Rockplace

Falcon Camp

Training Bushes

Beachside

Shallow Sands

Flock Rock

   Leader    

Branchflight

Medicine Wing

Goldenwing

Twigwing (apprentice)

Warriors

Featherfang (apprentice, Mouseling)

Shadowstring 

Honeyspark (apprentice, Dewling)

Sunfall (apprentice, Fawnling)

Amberspots

Cloudhunter (apprentice, Iceling)

Snowdust

Blackstrike

Egg hatchery

Bluespots

Tanpelt

Elders

Moonwhisper

Lavajaw

Oakflame

Eyas

Softcheep

Greycheep

Palecheep

Skycheep

Queens

Moontail (mother of Softcheep, Greycheep, and Palecheep)

Littlebird (mother of Skycheep)

The Rules of the Falcon

1. Always feed the Elders first, then the Medicine Wings, Leader, Warriors, and then Apprentices. 

2. Always listen to the Leader, even when they seem wrong.

3. Maintain peace between Falcon Flock.

4. If you are the Leader of the Flock, the end of your name has to be Flight.

5. If you are an apprentice, the end of your name has to be Ling.

One

    Fluffy, white clouds dotted the blue sky. Birds flew around the Falcon camp, patrolling for prey and enemies. Other warriors hunted father from the camp, hoping new prey would be found. Sunfall flew high above the sky with her apprentice, Fawnling. Sunfall dipped through the trees silently, and smoothly landed on a branch. She beckoned  for Fawnling to come next. Fawnling soared clumsily, dived wrong, and scraped her wing on a twig. 

    "Why can't I do it?" Fawnling complained, rubbing her injured wing. "It's so frustrating!" She shook it out a few times and flapped her wings.

Fawnling, unable to dive correctly

     "You'll get the hang of it soon," Sunfall reassured. "That's a hard skill, dodging all the trees and landing gracefully on the branch. When I was younger, I could barely grab onto a twig!" Sunfall picked up a small stick in her talons and let it go. It fell through the treetops and landed with a small crunch on the forest floor. "Why don't you eat some prey and go play with your sister, Dewling?"

    Fawnling forced a small smile and nodded. She opened her wings and slowly glided down to the heart of the camp. 

    Sunfall, on the other hand, soared higher now, and relished the warm glow of the sun. She spotted her flockmates, Snowdust and Blackstrike, working together to drag a large Sandhill crane to the camp. The crane's body was still and limp, but Sunfall knew it was warm, and freshly caught. 

    The elders will have a good meal today, Sunfall thought. 

    Now, Sunfall was away from all her flockmates and flying through different territory. She was still in a forest, but a distance away from the camp. She had never flown here before, as she always liked to check out new places. Sunfall landed perfectly on the edge of a broken, thick branch and looked around. 

She could see brown and golden leaves on the grassy floor, crunching when a branch fell on it. It was almost winter, and the land was preparing for the cold weather. Her eyes could spot a almond-colored squirrel colleting nuts, it's cheeks full. A cry sounded above her. Geese were flying south as well, perfectly aligned with one another in a triangle, missing a side. They cawed and flapped their snow-white wings. She also saw a snake slither into the ground, opening a hollow tunnel for hibernation. 

    Sunfall's feathers ruffled as the wind started to pick up. Gray clouds drifted over the sunny sky. Her nostrils could smell fleeing prey. 

Perfect.

The Peregrine Falcon swooped into the sky and shuffled her wings. Her eyes darted left and right, looking for any prey. 

Spotted.

Sunfall was eyeing a lone pigeon perched on a branch. It was so innocent, it almost made her cry.

If she didn't want dinner. 

Sunfall made a sudden dive, tucking in her wings. Her eyes squinted a little.

The wind battered at her eyes, but it was gone in a blink. The pigeon didn't stand a chance. Currently, it was laying dead in Sunfall's mouth.

Easy catch, Sunfall thought. Not  challenging  enough. 

The falcon carefully placed the prey on a birch tree. She wanted to look for other delicious birds before it started raining.

She easily spotted a brown sparrow, flying clumsily. It was limping. 

Sunfall sighed.Too easy, AGAIN!  But I have to get it. For the Flock.

She burst into the air, straining under the pressure. She glided, in sync with the 

wind, for a few moments. Then, she dipped abruptly, landing right on top of the helpless bird. She quickly broke it's backbone, wincing at the sound. Sunfall never could never get used to it. She always could feel the pain rippling through her feathers. 

Sunfall, grabbing her prey

    Sunfall then flew back to the birch tree, picking up the pigeon. She then tilted her wings, aiming to fly back to the camp.

The camp was a circle full of trees, with vines threaded on the perimeter, keeping away any ground predators. Sunfall flew in the camp and landed on a branch. 

A quirky chirp sounded behind her. "Wow! How did you find that! There's barely any prey on this island now; it's getting close to winter. All the animals are either hibernating or flying south." 

"Oh! Hello, Skycheep. What are you doing here, so far from the egg hatchery?" Sunfall asked, placing her prey in a small hollow in an oak tree. The prey-hole was small, and not exactly full, in comparison to summer, where the prey was stacked 

to the top. 

"I was getting Mom some food, since I was so bored."

"Why don't you play with Greycheep, Palecheep, and Softcheep?"

"They don't let me play with them. They said I'm too puny." Skycheep sniffed and threw a duck back into the prey-hole. "Eww, duck!" The small eya finally picked up a mourning dove and flew carefully back to the egg hatchery.

Sunfall glided to a thick branch, about seven feet long, and two feet wide. Eight small nests sat on it. 

The warriors' branch.

Sunfall settled in her nest and silently fell asleep.