They Came from Up There

Chapter One: The Challenge

Mikar sat perched on the cloud wall. He was watching the clouds soar past, trying to put his mind at ease. His date with Alunia was a success, but it sure spooked him; She wanted to take it a "step further". Right now, his mind was still boggled from such a strange request, and he ruffled his wings in discomfort... He needed to relax. Relax, meditate, collect your thoughts... Relax...

"HEY THERE MIKAR!"

Mikar let out a loud screech, and practically jumped out of his fur after such an intrusion. He whipped around furiously, expecting a cousin, but instead, he saw his good friend, Jule. He let his muscles relax a bit, and greeted Jule with a short grunt. If grunting were a world sport, Mikar would be world champion by now. His defences weren't still down, though; Jule was at least twice the size of him, and he was a Dragon-type Skykin. His light blue scales glinted in the sunlight. Mikar was a Fox-type Skykin, one of the "lesser" classed. Jule still respected him enough, in the end. He perked up his ears and listened in to Jule's smooth, metallic voice.

"I had a feeling I would find you up here. You know, you're not supposed to be up here. Father says that it's dangerous to be up here during daytime," Jule said, the steel in his voice turning to silk when he saw Mikar's deadpan expression.

"Oh, puh-leez! Your father knows nothing about the daytime. Besides, all you Draggies ever do is laze around in the day..."

"Hey, I take offense to that... So, how did the date with Alunia go? Good, bad, moderate... sexy?"

"WHAT?!" Mikar roared, almost knocking Jule over with the anger in his voice. "How did you know about that?!"

"Come on, Mickey! Half the cirrus knows by now..." Jule replied, his metal tone turning into a more venomous tone. "And she's a Dragon-type, too."

Mikar let out a pained groan, knowing that Inter-species relationships would get him into serious trouble with his family, and if he was unlucky enough, the Sky Guard. He'd seen their likes before; Large horns, sharp fangs and claws. They stopped at nothing to catch their prey.

"Oh, Mickey, lighten up! At least your parents don-"

"But what if they do?!" Mikar interrupted. "What if they know, and they're on their way here togrowlmeandgroundmefortherestofmythousandyearli-" Mikar's rant was halted by a taloned hand cupping over his mouth. He wanted to bite Jule and let his venom do the talking, but he chose better against it.

"Enough, Mickey! We don't want anyone else to hear. So, here's the real reason I came up here," Jule spoke, his deep voice thundering and rocking the clouds beneath Mikar's feet. "I want to challenge you to a race."

Mikar nearly died on the spot. Jule, of all Skykin, was challenging him to a race. Everyone on the cirrus knew that Mikar was the fastest Fox in the sky. Why would Jule want to race him?

"First to the stratus wins, capiche? GO!"

Mikar was caught off-guard by Jule's words. He was too busy thinking about why Jule would race; Dragon-types were far too upper class to race. If Jule were caught, he would certainly be ridiculed... But Mikar was focusing more on catching up to Jule's scaly behind now. He leapt off the cloud with a "huff" and folded his wings, going into a straight dive towards Jule.

He felt the air rushing past him, and smiled one of those rare smiles. He usually never smiled unless he was really excited... And this time was one of those times. The air whipped him harder, and he tucked his furry ears back, greater increasing his speed. Jule was close enough that he could lick Jule's feet if he wanted. He was quickly passing, and shot a glance towards Jule's face. Jule was staring him back, inaudible words forming on his scaly lips. He was saying something to Mikar, but what was it?

"Mi- WOOOOOSH -Mikar! In front o- WOOOOOOSH"

Mikar couldn't make out the words from the sound, but he had a feeling they were important. The stratus was getting closer; They would reach it in about 30 seconds. He needed to hear these words.

"WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!"

"MIKAR, PULL UP!"

"WHAT?!"

"PULL UUU-"

Suddenly, Mikar felt a sharp pain against his chest. He let out a loud cry, and sharply banked his body to the left, unfurling his wings. Something had struck him. Was it a bird, or a sky deer? His speed slowed untilMikar flared his wings and grinded to a halt in the air, Jule stopping beside him. They both thumped down loudly onto a cloud. They were on the stratus, and Mikar had won fair and square. Jule wore a look of genuine shock, and pointed towards Mikar's chest. Mikar didn't know why Jule was so scared... He had probably only hit a bird. But now was the time to investigate this sharp pain in his chest. He glanced down - And nearly screamed.

