They called her their wings. She was the one who braved the sky's. Who cleared the path ahead. Who soared above them and brought them to victory. The one they could fall back and rely on. In other words, she was the ace.

But it wasn't a position just granted to her. It was earned. Through countless hours of blood, sweat and tears. Through countless bruises and breaks. Through countless sleepless nights spent training, pushing herself beyond any and every limit. She would fall asleep in class constantly. Her arms and legs were near constantly bandaged. Some nights, she would wake up in the early morning, passed out on the floor.

Her condition worried those close to her, but she waved them off with a smile. "No pain, no gain, right?" They were still wary but after a while they relaxed. Her hopeful attitude and colorful personality put their fears to rest. Eventually, it became nothing more than the norm. In fact, they got worried if she didn't show up covered in new wounds.

Whenever she was on the verge of burning out, she had one motivation to keep her going. Everyone believed in her. Her friends, teammates, fans. Even herself. They believed that she would always be able to fly. That she would always be there. And she had too.

It wasn't until that day. The day. When she began to notice how weak she really was. How her once indestructible wings were falling apart. She was careful to wrap them in bandages, to tie them together with a gold string so bright, it blurred everything else out. But no matter how hard she hide, feathers kept slipping out.

With each loss, more and more fell until a downy trail followed her everywhere. They muffled all noises, blurred her vision, until an endless curtain of white was all she could see. Before she knew it, these wings of hers had become a cage. She was tempted to stop before they drowned her but her will to reach victory was stronger. Gritting her teeth, she pushed through.

Even if each step felt weighed down. Even if each fall made her want to scream. Even if each smile took all her self control to maintain, she would hold out. Regardless of the fact that she may never fly again. She was their wings and wings were made to fly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just wanted to say that I am in love with NanoMortis's art. It's so beautifully crafted and the emotions her work portrays is so inspiring. A lot of ideas I have for other prompts are because of me discovering her DeviantArt profile thanks to YouTube.

I was also inspired to write this by the Haikyuu fanfic An Angel's Wings by @jeonsthighs . It's a great fanfic and one that I constantly reread so go check it out.

QOTC: Who/what inspires you?

Thanks for reading!
- FAH

Written: July 25, 2017
Published: July 25, 2017
Last Updated: ---
Picture: NanoMortis on DeviantArt