Page 10 of Ruby
Nnaiv tries to deflect but Tch’tek has already settled before us, using the sheer vastness of his size to try to intimidate me. He always was the biggest of all of us since the time we were fledgelings and somehow that has made him think better of himself.
Nnaiv spreads his wings before Tch’tek can invade my space further but it does not deter him.
“Not teasing. Truth.”
His eyes hold a glimmer of something mischievous in them, almost as if he finds my silence to be agreement. It vexes me and my chest starts to swell with a resonate dismissal. Then I feel both of Nnaiv’s right hands on my leg, as if holding me in place.
“Szhe’ka find mate when ready. Just as you, Tch’tek. Leave alone.”
Nnaiv tries to defend me but Tch’tek has already started gloating to the small group of bachelors around him about how everyone else would find a mate before me.
“Why do mating song so well but run after?” Tch’tek sings out teasingly again and I look down because he is telling the truth.
The mating season has seen a lot of success from this nest, yet I still haven’t found anyone for myself. It is my fault. I do not like to boast but I have been told on many occasions that I have the best mating song among others in my aerie.
I just cannot get myself to stand still after it is done. Some undefined horror fills me and I flee before hearing an answering note.
“Not important.” Nnaiv tries to reroute the conversation but the others seem a little too entertained with the topic of my failure to let it go.
“Aerie on the next hill, almost empty. Must find mate,” someone says and I cannot see who.
“If empty before ours, no mate til next season. All bachelor forever.”
Tch’tek looks at me, like I am the reason why the rest of the nest have not found mates yet.
I don’t blame him, as tales of my cowardice have probably already traveled through the mountains and started diminishing the males in my nest. Still, I do not look away from him, lettinghim know that I may be scared to sing a second song to females but I am not scared of him.
Nnaiv takes his hands off my shoulders and saunters to the far end of the nest, his talons gripping onto the ledge. “Come.”
I listen, repeating his actions.
We both allow our wings to extend, stretch out behind us and flap before leaping down. I can hear the other bachelors do the same but Nnaiv and I let ourselves fall a little lower, our arms and legs spread out underneath us. It feels good, warmer on the way down but not as good as when I lift myself from the fall and start to carry the entire weight of my body back up to the sky, wings flapping around me.
I aim to fly up to the peak and off a hill so I draw my legs up to my chest and let my arms straighten beside my body.
The view is breathtaking every time, yet mundane. Our aerie is so high up that the ground and its inhabitants are mere specks to us. Our territory is beautiful, all mountain peaks and large white clouds and the wind rushing by you whispering its ancient secrets into your ears. As it gets cooler, the crisp morning breeze slides easier against each individual feather on the back of my wings.
I allow my eyes to close for only a moment, letting all of the words that Tch’tek spoke to me earlier wash away from me. When I open them again, I see Nnaiv just ahead of me, his face awash with the same youngling glee I feel soaring through the air and hope swells in my chest.
Mating season is not over yet, and just because I haven’t found a female already doesn’t mean I never will.
I hear the surrounding flock around me begin to call into the wind as we near another hill and I join them, alerting the surrounding aerie that we are near. Our shrill cries mellow into a harmonious hum and we launch into a short song, moving and breathing as one as if we had not nearly all gotten into a brawl moments before.
The wind carries our song and delivers a response from the females and the Shi’ell, mated male members in the surrounding areas. Bright flashes of feathers follow as the Shi’ell start to join us.
A collective squawk of joy follows from some of the males around us as I see a few of them gather overhead and begin to make their way uphill. I start to fly upward as well but the temperature around me begins to heat up. A barely noticeable shift that brings a small group closer to me.
We fly toward the warm updraft, forming a colorful circle of wings as we catch the thermals. All four arms and my legs spread out from under me as I stretch myself to catch the breeze on every part of my sleek body. It is a small recreation of the stories about migration that we have all heard since we were fledglings.
I imagine myself with a mate, our fledgelings nestled between our wings as the air warms us up.
Before I can finish my thought, there is a ruffling of feathers and sharp-toned squawks from above me. I look around and find Nnaiv’s eyes.
“What happen?” I call out to him in lowered tones while simultaneously reaching for his lower appendages in a private show of concern before he tells me that he has no idea but we should probably go up to check.
I agree and tuck my limbs back, letting myself glide back against the direction of the wind.
That is when I spot it.
