|:|CotHS [Story: (Ch 1 part 2) A Long Way To Fall]|:|

Instructions

Chapter 1, part 2: Void was frozen in place, feeling all eyes turn towards him. He heard the snickers of Sunset and his friends, and the bewildered looks of many towards his wings. He felt his scruffy, ragged fur bristle involuntarily, and his wings press closer to his sides quivering. “Well, come on then.” The instructor said again, beckoning the hatchling to a small cliff face. It was no higher off the ground than the height of a fully grown Falline, but as Void slowly crept forward, it looked taller than the highest mountain peaks. He let out a startled squeak as the Instructor grabbed him by the scruff and plopped him down on the top. “Now get a good running start, and don’t forget what I told ya.” Void backed away from the edge, his eyes darting around. He looked from the instructor, to the other hatchlings, to the edge of the dropoff. The pounding feeling of his fears blurred his vision, and made him struggle to remember what the older Falline had said about flying. ‘Just run and jump’ He told himself mentally as everything else failed him. ‘Run. Jump. Fly’ Run. Jump. Fly. Sounded like a flawless plan, until he actually did so and fell with a graceless thud. In front of absolutely everyone. The sound of the laughter filling his ears was almost deafening. The sounds of all the different Fallines laughing at him. It made him curl up into a protective ball and hold his paws against his head, trying to combat the misery that threatened to drown him. He wanted it to stop, but the ringing in his ears only grew louder. ‘Please stop’. He cried in his thoughts. ‘Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. PLEASE STOP!’ Void’s watering eyes snapped open at the feeling of a soft paw on his back. The noise had stopped. The laughter, the white noise in his ears. It had all fallen to silence. His heterochromic eyes slowly drifted up as he stared straight up into calm ice blue eyes. “Are you ok?” She asked in a soft voice that to Void, sounded much like the song of the most elegantly made ocarina. Void’s voice caught in his throat, unable to respond to the other Falline. For the briefest moment, nothing else existed. Not this stupid flight class, not Sunset and his friends, not even his wings of the other hatchlings. Just him, and the Falline in front of him. “Winter Rose” Winter turned as the voice called to her, which was her mother on one of the cliffs. “You go back in line or I will have you whisked away back home this instant.” “But mother, he fell. I want to help him.” Winter’s soft voice was almost soothing to the internal sores and aches he felt, though it was incredibly short lived as the instructor walked over. “You ought to do what your mother says.” They said, nodding to Winter and flicking their wing back to the line. Winter looked from the line, to her mother and instructor, to then Void who had not moved from the place he had fallen. To his massive disappointment, she sighed in defeat and walked back over to the line of hatchlings. “As for you” Void looked up at the instructor as they gazed down at him and his tiny wings. “You ought to run on back to where you came from. I can’t help you here.” Void’s ears fell limply on the sides of his head as the instructor walked away and went back to the other hatchlings. From the triumphant look on Sunset’s face, he doubted that would be the last time they met. Void sniffled, got to his shaking paws, and ran off and away from the crowd. Flashback ends Void never saw the kind Falline his age after that. He still remembered her name though. Winter Rose. Her memory still stuck with him, and so did her kindness. He certainly saw Sunset again after that, however. They had tracked him down real quick and made tormenting Void day after day their new favorite pastime. He eventually learned the names of some of the members of Sunset’s gang, mostly because they were the ones who joined to torment Void the most. The two male Fallines were a blue, gold and black furred Falline named Macaw and a green and yellow colored Falline named Saguaro. The third most frequently seen Falline was a cruel female Falline named Tigers Eye. She was a golden brown Falline with darker brown and red markings. Tigers Eye was Sunset’s sister, and was just as brutal as her brother. Of course, that was not the only friends Sunset had, though that was the ones that Void bothered remembering. “Hey weird wings! We know you’re hiding in there! Comeon out, we just want to play!” The sound of a certain Falline made Void’s ears drop flat, and reminded him exactly what he was doing at that moment. Hiding. Hiding from Sunset and his gang. Just an average saturday.. He had ran and hid in a small cramped hole in the side of a cliff. The only good thing about his build and small wings was that he could fit into small places and wait until other Fallines had gone. After he hides, he normally waits until his pursuers leave, or until the sun sets.