The sun was a strange sight after three days of nothing but rain. The rolling gray clouds had finally drifted away, giving mercy to the poor, soaked bird kids out on the run. They'd taken shelter over night in a shallow cave, formed by rock structures and tree roots. They were dirty, hungry, and scared. Sleep was hard to find, but that was nothing new to Flick.

He was already awake, sitting by the mouth of their pitiful shelter, watching the sun creep up into the sky. It was so surreal...seeing it like this. Not through a window, not surrounded by desert...just...free.

But for how long? His inner pessimist nagged. Flick pushed that thought aside. He turned his head to glance over at his shoulder, peering at the shabby group of rag tag kids snoozing behind him. He wouldn't, couldn't, let those monsters get their hands on them again.

He stood and walked out into the cool morning to start picking up fallen nuts from a nearby tree. They'd been living on raw nuts, berries, and whatever they could catch for the last few days, and the lack of nutrition was starting to get to them. A quick scouting trip last night revealed that they were close to a large city. Flick debated whether the prospect of potential food was worth the risk. They had to eat, but the idea of being surrounded by strangers, threats lurking anywhere, make him dread the idea.

They'd been through a lot over the past few days, from start to finish.

Flick was curled up in his cage, half way asleep, half awake. The sound of rain and thunder penetrated the walls, even this deep into the facility. The others were sleeping quietly, waiting for a new day and new tests to begin. The door to their storage room unlocked, and Flick cracked his eyes open. It was a bit too early for testing, wasn't it?

A person dressed in a large, black hoodie and sweat pants walked in. They wore a ski mask, hiding their face. Flick sat up immediately, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end at the sight of a potential threat. The person made a beeline for his cage. He glared at them, his gleaming eyes making contact with theirs. The he could hear them fiddling with the lock on his cage. The door swung open. He recoiled, expecting to be grabbed. Instead, a key landed on the floor in front of him.

"What are you waiting for? GO!" The voice was modified; robotic almost. Flick looked up. A trap? But then, just as sudden as they had come, the mysterious person fled. Flick didn't waste another second. He burst from his cage, grabbing the key, and began going around and releasing everyone else. They needed to get out of here, fast.

---

---

Rocks were more uncomfortable than metal bars, but the dirt was worse somehow. Softer yes, but he despised the way it got everywhere and clung to him long after he'd left the ground. So Dizzy had gotten creative and built a mat out of the branches of a young springy tree, clad in hundreds of soft leaves, and bedded down on top of it, head cushioned by one wing, because he'd long gotten used to using them as pillows, and using the other as a blanket.

This, he decided that morning, had not been his best plan. Sure he was now free of the dirt that so loved to dust his feathers and skin, but somehow he'd managed to break off dozens of little twigs and leaves into the thick of his feathers. He made a plaintive whining noise at the injustice of it all, freedom was supposed to be more comfortable, not less! With a sigh he flopped over onto his ass, proceeding to arch his back and stretch arm and wing over his head and delivering an unreasonably loud series of pops into the quiet cave as his joints cracked. He narrowed his eyes as he turned his wings over, inspecting the twigs that pulled his feathers just the right way to itch and tickle where they weren't wanted.

With another shallow sigh he started picking through them, carefully untangling the torn leaves and bits of fragile wood as he blankly surveyed the rest of the cave. He spied only one other awake, and blinked blearily at them for a moment, fingers mindlessly combing feathers all the while. Finally he yawned and managed to focus and wake up enough to register Flick keeping watch over them. Something eased in his chest at the sight, something he refused to name but nagged at him all the same.

"Mmmmmm~," he hummed, with despondent emphasis. "Nature sucks." He delivered flatly, making his way to his feet and skirting the cave to slip past Flick beyond the mouth of the cave and into the dawning sunrise, lingering at the entrance and easily within reach of the elder boy. He gave a low cooing-hiss at the sight of the light, sounding more serpentine than at all like a bird, and he did not so much place the sunglasses over his eyes as simply jab himself in the face with them at record speed, somehow managing to rip them from their place on the neck of his shirt and both set them on his nose and not poke his eyes out.

