A Little Birdie Told Me (Solo)

[Aello]

74 Winter, 510 AV
Location: Wilderness just outside of Ravok

Aello awoke the next morning as soon as the sun's rays hit her eyes. Her eyes scrunched, and then reluctantly opened. The sun was still low in the sky, but it seemed to be shining more brightly than usual. Reluctantly, Aello sat up, her back was still sore from having slept on the ground for yet another night. Her wounds were still bright red, and were stinging with each of her subtle movements. Aello sighed heavily, turning her head only slightly to the injured sparrow that rested at her side. "And how are you this morning?" she asked, realizing that the bird was still asleep however, she quickly shut her mouth, and glanced tiredly around her. The forest was strangely still; as though it were still resting alongside the bird.

"Figures," Aello whispered, slightly defeated, as she pushed her hands into her knees, and slowly got to her feet. Allowing her body to stretch, but sending shooting pains through it as well. She looked around once more, her belongings were littered across the clearing. Boy, was she sloppy, Aello thought, as her stomach rumbled, and she walked lazily over to her bag in search of something to eat.

When Aello reached her bag, she rummaged through it and pulled out her eating knife and a red apple she had picked a few days before in her travels. The apple's skin was rather shiny and smooth, and its dark red skin only had one blemish- a dark purple bruise that flattened its flesh; it was located on the top, near the tiny brown stem that poked out of the top.

With her knife and a food source in hand, Aello walked back to where the bird was resting, and sat down beside it. She held the apple in her left hand, and the knife in her right. In one swift motion, she sliced the apple down the middle, splitting it in two. She set one half of the apple in her lap, along with the eating knife. When that was done, she lifted the half of the apple that remained in her hands, and took a bite. The apple was crisp, and relatively juicy, it tasted sweet.

While she was chewing, she heard a loud chirp from the bird. "You're up!" Aello called, semi-masticated apple rolling around in her wide-open trap. "How'd ya sleep?" Aello inquired, as though the bird could understand her, and she it.

Chirp Chirp! Was what Aello heard, she laughed as she finished chewing, and swallowed her food. "Yeah, I slept well too," she said, taking another bite out of her apple, ignoring the fact that some of the juice was spilling out of the sides of her mouth, and dripping off the tip of her chin.

"You hungry?" Aello asked, as she shredded off a thin slice of apple skin with her eating knife, and dangled it just over the sparrow's yellow beak. The bird seemed to stare at it, slightly confused, or perhaps it could sniff it with its tiny beak. Aello giggled, "you can have it if you'd like, not so fond of the skin anyway, but I don't think you'd mind it. And it's got to be good for injured birds right?" Aello asked.

The bird tilted its head to the side, as if questioning Aello's motives, or expecting her to take the food away as soon as it stretched its beak out to bite it. Its eyes were blinking rapidly, waiting for whatever was to happen to happen. Finally, it chose to trust her, and reached its beak out. It pulled the apple skin out from between Aello's fingertips and began chewing on it hastily. "Guess you were hungry," Aello commented, taking another bite of her apple, and chewing thoughtfully.

[Aello]

Chirp Chirp! the bird said. Aello laughed. "Yeah, I've been hungry too," she said, as she took another bite of the apple. Chirp Chirp! "What's that?" Aello asked, leaning a little closer to the sparrow in order to hear it better. Chirp Chirp! "Sill hungry?" Aello laughed, smacked her knee. Chirp Chirp! "And you want some more?" she paused for a moment, "well of course you can have some more!" she finished, pressing the knife into the apple skin and shaving off a tiny piece. She lifted the tiny apple skin slice, and dangled it over the bird's beak. Almost instantly, the bird's beak shot up and snatched it, munching on the tips furiously.

Aello laughed. "You best not eat too much too fast, or you'll make yourself sick," she said, gesturing with the knife in a playfully explanatory manner, before putting another bite in her mouth. "And being sick is no fun, let me tell you," Aello added, glancing down at her wounds, her stomach, which seemed to be rumbling louder and louder, no matter how much apple she shoved down her throat.

Chirp Chirp! the bird said. "Yeah, I like it out here too, it's really nice this time of year, kind of quiet though," Aello shrugged as she finished chewing. "Strangely lonely, but it's a lovely place to meditate, clear one's head." Chirp Chirp! "Oh you do agree!" Aello commented. Chirp Chirp! "Oh that wasn't what you were saying? What was it then, try again... I am still learning to speak sparrow."

