XVII. FEATHERLESS WINGS
"I will not be gate kept from my divinity!" Lana breathed a hundred miles a second. After being just one strike away from slaying a god, her holy title is taken away by some buffoon of a bird? She transferred all of her anger to her paw as she pressed Eustice's face against the ground. "I'll make you one with the Earth itself. Know your place beneath the heavens, jester!"
"You have already proven your worth as a warrior time and time again. Why not let this one go and give someone who's never had even a word of complimence uttered in his name for once?"
"You seek pity from me? Of all people? You think I have pity in my black heart to offer?"
Eustice gave off a gruff scowl as he could barely keep his eyes open. "Doesn't hurt to ask now does it?"
"Your lack of pride makes my stomach churn sick! What better way to teach you your earthly ties than by removing the very thing that allows you to seek heaven itself?" Lana dug her claws into both of Eustice's wings.
"No. Please. I beg of you. I'll never survive without my wings."
"Tasteless begging suits you, squirming insect." Catharsis entered Lana's body as she tore of Eustice's wings. "Judgement for your sins, earthworm." With the bliss of her revenge for losing her godly prey, she was able to soothe her psyche enough to think clearly. With the tensions lowering in her flesh, she knew Flora couldn't be far with her wounds. With great haste, she began to make her way down the mountain.
Flora's eyes began to open as she saw six peering eyes mesmerized by her very existence.
"A tomato for an apple,
A promise between us,
I may only have mush,
I am in quite a hassle."
Ruby's lips quivered as the excitement of finally meeting her fantasy has begun to lay eyes on her. "P-p-p-p-poetry! Y-y-you speak, in, poetry!"
Flora groaned as the gravity of her injury was making itself known to her.
"You're even more fantastical than I could ever imagine!"
"Fantasy I am not.
Being is who I am.
Dreams present clot."
"I have no idea what that is supposed to mean, but it was beeautiful!" Ruby put her arms against her chest and rested her chin on her paws as she twirled like whirlwind sucking in Flora's idiosyncrasies.
Graham noticed Flora's darting eyes. "She looks on edge. Ruby, calm down. You're scaring her."
"How dare you accuse me of being scary? I am the sweetest bunny there is!"
"Don't mind her, Flora. I'm..." Blake was cut off by Ruby wanting to be the first to introduce herself.
Ruby dashed in front of Blake and began pointing to herself. "I'm Ruby, and the smarty pants over there is Blake. The one with his eyes wide open and mouth in a scowl is Graham."
"Nice to meet you, Flora. I'm only scowling because I know Ruby should not be aggressive in getting in the personal space of an injured friend."
"Ugh. There you go again judging me so harshly. I am not aggressive. I am anything but so."
"Ruby, have a little self-restraint. Graham is only trying to let Flora get comfortable. She probably doesn't trust us yet."
"Not you too, Blake. C'mon. Who wouldn't trust us? Maybe not you two, but a cutie bunny like me?" Ruby put on a yard wide grin to impress the object of her desires. She put her paws together to the side and as she tilted her to them.
"Wisdom escapes friendly lips.
It is not of my habit to blind fire from the hip,"
Flora's eyes became laser focused on Ruby's wave of energy trying to wash over her.
"The gift of my name..."
"Was bestowed upon us by a ma'am" Ruby asserted her own verse in an attempt to win the glamour of Flora. "Bearrianna is who ate our jam."
"We had jam?!" Graham felt betrayed knowing that he didn't get some jam during their adventure.
"No, silly. I took some creative liberty. Gotta match the poet with her own grace, ya know?"
"Sounds like too much work for me."
"That's because you're lazy, Grahammy."
Flora interjected herself back into the conversation.
"Sentiments of meeting where no definition lie,
I have much gratitude, but do not live in your mind’s eye.
The mask you wear for otherly impression,
May be the very thing blocking our connection."
The gang paused to take in what was being said, but Ruby herself got lost in her head. With her people pleasing behavior, she felt a nagging voice pester her: You gotta be the one to make sense of this; after all, you're the one Flora ought to be closest too. No one but you should know what she means.
Blake shrugged his feathers. "Figurative language isn't my forte. Sorry that I may need a bit more of direct translation."
"Don't worry about it, Blake. Even my little gopher brain couldn't make head or tails from what Flora said."
"Hush up you two. Just because you guys are giving in to defeat doesn't mean I will too."
"Friends are the way they treat you,
But I wonder where you place the bar."
Ruby groaned in displeasure. Believing she could've made out what Flora had said given she had a few more minutes before having Blake and Graham interrupt her concentration. Her passive aggression came to the forefront as she scowled.
"Ruby, Graham and I were just sharing our thoughts. No need to take it personally. We couldn't figure it out either, ya know?"
