The island shivered without its light, restless in the dark where shadows lurked—scheming to conquer what it believed belonged to them. Pipa Felice was one of the many who felt the decay of each and every passing day; its quiet, subtle hiss that whispered across the island in the biting wind. She was afraid. That much, she knew.

It was amongst the prey that the sentiment was shared, and the girl in the wheelchair attracted much attention when the day of light came, ironically, over dinner in the dining hall. The headmistress stood upon the ledge of hope, atop the pedestal and behind the podium, announcing to the school with a voice so sharp her words stung, that Iolani Tori was confirmed to be the second Eye.

Vijay turned to the canary with eyed—wide. A gradual smile surfaced.

Following the begrudging announcement was a steady recovery of the island, a flourishing of hope. Unexpected and new, most students knew not how to regard the matter of a prey turned predator; at least one that had, all of a sudden, taken up an identity vastly different from his original self.

Pipa could not identify a day where she was able to get to class without witnessing a fighting. Whether it was between prey and predator or an accidental breaking out of emotions, the canary did not know. She understood the cause of it all. Harshly, and mistakenly put; it was Io.

The bigger picture however, was never really able to come to light in the darkness that Verity had long cloaked over the island. The ultimate truth of Io's self and identity.

They had seen him for who they thought he was, and not for who he could be.

The one whom—deep inside—the boy had always been.

*

"Enough," said the vulture as she stood above the rest, looking down upon them all. "That is quite enough discussion." The whispers died along the way, withering like weeds only to flourish under the perfect conditions, once again. They laid in wait.

"For the month of April," they waited. "I will be stepping down from my position as headmistress."

Her words made waves and they were big. What comes unprecedented often pleased a heart for talk and gossip; a toy that the creature within one's cage seemed particularly fond of, no matter the age. Again, they waited for more. The cause, the resolution—a hunger not for food on their tables.

"A high member of the Order, Professor J.H Kirill of tier one rank three, second in command of operations and of the council's discipline...will take over my position as headmaster." And as though posing an imminent warning for all who misbehaves, V added yet again. "For the month of April."

"That's the week they return," Pipa said to the Indian boy seated beside her, anxious all of a sudden. "They, meaning Io and the rest. Something must have happened." Vijay's smile faded momentarily before frowning and shaking his head.

"We shouldn't read too much into it, Pipa—maybe Lord Falrir has witnessed for himself the harshness of V's rule and has decided to punish her for it. We must have faith," he reasoned with a smile. "My mom always said that the bad will be punished, and the good, rewarded. The Lord is watching. Always."

The canary did not know what to make of his belief, but felt the need to have, however blind, something to cling to in the darkness. Wasn't it simper to hold on to something so large, so high up in the sky; a Dragon, so bright?

So high up, they could not see or confirm, in any way, his existence—but surely...surely?

Surely, he existed?

Surely, he did.

For sure.

_________________________

"Can I trouble you?" He had forced himself to remain awake until she arrived with additional blankets and pillows. The phoenix understood what he meant.

"You need my cure for the morning," she responded with a question that sounded like an answer, and was, in fact, intended to be. Jing draped a blanket over his legs that were freezing before reaching for the extraction tool.

Io stopped her. "Not yours," his eyes were closing. "Mine."

Jing paused in confusion, a rare emotion she hadn't felt in a long time. It was hard to toy with a mind as clear as her own, having tossed everything into the abyss that was her heart. She readied the rest of the equipment for cure production.

"You want to administer your own blood? As a cure?"

"Yes."

"I don't know if it will work. If it's a change in your hormones, I suppose it will. Theoretically. But it is ultimately from the same person and no one has ever..." Not in centuries, at least those recorded by the books in the library—seeing that the phoenix had never come across such a suggestion. "What if it doesn't work?"

Her companion let slip a lunar laugh. "I'll make it work."

"I have to..." sleep drew the boy in its arms, slow and deep. "I have to be there...when I fall."

*

The morning was languid and cloudy, chancing upon the thunder within. Discomfort was high and the class of Hearts acknowledged each and every one of their morbid faces, sharing spirits that were strangely low. It was the air—or so Dmitri had attributed the odd heaviness of his heart to and refused to admit the presence of the elephant in the room. The general cause was obvious, and yet so easily dispelled upon his very arrival to the scene; unexpected but pleasing nonetheless. Iolani Tori embodied that very phrase.