"Next time I'm taking night watch." He says, voice still thick with sleep despite his lightning reaction to shield his eyes from the sun, and then he immediately forgot his decree moments after it left his mouth. "I'm starved, did you stab anything tasty in the night Flick?" He questioned, making a vage jabbing gesture and turning just a bit too sharply to face him, nearly slipping on a dew-covered mossy rock. He splayed his hands out to steady himself before he could fall fully, and in the process roughly ripped out a twig he'd been slowly working out of carefully grasped wing.

---

Rook couldn't remember the last time he was outside.

For so long, all he knew was the box and the voice. The voice would ask him questions, and he would answer them, and answer them, and answer them, until the voice was happy. Sometimes he answered a question wrong, and the voice would yell at him, saying that he was going to be a failure. Other times, the voice would congratulate him, saying he did a good job. Sometimes he would ask the voice something, and it would stop talking to him. After a while, the voice would ask him more questions, like nothing happened.

He hated the voice, he realized. But he couldn't do anything about it. He would go to sleep, and he would wake up, and he would be-

...not in the box. He looked up, confused, until the memories came back to him. Waking up to the door opening. Flying, for the first time in so long, away from the hated place. The running and the rain, never ending.

He looked up, and he could see the others were still asleep. He saw Flick sitting at the edge of their cave...and he saw the sunlight. Finally, he thought. The endless rain was over, and he saw sunlight for the first time in years. For a while, he sat there, lying down, taking in the beauty of the sun. He finally sat up a bit, and went over what they learned last night in his head.

A city, he said. There was a city nearby. It was dangerous, but there was food there. And they needed the food. Maybe there was a way to sustain the group in the forest, he thought to himself, as Flick left the cave. He'd have to bring it up, he thought, as he sat up, looking at the rest of the group.

Three nights ago

Mal clung to the rock, gulping in breath after harsh, ragged breath. The pounding rains left the stones slick with rainwater, and her palms grasped onto the wet surface as though it was the only thing keeping her alive. Her eyes were clenched tightly shut. She thought she might be sick, a thought followed all-too-abruptly by her retching, vomiting up bile and whatever was left of her last malnutritious meal at the Chimera facility.

She didn't think she could hear anything following them, but her ears remained strained, desperately trying to make some kind of sense out of every sound that made it to her through the storm. Was that just the wind bashing rain into the rocks? Or was it a helicopter in the distance? Was that faint distant light the headlights of a passing car, or a search party, already beginning to track them down? She was going out of her mind with fear and worry. Pressing her face into the stone, she screwed her eyes shut even tighter and pressed against whatever was left of a 'dry' surface under the shallow cavelike indentation.

Her wings were sopping wet, stretching out uncomfortably onto the rocks behind her, and yet she wasn't in the right enough mind to pull them back in. So they simply lay there.

"Please," she found herself whispering, and hating herself for it, "someone help me."

When she eventually fell asleep, it was as she was crying.

Present

Mal groaned as the early dawn light hit her in the face like a freight train, and she reflexively tossed an arm up over her head. "Go 'way," she moaned. The sun, however, did not go away, and was irritatingly persistent. Eventually, she accepted the fact that she probably wasn't going to be able to sleep anymore and lifted the arm, peering out from under it at the sun. "Nice to see you," she yawned, grinning a little. It had been a very...very...long time since she'd seen the sun. In person, not in a video or a simulation or a hallucination or something.

