Chapter 1

I beat my wings lightly and very gently sit on the highest tree branch. My feathers ripple in the breeze and I stare at them, gleaming silver blended into a deep royal purple that eventually ended in midnight black. I like my wings. I like sitting in trees. I'm rare, I live in a world that humans read about in stories. Our universe is parallel to theirs of course but at times they can blend and that's how the stories are made. They see us and write "fiction" about us. Our intelligence is slightly superior. We understand the way our two universes run against one another rather than just putting a fact down to imagination and tricks of light. But I'm still rare even for this world.
I am an angel. Kind of. Like the agnostic version anyway, I still have wings, I'm still strong and some of us have extras. Here is where I'm really rare. I have an extra. I have Insight, I can see into people's souls which can be handy, sometimes I see if a bad person is feigning innocence... and what makes me really sad is when a pure soul pretends to be bad to hide themselves. But I can't pass messages to God and like the rest of you I won't know if He's even there until I pass on. In our world, we age at different rates depending what we are. Angels are not immortal in this world, not like God's (if there are any), if you wanna be really blunt we're just human-bird hybrids infused with a bit of magic. There is so much magic in our world. Angels live second to longest. Vampires live the longest since they are actually immortal. We live I guess around two hundred years on average, the longest living angel grew to be three hundred and fifty. Merpeople can live to about a hundred and fifty. Werewolves will live about eighty years.
Our world is very green, it doesn't really have all the technology the human world does. The trees grow taller and our homes are made from various polished woods. We also make our own rugs and carpets and the like though. Imagine those log cabins you always see in the snow... but without the snow. Those are the average places you find. Some homes are made from stone (like mine) but still have wooden floors, we like wood in this world for some odd reason and the taller structures are made from thick stones, often a bit bulkier and thicker than the kind of stone used to create the bigger homes, I know I'm lucky to have one, angels are good at construction, my great-grandparents built the one I live in together and it was promised to me when I was born. I have parents but both of them opted to create lives in the human world and hide their angel sides. I'm happy enough here. It is a generally sunny world although we do have a "rainy season" twice a year, about a month of deep cloud and often torrential downpours. We angels must be careful in such downpours, if the water wears down our wings we could fall and be seriously hurt. Our bones are stronger than that of a human but we are by no means unbreakable.
I don't think I can exactly answer all the questions you might have, I don't really know much about my family history. We say we're a family because we are considered rare but I promise we're not all inbred and we're open to human breeding to create nephilim, we invented that "Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?" joke as a fun irony thing. It's hard though for our offspring to know who we really are if they are born into the human world. I am one of the VERY rare pure angels. A full blood. I think I know of three other full bloods my age or thereabouts. The rest are all diluted, but I prefer the diluted blood to be honest. There's less arrogance. Even we learned a few lessons from that Hiplet guy back in the 1930's ya know.
A rustling far louder than any light breeze could create makes me jump from my thoughts.
"Hey!!" A voice croons. I scream and almost lose my balance, I slip and scratch my leg but my arms hold firm to the branch. A hand reaches out and is attached to a giggling body. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" The voice says in between gasps of breath as he laughs. I take Kiros's hand and then feebly swipe at him. His magnificent wings are spread above him, tall and glowing they out blue the sky itself. A powder blue at the ends working its way into various shades of night until they are the same black as my own at the tops. You can't help but marvel. Even when he is being a -
"Now now, those are no words for  a lady to use!" Kiros laughs. His talent is he can read minds, he might be my best friend and the other half of my brain... but that doesn't mean I like him knowing EVERYTHING! Some things make you blush even to your best mate. So I plan my thoughts carefully around him and block what I can. A "lady" must always keep at least some secrets. I let go of the branch and allow him to pull me back up, I perch there with my nose in the air and sniff as Kiros settles next to me.
"Next time, Ky! WARN ME! You make so little noise, next time maybe you could sing when approaching behind me?"
"But then where's the fun in that cute lickle scweem of yours?" He jeers, I scowl but I smile too. Kiros doesn't seem to let me think for too long apart from where my next retort is coming from. My automatic smile softens the irritation of being crept up on. Kiros's light fair hair blends and tangles with his feathers in the breeze and I let out a loud warm laugh as he tries to move it and topples backwards with a yell. He steadies himself and tries to pretend nothing happened but I'm still laughing. The mini heart attack of feeling you're about to fall is never any fun and I enjoy the karma.

