Storm Riding (Open)

Storms brewed on the cold horizon promising nothing but winds to level even the mightiest of trees to the soil. The noon darkness and damp-smelling air threatened to render anyone helpless beneath whatever pitiful shelter they sought. The cliffs at the end of the Sky Empire were struggling to hold together. The rain came down in such heavy torrents many would actually find it impossible to see two feet in front of them, let alone go outside. The trees groaned as they strained against the howling wind, their gnarled, twisted branches falling from their trunks as frequently as the rain drops hit the ground. To be out here right now would be suicide. Not a soul was out anywhere near the cliffs, let alone out in the storm. The place was desolate of fauna life, the floral life struggling to hold itself together.


However, upon the branch of an old oak tree that reached out towards the sea, perched like a vulture hungrily eying a carcase, was a raven. No, it was too big to be a raven, or a black eagle. No, this creature was the last of the Lightning Birds as we know it so far.

It was Torizar.

He cast his eyes to the charcoal sky, his attention held by a golden streak, a crack in the cloud layer where the sun streamed through as fast as water through a cracked dam. The rain was promised, the wind already unleashed, but there would be sunshine and warmth by morning, time to rebuild and repair.


A bolt of lightning illuminated the sky, a shocking white against the dark, angry clouds. A loud boom came a second or so afterwards, music to Torizar's ears.



The lightning was here at last.



Stretching his wings, Torizar leaped from the branch and flew up towards the clouds.


Many would think he was honestly trying to commit suicide in weather like this, as he eagerly beat his wings to get closer and closer. He could taste the life-giving electricity running through his veins on his tongue. Torizar barrel rolled, before he broke through the clouds.


He slowed down to a hover as he looked around at the cavern of clouds all around him, fuming at this interruption. Torizar waited for about half a minute, flapping his wings as if he were leisurely hovering over a lake on a bright sunny day. His eyes scanned the clouds, watching, waiting.


Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck him, and Torizar shrieked. Not with pain though, with simply surprise.


He felt the bolt dancing along his feathers as his body took in the energy, and then the lightning was gone. This was followed by a bolt striking the air centimetres from Torizar's head. He grinned, and started moving forward as the bolts became more attracted to him.



BOOM! BANG! BOOM!


With each lightning strike, Torizar went faster, his eyes lighting up a brilliant blue each time the bolts made contact with his body. His wings flapped harder, his speed went up, until he was doing about fifty miles an hour through the storm. Full power. He had been recharged.



Laughing, Torizar did another barrel roll, shooting lightning from his beak through the air.