Her malaise had largely slackened off; she didn't have time to worry about what had happened, or what might happen, when she was busy trying to keep herself and her family alive. As she sat up, yawning and stretching her wings out just a bit, she heard Dizzy talking to Flick from a bit away, and stumbled over to them, trying to rub the sleep from her eyes and miserably failing. She was still wearing the dirty, torn hospital gown, simply because she had nothing else to wear, and she pulled at it in irritation. It certainly wasn't comfortable, though the massive jagged rips in the back to let her wings out had gone some way towards alleviating that issue. She flopped an arm and Rook in a halfhearted attempt at a wave as she walked.

"I think..." she paused, heaving a colossal yawn, "...I think we should head into that city. Just to a junkyard or something. All the videos and classes said that people have a lot of different kinds of clothes they wear. These," she plucked at the sleeve of the gown, this time not as angrily, to demonstrate, "won't cut it, I don't think."

"Also," she added (mostly towards Dizzy) as she suddenly felt the void in her stomach, "there's prob'ly food there. And I don't know about you, Flick, but I need it. The berries and things aren't enough."

---

---

Crash rolled over as he awoke in the cave, he brushed dirty from his face and arms as he sat up and stretched out his wings. His eyes took a moment to adjust to the light, the sun was so much brighter than his cage had ever been. He grinned as he took a few deep breaths of fresh air, free air, and he savored the way the forest and the cave smelled. The past three days had been the best of his life, although cold from the constant rain, half starved, and exhausted he was free. He stood up, here he could stand tall with his wings spread wide, at the facility his cage was too small for his wings to stretch, back there he could only stretch his wings when they permitted in training. Although his belly ached from lack of food it reminded him that his life was now in his own hands, it was up to him to feed himself and to survive. If freedom meant pain and discomfort he would gladly take it, even this was better than his life in the cage. He noticed the others were talking and he approached them.

“I want to go to the city.” Crash announced to the others who were talking about leaving the forest. The thought of exploring a new place was exciting, he wanted to know, to learn, about everything beyond his cage. “I could hunt for some breakfast for now though.” He offered, the other’s seemed hungry too and Crash was enjoying hunting, although he hadn’t quite perfected it, flying through the forest in search of prey was exhilarating. He hadn’t cared much for berries or nuts that had been savaged over the last three days but there was one day when he had caught a rabbit. The rabbit had been delicious and he wanted to catch more, but just about anything was better than the tasteless meal bars of the facility. He looked to Flick for instructions, the older boy seemed to have become the unofficial leader.

Rook turned his head to face Mal, and then looked at his own clothing. His white uniform, formerly pristine, was torn up and covered in stains from mud, grass, and sweat. His shoes had been heavily torn up by the running, not built for the harsh terrain of the forest. He looked back up. "You make a good point..." Seeing that a few people were up and outside, he stood up, stretched his arms and wings, and walked outside.

Walking towards the group, he went over the options in his head. When the city was discovered, he had argued in favor of staying in the forest. They would be far safer in the wild than in the city, where their captors could have hidden agents around every corner. However, the rumbling of his stomach reminded him of why he was reconsidering his argument-they were starving. He had planned to make a bow and arrow to hunt deer, but he hadn't seen any. While the forest seemed safer, the city had more opportunities...and more food.

Standing near the group, he began to speak. "I've been thinking, thinking about it. I'm not...not sure we can survive here. Even if we could hunt, kill, we...we can't skin the carcasses." He began to fidget, twiddling his thumbs. "If we go in the city, we could find, have food, but we need to be careful, watchful. We'll need a place to sleep, too, unless we were to return to the forest to sleep." He looked up at the rest of the group, offering a shrug. "What do all of you think?"

---

---

Dizzy made a negligent hand gesture with his freehand, deciding he didn't really care one way or another and focused on brushing off the nuts Flick had so generously shared. He hated the feel of dirt against his teeth, so each nut was brushed against the underside of his shirt, on the cleanest spot he could find, before being tossed up and catching it in his mouth. He never dropped one, never missed, and totally avoided the gritty crunch of sand between his teeth.

