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Dry thunderstorms were nothing new to the Isles. They were among the most common storms, really. If there was lightning, then there was a relatively decent chance there’d be no boiling rain.
Which also led to a rather popular game among the young and reckless known as Thunderdiving. A sport where one would fly into the center of the thunderstorm and spend however long they deemed necessary dodging and flying through strikes of lightning. Flying through a heavily clouded sky is already dangerous enough, what with the possibility of smacking into whatever else was flying or getting lost and crashing. But to fly among conditions such as that plus lightning? It was practically a death sentence. No wonder teenagers liked daring each other to play it.
Now, Amity had never taken interest in it. Her parents would’ve murdered her if they were to find out she tried to Thunderdive. Didn’t stop the twins, though. Amity can name three separate times the twins came back from a dry thunderstorm, shaken up but still whooping and cheering at having survived it with whatever group of equally idiot teens they went with. Only after the third time, when Emira narrowly avoided getting her wing shot like a lightning rod, did they call it quits.
And Amity was fine never knowing anything else about the sport. Even if her siblings hadn’t come back shaken up, she wouldn’t have had any interest in it. Who, pray tell, would be idiotic enough to know the dangers of Thunderdiving and still want to participate? It was absurd!
Unfortunately for her, Amity had a nasty habit of being surrounded by those kinds of people.
A clap of thunder roared through the air, making Amity pause. She leaned up from her bed, peering out her window. Sure enough, the ominous clouds from earlier had descended upon Bonesborough in no time. There didn’t appear to be any rain, so Amity simply shrugged and sat back in her bed, continuing with reading the Azura book that Luz had gifted her. She finished it long ago, but rereading it wouldn’t hurt.
And that would’ve been her whole day; reading as the dry thunderstorm passed overhead, with nothing but the occasional lightning out her window to distract her.
If it hadn’t been for her crystal ball to begin ringing.
Amity’s wings twitched at her sides and she sighed. She cast a glance to her bedside table, expecting someone like Boscha. It’d be on-brand for her to call in the middle of a storm when bored.
Instead, she saw the name Luz spread across the crystal ball.
Amity jerked up, wings snapping to her sides as she completely ditched her book in favor of wildly reaching for the crystal ball. She nearly knocked it off her table in her haste, but managed to secure a good hold on it before yanking it back towards her.
She takes a moment to pause and take in a deep breath, checking her reflection in the crystal ball. She ran a hand through her hair, making sure none of it was sticking up. She hoped her wings were neat enough that, should they be seen through the clear ball, she wouldn’t look as much of a mess as she felt.
With that, and a slow inhale, Amity accepted the call.
“Hi, Amity!” Luz beamed, her face quickly overtaking the ball. She continued speaking before Amity could even think of responding. “So, out of curiosity, did the twins happen to mention anything important to you about dry thunderstorms?”
That caught Amity’s attention. Luz was known for odd questions here and there, but typically not so specific. The mention of the twins immediately put the kestrel on edge.
“Luz,” Amity said, a warning laced into her tone. “What are you doing?”
“Me? Nothing! I’m--I’m not doing anything.” Luz stuttered, her eyes darting everywhere but at Amity. “Just thought that, y’know, since we have a thunderstorm with no rain going on, might as well check to make sure there’s no like, secret about these things that could mangle me.”
“And why would the twins know this?” Amity asked patiently, despite all her internal alarms going off.
“Well, I sorta,” Luz’s hand came into frame, scratching at the back of her neck. Amity could see the faint outline of her wings twitching behind her. “I heard that they, uh, had experience with dry thunderstorms.”
“Only really with--” Amity paused, trailing off as the piece clicked in her mind. “Thunderdiving,” She said blankly. “You mean with Thunderdiving.”
“Oh, is that what they did?” Luz asked in a far-too innocent voice. “Had no idea.”
“Luz,” Amity growled, her ears flicking back as her eyes narrowed. “What,” She repeated, with an edge to her tone. “Are you doing?”
Luz stared back at her, eyes wide and guilty. She could see her wings hunch up to her shoulders, like she could shield herself subtly and avoid getting called out. She mumbled something under her breath.