"Your own?" They were standing around him in a circle, having gathered to hear an explanation— disbelief written all over that had, gradually, turned into awe. "You're really it, then."

Io laughed. "What?"

"The moon phoenix," the turned to Jing who stood at the far back, watching closely. She nodded. "You're really it." Each repeated the phrase time and again, unable to bring themselves to come to terms with something to huge, so sublime. Those who knew, namely the eagle and the vulture, remained silent.

"How did you feel?" Io turned to the few who had no such faith initially. "When you saw me last night."

Lucienne didn't wish to sound like a insolent brat, and so she attempted to find her way around the truth. "That you've changed."

"Yeah, you're different now." Dmitri joined in, and so did Abigail and Aaqil. Shri and Jeremiah stood behind them, appearing slightly smug for having been a step ahead.

Instructor Reyes arrived before the rest of assume a favorable stance, still at the stage of fighting for favor. After all, the first Eye was close to emotionless—surely, this one would let up easily. It was typical behavior to seek the approval of higher-ranked predators.

"Gather." They did. "We will be sharing the training hall with another class today. I'm afraid Jane will have to sit out. The heat might be overbearing indoors." She nodded in understanding. No one seemed particularly keen on sharing their training space (or any territory at all) with a bunch of disrespectful youth, having tasted their lack of manners nights before. It was against their will that they bore the pain of lowly snickers and mocking laughter.

This, inevitably, led to several disputes.

"You're in my way."

"What the hell man, this is our side of the hall," Aaqil protested as soon as one of Kirill's students shoved him aside with a beat of his wings, glaring at the other. As far as Jing could tell (as someone who looked on from the clocktower), everyone was on edge. Reyes was having a hard time supervising those who were too busy staring daggers at the other side, and Kirill's class on the other hand was apparently free of any supervision at all.

They were taking turns warming up—meaning shifting and flying straight towards the group on the other end until everyone on each side had a go—and the youth members were giving them zero respect by ogling and watching intently, adding inappropriate sound effects every time one of them had their go.

It was by no means amusing to those on the receiving end of such mockery, but eliciting a response was the goal of child's play in the first place. The kids could have their immature fun; Io's class would not stoop to such a level.

"Tori. Come forward. You're standing too far away from your post," Reyes called out as soon as the harpy eagle took off from her perch, heading towards Io's post where he should be ready to receive her. Io nodded, drawing closer to the perch but also taking precaution not to position himself too far out or Lucienne's wings were going to knock the wind out of him. He saw her approaching from afar and attempted to calm his racing heart. The faint laughter that was coming from Kirill's class did not help his situation.

What's the worst that could happen? Piped Lyra, perched on his shoulder. Failing to shift would only mean you're going to fall on that cushion-less mat four-storeys below, she laughed nervously. Break a leg, Io!

Not literally, he was about to think but wasn't given enough time to when Lucienne came diving towards his post and shifting at the same time, landing behind him to give the boost as instructed. That being, a push.

Io was falling before he could register anything else. A four-storey fall.

It was during the lurch, the turbulence of the fall—a fraction of that very second—that he recalled what he had said to the phoenix: of catching himself before the fall. He had to be there.

Fear, driven by duty and strength, he called on his Avian and they merged as one, shifting into the most common, tiny tree sparrow. He heard, for a moment, the silence of condescending laughter before it erupted, yet again, into something bigger. Mockery.

"Where did he go?" One of the crows laughed as she looked on through tears. "He disappeared!" The boy beside her squinted in an exaggerated manner. "Were sparrows always this tiny?"

Dmitri had had enough. He turned, responding with a furious glare as he shouted across the hall. "Keep your eyes to yourselves and shut the fuck up." At this, the receiving end snickered and pretended to be occupied with their own practice.

But by the time all noise had ceased, Io's concentration was long lost. He could feel the wind underneath his wings giving out, and had to flap, constantly straining to keep his eyes on the post he had to land on. His form darted up and down in an unstable manner, and a mere gust of wind was able to throw him off course. He couldn't ascend—his balance tipped to the right. Now he was leaning to the left.

It was only his second time flying and the sparrow was unable to maintain his center of balance in order to fly straight. He made it (almost as unpredictably as a butterfly would have flown) to the other side before missing the post entirely, bumping into the person who was supposed to fly after him.