Maybe the city would be less dirty, that'd be nice. Then again, the forest was supposed to be full of frolicking creatures and fields of daisies, but apparently that assumption was deeply flawed, so maybe the same could be said for his impression about cities. He bet they had showers though, even if the water was cold and the towels always smelled funny at least he could enjoy the feel of water through his feathers.

It was a shame about the forest though, he was so looking forward to munching on juicy woodland steaks and braiding flowers into sweet-smelling jackets.

Mmm, juicy steaks...

"Breakfast sounds great," he decided aloud. "I'll go with you!" He offered cheerfully- well, 'offered' as if he had a choice. Dizzy wanted to catch something and eat it, and damn if he wasn't going to do it. Now, preferably. He tossed back the rest of the nuts without bothering to clean them, content to bear the gritty taste of a stray speck of dirt if it meant he could find something chewy and warm to bite into that much quicker. He hopped closer to Crash, looking to him to lead the way, threateningly sharp teeth hidden behind his close-lipped smile.

As an after thought he wondered if they should ask permission, but dismissed that train of thought before it could finish. Flick was probably the closest thing they had to a leader, but really he was more of a chaperone, yet to start giving orders or trying to control them. A fact Dizzy had taken advantage of sparingly over the last few days, wandering off for a few minutes here and there to chase a bug or investigate a shiny piece of glass in the dirt, and once to watch a snake slowly climb a tree. He never had strayed for long though, and was always been within hearing range of the others, though admittedly his hearing was better than theirs.

If he were honest with himself Dizzy would pinpoint the coil of emotions in his stomach as his repressed and ignored feelings of fear. He didn't know anything about this unfamiliar place, he didn't know how to survive, and right now sticking close to the Flock was all he could do. That said, if he had to listen to one more tense, pensive silence, droning on and dancing on his nerves, he was going to bite someone. Probably Mel. Or Rook. He was an easier target.

A chance to wander off without actually being alone? Golden opportunity. So, away to an adventure with Crash it was. The others could worry and ponder and argue over the city, there was nothing bothersome about pouncing on a fluffy munchum and roasting it over the fire. If that didn't work he'd bite Crash, he'd probably taste alright. He eyed the blond thoughtfully.

What were they doing again? Oh right, food!

He flicked a wing, managing to knock loose the last few leaves and at last be rid of their tickling edges. He smiled, close-lipped, and contemplated the taste of rabbits. And Crash. Rabbits and Crash... Rabbits or Crash? Something like that.

---

Rook was nervous, to say the least. While he was still iffy on the idea of leaving the forest, he could understand the benefits from an objective point of view. It offered far more opportunities-more food, plus access to advanced components, which he could use to build a myriad of useful items. However, the fearful side of him was wary of the risks, especially the possibility of capture. But he understood that it was the best way forward, that they couldn't sustain themselves on nuts and berries forever.

Breaking out of his trance, he looked up and heard Dizzy talking about food. "I...suppose I can join you, help you. It's a shame we haven't seen any deer so far...then again, I need some kind of rope. For my bow. Maybe a vine?" If he had his bow and arrow complete, hunting would be easier. He didn't know if it would be enough to be self-sufficient in the forest, but it would help. For the point, he could use any small rock, and finding feathers was trivial when you had wings. He admired the bow-such a simple, yet complex and beautiful design. Surely it would help them hunt-and maybe defend themselves if their captors sent a search party.

He shook his head. "Never mind. We don't need it right now." They could use other means. Get food, eat breakfast, and head to the city. It should be easy. Should be easy. But nothing is easy, is it? There were so many possibilities. They needed to prepare. His mind raced. Maybe they could-

Thunk.

Not looking where he was going, he wandered off and proceeded to slam face-first into a tree trunk. "Ow..."

He turned back to face the rest of the group, rubbing his head. "Uh...what were we talking about?"

