The Journey

The heavily clouded sky looked depressing, Harimanne thought it was night time; but then again…the world always looks like this. What a sorry excuse for a night sky, she thought miserably. Extending her wings, she crouched down low on the top of the semi destroyed building; glaring over the deserted town. She didn’t see anything of interest, or anything she liked; then again…there wasn’t too much Harimanne liked. “Well this is fun” she said sarcastically to herself, letting out a long sigh. Picking herself up, she opened her large wings.

Looking down over the side of the building, she blinked. Harimanne threw herself off of the side of the building; the wind blew through her hair as the ground drew closer to her. Just before falling to her death, she flapped her wings hard. Swooping around, she flew higher and higher in the sky; she was far away from her perch. Though she didn’t really care, she found a new one everyday. Her legs dangled lazily as she continued to soar high in the sky, looking down at the sights below her.

Making her rounds around the town, Harimanne looked back down at her surroundings; had she seen someone flying? There is no way, nobody ever came here…and if anyone did; it was almost never another avian creature. Should she check? Was it worth the risk? Changing her course slightly, she flew over to where she thought she saw the creature. Glancing down, she saw it again. It was another avian! Why the hell is it here, she thought in utter bafflement. She decided to follow it, but at a far enough distance away that it wouldn’t suspect someone following it. Harimanne looked at the avian even closer; she figured it was female, but then again it was far away…she kept tailing the creature; all would be revealed in due time.

The avian creature flew this way and that, looking for a landing; most likely. Maybe it was tired; Harimanne however, was used to long flights and wasn’t tired at all. The creature brought her to a charred field; Harimanne used to love going there to lay down and look at the sky often, maybe the creature would build a home there. Harimanne wondered if she was friendly, but it didn’t matter anyway…it’s not like she was going to make any friends. She almost laughed at the thought; friends…ha…

Watching the avian land, Harimanne continued to hover over there girl; contemplating on making herself known, she waited for some sort of reaction. She noted the avian was indeed female; and seemed to be a cardinal, harmless…but Harimanne didn’t doubt her abilities. Some seem tougher than they look; maybe this girl was just that.

She thought for a moment, what should she do? The girl seemed to be pretty tired; but…she decided to chance it. Flying over the girl; she pretended not to notice her. She flew past her, but strained hard to hear any sort of reaction from her.

Fuck, she thought to herself…she missed her chance…she was too tired after all. Well; might as well land and pretend to not see her, maybe she will come over. Flapping her massive wings, she hovered over a small patch of grass. Dropping down, she folded her large wings behind her slender back. Still facing the opposite direction from the girl, Harimanne continued to pretend to not know of her existence.

Damn it, she thought to herself angrily. Once again, the female was either too tired or was just damn lazy. Should she go over and introduce herself? Harimanne hadn’t said a word aloud her whole life; though she knew how…after listening to humans speaking she knew enough to get her through a conversation. Was it worth the risk, though? Turning around sideways, she glanced at the avian through the corner of her eye, still debating.

Harimanne knew damn well that if she went near the creature it would try and communicate with her, or worse; befriend her. What should she do? Turning around, now facing the avian; she walked forward, not looking up…she had her eyes fixated on the ground, but kept her senses opened as to not bump into or trip over anything.

Harimanne looked up in surprise, her eyes opened slightly more than her usual half opened stare. She was…laughing? Why was she laughing? After she heard the avian say “Wow”, Harimanne understood. She was laughing at her, herself…opening her large wings at full span she began to beat them slightly; ready to take off. I am not going to stand here and be ridiculed like this, she thought. This is what you get for going around other beings, stupid; she said to herself angrily.

Scared? Did she say…scared? Harimanne had been called many things in her life by certain beings…but…scared. Oh fuck no, not me; she thought angrily. Quickly folding her wings behind her back, she stood a few feet from the girl; looking directly in her purple-blue eyes.

There was that damn word again, frightened…scared, she hated it. After the female said her name, Harimanne gave her a short and simple nod. The girl called herself Akahane, it was an interesting name; she was smiling up at Harimanne. Now, normally humans would smile back…as either a response or sign of friendship, but Harimanne wasn’t looking for a friendship. Bending her front down low, keeping her knees straight; Harimanne went with the things humans called a ‘bow’. She bent her upper body down, and kept her head up, her eyes still fixated on the girl. She wasn’t showing signs of friendship, this was more of a formal move, some may take it as a territorial bow; Harimmane, however, was just trying to tell her in her own way she accepted Akahane.

Straightening her back, she didn’t drop her gaze from the girl. Harimanne stood at full height looking down at the girl; she looked slightly confused. All she did now was wait; maybe she might say something.

Shaking her head no, Harimanne looked around at her surroundings once more; maybe she could coax the girl to accompany her after she rested. Placing her hands on her right cheek, she tried to signal to her they should sleep. Hoping the girl would grasp this; she crouched down and placed her hand on the cold ground. Looking up at the girl one more time, she sat down on the ground a stretched her legs out and waited to see what she would do.