It was then I realized my mother wasn't as compassionate as I thought.

Soon enough I was already plummeting from the high mountaintops and into the green sea of trees. My first reaction was to flap my wings as frantically as I could, but no matter what I tried I was still rapidly seeing the trees getting closer and closer. Then soon, painful emotions swelled in me. Flashes of my life started to reappear before my eyes. I could barely register any of these visions before I felt a sharp pain from hitting the green sea's surface. Before I knew it-

Snap!

A sharp pain was the first thing I remember. My head was pounding at me with a heavy sense of dizziness. I opened my eyes. Blurry visions of red crimson liquid were all over. The same red liquid dripped from my eyes and nostrils. I turned my head around the hard burning asphalt to see another figure laying across me. His long white hair stained in a pretty red color. It was a student- no a friend who was on that rooftop with me. I swore I could have heard the sound of his laughter a second ago, but now he rests there unmoving. Breathing was painful and my heart felt like it was going to be crushed. Despite that, I tried to squirm, but the overwhelming pain paralyzed me in place. All I could do was look at the back of his head as his blood seeped out to mix with mine.

As I laid there staring helplessly, no matter the clarity of this memory, it still didn't answer one question that stood in the back of my mind.

Why?

From one moment to the next, I couldn't ponder this thought for long. I jolted up fully awake and fully aware of my surroundings.

Another sharp pain ebbed from my lower right lower half. I lifted myself back up to see that the ground wasn't stained in blood, but of fresh grass and dirt. A crowd of trees scanned around me as wildlife scattered about hiding beneath their burrows. Sounds of chirping, birds alerting signs of danger rang in my ears.

I examined where the pain was coming from. My right ankle bent unnaturally to the right, it's completely snapped. The dull pain slowly became more and more acute as I am now aware of this. I braced myself, gritting my teeth as I sharply exhaled a moment of pain. The agony I'm experiencing keeps reminding me how real this world is, that I'm alive, but most notably, alone.

Looking up at the sky it seems to be already dark. My eyes are well adjusted to the dark, but that wasn't the main issue. It doesn't seem that my mother came to retrieve me after shoving me out of the nest.

How ruthless could she be? She probably thinks I'm dead. With my foot, I can't even imagine trying to climb back up there.

Looking behind me, there's a large cliffside of stone and red clay. A mountain that rises dizzyingly high. It's a miracle that I even survived at that height. No, it was a miracle that I was born in the first place. My mother told me once that my two previous newborn sisters were killed by her due to some defects they had. I was the only healthy child of that hatch of eggs. She surely must be disappointed by now. Turning my head back, what's in front of me was darkness and numerous trees hiding various beasts and creatures within.

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Not good. At the moment I don't think I can attempt to fly again anytime soon or even walk for that matter. I'm so screwed… No, I can't think that, not after I've gotten this far!

I slapped my cheeks together, which proved to be a terrible idea considering that I now had bird claws for hands. This time I rubbed my cheeks with my feathery arms to wipe away the blood I endured from my head. Gripping my twisted ankle, I grabbed a nearby broken off twig and bit hard with my mouth. In one small swoop, I snapped both my foot back and the twig. The pain was insufferable, but I've endured a lot to get here. Spitting out the broken twig, I aligned it against my now straight ankle and searched for something to bind it with. All I could do was to makeshift some string out of the stalks of some ferns.

Tying up the injury the best I could, I pulled myself up and attempted to apply some pressure on my right foot. Pain shot straight to my head. It wasn't happening. Hopping on one foot and leaning against one tree after another, I continued to find some shelter quick. I couldn't afford to linger within my thoughts due to the circumstances. My senses were on high alert due to the danger the forest presented. A couple of hours have passed and I've already felt exhausted from hiking with only a foot. I judged that I didn't travel all that far, wherever I'm going.

The land was proved itself to be uneven so it was difficult navigating from one area to the next. The fact that it was dark out and monsters my mother warned of existed within these woods doesn't help in the slightest. Luckily with my acute vision, I could sense danger around me at a moment's notice. Danger which was happening at this very second.

A pair of red eyes peered from the dark thickens. Numerous trees and bushes were obscuring its figure, but I knew well enough that I must avoid it if at all possible.

The mysterious and dangerous figure a few dozen meters away from me continued to stare at me. I instinctively took a step back, but then it started to bolt after me in my direction. Panicked, my eyes darted left and right for a place to hide, but there was only rotten up logs and vines hanging from the trees.

Wait. The vines!

I wasted no time at all in using my claws and talon to hoist myself up the tree using the vines. A few of them were slippery, but I had to put faith into my grip that I wouldn't fall. Rough savage barking hit my ears in the distance, which only made my climb even faster. One foot after another, I scurried up the trunk of the tree with my right foot tucked in underneath me. My talons wrapped around the vines until I eventually lifted my leverage against a stable tree branch. A loud snap of a jaw jumped right under me as I peered down to see fangs missing me by a few inches. Frightened, I quickly climbed in dear life to an even higher branch right above me.

Below me was a huge wolf the size of a bear. It's fur shined in a silvery color under the moonlight. Gnarls emitted from its scrunched up nostrils, obviously not amused as it attempted to scratch off the bark of the tree. Fortunately for me, this tree was large enough to withstand the weight of this monster. This silver wolf would have been the end of me if I didn't have eyes that could see dozens of meters in the dark. I inhaled and exhaled a sigh of relief.

Truly staying up in high places was the best defense against savage beasts that walk on land. If only I figured out how to fly sooner, then I wouldn't even be in this mess.

I took a couple of breaths before glancing down below me. It still revealed the silver wolf encircling the base of the tree, pacing back and forth as it waits impatiently before clawing at the tree again in frustrated gnarls and barks.

"Oh, quiet will you! Go away! I have a lot on my plate already." I retorted in my frustration. Of course, the beast couldn't understand the sounds I was uttering with my breath, and it continued to bark until it laid on the ground.

Tsk. How persistent of you. Well whatever, I need to sleep as well. I'll deal with you tomorrow.

Grabbing whatever vines, I tied them around my waist as a precaution before going to sleep. I wouldn't want to fall off into the mouth of the beast while I take my long deserved rest.