Silverbird, p.32
Silverbird, page 32
“Well there’s Malana, my daughter, and there’s Storm who’s the boss, as well as Kat, Beth, and Comet, Raoul and his son Palmer. And I think now also one of my biological brothers Wilheim.” Wilny spoke up, leaping up off of the counter and away from Neve’s hands that were slowly creeping towards his tail feathers. “That’s not including the Daggers and Storm’s extended family.”
“So many of you.”
“It is. When we’re all together, Amell cooks for us all.” Wilny smiled, looking down to Amell and patting his shoulder hard. “A huge meal, kinda like one of those banquet feasts you see in movies.
Kahili looked in shock at Amell.
“You can cook? When did this happen? You couldn’t even peel an apple right.”
“He can cook! He’s also an amazingly good artist and is one of the most supportive and kindest members of my family, and really good at holding his own in a fight. You should see him throw a car.”
“A car?”
“Yes! He’s crazy strong!”
The Eagle Avio blushed a little under the compliment and Wilny’s proud protectiveness. “Wilny, don’t big me up like this.”
“Why not. It’s the truth.” Wilny smirked, flourishing a wing towards the family who ducked at the suddenness of the gesture. “You should tell them about the ship heist and how you fought an AutoMech hand-to-hand.”
Willow narrowed her eyes at the mention of the word heist, but Amell began to explain to his family with some laughter about what the Rogues did and what went down with the ship heist from several months ago. As he spoke, Wilny stretched his back and headed outside to get some fresh air, letting the breeze rustle his feathers up and cool him down.
He didn’t realise how tense he had been. He had been overwhelmed by emotions both galvanising and numbing when Wilheim first appeared, but this was far more frustrating. Their heads were full of nonsense thoughts and preconceived ideas of what Amell had been through. They didn’t know how much of a struggle it had been for him, and still was, to understand the world and his place in it.
‘They’re only human,’ he mused to himself, ‘they see things differently.’
“I don’t trust you.” A voice said in a sneering tone behind him. Wilny span on his heels to glower at one of the twins who had snuck outside to light a cigarette. Grant, Wilny recognised this one as. The one who had been hostile the entire time. An icy smile grew across Wilny’s face.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re both freaks,” he snapped. A plume of smoke puffed into the air around him and Wilny swatted his wing at it to blow it away. Grant flinched at the sharp wingbeat and threw the cigarette butt to the ground and crushing it beneath his boot as he squared up to Wilny.
“Freaks?” Wilny snarled, channelling an essence of Storm’s brand of Sweet-and-Deadly mocking threat into his tone.
“You should go back to whatever lab created you.”
“Aww, are you scared of me little boy?”
“I’m not scared. I don’t care that you’re some kind of freak science experiment. You should leave us the hell alone.”
‘Do you think you’re tough, Grant?’ Wilny mused. He focused on his limbs, making Grant’s knees crumple out from beneath him as Wilny arched his wings forward and let his tail feathers whip about with the ratcheting sounds of a furious rattlesnake.
‘Do you know how much Amell has gone through? How he’s been living before he joined my family, what they did to him? No. You don’t know shit. But I can demonstrate if you want.’
Grant tried to squirm, to look away and fight back. Like his father, his eyes were such a dark shade of brown that they were black and even in the dark shade Wilny could still see terror as he realised he had no control over his own limbs and there was a dangerous voice in his head that conjured up haunting images that embossed themselves into his mind’s eye.
Satisfied, Wilny released him and tucked his wings neatly away and allowing Grant to stand. He swallowed a lump of fear in his throat, face crunched in fury and fear.
“You wouldn’t hit me.”
“I don’t need to hit you to hurt you.” Wilny continued in the sweet and charming tone. “You had better buck up and be nice to Amell because if you don’t then you’re going to experience the laws of gravity up close and personal after a jolly little flight from around three thousand feet.”
