Ravenwings (Imaged + Completed) [1st in Trilogy]

Part I: Chapter 16

I took the hands of that reckless damn idiot and he turned himself and I around until we were both falling on our stomachs, hands clasped, right in front of each other like a skydiving stunt.

And then, it was fun. Raven would never let me get hurt. When we got too close, Raven would pull me back to him and fly away with me in his arms.

Or at least, I thought.

The ground began to near. The wind pierced my eyes to look downwards, so I couldn't tell how far we were from the ground by only looking at his face, but I knew every second got us closer to the stone-cold dirt.

"Raven!" I yelled over the whistling wind.

He didn't reply, he just gave me that crooked smile.

"Raven, it's pretty close!"

"Afraid of heights now?!" he asked loudly.

"No!"

The ground was getting closer... He wasn't going anything...

Okay, now I was getting scared. "Alright, fine, yes, now pull us up!"

He shook his head.

"Raven!"

"Not yet!"

I glanced to the side and realized that, through my tears and furious blinking, I could see the glow of the yard light getting brighter.

Then I screamed in panic,. "Okay, okay, you win, pull us up! I give up, get us out of here!" He wasn't even looking at me. "Raven, f*cking save me!"

Then he grabbed me under my arms, pulled me into a tight embrace, and let out his wings just enough to curve our flight path, slowly but surely, back upwards, twisting my stomach again like a deranged roller coaster ride.

I was wheezing so hard and fast, my chest hurt.

"Raven!" I screamed at him after a minute of panting for air. He was right in front of me, our noses were nearly touching, I had no need to scream, yet I was fully entitled to. "You motherf*cker, why'd you do that?! We could've died!"

He chuckled.

"Are you insane?!"

"Maybe," he laughed. "You're cute when you're mad."

I opened my mouth to snap something at him, but I closed it. Whatever.

"So you'll buy me sunflower seeds now?" he asked.

"No!" You cocky little ass...

His grip on me loosened, and I slid down towards the ground far below. "Alright, well--"

"Fine! Fine! I buy whatever you want!"

"That's more like it," he said, and held me even tighter than before.

I just couldn't stay mad at him. In his strong, secure hold, I wound up blushing as red as a tomato. 

He flapped down to the tall branch of a gigantic red maple tree, and the two of us sat down and enjoyed the view.

The whole scene was just...surreal. The sky was beautiful, the stars starting to poke out holes in the blanket of night, and the breeze that blew by that prickled my skin, but yet didn't make me shiver. I was still above the yard, but in the largest tree around.

As I looked to the night sky, I imagined another planet where there might be other bird-men, or even an empty planet just like earth that could just belong to Raven and I. It would have forests and beautiful sunsets over sunflower fields. A planet with a whole new sky, with no one to put up missing posters of Raven, and nothing to remind him of his old scars.

Yeah, it was a weird and stupid idea, but beautiful all the same.

I was maybe a hundred feet high, and yet the branch was still as thick as my thigh. It surely swayed under our weight, but wasn't going to break. If the bright yard light wasn't on, I was sure I'd be able to see more stars.

I took a deep breath in, and let that deep breath out.

Somewhat nervous for my balance, despite knowing that if I fell Raven was probably fast enough to catch me, I put my hand out for his, and he took it firmly.

I never wanted the moment to end.

I enjoyed right then so much it hurt my heart — I was scared of when this moment would end.

He can't stay here forever, I thought sullenly. 

I never wanted him to leave... I didn't know why he would ever have to leave... All I could do was hold him close while I had him, scared of being alone.

Raven and I carefully sat down on the branch, dangling our feet, and I leaned on his shoulder once again.

I sat there for a while before I saw two green, glowing dots, right next to each other, floating among the shadows of the trees.

But then I realized they weren't floating, glowing lights. They were the glint of a pair of eyes.

There was a green-eyed animal watching me from the woods.

Potatonut, I thought. He's back.