For a while, all was good.
Her time was spent with the flock, playing, fighting and learning from parent, Nest-who-Teaches. The days were broken up by the visits from colourful-squishy-respecteds. The strange creatures brought food and occasionally tools to clean the flock. She didn’t quite understand why or what they were, but parent was definite. They were colourful-squishy-respecteds.
She ate, always competing for the best, juiciest bits. She didn’t win often. The others in the flock were bigger, able to take more damage - even if they shied from her beak. They seemed to be growing more so by the day. But she would win. She was practising.
However things changed.
One day the colourful-squishy-respecteds came and Nest-who-Teaches left with them.
After parent, the flock started to leave. One by one. She didn’t like it, hopping away when the colourful-squishy-respecteds came. It didn’t stop. Then only she was left. There was no one to fight for the juicy bits. There were less juicy bits.
It was cold.
When the colourful-squishy-respecteds finally came for her, she went without a fight. Maybe they would bring her back to the flock.
-.-
When she awoke again she was not greeted by her flock, but by another colourful-squishy-respected. A different one, and now she was somewhere else. But that wasn’t important. She’d spent such a long time folded up and the colourful-squishy-respected had FOOD.
Over the next few roosts under the short-sky-grass, she got to know this colourful-squishy-respected. They were skittish, more so than any of the colourful-squishy-respected she had seen before. But they were also brave, uncaring of the smelly-protective-danger as they raided its garden for food.
She had decided to name this colourful-squishy-respected she was with. They were unlike the other colourful-squishy-respected, sticking with the same colours all the time. As such they would be Colour-Squishy-Respected.
It was a little less cold.
-.-
Her battle with Muscles-Enthusiasm-Reptile was a thing of glory. She met them on the field in a clash that would have left her flock crowing with joy and scattering with fear. Never before had she experienced such a clash.
She may have lost but it was an earned loss, with Muscles-Enthusiasm-Reptile growing and announcing their name and strength to the world.
Colour-Squishy-Respected was odd after the battle. She was odd too. This battle had been different. She.. she didn’t fight alone. It made her question parent. What had Nest-who-Teaches known to go with the colourful-squishy-respecteds?
-.-
She visited a nest of the colourful-squishy-respecteds today, the ground-sky-smell-reflection nest. It was terrifying. Other.
She’d seen the nest before, Colour-Squishy-Respected often visited, but always in the morning, when she was too hungry to pay attention to it. That was it. She would have explored before if she wasn’t so hungry.
Colour-Squishy-Respected carried her through the nest, the home of what must have been a flock of at least one hundred colourful-squishy-respecteds. It was so very big, and so very uncomfortable. A nest must be strong, but the still-water-that-looks-back that they had trapped was hard and unyielding when she touched it. It could not be disturbed by motion nor could she clean herself with it.
Maybe she had been close to disturbing it. A colourful-squishy-respecteds came with a scorching-loyalty and she folded herself up, visit over.
-.-
Her next battle did not go so well. When she grew she was in the ground-sky-smell-reflection nest again and the world was dark. A great hunger-night-thirst was attacking the flock.
She tried.
It was not enough.
It was so cold.
-.-
When she awoke next it was near Colour-Squishy-Respected, out under the short-sky-grass. She was hurt. Her wing did not move as it should. But the flock was fine. Colour-Squishy-Respected carried her. They explored. It was not the same as before, she could not fly, could not chase away the others she could sense around them, but it was something.
It was not so cold.
-.-
She was hungry, but more, she was angry. The flock was far. She was trapped, constricted in her form.
Something was wrong.
She stopped her attempts to grow, to unfold. They were making her weary. She would bide her time and be ready.
Shaking movement shook her from her tired slumber. She reached out uncertainly, only to grasp further as she felt the flock near. It was Colour-Squishy-Respected. Was it over? She pushed, attempting to grow.
Pain as once again she was blocked. Weariness pulled at her, but she refused to sleep this time.
She couldn’t feel much outside of the egg-that-shelters, but it was enough to make her angry. There were others out there, others out there fighting her flock AND SHE COULD DO NOTHING.
The fight built and built until the shaking resumed and the others began to fade away. She waited restless, expecting the others to reappear in an instant, but it never happened.
The shaking stopped.
Colour-Squishy-Respected reached for her as she reached back. Pressure suddenly lifted and she was FREE.
She raged, announcing her presence to the world, daring the others to reappear now that she was free. The sky, the world, raged with her. Great flashes lit up the clearing and the short-sky-grass they sheltered under. Water fell from the heavens, soaking her soft feathers but she didn’t care. Swirling wind fluffed her feathers and she directed it, power coursing through her bones.
For hours, days she raged and the storm raged with her until both of them were spent.
She fell asleep guarding the flock.
-.-
They left, leaving the ground-sky-smell-reflection nest and the flock they had fought behind them.
Colour-Squishy-Respected and she explored, leaving the short-sky-grass for an area of soft-dark-clean. The pack of growing-flames were a little too excitable and the torrid-secure-fast surly, but the demonstrate-hunt was fun.
