#spiritsau

You’d only been walking around the streets of LA for around a half hour, and you already regretted not bringing a coat with you. It was pretty much near freezing, and you didn’t know how long it would take before your teeth started chattering. After a moment, you wrapped your wings around you as tight as you could in a last desperate attempt to keep yourself warm, only to come to the conclusion that unless you found somewhere warm to recoup, you’d have to turn back around and return home.

Something you did not want to do.

You could only imagine the screaming argument you’d walk into; Axl yelling at Izzy for lying to you, Izzy stood calmly, as if nothing affected him, only to turn to face you with a pleading glance for help.

“Not this time, Isbell,” you muttered to yourself, before you perked up at the bright light shining through the window of a coffee shop. It was small, sure, but you could’ve given less than two damns at that point. Picking up the pace, you practically fell against the door, only to stop and straighten yourself as the small number of patrons turned to look at you with suspicious glares. The tall blonde behind the counter seemed to be the only friendly face, and you cleared your throat awkwardly as you made your way towards him.

“Seems like you got hit by the bad weather too, huh?” He chirped, and you nodded as you took in his appearance – his hair was dyed a bright, nearly neon blue, as if it were an attempt to attract a viewer’s attention from the mass of feathers at his back. Featherdown. Christ, this guy – this giant – had yet to lose his featherdown, and yet was stood in the middle of a coffee shop, seemingly having his shit together.

You envied him.

After a moment, you blinked again and realised that he was waiting patiently for your response to his question, as well as your order, and you cleared your throat again before you finally pulled your gaze from his hair and to the board hanging above his head. Despite scrutinising the words decorating the board, explaining the different types of coffees, you were unable to prevent your mind from wandering back to Izzy. He always took his coffee black, unless you could spare a little honey – or rather, half a bottle of it – and he always had to have the most specific type of coffee bean that you could only find in one shop in LA. Coffee, especially for Izzy, was a luxury you both could barely afford.

“… You look like you need something more than a coffee,” Featherdown Guy spoke up again, and your eyes moved back to him, his lips curled in a smile that showed his teeth, and yet seemed to succeed in being non-threatening.

“I guess you’re… Right. I didn’t actually plan on getting anything when I first came out,” you eventually admitted, and he hummed thoughtfully as he bent to rest his arms on the counter, one hand holding his chin up. You almost laughed at how innocent the man looked, as if he didn’t quite suit the aura of punk that he tried to emit. Eventually, you let out a soft laugh and shook your head, waving a hand.

“You know what? You make me what you think is best for the current situation I’m in.”

At the offer, his eyes lit up and he pushed off the counter, his wings flapping a little.

“Really?”

“… Yeah. Go wild.”

At the concept of being able to make his own drink with some form of freedom, Featherdown Guy immediately set to work, turning as he busied himself with the instruments required to make the coffee – you could’ve sworn you saw him pour three espressos into one tiny cup – but you merely stood and waited for the maestro to finish his masterpiece. Once he turned round with a flourish and presented the cup of steaming liquid, you glanced at him before sliding some notes across the counter before you took the cup. The scent of coffee was… strong, but you merely shrugged and took the first sip.

Featherdown Guy’s face lit up as you nodded your approval, licking some froth off your upper lip. The light vanilla notes worked well to dull the sharpness of the coffee, and you were unable to stop yourself from taking another sip before you pursed your lips.

“I’m Y/N.”

Summers in Lafayette were almost always too warm. It made it impossible to do anything under the sweltering heat, and being forced to sit indoors for six hours a day never helped, either. Most of the things you were taught in school were useless, anyway, and any questions of why were always shrugged off with sighs and eyerolls.

It was official. You were going to be bored to death.

A flash of muddy yellow passed the window, and you perked up, tilting your head as you craned your neck to try and see the culprit – and of course it was William. You shook your head when his face appeared at the window, lips curled into a mischievous grin as he held up a packet of cigarettes. His hair clung to his face, and there was a streak of mud across his forehead; he’d obviously been digging again. Which probably meant that Jeff was somewhere near him – out of the three of you, Jeff was quite clearly the better digger. You supposed it made sense, considering he was a burrowing owl, but it was rare for him to indulge in William’s habits, and you flinched when William started to motion for you to join him outside.

