The wind howled in my ears as I dove at the forest below. The trees raced towards me, branches stretching to grab me. Closer, closer, closer. Yards, feet, inches. Finally, I spread my wings and pulled up, running a hand through the treetops as I skidded over them. Birds evacuated their nests with alarmed chirps as I shot by faster than any arrow. I flapped my wings and rocketed upwards. Once I got high enough, I flipped, folded my wings, and plunged through the treeline. Newly grown branches broke away from my worn path as I fell. After a few seconds, my vision flashes blue right before I splashed into a pond in the middle of the forest.

I sunk fast, but my descent stopped almost instantly. I glimpsed bits of fish and plants before my body remembered that I needed to breathe. I whirled around and swam to the surface. I broke through and filled my lungs with air. Excitement bubbled up inside me, erupting out of my mouth as a wild holler. I idled in the water for a few minutes, letting the adrenaline settle in my veins. Once my blood cooled, I struck out for the shore. I pulled myself up onto land and shook my entire body, droplets landing on the long grass. I exposed my wings to the sun and laid on my stomach, letting the rays dry them as my feathers sucked in the warmth.

A rustling of leaves made me look up. Another Harpy emerged from the branches, much slower than I had. Her feathers were light brown and speckled with white, running up her arms, down her neck, and longer ones grew from the top of her head. Wings covered with the same feathers began to close as she landed, but each one had intertwined streaks of black and navy running from their tips to their base between her shoulder blades. Her eyes were a deep brown, with her worry on full display.

"Kestrel!" She called. "Where are you?"

I flapped one of my wings. "Over here!"

Wren spotted me and ran over. When she neared the pond, she sat down, catching her breath. "Quit flying ahead like that! You know I can't keep up when you fly so crazy!"

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, you just won't copy me! You could at the very least be close behind me if you just did what I did."

"The last time I ‘copied’ you, my wing ended up out of its socket!" She crossed her arms as color rose to her cheeks. "Besides, mom warned you to stop being so reckless. You'll end up hurting yourself again."

"Oh please! When have I ever hurt myself?"

Wren held up her hand. "You broke your arm while trying to fly when you were three years old, twisted your ankle when you were nine, had an eyepatch for two months when you decided to ‘play' with a Prickler," She put up a finger for every incident she listed off. "Sprained your wrist trying to catch yourself when you got tangled up in a net, had to get thirty stitches after an extremely overzealous sparring match with Shikra, broke your leg while attempting one of your landing stunts, was knocked unconscious when you literally flew head first into a tree, almost drowned while canoeing, shot yourself in the foot with an arrow, got yourself stuck in a wall when you crashed into Magpie's house, and now I'm out of fingers."

"What's your point?"

Sighing with defeat, Wren sunk even lower, her shoulder drooping. "Can we just get home before mom starts to worry?"

Why does she have those pleading eyes when she begs like that? It’s not fair! It’s like trying to say no to a tiny rabbit!

Relenting, I nodded, and we both stood up. "And no wild stunts!" Wren warned. I shrugged and took off. I heard my sister follow me if maybe a little reluctant.

It took us about twelve minutes to reach the heart of the Harpy tribe: Canopy. Uninspired I know, but it's actually shortened down. The full name is Canopy of Haven's Pensile. It was awkward to say in passing and other informal settings, so we use Canopy in everyday conversations.

From the sky, you could spot some of the visitor buildings and other facilities, such as the messenger bird stations and roosts. From the ground, a handful of stations for the visiting, flightless tribes served as a base for communications, or even a starting point for a series of ladders if the visitors needed to reach the actual city. The grandest sight, however, was underneath the treetops. Canopy is a series of treehouses with bridges and ropes interconnecting them to one another. The second uppermost level held the workplaces for the Harpies that cared for the messaging birds, communicated with other tribes, or had other jobs that I can't remember. Below that, you could find the houses that the Harpies actually live in. They came in a variety of shapes and sizes: some were large and looked like a typical building from any other tribe, some were round and stout, some were missing walls so that anyone could fly into a specific room, some lacked ceilings, others had balconies wrapped around them for landing spots, but none were identical.

Another aspect of the living level was flowers. They came in as many varieties as there were homes, and they brightened the city by combating the common green and brown. As we descended, I spotted one balcony garden that had orange petals that looked like a puffball and dozens of small, periwinkle blossoms surrounding each one. And they weren't just in gardens; the flowers were grown straight onto the houses! It was incredible how some of the families get creative when decorating with the flowers.

Anyway, moving on! Below this level was the heart of the Canopy. Built around a massive trunk and spanning across dozens of trees was the Nest. Here, the leaders of the Harpies, the Wise Trio, make the important decisions that impact the Harpy tribe. They hold meetings, send runners to the messengers, pass laws, meet with advisors, house representatives from other tribes, give student tours, and a bunch of other stuff that I can't list in one go! The only other thing on this level was the medic center, which was equally important. It was almost as big, but it was kinda curved to look like a crescent moon. I don't know why, but it looks pretty cool, I swear!