Lodged in his chest was a creature, rather small and fluffy. It was brown, had wings, the face of an eagle, and the body of a lion. It had sharp talons in the place of paws. He had never seen the likes of it before. However, what truly scared him was that its beak was dug in under his chest. Orange blood seeped out, and the creature twitched slightly; It was regaining consciousness. Jule snapped out of his trance and rushed over to Mikar, who was starting to hyperventilate at the sight of his own blood.

"Mikar, Mikar! Are you alright? Say something!" Jule yelled at his now swooning friend.

Mikar was sweeping from side to side, losing his balance. If he fell over the edge of the stratus, he was a goner... Skykin were forbidden to go past it. Mikar tried to say something, and grabbed the creature in his chest. He gave a sharp tug, and it came out of his chest with a loud rip. More orange blood poured out of Mikar's chest. The creature was now staring at Mikar and Jule, uttering strange, foreign words. It was terrified, and it started to hyperventilate as well. It glanced at the orange blood that covered its beak and face, and began to shake violently. It started to whimper as well; It was going into shock.

"Mikar, stay on the cloud! Just keep breathing, and stay on the cloud! MIKAR!"

But it was too late, and Mikar tumbled over the edge of the cloud, plummeting into a nose-dive towards the ground. Jule watched his friend fall with shocked sadness, and glared over the edge of the cloud. He saw his gray-furred companion nearing the earth with incredible speed. 'Pull up, pull up!'He thought, as Mikar's bloody body flapped its wings harder and harder, trying to avoid hitting the green ground. He was above a forest now; If he didn't stop, maybe the trees would help him survive. He flapped harder, but his attempts were futile, and Jule watched Mikar smash into the foliage with a loud CRASH!

"MIIIKAAAAAAAAAAR!" Jule roared, startling the feathered creature beside him out of its shock and into a dart for the sky. It was soon pulled back by a large, blue hand wrapping around it. It struggled to pull free, but Jule had a vice-grip, and nothing would make him let go after witnessing his friend die.

"YOU! You did this!" He bellowed into the creature's face, watching it cower in fear. "If it weren't for you, Mikar would have survived! He would probably be here, right now, bragging about winning the race..." He saw its golden eyes focus on him with first fear, then anger. Jule didn't expect what was going to happen next.

"I ain't afraid of you, you big, blue jerk! Is this any way to handle a Griffon?!"

Jule recoiled in shock with hearing the creature's voice. It was female, and it sounded pretty mad with him grabbing her. He was expecting a wave of apologetic words to fly from its mouth, but instead he got angry words, and very angry ones at that. She continued to ramble on about how it wasn't her fault. Jule's shock turned into pure rage, however, as he remembered that this creature had speared Mikar's heart.

"You killed Mikar... My best and only friend. You pathetic little feather ball, you'll pay for this!" Jule readied his flames, and black smoke poured from his flaring nostrils. The creature pulled its head back, and struggled to break free, but Juke's grip was stronger than Celestia's grip on the sun. She readied herself for whatever come next, be it flames, pain, death... She didn't care. After losing her best friend last week, she was ready to go... When it talked again.

"Who are you, you winged buffoon?" Jule asked, his voice practically spitting venom. The creature hesitated, and realizing that she had nothing to lose, spoke.

"I'm Gilda, you blue, blundering whelp. Toughest Griffon in the sky. Now, let me go, before I tear your scales into shreds!"

Jule chuckled at this, and hurled the creature into a nearby cloud. She hit it with a thump and a "Oof!", and collapsed onto it, unconscious once again. He didn't care what happened to it. Jule peeked over the edge of the stratus, searching for Mikar. It was hard to see down this low... The air was much thicker than the air on the cirrus. He found it harder to breathe as well, but focused hard on spotting his companion. Sure enough, his friend was laying on top of a tree, twitching slightly. He was alive!

More orange blood could be seen covering a bit of the tree. Jule thought about going after him, but thought again about the consequences of going beneath the stratus. He looked up, and saw the Griffon still asleep on the cloud. The orange blood still covered her beak and face, but he didn't care. He needed to find help.

He shoved off of the stratus, pumping his wings and soaring towards Aeropolis.