“Luz,”
“It sounded fun--”
“Oh for the Titan’s sake.” Amity groaned, dragging a hand down her face. “I’m coming over, don’t you even think about flying in this.”
“Maybe I’ll be in the air by the time you get here,” Luz snorted. “Unless, of course, you flew here…” Luz trailed off, her voice taking on a hopeful tone. “But then that would make you a hypocrite, wouldn’t it?” She added teasingly.
“You know, I’m starting to regret learning to fly.” Amity muttered, swinging her legs off the side of her bed and standing up.
“No you don’t.” Luz cheerfully singsonged.
“Debatable,” Amity shrugged, despite the smile on her face. “Point is, do not fly until I get there.”
“So I can fly after you get here then?” Luz asked excitedly.
“Absolutely no--”
“Too late! No take backs!” Luz crowed. With that, and a fast flourish of feathers through the crystal ball, the call abruptly ended.
Amity, not for the first time, was left wondering why Luz, of all people, just had to be the one she was so fond of.
Amity did not fly to the Owl House, thank you very much. She may have, however, simply ‘boosted’ herself along by flapping her wings. She knew Luz said she wouldn’t fly in this storm (for now), but she also knew Luz wasn’t known for patience.
Lightning flashed, striking some part of the ocean in the distance, causing Amity to flinch for barely a moment. Thunder rolled overhead not long after, almost being mistakable for an earthquake.
She slipped through the trees that surrounded the old house, cursing quietly as he tugged her foot out of a small thicket of brambles. She stumbled, catching herself on the trunk of a tree. Grumbling, she looked around it, trying to judge how far she was from the house.
Turns out, not far at all. Because immediately upon seeing the structure, her vision was quickly enveloped by the bane of her existence.
“Hi, again!” Hooty yelled, or at least sounded as such. He always sounded like he was shouting. “Luz told me not to kick you out, so we can chat now!” He said gleefully.
“Get out of my face,” Amity hissed, her wings flaring behind her as they puffed up. “Before I rip off yours.”
“Hooty! Leave Amity alone!”
Luz’s voice had never been so divine. With great reluctance, Hooty retracted his face and looked back, up to the roof of the Owl House. Amity, with her sight no longer obstructed, could see Luz sitting on the very edge of the roof, her legs dangling off. Her wings were relaxed at her sides, almost draping as she lightly swung her feet.
“I was just saying hi!” Hooty complained.
“And you did a great job, Hooty.” Luz said patiently, if not exasperated. “Go back to the door, please.”
“Hmph! At least someone appreciates me around here.” Hooty grumbled, his weird tube body retracting back into the front door, where he continued to mutter to himself.
“Eugh,” Amity shuttered, her wings lying flat once more. She hated that thing.
“Sorry about him,” Luz said, her voice drifting and faint from the distance between them. “But you should come up here! Views great,” She added happily.
“You're going to get struck by lightning,” Amity sighed.
But even she couldn’t deny the request. Her dyed-green wings spread, creaking in protest at the movement. Even with her flight nearly back to normal, they still weren’t used to being opened completely. She figured (read: hoped) it would get better with time.
Amity stepped out of the trees with a flourish of her wings, rising to the air with minor difficulty as she soared towards the roof. Luz’s grin brightened as she approached, and Amity squandered down the little jump her heart did at the sight. Land first, panic about the cute sparrow later.
Amity folded her wings back as her feet brushed the tile of the roof, holding her arms out to keep her balance as she dropped back down via gravity.
“Personally, I think you could balance better by keeping your wings spread.” Luz said, looking over her shoulder from where she sat as Amity reoriented herself. “Tilts things around better. Though that's more a preference.”
Amity turned, huffing good-naturedly as she let her arms fall.
“I’ll keep that in mind!”
Amity’s sentence was cut off as thunder roared overhead, even managing to make the ground tremble slightly. She stumbled, her hands quickly connecting with Luz’s wing. The human had raised it up to catch Amity, blinking in concern as Amity clung to it for a few moments until the thunder faded out.
“You alright?” Luz asked, a hint of teasing in her tone.
“Fine,” Amity said curtly, quickly letting go of Luz’s wing. Even knowing that Luz wouldn’t have offered it if she didn’t feel Amity had the right to touch her wings, it still put her on edge.
