There were two sides to Cheena (my home planet.) One side held the water breathers or Underwoods, the other held the air breathers or Freashwoods. The Freashwoods lived in the sunny, no rain, half of the world, while the Underwoods lived in the rainy, barely sunny, half of the world. The Freashwoods were split up into four colonies, the Flight, the Lofts, the Mouths, and the Three.

The Mouths lived underground and could communicate with the animals that lived in the ground. The Lofts lived on the land and had the best care for crops and land grazers (or cattle.) They were able to harvest two times faster and give enough water to the crops. The Flight could fly and lived among the trees. They were able to communicate with flying animals. Finally, the Three, they were the most important of the four because they lived high in the clouds and had complete control of all the Freashwoods.

You could get picked into the Three on your 16th birthday, but only two every ten years were picked. New ones were picked because the elder ones would die off. The Three were most commonly picked from the flights because you get wings once you're a Three. If you don't have wings the gods that picked you would have to graft them into your back. The gods would indentify you as a Three by giving you powers when you turned 16. I really wanted to be one, but, I don't get to pick. I am a Flight and our houses were 100 feet up in the trees. I had two brothers, one older and one younger. I was the only girl, and I loved the outdoors. It was absolutely calm and peaceful.

Right now I was sitting next to one of our few lakes shaded by a tall oak. I was reading a book, Marked by P.C Cast. It was good, but I wasn't sure how I liked Zoey, I mean she had 3 boyfriends! I don't even have one! The wind picked up, blowing my hair in different directions. I put down my book and stretched out my wings; they were about 18 feet long and were white with black and grey speckled through them.

School started tomorrow, and I had to be there on time, in my school uniform. It was atrocious! It had a gold and red skirt (the colors for Flight people. The Mouths had green and brown, the Lofts had a wheat color and a sky blue and the Three had a gold and green.) I had to have on red knee high socks and (thankfully) we were allowed any types of shoes but had to have running shoes for when we go outside. We had a gold shirt (tucked in) and no hat.

I was staring off thinking about my school uniform when a splash brought me hurtling back to Cheena. I looked up only to find a guy in the middle of the lake. He was too far away to identify who exactly he was. But as he shook his head he caught sight of me and ventured over to where I was sitting. As he got closer I was able to see more clearly, he had a nice defined jaw, and brown lengthy hair. He had Green eyes, speckled with brown. I knew who he was. It was Nick, the school jock.

"Rill! Don't go anywhere; I want to talk to you!" Nick said, his voice flowing toward me with the wind. He swam closer to me, and jumped out of the water flapping his black and red wings until reaching land. I was sitting on a cliff overlooking the water.

"Look, I really need to relax right now, schools tomorrow and there's a lot to do." I explained to him quickly, hoping he would leave me alone.

"It's going to take one second; I know you're like a really good student right?" He didn't wait for me to finish, and he was talking quickly."Well I'm not that good at math so I was wondering if you could help me in it." It didn't take long for me to comprehend his slurred words.

"I could, but like I said, a lots going on with me right now." It was true; I was begging to feel really odd. My stomach kept becoming clenched and I had to grit my teeth sometimes from the pain.

"Thanks, it means a lot to me, well I better get going. It's almost dark ya know?"

"Yeah, I know." It would be bad if you aren't home before dark, because the creatures of the night would get to you. No I don't mean vampires, but Vallies. Vallies could hunt you down with your scent, huge and black, with eyes red for blood. They were really strong, and hard to kill. Only one of the Three could kill them.

I completely forgot about Nick until his retreating figure called back to me.

"I forgot, happy birthday Rill." I smiled and a blush sprang about my face, a dark crimson red. I loathed attention, and I dint need it today, on my 16th birthday. Tonight I could get picked for the Three.

"You too, Nick, happy birthday!" I said, my voice echoing into the night. Everybody in the Flight shared a birthday with somebody else, we don't really know why. When Nicks figure finally left, I breathed a sigh and picked up my book. After seeing what happens to people who stay out late, I don't want to be one. I looked into the darkening sky and got up. But pain erupted through my stomach, stinging and burning. Different pictures flashed before my eyes. A brown haired adult stood over my younger sister's body. The adult was my mom, and she was working quickly. My mom, the vet, was trying to give her life back. But, that failed and my sister ended up dying. The pain continued to grow; it went from my stomach to my chest and legs. The pain was growing and it felt like a fire was brewing within my body. Ever so slowly, the pain went away. And as I got up I realized one important detail. It was dark.