The group of survivors headed for the grassland for a second time, determined to overcome its challenges. They planned their route such that they'd be far away from where they encountered the train-sized serpent. Soon they picked clean their first bush.

***

One after another, the survivors clacked together rough green nuts into the backpack. As they were lost in the rhythm of their task, they heard a light tussle in the thick tall grass encompassing them.

Duncan and Angelo looked at each other to confirm their suspicion. When their eyes locked they immediately turned and faced the source of the sound. Duke continued to mindlessly gather fruits regardless.

The two boys vigilantly eyed a patch of green tangle with anticipation. Duncan tightly gripped the broken drone in his hand as his eyes drifted from side to side.

The air grew stiff. Beside the distant chirps, muffled bird songs and sweeping breeze playing on blades of grass, no other sound could be heard. Duke's mechanical certainty was the only thing the boys' ears could pick out from the vicinity.

'That dumb thing...' Duncan let go of his focus and turned around to face the machine.

"Du-" with words still forming in his mouth, the boy saw an unraveling of vegetation from the machine's side. A pale blond jaguar flew out of the displaced grass, its fanged jaw ready to crush the machine. "-KE, DODGE!" he screamed.

The robot slightly tilted to the side, taking notice of the creature. As its eye lens moved to look at the animal, the robotic dog's legs stiffened. Just as the feline's jaws began to close, Duke released the unstable tension in its four short legs. Like rubber at the verge of breaking, Duke's legs violently snapped down at the ground, leaving a dent and launching the machine away along with a cloud of dust.

The beast could only watch as the machine escaped from its sharp jaws. It chomped down on an aerosol of dirt.

[Weak.] it said as it fled behind the boys, items spilling from the woven green basket hung from its long tail-arm.

When Angelo heard Duncan's scream, he turned with every feather standing on end. He glanced at the survivor with a stiff expression, holding off from catapulting a volley of feathers.

'Please work, please work, please work...' the boy begged in his head as he threw the drone in the air.

The contraption buzzed to life as it struggled to maintain its altitude. It flew sporadically, its general direction set only by Duncan's gestures. Nonsensical synthetic and electrical sounds blasted from it as it zipped around high above the wild animal.

The predatory quadruped panicked, its head twisted unnaturally fast as it tracked the drone's position in the air. With uncertain growls and weak roars, it tiptoed back closer and closer to the tall grass. Once it was close enough, it turned tail and disappeared back into the tangle of green.

"It worked!" the winged boy celebrated as his feathers settled back down.

"Haha! I knew those things were scared of the birds!" he extended his hand for the drone to land in. "Let's get out of here before it realizes what happened."

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

***

The trio continued to gather food until the dark green backpack Duncan carried bulged from the quantity of items. The sun blazed high in the middle of the sky as they decided to head back to their base.

"Ugh, I'm exhausted." Duncan roughly threw the backpack into a corner and plopped down.

"Me too... But we got so much food! How long would it last now?" the winged boy sat in front of him after leaving his grey staff by the entrance.

"Hm, lemme see." he removed the phone from the drone. "Well, since we haven't counted everything yet, I'll go off of how much the last full backpack had and... It works out to about two and a half day's worth."

"So we won't have to get any food tomorrow?" the hopeful winged boy asked.

"Yea, if nothing changes."

"Hooray! We did it!" he threw his hands in the air.

"Ha, yea. Who knew Duke would speed things up so much?" the boy said. 'This toy they gave me actually came in handy...'

[I knew. Ignorance is a sin I have not learnt from my culpable creator.] the robot said, standing in the middle of the hollowed out trunk between the boys.

"Yea, good job doggy!" Angelo lightly pet the machine.

[Sing my praises in soprano and I might develop a shred of satisfaction.]

"Ah, okay..." the angelic boy mumbled, pulling his hand away.

Duncan failed to hold in a laugh.

Angelo pouted. "Let's eat. I'm hungry!" he said, slightly upset.

"Me too."

The two gulped down multiple handfuls of hard red berries. Whilst they chewed they broke down the earthy shells of the green nuts and ate the seeds inside. Finally, they topped it all off with gulps of water.

"Ah! I'm full. What now?" Angelo rubbed his stomach.

'Huh... He didn't eat nearly as much as last time. Is it because he didn't use up as many feathers?' Duncan contemplated in his head. "I guess all we have left is to gather more water and then I guess we're free to do whatever?"

"Alright! Let's go!" the winged boy jumped up and began preparing.

Duncan removed the robotic dog's grassy basket and organized the items inside. He then left in a spot near the food pile.

***

Angelo picked up an upside-down cyan bump admits the sea of stunned and flipped over water bugs. Duke grew the sea of limp creatures by the second.

"Hey Duke, that's enough. Stop." Duncan said as he made an incision in the bump held by the winged boy.

[Warning: fifty percent battery depletion. Two days of charge remaining.] the machine bopped its way back to the boy.

"Huhhh?? But you said five days yesterday! Ugh. I guess we shouldn't bring you along when getting water..." he said as he filled up a bottle.

[Show gratitude that I ever considered expending my energy for your gain.]

"Whatever." he dismissed the robot.

They collected all the water they needed and prepared to head back.

"Hey, uh, Duncan..." Angelo said awkwardly. "Sooo... I was thinking... If there is ever a lot of danger, I can just fly away, but then I'd leave you behind."

"Um... okay and?"

"And, because of that, why don't we practice flying together so I can pick you up too? Like remember how I did it when the angry cat was chasing us? I couldn't fly while carrying someone else back then, but with enough practice, I'm sure I could do it!"

"Huh, I mean sure? Why not?"

"Yay!" his wings extended and he began floating in the air.

The angelic boy flew a few meters off the ground. He turned and twisted in the air, lying down, flipping upside down and standing upright.

"Uh, how do I do this..." he struggled.

'What the...' Duncan blankly watched as he left the backpack on the ground.

"How about like last time? Can you raise your hands?" Angelo said, floating perpendicular to the ground above Duncan.

"Alright..." Duncan raised his hands with uncertainty.

From above, the winged boy clamped down on his wrists and began lifting him up. Duncan did the same, tightly gripping the angel's wrists so that their hands were interlocked.

"Going up!" with a wing beat, the two were sent high above.

"WHAAA! WAIT WAIT WAIT!!!" Duncan panicked as the ground below his feet rapidly grew distant. "MY HANDS!! IT HURTS!"

"Ah! Stop moving so much!" Angelo struggled to maintain his balance.

As the survivor continued to struggle and wiggle, one of their hands slipped.

"EEEEEEEKKKK!!!" Duncan winced in terror as he held on by one hand.

"Wait, please calm down!" Angelo had trouble staying airborne.

The remaining grip slowly wilted, and eventually Duncan plunged down towards the silver trees' canopies.