It was difficult for you to say no to him; it always was. Even when you were both still chicks, with your wings only being covered in soft featherdown, William caused trouble and you were dragged into it with him. The only other chick that followed had been Jeff, but that was when he had dared to even appear from little burrows he used to dig in his mother’s garden. After another minute of William motioning for you to join him, you sighed and threw your hand in the air to catch your teacher’s attention. After a moment of almost begging the man with your eyes to allow you to use the bathroom, you grabbed the most inconspicuous parts of your belongings and hurried out. As soon as the door to the classroom was shut behind you, you shook your head and arms before closing your eyes and focused on shifting.

Most people used to tell horror stories about the first Spirits, the first changers. They used to say that their bones snapped in half, that their noses would stretch like Pinocchio and would contort into a beak, but to you, it wasn’t like that. It was a calming experience, with the only sensations being soft tingling as your body contorted into a small bundle of feathers. After lifting your belongings with your small feet, you fluttered down the hallway and through a slightly opened window, before you glanced around for William. The faint sound of tweeting caught your attention, and you flew towards it before you landed beside William. He merely stopped whistling and looked down at you with a mischievous grin, and you just knew that look spelled trouble. Evidently, you weren’t going to be going back into school for the rest of the day. After a moment, you rolled your eyes and changed back before you slapped William upside the head with a wing.

“Hey! What was that for?” He laughed, quickly ducking to avoid another slap. His deft hands quickly opened the small carton in his grasp before he offered a cigarette to you, his eyes twinkling with what could only be honestly described as mischief.

“You could’ve really warned me at the beginning of the school day, you know,” you bemoaned, but accepted the cigarette he offered and swiped the lighter from his pocket. You lit it as you leaned against him and sighed in bliss as his wing wrapped around you, the loose flecks of dirt tickling your nose, which made you wrinkle your nose.

“It was kinda impromptu. The old man left his cigarettes on the counter, and I figured they’d be the only way to bribe a certain owl out of his pit,” he muttered back, and you startled a little at just how deep his voice suddenly was. It wasn’t like you hadn’t expected it, but when he was singing with such a high pitch, it was only normal to expect his talking voice to be high. After a moment to recollect your thoughts, you rolled your eyes playfully and nudged him before you took a drag of the cigarette you held.

“Besides, aren’t you going to help me disturb the great and mighty Jeffrey from his pit?”

“I don’t like being disturbed,” a grumble emerged from the burrow before you, and a pair of grey eyes appeared within the darkness, a grimace painted on his features. A streak of dirt also graced his face, and you merely smiled before you offered the cigarette. After a moment of eyeing you suspiciously, a pale hand reached out and swiped the cigarette from your grasp, the lit end allowing you to see his face clearer, if only for a moment.

The three of you remained in silence while Jeff finished his cigarette, neither you or William wanting to disturb him. Ever since the three of you had discovered cigarettes, it rapidly became a past time for the three of you to just sit and enjoy each other’s company. As soon as the last drag was taken, Jeff climbed out of his burrow and sat in front of you and William, flicking the cigarette butt over his shoulder lazily while he stretched his wings out. He yawned and scratched his nose, but he clearly was prepared to actually have a conversation with the pair of you. You did consider just how in the hell Jeff hadn’t been removed from the school yet, your brow quirking at the thought. William’s parents would have a fit if they heard just what he had been doing exactly, and your own parents would be similar.

But Jeff’s? Well, they had more on their mind, you supposed.

“Are you seriously still trying to dye your feathers?”

“It’s a shitty yellow colour, man.”

“Will. C’mon. Dirt isn’t going to suddenly scare the yellow off.”

William rolled his eyes and you leaned back on your hands, quietly watching the interaction between the two boys with what could only be described as amusement. It was a daily conversation the two boys had, and yet it always ended in the same way. William would undoubtedly have some sort of fit, Jeff would roll his eyes and retreat into his burrow, and you would be left trying to calm the canary down. You sighed and braced yourself for William to lose his temper, but it never came. You dared a glance at Will and blinked at the pout on his face, only he never actually fought back against Izzy’s words; it was almost like he’d… Given up.

“I know. It still doesn’t mean I can’t try. Besides, lay off, would you? You’d think you were my old man, with the amount of bitching you’re doing at me,” he grumbled, his face contorting more into a grimace as he crossed his arms, before he sighed and looked back at the sky, leaning back as he pressed his wings against his back. Jeff merely raised a brow before he heaved a sigh and retreated back into his burrow, only to reappear with a small handful of dirt before he clambered behind you and William. After a moment, he sighed and shoved the dirt into William’s feathers, effectively hiding the colour of his feathers. Almost instinctively, William relaxed and allowed his wings to flutter a little, his hand reaching out to grasp your hand gently. Quietly, you wrapped your fingers around his and tightened your grasp, your eyes meeting his.