Mal hissed through her teeth. "No, no, no. You all want to go off and waste time and energy trying to hunt when we could get over to that city when Flick just said that we should get there early? Come on, have at least some sense. I know you got it in you." She stepped fully clear of the cave and splayed her enormous wings. She rolled her shoulders, relishing the unfamiliar sensation of being able to stretch her wings whenever she wanted. "We gotta get there as soon as we can, and I don't think it'd be a good idea to split up, not so soon and not so close to..." she shivered slightly, then cleared her throat.

She could see where the rest of the flock was coming from, she really could. Hell, she was pretty scared herself. It had been a rough three days, and she certainly didn't want it to get any rougher. Still, though, as much as she loved the freedom of living in the woods (which she really did), she was hungry, sore from sleeping on rocks, and beginning to chafe from the hospital gown. If she didn't get something new to wear and something filling to eat (and from what she'd been shown on the food count, people tended to throw a lot of stuff out), she was going to break something. Someone. Whatever, it didn't matter, she was going to get mad and probably punch the rock for about fifteen minutes, or until she couldn't feel her fists anymore.

"Anyway. If I really hafta, though, I'll head out to the city alone. Call me a scouting party. I'm goin' in maybe ten minutes. If anyone wants to come, I think it'd be the best idea, but hey," she shrugged, "what do I know?"

With that, she leapt in the air and pushed her wings downward, slowly beating her way into the sky, where she peered down at the ground below her with a laserlike gaze, gliding in broad, swooping circles. She inhaled the crisp, chill morning air, focusing on calming her rapidly fraying nerves.

"Idiots," she muttered, words snatched away by the wind. "I'm sick of rabbits and nuts."

---

---

Crash noticed the odd look he was getting from Dizzy who volunteered to join him on a hunt. He was never too sure what was going on in Dizzy’s head but he liked the kids attitude, always down to have some fun. He eyed Dizzy wondering what the guy was grinning about and before he had a chance to say anything about it Rook wandered into a tree.

“You okay?” He asked, managing not to chuckle a bit, for the smartest member of the flock he could be pretty oblivious. He was more than happy to have other’s help with the hunting, it meant bring back more food for everyone. He thought about Rook’s comment about deer, he wasn’t sure they’d be able to manage a deer with little to no tools and a small fire but a big juicy deer steak did sound wonderful. “Excellent, sounds like we’ve got a hunting party then.” He added looking at Dizzy then Rook, figuring between him and Rook they could certainly keep an eye on Dizzy who had a tendency to wander off.

Of course, then Mal interceded, calling hunting a waste of time. Crash dramatically rolled his eyes at her. “If you want to go to the city alone, then go. I want to eat and I doubt they just hand out food in the city. Hunting is fun, we need food to stay strong, we know where the food is here. The city isn’t going anywhere.” Crash snapped back at her, he didn’t want to take orders, he was free now, he didn’t have to listen. He didn’t like the way she stretched her wings out at him, was she trying to look bigger? It felt too much like a threat. Crash could get grumpy when hungry, back at the facility they would be due for breakfast around now.

Rook rubbed his forehead, managing a smile at Crash. "I'm fine...I just need to stop getting lost in thought." He was going to ask about hunting, until Mal interjected. He listened to her in silence, then watched her fly off.

He stood there for a bit, processing what she said. She has a point, he thought to himself. Flick did say they needed to get to the city early, before everyone woke up. But Crash was right, too-there was no guarantee they could find food in the city, and they knew how to find food here. He looked between Crash and towards Mal in the sky, before opening his mouth. "She...has a point. If we are going to go into the city today, we need to go now." He paused, before looking at Crash. "I'm going to make sure she doesn't do anything rash, foolish. We will hunt soon, unless there is food in the city, as she says."

Looking up, he took a deep breath, spread his wings, and flew. "Join me, if you want to! He yelled down at Crash and the rest of the group, before taking off in Mal's direction, intent on making sure she didn't get herself killed.

