Flight School: Predator

Slow Run

Reux observed the presence of a snowy owl—perched above on a low-hanging branch—and lowered his weapon at once. Dark eyes widened in delight.

"You," his laughter was quiet but insane. "Look at what you've done."

They stared at his moment of joy, crazed. "What would Iolani think?" He tapped his blade against the side of Luka's face. "His best friend, fallen as low as his greatest enemy. A cannibal."

Papercrane was not familiar with a mind as silent as Luka's. She could not tell what he was thinking, let alone understand the young man as much as she understood Slayne. Inside, Slayne was never quiet. Where he wasn't thinking, the silence was filled with the song that played within his cage and that itself, provided all the understanding she needed of her Winged.

"I am in love with the tragedy that you've decided to write, Sullivan," the horned owl stared in awe before straightening up. "Would Iolani continue to love you, despite the extent to which you've fallen? Ah, perhaps your desire to live exceeds your desire to retain his affection. Choosing to live without the love of one so important, in fact, the prospect of hatred, even—"

He was wide open.

Luka was waiting for a moment like so, blade in the heart of his palm. He'd recovered from the impact and kept himself out of his attacker's range, shifted twice in an instant and used the momentum gained from take-off to dive at the shrike. His blade sank into Reux's side but the latter dealt a blow to the back of his head in reaction, cursing loudly.

"Greatest enemy? Io does not think so highly of you, Yvone." He retrieve the blade with a jerk and the stench of blood filled the air once again, accompanied by the bated breath of Reux, who had fixed his eyes upon him.

The smell was unbearable to Luka. At once, he felt like throwing up.

Not now, Sullivan. Papercrane made for Reux's Avian, talons raised. He's not done.

The engage was carnal and instinctive, as though stripped of their humanity and forced into a cage where two was too many. All that remained was the concept of survival and rage, fuelled by pain, was key.

Minds crumbled within seconds of the dive, Reux going first for the primary vein at his neck, angling his knee to gut the other and knock him off his feet. The pain doubled and yet another blade slashed but now, the darkness his friend, Luka forced his wrist aside and dealt a blow to his cheek, sending him towards the side in a cry of anguish but the attempt to rise was defeated by a moment of return, swift and deadly.

There was a vial of acid.

He caught the reflection of the bottle at once and shifted in panic. It missed his eyes by a narrow inch, shattering against the bark of a tree to a fearful hiss.

"If only you'd just die," Reux had the gall to laugh despite it all. Breathless. Pain clouded his eyes and for once, he was human. "All it takes to die is a second, my friend. Living takes everything."

The horned owl began to close his eyes, leading the other to drop his guard for, even a bare second or so, that gave him the opening for a shift into his half-form. Luka shifted for a chase, but his reaction lagged behind the former who was already in the sky.

"HE'S TRYING TO KILL ME!"

Luka and his Avian halted in their tracks, landing on a branch that skirted the canopies. The words clicked in his mind and all of a sudden, there were calls of several Nocturnes in the air that responded to Reux's cry for help.