Atsuiryu Ventosa hated Windsea.

Unfortunately, he had nowhere else to go.

The city was carved into the coastline, built of misshapen buildings, rotting docks and broken ships. It clung to he land, as if the sea hadn't been trying to swallow it whole for decades. Still, the people of the city carried on- shouting over one another in the streets, selling their wares and pretending the world wasn't crumbling around them.

Salt clung to Atsu's skin, seeping into the old, blackened burns on his arms, making them ache with every breath he took.

He kept to the alleys, preferring to stick to the shadows, always watching. The open streets were too dangerous- too many soldiers, two many eyes. One glimpse of the scales that ran along his skin, and he'd be dead or captured before he could take a breath.

Atsu hated the noise of Windsea almost as much as he hated its people. The men who yelled over the streets, trying to sell their freshly caught fish. The women who gathered around tables, gossiping about the smallest details. The soldiers who would break up groups of children playing innocently.

He would never fit in with them. He was broken- made to complete tasks.

And right now, he task was to find Aurelian- his brother, his leader, the one constant he could trust in a world that was brand new to him. Atsu had followed him out of The Society, losing him in a storm that same night. He knew Aurelian was in the city, he could sense it. But where?

It had been months.

Atsu clenched his jaw as he ducked under a crumbling archway, pausing just long enough to catch a glimpse of dockworkers, laughing a little too loudly over a barrel littered in empty bottles. Their breath steamed in the cold air, voices grating Atsu's eardrums.

His arms throbbed. His wings, hidden tight beneath the heavy coat he wore, ached from the confinement they had endured so long it almost felt like they weren't part of him anymore.

A part of him, the part he kept supressed in the deepest part of his brain, wondered if Aurelian was still alive.

Atsu shoved the thoughts away, shaking his head. Aurelian was alive. He had to be

That's when he saw it.

At first, just a flash of colour- streaking past the drunken dockworkers and dipping into their pockets with a speed that made Atsu's eyebrow raise. He stepped back, ready to slip back into the shadows and let the figure vanish- he wasn't about to mess with a pickpocket.

But fate had other plans.

The figure darted towards him, weaving past barrels and wagons like a small flame in dry grass. Before he could think, before he could stop himself. Atsu's hand shot out.

His fingers closed around their wrist, firm as he tugged them towards him and pinned them against the stone archway. For someone much smaller than him, they fought hard, twisting and trying to pull away.

Atsu never loosened his hold, his red eyes staring down at her, and for a second, the world shrunk down to the two of them. The salty air, the yelling of the crowd... It all disappeared. He felt comfortable

"You're fast."he said, his voice low and raspy.

"But not fast enough."