Rook flew upwards with as much strength as he could muster, trying to close the distance quickly. This is not what we need right now..., he thought to himself. This whole situation was falling apart, everyone wanted to do something else. His priority now was to make sure Mal didn't fly off to the city by herself, as that could end horribly in many ways. They needed to work together, to co-ordinate. Finally, he flew up close to Mal, and paused, hovering.

"Mal...wait up..." He said in between deep breaths. "I know you want to go to the city-I do, too-but you can't run off alone. If you're going, then I'm going." He looked at her, folding his arms. He meant it- if she was going to run off to the city, he couldn't sit there as she put herself into a dangerous situation. Everyone here needed each other safe and alive, simple as that.

---

---

This course of action was lame, and not at all what Dizzy had in mind. He wanted more space, a moment to breathe without the Flock's issues weighing him down. He grumbled, stomach growling, and flapped his wings in irritation. Human cities were made of glass anyway right? They'd be seen either way! He sighed and rolled his eyes as he internally argued the merits of listening to Flick and ignoring him. The city would probably be interesting, but he'd rather explore it on a full stomach. Then again, splitting up would mean the others would be annoyed and maybe even leave him behind. He wouldn't put it past them either...

He eyed Crash speculatively. He could always go with plan B and take a chunk out of Crash if thing's got dicey.

Ooooooor he could go with plan A and go hunting like he wanted. "Maybe we can catch something on the way?" He wondered aloud, stroking his non-existent beard thoughtfully. If so then Flick could shove it while he made a fire and cooked it. Or just cook Flick.

He snickered, amused gaze sliding from Crash to Flick, and he tilted his head. Fine, he thought, but if I starve you're donating a pint to my stomach.

Then he grimaced as he realized his half baked plan to find a river to wash his wings in was never going to come to pass. "Ugh," he scoffed, "whatever, let's just be quick." Food was more active during the day anyway, if the city turned out to be a bore or a death trap then he'd go hunting later and the rest could go and suck on their glass towers or whatever it was they were doing.

What did they need from the city again? And how big was it? It wouldn't take long to look through right?

He mumbled something unintelligibly annoyed under his breath and leaped into the air, catching himself with a flutter of his wings before mulishly deciding not to wait for the rest to join him, vaguely aligning to follow the direction Mal and Rook had gone.

---

---

---

“Like I care if I get seen, I’m not afraid of any those Chimera goons, let ‘em try and take me back, I’ll show ‘em how much I learned in training.” Crash muttered, mostly to himself, but in response to Flick’s warning. As much as he wanted food and to hunt, if Rook and Dizzy weren’t staying then he would follow the others. Technically he had wanted to explore the city anyway but being told not to hunt first, not getting his way, made him want to rebel against the idea. He didn’t want to be alone or left behind though, if he stayed by himself he might not find the others again, and then he’d be all alone. He spent more than enough time alone in his cage and he hated it. Everything in the outside world was new and unfamiliar and to have face it all alone was scary, not that Crash would ever admit that to anyone.

Crash’s wings flapped, lifting him up towards Mal, Rook, and now Dizzy as well. He took off as fast as his wings would allow in an attempt to show off. He was annoyed about following Flick’s orders and that they were all now doing what Mal wanted. He soared past Mal and let out a dramatic raspy screech, the cry of a hawk, before circling around them and sticking closer to the group. Spending your entire eighteen years in a cage learning to be soldier did not teach a lot of emotional maturity.

“Hey Flick you coming or what, we don’t have all day.” Crash teased. “Dizzy you can have whatever rabbit’s you can catch, as long as you catch ‘em before me.” He added laughing a bit. His mood quickly shifted back to more relaxed state. It wasn’t like he could stay mad at his flockmates for too long, they needed each other after all. He reminded himself that the city would be an interesting adventure, someplace new, something he’d never seen. Now he was excited to explore, he wondered what kind of food there was in the city. It seemed like sooner or later his thoughts always went back to food.

