Arlori looked in concern, and quietly followed behind Zatch, as if hiding behind him. She spread her wings a little more, to prepare for an immediate take-off.

---

Bryce looked up at the crowd. He sighed and followed obediently. He saw Arlori cowering behind Zatch, and Ember looking around, like she was the second in command. He smirked at that thought, silently spreading his wings like Arlori.

[[Pooh. Short post]] 

((Alice: The game of SORRY was abandoned when Dusk tumbled into Zatch and begged him to fly with her. So, the two flew around for a bit, this is, until little Dusk stumbled upon an entire army of Erasers that where tracking the group back to the house. The pair retreated and gathered the flock. Now that everybody's outside the house, they're leaving, probably forever. Nobody knows where they're going to go, and somehow people are looking to Zatch as the leader, then Ember in seccond. ...Not quite sure how that happened.))

Zatch did a head count, but continued to struggle to focus and relied on just the one count. The youngest members where there, Alyx, Arlori, Ember, Zilla... He gave a quiet sigh and forced himself to relax his muscles. A calm warrior was a relaxed one, even if Zatchine didn't completely comprehend the seriousness of the situation. He opened his wings, keeping teh ends curled as if to catch the breeze that was this low. His feathers almost bumped Arlori behind him, and he took half a step forward to keep from soing so absent mindedly.

He nodded, for once having nothing to say. Nothing seemed right anymore, but the Erasers where as thick in bone as in number this afternoon, which ment there would be no more lazy mornings or decent breakfast for a long time. Zatch blinked, his vision faultering in confusion from the single color blind eye. He was, for once, glad he was insomniatic. Was that the word? No, it was more like paranoid.

Zilla almost laughed. Zatch worried about the silliest things. Why would he stay up all night when the flock was safe and refuse to pay attention when there was real danger? She looked over the flock and noted how they all looked- at eachother, at the sky, at the ridge where the Erasers where climbing to reach them, and at how they where looking at her brother. Somehow he'd become some sort of rolemodel, but somehow the younger doubted he had noticed, let alone let it run across his mind.

She shook out her hair, shoving her hand into her pocket. She usually attempted to tie her hair up before a flight, but today would be to rushed. She blinked her large, brown eyes, thinking. She could tie it while in the air, but it would be ratty and uneven. Besides, it would probably wreck her flight pattern and make her slower. Out stretched, her crimson brown wings came past her shoulders. She wouldn't stand a chance. She sighed and unfirlled her wings, testing the joins breifly. She turned, took a step and a leap into the air, and let the wind catch her.

Zilla's method for taking air wasn't very efficient, as she hovered there for a seccond then had to flap to gain altitude and turn around so she was where she wanted to be. So there, she waited patiently for her brother. Zatch on the other hand, couldn't take off near as suddenly as his sister. He was fast and used this to his abbility. He turned his wings away from the wind, seeing Arlori who had been standing behind him. "Common'," he said calmly, offering out a hand. "It's easy,"

Zatch spoke of fling, which the flock had done since day one in the School, though unpracticed up untill a couple of years ago. No, leaving the house wasn't easy, and neither was being looked up to by a flock of mutant (mostly) teenagers. But somehow Zatch's air didn't change. He was a calm and opertinustic as ever, keeping a smile upon his face.

Ember looked to Zatch with awe at his calm compusure. There was an obvious storm of conflicting thoughts going on in his head, but he managed to keep his cool, a critical component when the young flock members were involved. As her own hold over her calm faltered, she retreated more and more into silence. She didn't want to leave - this place had been good to them - but she knew that it was nessesary. With a final look at Zatch, and a heavy sigh, Ember unfurled her wings.

Her snow white feathers stood in stark contrast to her blazing red hair which even flickered like live flames in the breeze. She angled her wings to catch the wind and ran a little ways before leaping, allowing the strength of the wind to defy gravity and carry her into the sky. As far as most of her take-offs were, this one went rather well. She gave a few powerful flaps to carry her higher, staying a little distance away. She wanted to avoid one of her clumsy collisions, especially in a situation so dire.

She glanced down, where the erasers were still rapidly drawing ever closer to the cliff top. If they didn't leave now, they would be forced to fight as the younger flock members tried to take off. A note of urgency enterd her voice as she said, "We need to leave right now, everyone get into-..." She was cut off as a disturbing sound reached her ears; the sound of helicopter blades slicing at the air.

