He greeted my politely, and read off his questions to me, in which I answered in an emotionally dead voice. Emotion leads to lying. This was Council inspection, where they interrogate all the council members, as to make sure they would not betray the authorities. This is only a safety precaution. If one doesn’t pass this inspection, this interview, they had the choice of either losing their wings, their identity, and all that they stand for, and retreating to a village, or town that we protect, or the choice of death, or if they know they won’t pass, I have seen some take desperate flight, in hope that they will escape certain death, either of personal identity, or of physical death, they hope to escape. None of those who try have actually succeeded though. After quite a few minutes of talking with Hayden, he moves onto Nicolette, one of the council members who are in a higher authority position. After her he moves onto a few members who I don’t exactly know, nor talk to, and out of the corner of my vision, I see a group of young ones, whom are too young to be included in this. Hayden then walks to the front of the room. “Nicolette, Pass. Adrien, Pass.” Holding my breath, I wait for him to say my name, as the fourth authority, of the five of us, I was next. “Xander, Pass.” While I was releasing my breath, I hear him calling out Krystal’s name, and the word ‘pass’ and he continues down the list, no winged member had been called out as failing, or brought to the front of the room afterwards. Though, I was breaking a rule, or two, not ones that were all to important, only the ‘do not go out without notifying others, and do not go out at night unless you are on patrol.’ And the oh so important rule of not associating with those whom are not in the council. That rule I… I no longer understand it. Instead of going into my room, or talking to anyone, I excuse myself to the bathroom, only to slip out onto the patio, and spreading my wings, feeling the faint breeze brushing past each individual feather as I spread my wings, suddenly, as I feel the coldness of the air, I push my wings downwards, feeling the wind catching under my wings, lifting me upwards, and off the patio, I angle my wings in a certain way, that causes my to dive off the side of the point that I was once standing on, the light breeze, one soft and smooth, the air was rushing past my face, chilling me to the bone, but after years of flying, this adrenaline rush, that matches the roaring wind in my ears, was normal as I pull out from the dive, the air around me bending around my wings, letting me go smoothly, and silently through the night. Approaching the Cliffside that me and Gabriel meet at, I pull up, and land, slightly stumbling, as I landed from coming up. “Woah! Don’t fall over on me!” I feel Gabriel gently grab my arm to keep me from falling over as he quietly said that to me. Letting out a breathy laugh, I murmur quietly, but loud enough so he can hear me. “I’m fine, even if I fall, you would have picked me back up.” I wrap a wing around myself, as that I can regain some of the warmth that I lost on the way here, seeing as my outfit is designed for flight in the sunlight, with the warm golden rays heating my back and wings. Shaking his head slightly, with a smile pulling at his lips, he looked at me wrapping myself up in my wings. He sits down quietly, and motions for me to sit next to him, not saying a word, for the quiet of the forest, with the faint sound of bugs in the forest, and the whistle of the wind as it pushes past the rocks that pull away from the otherwise smooth cliff side. The stars that twinkle and glimmer up above them, as though they are winking, or playing. The moon, and her pale rays of light, bathing everything in a blueish white light. Sitting down on the soft grass, one of my hands carelessly messing with the small blades of the plant that was everywhere. “So how did the… inspections? is that what they are called? But anyways how did today go?” He continued looking up at the starry sky when he said his question, either too awkward in forgetting what it was called, or enjoyed looking at the painted sky, I would not know, for he is a separate entity. “Hmm, good, good, I mean, I am not in trouble from anything. So I say it went to best it could have ever gone.” I said this in a slightly monotonous tone, since all afternoon, I had to reply with little to no expression in my voice. He looked at me with slight concern on his face, for he is not used to me talking without emotion anymore, unlike when we had first met, when I was defensive, and controlled around him. For you never know when someone is just trying to get information, and will betray you when you are part of the authorities. Someone whom you love, might be getting your hopes up, only to stab you in the back when push comes to shove. “I apologize, I didn’t mean to be so sharp with you.” Immediately after I mumbled this short phrase, his face changed a bit, into a less concerned face, and