“I’m not typically out during thunderstorms.” She mumbled, rubbing the back of her neck. “Which you shouldn’t be, either.” She added right after, fixing Luz a pointed look.
“Hey, it's a storm with no boiling rain!” Luz persisted, getting to her feet as she gestured out to the sky. “You expect me to sit inside when I don’t have to?”
“Please note that there is still lightning.” Amity said, pressing the palms of her hands together. The sky flashed white for a brief second, enunciating her point.
“I mean, in the human realm, the chances of getting struck by lightning are pretty slim.” Luz shrugged, her wings mimicking the gesture. “Unless you're at a high point with metal. Which I will not be taking with me up there.” She said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“How much do I have to stress that this is a horrible idea for you to go back inside?” Amity asked, her wings squeezing tighter at her sides. “Just because the twins Thunderdived doesn’t mean that it's a good, or safe, idea. Quite the opposite, actually.”
“Too late, made up my mind.” Luz teased, her wings raising slightly over her back as she looked back to the sky as a less-destructive clap of thunder sounded overhead. “Sounds like it could be fun.”
“Your idea of fun is sitting in the maw of a hungry demon and daring it to eat you.” Amity deadpanned. “Where’s Eda, anyway? Surely she’s at least a little responsible with Thunderdiving?”
“Eda’s out stealing with King, I think.” Luz said, face scrunched up in thought. “She just said it had to do with business and left. Which either means she got a deal on something or felt like pestering the Warden again.”
“It’s a miracle you're still alive.” Amity groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.
“I’ll say,” Luz agreed, looking down to the ground far below. “Now, since you're here, I believe there’s some lightning that needs to be evaded.” She said, her wings arching and opening up as she crouched on the edge of the roof like a feathery gargoyle.
“Don’t you dare,” Amity growled, reaching for Luz.
In the same movement, Luz pitched over the ledge. She dove up almost instantly, but the sight still gave Amity’s stomach a sharp drop for a solid second. Luz flew just out of reach, spinning around and hovering in the air with a wide grin plastered on her face.
“Tell you what,” Luz said, mocking the impression of being deep in thought. “I won’t Thunderdive, if,” She raised a finger at that, despite Amity not even attempting to interrupt. “You can catch me.” She said, smirking like she’d made the deal of the century.
“...are you seriously gambling with your life on a game of tag?” Amity demanded incredulously, once again questioning why this was the person she cared a stupid amount for.
“You make it sound so dramatic,” Luz whined, crossing her arms. “Plenty of people survive Thunderdiving.”
“Surviving is not the same as avoiding plummeting into the ocean.” Amity stressed, seconds away from knocking her head against something.
“Guess you’ll have to be fast then.” Luz said with a shrug, her tail flaring out. “Race you!”
With that, Luz shot off into the air, causing a breeze to ruffle Amity’s hair and wings. For a sparrow, she was remarkably quick at how she sped into the air and up towards the looming darkening clouds, thunder booming around them.
“Luz!” Amity snapped, more annoyed than anything. She leapt off the roof as well, taking half a second more to orient herself in the air before shooting off after her.
Now, being a kestrel, Amity obviously had the upper hand on speed. No matter how fast Luz boasted she could be, she was still a sparrow. In a straight-line flight, Amity would’ve caught up with little effort, even with her wings limited use.
However, what Luz lacked in speed, she made up for tenfold in agility and tricks. Amity blamed Eda for all of that.
So it was no surprise (albeit it still frustrating) that when Amity found herself surrounded by swaths of storm clouds, Luz was already long hidden. The dark masses providing perfect cover for her duller feathers. And while Amity could scarcely tell up from down, Luz never seemed to be bothered by it in the slightest.
“Luz!” Amity called, deciding it best to glide in a large circle. “I thought this was tag, not hide-and-seek!” She gruffed, eyes scanning the clouds.
Another point to Amity’s team. She had far sharper vision. Meaning that should Luz stray so much as a hair too far out of her cover, Amity would spot her in seconds. Hopefully.
“But it makes it so much more fun!” Luz crowed, causing Amity to spin around.
Luz flew like a bullet, a mere few meters away, as she ducked and dove through another clump of clouds.
