There was a young bird once upon a time.

Birds loved to fly and spread their wings and peer down on the world from up above. The feeling of whizzing through the sky, and piercing through the air was unlike any other experience in the world. Dodging and weaving past all that wanted to break them, it was exciting to see all the predators and dangers try and drag them down, but fail and result in self-destruction. It was exhilarating.

But what happens to a young bird when you take away their wings?

Tumble, tumble, tumbling down into the cold, cruel earth.

To go home and find their own way?

A bird without wings most likely means certain death. You rely on those wings for everything, and when you take away your very stable foundation, nothing else matters. When you aren't safe anymore, can you see what's truly there? To see the world for how it truly is, and not just the glossed-over, beautiful environment you're used to.

You begin to see the hidden, uglier parts no one wants you to see.

It's as if your world doesn't make sense anymore. You begin to question all that you know and all that you see. You may even begin to question yourself. She's always been up in the air, but something like this is groundbreaking.

Tumble, tumble, tumbling down into the cold, deep sea.

Lost at sea.

So calm, yet so ferocious. At one flick of the wrist, you could be swallowed whole. Everything and everyone you love can be vaporised in an instant, so watch yourself. Be careful there aren't any holes in your boat, be careful that the waters you are on are tame and mild, be careful the sea isn't all you see. Like there's nothing else there.

There's nothing there anymore. All alone in the middle of the sea.

That's all you begin to think about. It's as if everything that came before didn't exist. Then again, was that real in the first place, or just another little fantasy you came up with?

When the bird washes up on the shore, there a panther lay, as if he was waiting all along.

Curious little thing?

Cunning beast. A deformity if you will. After all, does a black panther even exist?

To find your own way.

The panther and the bird. Together for the rest of their days.

Or at least they tried.

But, alas, a bird is a bird and can't live on the ground for very long, even if you took away its wings. So what could the panther do? Tear out the wings with its teeth every time it grew back? Tie the bird up so it has no chance of flying away? How about taking away the very same sky the bird would fly in, not realising it was the same sky he lay beneath.

Only they know what happened.