Her wing moved as it should again and she and Colour-Squishy-Respected began to practise. She demonstrated her progress against Stem-Who-Reaches in a growth-challenge soon after. The flock was growing, the flock was exploring, the flock was safe.
It was warm.
-.-
The flock met others and their colourful-squishy-respecteds on the hard-without-purchase that weaved through the short-sky-grass.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
She was in awe of Three-but-One-Sonic-Wave-Argument. Three-but-One-Sonic-Wave-Argument had no wings, but they flew with their feet - something she had never seen before. They tried to show her how they did it, breaking the hard-without-purchase effortlessly, but she couldn’t quite understand.
-.-
She didn’t know why the sly-expands was here with his colourful-squishy-respected, but she didn’t like how her Colour-Squishy-Respected was reacting. She liked it even less when the metal-that-snares-eggs was revealed.
She prepared herself for a fight, reaching for that energy, that storm within her.
But there was no fight. Colour-Squishy-Respected relaxed, the sly-expands backed down, though she kept a careful eye on it.
They didn’t roost with them that night and left the other flock behind the next morning.
-.-
Colour-Squishy-Respected was making low squawks at her again, but she was done for the night. She was too hungry and wary to practise more.
The thick-grass-without-end was relaxing from the air, but tense from the ground and it had been a long day. Colour-Squishy-Respected was right to rest amongst the short-sky-grass, but he had dropped his watch too soon. The others in the thick-grass-without-end were too close for that.
Colour-Squishy-Respected made some more chirps and picked up the bad-nest-material-good-practise, but she ignored him. She settled in to groom her wing feathers instead.
Noise above her distracted her from her careful routine. She tracked it to see Colour-Squishy-Respected, hanging off the short-sky-grass and- FOOD. She hopped until she was near the FOOD and where Colour-Squishy-Respected was shaking it loose. Yes, another few shakes and Colour-Squishy-Respected would have knocked it down and-
Colour-Squishy-Respected let go of the short-sky-grass and fell down. The FOOD was inches from falling, but managed to remain fixed to the short-sky-grass at the last second. She watched it carefully, considering flying up to it herself. The nest-material was dense there, but if Colour-Squishy-Respected kept it up..
Colour-Squishy-Respected chirped at her, and placed a bad-nest-material-good-practise in front of her.
She chirped back and pecked at the nest-material above. He needed to go back to work. As Colour-Squishy-Respected jumped back up at the short-sky-grass, she began to work idly on the bad-nest-material-good-practise. She needed to be ready if the FOOD fell.
-.-
The next day they visited another colourful-squishy-respecteds nest. It was different to the last, belonging to another flock, one who seemed to prepare better. This nest was built with wet dust-that-cleans and the thick-grass-without-end. It was still too hard for her tastes, but better than the ground-sky-smell-reflection.
A colourful-squishy-respected approached them as they ate. She stood, guarding their food and gave a warning call. Colour-Squishy-Respected let out a shrill at her behaviour, eager not to anger the local flock, but the colourful-squishy-respected stopped at a respectful distance. They spoke to Colour-Squishy-Respected for a while before leaving again.
Colour-Squishy-Respected gave her slow squawks after the colourful-squishy-respected left, but she was happy to dig into her food, content that the other flock knew that they weren’t to be pushed around.
Colour-Squishy-Respected reached for her again sooner than expected. Far earlier than their practice usually began. Feeling the others nearby the flock, she responded quickly, unfolding prepared for a fight. If a hunger-night-thirst wanted to attack again, she would be ready.
The flock had moved. She eyed the surrounding colourful-squishy-respecteds before settling her gaze on the open ground around them and the biting-dirt-scales. The biting-dirt-scales was calm and showed no sign of action, so she began her inspectio-
Colour-Squishy-Respected stepped forward and stopped her, lifting her from the ground. Her complaints were silenced as Colour-Squishy-Respected stood with her and signalled a growth-challenge. She agreed.
When she was reached for again, she unfolded ready to clash with the biting-dirt-scales. She tucked her wings and glanced around. First towards her weaker wing, then left. To her surprise, the other was gone. She was alone aside from a smelly-sprout across the field. Uncertain, she paused.
However she was not alone, Colour-Squishy-Respected stood with her and his certainty steadied her. She took to the air. Before she could strike, she needed to get closer to the smelly-sprout. The smelly-sprout tried to prepare itself but the distance fell away to quick flaps. She dived, beak ready. The smelly-sprout fell back before her might, might that even she had trouble controlling as she landed. Once more she prepared to strike but the smelly-sprout attacked first, leaching away her storm.
It wasn’t enough, she pressed on. She hopped forward, like Three-but-One-Sonic-Wave-Argument, ready to-
Colour-Squishy-Respected stepped back and it was enough to disturb her plan. She looked again at the smelly-sprout, saw how her previous strike had laid it low. She hopped back. Colour-Squishy-Respected was right. It was enough for a growth-challenge.
Colour-Squishy-Respected picked her up, pressing down the feathers on her head that always fluffed and couldn’t be reached.
