I was heading back to Angels Cove, with Casey and Arthur following behind. I allowed them to come with me because Arthur wanted to speak, but Casey decided to tag along, which I now regret. He wouldn't stop talking about the fight, how much fun it was, and how well he performed. It was starting to annoy me. I suspect he was doing it on purpose, as he often does.
Arthur landed outside the door with me. Casper had been flying with us until the Cove came into view. He jumped down and ran below us until we stood outside my room.
"I saw the way that warrior looked at me! I knew I impressed her."
"I bet you did," Arthur gave an encouraging smile to his boyfriend, trying to get him to stop talking for my sake.
I folded my wings at the door, waiting to hear the shuffle of the other two and Casper before opening it. Casper yipped below me, his tail wagging wildly with joy. He still had so much energy. Should I consider doing some training with him alone? It would help strengthen our bond, train him, and release some of his energy.
I looked around, seeing that I didn't have anything to do…
"Alright, enough of that lying," I stopped to interject on the pairs conversation.
Casey crossed his arms. "Someone's jealous~"
"Of you? Yeah, right. Arthur's a better fighter than you."
Casey held a finger up, about to interject, but he looked at the shorter boy. I could see him gulp and shrug before letting it go.
Speaking of the shorter angel, he looked back at me with a raised brow. "Not going inside?"
"I might decide to train with Casper instead of taking a break."
"What?" Casey gave me a look, his wings bristling up slightly. "So we came all this way with you for nothing?"
"Hey, I didn't tell you to follow me." I walked past them, pressing the button on my wristband to re-equip my armor. "That was your own chose, genius~"
"I still don't know why you follow her," Casey said, disapprovingly looking at his partner. Arthur sheepishly smiled, embarrassed.
I waved goodbye to the boys and signaled for Casper to follow me. He jumped with joy, chasing the feather at the tips of my wings as we approached the side entrance of the Cove. It opened into a large hole cut into the massive tree. When I reached the entrance, I paused for a moment to flip down my cuffed helmet.
Right now is a good time to practice flying with Casoer. When we get to the field, I could try to mount him in battle. I'm not sure how he would take it, so I decided to start off slowly and go with him. But he had to change sizes. How could I get him to do that?
Some eyes of curious angels and cupids flying in and out passed us, but I ignored them and focused on Casper. "You're gonna have to change your size, buddy. Have you practiced how to do that?"
He tilted his head, trying to understand my words. It was unclear whether he truly grasped what I was saying or if he was misinterpreting my message. I knelt down, ignoring the pressure of the metal against my skin. "Can you change your size, Casper? Like you did to protect me from the Heaven Wolf?"
Wait, maybe that's it.
I stood back up, seeing a slight flare in the pitbull's eyes. It was as if he could sense what I was about to do; I don't know if I should, though. I could get hurt, but I was more worried about hurting anyone else-
No, no one can get hurt except me. So it's all good.
I shifted my body and looked over the ledge. It was a long drop. Was Casper quick enough to change, or did he need to do something to get ready? Janus hadn't explained everything to me, but I had to find a way to learn. The last thing I wanted was for Casper to freak out so badly that it would jeopardize our bond.
Will a Heaven Pup take advantage of something like this?
They are unpredictable.
Okay, I have been standing here in my armor for such a long time that stares are turning into whispering and concerned eyes. Letting out a hard sigh, I looked down at Casper. He stood up on high alert, sensing something that I was going to do.
"You wanna play fetch?"
He tilted his head, his body itching to either run or take flight. I tucked my wings safely into my armor, a technique Apollonia taught me for protecting them during a fight. They could be used against opponents and would leave us flightless when we needed to escape from a challenging situation.
Casper knew what this was, that I would be unable to use them. Seeing his ears perk up as I began to step back off the ledge and his wings spread wide made me slightly hopeful that he could do this on his first try.
Heaven Pups can be unpredictable, so let's see if he is smarter than the warriors credit the pups for.
Without looking down, I felt the ground beneath me disappear, and I dropped. Casper let out a startling yelp, the quick clash of white sprayed before all I could feel was the wind through my hair. I kept my eyes up, trying to hold back the desperate feeling to wingle and free my wings.
Casper was, in my view, tumbling down to me. He was far away and hadn't yet changed forms. He was still small, but he was running down the trunk while using his wings to push himself toward me.
"Change Casper! You will become faster!"
My body felt slightly altered, and I had to lean forward to keep my balance as I picked up speed. The ground loomed closer, and my wings could sense it, desperately trying to flare open. They felt loose against my armor, and I grew less confident that Casper would catch me in time.
His face appeared desperate. He barked and yipped as his paws quickened in speed. The look in his eyes was terrifying; he seemed scared and lost.
My guilt motivated me to tighten the armor and lower my wings to slow my speed, allowing him to catch up with me. However, to my surprise, I felt a sudden and powerful push from behind that propelled me forward.
No, someone.
"Vienna!?" It was Rory. The hyper angel held me from behind, stopping my decline in the middle of the floor just before the ground. They caught me, flaring their wings in circles while my folded ones pushed into their chests. "What in the heavens are you doing?"
I turned to say something, but the sound of the air chugging caught up to us. Casper's wings opened, and he hit us full force, banging into me and Rory and sending us straight into the ground below.
My chest caved, and my head pounded. I bit my lip to hold back the cry from he pain spiking from both places. I felt a weight hold me down, Caspers' whining and Rory's groaned confusion.