I met Kiros about a year and a half ago. We were both close to a werewolf called Aurora, they were dating, she was simply someone I let my guard down over. She asked me to see into him and I sensed he had a good soul that was rough around the edges and I could see what was to come for him in the near future. What I didn't tell her was that they weren't going to last very long and to spare her feelings I lied. When my prediction came to pass her teetering in the balance nature finally tipped. She placed blame anywhere but home and then hurt us both. Before she could show me how sharp a wolf's teeth were, I had decided his soul wasn't as pure as I thought... I knew hers was cloudy and tainted but that was no reason not to give someone a chance. Aurora bit me so hard I bled for weeks. Even angels need time to heal wounds. Kiros found me healing and offered to help. I was weary to let him in at first, I had blamed him for how misty Aurora's soul had become but I realised it wasn't his fault and we spent a lot of time assisting one another with the consequences of what had been left behind. A wolf's bite can have a lot of lasting damage, unlike in a human world's beliefs it will not turn you into one, that can only be done by breeding but it blinking HURTS!

I tried to forgive Aurora despite the scar she left just below my left shoulder but she was too untrustworthy and I was beginning to get to know Kiros. He was far from perfect but he was actually very soothing, understanding and gentle with me. I wanted to be the same towards him, the edges around his soul were where his temper was frayed and he just needed someone to stick around, not cower and be an actual friend. No advantages, no wants, just there to be there. I admit I needed the same and while I thought I had found that in Aurora, Kiros was the one who showed genuine loyalty, I found that ironic given she was a wolf, that whole link with dogs? I thought loyalty was a given.

Kiros had an even deeper scar than I did where she couldn't control herself and she spent a long time reminding him she was still there. Aurora haunted the shadows for weeks, often in her wolf form. It didn't scare Kiros but I knew how much he wanted her to let him move on and I began to loathe my ex-friend more for the scar on his body than on mine. As pure angels, we can heal better. It helped we could draw from the earth using one another in order to heal.

I can thank Aurora for the bond I formed with Kiros, bitten in the same place by the same wolf, we both felt that same burning, stinging hurt and from someone we had both cared about so much. We bicker and we snap and gripe... but I really believe someone likes us. The problem is I've let him in so deep that when things aren't completely right I feel like I've lost something important and if I don't find it there will be hell to pay. Like when you borrow an important possession from a close friend and then lose it on the day they're coming to collect it.  Kiros always knows where to find me so I should never really be surprised whenever he does his little appearing act. The highest branch of the tallest tree. I never tell anyone I'm going there and I guess he thought that could be his own place because as he settled on top of it that day and found me huddled against the trunk, we wordlessly knew this is where we could find each other ever since, no one else ever comes up here although why astounds me, you can see the world. Sometimes it's as if you can see beyond it.

Aurora is a frequent topic for us, I don't like to discuss her for too long though, that's when I see the clouds form in Kiros's aura and although I'm not afraid, I'm certainly not comfortable with the idea of losing him in the same darkness she thrives on. I've been thinking too loud. Kiros is looking at me and I can see just by the way his eyes have gone dark that he's heard me think her name. He can never forgive her betrayal. I edge a little closer to him and bring my knees up to my chin, tilt my head sideways and look at him, the stature I use when I want him to calm down and remember it's all over and we're a team. Kiros exhales and touches the charm on my necklace, the sign of a scorpio, it's what holds us together. Our symbol as united friends.

