Nothing is heavy to those who have wings

Gasps push through. Form battered and bruised, lying on the edge of the cliff. Her chest rises and falls unevenly, waiting for her end. She can hear it; the trees shaking, the leaves rustling, someone is coming. Her arms won’t obey her, nor her legs. She is beyond exhaustion. Turning to the forest, she sees two girls approach her. The taller one stops in front of her feet, peering at her curiously. Eyes wide, cheeks puffed out, lanky build. The shorter girl sits down, lips pressed together in an evident frown, running fingers through her unkempt shoulder-length hair.

“You’re Joy?” asks Puffy Cheeks. Joy stares back, full of contempt.

“That’s a yes, I take it. So Joy, how’re you doing?” Puffy Cheeks tries again. Her companion raises an eyebrow, seemingly unimpressed.

“Stop with the small talk. She’s not going to answer you,” the other girl says.

“I can try, but signs point to you being correct. Again.” Rolling her eyes, Puffy Cheeks resumes her staring contest with Joy while repeatedly poking her companion with her index.

“Let’s start over. Hi, Joy. I’m Rosé,” squeaks Puffy Cheeks.

“That final move of yours on the panther boy? Gorgeous! Never done before!” Rosé flaps her arms around in a frenzy, cheering mutedly. Joy’s face hardens, she was careless. Too careless.

“You saw me?” she whispers.

“Yes, you put on a great show. From start to finish,” praises Rosé. Joy tries to get up, pushing with her elbows. This isn’t good. This isn’t good at all. Years of work, gone due to her mistake. She didn’t realize someone was watching her fight.

Sharp pain shoots through her chest and she falls back to the ground, biting hard on her lip. She refuses to scream, yet this is rather pathetic. She has been reduced to a weak husk of flesh, who cannot stand on her own.

Joy’s actions do not go unnoticed. The shorter girl scans her, gazing at her bruises. The red and purple patches aren’t hidden. Joy looks away from the roaming eyes, morphing her facial expression into a neutral one to hide her discomfort. With a click of her tongue, the other girl stands up.

“We should leave. There’s nothing useful here,” she concludes. Rosé gasps audibly, her jaw dropping low.

“Wendy, we can’t leave a defenseless girl alone in the open! She’s human too.”

“Defenseless? You have eyes! We clearly saw what she is capable of,” retorts Wendy.

“I’m a chipmunk! I have bad eyesight when it’s dark.”

“That is irrelevant. We were close enough to see and even if you couldn’t, you should trust me.” Rosé deflates for a second, giving Wendy her best kicked chipmunk impression.

“Think logically. We just saw something that will flip the entire competition onto its head.”

“And?”

“This girl is dangerous, but injured. Combined with what we know, we can make this work for us.” Wendy opens and closes , not quite following her friend’s reasoning.  

“I’d say her only hope to reach the finish line with her friends is if we help her,” Rosé points out. Joy snaps her head towards the girl.

“Were you following me?” Joy growls. Rosé waves her hand dismissively.

“This is our chance to gain a valuable ally, Wendy.”

“By blackmailing her?”

“Yes! I mean, no. We’re strategically informing her of her choices.” Wendy pauses, seeing a glint of mischief in the other’s eyes. Conceding defeat, she props Joy’s right arm onto her shoulders, helping her up.

“Whatever you want. Go on the other side