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"No." Pascal refused. "I can fly." He turned away from Rue, his thin eyebrows pointed downward in frustration. Why do they worry so much? he asked himself, mainly thinking of the girls, Rue and Kara. Do they not -ow!- see me flying? Still, he held on to Lark's hand just in case his wing did give out from the pain. He bit his lip, knowing Rue would probably grab him anyway, despite his reassurances.

"Sure you can," Rue said, disbelief practically dripping from the words. Even though the movement was awkward in the air, she grabbed Pascal's arm and dragged him closer to her, into her arms. Once she was carrying him, she gave him a small smile. "You may hurt it more," she explained.

Though he had previously refused to be carried by Rue, Pascal didn't reject her advances, and he let her hold him while they flew. He let go of Lark and stopped his irregular flapping. When his wings were folded up inside his sweatshirt, it felt wonderful. The steaming pain was gone, and his wings weren't freezing from the wind. Instead, they were cozy inside his hoody. He wordlessly rested in Rue's arms, the only mother he ever knew. Sure, she wasn't his mother, maybe a big sister, but because Pascal was so young, he always thought of Rue of his mother figure.

"So, uh," Lark broke in awkwardly, "How long do you think we'll be flying for?"

"Ooh, look, a storm cloud!" Kara broke in, before Rue could answer. "I bet it would be creepy inside a cloud, all wet and damp and stuff. A storm cloud's probably creepier, being a storm cloud. I wonder if you can see lightening from the inside, or just the oustside. Why-?"

Rue shot Kara a look, and the torrent of words subsided. "Sorry," she said sheepishly. Rue smiled, then answered Lark. "I don't know. At least a few hours, not including breaks."

Pascal reveled at the storm cloud, and depth of it, the color, and the size. He thought f what it would be like to be inside one: although he also thought it would be wetter than a normal cloud, because it's so filled up with water.

Lark opened his mouth to say something, but just then, a fat raindrop dripped onto the end of his nose. "What if it starts raining?" he asked Rue loudly, so the whole Flock could hear and possibly answer. He never was a good flyer in the rain, because the water built up in his wings would always weigh him down, and his hair would stick to his face and cover his eyes so he couldn't see very well.

"Let's search for a break in the clouds, and fly above them," Rue said. Kara opened her mouth to speak, and Rue felt a headache coming on. "What if we can't find one? What will we do then? You know how my hair get's in the rain! All poofy and messy, which I hate. I don't-"

Once again, Kara was cut out by Rue. "We'll think of that if it happens," she said firmly. Kara nodded, clamping her mouth shut tightly as she realized she had spoken too much, yet again.

Lark scanned the thick ceiling of clouds for a break of light, and finally, he spotted a faint glow that became brighter as he flew towards it, breaking away from the pack. Another crack of lightning sounded, nearly deafening him. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Over here!" Then motioned for them to follow as he beat his wings one more time to send him sailing towards the crack.

Rue nodded at Kara, and she went first, her curly brown hair tengling in the wind. Rue followed close behind, ignoring how Pascal's weight made her arms burn slightly. Once above the violent storm clouds, it seemed like another world.

The sky was peaceful and calm, the sun shining down on them, its rays warming her feathers. The clouds below were like a sea of darkness, rumbling and growling at the world below. She could barley see the flash of lightning from within the shadowy depths. It was pretty, in a ferocious kind of way.

When Lark bursted through the faint crack in the cloud, the glorious shine of the sun lighting up his fair, light orange hair, and he briefly closed his eyes, allowing his broad wings to let him glide. Even though he had known flying all his life, it seemed a new, more amazing experience each time. He repositioned the weight of the backpack as he opened his eyes again, returning to the present time.

Pascal loved the sound of the stormcloud rumbling like an empty stomach, even though it would seem frightening to most people. The sound seemed full and satisfying to listen to, and the brief flashes of lightning from below made his stomach have butterflies; in a good way, though. His wide eyes flicked from one flash to the next, admiring how it looked like a bomb being set off every ten seconds or so. "Hey Rue," Pascal casually said, "I know we just left a little while ago, but do we have any food?"

An exasperated grin shadowed Rue's face, but she nodded anyway. "Yeah," she sighed. She slung off her pack, no easy feat while flying. Rummaging around, she pulled out a bag of trail mix, tossing it easily to him.

"Can I have some?" Kara asked eagerly, sidling closer to Rue. She loved nuts.

"Ask Lark to share," Rue said.

Lark, having heard his name, swiveled his head towards Kara. "Yeah, here, sure." stuttered Lark, trying to stretch around his wings to reach the backpack on his back without obstructing his flight. He accidently knocked his wing a couple times, throwing him minutely off-balance, but he eventually managed to retrieve a trail mix bar for Kara, tossed it to her, then got one for himself.

Pascal ripped the bag open, aware that this trip would probably take awhile. Still, Pascal knew that being safe with his family, having the wind in his hair and a mouthful of trail mix was worth it, even if they were being chased. Pascal's wing still ached, but he suspected it would be better healed in the morning.

Ooc:// Should we skip to when they find the cave?

Ooc:// Sure.

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Rue skidded to a halt, loose pebbles scattering from her impending sneakers. She folded in her wings partway, and surveyed the cave. It wasn't necessarily classified as "spacious", but it would work for while. She let go of Pascal, her arms relieved to be free of his weight. She slung of her bag and tossed it against the wall, where it would be out of the way.

Kara stumbled slightly while landing, and ended up grazing her knee against the dusty rock floor. She brushed dirt away from the small scrape, a few drops of blood just barely oozing out. It wasn't even worth a Band-Aid.

Lark beat his wings heavily before folding them up and landing squarely on the cave's floor, landing down on one knee. He slowly rose as he surveyed the space, which seemed livable. "It's not bad." he said positively, his voice lightly echoing for a second before withering away, giving the scene a dramatic feel.

"Echo! Echo!" Pascal called, his hands cupped around his mouth. "Echo! Ech-"

Lark clasped a hand around Pascal's mouth. He leaned in and said quietly, "We don't want to scare the hawks, wherever they are. We are invading their home, you know." He stood stoic for a moment to let his words sink in, then leaned back with a soft smile to let his little buddy know he wasn't mad or anything. Lark dropped his backpack against the wall near the mouth of the cave. "Hey Kara," he began with a gesture towards Pascal. "Want to help Pascal unpack while me and Rue scope out the place?"

"Why do I get the boring job?" Pascal whined, stamping his foot rather loudly, spontaneously forgetting about his hurt wing.

Kara placed a hand on Pascal's shoulder to quiet him. She flashed him a mischevious wink, unseen by Rue or Pascal. Unpacking wasn't the only thing they were going to be doing. Outloud, she said, "Come on, Pascal. It won't be that boring."

Pascal, still having no idea what she meant yet (but catching her drift just the same), agreed, but not too quickly, as to avoid any suspicion from Lark or Rue. He poured on the drama. "Ugh, fine, whatever!" but sneakily smiled after.

Lark turned toward the mouth of the cave, gesturing with his shoulder for Rue to follow him. "Gotta make sure there's no Erasers, eh? Don't want any pee on this floor, too." he joked as he waited for Rue, recalling his last few moments at home. Home. he thought. Oh well; this was his home now.