"What the.."
"Vienna! Rory!" Bridget and Seth's voices called my attention. The blonde came into view first. "Are you guys okay? Well, I know Rory is, Vienna?"
"Jeez, Rory, get off her!" Bridget forcefully pulled the redhead away, looking a bit confused, but the flare in their wings showed some excitement.
Good to know they were excited.
"Vienna?"
"I'm good," I said, taking Bridget's outstretched hand. I let her hold me up while she tossed my overgrown bangs out of my face. "I'm not hurt, don't worry."
Even with the lie, my head slightly sting at a weak pressure. I ignored it, looking for a white figure in the surrounding crowd. Some angels and cupids were outside the Cove, looking down at us.
Seth and Rory held their hands up to dismiss them, telling them we were okay.
My eyes traveled around until I caught sight of Casper. He had his ears down, tail tucked between his legs. He stayed put, a few feet from the crash site.
I knelt down in front of the pit bull, who looked guilty. "Hey, hey, boy, it's okay." He whined, and his wings folded tightly against his body, conveying a disturbing sense of pressure. My heart ached at the sight. His behavior didn't help him improve; it only stressed him out. "You did what you could. You're a good boy. You'll get it next time."
I pressed a hand to his head, feeling his tense body relax at my touch. I assume he huffed out concerned whines, feeling my pain. I hugged the pup, having his wings in my palm sink under the pressure.
"That was awesome! I should do something like that in my free time."
"Yeah, you're crazy."
"You're just a coward, unlike me!"
"Just don't do it in front of a crowd, idiot." Seth and Rory bickered from behind me, a third pair of steps following behind them. They went silent just behind me.
I moved away from Casper, keeping a comforting hand on his head. "We will practice that later, okay?" His tail slightly wagged at that, but the apparent guilt in his eyes stayed.
I turned to face the two angels, pressing a button to remove my armor with ease. Now, I stood before my friends, their eyes filled with questions. I suppressed a sigh. Casper, tucking his head between my legs, offered me a small amount of comfort in the midst of this strange situation.
"Before you say anything. I was totally fine back there."
"No, you weren't-" Rory stepped forward with a pointer finger in my direction. "I saved you!"
"I would have been fine."
"You're the only one who could feel pain, Vienna." Bridget crossed her arms, concern swimming in her eyes. "That was dangerous for you. Why did you do it?"
"I-" I looked down at Casper sheepishly, "I was trying to practice with him, to get him to trim his ability to change forms."
"And you decided to do that inside and outside of Angels Cove?" Seth gave me a deadpan looking, forcing me to stifle a giggle.
"Well, you thought it was cool-"
"Correction: Rory did it, not us." Bridget quickly interjected, her eyes shifting nervously towards me. I could sense my presence frightened her; her wings were trembling behind her.
I felt more guilt, unable to comprehend why this was so much for them.. I was okay, right? I am okay.
I felt the feelings pour into my chest. I wanted to apologize, but something else blurted out. "What are you guys doing back here? Where's Orwell or Bunny?"
"We came over to look for you," Seth answered.
"I saw you falling and knew I had to rescue you," Rody shrugged. "Go on. Thank me."
I rolled my eyes, turning my attention to Seth. "You wanted to find me. Why?"
"Cause we know your session must be over at this time." Bridget nodded with Seth, her wings slightly relaxing. "We wanted to hang out with you. Before your next session at least…"
They all went quiet, their wings fidgeting with nervousness.
My heart fluttered at the thought. Did they really want to spend time with them that much? It made me feel honored and happy to see my friends growing so close. Although I couldn't show it, the attention made me blush and filled me with joy.
I was over with my session for now, and I wasn't precisely tired..
"Sure. We can hang out."
"Yes!" Rory made a fist bump with Seth. "I knew the direct approach would work."
"No, you didn't, don't flatter yourself." Seth shoved them playfully, earning a giggled from the redhead that pounced at him. Seth saw this and caught the angel in his arms, flipping them over onto the ground.
"Really? We already have an audience, you guys!" Bridget tried to scold the pair, but neither of them listened.
They looked closer than before. I guess my intervening in the "relationship" drama was actually paying off.
I felt a nudge in my leg, turning down to see beating blue eyes look up at me. I patted him, leaning a wing down to press on his side for a more comforting approach.
"Don't worry, we will practice more later. Okay?"
Bridget came over to me, nudging me with her wing. "Are you sure you're okay?"
I looked back at her. "Yeah, I'm sure."
She examined my body closely, her eyebrows furrowing in concern before relaxing. I shot her a questioning look, but the petite angel dismissed it and clapped her hands at the two still lying on the ground. "Alright, that's enough! Where will we take Vienna? She has a session to attend soon."
Seth nudged Rory off him and flipped his wings back to look at us. He was out of breath as he turned to Rory, who was sprawled on the ground next to him. Seth shrugged, which earned him a puff of annoyance from the red-headed angel. They both stood up and, with a playful gesture, flipped their wings over Seth's head while making their way towards us.
"How about we go check out the creature Vienna helped create with the Mother Goddess?"
"Can we do that?" I looked at them with wide eyes.
Rory and Bridget both nodded, though the louder one got smacked by Seth's wing as payback. Bridget took it upon herself to answer my questioning gaze. "We can usually check on them for a while and observe how they've grown in their environment."
"Aaand where is that?"
Bridget only responded with a mischievous giggle.