Amos

Zillah had asked you many times if you were sure. You could just come stay with her, she said. Get out of here for good. Go somewhere you never had to risk seeing them again. You had declined each time. You didn’t expect her to understand, but… there was something about this place. These Trees. No matter how you felt about your family… it felt wrong to leave entirely.

And so, she contented herself with helping you move your things. There wasn’t much, a notable portion of it seemingly lost or stolen, but you weren’t going to ask around. Gathering what you could, quickly and quietly so as not to attract the attention of your family, you and your sister flew the nest for the final time.

–

It was with shame in your chest that you showed up on the Lower Floors, all of your worldly possessions in tow, to ask for a place to live.

Mere months ago, the shame would have come from the humiliation of having to ask the Lower Trees folk for anything. Now, it came from knowing how you had treated them. How they would perceive you, and rightfully so. You had asked Zillah to leave you with your things, so you could do this step on your own. There was no need to put her through this shame with you.

The inhabitants were cold initially, as to be expected. Some moved as if to attack you (only verbally, you hoped, but could not be sure in your anxious state), but were stopped by others. Perhaps it was your stillness, your lack of response other than apologising, your once proud posture now broken and pathetic. Either way, you were eventually left be, and pointed unwelcomingly to a rather cramped room (far breezier than most this low down).

Labouringly, you drag your possessions into your new space. That is when you realise that by either some fault of initial design, or perhaps by some Spiritual joke, a large quantity of rainwater has found itself in the corner of your new abode, and lacking any means of drainage, formed a dubious moat around you.

Home sweet home.

–

The days which come are better.

Slowly but surely, you tidy the place. Or, rather, Zillah insists that you do or else she’ll never visit you. You try to hide just how good a motivator this is.

Luckily, you have friends nearby (is it presumptuous to call them that?). Rascal helps you clear the space and settle in, and shows you around the Middle and Lower Floors, which you had never previously deigned to inspect. Ramal often accompanies, close by Rascal’s side, and over time you get the impression that the two of you are growing… well, perhaps not closer, but at least more comfortable with each other's presence.

When the other two are busy, you often fly up to see Bartleby on the Middle Floors. The old snail seems grateful for the company, and seems to travel less to the Upper Floors than he used to. When you ask him about this, he only replies: “It’s no place for an old snail like me up there, I’m afraid, son… I think it’s high time I seek my thrills elsewhere.” You are surprised, but think better than to question his decision.

–

During one visit up to Bartleby, you catch a glimpse of a familiar figure through one of the windows on the other side of the Tree. A vulture, their face cruel and sneering, the flesh below his eye now decorated with a dainty scar, just where your talon kissed it. As he flies up, you fly down, and the two of you catch each other’s eye.

You tense, unsure what to say, what to do, how to act… but then the moment is gone, and you have simply ignored each other and gone your separate ways.

–

Of course, all too soon, comes the day that you were dreading. That you knew must happen, but hoped to keep at bay by ignoring the reality.

Rascal and Ramal stand in front of you, laden with supplies. They are leaving.

It’s not forever, you know. This is not goodbye forever. But it is still a heavy hit to you. The selfish part of you wants to get in the way, to kick up a fuss, to demand that they stay. But… you’ve seen the glint in Rascal’s eyes when he speaks about this trip. Flying around the world, he says. You try to think back to how you used to view them, how you used to view their attempts to fly. Somehow, you can’t manage to.

You smile, and hug your friend, and wish them well.

–

With time, things change in the Lower Grey Trees.

Upton, himself a refugee from the Upper Floors, has been visiting you frequently since you moved. It turns out he is very forgiving, and very invested in helping others escape the pervasive ideologies of the Upper Trees. (Lincoln and Ida are slightly less forgiving, but in time, you will come to count them too as tentative friends.)

Soon, you find you are not the only animal to seek refuge in the Lower Floors. It isn’t clear what triggers the change, but one day you notice a surprising new neighbour.

Narcissus.

He isn’t particularly chatty, seemingly still caught up in his sense of superiority, but he also isn’t as openly callous as before. His is not the only familiar face you end up seeing, and soon, you find yourself in the centre of a new community of Upper-Tree defectors. Many end up wondering, as they enjoy the far gentler winds against their feathers, why they didn’t leave before.

–

It is Ida who first tells you that Wistwind can be spoken to from places other than the Upper Floors.

The news surprises you, but, as she points out, why would a Spirit of freedom be constrained only to one place?

And so, one night, you perch on a beam just outside of your new home, beak turned to the air, and take a deep breath.

Then, just as you had rehearsed in your head so many times, you apologise. And this time when the wind comes, instead of harshly tearing at you, it caresses your feathers gently.

You now often find yourself out here. The Wistwind ends up being a very good listener, and teaches you much. It’s hard, initially, to glean much from its one-word whispers. But you learn to simply ask more, and to keep your questions open.

It tells you of the world, beyond what you’ve seen. Of the humans, and how they built these towering structures for themselves, not for your winged kind. How the White Raccoon was imprisoned by the other Spirits, and then subsequently freed. This last piece of information seems to you to be quite important, but for some reason, when you rush to inform Upton, he just looks puzzled, then laughs.

–

And so it is that eventually, when Rascal and Ramal return, you resolve to greet them with enthusiasm and stories of your own to share. For the world is more open to you than ever it has been before, and for the first time, you feel you have a place within it.