That person being Luka.

Thankfully, Io had landed on something relatively soft and after regaining some of his balance and managing to stand on his fragile sparrow-legs, identified that he had somehow landed on Luka's palm. Either that, or the eagle had held out his hand to catch Io as soon as he bumped into his chest. The sparrow found himself staring up at an enlarged version of Luka's face, a little confused and still slightly disoriented from the impact.

Across the hall was, again, laughter.

Io wasn't particularly affected by childish play, no. In fact, the unfortunate news reported instead a familiarity towards it, having experienced said mockery for the past couple of months before his awakening. The sparrow was used to such treatment, however upsetting that would have been. The trouble now was focusing on his predicament.

"Sullivan!" Reyes called from across the hall, "what's keeping you?" He was holding up the line, staring at the confused creature in his hands. Luka could tell something was wrong with the sparrow that looked up at him intently; releasing a startled chirp that proved his point. The eagle glanced across, towards Reyes and the rest waiting for him at the next post.

He turned behind. Oh.

Vaughn.

"You go first," he said to the vulture, them being the only remaining two at the current post. Vaughn released an indiscriminate sigh, rolling his eyes at the sparrow in Luka's hands. He muttered something under his breath but the eagle hadn't bothered to decipher whatever it was. Vaughn assumed Luka's position and shifted, landing on the perch aligned to their post before taking off with a strong beat of his wings.

Luka turned to Io. "What's wrong?"

Io chirped twice.

"...?"

The sparrow flapped his wings twice and chirped again, glancing up at his companion to search for a single spark of understanding. Unfortunately for him, Luka appeared as blank as a sheet of unwritten answers, resembling that of his history essay after hours of thorough research.

What Io had meant to say was that he had not a single clue of how to shift back into his human form; since his previous returns were mostly against his will, benefit of splitting the pain between Lyra's physical manifestation and his own. At present state, they were one.

What now? The boy posed to the Avian in his mind. Luka can't understand me!

Of course he can't. To him, you're just chirping your head off! Whilst looking absolutely ridiculous, if I may add. Io groaned inwardly. Lyra wasn't being very helpful at this point, and Io could already hear the next flier coming up from behind—meaning Vaughn had already completed his route. Desperate, the sparrow opted for one last chirp and a vigorous flapping of his wings.

"Fly...? You did, just now. It was well done." No! No, Luka! Lukaaaaa! Io vowed to give his friend a good lecture (well, as soon as he returns to his human form, at least, or he would—as Lyra said—look absolutely ridiculous). "Io, I'm going to have to shift any minute," the eagle warned, watching as Dmitri came diving towards the empty, neighboring post in which would signal his start. "What's..."

He caught on.

Lyra made an off-handed remark about him being surprisingly slow. Luka was searching for options, having realized that his friend did not know how to return.

"You have to break the bond," he tried to advise, but could not seem to form any other solution. A frown crossed his features, and Io thought this must have meant trouble, since Luka rarely showed any emotion at all. "I can forgo the warm up."

At this, Io shook his sparrow-head as hard as he could. No! He had hoped that someone could at least inform Reyes of his predicament (especially if he was having difficultly returning in his human form) and relieve Luka of the burden he was adding to his shoulders. He thought very suddenly of Victoria.

The sparrow began to gesticulate—with his wings—at the figure resting on the sanded perch just meters away, indicating that she should tell Reyes of his situation and at least have someone else look after him while Luka warmed up. Victoria noticed this and found the sparrow thoroughly amusing. She looked as though she was about to burst into tears of laughter; which wasn't exactly a very serious sight.

At worst, Io could let himself fall over the ledge and wish for the best. He wasn't sure if he was up to more flying, especially since his balance and maneuvering were essentially fail-grade-worthy. He figured that his ability to keep himself in flight for a longer distance the day before could have been the work of adrenaline, triggered by shock and fear.

"Sullivan," Jeremiah's uncle was probably the most patient person on the island. "Everyone is waiting for you!" He called once more. Io decided that there was no way he was going to bring Luka down and give Kirill's class an opportunity to craft stories and laugh at the eagle for skipping something as simple as warm up.

The sparrow looked away, and was about to hop out of the safety of Luka's palm when the other cupped it close. Io had to pop his head out of the gap between his index and thumb.

