Chapter 13

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It was morning again. Del woke up to see the cave almost empty, except for a few birds here and there.

"Why's this place so empty?"

"They're out to search for food, and even homeless birds."

"Wow, you all work so hard. I could never imagine working so much!"

"Like I said, cage-bird." Alice said, from behind Del.

"Hah, I swear I'll work harder than you expect of me today, Alice."

"Oh? Then let's see."

2 hours. Del worked to the bone and hardly produced much result, but progress was progress.

3 hours. Improvements in way of work, helped by Jim who can't stand Del's fruitless results.

4 hours. Del showed some good development.

5 hours. Lunch time.

"Soo now? "

"Huh that's a pretty good yield for a first try hunt. I guess...no actually you gotta collect more of wheat. We literally live beside a farm." Alice said, trying not to sound impressed. What's this? How can he dedicate himself into doing so much when it's just his first day? Did I really misjudge them? Then again, Del hasn't exactly done much better than the average..let's see how he keeps up.

"Okay."

1 hour. Okay, it wasn't that bad.

2 hours. Del got chased by the farmer's dog but wings did exist.

4 hours. The day was over and Del did quite the job.

"Wow Del...good job!" Said Jim. "Let's go eat now."

×

It was all good. Del earned his trust from the other birds there soon, and he excelled in his flying skills. Of course, there were a lot of failures, but he coped well. Though...Sora's whereabouts were still unknown. Some weeks went by.

"Any luck?" Del asked, as Jim perched on the branch beside.

"No..I don't see how I can't find Sora at all..how could she just disappear in barely two days when she was injured!?" Jim said, his eyes clearly expressing lack of sleep.

"Maybe she didn't. Maybe she never crossed this place either."

"You think..."

"Yes, I think..Falkner took her. You said he has some sort of obsession with her didn't you? Maybe that's why."

"He isn't obsessed with her. He's obsessed with toying with her life." Jim hissed.

"Yikes. So basically, we have to go into the eagle's nest. Falcon's in this case. Great." Alice said, popping out from behind Del.

"Huh wha- Oh it's you. Yeah..I wonder how Sora is.."

"I'm sure she's dealing with it just fine. Don't underestimate her. I've seen Sora, she isn't the type to sit and watch her whole life crumble into ashes."

"Yeah Alice is right, Del. Don't worry, we'll find her. But before we step into the battlefield, Del, you need to learn some techniques."

"Like?"

"You'll see."

×

It was barely sunrise, but Jim had already woken Del up. They went out to the lake formed by the waterfall.

"So Del. Starting now, you'll be preparing tactics. This will be nowhere near those which you learned while stealing grains under the dog's nose. These trainings too, will get harder with every passing day, and there might be a point where you would be risking your life."

"Risking....my life?"

"Yes. For someone as vicious as Falkner, easy training won't suffice."

"Falkner..what's he like? I mean, he's definitely dangerous. But a bit more details?"

"Details? Well for starters let's say, Falkner has a collection of his most prized prey. Not the creature itself, but something exotic about it. Like, feathers or talons. Apart from that, he loves to mingle with others' lives. Destroy everything they like and laughing it off. He's crazy, but it's not as if he doesn't know his league. He isn't the most powerful bird in town but he clearly makes it sure that his authority will remain unchallenged."

"So basically, Falkner is purrfect and he's crazy."

"It's pronounced p-e-rfect-"

"Wait what!? But Lucy always called it purrfect-"

"It sounds like a cat, and we sparrows are literally their prey..-"

"Oh, well, um...okay."

"Back to the training then." Jim said, as he hopped on the branch above. The sun, by now, had shot up in the sky, ready to set all birds working.

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Yo peeps.

Seems like our male lead is doing fine.

What about our female lead though? Alice says she'll be just as okay but do we know for real? What's happening on her side?

Well. I'm kind of cruel. So wait for the next one, see ya:)

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