---

Raze leapt into the sky much like Ember had, hovering in the air with short flaps of his ebon wings. It wasn't in his nature to adhere to authority, but Raze had no idea what he was supposed to do in situations like these; he was no leader, but he was a brother. He motioned to Dusk, waving at her slightly... then he heard it, the helicopter. Eyes wide, he looked to Zatch.

Ember couldn't wait any longer. She gripped Dusk's hand and started off, yelling over her shoulder, "We can't stay here!"

((Aw. 3= Ok, Bye, Alice.))

The eagle boy swore a particularly nasty word as he eyed the helicopter high above, slowly decending on the group that was now airborn. Zatch froze, thankful his wings caught the air current. From the corner of his color blind eye, he saw a movement of what should have been colors. He whipped around, confusing his sences an just able to see Dusk slip through a net. The helicopter was growing louder, closer. He froze for a moment, forcing himself to let his sences refocus until he just shut his right eye completely. This was still odd to him, but it was better than having one eye color- blind. He had to keep reminding himself to keep the one eye open. It was so weird to have one eye casually open and the other closed.

"Zatch!" Zilla called from behind him, and he refocused. Dusk had gone through the net, looking terrified. He vaugly heard Ember say something as she flew to Dusk and began to pull her hand along with her. Zilla was looking over the cliff side now, at the army of Erasers. She was totally unfased by the helicopter. She was sure she could out fly, and definately out manover it both on land and in the air. It wasn't and issue to her. It was the Erasers that scared her, the strong, wolf- like beings that only lived up to eight years max.

The girl hovored before flapping to gain more altitude and swooping low to have the current bring her up again. Her mind was racing now, she could hear her heart pound in her ears. She wanted to run, jusp, fly, so long as there was no sound and nothing to see. She wanted it all to just diapear. "Zatch, is there somewhere we can go?"

Zatch's thought, then gained altitude and ground so he was flying between the red- haired girls Ember and Zilla. "Yeah," he said at last, keeping an eye on the helicopter. It was no match for his speed, but the others where his consern. He had to keep them safe, even if he died. If the school went down, his own little life would have been owrth every seccond. "We can go up."

Ignoring the odd glares he felt from the others, his sister especially, he explained, raising his voice so it could be heard over the chopper. "Our lungs will be able to withstand the extra atmosphere levels, but the chopper won't be able to go far beyond the cloud levels. We'll head north; the cloud density'll be higher there and we can hide for a while."

"You're insane!" Zilla hollared over the blades, feeling the current from the blades begin to wear her body down. It was sinking slowly. Of course, the School wanted at least on of them alive. If they got one, the rest would follow... wouldn't they? Her mind began to race with horrid images of being recaptured by the School and being worked to death by the white coats. Her images didn't stop when her brother spoke again.

"Just do it! Fly up!" His voice was finally breaking, growing harsh and loud. It would have been calmer if he wasn't forced to shout over the blades of the aircraft.

Zilla hung in the current a moment, then flew over Ember so she ended up on Dusk's other side. She grabbed the girl's opposite hand so the three created a chain too large for any net to capture, especially in the air. She turned to her and said smoothly, "We've gotta go above the clouds where the helicopter can't follow, okay?"

Zatch befan to follow, then hung back. The Eraser army was nearly at the top of the ledge. The would be searching the house in less than five minutes, sniffing out the flock as best they could. His stomach turned, finally relizing that they where leaving the old house that had offered so much to the flock. We should have been moving a long time ago, Zatch thought, his body now covered in guilt.

Ah, no time for silly emotions now. He decided he would have to feel bad about it later, as now he had to do something. If he could barely hear the flock members, there was no way the white coats or Erasers inside the helicopter could hear what they where saying to eachother. He thought about flying to the window and shouting something before taking off, but the wind was too strong around the blades for him to get close. He was agile, not strong. He looked around wildly before touching down in a tree and worked off as large a branch as he could muster. With all his speed he flew back up and took aim. He threw the branch as hard as he could at the spinning blades on the tail of the contraption, knowing this was horrably upset its balance.

The machine swayed, but was mostly unfased by the hit. Figures that the School of all places has an anazing piolot. He swore again, glad that Dusk or another young flock member could not hear the word of choice. For now, he could think of nothing else. He had to fly around the helicopter now in a wide arch to avoid its spinning blades, using all his speed to catch up with the others. He lingered for a moment, taking a final look at the house and land that had been so good to the flock; to his flock.

