Just One Feather

He woke up from the fall and was in a daze. Where was he, this was not his mountain home nor the familiar smell of the forest that he loved so dearly? It was hard for him to focus on anything as his head was still spinning the sheer force of the attack that he had faced. It was a blur of colored lights and the loud noises that bothered him the most. Sure, that this was the city that most of the time was below him on his flights. He did not fully understand how to relate or even come to terms with his situation.

Recalling back to what had happened to him was difficult, something almost invisible struck at him, leaving him spinning in a downward spiral to the city below. The city, even the fact of this place, shook him to the core of his being. Since his youth, he was told to avoid it. “It was dangerous, the humans did not understand our type.” was what both of his parents told him. His dad was more forceful about the terror found within the city, “This is were your uncle was lost, he fell never to be seen again,” those words from years long past echoed in his mind again.

“Never to be seen again,” … those words now had a much more significant impact then they did in his youth. He was still dizzy but shook his head again to regain focus, and his eyesight was able to come back into focus. To the average onlooker, he looked like what was an ordinary Japanese man dressed in traditional clothes, and next to him was a red Tengu mask that had seen much better days. But, what was not know was this was no average man with the mask that giving a clue to his identity. He was Tengu, an adult of about the age of 30 years for a human. His eyes also revealed more of his true nature, and they flashed of the power within him.

Getting up from the ground, he looked around at the scene before him. He was in an alleyway. Not that he had seen one before, it was full of dumpsters and the doors which entered the shops that faced the busy streets that surrounded him. Brushing off the dirt from his clothes, he knew he had to get out of here and quickly before he was discovered. The situation then became apparent to him as he tried to take to the skies again. Trying to spread the black wings, which always carried him to safety, brought about nothing. He did not bother to look before this to take notice of what once was his steady, black wings, which carried him away from dangers often. The only part of what would have been his wings was a single long black feather laying in a puddle, the rest of his wings had vanished.