Chapter 86: Haru!

Haru looked along the ground as they walked closer and closer toward the cliff face. He looked down into the deep abyss and recalled the first time he had come to the sect.

There was a warm breeze drifting up from the very bottom of the cliff. Haru sat down at the edge of the cliff and dangled his legs over the side.

"What are you doing? How did you know we were stopping here?" Remi asked Haru as he stared down into the darkness below the cliff.

Haru smiled before he looked back up to Remi.

"It is just so beautiful here. How could we not be stopping here?" Haru said as the warm breeze suddenly shot up past his face. It felt nice as the warm air warmed his face as the back of his body remained cold.

"You really think so? I kind of thought you would laugh at me and call it boring…" Remi said and then sat down next to him.

"This place boring? How could it be boring?" Haru said and then shouted into the abyss.

"ECHO!!!" His voice bounced around bellow before being projected back towards them. Remi laughed and then tried it for herself.

"Echo!" She shouted weakly. A few seconds went by before her voice gently drifted back to them.

They both laughed for a few minutes before it went silent once again. Remi rested her head against Haru's arm as they both sat there in the silence of the night.

'I wonder if it still remembers me?' Haru thought as he looked back into the darkness. He then started to hum a peaceful melody. The same one that he had sung the first time he had reached this cliff.

"That song is nice… Wait! how do you know that song!?" Remi shouted as she realised it was Haru who was singing it.

"This song? Well, It's a classic. Lots of people know it." He replied.

"That is not what I meant! Why sing it here?" Remi shouted as she looked up at Haru with worry.

'Does he know about them? But teacher Lin said that they stay away from humans at all costs. It took teacher over a hundred years to become friends with them… But every time I come here they will sing this song. It can't be a coincident right?" Remi began to think as another warm gust of wind shot up into the sky.

A white flash of light shot past them as the same song Haru had started to sing, Called out from the sky in response.

Remi gasped. 'How is this possible!? Even Teacher Lin can't get them to be this active! But it is actually singing back to him? When did Big Brother learn how to tame beasts?' She thought as she looked up into the sky.

Haru smiled as he heard the song called back towards him. "You really do remember me don't you?" He said quietly as he looked up toward the sky seeing the pure white feathers of the humongous eagle floating on the wind current.

Haru then stood up. Remi tried to grab his arm.

"What are you doing? Don't spook him. Teacher Lin said the Cloud Feathered Eagles are territorial. They only let people they trust get close to them. We need to leave." She said and then began to pull at Haru's arm, trying to drag him back into the forest.

"Hey Remi, You know the song I was singing? You have heard the eagle sing it too right?" Haru asked with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, How did you know?" Remi asked.

"When I was here three years ago. I sat down and sang the same song so I could hear it echo back to me. And to my surprise, the song not only echoed back.

But this eagle right here flew up and sang it back to me. If he didn't want us to be here why would he come out to say hi? Just think about it." Haru explained.

"Erm… You make a good point. But we shouldn't really go off an assumption here. They are really dangerous creatures after all." Remi said. She was still worried.

Teacher Lin had taught her a lot about the creatures she could possibly come across And taught her what to do if she did come across them. So it still didn't make sense that she thought that dragons didn't exist. Haru was still hung up on that thought.

He then looked up to see the Eagle still singing whilst floating in the sky. It carried on it's singing as it looked down at Haru.

"Dangerous? I don't think so. He looks quite friendly." Haru said as the bird was starting to get to the end of its song.

Both Haru and Remi looked up at the sky as a loud screech emerged from the eagle as it did a flip in the air. It then flew straight down into the darkness below.

"See, as I said. He isn't dangerous." Haru said as a large roar came from bellow. The whole cliff began to shake, As rocks tumbled over the edge.

"Well, Probably not too dangerous." Haru giggled.

Remi shook her head in disappointment. Haru was much different than how she remembered him. He was quiet and reserved before but now he seemed outgoing and he wore his heart on his sleeve. He had changed a lot since the last time they had met each other.

"You're an idiot. What if it would have flown down and decided to eat us both?" Remi asked.

"Eat us? Why would an eagle want to eat a human? Don't they just feed on small rodents and birds? Wait… With the size of that thing, I guess we would look like a small rodent." Haru realised why she was so worried the whole time.

"It took you long enough. I wasn't worried for nothing. Teacher Lin told me that a few disciples came up here a few decades ago. When the eagles got the scent of people nearby about five of them flew up and ate all of the disciples leaving nothing but pools of blood." Remi said.

The ground began to rumble once more as another current started to rise from the bottom of the cliff. The screech of the eagle started to rise as it made it's way closer and closer. Before flying up into the sky and then toward both Haru and Remi.

"Shit! We need to run!" Remi screamed.

But instead of running Haru took a moment to look at the Eagle closer. He used his spiritual sense to try to feel for its emotions. And to his surprise, there wasn't even a drop of hostility. The Eagle then landed on top of the cliff and just stared at Haru.

"Haru! Hurry up!" Remi shouted from the trees.

No, that the Eagle had landed it was much easier to see the size of it. Its wingspan must have been around ten meters and its height from its feet to its head was almost six meters.

If this bird flew over a city everybody would stop what they were doing to look at it. After all, it was about the size of a small plane, yet it seemed so gentle. It moved gracefully through the sky so it looked quite weird to see it perched on the cliff face.

Remi took a minute to look back toward Haru. The Eagle didn't seem like it was going to eat them but she wanted to keep her guard up. The most important thing Teacher Lin taught her about beasts is that you can never trust them. The slightest thing could change their mood drastically.

Remi then decided to walk over to Haru. She felt confident enough that the Eagle was friendly so she began to walk carefully toward them. Making sure that she didn't startle him.

"What are you doing?" Haru almost laughed at her as she slowly crept over.

"I'm trying to not startle him." She replied and then carried on.

"Startle him? Just hurry up before he decides to fly away. I bet your teacher hasn't gotten this close to them before. You can tell him that you touched a Cloud Feathered Eagle and watch him go insane if you hurry up." Haru said.

"Touch it? Why would I want to touch him? What if he decided to bite my arm off or something?" Remi replied getting a little fed up of how laid back Haru was.

"It's fine. I searched his emotions. He doesn't feel hostility to either of us. He's harmless…" Haru said as he felt something grab the back of his shirt.

He tried to turn but was lifted up it the air. He felt the current beneath his feet and felt the cold hard beak of the eagle pressed against the back of his neck. He was now dangling from the mouth of the humongous Eagle.

"Wait, I thought you weren't hostile! Put me down already." There was a breath hesitation as the current beneath him stopped.

And without a second thought, the Eagle released him. Haru looked down as he started to fall into darkness. He turned onto his back seeing the night's sky getting further and further away.

Remi watched as Haru was dropped off the face of the cliff. Her throat became dry and heart began to race as she watched his body tumble through the sky. Her eyes became damp with tears and her chest began to throb. She ran to the edge and tried to reach out as he passed by her.

It was no use. Haru's body continued to fall into the abyss until he was out of sight.

"Haru!!!!" Remi screamed as a loud thud echoed out from the darkness.