"Yamanaka Ino, I now pronounce you banished," a voice boomed. Then there was a blinding flash of light and an invincible force steeling itself against her, something so strong that even the gift of her strong, white, feathered wings couldn't combat against it. Was this the end of her? Why her?

She heard his father screaming in the background. Was it for her? What was he even saying? She couldn't hear or see, the force was making her lose her footing and she had to concentrate. She didn't want to get pushed off. She didn't want to lose her grip on the clouds. Nothing was more worse than an angel being pushed off the clouds. It was the absolute lowest form of shame.

What did she even do wrong?

"Ino!" It was her father calling her, clearly this time. She forced her eyes open despite all of the pain and just when she did, all of the pain and pressure in the air attached itself onto those delicate things on her back. And goodness did it hurt. It crushed itself against the delicate, little feathers of her wings and burned with fire as it dragged her down.

No, no, ignore all of the pain. What was her father saying?

Then there was a second bright flash and she realized she couldn't hear the sounds of the clouds anymore. It was all just wind passing through her ears. Her father wasn't on her level anymore either. He was higher, still standing on the clouds, mouthing words she couldn't read. Then before she knew it, he wasn't there anymore.

The only thing she could see was the sight of clouds and her old kingdom drifting further and further away as she fell.

Oh, she didn't want to die like this.

And she had to figure out what her father's last words were. What was life without her father?

But she felt herself close her eyes as the burning of her wings grew more fierce. What was the point of life anymore without the flight of her wings and her father? What could she ever accomplish alone like this?

The feeling felt like forever. All of the wind rushing past her ears accompanied by the intense fire that soon enough, she couldn't even call it pain. It just felt like a steady lightness that trickled as it burned each and every feather but at the same time, it anchored her further down from the sky. But everything came to an end soon. She was expecting it to never end until soon, her consciousness would disappear and it would be what they called eternity. But no, the end was nothing like that.

The end hurt. It smashed up against her back and irritated the burn even more so she struggled and turned herself around so that she would lay on her stomach, arms stretched out in front of her. And then she took a deep breath and felt her heart lift. It smelled great. Then she opened her eyes and although it was the most blinding thing in the world for that split second, the excitement rushing through her bloods made the remains of her wings span wide.

Yeah it hurt, but if she was going to die on this sort of wonder, she wanted to die unrestrained.

She crossed her arms under her chin and smiled, eyes squinted. Yeah, she could die here happy. Whatever this was. Even with this pain on her back incinerating her to the very core. Pain was a small price to pay, yes? When was dying ever painless? Her mother probably suffered something more intense than she ever had to.

The wind picked up and she smile, eyes still squinted as it brushed all of her hair back and made the remaining feathers attached to her wings flutter.

Yeah, she could die here. Then she closed her eye and drifted off, ready to leave the world.

She was on the road to absolute solitude when someone landed on the earth besides her, making the grass flutter in a circular pattern around them both. Then a pale hand reached down, plucked the last remaining feather off the hollow bones, and rubbed it between their index and thumb, watching with apathetic eyes as it disappeared into a silver dust.

"I'll rescue you if you want me to," he said and for a second, all the wind stopped, just letting his voice resonant. "Or are you ready to go?"