“… I’m leaving.”

“What?” You released William’s hand and turned to face Jeff with a look of shock, your eyebrows raised as your mouth hung open.

“I’m leavin’. As soon as we graduate, I’m skippin’ town, and I’m goin’ to LA,” he muttered, his brows furrowed as he focused on scrubbing the dirt into William’s wings, his tongue poking out from between his lips. Eventually, he sat back and moved to sit back in the entrance of his burrow, crossing his legs as he watched you and William.

“LA? As in, Los Angeles?” William questioned, his own brows furrowed as he grabbed your hand again, although you suspected that he was far less bothered about the news in comparison to you. William had always talked about leaving Lafayette, ever since you both were old enough to comprehend just what the word leaving meant. No doubt, he’d beg Izzy to take him with him.

“Yeah. Don’t you wanna come with me, Will? We can actually join a band. We can do something we wanna do,” Jeff’s eyes were alight with a sudden fire, his lips curled into a smile. It was a sight for sore eyes, and you struggled to remember a time when Jeff had last smiled in such genuine way. It was… Relieving. Almost. It still hadn’t changed the fact that Jeff was suddenly talking about leaving – and there was the chance Will would go with him. You weren’t prepared for such drastic changes, not when you were so close to graduating from high school.

“I… I can’t.”

You startled at his words, and you quickly looked at him with wide eyes. His lips had curved downward, and he was staring at his lap while fiddling with the loose hem of his shirt. He sighed softly through his nose and shook his head before he dared to look back up at Jeff, teasing his lower lip between his teeth. Evidently, he wanted to say otherwise, but it seemed like he was being held back by something; and you could only suppose that something was his family.

“What do you mean, you can’t?” Jeff hissed, his eyes narrowed as he leaned forward, his lips curling to expose his teeth.

“I can’t, man. Amy needs me, and-“

“So what, all this bitchin’ about how you wanna get out of this shitty ass town was for nothin’?”

“That’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is-“

“Okay, that’s enough,” you interrupted, and you sat straighter when both boys turned to glare at you. It was rare for you to interrupt their bickering, as you always claimed you were far more mature than they were and just didn’t want to lower yourself to their level. But this time, you couldn’t stand to listen to Jeff lose his temper with Will for something that was, in your eyes, valid.

“It’s bullshit, Y/N! You know that it is! He keeps talking about how he can’t wait to leave, and yet he’s now sayin’ he can’t go when I’m offering him a way out?” Jeff snapped, and you flinched back at the murderous glare in his eyes. For once, you understood why the younger kids in school avoided Jeff’s burrows – even when he’d long since abandoned them – and you merely closed your eyes to recollect your thoughts. Once you’d managed to find the courage to continue your argument, you opened your eyes and realised it was already too late.

William scrunched up his nose and glared at Jeff before he turned. It always was slightly amusing that William, a guy with such a loud personality, was such a small bird – but you stifled your look of amusement as you watched him fly off, his small body still covered in the dust and grime that he’d scrubbed into his feathers.

“Fuck him.”

“Jeff, you can’t say that.”

“Yes, I can. Fuck. Him. Y/N, you’re coming to LA with me, right?”

You hesitated, and idly brought one hand to your wing as you scratched at the feathers nervously, your mind running in overdrive. What would you lose if you did go with him? It’d be hard, sure. The pair of you barely had any experience working, but deep down, you knew that Jeff would take care of you. He always had. After a moment of staring at each other, you sighed and nodded, reaching out to take his filthy hand into yours.

“Okay.”

That had been nearly a year ago. A year since you’d decided to up and leave Lafayette, with barely anything but the savings your parents had hoped you’d use for college and some clothing. And Jeff. Well, he’d announced his name was Izzy on the way to LA, in the cab of his barely-running pickup that his mother had given him, his eyes glinting with a light that could only be described as pride.

You left behind a lot of things, and yet you felt the guiltiest about leaving Will behind. He had come to bid you farewell, his hair tied back in a bun as his face was set in a grimace in an attempt to hide his tears, but he and Jeff – Izzy – barely looked at each other, let alone dared to say another word to each other. It was almost like the two had just given up on their friendship, and it took everything in you to not slam their heads together in the hopes their common sense would return. Instead, you’d merely hugged him and promised to keep in touch – which he had accepted with a sniff and a nod of the head.

