Wings Of Wind

"You done?" Claude asked, seeing Kai walking towards him. 

Kai nodded. "Yeah. Let's get going. We have a long trip ahead." 

They walked past the gates. And immediately after they were greeted by the smell of fresh soil and iron. 

Kai picked up a thick branch and lit it up. Using it as a torch as he steadily moved it around, trying to look for an opening to head north.

"Wait, wait, wait. Slow down!" Claude yelled from behind. Struggling with the pace Kai had set.

Slowing his footsteps down a little immediately, Kai sighed and turned around ever so often to check up on his companion who had a lot to say.

Finally, the dense forest started fading into a flatland where it stretched out far yonder with the moonlight reflecting on it's velvet ground.

"Can we rest here tonight? Aren't you tired?" Claude babbled. He didn't want to admit it, but he was exhausted. Mentally and physically.

Knocking on the ground and looking around, Kai spotted a large tree in the middle of nowhere. "Yeah. Wait here i''ll get some wood for a fire." He pointed. 

Despite how far of a distance they traveled and how many paths he paved, Kai didn't seem tired one bit. His face and body didn't have a single droplet of sweat whatsoever. 

"Crazy." Claude murmured, drinking water under the tree as the breeze blew by. His shiny caramel hair fluttered in the wind and clung onto his face. 

He paused and frowned. He could've sworn he heard something squealing in a high pitch tone but brushed it off as his ears played tricks on him.

He stood up and looked around, summoning his weapon along with it. He didn't know why but he could feel something weird.

"What are you doing?" Kai asked, coming back with a fistful of dead white rabbits and an armful of wood.Tilting his head in confusion.

Claude's hair on his body stood up as a strong gust of wind blew by. "Nothing. I just heard something. I guess it was just your.. footsteps and rabbit killing." He suggested, eyeing the dead corpse.

Smiling, Kai pointed to the food packet that Claude had bought earlier. "You can eat that while waiting for me to cook this." 

He felt like he was being accompanied by an adult rather than someone his age. It was uncomfortable.

He watched as Kai used earth magic to create large square blocks for seats. And started the fire with the wood he had. His hands worked fast but he seemed preoccupied with his thoughts.

"Hey. I'm sorry for..yelling at you the first time we met." 

Kai gave Claude a weird look. "Why the sudden faint of heart?" He teased.

"Shut up. I'm apologising." Claude threatened, slightly embarrassed. He couldn't believe this situation.

The wood lit on fire and small ashes flew up when the fire flared with intensity. The ashes flew in the opposite direction of the wind.

Claude gulped and looked up and around but he couldn't see or hear anything. It was scary to only go by the lingering feeling of touch.

They both went silent as they both figured a way to ease their minds of this worry. Whether it'd be identifying the source to deem it as not a threat. Or eradicate the source. 

Feeling really concentrated, Claude didn't keep his eyes off the sky nor the landscape even if dust and wind blew into his eyes. He was scared. It was terrifying to be somewhere without the guidance of his grandmother in this cold weather.

He hadn't been in this type of situation for so long. He almost forgot.

"What's wrong? Here I cooked it." Kai said, shoving the enticing piece of cooked meat towards Claude's face.

"You felt that, didn't you?" Claude asked, eyes on Kai. He didn't know why but he felt more uncomfortable around Kai than before.

Kai lowered the food and looked around cluelessly. "Just ignore it and we'll be fine."

"Stop treating me like a kid!" Claude slapped Kai's hand away from his face. "We're both going to work together. And if I can't trust you, what's the whole point of this?" He snapped.

Slowly, Kai's smile dropped. "If I tell you what's hanging around us, would you be able to handle the consequences?" His yellow eyes are more prominent than ever.

"I would rather know than be blind." 

Not being able to wrap his head around Claude, Kai sighed and raised his hand up and pointed up to the sky. "If I'm not wrong. It's a bird. But for me to identify what it is..it'll be a risky guess at best." Kai said.

"A bird? Can't you shoot it down with magic? I can try." Claude suggested, coming up with simple ideas to start.

Looking haggard, Kai shook his head. "Trust me, I tried." He admitted. "Don't worry it doesn't seem like it's main prey is us. It's just keeping an eye out in case we become a threat. You can rest, if worse comes to worst, I'll deal with it."

"We'll deal with it." Claude insisted, stabbing his arrow into the ground.

He had planned to at least get a shot in at the mysterious bird creature. But it didn't seem plausible at this time of night. Where the wind seemed to be dominant.

Feeling anxious, Claude set down and huddled himself against the tree. It was cold despite the flames. Was it because his loved ones weren't with him?

Claude leaned his head on his knees and glanced at Kai who smiled back immediately. "Your smile seems forced. You can stop that when I'm here, you know." 

The wind seemed to have stopped all of a sudden and it went completely silent. 

"Sleep. Stop talking. I'll take the night shift." Kai said. Not looking at Claude anymore. He didn't feel like it. 

Claude frowned and felt pissed off. This person was messing with his patience. "What's wrong with you?" He asked in a rude tone.

Slowly breathing, Kai looked up and back at Claude. "Nothing."

"Fine. I'll take the night shift too then." Claude stated.

"If you still have energy to stay awake then let's get moving on." Kai stood up and stomped on the cooked meat that had been dropped on the ground earlier. It was such a waste. 

Kai watched as Claude stood up and fixed his clothes.

"Which direction?" Claude asked, having trouble standing on his two feet. He tilted backwards slightly and took a few quick steps back. 

After seeing that, Kai realised he was a little too harsh on someone like him. "I was joking. We're restin-"

"I'm going." Claude insisted, walking away in a random direction. If they were walking straight to the tree earlier he just had to walk parallel to it. He didn't need that person's instructions or guide for now. He didn't feel like talking to him anyway.

Kai slowly pulled out something from his pocket and spilled out the liquid from the vial and held onto the empty bottle. He could hear his heartbeat get faster. 

In order to keep an eye on the bird in the sky, Kai had to walk slowly but he couldn't afford to do that at the pace Claude was forcing.

With just one swoop, they could be annihilated if not careful.

"Stay with me! Slow down!" Kai yelled.

However, the whirling wind overpowered his soft voice. It blew at the rate of speed of a hurricane. 

The grass that seemed rooted to the ground blew right off in an instant. The large tree that stood tall and mighty struggled to keep itself intact.

Shaking, Kai could feel himself losing confidence. The wind was so strong, he could slip if he lifted even one foot up. His white hair blew in front of his face, blocking his vision. 

"Claude?" Kai muttered out, he wasn't sure how loud he sounded over this crashing wind. But he knew for sure. It was from behind him.

Claude felt the wind sweeping and grazing pass his skin. Before he could say something about it, the wind increased in intensity. The packet of food he was holding flew out of his hand and dashed away at an extreme speed.

Through the rainstorm of soil and leaf, Claude turned back and attempted to find Kai. He took one step forward and felt himself falling backwards. But the moment he did, he heard someone calling his name.

He turned and saw a terrifying large black silhouette in unison with the wind. He froze.

It's wings are the size of a house, flapping vigorously, each flap it made, a strong gust of wind came along with it. 

It's long talons were as sharp as a sword. 

And all of that came at them with incredible speed. 

It towered over them.

"Kai! BEHIND!" Claude yelled, he forced all the sound he could manage out of his throat. But he knew well that his voice reached Kai slower than that monster.

Kai pulled back his hand and tried to grab onto the hilt of his sword but the sound exploding from the monster's beak was petrifying.