Mal reached out to Rook midflight, ruffling his hair while still moving in a startling feat of coordination that she knew already she'd be unable to replicate ever again. "Thanks, Rook. Means a lot." She rolled her eyes. "'Course, if you hadn't decided that goin' hunting was a good idea, maybe Crash wouldn't'a gone off on me, but eh. Baby steps, I guess."

Speak of the winged young man, Mal's ears rang unpleasantly as Crash blew past her, screaming like a hawk. She narrowed her eyes, but didn't rise to the bait at first, instead giving two heavy beats of her wings and doing her best to draw level with him as he circled round, at which point she whapped him on the head with a downstroke of her heavy wing. Just on the edge feathers; not enough to really hurt, but enough to rebuke the older boy. Despite that, she couldn't help but grin a little bit. It was a shaky grin, to be sure; she hadn't used it too much before the past day and a half or so. But still, it was definitely there. And despite her belligerency, Mal wasn't above an apology

"Sorry about hijackin' your hunting, Crash. I'm just nervous, is all. I bet we'll stand out even with our wings tucked, so I'm just trying to get stuff done as fast as we can so we can maybe find somewhere to hide."

"And also," she added, almost as an afterthought, "I'm really sick of rabbit."

After the apology, she continued her broad, gliding circles, steadily catching thermals and climbing higher into the air until the trees were like toothpicks below her. Maybe a thousand, two thousand feet up. Her wings gleamed dully in the bright light of the sun, and in the distance, she could see the city. Her breath caught in her throat. It was...

"Huge," she breathed, finishing her own thought. There was no other way to describe it. She looked down at the Flock below her, calling to them with an uncharacteristically excited voice. "Hey, you can see the city from up here!"

With her acute vision, she could see that Flick was still on the ground, but Dizzy had taken off, quickly moving through the air towards those that she'd left behind her. She frowned. She was worried about Flick; after he'd come back from a 'live testing experiment,' as the scientists had put it—or, well, war, as Flick had put it—he'd been closed up and brooding. Sure, they'd butted heads before (at least when they had the opportunity to be anywhere near each other), but Mal had appreciated the competition. Now he was just...she paused for a moment, trying to figure out exactly what the word she was looking for was and failing.

Doing her best to put the thought out of her mind, she continued circling, this time scanning the horizon. She'd seen the helicopters at Chimera's facility going out every time they thought something had gone wrong. Now they had gone wrong, and it was only a matter of time.

---

---

The fluorescent lights flickered open in the dark and quiet hallway, with nothing but the sharp sound of a lone footstep echoing. Once the metal doors of a single cell opened, it revealed not a prison but a rather dainty room. Complete with a single bed, a desk and a bookshelf, a single potted plant and a door for a bathroom. Inhabiting the room was a woman, ashen pale, dark haired , she looked up from her book, her eyes were blank and dead. The visitor, a middle aged man in a twenty grand suit motioned to her, and from just that she understood what she had to do, like a flick of a button. She closed her book and gave him her full attention.

The man reached her a dossier, five of them then scanned the contents of each. "Five of our subjects managed to escape the facility two nights ago" The woman stood silent. "Their recovery is our priority, unharmed if necessary." he simply said, and walked away. Seven is quite familiar of the procedure. When somebody tries to escape usually they don't go far enough until they are recaptured once again. Usually by her. How would this one be any different she thought. Promptly, she prepares herself for another hunt ahead.

---

It had been raining for days. Seven despised the rain. And the city looked very despondent ,at the very least, with the clouds covering the sun's bright rays. That evening she walked amongst the city crowd, umbrellas perched above them blanketing in shades of black and grey and only she stood out amongst them, her head only covered by the hood of her dark jacket. During her briefing she was told that blending in is a strict requirement first and foremost. And she made sure that was carefully followed.

