Celeste

Shimmer and Crackle (Primary undecided as yet)


Despite her heavy coat and everyone always telling her she wasn’t designed to fly -all- the time, Celeste was always in the air. While others liked to splash in the water, roll in the dirt or just enjoyed the feel of grass between their paws, she preferred to soar with the winds she knew so well. She’d stay hovering with her legs tucked up to talk to people, soar real low to graze or drink, one paw coming down to push her back up to come around again.

She never wanted to touch the ground. Sometimes she’d fly higher and higher and then just open her wings and imagine she was part of the sky. All soft blue and sunrays.

Night was her least favorite time. The sun hid away, the sky darkened and sleep came. No matter how hard she tried, inevitably she’d wake in the morning in a heap on the ground, give a sniff of indignation and push herself into the air again.

Her obsession was a little much even for a wind clan to understand and heads were shaken. Newcomers would try valiantly to talk her down, get her to hold still while she talked to them, finally giving up like the rest.

She made the choice to leave on her own. Travel, let the wind take her where it willed. Through woods and over prairies, skimming across the sea, soaring to the tops of mountains and across deserts, so long as she was sky bourn.

The storm that ended her travels and brought her to the glade hadn’t looked nearly so bad. She’d ridden the winds through all sorts, turned her face into the rain and called out a challenge to the storm so many times. This time, it was not to be that she came out the other side triumphant. Instead she woke in the mud, aching, wet through, cold. Slowly she got to her feet, spread her wings to get back into the air and whimpered, turning to her left wing which hung limp and dragged at her side. Several snorts and sharp panicked cries slipped from her, drawing attention. Several curious eyes peaked and dragons ambled out slowly to answer her cries.
“I can’t fly, I can’t fly!” She repeated it over and over, ignoring calming words that were offered, watching critically as several moved to see what could be done for her wing. There wasn’t much hope. The break was bad. She’d be lucky to get use out of it. Grounded. . .


The wing was cared for and bound to heal, but Celeste was listless, sitting staring upward, swaying her head a little from side to side, trying to feel the breezes. She missed the sky, the wind under her wings, being one with it. Little ones came to try and raise her spirits, one young spiral particularly, always dragging his friends along to put on aerial shows for her, trying out new tricks, making her laugh a little at their antics. A brief uplift to her day. She looked forward to their visits, started giving suggestions and then directing and before long they put on a nice show for the lair. She was getting comfortable, used to this change. The ground still felt cold and she still longed for the air, now and then she’d just raise her head and sigh longingly, but the little ones made it better.

The binding came off finally and as predicted, the wing was crippled. It didn’t straighten fully as it should. It would never bear her up as it once had.

Her attention, ever skyward if a task did not require otherwise was diverted as your young aerial troupe came scampering over. For a moment she just stared at them, too surprised to reprimand them for being late. Watching a spiral run never ceased to be funny. They looped so casually through the air. On the ground they never quite seemed to know how to arrange themselves and now was no exception.
“What are you doing getting your paws dirty, into the air, lets see what you’ve practiced.”
The little spiral flopped himself down in a mess of coils. “It’s no fly day, in your honor.”
She offered a snort, grumpily shifting her wings. “You will honor me by getting in the air and enjoying it like I would be if I could.”
For a moment the little spiral and the other younglings were quiet, shifting a little uncomfortably before he spoke again, softly. “Can we. . . show you the surprise we have for you?”
“We even helped make it!” One of the others piped up.
“What’s this all about.”
“Come and see.” Tepheron dropped his mouth open in a happy spiral grin and Celeste shook her head as he untangled himself and scampered off in a curlicue of flipped over and around body.
“Come on, please.” The others moved to her, gently nudging and tugging and she finally gave and followed after the little spiral as he led the way into the trees. She looked back, not liking going into the trees, they hid the sky, dampened the wind.
She stepped a little faster after the little spiral, wanting to be done in here as soon as possible. He scampered along and then turned up an old half fallen tree to reach higher branches in a tree and continued on. She paused before following as he climbed, moving on platforms made high in the branches and out to the edge of the trees where the wind made the leaves shake in their own kind of music. He twisted around a branch and his wide eyes widened a little more with his eager excitement as he motioned just off the decking to a large woven mat suspended between two large branches, being rocked by the wind.
“It’s for you.” He said as all the others watched on, bouncing a little with excitement.
She moved forward slowly, considering the mat’s strength carefully before she stepped out onto it, swinging gently. She settled in the middle as the wind picked up, rocking her gently and blowing past her, bringing a soft sound from her and she lifted her wings, feeling the wind sweep under and around her as she’d so missed.

She was home.