![|:|CotHS [Story: (Ch 1 part 2) A Long Way To Fall]|:|](https://cdn2.scratch.mit.edu/get_image/project/500240416_480x360.png)
Chapter 1, part 2: Void was frozen in place, feeling all eyes turn towards him. He heard the snickers of Sunset and his friends, and the bewildered looks of many towards his wings. He felt his scruffy, ragged fur bristle involuntarily, and his wings press closer to his sides quivering. “Well, come on then.” The instructor said again, beckoning the hatchling to a small cliff face. It was no higher off the ground than the height of a fully grown Falline, but as Void slowly crept forward, it looked taller than the highest mountain peaks. He let out a startled squeak as the Instructor grabbed him by the scruff and plopped him down on the top. “Now get a good running start, and don’t forget what I told ya.” Void backed away from the edge, his eyes darting around. He looked from the instructor, to the other hatchlings, to the edge of the dropoff. The pounding feeling of his fears blurred his vision, and made him struggle to remember what the older Falline had said about flying. ‘Just run and jump’ He told himself mentally as everything else failed him. ‘Run. Jump. Fly’ Run. Jump. Fly. Sounded like a flawless plan, until he actually did so and fell with a graceless thud. In front of absolutely everyone. The sound of the laughter filling his ears was almost deafening. The sounds of all the different Fallines laughing at him. It made him curl up into a protective ball and hold his paws against his head, trying to combat the misery that threatened to drown him. He wanted it to stop, but the ringing in his ears only grew louder. ‘Please stop’. He cried in his thoughts. ‘Please stop. Please stop. Please stop. PLEASE STOP!’ Void’s watering eyes snapped open at the feeling of a soft paw on his back. The noise had stopped. The laughter, the white noise in his ears. It had all fallen to silence. His heterochromic eyes slowly drifted up as he stared straight up into calm ice blue eyes. “Are you ok?” She asked in a soft voice that to Void, sounded much like the song of the most elegantly made ocarina. Void’s voice caught in his throat, unable to respond to the other Falline. For the briefest moment, nothing else existed. Not this stupid flight class, not Sunset and his friends, not even his wings of the other hatchlings. Just him, and the Falline in front of him. “Winter Rose” Winter turned as the voice called to her, which was her mother on one of the cliffs. “You go back in line or I will have you whisked away back home this instant.” “But mother, he fell. I want to help him.” Winter’s soft voice was almost soothing to the internal sores and aches he felt, though it was incredibly short lived as the instructor walked over. “You ought to do what your mother says.” They said, nodding to Winter and flicking their wing back to the line. Winter looked from the line, to her mother and instructor, to then Void who had not moved from the place he had fallen. To his massive disappointment, she sighed in defeat and walked back over to the line of hatchlings. “As for you” Void looked up at the instructor as they gazed down at him and his tiny wings. “You ought to run on back to where you came from. I can’t help you here.” Void’s ears fell limply on the sides of his head as the instructor walked away and went back to the other hatchlings. From the triumphant look on Sunset’s face, he doubted that would be the last time they met. Void sniffled, got to his shaking paws, and ran off and away from the crowd. Flashback ends Void never saw the kind Falline his age after that. He still remembered her name though. Winter Rose. Her memory still stuck with him, and so did her kindness. He certainly saw Sunset again after that, however. They had tracked him down real quick and made tormenting Void day after day their new favorite pastime. He eventually learned the names of some of the members of Sunset’s gang, mostly because they were the ones who joined to torment Void the most. The two male Fallines were a blue, gold and black furred Falline named Macaw and a green and yellow colored Falline named Saguaro. The third most frequently seen Falline was a cruel female Falline named Tigers Eye. She was a golden brown Falline with darker brown and red markings. Tigers Eye was Sunset’s sister, and was just as brutal as her brother. Of course, that was not the only friends Sunset had, though that was the ones that Void bothered remembering. “Hey weird wings! We know you’re hiding in there! Comeon out, we just want to play!” The sound of a certain Falline made Void’s ears drop flat, and reminded him exactly what he was doing at that moment. Hiding. Hiding from Sunset and his gang. Just an average saturday.. He had ran and hid in a small cramped hole in the side of a cliff. The only good thing about his build and small wings was that he could fit into small places and wait until other Fallines had gone. After he hides, he normally waits until his pursuers leave, or until the sun sets.
