OK. I'm going to try to write a book, maybe a series, on res. Bumps are appreciated.

Chapter 1: Scria

Blood. Just blood everywhere. It warmed my pelt and stung my eyes. The feathers on my once-delicate wings drooped with it. It poured from my flank, my neck, my legs. I stood in a puddle of it. But not all of it was mine. There was another tesuri on the cloud too.

If the humans wondered why it was raining blood, crimson red, then they should know it was his fault. Blame it on him, the Abino who ruined our life on Scria. We were lucky to still be there.

We stood, locked in combat. We writhed on the cloud, with fur wedged between our teeth and flesh ripping beneath our claws. It is said that Tesuris are gentle creatures. Well, humans, you thought wrong.

I let out a yelp as I felt myself being pinned to the ground. A searing pain erupted in my right wing. It fluttered pathetically. "Coward." I mumbled, with the breath that I had left. "Am I?" he mocked, locking his hind legs around my body. "You... you betrayed us. You are a wild tesuri. You should have been proud of that. But you sided with the wickedest of humans. That is cowardly. You were afraid we would hold you back from the throne. We might have not." I gasped as he raked his hind claws against my flank.

Just then I heard footsteps. Humans on a cloud? I carefully looked up. There, standing before me, was a man holding a large rifle aimed at my scalp. "Good job, Bone." said the man. The wolf on top of me looked up, and loosened his four-paw grip on me. In that moment, I yanked myself to my feet, throwing Bone off me.

After that I didn't really remember much. All I knew was that I heard a gunshot, and Bone was flying backwards through the air and off the cloud. The man had also been thrown backwards; he obviously didn't know very much about firing a gun. They were both gone. I was alone on the cloud. And then I was out cold.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 

I awoke to a throbbing pain in my right wing and front paw. From the texture of the ground I laid splayed out on, I was still on the cloud. It was colder than It had been, so I guessed it was night. The water in the cloud had transformed into light ice, floating along with dust and Froth. What's Froth?

Froth is a fuzzy, damp substance only Tesuri's can see. It is what helps us fly, and pups are given their name after their reaction to it on their first time on a cloud. My name? Sky. But my pack mostly calls me Alpha.

I breathed in gulps of air through my nose, and drank in the many scents swirling around in the air. I could sense my pack was too the West, and the clouds were blowing swiftly towards them. They were close enough to hear me howl. I raised my stiff head into the air and breathed in. Then I let out a howl, so deep and long and meloncholy that even I was suprised.

The strength it had taken me just to lift my head was enough to make me black out. I struggled to remain conscious as I waited for the rescue party my pack would send. My eyelids started to flutter. The last thing I was aware of before the world went black again was a fluttering blue shape above me...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Sky." a voice whispered. "Sky!" I opened my eyes groggily. I groaned as the stinging pain from my wounds came into focus. I twiched my ears at all the talking in the darkness; I was back in the cave, and it was nighttime. Several lightning bugs flew halfheartedly over my head.

I tilted my head sideways. Above me I could see my mate, Dancer, leaning over me with a worried look. "Can you stand?" she asked. I, feeling that the wounds were only stinging from the medicine, rolled over slowly and struggled to my feet. Legs shaking, I asked, "What's the matter?" Dancer's face darkened. "Jay is here to speak with you."

I puzzled over what she said for a moment. "Where's Blue? Those two are usually inseperable." Dancer sighed. "That's the problem." She whispered. I gulped and stumbled out of my den.

Jay was sitting right outside. Jay, a black adolescent, and my son, was shifting his paws back and forth. He looked up slowly with me. "I promised." he mumbled, "not to tell you." I sat down painfully. "What is it?" He looked at his paws again. "Blue's secret. But now he's missing..." I stopped him with a slap from my tail. "Blue's gone?" Jay nodded slowly. "He left yesterday while you were off meeting Araki. He said he was going hunting, but he never came back."

I sat there, letting the information sink in. Araki is the alpha of the other pack, but that didn't matter now. I could barely speak, but I managed to begin, "So... what's the secret?" Trembling, Jay told me, "He-he's on Bone's side now." My worried ex
pression turned into a menacing growl. Jay looked up, then burst out sobbing.

Ever heard a Tesuri cry? Trust me, you don't. Jay leaned on my side, whining in deep, long bursts from his throat. His fur began to grow damp with tears. Other tesuris started to stare, but for Jay's sake, I didn't say anything. "It's OK." I whispered, "He's gone now."