Wilny knew that there was no way he could lift him, but Grant didn’t know that. Grant slowly backed away from Wilny as Amell and the rest of the Rakena family came outside.
“Amiri’s going to fly!” Lilly declared to Grant, grabbing his arms and shaking him.
Wilny cocked an eyebrow at Amell who although a little sheepish was smiling. He gave a shrug.
“Well, I kinda think they deserve to see us in action, bro.” He said softly. Icy smile cracking, Wilny laughed.
With a few enthusiastic bounces and beating their wings as hard as they could, the pair took off down the road that led to the open hillside with the family of humans rushing after them to watch as the pair lifted off and arced above the treetops.
They weren’t as graceful as Storm, Malana, or Kat, but the Rakena family knew no different as they wheeled and rolled through the sky. Catching warm rising air, they soared in circles before folding their wings back into sharp W shapes and spiralling at speed towards the canopy of the trees below them, taking delight in the panicked and shocked gasps and yelps from the humans watching them before loop-de-looping into a skyward bound. They caught one another’s eye as they tried to mirror what the other was doing in their ill practiced but fun little air show.
‘Thank you,’ he heard Amell muse. He was happy, but happier to be in the air and flying.
With a dramatic flourish Amell landed before his family, wings and arms swept wide to show off their full scale and size for no other reason than to show off.
For the rest of the afternoon and evening, even during their meal prepared by Nana Honi and Amell, Grant didn’t utter a single word and instead moodily watched Wilny with suspicious dark eyes. Dinner with the Rakena family went incredibly well, everyone (with the exception of Grant) talking and filling Amell in on their life while he and Wilny told them stories of their days in ARCDA, until night rolled in, and it was time for the family to head home.
“So what do you think of my family?” Amell asked once the taillights had disappeared out of sight, driving down the bumpy road back to Auckland.
“Your brother Grant is a little shit, but everyone else is lovely.” Wilny said honestly, “I think your dad fractured my spine when he hugged me though.”
“They like you. Nana Honi loves you the most though.”
“And I love her.” He smiled, “Her name sounds like honey.”
“Of course!”
Laughing softly, Amell drew him into his arms, hugging him gently and resting his wings around them. The Hummingbird blinked, surprised but reciprocated by pulling himself closer to Amell and leaning his head upon Amell’s shoulder. They stood in the darkness with nothing but the dry sound of the evening time insects buzzing and birds slowly quieting down for the night, just holding each other. A soft sense of calm descended upon Wilny, sending a prickle of relaxation across his scalp, contented to be hugging Amell without the awkwardness of anyone watching him.
“Thank you for coming with me on this.” Amell said quietly, “I really appreciate it.”
Looking up to him, Wilny opened his mouth to say to him ‘no problem’ only to have the words quashed as Amell placed his lips upon his and kissed him. Wilny gasped softly, freezing for a second then returning the affectionate action, pulling Amell closer against him.
“You kissed me.” Wilny said softly after they had broken the kiss.
“So I did.” Amell laughed, a little embarrassed. “Are you upset?”
“No.” He was grateful that the darkness was enough that Amell couldn’t see his blushing face. “So, what are we going to do tomorrow?”
20
Loch Mullardoch, Scotland.
Despite her pleads and protests, Storm had expressly forbidden Malana from flying the entire length of the country up to Scotland with her. She had pouted and stomped her feet, but Storm refused to give in, leaving the little girl sullen in the Dagger’s borrowed motorhome with the rest of the Rogues, driving along below her.
For the most part, the flight was tediously boring. Following along a grey motorway, she counted castles and churches to entertain herself as the land below steadily shifted from sprawling towns and cities to a patchwork of brown and sandy-grey fields with intermittent villages and woodland areas that were slowly beginning to turn green with springtime leaves.
She checked in with Beth regularly on her flight breaks, who was giving a live commentary of Heim and Castor’s ongoing and rowdy debates on everything from bionics and Synths to food and travel.