This time, however, Void was not too lucky. This hiding place he had chosen was too small even for Void, and he could see Sunset’s claws getting dangerously close as they dug at the small hole. Of course, Sunset was not that much of an idiot. It was only a matter of time before they grabbed a picaxe from a nearby mining shaft and used it to their advantage. Void’s stomach churned as he felt claws grab onto his tail feathers. “Gotcha” Sunset hissed from outside and yanked him out into the open. Try as Void might, there was nothing he could do as he was now being held by both arms by Macaw and Saguaro. “You should give up. No matter how far you run we’ll always outfly you” Sunset sneered, nose to nose with the struggling flightless Airborne. “Lemme go!” Void tried as he desperately writhed in his captors grasp. “Or you’ll what? Cry? Go tell your mommies? Oh wait, they aren’t really your parents, are they?” Sunset smirked as Void winced. Of course Sunset over the years of being his biggest problem knew exactly what nerves to hit. “Your real parents didn’t care about you, so I suspect that the only reason they put up with you is sheer pity.” Void felt familiar insecurities that he asked himself daily flood over him, and before he could stop and think he kicked out hard with his back legs. Sunset stumbled back as the normally docile Falline kicked him, clutching his now bleeding nose from where Void’s legs collided with his snout. “Why you little-” He snarled, and slashed Void across the snout with his claws. Void let out a high pitch yelp, tears welding up in his eyes from the stinging sensation on his face. “I was going to let you off without beating you to a pulp today, but that’s now completely out the window” Sunset snapped his claws and Void felt himself being thrown roughly into the ground below him. Void covered his face with his paws, bracing himself for the pain to come, but as quite a few moments past nothing came. He hesitantly uncovered one of his eyes with a confused look, and his eyes widened as he saw a female Falline standing between him and Sunset It was her. Winter Rose stood between them with her wings outstretched. Sunset blinked, momentarily stunned, then shook it off and regained his normal cocky grin. “Hey girl. You’re standing in front of my kill. Scram and I might let you have a piece” Winter, surprisingly to Void, did not budge. Instead she reared onto her hind legs and flared out her wings in a defensive manor. She was protecting him. That was the biggest shocker to him. Apparently Sunset was just as surprised by this display. “Leave” She said in a hard voice, dropping back down to all fours. Sunset narrowed his eyes, but scoffed. “Fine then. Let’s leave the little no flight here because his oh-so intimidating girlfriend is here to save him” Sunset’s words were dripping in sarcasm, still he lifted his wings and flew off with his gang close behind him. Winter watched them leave, before she turned to Void. She smiled sweetly, and Void felt as though Sunstone himself had blessed him. “Hello. Are you ok? You’re bleeding from your snout” Void remembered the gash on his face, but his cheeks felt so hot under his fur that it dulled the pain. “I-I’m ok..” He said. His eyes widened ever so slightly as Winter offered him her paw, and helped him stand. “Th.. Thank you” He said in a murmur, and Winter smiled again. It was that kind of warm smile that felt like the last burning embers in a cold blowing winter. “Don’t worry. They shouldn’t have been hurting you anyways. I did what any Falline would do” She said. That made Void think. Would anyone who saw Sunset and his friends tormenting him stepped in? The warmth in Void’s chest dampened a little bit. “My name is Winter Rose. What’s yours?” Void wiped the blood from his face and smiled. “My name is Void” Void didn't have a lot to thank the world for, so he was glad he finally now did Fate had lead her right to him, and he would never let go Characters, Art, Writing and rp by me Previous Chapter: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/499731724/ Next Chapter: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/501246031/