LA was everything you had dreamed of, and more. It was loud, it was busy, and it was so much more different than Lafayette – and you loved it. Izzy seemed to be at home, with his style and music rapidly adapting and evolving to fit into the scene that the pair of you had found yourselves in. Your apartment was barely an apartment – it was a single room that you used as a bedroom, kitchen and living room, with the bathroom pretty much being nothing but a tiny room that may as well be a wardrobe. But it was enough for the pair of you, and it wasn’t too hard for you to find a job that could help bring in at least some money.

It was nothing much more than working as a cashier in the local gas station, but it was enough. Izzy, however, kept his employment to himself. Whenever you questioned him on it, he merely shrugged and grabbed his car keys before leaving you alone on the couch. You supposed that maybe he had been doing something illegal, which immediately caused you to become alarmed at the concept. Whenever he was late, you would sit and pick at your wings, letting feathers drop around you as you allowed yourself to worry about what could’ve happened to Izzy. He could’ve been arrested. Or worse.

You looked up quickly at the sound of Izzy’s keys in the door, and sure enough, he stepped in, a cigarette placed delicately between his teeth. He merely winked at you when he noticed your presence before he kicked the door shut behind him, dropping his wallet on the side table. He dropped down beside you and leaned back with a sigh, closing his eyes.

“… Long day?” You asked softly as you turned to look at him, reaching out to gently scratch at his wings. He merely hummed and took a drag of his cigarette before he quirked a brow, his lips curving into a smirk before he stood and offered the cigarette to you. You took it, and took a drag before you laughed a little as a pillow was thrown your way – Izzy was clearly going to build a burrow with the multitudes of pillows and blankets he had collected. While LA was a jungle of buildings, there was no room for digging burrows. Not for an owl like Izzy. And it took its toll on him when he was stressed, so the pair of you had taken to making a burrow out of the pillows and blankets. It happened rarely now, but at times it had gotten too much for him.

Once he was satisfied with what he constructed, he climbed into the burrow with you and wrapped you close, his wings securely bundling you against his chest. You offered the cigarette to him again, and he quietly leaned forward to take a drag, his eyes fluttering closed. After a moment, he exhaled and rested his head on yours, his fingers running down your wings gently.

“… Got a call today,” he eventually murmured after about an hour of silent cuddling, and you shifted to look up at him quietly.

“Will… Well, his name’s Axl now. He’s comin’.”

“To LA?”

“Yeah. Guess his old man got sick of him and kicked him out.”

You hummed softly and yawned, before you smiled. William was coming – and that meant that it was going to be just like it was in your childhood; the three of you against the world.

“I wonder if he still scrubs dirt into his feathers,” Izzy mused, and he snorted softly at the thought. You rolled your eyes as you reached out to stub the cigarette into the ashtray nearby. It was almost soothing to think about, and you allowed yourself to be pulled more against Izzy’s chest as you yawned again, your eyes slowly drifting shut.

You were alone when you awoke. That was the first thing you noticed as you lifted your wing from your face, blinking blearily at the sunlight that streamed through the newspapers you and Izzy had stuck to the window in an attempt to use them as makeshift curtains. Sitting up, you rubbed your eyes and yawned before you crawled out of the burrow, before you shuffled over to the tiny kitchen you’d managed to somewhat make – although all it consisted of was a shitty second-hand coffee machine and a microwave and a minifridge, it was enough for you both to survive on. You raised a brow when you realised the coffee had already been brewed, only to tilt your head at the faint sound of water in the bathroom. Izzy was finally taking a shower.

You bit your lip and put the cup you’d picked up down and creeped towards the bathroom before you slipped through the door. Izzy was stood with his back to you, his wings pressed against his back as much as they could be, and he was hunched over, hands scrubbing at his scalp. Soft curses were leaving him every so often, and you contemplated just leaving him to his shower, but he’d most likely be in the shower for a while, and you did have work. After a second, you shrugged off your clothing and slipped into the tiny shower with him, replacing his hands with your own. He’d startled a little when he felt your touch, but he eventually relaxed and allowed you to massage his scalp, his wings twitching every time you hit a particularly sensitive area.