Thunder roared in Amity’s ears as she sighed, tucking in her wings and diving after her. Amity broke from the dark mass and came to a cleared-out section in the sky. Clouds were still all around her, but the storm seemed almost hollowed-out, leaving rolling stretches of clear sight.
And with a strike of lightning in the distance, Amity’s eyes instantly locked onto a distant shape flying right through the middle of it, closer to the lower-level clouds.
Amity took off, keeping high as she began to overtake Luz. The human appeared oblivious to where Amity had gone, her head moving back and forth as she scanned everywhere but up.
Amity squandered the impulse to call out. Instead she took a deep breath, reigning herself in before sharply yanking her wings to her sides, nearly folding them completely.
She dropped like a stone, careening straight down towards Luz. Her wings tensed, ready to flare out and stop her descent at a moment's notice. She wanted to catch Luz, not strike her out of the sky.
Perhaps it was the sound of her diving, or maybe it was simple intuition, but just as Amity was nearly upon Luz, the sparrow spun around. Her eyes widened right as lightning flashed. Amity was close enough she swore she could see it reflect in her gaze.
At a speed Amity would chalk up to magic if she weren’t human, Luz rolled out of the way, her wings whirling as she dropped for a second before darting to the side. Amity flared out her wings as she missed, almost giving herself whiplash at how quick her descent stopped.
“That’s the spirit!” Luz cheered, flying around Amity as she shook her head and steadied herself.
“Spirit, huh?” Amity parroted, taking the moment to twist around and lunge.
Luz, completely unbothered, simply rolled out of the way again with a laugh, rising a few feet in the air. She gave a happy chirrup, now tauntingly flying in a circle around Amity.
“That's the best you got?” Luz teased, doing a cocky flip in the air.
Thunder rumbled around them. Amity was very aware that Luz was purposefully egging her on, getting both of them caught in Thunderdiving.
She couldn’t find it in her to care right then.
“You wish,” Amity huffed, bolting towards Luz in the same instance.
Luz squealed excitedly, almost getting a wing to the face as she ducked and shot up back into the clouds, Amity close behind.
Luz twisted and dipped through the sky, trying and failing to give Amity the slip. And despite Amity’s best efforts to treat this seriously, she couldn’t help but laugh alongside her. It was fun, dare she say it. Though never in the proximity of the twins. She’d never hear the end of it.
Luz darted around Amity again before shooting into the air, diving straight up before pausing, her momentum slowing. Amity tilted her head as she watched, admittedly intrigued.
When Luz hit the peak of her ascent she trilled, tucking in her wings and flipping backwards before diving back down again. She flew right over Amity’s head as she passed, giggling and, though Amity couldn’t be completely sure, a little nervous.
“What are--”
Amity’s amused inquiry was cut off by a roar of thunder, feeling like her brain was rattling in her skull. Luz, unbothered as ever, swung back around in her flight to cuff the tip of Amity’s wing with her own, whooping gleefully.
“Wha--unfair!” Amity shouted, fumbling in the air for a moment before shooting after her.
Luz cackled and flew up again, wings tucked close as she flipped through the air. Lightning struck in the distance, highlighting both girls for mere moments.
Once again, Luz cheerfully chirruped when she reached her peak and dove back down, ruffling Amity’s feathers as she zoomed by.
It was a pattern Amity had seen before from other birds of prey. Usually at some dinner party or get-together her parents hosted. Typically from the other snobby rich kids who wanted to impress the eye of a Blight. It had always been one of the most shoehorned spectacles Amity had the misfortune of witnessing.
And as Luz made a noise similar to a chatter and dove right by Amity, throwing taunts behind her, Amity wondered if she was aware of this. She was quick to dismiss the thought and shook her head, calling back to Luz with a jeering crow.
Luz did things that sparrows normally never even thought about all the time. The few times anyone had pointed it out, Luz had always stared back blankly. Luz was just, well, Luz. She did whatever she felt like doing with the only reason being because it was fun and she wanted to.
She simply didn’t know.
Didn’t mean Amity was gonna stop her, though.
Amity shook out of her thoughts before beating her wings and soaring after Luz, who had flew around a spiral of clouds with a mischievous grin.
