Wingu the brave

A long time ago, before the Reset of the World, what we would call technology

was as organic as any living being, and what we would call humanity lived in mountains

under the tyranny of Emperor Blowhum. Only a few chose to go against Blowhum. One

such person was Wingu, a teenage boy gifted with angelic wings. Wingu’s closest

friends, who lived near the the high point in the mountains, were his mentor Xuono

(literally the ancient one) and Tiimex a techno-organic being who could change his shape

at will. Wingu was a natural leader, winning people’s hearts with his charm, but he felt

that people loved him because of what he was able to do with his wings: fly to the

heighest heights, and fight for the good of all. Wingu and his group known as the

Guardians clashed with the Horde, the Emperor’s Special Forces. Using both swords and

lazers, the two forces fought time after time with no real winner. However, this was to

change when the Horde’s leader Golic discovered a great secret: Wingu was his younger

brother. This is significant because before the Great Reset of the World, families had a

mystical connection. If you were attuned to the workings of the World, the presence of a

relative could be felt. This had disastrous effects because Golic’s ability to sense

Wingu’s presence led him straight to the Guardian’s secret hide out. The Guardians

fought gallantly, but being taken by surprise they were overcome by the horde. In the

final pitch of the battle, as Wingu and Golic faced off against each other, Wingu,

distracted by the fall of his comrades, was unable to prevent his brother from cutting his

wings off. Golic, injured himself, laughed as he relished the victory, and disappeared

over the mountain to fight another day.

Wingu despaired and thought, “How could life be so cruel? How can I go on?”

He decided that he could not reconcile himself with the loss of the one thing that made

him special. He decided to jump off the top of the highest mountain. He climbed up and

up until he came to the highest summit. “Strange,” he thought, “being up so high never

bothered me before, but now I feel its dizzying effect.” Nervously, he edged himself to

the end of the cliff. Fear gripped him as the realization came to him what he was prepared

to do. Conflict and inner turmoil made his soul a raging battlefield, and the vertigo made

his mind spin. The wind, which had always been his friend, now attacked him as he

agonized over his mortal decision. Fear, conflict, and vertigo took their toll as he fell off

the edge of the cliff. He tried, in a panic, to grab hold of the mountain, but to no avail.

He tumbled uncontrollably down the mountain. Tiimex spotted him and used his

transmutability to transform into a birdlike creature and swooped up to save his best

friend.

“What made you do it, Wingu?” asked the shocked Tiimex when they were

safely on the ground.

“I…I..,” was all the distraught Wingu could say before completely breaking

down. "Why is life so hard?” he asked when he regained some measure of composure.

Xuono appeared and laid a sympathetic hand on Wingu’s shoulder. “We all face

hardships, my son. That nobody can change. All we can do is to find the courage to face

our challenges and rise above them. It isn’t easy but it is infinitely more rewarding to try

than to give up.”

Wingu wasn’t sure he knew what the old man meant but he liked the sound of

things being better than giving up. He certainly didn’t want his brother to win that way.

He resolved to take things a day at a time allowing his injuries to heal. In time he made

new friends and persuaded them to join him in his crusade against the evil Emperor.

Soon he discovered that he didn’t miss his wings, that he didn’t need them to be happy or

successful. All he needed was his own courage, and one day he would face off against

Golic his brother and the Emperor himself. But that tale is for another day