The time alone gave her the chance to think, and to avoid Swann who was in the motorhome with the rest of her family, at his own insistence of coming with them. It still made her feel awkward to be around him, despite their conversations over the phone. There was a lot that they had missed out on in each other’s lives, and it was a little overwhelming to bring everything up all at once but here was no doubt in Storm’s mind that Beth, Kat, and Raoul were all giving him an update while she was out of the way.
The landscape became rugged and cold as they left the last remiges of civilisation to crawl deeper into the countryside. Snow still swathed the landscape in stretches of white, despite March slowly creeping into April. Pine forests broke the landscape up into fragments of deep green and black against muddied grey stone and winter-brown grass. Herds of red deer shied away in a panicked stampede as she flew low above them, then soared over the rise of mountainous hills where an overgrown road curled over the ridge into the last known location of Mullardoch.
The motorhome stopped at the highest point, and they got out to stretch – as insisted upon by Swann – so that they could get a good view of the former facility.
Contained within the valley below them stretched a long and silvery loch lined with the skeletal decrepit remains of homes and other buildings in a black smudge that had become overwhelmed in green by nature taking over. The plants were unfamiliar to them. Strange moss, ferns, and yellow arum lily-like flowers grew from the grey stone walls, whilst tough grasses and wiry twisted trees with budding leaves broke through the asphalt of old roads and pathways. Over a decades’ worth of growth had transformed the landscape.
Storm dipped a wing, soaring past the Rogues into a sweeping bank to skim the loch edge with silent observation as she travelled up to the furthest end of the water several miles away, where a curved dam still held back the water with its walls. The dam’s little maintenance cottage on the very edge of the facility which was the landmark where they would be basing themselves near, was one of the last few remaining buildings. Boards covered the windows and brambles twisted about the walls. No one had been there for years, and she knew they would have to keep an eye on Palmer to keep him from trying to explore inside.
A reflective glassy flash caught Storm’s eye on the opposing hill. In a quick sweeping arc, Storm flew up high into the grey clouds for a better view, heart thumping in trepidation.
A jeep was parked beneath a coppice of fir and pine trees, hidden well from the view of the road, but the fresh tire marks and the trampled down grass leading to the edge of an outcrop gave it away. Above the Rogues, two men watched with binoculars. Even from thousands of feet away she could see the flower-like symbol on their clothes. Hasekura were already here.
Quickly snapping a photograph of them for Beth, the two men didn’t live very long once Beth had given Storm her response on what to do. Their execution was swift. She dove upon them, heels first at full momentum and crushing them into the ground with a snap of their bones. She wasn’t proud of it, but it had to be done, as did hiding the bodies under the outcrop and scuffing up all of the grass around it to make it harder for them to be found, then getting rid of the jeep into one of the pine grove several miles away. She struggled greatly with driving as cars and jeeps were never made for Avios however she did her best.
By the time she had finished and flown back to the loch, the rest of the Rogues had piled out of the motorhome at the edge of the dam beside the old maintenance lodge. It was the only location with at least some roadway that was still useable, and the Rogues were taking in the scenery around them.
Raoul was crouched amongst the grasses with Palmer, warning the young cub to be careful, as he tracked the various scents to build up a picture of what was around them, with Kat stood still and alert beside him. Their noses twitched as Palmer copied Raoul. There was a lot of wildlife in the area, particularly foxes, stoats, rabbits, and mice. Some small birds too. Other smells were present but faded with time and weather, but it was the sound of a strange coughing-bark that got their attention.
“What is that?” Palmer asked, pointing to the direction of the sound.
At first, they could see nothing on the hillside amongst the trees and grass, then a patch of white moved at speed. Several animals, large as wolves, chased prey into the open heath.
They looked like dogs with their long faces and the way they moved, but they all had bob-tails and very large ears, with fur that matched the colours of the still-wintery grass that was striped and spotted like wildcats, apart from the one pale coated critter.
“Kurra.” Wilheim explained, surprised to see them. “I didn’t think they survived.”
