Page 119 of Ruby
Kira bursts into laughter. “You fly like achicken!”
I do not understand the insult, but I understand the tone.
Ani stiffens as she rises from her fall. Her back straightens. Her head tilts just so. I recognize the shift in her posture. Like a bird fluffing before a fight. There it is. The sharpness gathering at the edge of her mouth.
She turns.
“For your information—” she starts, then falters.
A few stumbled curses in her own language spill out, tangled and unconvincing.
Kira is still laughing.
Ani opens her mouth again.
I brace myself.
But instead of striking, she… stops. Her lips twitch. And then she laughs. Not forced. Not brittle. Real.
“Okay,” she says, brushing sand off her legs. “That one was fair.”
Kira wipes tears from her eyes. “I’ve seen better flight from ground birds.”
Ani gasps dramatically. “You wound me. You do better, then, Proto Wings.”
More laughter.
I watch the tension leave Ani’s shoulders.
I know that look she had. I have seen her draw blood with words. I have seen her lash out when she feels cornered. Today, she does not. She shed that impulse like old plumage.
New feathers.
I feel a swell of pride so sharp it almost hurts.
She climbs back onto the boulder, determination replacing offense. “Again,” she mutters.
She jumps. This time, she angles better. She glides farther—awkward, but controlled—and lands on her feet.
She beams at me.
I cannot stop the song of joy from leaving my chest.
Later, when the others disperse and the light softens, she comes to sit beside me beneath the trees.
Her wings brush the stumps of where mine used to be. Almost like a caress.
She doesn’t look at me when she sings. “Feel terrible.”
I tilt my head. “For what?”
“For this.” She gestures to her wings. “Growing. Can almost fly.”
She swallows. “You can’t. I can.”
There it is. Guilt.
I huff softly. “Ani—”
