of a show-off, especially because Sosio lost her ability to fly, not to mention she was a bit of a know-it-all, claiming that technically Sosio didn't discover the Copse herself.

Sosio dug her feet into the ground, flattening her bow with her right wing, hoping maybe the other Fletchling wouldn't notice her presence only just below. Under her feathers, Sosio's skin turned hot and red near the back of her neck, a reaction to her beak being clenched with anger. 

With a joyful chirrup at the setting sun, Arietta found herself back into her usual habits of performing aerial manoeuvres such as twists and turns, dives and loop-the-loops. With a small grin, she span around, furling her wings in as she dived down a little, only to unfurl them quite suddenly and take off upward once more.

The young Fletchling was so absorbed in her fun and freedom that she initially neglected to notice the tawny joy ribbon that was wrapped around her left leg falling from it's position and tumbling like a feather towards the ground below. When she did notice, she was flying upside down and happened to glance at her leg and find it missing. Quickly looking back down to the ground, she flipped to her normal direction, stomach facing the ground and tried to spot where it might have gone.

Sosio's beak still remained clenched as she couldn't help but watch the other Fletchling fly about. Jelousy grabbed at Sosio's heart and caused her to look up at the bird angrily.

I could do so much better when I was able to fly, the upset bird convinced herself, trying to make herself feel better about her condition. Sosio's agony, both mentally and physically changed the way she thought. Usually, the Fletchling was as peppy as a vannilite in the winter, but now she was just Norbert the Negative, looking upon everything as if it were her enemy.

When Arie's bow began to fall to the ground plaintively, Sosio stared at it as if it were just a leaf, and landed itself on the tree. Seeing Arietta look around for it, Sosio pointed with her talon that was once resting before her seated body, calling, "It's on the tree," with a horse voice.

Arietta blinked at the voice that called out to her as she hovered, scanning the area for her joy ribbon. The ribbon was soon forgotten however as she spotted Sosio and fluttered down towards the other Fletchling.
"Oh! Hi Sosio! It's been a while," she smiled cheerfully. It took her a moment to remember the other Fletchling's handicap but upon doing so, Arie gently landed on the ground and furled her wings.
"So.. uh, how have you been?" Arietta asked. Something seemed a little off with Sosio though.. almost as if she was annoyed or something.

Sosio's eyes widened when the flighty Fletchling stated her name and approached her rather than going after her fallen ribbon. The injured bird's eyes went back to their half-circle shape almost immediately after being asked the question, 'how she was doing'.

"Well, I'm still stuck without flight because this wing is still broken!" she rambled while holding up her injured wing with the other, getting louder at the end of her sentence. She would've been fine if it weren't for... She sighed at the realization it wasn't even Arie's fault that Sosio was injured. In fact, Arietta had nothing to do with it at all, so Sosio should stop holding this random grudge against her. She stood up, looking equally at Arie as if she were a mirror image, the only difference being that Sosio had her bow, and the other didn't. It was almost as if the only two Fletchlings in the Grassveil area here were little quarreling siblings, but as soon as Sosio evolved, she'd be the 'big sister'.

Arietta blinked as the other Fletchling's tone got louder as her sentence grew longer.
"Whoa there, no need to shout," she replied with a small frown. Clearly she'd caught the injured Fletchling at a bad time... though Arie didn't quite realise that she was actually the cause for Sosio's irritated mood.

"When was the last time you tried to fly using it?" asked the uninjured Fletchling, tilting her head to one side in slight curiosity. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the other bird. After all, if she'd injured her own wing she wouldn't know what to do with herself. Everything Arietta did daily revolved around her flying and taking to the skies in some way or another. She'd feel so hopeless if she lost that ability.

Sosio lowered her head and shook it wistfully.

"Every second I wish I could fly, but it's just so limp, I can't even lift it. It's too heavy," she said with a calmer voice overcome by her sadness, showing that it was hard to lift. She hadn't fully used that wing since it hit her she never would be able to again. She didn't even bother to fully try anymore.

If Sosio could only find a magic potion of some sort, or somehow just overcome the laws of injury and simply break out of this cage, flying freely once more. Sosio wished she were strong--in the real way. Not muscles and brawn, but the ability to keep going in the time of injury. That was why she kept trying so desperately in denial, but she's finally reached the acceptance stage of grief.