into an apologetic one. “Xander, its fine, I’m sure today was stressful, and I know how you are with emotions.” His soft voice was… kinda like velvet in a way, smooth, and its naturally quite melodic. A soft lullaby. That's what it’s like. I look down, with a soft painting of blush brushed across my face. After quite a while of us watching the stars glimmer, and the sky change slowly through the night. I look over at Gabriel, and slowly move my wing a tad bit, remembering how interested he always is about my soft feathers, and the sky itself. “Hey Gabriel, won’t you stand for a moment with me?” I wasn’t technically when I say ‘a second’ because, even if he gave me a slightly confused expression at my request, he stood up next to me. “You enjoy looking at the sky, and the thought of flying, right?” He gave me a slightly confused expression, but slowly nodded, not sure where this was going. “Well, Gabe, Hold on, don’t want you to fall from a height like this” Immediately afterwards I wrap an arm around his waist, making sure he wouldn’t fall, and he put a hand on my shoulder nervously, as he let out a faint, nervous laugh. Letting a smirk pull at my lips, I spread my wings once again, and sent me and Gabriel off the side of the cliff. With the wind rushing by, the sound of it create a roar in my ears, and underneath that sound, I could faintly hear Gabriel’s scream at my sudden take off. His arms were immediately thrown around my neck, gripping on tightly, but not tight enough to start choking me. Letting out a sincere laugh, I do a couple of twirls after I even out. I flew a tad bit higher, giving Gabriel the type of view I usually have while flying, the trees, and their dark leaves in the moonlight, rivers and streams, miniscule below us, the smooth, cold, air brushing past us. Except this time, instead of the freezing air surround me, and creating a time of solitude, Gabriel was there, with his body heat. It was… comforting. After a few minutes of soaring, and looking at the landscape, I look at Gabriel’s face, his cheeks and nose lightly pink from the cold air, his sapphire eyes bright with adrenaline, and excitement. Looking back up, I go to make a U-turn, when I see a bit of red, in that direction. My eyes widen, before I move a hand to cover Gabe’s mouth, to keep him from making too much noise, and I pull my wings in, feeling the air swiftly passing over my closed wings, the air now a desperate roar in my ears, the chilled air, frigid, and icey. I squint my eyes, as the air is even making my eyes water, and just above the treetops, I open my wings, feeling the air suddenly billowing beneath my wings, and I almost drop Gabriel due to the sudden decrease in speed, the once cold air, now feeling warm to my skin. I lightly wind through the branches and land on the forest floor, letting Gabriel go, only for him to basically, for a lack of better terms, flop, to the forest floor. The blades of grass around his face lightly moving as he breathes. Slowly, his breath slows to an acceptable, slower rate. “I… I’m sorry for doing that, I couldn’t let Hayden see me flying out at this time, nonetheless with you in my arms.” Guilt coiled through my gut, causing me to feel quite sick. “It’s fine love, I know you would get in quite the trouble. Neither of us got hurt, and you knew what you were doing” He slowly stood up, leaning against a tree to make sure he doesn’t fall over. “Though… next time, could you give me a bit more warning.” A smile played coy on his lips, uncertainty and understanding plain in his eyes. Giving him a small smile, that little glimmer of emotion, immediately turned into a little blooming flower of his usual joyus shine. The smile settled beautifully onto his lips, the color from the frozen air, settled on his freckled cheeks. Looking up at the moon, I see it is past the midpoint of the sky. “I apologize, but I must return to the palace. Please… stay safe Gabriel.” Spreading my wings, I prepare to take off into the forest, back to where I am supposed to be, and just before I launch off, I hear Gabriel calling my name, and saying his farewells, and taking off into the forest. Afterwards, I launch off, weaving through the branches, since being in the open air, Hayden would be able to see me more. After a little while, I rise up from under the trees, and their leafs, feeling more clear air, and more light from the night sky. After a while, I reach the end of my midnight journey, and I land on one of the many patios. After slowly going inside, I walk the hallways, my footsteps softly echoing through the empty halls. The stone floors clean, and reflective. After a minute of navigating this building, I make it to my personal respite block. Immediately I drop onto my bed, and despite sleep clawing at my limbs, I cannot sleep, for my mind was full of thoughts about my knight in shining armour, but after an unknown amount of time, I slowly fall into a unrestful sleep, my dreams of flying, and of that knight of white and gold.