“Morning,” you eventually murmured over the drumming of the shower, and ducked your head down to smile at him. He merely raised a brow before allowing his eyes to wander, his hands gripping your waist. Your breath hitched slightly, and you waited for him to do what he always did; claim you’d want to shower in peace, and then leave you alone. But this time, he merely watched you, and you hesitated for a moment before you continued to wash his hair. Once you were satisfied, you nudged him back under the water directly and allowed your gaze to follow a water droplet that ran down his jaw and fell onto his chest. It raced down, over the expanse of pale skin, and it took everything in you to not follow it as it travelled towards his hips. Instead, you forced your gaze back to his face, and felt your cheeks warm as the corner of his mouth shifted upwards into a smirk.

“Something you like?”

“Maybe,” you shot back, your hand gripping the nape of his neck as his arms wrapped further around your waist and yanked you closer. You leaned up, his breath fanning across your cheeks. It smelled like it always did; coffee and nicotine, and you allowed your eyes to flutter shut as you inhaled the intoxicating scent. Your other hand rested on his chest, your fingers splayed out across his skin. The feeling of his heartbeat was soothing, and even the water seemed to have taken a backseat as the two of you stared at each other, lips ghosting across the other’s.

Just as you were about to lean in and make the contact you had been so desperate for, the sound of someone hammering on the door caused Izzy to yank his head back, his gaze snapping towards the bathroom door. Without a word, he pulled himself away from your grasp and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around his waist as he strode out of the bathroom. You stood there, dejected, as the water hammered onto your wings, your mouth hanging open in disbelief. The past three months had consisted of you and Izzy becoming almost too close to be called friends, and yet every time you’d almost kissed him, he always somehow found a way to avoid doing so.

The faint sound of voices reached your ears, and you tilted your head. You could tell Izzy was speaking, you knew his voice so well you’d be able to pick it out of a line up. But the second voice was… Familiar, but not one you’d heard in a while. At the realisation, you quickly washed yourself and stumbled out of the shower, scrubbing yourself dry with the spare towel before you all but flew out of the bathroom, yanking on your shirt. Both men stopped speaking when you entered the living room, and you merely beamed at the redhead stood beside Izzy, his wings a bright sunshine yellow. His lips curled into a smile and he opened his arms, which you wasted no time in flying into. You wrapped your arms around him, letting out a small laugh as you nuzzled your face into his chest.

“William!”

“It’s Axl now, you know,” he teased, ruffling your hair before he stepped back and held you at arm’s length, “well, what to do with you? Your wings ever stop beating?”

“Y/N’s a hummingbird, Axe. We established this when we were kids. Those wings don’t even stop when we’re asleep,” Izzy shot back, and you consciously closed your wings with a small frown. Izzy had always assured you that your wings never disturbed him when you slept together, but now you were doubting yourself. He glanced at you and winked at you, and you relaxed a little as you processed that he was only teasing, not that he meant it maliciously.

“Don’t you act innocent, Izzy. You hoot when you’re sleeping,” you shot back, laughing as you jumped out of the way to avoid his wing that he stretched out to hit you. Axl merely snorted and pulled you back into a hug, his large hand resting on the back of your head as he pressed your nose against his neck. The faint scent of cigarettes and chocolate made your wings flutter in excitement at the concept that Axl may have something sweet stashed away on his person, and he let out of quiet laugh as your hands patted down his pockets in search of the treat.

“Okay, okay, Hummer. Chill. Here,” he laughed as he offered the chocolate bar to you, which you gleefully took. Immediately, you sat on the couch and tucked in chewing thoughtfully as you watched the two men inspect each other’s wings. Your smile slowly contorted into a frown as Izzy pulled on his jacket and hat, his wings tucked against his back. He avoided your gaze, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand before he glanced back at Axl, nodding at him once. Axl seemed to understand immediately, and he walked to sit beside you with a soft sigh before he wrapped a wing around you. You watched as Izzy walked out, your hand rising to gently toy with a few of the bright yellow feathers tickling your cheek. You stifled a laugh before you leaned against his side and closed your eyes, a soft sigh escaping you.

“That’s the fourth time he’s walked out without saying a word to me,” you eventually muttered, and you felt Axl shift under your head, before you quickly sat up and looked at him accusingly.

“… What?”

“You know what he’s up to, don’t you?”

“What? No,” he laughed nervously, refusing to meet your gaze. You narrowed your eyes suspiciously before you groaned and got up, throwing open the window as you walked past it. Axl watched you, before he sighed and sat back, scratching at his feathers quietly.

“I’m sorry, Y/N, but I don’t know what’s up with him,” he eventually spoke up, and you rubbed your eyes as you considered believing him. Eventually, you turned and looked at him with a raised brow, sucking in your cheeks.

“… I don’t know why I’m mad at you. You’ve only just arrived. Speaking of, why did you decide to arrive now?”