Ember gasped as Dusk ripped herself out of her grasp to attack the helicopter. She cried out, though her shout did not form any coherent words. Once she saw that Dusk was flying off to safety, Ember followed, her balance very unsteady in the lashing current created by the chopping blades of the helicopter. She was forced to exert a huge amount of energy to pound herself away from the cursed machine before she could even begin to try and catch an air current that coudl carry her into the safety of the sky.

Her wings trembled, spasming suddenly, making her teeter dangerously close to the helicopter again. even as the rest of her limbs began to shake again, Ember voraciously bit down on her hand, reigning her nerves back even as blood dripped to the ground far below. Now back in control of herself, Ember flew away from the helicopter, away from the danger, away from the place she had almost come to see as home. She lingered, for a moment, but no longer.

With snow white feathers lifting her up into the heavens, Ember felt remorse as the erasers finally crested over the ledge and stormed towards the hut, probably to tear it apart once they noticed that they were all gone. Biting her lip against the pain leaking from her ravaged hand, Ember turned away from what probably was the only streak of easy living they would have - at least for a long time.

---

Raze clenched his teeth, pretending that it was out of anger rather than out of the terror he really felt. He did, however, glare with true menace and unrestrained hate at the horde of erasers and the malevolence helicopter hovering like a vulture over the cliff face. Even as his clenched fists trembled and his ebon wings pounded in furious anger, Raze knew that there was nothing he could do.

The was nothing he could ever do.

Even in the lab, he had cowered in fear every time the white coats approached the bars of his prison. He always turned towards other to tell him what to do and how to do it, he never took anything into his own handsdespite his supposed "disregard of authority". he was pathetic, a chicken in a hawk suit, nothign more.

Rage rose like high tide in his chest, threatening to explode. then he caught sight of Liya, struggling to remain aloft in the high altitudes. The scene made his anger evaporate like a drop of water on the face of the sun, no trace of it left. He rose on the updrafts to Liya as she disappeared into the cover of a cloud. He called out to her, somewhat surprised at how shay his own voice was, "Liya? You okay?"

"My lungs!" Liya heaved in a breath, "My cat lungs, I can't breathe up here." Her voice was a bit more than a whisper as she spoke to Raze...

((Brain-dead))

((I'm gonna be posting alot less. I'll be out of town, so don't wait up on me, okay?))

Zilla blinked, noticing Raze stear away from the others. She let go and broke away from the chain, following him. Suddenly it occured to her why he'd left, and she stupid as much as ignorent. She tucked in one wing, letting the odd currents of the helicopter's blades carry her a little closer to the others before again spreading them.

"Zilla Ann!" Zatch shouted over the blades of the chopper. He had folded his wings against to current to hower as Ember's side, glaring as his sister. He was blinded for a moment, then rapidly shut his eyes again. He'd opened his color blind one, causing confusion so m*censored*ive that it made his head spin. He shook his head in hopes that his long hair would cover the eye, but to no avail. At last he shut it, and glared down as his sister with only the one eye, which was not nearly as impressive.

"Take care of them, my brother!" Zilla cried back, a smile dawning on her face. "I know you can!" Her voice was proud and stern, her eyes reflecting the sun now. True, she may not have been very smart, but she was determined, and she wouldn't leave Raze or Liya behind. She knew Zatch would never want the flock to be separated, but she wanted them to be safe. Besides, she was just Zilla. What could she do?

Zatch went pale, and his stomach turned. This was his sister. Though he considered all of the flock his family and loved them all, there was something about his sister he felt quite protective of. He gritted his teeth, reopened his wings, and flapped against the current, still facing Zilla. "Go north; we'll wait for you."

Zilla nodded, not at first relizing that the flying group would go much faster than hers, containing herself, Raze and Liya. But, there was only the three and they would be abl to hide better to make up for it. Her mind didn't even comprehend, question or hope if that would be enough. She floated down to the other pair, letting her wings take advantage of the cloud density. "I won't leave you. Zatch is taking the others north, they'll wait for us where it's safe."

The girl beamed. She wasn't quite as aware of the situation at hand, and so hope didn't dare run across her eyes. She clenched her hands into fists and giggled. Today was surely a day to remember in her brown eyes.