Kiros stands on the hefty branch and I quickly follow, the light breeze has become a chill now that the sun is sinking and I shiver, I often wear sleeveless tops or dresses with a low back to avoid all that awkward business of my wings getting caught and it can get so uncomfortable in the cold months. Kiros rolls his eyes and folds in his wings until they vanish completely, before he even does it I know what he's going to do just like always, I fold mine in too and he removes his heavy black coat and passes it to me.
"When will you learn, Violet Dawn? Showing flesh will do nothing but give you goosebumps." I blow a quick raspberry back at him despite feeling nervous like I always am when he uses my full name, it means I've annoyed him, I protest once again that it's because I don't want to cut up all my clothes, not because I'm flashing. I put the coat on nonetheless and our wings release again.
"Come on," Kiros says softly, he lifts so gracefully from the branch I don't even realise he's risen for a moment. "Let's go and find them."
"There's no cloud, I think it will be easy." I smile. Kiros and I are famous for our banter and our continuous bickering but I like it when he's soft with me. The times when we watch the stars and spend hours making our eyes ache in search of one that whooshes past so I can wish my same old wish. It makes me feel warm although admittedly a jacket made of such thick leather could attribute to that. Kiros's wings entwine with the darkening sky and the shimmering silver of my own illuminates us. Silently we descend and lift again and again, looping and gliding through the air, three times Kiros almost collides with me and each time I squeal and each time he teases me. Next time I will actually swing at him.

As we reach the field I carefully fly lower and skillfully touch the ground, toes first, my bare feet being greeted by the tickling grass and I smile. Kiros's wings swish above me and less than a second later he joins me on the ground. We could lie in the tree and watch but there's something about the way humans do it, lying in the grass and just staring, it's charming. Granted it's because they don't have wings and can't really get any closer while on their land... but I like it. I feel more authentic when we do it this way.
I remove Kiros's jacket despite the cold and almost silently tread the ground with my wings at full span behind me, I practically ignore my friend as I bathe in the moon's fresh new light and greet it with my own that exudes from my wings, I turn around and see what could be stars dotted on the black of Kiros's wings, while I communicate with the moon, he talks to the stars. It is our way of showing respect to the natures of the earth and sky around us.

At last we dim our lights and take our place in the trim grass, I fold my wings in so that I can lie close to Kiros and feel some of his body heat. It can be distracting when you feel cold but I prefer to be in my fitting dress and not covering it up. I feel free and I love to match my clothes with my wings. Apparently it's a female thing but co-ordination is good. You don't look too busy that way, people who  wear every colour at once give me a headache. Me and Kiros star search once a week and it has always been just the two of us. This is where we normally have our most serious discussions and more than once things have been said that have ended in me feeling like there's a hot pan in my stomach ready to boil over.

I often get nervous around Kiros. When he's upset my heart actually aches and when he can't be consoled over his issues I feel horribly useless, like all I existed for was to be there for him and when I can't be, there is no purpose. This isn't true of course, but when someone you are bonded with hurts, you can't help but hurt with them. It's more or less the basis of our bond anyway. Pain. During our more serious discussions I remember this and it makes me very sad to see it that way. I try very hard then to remember he makes me do this laugh that I actually like, it's warm and genuine and it makes my wings shine brighter. I like to think that I make him laugh and he feels as connected to me. What we do is confusing to our other friends. Always under suspicion that there is more than what we say but they don't need to understand it. I don't even really understand it, but when Kiros is being Kiros and I am being Violet Dawn, I'm happy so that's what matters.

I notice there are clouds creeping to the left in the sky, threatening to blanket over my thoughts, hopes of seeing a shooting star and end the night all too soon. As if it would do anything to stop them, I begin to sing almost silently to myself. I can be very shy about my own voice despite encouragement from those around me. But it doesn't stop me trying to do it as quietly as I can without Kiros hearing. He glances at me and I immediately close my mouth in embarrassment at being heard. I think I've gotten away with it when he suddenly belts out some cheesy song that haunted the nineties. Half cringing, I decide to let go and join in as if I've suddenly just noticed he's there. We don't get very far before both of us have rolled over faces in the grass and cackling like old witches. I'm expecting another lecture about hiding my voice away and why do I always need to feign I don't enjoy it. The truth is I don't want to find out I'm a deluded person.