"I'm not leaving you alone." Io couldn't believe how stubborn his friend was whenever it came to such predicaments. It made him awfully uneasy, yet...surprisingly, and quietly, pleased. "You have to hold on to my legs. Be careful of my talons."

Wait. Wait wha—

The eagle shifted in a second, landing on the platform as he held out his right foot for the sparrow to hop on. Victoria in his mind was musing to herself in a very creepy manner. Never have I imagined myself to be giving a sparrow a ride! Luka responded that it was, technically, not her that was giving the ride.

Io appeared terribly apprehensive as a sparrow, and he wasn't sure if it was the nerves or perhaps the cure (his own) that he'd administered before breakfast, but he was starting to feel a little nauseous. Could it be part of the after effects of a self-made cure? After all, the consequences were never well documented, given that dual avians were already very rare.

The sparrow stepped carefully onto Luka's right foot, avoiding the deadly talons that were even more terrifying up close. He wrapped his wings around the eagle's leg for extra hold and chirped once to signal that he was ready.

Luka took off at once; and it was only then that Io realized, in a fraction of a second, that a single beat of his wings was enough to blow him away.

Well, naturally it would, since the eagle had to give himself a necessary boost for flight and propel himself into the air. Sparrows on the other hand, had small bodies and required much less power to take off.

Documenting their air time was not an easy thing. Io could not register anything with his vision, for it was a grey blur for a couple of seconds—wind in his face, burning his eyes and throwing his balance sideways. He grew increasingly nauseous, understanding that there was something clawing at his cage, his chest. He clung to Luka's leg for dear life, feeling the grip of his feet lose itself completely before soon, he was no longer standing but dangling in midair.

The eagle noticed this at once and attempted to save his friend by nipping the back of his neck with his beak; thinking of taking him across in that manner for the rest of the distance when he realized that his beak was more likely going to kill a sparrow than save it (well, obviously it was but all Luka could think of in the bare few seconds was any free body part he could use).

In that brief moment of hesitation, Io lost his grip entirely. 

He dropped; starting into a bone-breaking fall and his chest grew tight, as though ready to explode.

Luka dived instantly, having to beat the speed of gravity and at the rate which the sparrow was falling how should he...claws? Beak? How should he catch him—

"Sullivan?" Reyes had noticed the odd disruption and only began to realize the absurdity of the situation; an eagle attempting to bring a sparrow across by flight. He hadn't considered how silly these students had the audacity to be during training sessions.

"What is he doing?" Lucienne squinted, shifting in hopes of getting a better view of the situation. Her head cocked abruptly to the left before shifting back. "What in the world is the sparrow doing in mid—"

*

Perhaps it was an attribute of his core stubbornness within,

Or a glowing determination of keeping his word

Turned resolve of catching himself before the end, during the fall—

Mid-air, Iolani Tori had disappeared. To the youth members of the Order and Reyes himself, the sparrow had vanished into thin air but to the vast majority of Hearts, there was—all of a sudden—a light that did not belong to the day and it came hurtling towards them with a chill that resembled the wind of the night.

They saw, in that instance, a moon up close. It was in the shape of a phoenix; a dragon, something huge. They could not tell before they were knocked off their very feet. The ethereal being crashed into the platform, far too small to hold its phantom mass, sending the students on it flying into a fall.

Ah! I'm so sorry—

Io's voice sounded at the back of their minds, creating the impression of wholeness; as though he was surrounding them all. Dmitri, stationed at a different post, gawked at the ghost he thought he was witnessing for the first time. He turned to the eagle who had no choice but to take cover at his post from the sheer power of a single beat of Io's wings. "That sparrow's changed a lot."

It was, and seemed, to many a change in who he was when he had, merely, been unveiled;

Much like a moon emerging from the clouds.

________________________

A/N: The next chapter will probably be a wrap up of the field trip (which has extended for more than I don't know how many chapters even though it was merely a four-day trip. I'm sorry I couldn't show more of the culture and language in the Philippines! I can't even do it justice). On a slightly darker note, I'm hoping that all of you are safe and doing well—wherever you are. 

My apologies for the short A/N, I don't really know what to say today. It's one of the quiet days, I suppose. Of reflection, and of simple being. I sometimes feel very uncertain about company. Existence is fleeting, and I'm afraid I get lost in the moment. 

-Cuppie.