“Don’t worry! It’s only a little chest pain, my darlings,” Quillquiver murmurs to her sleeping kits, her wing tucked over them to provide them shade. Spreading her wings properly as she hobbled from the nest and out of the nursery completely, Q’s paw instinctively rose to cover her chest as a loud, unexpected wheeze erupted. “…ow..” she’d hissed, her wings folding tightly as she stopped short. “…it’s okay!” “Just a quick flight around our territory, a mini-little teeny-tiny patrol… and then I’ll come right back.” . . . Maybe it was meant to happen. Maybe it had been fate. To no longer fly high, to be unable to rise above and feel that adrenaline coursing life through her veins. Quillquiver hadn’t even hit anything this time. The young warrior’s claws were outstretched, reaching for something— /anything/— to stop her fall. A tree branch, a /something/… It had happened as fast as the drop of a feather. A soft descent, a gentle plummet. Maybe she shouldn’t have left the nest so soon. She felt dizzy. Yet she chose to fly. And even as she fell, Quill felt an unusual sense of calm. A euphoric calm. Like even if she fell, there was always hope she would get back up again! …not this time. They say pride cometh before the fall. And they would be right. Because that was exactly what happened. She had debated speaking to Abby about it, but… why? She didn’t want to be a bother, she felt as if sometimes she were a thorn in everyone’s sides… but she wanted them to be happy. What good would her pains do to them? Her kits. No.. She hadn’t thought that far. As branches tore into her feathers while the fall speed increased as quick as a rising crescendo, they folded into her sides a few feet before she hit the ground. “…it doesn’t hurt,” she weakly lies with a breathless laugh, as if she’d tripped over a pebble rather than fallen so far down. “…I can still fly…” Her breathing was ragged and disoriented, tears making her gaze glossy, before it all went silent. -.. .- -.. --..-- / .... . .-.. .--. / -- . My first actually-used TSS character and… wow. Quillquiver had a special place in my heart up until the end, and I thank everyone who became a part of telling her story.