Below them was the school, farms, etc., but we're not going to them right now. Wren and I touched down on one of the landing balconies encircling the Nest. A few runners bustled past us with sacks containing notes for the messengers, but we walked past them. We walked across a rope bridge leading to a dome-shaped building around the edge of the Nest. The roof was hidden beneath bunches of white and purple petals. I heard voices inside; their owners seemed to be arguing. Wren grabbed my arm, but I smiled and slipped out of her grasp. I grabbed the doorknob and sprang inside.

"We're back~" I sang.

The two who were arguing stopped as they faced us. One was a male Harpy about eight years older than me. His feathers shone in hues of blues and white and black that shimmered like light off jewels. He has a strong, defined, sturdy build that I knew he was proud of (he spent years keeping it up, you know; he was quite pudgy when he was my age). An open back shirt hung loosely off his shoulders. His pants were also sagging but were held up by a lazily looped piece of rope. His feet were bare, which wasn't unusual. A ringlet of petite, copper colored flowers was fit snugly on his left wrist.

The person he had been arguing was a female Harpy in her late forties. Her dress was navy with lavender waves around the trim, and, like almost every Harpy garment, was backless (for the obvious reasons). Her wings were settling down from when they flared open like they usually do when she gets drawn into a debate. Her feathers, unlike the male's, were a humble gray, but the edges of her wings had patches of orange. A necklace of thin, silver cords hung from her neck. Her feet had sandals on them, but I knew she would kick them off immediately after she got home.

The male's name is Cyane, and the female is Robin. Meet my brother and mother!

The room was a mess of papers; every surface was buried underneath a wave of documents. It had been like this almost the day after Cyane had made the announcement. This building, which used to be one of my mother's spare offices, had been transformed into a hub of planning and decisions. A dozen pots of flower sample sat on the table that used to bare figurines of animals. Patches of cloth hung from pins on the back wall. There were even boxes, which I guess held cakes, on the desk where my mom would usually work.

My mom had given Cyane permission to use the office so that he could prepare, but she was here to ‘assist' as much as possible. These two drove each other nuts, but in a good way. Wren didn't understand what a good screaming match is, but I know one when I hear it.

"Is it the setting, date, or food?" I chimed. Wren shuffled into a corner to stand next to the flower samples, acting as if she could blend in with her surroundings.

"Setting," Cyane grumbled. He put one hand on his hip and ran the other through the messy, rumbled feathers on his head. "We had thought about having it at the cliff with the waterfall, but this lunatic said that was a terrible idea."

"Well, it is!" She said bluntly. "Can you imagine the noise? You wouldn't even be able to hear your vows to each other! Plus, I don't think that the spray would make anyone happy."

Cyane turned back to our mother, his hand that had been in his hair now waving slowly in the open air. "But it's a spot that's important to us; that's where we had our first kiss. And it's better than the meadow that you recommended."

"How was I supposed to know that all the flowers would enter hibernation in the middle of spring? Excuse me that I didn't know that they were the rare Frostleaf Blossoms that bloom only in winter!"

I chuckled as their voices started to rise again. It's nice that they have something in common. "What does Callum think?"

Cyane sighed. "He likes the waterfall, but," My brother took a moment to think. "He did mention the lakeside in Wake."

Robin gave a gasp and rubbed the back of her head. "The lake in Wake!" I chuckled as she rhymed. "Of course! It's absolutely stunning! Oh, I do have a friend there that can make a delicious cake!"

Cyane smiled to himself as he was lost in thought. "Yeah, that place is important, too."

"What did you guys do there?" I asked innocently.

Cyane sighed. "That's where we first-" He cut off mid-sentence, his expression now startled.

"Where you what?" I continued asking, but already having a good idea.

"Nothing," He mumbled, his face turning a bright shade of vermillion. I laughed as he turned away, embarrassed.

My mother hadn't heard any of this, thankfully. She was pulling a folder off one of the shelves crowded with lists of possible destinations. Upon finding the one she was looking for, she asked Cyane, "So it's agreed? You're having the wedding in Wake?"

"I'll talk to Callum about it, but it's at the top of my list now."

"Alright." She handed the folder to Cyane. "These are some of the connections I have there. You two should look over them before making your final decision." She turned around, shuffling through the cakes on her desk. "I guess I won't need these anymore. I'll give them to someone else. What are you still doing here?" She shouted when she turned back and found Cyane still standing in the office. "Get going!"

"Calm down, I'm going!" Cyane began to head towards the door. I started to follow, stopped, ran to snatch a box off the desk, and then followed him out. Cyane had just taken flight and I caught up pretty quickly.

"Mind if I join you?" I asked.

Cyane gave a short laugh. "Like I could stop you. Just don't break anything."

"You know I can't promise that."