"Blake's right. We don't think less of you in the slightest."
"I know I can do better. I just have to. Flora is worth my brain spinning in circles. I just have to understand the words coming from an exotic creature. I just gotta."
Exotic? Flora wasn't one for few words unless less had volumes more heart than a well thought out explanation from her ego. The discomfort of Ruby's clinginess got to Flora. She didn't feel as if Ruby came from a place of genuine connection, but rather a hole in her self-worth. This is not the type of person Flora enjoyed being around. With her injuries settling in, she had no time to be a child's play thing. Rest is what her body asked her for.
"That's right! No one has ever seen an animal with two tails! You're something special all right. I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you," Ruby said.
"A judgement from a sight that made you tick,
Yet, not a moment taking in my presence,
Not just in the space I take up,
You take things blinder than a pup.
With overexposure, boredom shall set in soon.
Cravings become the nocturne of your honeymoon.
When eyes are set above, it is but a child splay of love."
The group took their time to try and process what came out of Flora's mouth, but Ruby's lips moved without a gap. "Maybe not alone, but what if the three of us put our noggins together to make sense of our celestial guest here?"
As Ruby looked to the others for their consent, Flora began to make her escape towards her cave's entrance. While she's certain they mean her no harm, she couldn't help but feel fetishized for her appearance by Ruby. She is in no mood to convince her that she is more than the form she presents to her eyes.
"Hmm," Graham put his fingers in the shape of an "L" and put it against his chin.
Blake repeated what Flora said out loud. "Maybe..."
Ruby moved her face closer to Blake. "Maybe?!"
"Maybe...uhm, her calling us pup..."
"Yeah?!"
"We're too young for her to engage with?"
"What?! Don't be stupid! She hardly looks old. I'm willing to bet she's our age. Right, Flora? Flora?" Ruby's eyes scanned their backpack nest and saw that she is nowhere in sight. Not even a trail of blood from her wounds is to be seen.
"We have to find her and quick. There's no way she's remotely ready to be on her own." Graham began leading the others forward.
"But why did she go off on her own?" Insecurity set inside of Ruby. She had been nothing but a generous devotee, so why not confide in her? Is there something off-putting about her?
"I'm not sure. I'll fly ahead."
"Hurry, Blake!"
"Don't rush me!"
Flora made it to the bodies of her fallen family. Her body weak at the sight of them motionless, lifeless. The reality of the situation began to set into the very core of her being. Loss seeped into her veins. Grief overwhelmed her as she fell flat on her stomach. The impact roughed her up enough to reopen her wounds. Her face laid flat on the mountain with her tail outstretched behind her. The very notion of pain being forced upon others made her unforthcoming. Emotions of making others into the enemy swallowed her whole. Is killing an inevitability? Is she remotely enough, worthy enough, to bring life to such a question? Wouldn't it be easier to let things pass on their own accord? Would she even allow herself to remove herself from accountability?
The air split apart as Blake swept through the sky. A red twin-flamed outline came to sight as he brushed through the clouds. No shadow of a doubt came to him. This has to be Flora. No other could emit a heavenly glow. "Ruby, Graham, I see Flora!"
"We're close! Move your bum, Graham! She didn't get far!"
"This is as fast as my tiny lil' legs can sprint."
Blake swooped down and noticed red all around him. The two fallen bears, and Flora bleeding out right before him. Ruby isn't going to let him hear the end of it. "Why didn't he save her?" He could hear her words enter his eardrums already.
Two trailing footsteps from below the mountain grew closer. It had to be his friends. Instinct took over as he stood headstrong in front of Flora's body. The argument is inevitable, but the least he could do is delay the confrontation with a heartbroken Ruby. She deserves at least a little extra time for excitement in her life.
Ruby and Graham arrived, noticing only the look of despair on Blake’s face. Both of them panted like they just finished a three day marathon. Excitement echoed through Ruby's voice as she felt the connection to Flora growing stronger now that she's arrived. "Where's Flora?"
"Ruby... there was nothing I could do... There was nothing we could do..."
Ruby walked past Blake almost as if he wasn't even there in the first place. Blake didn't even let his gaze follow her walking passed him. The shame got him to look down with closed eyes instead.
Graham had a powerful sense of smell, and the smell of death entered his nose. He could tell what happened just from the fragrance alone. His heart pulled him to approach Blake with a pat on the head. "It's alright." No other words would conjure up for him.
Ruby stood motionless. Her body frozen from what she saw. The string Ruby felt connecting her to Flora severed. It felt as if Flora had held her heart close, only to have let it go into freefall. Finally, her heart hit the floor. This is it. This is the end of her romanticization. Minutes passed with Ruby unable to blink. She didn't know if her eyes were red from being unable to close them, or from the tears of seeing Flora beyond heaven's gate.
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