“What…are they?”
“Synths. Like us. But designed to be more like animals. Kurra take the place of where there should be wolves.”
“What are they chasing?”
“Probably rabbits.”
Excited to see the critters, Palmer let out a loud bark and the pack went still. Large ears and long faces turned towards their direction. Two of them held prey, but from the distance and the cover of the heath it was hard to tell if it was a rabbit or a deer in their bloodied jaws. They watched the Rogues, still and cautious. One barked back, raising its self-up onto its hind legs for a better view. Curious Raoul responded to their barks with his own. A sound of curiosity rather than territorial dispute, however their ears flattened and with a coughing-whining discussion amongst themselves, the pack slowly crept back into the undergrowth where they vanished from sight.
Castor swallowed. “They won’t hunt us, will they?”
“Well-”
“Incoming!” Swann warned with a shout, pushing Castor backwards. He screamed and threw his arms over his head, curling up into a ball. Storm landed gracefully beside them as Castor slowly uncurled himself from the ground, Swann spluttering with laughter at his face.
“That’s not funny!”
“You’ll get used to it.” Storm smirked, pulling Castor up onto his feet and helping him dust off.
He was still marvelling at her wings, though his eyes kept on flicking to Kat stood behind her, to her tail and ears.
“I still don’t understand how you can fly.”
“Because the people who built this place had a lot of work put into making it possible.” Storm smiled, showing off to him with a flash of slate-grey feathers.
“But how? I read once that humans were too heavy to fly and would need super muscly chests. Plus wings are arms, right, so you have two sets of arms, so how does that work?”
Sniggering at his awe and confusion, Swann teasingly pulled Castor’s woollen hat down over his eyes and caught him in a headlock as he tried to squirm and see again.
“Stop looking at them as humans with wings Castor. They’re not. It’s all just an image. Storm could pluck your liver out and eat it if she wanted to.”
“She could do what?”
As Storm persuaded the human that Swann was joking, Raoul watched Castor with curiosity as a thought crossed his mind. They must have looked as uncannily human to Castor as the Hasekuran Canids had done to himself.
“Hey! You took your time!” Beth called out as she stumbled out of the motorhome, wrapped up in scarves and jumpers to protect herself from the cold and dampness of Scotland. “Did you see anyone else?”
“Not yet, but I’ll keep an eye out. I’m sure they’ll swoop in on us sooner or later.”
“No doubt about that. Let’s start the clock. I bet we’ll have about six hours at most.”
“Got it.”
Busying themselves in their set up, the Rogues were fast and efficient. They knew what they had to do and easily walked Castor, Swann, and Wilheim through their process. A canopy was set up with a little table of equipment while inside all of the laptops and technical equipment would be unboxed and prepared. Communication would be key and so they would all have headsets so that they could remain in contact with Beth.
“Up!” Palmer held his hands out for Castor to pick him up much to Raoul’s bewilderment. He had become easily bored with the adults work and had lost interest in the various toys he had brought with him and so sought new entertainment from the human. With a smile, Castor crouched and lifted Palmer up onto his back to carry him around.
“I have little cousins.” Castor smiled, trying to reassure Raoul. “They’re about his age, so I’m used to it.”
“Oh, so they’re about nine-months old too?”
“What?”
Wilheim scoffed loudly as he assisted Beth with the wires.
“Seriously, why is the kid here?”
“I’m not a kid! I’m twenty-three!”
“Well, I’m twenty-seven.”
“And I’m eight,” Raoul added in with a roll of his eyes and a shrug, “so now that’s out the way with-”
“But why is he here?”
With a surly look at the Hummingbird and aggravated snort at his rudeness, Swann got Wilheim’s attention.
“He’s my good luck charm.” Said Swann, sardonic initially before he continued in a more serious tone. “Castor’s dad helped me out when I was in a tough place a few years ago, and so I pay him back by teaching young Castor here everything he needs to know.”