Chirp Chirp! Chirp Chirp! the bird sang woefully. "Oh your wing still hurts?" Aello questioned, quickly finishing off the first half of her apple. "Now why don't I take a quick look at that again?" she inquired, bending over the bird, and pressing her fingertips lightly into the bird's wing. The bird seemed to cry out in pain, its eyes shutting tightly to block it all out. "Sorry love, guess it's still broke," Aello commented as she moved her fingertips away.

Figures, she thought, noting the odd angle at which the bird's wing hung. She wasn't so sure she had expected it to heal so quickly, she just wanted to know just how slowly it was healing, she supposed. Her verdict: pretty darn slow. "You just give it some time, and you should feel better, but you got to rest, none of this chirping nonsense," Aello said, trying to be a good doctor, and give good advice, even though she had no idea what she was doing.

Chirp Chirp! the bird seemed to say in agreement.

[Aello]

After a few minutes, the bird seemed to quiet down, as though it were trying to take Aello's advice, and get some rest. Aello smiled down at it, breathing in and out slowly, enjoying the beauty that surrounded her, and the sense of peace that had washed over the forest.

Aello stared blankly at the half of the apple that remained in her lap. The edges were starting to brown from having been left out in the elements for too long, but that didn't mean that it wasn't tasty. Shrugging, Aello lifted the remaining half of the apple to her lips and took a bite. She felt weird for having talked to a bird as though they both spoke Common, but at least the conversation was light, and rather one-sided, and unlike some people, the bird didn't talk back or down to her. In fact, she kind of liked that part the most.

But then again, why was still watching over it like a mother watches a newborn babe? What was so special about this bird? Why was she so drawn to it? Was she really that lonely? Aello wondered, as she glanced down at the bird whose chest was slowly rising and falling. It seemed so peaceful, she thought, shoving another bite of apple into her mouth. Chewing on it slowly, savoring the crisp and sweet flavor.

Aello looked around the clearing: there wasn't much to see, merely her things scattered here and there, herself, the bird, all surrounded by a line of trees and slowly browning grass. Aello sighed as she took another bite of her apple, wondering what to do. The bird was starting to chirp again, but this time she didn't seem to know what it was saying.

"Shhhhh you! Shouldn't you be sleeping? And don't you know I don't speak bird," Aello scolded. The bird kept chirping, and flapping the wing that wasn't broken. "Ok ok, calm down!" Aello said as she took another bite of her apple, and shaved another thin slice of apple skin off for the bird. She tossed it in the bird's general direction, and it landed on the bird's belly. It ate it up greedily, and stopped chirping again. "Glad you're happy now," Aello said, rolling her eyes and taking another bite of the apple, which was rapidly growing more and more brown around the edges.

Chirp! Chirp! CHIRP! the bird cried. Aello supposed she had spoken too soon.

[Aello]

"What is it that you want?" Aello cried, pleading with the bird with her hands. Trying to understand something that could not possibly be understood. But all she was met with was more chirping, which only led to an even greater level of confusion.

Perplexed, Aello ran her sticky apple-juice covered fingertips through her already messy hair. Her fingers stuck to several knotted strands, which only managed to remind her how dire her hair's need was for a wash. She sighed again, and looked down at the chirping bird, she took another few bites of her apple, and lay the remaining portion down by the side of the bird so that it would have something to eat, should it want to eat.

"Do you even know what you want little guy?" Aello asked, "or you just doing that to bug me?" she questioned the bird in regards to its nearly non-stop chirping. "Because sometimes, people don't shut up just because they like to hear themselves, or they say a lot of different things because they don't really know what they want."

Aello slowly got to her feet and picked up her things. She slung her quiver onto her back, and her bag over her shoulder. She then grabbed her bow, and held it tightly in her right hand. She turned back to the bird and said, "we should get going you know, got so much to do today, before the sun sets." Not truly understanding why she wanted to take the bird with her on her travels, or even if the bird would let her. She supposed her desire had to due with her general lack of companionship, and hope that she could see the bird well before she let it fly away, hopefully to live a long life. She approached the bird and held her hand out, wondering if it would sniff it like she had seen dogs do. After a few moments, she scooped it up in her free hand, silently praying that she wasn't hurting it, and that it wouldn't try to fly away.

[Verilian]

Aello +2 Bird Keeping +1 Socializing You Question My Logic? : Okay, so the care of birds that are not raptors falls under birdkeeping rather than Animal Husbandry, which is why you get two points in birdkeeping. The socializing, well.. you managed to hold a conversation with a bird. I think that deserves a point. Lores: Rising with the Sun, Talking to the Birds, Feeding Sparrows, The Psychology of Sparrows - Poor Notes: Always a pleasure to read your work. Oh, and you get to keep the bird, but it still needs training.