The young Fletchling nodded as she listened to Sosio's words, pausing for a moment after she finished speaking. Arie blinked, glancing at the wing for a moment in thought, before slowly moving closer. She then poked it quite suddenly with one black claw and waited for Sosio's reaction as if testing something. Hopping backwards a step or two after performing this action, Arietta quickly glanced up to double check that her tawny joy ribbon hadn't blown away, making an effort to hide this small gesture from her fellow Fletchling.

Sosio watched her wing be poked with wide eyes. Upon it being touched, Sosio released the tension it took to keep it in place, causing it to fall beside her own claws. It didn't seem to hurt, like broken limbs were supposed to. In fact, it felt rather numb, and the movement made it feel a little tingly. Because of the tingling, it must mean that her veins are cut off and not properly bringing blood to her wings, which explains why she can't lift it. Maybe that means she can fly again...

Arietta's expression broadened into what could only be described as a grin as she realised that Sosio hadn't made any reaction that could be assumed as pain, only vague shock at her poke.
"I don't think it's broken anymore," the young Fletchling commented with a positive trill, "You should give it a go. You'll never know if you don't try."

Arie glanced around for a moment before nodding to where her ribbon was still clinging to a branch on the tree it had landed in.
"You could aim for my ribbon," she suggested with a smile, flapping her own wings as if to demonstrate how to do it.

As Arietta exclaimed her theory, Sosio looked up from her wing into a full-on pure happiness grin at the young bird. She began to grow excited just thinking about her finally being able to fly again. If it was true, for that matter, but everything was worth a try. At her next suggestion, the Fletchling with the pink Ribbon nodded enthusiastically and looked up at the tree where the other bird's item of apparel landed.

Sosio's normal wing spread easily, but of the part on the other, only being able to feel and access her shoulder muscles made the once-broken wing feel heavy. The muscles next to the shoulder, however, began to tingle uncomfortably. The more the movement in that wing, the sooner it would "wake up" and be able to be used again. As Sosio began flapping, her numb wing flopped weakly, controlled only by the shoulder and simply flopped. With great effort, she tried to stretch the muscles, the uncomfortable tingling growing stronger but eventually subsiding as she gained control over the muscle, and the tingling moved on to the next segment.

Feeling her wing just about to the tip, but some parts of it still asleep, the Fletchling began to flap, her control in one wing not as strong as her control in the other, but still ran forward on the down-hill terrain. Reaching an altitude that was fairly proportional and realistic for her to reach the tree, and had enough of a running start, she leaped, and began gliding. Her wing was a little limp however, and she "stumbled" in the sky. She straightened herself, however, and continued to flap with both wings, her left wing beginning to become harder to lift. When back into a short glide, she stretched it out as far as it could go again, and strengthened out one more huge flap and landed. She was on a branch of the tree. She looked around, and spotted the Ribbon, and chipperly she picked it up and pivoted with a hop to look at Arie. Sosio was very surprised.

Arietta watched Sosio curiously, keeping an eye on her in case she had been wrong about the other Fletchling's wing and she wasn't quite ready to take to the sky again. It seemed she needn't have worried however when Sosio managed a short glide over to the tree with her tawny ribbon in it.
With a smile, Arie took off and fluttered after her, landing shortly after Sosio had located her ribbon.

"Knew you could do it," she grinned, oddly proud of her new friend for trying despite how hopeless the idea might have seemed initially.
"You should keep using your wing to strengthen it again," she added, "It might take a while but I imagine it'll be back to normal soon enough as long as you don't neglect it." Arietta smiled, accepting her ribbon back from Sosio and re-tying it back around her left leg where it belonged.

Seeing that Arietta recognized her newly re-gained ability of flight, and as she flew over, Sosio smiled broadly. When the other Fletchling landed beside her, the branch bounced and threatened to make Sosio fall. She began flapping her injured wing, in efforts to both maintain her balance, and to shake of the rest of the tingling in the wing. She was surprised her wing wasn't deformed, or smaller in any way, but she sure was glad it wasn't.

She listened attentively after she finished flapping away the pins and needles, and nodded at her new friend.
"Sure thing!" she exclaimed, not knowing what else to say. She was just excited and glad to have her flight back, and the first thing she was gonna do was continue her journey now that she can fly again.