Azeal pushes a small seashell into a pile on his right. He keeps a collection of shells and rocks underneath his bed. He's in the living room now, diligently resorting them into different groups. The fluffy edges of his wings are now sleek flight feathers. The middle of his wings still have too much fluff and down for him to truly fly, though.
His Mother builds up the fire at the hearth, scrutinizing the pile of wood set up against the wall. She'll have to fly out to the village to get more before nightfall.
      Their little mountain home rests on a cliff overlooking the ocean. With about half an hour's flight, a Caelum could get to the center of the town. Caelum cities are spread out all along the mountain range, but most gather around the center valley because it's safer for the kids who can not fly. Azeal is one of the only kids to live out on the cliffs. A knock at the door snaps him out of his concentration.
     "I wonder who that could be?", Mother teases, but she stands up to answer the door. She knows exactly who it is, but wanted to surprise Azeal. The boy abandons his shells and follows her to the door.
When it's open, Azeal is tackled to the ground by a slightly older boy. He squirms and wines as he tries to escape. The older boy's wings are darker in color, with a few more flight features coming in. The two boys scuffle on the ground until they're interrupted.
     "Donnel! Get off your cousin! You can't just tackle people without warning", a woman laughs, walking in through the door.
     "Aunt Clenith!", Azeal scurries up off the floor to give her a hug. Donnel rolls his eyes at his cousin. The way he sees it, Azeal is too sensitive and girly.
     "I'm so glad that you could make it. It was such a relief when that blizzard moved away", Mother smiles at seeing her sister. Along with their wings, Caelums have a knack at predicting the weather.
"That wouldn't be a problem if you would move into the valley, Sulena. It would make me feel a lot better if you two were safe with the flock", Clenith sighs. She's been wanting her sister to move back home for years.
      "There haven't been any monspact sightings over here in years", Azeal's mother, Sulena, waves off the warning. There are large, four legged monspact that roam the mountains. They can climb as well as Caelum fly. Their gray coat and strong sense of smell make them a very dangerous predator. "Besides, I would never move back now. Azeal is..... different".
Both the boys have lost interest in the conversation by that point. They've wandered back over to the fire where Azeal's collection rests. Donnel eyes them up with obvious boredom.
"I find a lot of these on the beach. Aren't they cool? You can have one if you want", Azeal shyly asks. He takes a lot of pride in his collection.
"Are you kidding me? My friends and I collect arrow heads in the valley. I have, like, a hundred of them by now", Donnel brags. Azeal, easily tricked and amazed, can't help but idolize his cousin. Donnel likes that his younger cousin admires him so much. It's what keeps them as friends.
The older boy goes on about the valley, unaware that the adults are almost having the exact same conversation.