Stories of others' Avidae

His wings were spread out wide, soaring through the sky. As clouds rippled around them, he moved to deliberately dive straight into the middle of one. Lucid let out an exhilarated call as they felt the cool water droplets cling to their side. He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing as they exited out the other side. Cool air immediately stung his pelt. The Avidae tucked his wings in and turned his head downwards, in the way cats and squirrels were known for landing without being hurt. Their body immediately followed in snapping into a line, tail end upwards, legs tucked in. 

And then, Lucid dove. Air rushed against their pelt in an exhilarating rush, pushing every hair backwards. 

Before he got too close to the ground, Lucid stretched his legs out and shoved their wings outwards. The sudden rush of air resistance sent him upwards, and Lucid quickly flapped their wings, taking back control of the flight. His strong wings ripped through the sky, helping Lucid to direct themselves back to going forwards. 

If Lucid had been more reckless, they might have tried going closer to the ground. However, Lucid was a very cautious Avidae, and would never dare to try something like that. They were free-spirited, not trying to risk their life. 

Flicking his tail forwards and tipping his head back, Lucid let his body follow through with the motion. His front legs tucked in, pressed against his chest, while his hind legs were stretched towards the back. A gentle flap spurred them into motion, and a single backflip was completed mid-air. The entire process took barely a few seconds. 

Immediately after coming out of the flip, Lucid stretched out his wings to send himself soaring forwards. He blasted his way through yet another cloud, swerving from side to side as he moved. With the slightest shift of a feather, Lucid could change their leaning angle. The feeling of controlled flight was wonderful. It brings a feeling of being satisfied in their current state, having control over their life. It makes Lucid feel that right now, in this moment, it was the best point in his life. It makes him happy. 

Cautiously, Lucid tipped one wing upwards and the other wing downwards, tucking in their legs close to their body in the same movement. With a fwoosh sound, Lucid’s body spun a beautiful one-eighty in a circle, before bringing his body back upright. Lucid flapped his wings once, twice, and was back to flying straight. Flying forwards was really the default mode for flight while Lucid contemplate what other kind of acrobatic moves they should do into next. 

Lucid had no doubt that they could keep flying for at least an hour more. They did have very strong wings, after all. They didn’t need to consider having to land for a while. 

Just as Lucid tipped their body upside-down so their belly pointed upwards and their back side was downwards, he spotted a large lake in the distance. The water was a bright, clear blue, rippling with bright oranges and yellows. In the distance, Lucid saw the large fire ball that was the sun slowly sinking below the horizon, even though the part that had sunk below the horizon was barely noticeable. Orange, red and yellow light radiated from it. 

Lucid was suddenly very aware of how dry his mouth had become and how much his wing muscles were aching. He had been flying continuously for a few hours, but they had been so engrossed in the flight and the acrobatic tricks that they didn’t notice how exhausted they felt. Now that his muscles have relaxed a little, it was easy to sense how tired he was, and Lucid wondered how he didn’t detect it earlier. 

Letting his wings stretch to their full length, Lucid swerved downwards, tipping himself towards the left just a little and tilting more and more, letting himself spiral downwards in a controlled manner. Closer to the ground, he began flapping their wings and moving into an upright position. Then, they stretched their wings outwards and let themself glide downwards like an angsana seed. 

The moment their paws touched the ground, Lucid took off running, bringing his wings in slowly. After flying for so long, he almost tripped from the sudden weight on his legs but righted himself in time. They slowed down bit by bit, treading the line between the water and land. Finally, Lucid was down to a walk. They let themselves slow down slowly instead of stopping completely, letting their muscles relax and release the extreme amount of tension held in them during the flight. 

Stopping and drawing their wings in to tuck at his side, Lucid sat down at the edge of the water. His nose twitched, sniffing at the clear liquid. Detecting no strange scent, they squinted into the water as a small fish darted by, before deciding this place was safe enough to drink water from. 

Lowering his head to the pool, Lucid cautiously lapped at it with his tongue. When he detected no bitter, sour, salty, or otherwise unusual taste, Lucid figured it was safe enough and began to drink in larger mouthfuls. While he drank, Lucid didn’t forget to keep his ears turning from side to side to check for any incoming predators or just generally anything else approaching him. 

After the long flight, the water tasted amazing. Sweet yet not too sweet, cool but not freezing, it washed over Lucid’s tongue and poured into his throat in a pleasant wave. 

Once they had finally satiated their thirst, Lucid turned their head up towards the setting sun. The only parts that remained of the sun that was visible was the top sliver of light, radiating a last wave of bright light. 

As Lucid watched, the light slowly faded, shifting to a purple colour, then turning a dark blue, deeper than the blue of the lake. 

And the next moment, dots of white light showed themselves in the sky. The first of the stars coming with the moon.