“Old man Stephen kicked me out. He got sick of me, I guess. And… Well, I wanted to come with you and Iz when you two left.”

You crossed your arms and raised an annoyed brow before you sighed and shook your head, moving to sit beside him again before you leaned against his side. After a moment, Axl reached into his pocket and retrieved a small pack of playing cards, offering them to you.

“What, are we going to play poker?”

“I was thinking Go Fish.”

You smiled at each other and you moved to sit in front of him, dragging a box between you to work as a makeshift table. You watched as he shuffled the cards and dealt them, before he sat back and stretched his wings out with a sigh. His gaze moved to your wings, and you realised that they had been flapping almost constantly since Izzy had left. It was almost a miracle that you weren’t hovering above the floor, but you pushed their teasing to the back of your mind. Instead, you focused on beating Axl at his own game, only to glance at the clock that barely worked. Your mind went into overdrive as you realised that you were late for work. Cursing, you pushed yourself to your feet and grabbed your shoes, trying to yank them on while thinking of the fastest route to get to work without your boss realising that you were late, only to stop at the sound of Axl snorting quietly.

“What?”

“Come on, I just got here, and you’re already ditching me?”

You hesitated for a moment, considering his words. After a moment, you reached the conclusion that Axl was right, and that your boss could handle you not showing up to work for a day or two. After quickly calling him, you flopped down beside Axl again, wrapping your arms around him with a little sigh.

“I missed you.”

“Missed you too, Hummer,” he muttered back, kissing your hair gently as he pulled you back against him. Although the two of you could enjoy each other’s silence, it wasn’t long before Axl got bored and wanted to know more. He nudged you off his lap and got up, a mischievous look coming onto his face, and before you knew it, Axl had scuttled into Izzy’s room, and the sound of drawers opening reached your ears. You hesitated for a moment before you followed him, only to freeze when you noticed a small bag that Axl had discovered.

“What is that?”

“Dunno. Looks like it’s coke,” he teased, grinning at you, only for his smile to drop when he noticed your concerned frown. Immediately, he dropped the bag and shut the drawer, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth unconsciously.

“Coke? Izzy shouldn’t be doing that, we agreed we wouldn’t do that.”

Axl sighed and opened his mouth to respond, only to fall quiet as he looked over your shoulder. His frown deepened and you turned to see just what he was looking at, only to swallow when you noticed that Izzy was stood beside the couch, his wings flattened as far as they could go against his back.

“Izzy… Please tell me you’re not…”

“Y/N, it’s not that big a deal. Trust me.”

“Izzy!” You snapped, your eyes widened in shock at his words as you processed the sudden new information that you’ve just been given. After a moment, you shook your head and pushed past him, grabbing your keys.

“Y/N-“

Out of over 7 billion people in the world, nobody knows how it happens – it just does. You wake up one morning as a child, and you suddenly have wings. Wings, and the ability to turn into a bird. But it wasn’t just any bird; it was what was quickly named a Spirit.

Everyone had different Spirits. The Royal Family in England were all mostly regal, with peacocks and eagles running in the bloodline. It wasn’t long before the Spirits were shoved into little cubbies on what their ideal job would be; owls were educators, doctors, lawyers. Eagles and hawks were soldiers, firefighters – they were the first responders, typically. Lovebirds, cockatiels, lorikeets were the models – the pretty little songbirds that were fawned over. They may as well have been locked in cages for the others to watch and coo at, some activists argued.

You were one of them. You didn’t want to be one of the pretty little balls of feathers that people wanted to admire from afar. You wanted to be in the middle of it all, one of those who fought alongside the hawks and the eagles. It wasn’t allowed, of course, but you knew that ever since your wings first sprouted it was what you wanted to do. You used to sit and stare up at the night sky, wishing with all your might to the Man in the Moon that you’d be blessed with the Spirit of a fighting bird. You weren’t, somehow, much to your annoyance.

Your best friend, Axl, hadn’t been blessed with that, either. Instead, he was something he considered humiliating, and did everything to hide his Spirit. He used to roll in dirt, shove it into his wings until it was nearly impossible to see the yellow of his feathers. His stepfather had frowned upon his Spirit too, until Axl opened his mouth and sang.

Canaries weren’t just the pretty birds. They were the talented birds. They were the musicians, the artists, the ones who left their mark on history permanently. And you knew – as did his stepfather – that Axl Rose was going to leave a yellow streak across history on his own terms.