Chapter 6 – Head in the Clouds

“That was the first time you’ve seen it, the surface?”

Arwain cocked his head at Queen, who had been eyeing him as the team flew back to the upper levels.

“Yeah. Feels weird.”

“I’ve taken quite a few trips down there myself. Less so in recent times. More and more, it seems like there’s a growing disconnect between those with wings and those without. It didn’t used to be that way though.”

“Do you think-”

Arwain cut himself off. It wasn’t good to place suspicions on people that he barely knew. His momma had always told him not to judge first. He looked around at the others.

Each member of Silver Stream had their own struggles, and if he had been quick to judge, he would’ve never learned how great of a team they could be.

Still, a bomb that took away people’s wings – it was his worst nightmare.

His hand traced the base of his own, a tough mixture of sinew and nanomachines that worked like stem cells growing around metal. It had been purposefully designed for wear and tear, replenished by the body like skin and blood. But in an instant, the metal components failed, becoming dust caught in a network of trapped cells. The desynchronization poisoned the entire construct.

It was fancy science jargon that the emergency medical team threw around after examining the victims. To Arwain, he simply saw wings exploding into a confetti of rainbow parts, like feathers programmed to self-destruct.

Regardless, the team still had their rounds to make, so no one could bother to dwell upon it for too long.

Arwain sped around the city, delivering packages like routine. Yet, every trip felt a bit lacking in thrill. In one case, he clipped the edge of the platform during landing, causing him to jam a wing. It sent a wake-up call right down his butt muscles. After that, he made no more fancy dismounts for the rest of the day.

He coasted back to Silver Stream HQ jaded that he spent so much time mentally up in the clouds.

“Still thinking about it, aren’t you?” Queen asked at her usual spot next to the changing room window. She sipped her herbal tea, lacking her usually playful tone. “Let’s just call it fortune that none of us were in the crossfire. All we can give are best wishes that the damage isn’t permanent. Wings can be replaced. People can’t.”

When it came down to things, Queen was probably the most serious and practical of the team. Her years of work experience had given her a wide perspective of life. She leveraged that knowledge wherever she went. That was usually why she was often the first to finish.

Or… she just runs on motivation from sneaking peeks at us.

In either case, Arwain flashed her a smile.

“Thanks, you’re right. It was a near-miss for me. I’m glad my instincts told me to stay away from the purple glowing ball of doom.”

“You sure that wasn’t just common sense? Have you not played a single video game that makes it quite clear that expanding doodah coming for you equals bad?”

A grin returned to Queen’s lips with that tease. Arwain whacked himself in the head and played along.

“Oh, of course not. My childhood was one where we could merely afford to keep ourselves fed and clothed. I had to make up my own games from whatever was available on the streets. Government funding doesn’t cover that virtual bullcrap that lets you fake the experience!”

“Oh, you poor child! Let me take you into my secret lair!”

“Ahem!”

Arwain and Queen froze at that interruption, arms out as if ready to hug each other. Jolly was standing there with a curious look on her face.

“I guess I was worried over nothing,” she said with a sigh. A half-meter tube of Toberlone was in her hand, tapping her shoulder with it. “Oh well, more for me!”

“What?! No! Just look at these sad boy tears on the corner of my eyes! Just wait! They’re coming!”

Arwain squinted hard to push some moisture out. He wouldn’t miss out on a chance for some decent chocolate. Seeing him struggle, Queen discreetly pinched his butt, until tears rolled down his cheeks.

Fighting hard not to yell back at her in response, Arwain placed his hands together and playfully pleaded. Finally relenting, Jolly cracked a prism off the bar and flicked it up into the air, letting Arwain float up to have it land into his mouth like an eager puppy.

The changing room door opened to reveal Jester returning. He took one look at the scene before flicking his hair and squatting into a ready pose, eyes straight at Jolly. Not even hesitating, she flicked a piece toward him.

Jester used his wings to pop the chocolate up a few times before bouncing it into his own mouth, ending with a bow.

“Hey! Why does he get some? He’s not even putting on the sad clown vibes!”

“Because he pulls far more weight than a certain someone that can’t handle more than one thing on his mind at once.” Jolly stuck out her tongue and pulled down an eyelid.

Arwain recoiled. He had tried to deliver two things at once. He really did! But having two different locations made him cross wires and switch the two packages by accident. That was why he put so much into speed to compensate.

“Now, now. Let’s not dwell on cans and can’ts. Arwain has his good points,” Jester said, putting an arm around Arwain for a side hug.

“Oh really? What do you like about me?”

“Let’s see. The shape of your quadriceps and soleus are simply divine. You don’t know how hard it is to find such leanness and strength in unity, a result of commitment to daily refinement!”

Arwain inched away from Jester, who had a strange glint in his eyes. He had forgotten for a moment about Circus Man’s obsession with bodily presentation. Giving him the slip, Arwain ducked away, only to run into Queen, who also had a devious look and squiggly fingers at the ready.

“C’mon, let me grope some ripped thighs. You said before that you’ve tossed away any shame.”

Arwain’s stomach grumbled in protest, the unexpected cry yielding the slightest room for him to duck past the second obstacle and escape into the main quarters.

------

After dinner, Arwain found himself staring out from the balcony once again, a tablet in his hands streaming the latest news. The chaos of his adopted Silver Stream family had been a healthy distraction for a while.

Until the evening news started giving more details of the incident. Arwain and the others grew quiet as a vibe of uncertainty hushed the talk around the table.

The giant purple glow that Arwain saw had indeed disrupted the function of wings, causing nearly three hundred people in its range to completely lose their ability to fly. A hundred or so were in mid-flight, while the remaining victims were safety inside of buildings when their wings crumbled.

Reports of injuries varied quite a bit due to the haphazard response needed to save their lives. It was a small fortune that no one perished in the fall, but the camera then moved toward victims that were clearly traumatized by it.

Many struggled to find the words to describe their feelings, but fear was clear in their eyes. It was like the sky that people floated upon betrayed them, as if suddenly they realized that they were unsafely up high.

Arwain hadn’t considered it much at all either. The ability to fly had completely crossed off the instinct to fear heights that grounded beings had. But once that ability was lost, the fear came back severalfold, enough that many of the victims weren’t sure how they could survive without flight.

The door gently slid open.

“Thought I’d find you up here again.”

“You know me far too well, Jolly.”

“Of course. We’ve been friends for how long? Ten years?”

“Long enough that my momma would hope that we were an item if she were still around.”

“Long enough that my parents keep a blaster on hand if they were ever to receive that call.”

Arwain and Jolly stared at each other, and then, they turned away with a hearty chuckle. They sank down into the chairs and stared at the city for a moment, each with miles of thoughts on their minds but nothing to say. Eventually, Arwain broke the silence.

“Say, what do you think I would’ve done if I lost my wings today?”

Arwain also had a knack for saying some awkward things in the moment.

Jolly fumbled with her mug, unsure how to respond. She knew full well that his wings were his everything. For years, she had seen how much he wanted them, trained with them, and become the very person he was because of them. Then, a smile lit up her face.

“I think… you’d march right back to the doctor and ask for another. Because you’ve never been the type to give up so easily. You’re a bit too stupid to tell yourself otherwise.”

Jolly stood up and patted him on the shoulder, deciding to head in with that hanging over his head. After the door clicked shut, Arwain chuckled to himself. He turned back to the news report on his tablet.