"So..." Mom's words trailed off as she watched our reactions. "How're you feeling~"

"Sore." I mumbled. My wings felt like they'd been broken, reset, then broken again. My stomach was cramping so much I felt like I was about to vomit. And my talons/toes felt like someone had taken a hammer to them. So yeah, I felt like crap. But at least I could form a coherent thought. Sonny just grumbled every time someone tried talking to him.

"Good!" Mom said with a bob of her head. "That means the evolutions have taken effect and we can begin."

"Can't we do this tomorrow? I'm in a lot of pain..."

Sonny groaned his agreement.

"No." She shot back immediately.

"Please~ Something's obviously wrong with me, I mean, my legs didn't hurt this much when I evolved them."

"That's because your legs were used to stress. They've been carrying you around since the moment you first hatched. But your wings, digestive system, and nails? They aren't used to such stress. Hence the pain."

I couldn't refute her point, so I grumbled my agreement.

"Glad you agree! Now, Sonny, you'll be coming with me."

Sonny groaned slightly louder.

Neither of us knew if that was an agreement or a protest, so mom took it as an agreement and started dragging him away.

"What about me!?" I called after her.

"You're with me." Replied dad as he landed beside me.

"Oh, okay," I said cautiously. I knew dad could be serious when he wanted to be, so that wasn't the issue... I just wasn't sure what he could teach me that mom couldn't. "So what're we doing?" I asked, my excitement starting to build.

"Flight school."

...

Somewhere, deep inside the recesses of my mind, my excitement crashed into a mountain.

"What?"

"You've got a week to learn to use those wings of yours. And I'm going to ensure you can."

...

"What?"

Dad huffed and thwacked me with his wing.

"Focus, Rage. You volunteered for this, remember?"

I slowly nodded my head. I did volunteer for the expedition... But flying? That was an entirely new concept for me. Sure, send me into a fight with nothing but a knife and I could do some damage. Tell me to adventure through enemy territory and I'll do it without a second thought...

"Uh... Dad?" I said as I looked at the ground far below the branch.

"Hmm? He asked as he stepped next to me.

"Can't we do this... You know... Inside the tree first? At least until I get the hang of it?"

"Hmm... You know, that's not a bad idea."

"Rea—lllY!?" I screamed. He'd thwacked me with his wing and knocked me off the branch!!

"Better open those wings and fly, Rage!" I vaguely heard him yell as panic set in.

I opened one wing, the rapid descent caused my wing to buckle under the pressure and sent me spinning to my death. I desperately tried to open the other wing to stabilize myself, but every attempt just caused me to spin faster.

"No no no no no no no NO!!!" I screamed internally as the ground rushed up to meet me.

"Oof." I grunted as something grabbed one of my legs as it raced past me, then spun until we slowed down enough that the impact wouldn't kill me... I still yelped in pain as I hit the ground and slid to a stop on my side.

"Do you know what you did wrong?" I vaguely heard my father ask.

My heart pounded in my chest as the panic attack started. I felt my lungs constrict as they failed to properly empty themselves of air. Black spots danced in front of my eyes.

"Hey," I felt something brush against the back of my head. "It's okay. You're okay."

My chest heaved.

"Calm down, you're safe."

I blew out a ragged breath.

"Y—You pushed me." I said once I'd managed to get my breath back.

"Yes." He agreed.

"Why?"

"Because, Rage. You volunteered for a mission that could very well result in your death. You did this without asking for permission from either your mother or me. I doubt you even thought it through... But you did. And now, if I don't want to lose my son, I have to make sure you understand something."

...

"What?"

This isn't your homeworld, Rage," He said directly into my ear. "Torian is a bird eat bird world. There will be creatures outside of the nest that won't care if you're a re-lifer or not. They won't care that you're a child. No, they'll eat you, Rage. They'll eat you for those points you carry, or they'll kill you for the fun of it and leave your body for the maggots."

"And you panicked. That'll get you killed out there." He finished as he thwacked my head. "Get up, we're going again."

I stood up on shaky legs and took a deep, semi-calming breath.

I didn't bother trying to convince him that I'd thought it through, because truthfully, I hadn't. I reacted like I always did when placed in that kind of situation.

I leaped when I should have looked.

"Dad's right. If I want to make it back alive, I've gotta stop rushing into things... " I sighed. "It's already gotten me killed three times... Let's try not to make it four."

I followed after dad as he led me through the bushes surrounding the base of a tree. We found an old tree that could have been one of the larger tree's branches. It was leaning at a steep, right angle, and looked like it could fall over at any moment. And, were it not for the much larger tree it was leaning against, it probably would have.

"Climb up there," He motioned with his wing to one of the lower branches. " And jump off."

...

"You're serious?"

"Would you prefer we go up top and try it from up there?"

"No!... I mean, no. I'll do it."

"Mmm." He grunted. He walked a fair distance away from the tree and began watching me.

"If you can glide past me, then we'll go home for the day."

"Really!?"

"Yes." He agreed. "But, that's if you can glide past me."

"Okay!"

I jumped a few feet to the first small branch I could find, then used my new talons to dig into the bark and slowly muscled my way to the branch he'd pointed to. Once there, I shook my wings out a took a breath... I leaped... And promptly fell out of the sky and crashed into the dirt.

"Again."

I winced at a flash of pain the raced through my leg as I stood up. But climbed to the branch anyway... I leaped... And fell again.

"Again."

"My leg..." I groaned.

"Is it broken?" He asked.

"No... No, I don't think so. I think I just landed on it wrong."

"Then you're good to go again."

"But what if I injure one of my wings? I won't be able to join the expedition, then!"

"If you hurt one of your wings. I'll pump you with enough points to buy a repair evolution, then we'll try again... Or you just won't join the expedition."

"But I've given them my word!"

... He stared at me. The coldness in his eyes sent chills down my spine.

"Then you'd best get it right. Now, do it again."