Seasonal | Don't Fall | Vantage Point

The days grew shorter, the sun disappearing earlier and earlier behind the remnants of skyscrapers, and there was a chill to the air, the breezes that wove between the buildings carried with them the coming of colder times as the whistled and sang their tune. The plants that had since long started to reclaim this cement jungle also bore signs of the colder months. Slowly yellowing and shrinking back into withered vines. Maybe the coming of autumn would be more pronounced out in what was used to be separated as “nature”, than here within the city’s grasp, but for the creatures that lived here it was noticeable enough, nature had reclaimed all of these places from where it had previously been ejected and banned. Kept at bay with cement steel and glass, only brought past the barriers in carefully curated confined spaces.

 This morning had brought with it a thin layer of frost on everything, and clouds with every breath. The spiked cryo slowly lifted his head, blinking away the sleep from his yellowish green eyes. The sun was still low on the sky, mostly obscured by the buildings and creating long shadows on the ground, with only spots and streaks of sunlight. Soft pinks and orange tones bled through the light, glittering lightly on the frosted surfaces. He huffed, swinging back slightly to throw himself forward up on his feet in one fluid movement, shaking his body slightly before steadying himself. Next to him another body stirred, and his gaze wandered to his companions. Two feathered brothers, both gray with tabby markings over most of their bodies, that he had met when he was young. Somehow he had ended up as some kind of a leader of their little trio, they looked to him for opinions on nearly anything, and when it came to deciding on their plans his word was pretty much final. The dark headed of the two rolled over slightly, closer to his brother as Cement’s own body heat had left one side colder than the other.

 “Hey! Dark, Continuum, get up” he nudged them with a foot as he spoke, then moving away instantly. Stretching his legs behind him, and rolling his shoulders to loosen his joints from the stiffness of sleep. From the pile of feathers and limbs that were the brothers he could hear various murmurs of discontent, some mumbling about the morning being ‘too cold’ to be awake. He snorted, amused. Of the three of them it was he who had the least covering, and therefore less protection from the elements, yet it was always the two of them who complained about the cold.
 “We have a lot of ground to cover, get your lazy asses going” he once again nudged one of them, whoever was closest at the moment. “Or I’ll leave you both behind” he threatened. Why it always worked on them to get them moving was beyond him. They were two and he was just him, but both of them groggily got to their feet, glaring at him. The glare lost all its sting with how tired, and mostly offended, they both looked.
 “That ain’t fair boss” one of them, Dark Matter, tiredly mumbled “and you know it” Continuum added with a yawn. Cement only shook his head and rolled his eyes, starting to already walk away. “Live with it” he finally stated as Dark and Continuum scrambled to follow him as he walked away between the towering buildings. Their territory wasn’t huge, but it was probably bigger than what they needed. Three cryos didn’t need that much space really, but they had a reputation of being troublesome, with good reason. Under Cement’s leadership they often tested borders, harassed other groups and started fights. Most groups nearest their territory gave them a wide berth, especially since the boys worked hard to seem like a bigger group than they actually were.
 “We’re going to the tower today” Cement reminded them, and Dark nodded, still trying to wake up as his body walked mostly on autopilot.
 “It has been a while since we had eyes at the border” Continuum agreed, faster at waking up than his darker brother. Of the two he was kind of like Cement’s right hand man, the one he could talk over the plans with, someone to help make decisions, even then Cement's word was final.

 Most of the morning passed in relative silence as they traversed between the abandoned buildings, and sometimes through them as a shortcut. The silence only broken here or there by casual conversation, mostly between the brothers who dutifully trailed behind their chosen leader. As the sun rose higher on the sky, more and more critters in the town started to stir, and Cement quickened his pace. He wanted them to reach the building before noon, so they could have eyes on the roads as other groups started to wake up.
“Step it up boys” he urged, leaping through a broken window to once again land on the open street, scaring a few birds and rodents who hurried to scurry away to safety. They weren’t far now, but he had to keep in mind the climb up the many stairs. After passing three more buildings he rounded the corner to stand in front of a giant glass skyscraper. Miraculously the whole glass front was mostly intact, and the swivel double front glass doors still worked. Without hesitating Dark hurried to push open one of the glass doors, letting Cement and his brother pass before gently letting the door close behind them. Using doors wasn’t usual for the gangs around here, but that was one of the reasons he was so deathly loyal to Cement. He was smart and crafty, he had figured out how many of these man made contraptions worked on his own, and it was this craftyness that made him so good at fooling the other groups that their pack was bigger. No way the groups around here would have let them harass them for so long as they had, had they only known their numbers. They slipped through another door in a back corner of the lobby leading to a stairwell that led almost to the top.

 Dark took the lead now, as he always did when their line of sight was blocked. While all three of them were capable fighters, and could handle their own in a brawl, Dark was by far the strongest, and could endure a hit that would knock most down. Therefore he had early on taken it upon himself to be kind of a bodyguard, taking point so any potential ambush would be directed at him and not Cement.
“Are we actually expecting trouble?” he inquired as he rounded another corner on the next stairs platform to continue the ascent. They had put quite a few stories beneath them, and he had gotten curious. He knew they didn’t expect much trouble within the actual tower – not many knew how to get in, and much less the way to the top – but was there a reason to have this vantage over the territories now? Or was it, as his brother had stated earlier, just been long since they last had checked? For him it didn’t feel like it had been that long, but he also didn’t bother to stay up to date in their planning. He was perfectly comfortable following whatever Cement decided on.
“No, but I do plan on a raid” Cement smirked as his words got Dark’s attention. It really was his favorite pastime.
“But first we need to check the situation, see what they’re up to” he hummed thoughtfully, glancing back at Continuum who nodded slowly, already thinking ahead. 
“So it’s going to be a few long days ahead” Continuum mused, Cement liked to scope out in the tower for a period of time, to make sure the planning would be as accurate as possible.
“Indeed” Cement confirmed, as they finally reached the top of the stairs. He passed Dark, and wiggled the finicky door handle before pressing it down, flinging the door open in the process. The air had only warmed a couple degrees the time it had taken them to scale the stairs, so the wind felt cold compared to the static warmth of the building. Dark shivered, still astonished after all these years that the cold didn’t seem to bother Cement at all.
“No time to waste” Cement declared and walked up to the edge of the roof. The small cement ledge was not enough to hinder their line of sight at all, but did provide some safety against accidentally leaning too far over the edge, or stumbling.
His mission aside, Cement just loved being there. Seeing the city from this angle never lost its magic, how small and insignificant everything below seemed. How the streets became a dark web between the buildings, almost as if it was the force that held it all together. He smiled and looked back at Dark and Continuum who both had picked two of the three remaining sides. He might not have picked this role, or life really, but he wouldn’t trade it for the world.

1533 Words