[prompt 2] Journey to the Oasis

Ashiwa crouched behind a sand-orange rock outcropping, drawing her wings close and eyeing the formations of Li’uhn flying nearby, on a straight path to a curved arch of sandstone that made up the entrance to a particular place. An oasis. Well, not just an oasis, it was The Oasis with capital letters. Hiding the golds and creams of her fur and feathers and pressing close to the rock so that they don’t see her, Ashiwa was calculating her next move and debating whether to fly in with the formation or creep in by herself.

You see, the Li’uhn have a special time of the year where they journey- part culture, part ritual, she supposed- to see their ancestors. It was at a place known as The Oasis, and, well, it was just a big oasis. But apparently this was a magical oasis where the Il’hune, giant creators of the Li’uhn and all that remains of the broken desert civilisation the Li’uhn inherited, were confined to live out the rest of eternity in.

Cue Ashiwa. Having lost her entire family and all her then-flightless siblings in a canyon wildfire, which she still suspects wasn’t just an accident, she had flown to the furthest corners of the world she could find to escape from herself. It had taken her years after she became an adult to work up the courage to start travelling again, but in that time she had effectively cut herself off from Li’uhn society for so long that she had trouble participating in many of the social activities they did. For example, she had completely missed her journey to The Oasis. Ashiwa was supposed to fly there with her parents and sibling that year, a few months after the wildfire. It never happened.

So here she was, trying to somewhat make up for that loss. Not that she was super excited to see the ancestors, perhaps since that part of her which still urged her to destroy the world out of spite was still simmering under the surface, but she was moreso trying to understand why, exactly, the Li’uhn insisted that all should have had that journey, some just once as a coming of age ceremony, and some almost every year. Or maybe she was, deep down, trying to fit into society.

In any case, sitting here in the hot sun all day wasn’t going to help her decide whether to fly in with another group or somehow sneak in by herself. Would the entrance arch, since it was magic, alert the Il’hune to her presence? Surely they get a lot of visitors all the time. Maybe it was best to fly in with a group, Ashiwa decided. Wasn’t it pretty common to have a Silverwing lead a group of other Li’uhns since they can fly by following her wings? She certainly hoped so.

Gliding up to the next group she saw, Ashiwa chirped a friendly welcome as she angled herself towards them so that they won’t be startled by her sudden appearance. As the lead flyer, a Li’uhn in dark reds and golds, glanced towards her, they lifted a wing in welcome and chirped right back, angling themself so she could start flying at the tip of the formation with her.

“Can I fly with you to The Oasis?” She asked, glancing at the rest of the group. They seemed to be a family, with the other members being an adult Nightkin, a young adult and an adolescent who seemed to be their children. Her heart twinged at how similar they were to the family she lost.

“Go ahead! We’re a bit tired anyway, we would appreciate you flying the front for a while,” the leader replied, sweeping towards the side to allow Ashiwa the lead with a flash of glowing gold. She flapped her wings a few times to catch up to the front, and supplemented her normal flying with a little bit of her magic to help the rest of the family along. For a brief moment, she felt almost… Normal.

Soon, the group arrived at the arch of The Oasis. Sure enough, as Ashiwa passed the ‘gates of The Oasis’ as she nicknamed the arch, she felt a zinging sensation as they passed through the magic. Thanking the family for allowing her to fly with them for a while and directing them to a nice shaded spot at the shores of the giant lake that was the centrepiece of The Oasis, she herself also stopped briefly at the shore to gulp down some much-needed water after the long flight over. There was a massive gathering of Li’uhn here already, in nearly ever shade imaginable- she even spotted the blues and purples of a Woolie with a colour morph she’s not sure she’s ever seen before. A few heads turned her way, seeing as the few Silverwings in the group towered over everyone else, but they all just waved to her in greeting before going back to their own business. Somehow, she felt simultaneously with family and an outsider. And oh right, her plan on sneaking in and watching some Li’uhns interact with the Il’une. That’s right.

Retreating into the shade of a crumbled sandstone pillar, Ashiwa sat down on the thankfully cool ground and unsheathed her claws, idly carving the sandy ground into letters as she waited for a sighting of the Il’une.