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

Instructions

Chapter 2, part 2: Before Void could say anything Sunset lifted himself into the air, grabbed Void in his claws, and flew off towards the center of the capital all while Void was frozen in fear. Sunset was rather big and muscular for his age, and Void was skinny and underweight without even counting his weird wings. It was no surprise Sunset could carry him easily, but something about it just made Void’s insides squirm in a very unpleasant way. It didn’t take long for Sunset to swoop down and drop Void roughly near a gathering crowd of Fallines. Void rubbed his head to clear the stars clouding his vision from the impact and looked over to Sunset in confusion. This was a flight test? Looked more like the Empire preparing for a speech from the Alpha. Sunset just rolled his eyes and yanked oid to his paws, and dragged him to the front of the crowd. At the front, where there weren't full grown Fallines blocking the view, he saw a few Fallines lined up. They looked to be no older than 10 years old, and while most looked excited, one looked nervous and scared. Still very confused, he turned to Sunset. “What is this supposed to teach me?” “Just wait.” Sunset replied. And so he did. Void was surprised by how quiet Sunset was being. It had to have been a good 15 minutes within each other’s presence and he hadn’t made a single jab at Void being flightless. The larger Falline wasn’t half bad when he actually kept his mouth shut. Void’s attention was drawn from his thoughts as the sound of large wingbeats reached his ears. He looked up just in time to see a towering Falline with 4 wings as wide as the mountains themselves. He wore a gold necklace that had rubies and onyx embedded into it and tassels that hung down, as well as a gold earring in one ear. ‘Alpha Soul’ Void thought in awe, and flinched when Sunset nudged his side. “Bow idiot” he said and dropped to a bow. Void suddenly realized that everyone was bowing to the Alpha on the podium before them, and quickly dropped to one as well.It wasn’t until that a loud clap of the Alpha’s wings that everyone rose. “Citizens of my grand Empire” Soul said in a booming voice. “It is time I assess the youth, and deem them worthy of becoming the next generation of the Airborne Empire.” His eyes went to the young Fallines, looking over them and their excited, proud faces. Void could see them stop on the one Falline who did not share those expressions. “You there” He could see the nervous Falline flinch as the Alpha pointed to her. “You will start the tests today as the first to fly” The Falline shuffled nervously, before meeting Soul’s eyes. “I.. I can’t fly.” She confessed, and held out her right wing. “I had a bad crash when I was 7 years old, and the Sages who treated me deemed that I would never fly again” She hung her head sorrowly. “Please.. I am still strong. I can still be useful to you.” Soul looked over the young Falline with merciless eyes. “You know the rules. Not even I can bend them. Not for a single Airborne.” He snapped his claws and 2 knights appeared by the Falline’s side. ‘What’s going on?’ Void’s thoughts began to run wild in panic. What were they about to do? “I, Alpha Soul, hereby deem this Falline unworthy to live in my Empire. She is unable to fly among us in our skies, and therefore has no place in our mountains. May she ever return, she will meet the cruel end of a spear as our warmest welcome.” The pleading Falline was lifted into the air, and was flown away from the crowd. Void felt the realization crashing over him. The looks of sadness, the words he didn’t understand. He very much understood now, however. When he was 10, he would be cast out of the Empire and left to die. He looked over to Sunset with a wild, horrified expression only to see him smiling back with an evil, knowing expression. Void shook his head wildly while backing away. It couldn’t be true. It couldn’t be. How could the Alpha be so cruel? Tears blurring his vision, Void turned around and ran blindly away from the gathering. He didn’t care how many Fallines he ran into or how many glares and threats he got, he just wanted to get away. He ran on swift paws, trying to get as far away from other Fallines as he possibly could. The pleading Falline was one of the many memories that now flashed before him. Skyracer’s distance from him. The words of Winter trying to reassure him. His mother’s sad look. The aura of tension that gathered whenever he asked a question. The looks he received whenever he went out in public. Sunset and his gang’s torment over the years. It all came back to him in a flowing rush, and he was unable to stop it. He was also unable to stop himself from crashing to the ground face first as he tripped over a rock during his mad dash.