“And you said this was a bad idea,” Luz teased, ducking to the side as Amity flew right by her.
“It is.” Amity huffed, tilting her wings to glide back around, allowing for their game to pause. Because it was hard to talk while chasing after an uncatchable human, of course, why else?
“You sure?” Luz asked, giving Amity a smug look over her shoulder that did not make her wings falter, that would be ridiculous. “Because I’d almost say you're having fun.” She teased.
“That doesn’t mean this isn’t an awful idea,” Amity reminded, the thunder rumbling around them enunciating her point. “We could go flying any day, but in a thunderstorm is the worst time.” She said, forcing herself to let her wings relax when Luz began flying at a leisurely pace, resisting the urge to chase after her again.
“Hey, we haven’t been struck yet.” Luz pointed out, turning so that she could face Amity while flying backwards (how she managed that so casually, Amity wished she knew). “The twins must’ve taught you enough then, huh?”
“The twins have taught me a total of three things in my life.” Amity said, a bitter tone not going unnoticed. “Don’t trust them with anything of importance, how to sell any absurd lie, and that Thunderdiving is a terrible, Titan-awful idea.”
“Can really feel the familial love,” Luz said blankly. “Look on the bright side, now that you're here, we both get a learning experience.”
Lighting struck twice in the distance, catching the girls eyes for a brief second.
“How fun,” Amity sighed, slowly tearing her eyes away from where the lightning had been. “I still don’t know why you thought it would be a good idea to ask me for the twins. Even without a dry thunderstorm, that's gotta be the most suspicious thing you could ever ask.”
“Heh, yeah, well, we’re here now.” Luz said, glancing to Amity for a quick second before tilting her wings until she was flying a few feet below and to the left of Amity, her gaze pointed forwards.
Amity narrowed her eyes, positive that Luz knew she was staring at her now and was ignoring her. There was something nagging at the back of Amity’s mind, and from experience, it was probably best to follow thoughts like that.
“Hey,” Amity said, her voice slow as memories were pushed to the front of her mind. The way Luz’s entire body tensed so violently that she almost froze midair was so comical Amity almost lost her train of thought to snort at it.
“Don’t you have the twins' numbers?” She asked, raising a brow.
“Oh, do I?” Luz said, her voice a few octaves higher as she looked sideways towards Amity, her eyes notably wider.
“Yeah, didn’t you share numbers with them when I was preparing you for Grom because they thought it’d be fun to grab you for some scheme if you survived?” Amity said, not even bothering with a suspicious tone. She could tell from the first tense she had been right.
“Huh,” Luz said, visibly swallowing as she looked away. “Weird. Must’ve forgotten.”
Amity gave Luz possibly one of her best unamused expressions to date, which she had the audacity to refuse to look at.
“You planned this, didn’t you?” Amity deadpanned, the realizations coming to her mere moments before she said them. “You,” Amity blinked, her words coming out as shocked and maybe a little impressed. “You wanted me to come here!”
Luz turned her head to Amity then, looking guiltier than Gus after being caught trying to get petty revenge on Mattholomule for the third time in a week. Her hands fiddled together as her wings looked like they wanted to hunch up, but couldn’t due to them being the only things stopping her from plummeting.
“I mean…” Luz said slowly, her eyes darting this way and that. “It worked, didn’t it?”
Amity, if anything, was far more dismayed that she’d fallen for the most basic trick in the book than the fact Luz had goaded her into doing something as recklessly stupid as Thunderdiving. And that must’ve shown on her face, because Luz looked like she didn’t know if she should laugh or be concerned.
“You sneak!” Amity cried, taking Luz’s unsure state to tuck into a dive right for her.
Luz yelped and barely managed to dodge, her tail feathers brushing the tips of Amity’s fingers. Luz whirled around from where she escaped a few meters below Amity, fear flashing across her features for a swift moment until she saw the determined smile on Amity’s face.
“You're just mad that it worked!” Luz laughed, with only a hint of worry in her tone.
“Just for that, I’m going to tell Willow about this.” Amity said, raising her chin defiantly before darting towards Luz once more.
“You wouldn’t!” Luz gasped in playful offense. “Willow would know that you were out here, too!”