Should've brought an umbrella she thought, as the drizzle became heavier, she crossed the busy road, bags of groceries lugging in both arms. Seven had grown fond of the city in her many times she was stationed there. It was a far cry from the first time she set foot on it's busy streets, anxiety and paranoia used to plague her. Although she can live quite freely on her own accord, the fact that she's still property of Chimera had limited her much of her freedom, she was unable to stray away from a certain location and was constantly under surveillance. But so far this hasn't bothered her, having what little freedom she had away from the facility she was imprisoned was enough for her.

Seven steered towards the alley, and went inside a small establisment door next to a Chinese diner. Taking the narrow stairs up to her door she fished out the keys on her pockets, unlocking a door to her small apartment. The inside is cozy, there was a couch that also provided as her bed, a huge shelf of books was at the corner, and a few pots of plants that bloomed with flowers showed that it was diligently taken care of. The pale woman put away all her groceries, whilst the sound of late night shows, terrible one liners and laugh tracks subtly played on the tv.

Unlidding a bottle of light vodka, which she poured in a glass mug, Seven took another study at the dossiers. Sitting on the sofa, familiarising their faces, their scent, from what she was provided with. They all looked like a couple of years younger than she is. That is, as far as she can tell of her own age. Almost three days had already past since they escaped, nobody had reported their entrance to the city yet, so they couldn't have gotten far from the facility. But once they do, she should be ready. It's of utmost priority.

Wandering off from her own thought, the woman gazed out of her bay window, mug clutching in both hands. The rain had slowly receded as the sun glinted over the urban horizon.

Flick remained on the ground to see to it that all the others made it up into the air. They'd come this far; he wasn't going to lose one of them because they were being stubborn. Flick then unfurled his wings. His wingspan was an impressive fourteen feet, built for strength and agility into one. His grey and white feathers caught the sun, the feeling of warmth soothing after the last few long, wet days.

Flick was up in the air with a couple strong beats. He caught up to the others with little effort. His eyes did an automatic scan of the horizons. They had been very cautious of flying vehicles since their escape. At the first sight of a plane or helicopter, Flick had made everyone land and hunker down. As they closed in on the city, those things were bound to become more plentiful.

It didn't take long to get there. By the time the flock had reached the outskirts, the sun was peaking over the tall buildings. Flick remembered seeing a city in real life for the first time; it had been amazing. Breathtaking. Intimidating. He knew the others were bound to be wary, as was he.

"Land down in those trees there," He pointed to one of the last clumps of trees before the city began proper. It appeared to be part of a park, with lots of trees, bushes, and shrubs to hide behind. Flick banked down and took a dive towards the tree cover. The harpy eagle DNA in him allowed for the maneuverability to swoop into a forest and land on a dime. He came and touched down behind the truck of a large oak, then went about tucking his wings in as far as they would go. Luckily, unlike the birds they were modeled after, their wings could folder over several times. This allowed them to hide under clothes fairy easily. However, the gaping slits in the back of his scrub top was bound to get a few odd looks.

Rook was glad that Mal had seemingly calmed down. What he wasn't glad about was the fact that she then decided, for no apparent reason, to grab his head and rub his hair around. He cringed at the unexpected contact. "You're welcome, but please never do that again." Sighing to himself, he watched as Crash and Dizzy flew up, and together, they continued going up, until he heard Mal talk about the city.

Trying to see for himself, he flew up to her height, and was immediately blown away by the strange yet beautiful view. He could see the city in plain view, stretching on into the horizon. He had only seen cities before in books, usually when they were talking about urban combat. But to see it for himself...he thought of all the people, the buildings, the great amount of everything laid before him. What useful things could he find there? Where could they find food, or shelter, for that matter?

Before he could think any more on it, Flick and flown up and was guiding them towards the city. He followed along, the city itself not that far away. Following Flick's orders, he touched down in the trees near the city, taking a few steps to bleed off excess momentum from the flight before crouching behind a tree. Following Flick's lead, he began to tuck his wings in. The outfit would draw suspicion, but at least any bystanders wouldn't notice his wings.