It was warm.
-.-
She watched the biting-dirt-scales, carefully. This wasn’t for another growth-challenge. Colour-Squishy-Respected had stopped one earlier after the biting-dirt-scales had surprised her with a cunning defence.
She hopped up and around scouting out the area as the biting-dirt-scales inspected her back. The biting-dirt-scales remained in place as she hopped behind him, a show of trust she could respect, especially seeing that the mark of her mighty attack was still visible on his back.
Back in her original place, and none the wiser, she gave the biting-dirt-scales a low squawk, questioning if he knew what their flocks were up to.
The biting-dirt-scales squeaked back. Neither of them knew anything then. Together they turned to Colour-Squishy-Respected and the biting-dirt-scales’s colourful-squishy-respected. What were they up to?
Minutes later, both the biting-dirt-scales and she found out to her displeasure. After much persuasion from Colour-Squishy-Respected, she reluctantly agreed. As they faced each other, the biting-dirt-scales was wary, as it should be, but she chirped to get him to continue.
Dirt and dust struck her feathers, and clung where it shouldn’t. She squawked, but her squawks were directed at Colour-Squishy-Respected.
Hours and days later, when the dirt and dust stopped, the biting-dirt-scales apologised. She chirped back, and decided, if their flocks were going to meet again, that she should have something to refer to him by.
It turned out that she would see and challenge Shields-Solemn again, and quite often.
-.-
Without noticing it, she and Colour-Squishy-Respected gained a territory. It wasn’t a great territory, too many short-sky-grass, and their nest was flimsy and unchanged. She was unable to eat the food growing in the territory either. But she grudgingly admitted it was a start.
They were too small a flock to hold anything else and it wasn’t the right time for that anyway. They were only here by the Growth-Neverending-Stench-Spreading‘s will. His colourful-squishy-respecteds were a strange lot, a flock with too many generations that should have collapsed, but didn’t. The youngest’s eyes followed her when they ate, too eager, but the tribute they gave was grudgingly appreciated.
Her flock patrolled their territory twice a day before meeting the other flock for training. That too she grudgingly had to admit wasn’t awful. The other flock was varied and practise Shields-Solemn was never as bad as that first time.
She wasn’t sure about where her flock had settled. It was too close to the ground-grass-growth nest, but it was becoming comfortable.
-.-
She swept her wings forward, stoking the storm within her and spiralling it out, directing it until it left her wings tips and flew towards the ground and Fronds-Frolic who waited there.
Her control was true and blue lines appeared on Fronds-Frolic’s skin, shifting Fronds-Frolic’s joy at the battle into anger. Fronds-Frolic returned the favour, a sliver of pink dancing off her flower to slice through the air.
Pain cut through her as some of her breast feathers fluttered to the floor. She shrieked, announcing her own annoyance at Fronds-Frolic, but as she did, the storm changed. It began to grow, to shift in a way that it hadn’t before. She watched it, trying to guide it back into place with a hesitant wing, all while she dived to avoid more pink slivers.
The storm continued to grow. Becoming desperate, she swung, guiding some of the storm out of her. Whether to reduce it, or force Fronds-Frolic to give her some space she did not know. The power that escaped her was almost beyond her control. Absently she felt Colour-Squishy-Respected stepping back, but the storm was taking up all her attention. Out of control, she spiralled. Energy flooded out of her wings as the storm, now uncaged, refused to close the channels.
The storm was furious, stubborn. So was she. Gust by gust, she wrestled control back. She opened her eyes again. The ground grew closer and closer. A storm needs an outlet. She gave it one.
Dust kicked up. She slowed and stopped, gently resting on the ground. The dust settled. Colour-Squishy-Respected appeared.
She Spoke.
-.-
Pidgey chirped again as Colour-Squishy-Respected’s latest attempt fell flat. They just weren't right. She shuffled close to the exit of the nest, knocking something over and making Colour-Squishy-Respected squawk. Their nest was growing too small.
Outside the world was water. Great droplets fell from the sky, neverending. Any water was too much for her feathers, the added weight making any flight impossible, but not for long. Her newer feathers were different, harder and water didn’t soak into them in the same way.
She watched the rain and knew. Soon. It would be time to go soon, to leave this territory behind and stretch her wings.
-.-
She unfolded surrounded by thick-grass-without-end. It was time.
Colour-Squishy-Respected was sad to leave the ground-grass-growth nest, but she was excited. It had been too long. It wasn't the right time to nest.
She Spoke, startling the others nearby until they fled from her presence. This brightened Colour-Squishy-Respected up until he was chirping away. Their flock set off again, to explore once more.
Colour-Squishy-Respected started his attempts once more, searching for the meaning to pass the time. She responded absently, paying more attention to the surrounding thick-grass-without-end and othe-
Ah. That’s what it was. That’s what that feeling they were searching for was. The violent rush of air. The flood. The hail, the thunderstorm. She was the storm that came and went in an instant, ready to protect her flock at any time.
She was Cloudburst.