“I’m not the one who wanted to fly in a storm!” Amity shot back. “I’m innocent by reason of trying to do the responsible thing.”
“You're still here, though.”
“Because you won’t stay still!”
They went around in circles, making themselves dizzy as they dodged and dove between darkened clouds. The only way to tell up from down was by pausing the beating of their wings and letting gravity overtake them before they went right back to doing loop-de-loops.
Luz shot up through a swath of clouds, wings arched slightly as she rose into the air with the dark, almost black, clouds at her back. Amity tilted her head up, letting her wings pause briefly in the air as she watched, maybe a little entranced. Possibly.
Luz turned, gazing down to grin at Amity as her descend paused.
And lightning lit up practically on top of her.
She swore in that moment that it looked like the lightning had cut right through Luz. She shut her eyes a moment after, the light blinding her momentarily as she jerked back and rubbed at them.
“Luz?” She called, blinking her eyes rapidly a moment later. “Luz! Where--”
The sparrow wasn’t there. Amity whirled around, wings almost failing in keeping her upright due to the speed at how fast she looked all around, not knowing if she should be relieved or not she couldn't see anything plummeting to the ground. Did the clouds swallow her up? Was she already on the ground? Were they over the ocean? She couldn’t see--
“Amity!”
She startled, feathers flaring up as Luz appeared from a cluster of clouds. Shaken, clearly, her eyes were heavily contracted and darting about. But flying , albeit wonkily, and that was the important part.
“Great Isles!” Amity breathed, not even aware of her wings moving until she was right in front of Luz, grabbing at her arms and flicking her eyes over her for any mark that wasn’t there previously.
“I’m-I’m okay, hey,” Luz shook her head, tail twitching. “Barely even grazed me, I promise.”
“Barely is not the same as didn’t,” Amity stressed, eyes finally landing on her right wing.
Three secondary feathers were gone, instead replaced by smoldering black stumps. The ends of the feathers surrounding it were tipped with ash, too. Lucky it wasn’t any primary feathers, or Luz might have actually begun to fall.
“Oh Titan,” Amity murmured, eyes locked onto the hole through Luz’s wing. She could see now Luz was favoring her right wing.
“You weren’t kidding about lightning being nasty, huh?” Luz said, following her gaze and looking over the blackened feathers. “I mean, I knew it was, but I wasn’t expecting it to, you know, be out for blood.”
“Please don’t joke about being hit by lightning,” Amity said quietly, shoulders hunching.
“Hey, hey,” Luz pulled an arm free of Amity’s grasp, also grabbing at her and getting her to look away from the missing feathers. “I’m fine. Nothing that won’t grow back.” She assured.
Thunder rumbled through the sky, causing both of them to flinch. Their eyes darted to the sky for a moment, antsy and waiting for the flash of lightning.
It lit up the sky further away, highlighting the two of them before it died out.
“I think I’ve had enough Thunderdiving for today.” Luz eventually said, tearing her gaze away from where the lightning had hit and back to Amity. “Besides,” She added as she rose up her arm, showing Amity was still tightly clinging to her. “You caught me.” She said, giving a small smile.
Amity blinked, staring at where she was hanging onto Luz so tightly her claws looked close to piercing the skin. She jerked her hands back, offering a nervous, apologetic smile.
“Yeah, right, course.” Amity nodded, flying a few paces back. “Gotta get that wing checked out, and...all that.”
“Think I could spin it off that Hooty was the reason for this?” Luz asked, readjusting her wings so she was flying more towards her uninjured side.
“I’ll be your witness,” Amity agreed, glancing back as thunder rolled through the sky.
“Cool,” Luz smiled, shaking her head and flickering her distant gaze away from the dark clouds. Amity almost asked if she was alright again before she called out; “Last one to the House has to get in through the window!”
Luz took that same moment to tuck in her wings and plummet.
“Wh--don’t dive on a wing with missing feathers!” Amity squawked, feathers fluffing up as she dove right after her.
Luz’s laughs answered her. Leaving Amity wondering, for possibly the fifth time in two weeks, how Luz had lasted things long to begin with.
But hey, if Luz can survive a run-in with lightning, she could probably survive anything.