Stars twinkled above her as Whirlwind soared on the soft night air. Tamed human fields spread below her, crisscrossed with dark paths bordered by sparking-poles. A pair of lights as small as candle flames vanished off into the distance.
Patches of woodland stood out to her. Gale had told her that long ago, this place was a wild forest without borders, stretching all the way up to the lakes up north. She hardly believed him. How could little humans change the land so drastically?
Though, she could have sworn there had been more trees the last time she had been here.
She tipped her wings to the north, the wind caressing her like an old friend. She rose into a livelier current, curling her talons as she picked up speed. She was a speckle of darkness crossing the night sky.
Below her the paths became thicker and more common. The groves of plants thinned, their neat rows retreating to make room for human dwellings. Captured stars shone from the inside of a few.
Gale had tried to explain it all to her once, the lightning that humans trapped in the wires gracing sparkle-poles. The humans can't see like we can, can't feel like we can, he had repeated as an answer to almost all of her questions. So they make things to help them see.
Whirlwind couldn't imagine it. Even when she closed her eyes, the wind whispered secrets about her surroundings. She could sense the movement of the hive below her, even if it was faint.
She spread her wings to stop herself, her body dropping vertical as she hovered over the roadway, her wings working to keep her aloft. 'Cars' prowled forward slowly in a line. Humans used them to travel. Her brothers used them sometimes too. The beasts awoke at their master's touch and obeyed the commands of those in their belly. They slept on unforgiving paths in front of their masters homes.
Sleep. She had never done that before. The only time her kind slept was when they were hurt really bad. Gale told her stories sometimes about what it was like, but it sounded kind of scary. When she said that, Tempest had ended that conversation with two words.
"It was." Whirlwind shook at the thought. It had to be extra horrible in order to scare her oldest sister.
She leaned her body forward, lifting her legs back up beneath her. She flew past the cars she had been interested in only a few moments ago, chilled to the bone.
Rising up on the horizon were towering human domains, reaching up metal fingers to pierce the sky. A fierce night wind drew her towards the waterfront as her mind wandered circles around stories she tried to forget.
Her older siblings had almost died once. Before Whirlwind was even thought of, the humans had tortured her family. It was why her brothers didn't have their wings anymore. She dragged gentle talons along the underside of her wing, filled with the lush lakeside air. The grating of claw against metal was lost behind her. Whirlwind saw Gale's smile in her mind as he looked at her, her golden wings spread wide. She remembered the tear that had slid down his face that she pretended not to see as he scooped her up in a vicious hug.
Her brother fit in well among the humans. His charms swept them all up, especially the females. He lacked the talons Whirlwind and her sisters shared. He has only spoken about what part he played in their race's revenge once, when she had asked. "I tear them apart from the inside," he had responded, his soft voice at odds with the promise of death.
Whirlwind wove between the buildings, the light from below coloring the sky a sickly shade of grey-brown. She slowed as the faint smell of the dark lake reached her over the pollution of the city below.
She tilted her wings upward and spiralled to the top of a dark building. Metal spires scraped the clouds above her, blinking crimson lights gracing the tips. Her claws clicked quietly on the metal edge of the building as she landed.
The faint growl of cars rose to greet her, but up here, the human stronghold was near silent. Peaceful. She sat on the edge, her legs dangling into more than a thousand foot drop. She folded her wings tight behind her.
She gazed down on the city for a while, until the crescent moon rose to its peak and only a few lonely cars wandered their paths. The wind never stopped through the night, threatening to rip her off the balcony until she finally commanded it to continue around her.
No wonder they called it the Windy City. She smiled to herself. She had learned that without help from her siblings. Whirlwind didn't dare tell them about this place, just in case they got any ideas.
The sun peeked over the horizon, the humans starting to wake. They walked the same streets everyday with purpose. She sharpened her claws absently on the balcony beside her. She wondered what it would be like to walk among them.
Whirlwind kicked her feet out in the open space, talons sharp as knives. It didn't take a genius to know strolling into the city was a bad idea. Humans are very territorial beasts, she could hear her siblings warn her.
Still, she stayed for a few more minutes before dropping off the side of the building, spreading her wings and vanishing into the sunrise.