I mean I am deluded. But about general life stuff, I believe the fiction humans write about us sometimes, like if we have fairy tale aspects, we'll get that fairy tale ending a lot easier than any regular human. I can tell you now that is not true! We have to fight tooth and nail to hide ourselves and as for falling in love? It's as hard to find someone who isn't toothless, arrogant, twisted or "just not into you". But it doesn't stop me hoping one day the stories will come to life and I'll end up some blond princess who weighs six stone and who befriends a deer. I switch between being cynical about my life and being completely insane and dreamy about it. Poor Kiros is the victim of many of these mood swings. It's about knowing what's really out there while wishing it wasn't. Those are the times I go and sit in my tree. Trying to figure out exactly what it is I'm asking for.

I realise I've stopped laughing and I'm just sort of face down in the grass. Kiros has sat up and is staring at the first thin cloud grasping for the moon with its first wispy tendrils before half blocking it from view, only to be seen through the misty vapour. It won't be long before the thicker clouds come and engulf the sky completely to say that the show is over. Scanning the sky frantically for any sign of what I'm looking for but with no more hope left in me. You find that sometimes. You won't always find what you set out to look for.

I very slowly and stealthily allow my wings to unfurl, the feathers tickle my shoulder blades as they dance with the breeze, I lean a wing over to prod Kiros with it. I pull my dress down quickly before he turns around and notices, like I only just have, that far too much leg is on show. When he turns around I'm scrambling at myself and probably look like invisible ants have decided to feast on me. Kiros frowns. So much for me playing coy and elegant and mysterious.
"You're weird." He mutters and when I stop tugging at my dress without pulling it so far down I expose something else I eventually laugh.
"Back at you! No I realised only after I tried to annoy you that I looked like a drunken call girl and figured instead I'd simply rather look plain drunk." I'm still giggling a little bit, mostly to try and hide my obvious blush that has no doubt turned my face and neck strawberry coloured. I put on a over the top false saunter and challenge Kiros to show his wings. The clouds are obviously trying to spoil the fun of the stars so if you can't beat them, join them. Kiros is hardly looking though and he looks troubled. My stomach sinks and my breath rattles as I wonder why he won't play along.
"What is it?" I murmur. Kiros shakes his head at me and the rest of my insides leave to find my stomach. We mostly tell each other everything and one way or another we always find out what the trouble is in the end but it always feel so much larger when we don't immediately say what's wrong. Sometimes I know that Kiros wants to solve what's wrong without me and it's selfish but I always take it personally and I feel so stung when he isolates himself from me. I have to admit that I do as well sometimes. I won't tell him why my mood has suddenly flipped from the sunshine to a snowstorm. There was a time when literally nothing stopped us and we battled what could have been the entire world just by communication, since Winter settled in, we haven't been quite there. We both feel it and I often fear one day he'll fly away and won't find me again.
"Violet, I need to go okay? There's some things I need to do."
"You didn't say,"
"I know." He interrupts. "But I didn't want to let you down and now the clouds have come, there's not really much point in us staying here is there?" I'm hurt by these words. He says them softly enough but being me, I look at them as if he's a bit fed up with me rather than the truth of it, no stars on star-search night means there is no point. I nod my head.
"Okay." I whisper, I look down and my hair falls across my face, I try not to look as though someone's killed a puppy but I am a bit crestfallen. He always seems to need to go suddenly and now! It's always so abrupt that I can't help but wonder why so sudden. Never a warning. He's just gone. Kiros unfolds his wings, flutters over to me, his hand gently lifts my chin and I stubbornly ensure I lift my own head rather than let him do it, brushing my hair back with his other hand, he opens his mouth to speak but says nothing increasing my nerves. After a moment we whisper goodbye and he's gone. Wings caressing the night and I'm left standing and wondering what I could do now.