• Knight was the first to awaken that day. He stood up, ignoring the pain in his back and stretched his snowy wings, feeling the morning breezed beneath them. He washed his handsome face in the stream nearby. He stared at his reflection in the water. His white hair was the same as ever, stainless and clean, his eyes a deep blue, and his angular face. His wings however, unless covered, seem to wreck his seemingly flawless image. His parents, the two most beautiful people in the rick city they had used to live in, had been completely normal. Yet he had come out with wings potruding out his back where his shoulder blades were! After seeing what their son had turned out to be, his parents took him away from the city and into rural area.
    Throughout the years, he had hidden his wings beneath a cape and attracted many of the women. While he enjoyed catching their eyes, he hadn't been interested in them as a wife or lover in the least. He traveled a great deal and had met many pretty maidens, but still, nothing special about them. But Tal on the other hand. . .
    Knight walked over to Tal and lightly stroked her sandy, furry ear. It twitched and he smiled. He felt her tail flick against his ankle. He resisted the urge to scratch his ankle. He didn't want her to wake up and berate him for invading her personal space. The thought made him chuckle deep in his throat.
    Tal rolled over in her sleep, her back now to Fenwick, who lay on the other side of her. Knight was tempted to gently touch her beautiful, cat-like face, but restrained himself.
    She was so beautiful and independent that Knight couldn't help fall for the girl the moment she set her sharp tongue on him. He valued every one of her features, from her golden eyes like the bright, life-sustaining sun, to her sandy, keen cat ears, to her bushy, soft tail, to her porcelain complexion, to her heart shaped face. The way she smiled when she was happy was enough to make him want to smile for the rest of his life. Her quick wit and cleverness was something he rarely saw in any woman. He'd fought the urge to confess to even himself what he'd thought the moment he saw her arrive to the village two days ago. But he wasn't afraid to admit it now. He knew how he felt, but did she feel the same way?
    I love her. But does she feel the same way? I doubt it. I've seen the way she laughs at me. the young man thought doubtfully. There wasn't a chance that Tal would have him. If he proposed, she would probably laugh herself to her death. And he knew his nerve would fail him then.
    He crossed his legs and gazed longingly at Tal. He flexed his wings and then folded them, remembering how the blood-red bear had sliced his back with its long claws. He barely remembered the moment, just slashing and roaring and scratching. If it hadn't been for Tal bandaging him, he might not have lived to see the morning. He was ever thankful to her for that.
    Knight stood up again, but this time he groaned at the pain. He accidently awoke Tal. She blinked a few times and arose with a yawn. She looked at him carefully and said, "How are you feeling?"
    He touched his back and quickly pulled it back as pain shot through his back. Knight clenched his white teeth and croaked, "Better than last night, that's for sure."
    She looked at him skeptically, but he ignored her look and went about readying for departure. She helped him, much to his surprise, and did not say one crude comment the entire time. In fact, she acted as though they were life long friends who needed each other now more than ever.
    Finally, after waking up Fenwick, they set off on their way, Tal occasionally aiding Knight when his pain struck him. He couldn't have been happier around Tal, though he also couldn't have been in much worse condition.
    He sighed, knowing he would have to deal with the pain until nature healed it.