Zatch turned on the air current and flapped back up to the others. He grabbed Ember's arm and held onto it fast. She seemed to be having trouble fighting off the wind, so they would do it together. His little sister wasn't going to let the others fall without a fight, and the now worried and inspired Zatchine wouldn't either. His eye betrayed his hurt and consern, but he forced a wan smile that was almost as bright as his sister's. His voice was low and sweet, quivering just enough to betray his mixed emotions, including the hope that never died in his chest. "Common. We'll get through this. ...I promise."

(no worries, I'll keep this bumped as much as i can)

Ember let herself be dragged through the air by Zatch, not wanting to believe that the flock was being split into two groups. Zilla was mature enough to take charge over the small group and Raze was more than capable for th epurpose of protecting them, but that didn't stop a hint of despair to enter her heart. Ever since they had escaped from the school, even before that, they had been as much a family as anything Ember had ever known. She clung to the hope that everything would go according to plan and they would meet up again without difficulties, she gripped that thought as if it were a life line.

Realizing that she had to focus on flying, Ember wrenched her thoughts away from the matter. She bit her lip despite her efforts, though, and couldn't bring herself to think up a response to Zatch's statement.

---

Raze guided Liya closer to the ground in the cover of the tree line. They were still in the mountains but they were a good ten miles from he hut, making them safe, for the moment. As he touched down, he looked at Zilla and said,

"What's the plan? Are we meeting up with the others again?"

Raze shot Liya a glare. His brother complex was kicking in again. "Even if you are 15 that doesn't mean we're letting you fly alone while there's an army of erasers on our heels."

Zilla nodded with Raze, giving a bid smile from ear to ear. "You may have a slightly different DNA make up as us, but your still the flock- our family." She paused, then, "Together, we're 48. We can ousmart, run or fly those stupid Erasers anyday!"

It didn't even run across her mind that this might just be a touchy subject to Liya, or even Raze who was by far the oldest of the flock. He might just have been on of the School's first expiriments, but none of that even ran across Zilla's mind. Not the danger far below or the cloud density above- it was just the three of them together right then. Nothing was changing that, and a flame of what could be destingused as hope or longing flickered in her soul. She wanted to remember this, and the connection they all shared was special.

She looked at Liya. She seemed troubled, as if she was ready to take on the big, scary world. Zilla was the youngest by nearly a year, and she admired what she saw in the other. They where all mutant, teenage freaks, but she was probably the oddest, and right now, she was probably the bravest, too. She turned to Raze, so caring and protective of all of them. He and Zatch where similar, only Raze was older and much more focused. He had more control over his emotions, even if they did lead his actions sometimes. Zilla smiled at him, knowing full well that the small group would need his strength to keep them safe. He would have to carry the group in the end, but she had a strong feeling that one would not leave without the other two. At least, she wouldn't.

"The others will fly north. They'll wait for us. We're not as fast, but we'll be able to hide from the Erasers if it comes to that. Right, Raze?" She turned back to him, red silks of hair flicking the opposite side of her face before being swept back over her shoulder by the light breeze. The greatest thing about being at such a high altitude was that there was little wind and few currents of air.

~~

Zatch tilted his wings a little and fell into an air pocket, a small sector where the air didn't move or stirr. He let go of Ember's arm and hung there for a moment. His hair flew into his eyes as he turned, a finnal glance at the other three of the flock. He felt his hinds shake, and he opened his off eye slowly, letting it adjust to the light again. He hesitate before catching the light current again and flying to Ember's side once more. The flock would be split into two for a while, and it almost pained Zatch to see his own sister tear away from him. His eyes fell to the ground and canopy far below, thinking. I suppose it had to happen some time. Why is a raven like a writting desk? ...Zilla liked that one. No, think, stay focused. You have to stick to the flock. She'll be okay.

He turned back to Ember, and gave a wan smile before setting his sights where they should have been- in front of him. The sound of the chopper's blades was steadilly fading, and Zatch was sure that many of the Eraser group where running through the house, looking for anybody who stayed behind, tearing cabnite doors from below the sink, going through dresser drawrs, ect. Zatch began to play and entertain the idea of having another house, one with more than enough room for the flock. One in a world where there was no school, no Erasers hunting them down, and freaky- mutant teenagers where a normal sight. If only they didn't have to hide their wings, hide what they really where from the rest of the world. Sure, they could come clean and the School would be shut down, but the flock and the rest of the expiriments would be put in zoo's and freakshows. They couldn't do that. Maybe they wouldn't have to run mazes anymore, but they would be stared into by normal people, a form of true tourture in its own right. Zatch wouldn't do that to anyone, let alone his flock and especially not children. What a predicament....