Crackle

Apart

~💔~

Chirr was dead.
Tuk didn't know if he wanted to complete the journey anymore. He might as well just live there - never having to move. But something changed his mind. That isn't what Chirr would have wanted. Chirr would have wanted Tuk to complete the journey without her.

"For. You." He chirped aloud before opening his wings and flying into the sky. He wouldn't forget Chirr, he wouldn't forget Chirr in this new home. He remembered the willow tree that they had momentarily lived in. He'd try to find a Willow tree. A Willow tree in memory of Chirr.

He continued to fly across the sky watching as the trees became closer and closer.

As he flew, he suddenly saw familiar shapes down below. Winnifred and Axel. This surprised him - he had told them to leave him alone.

He was going to remind them - maybe even peck them. He swooped down to the ground and landed in front of the two beings.
"Leave!" He chirped - anger clear in his voice.
"Tell. Story." Axel hissed in robin.
"Yes. Tell-Story. Maybe-Change. Mind." Winnifred chirped aloud.

Tuk was surprised - They were following him to tell them their story. He was now more confused then angry - If their story was so important he might as well let them tell it.
"And..?" Tuk chirped.

Winnifred began.
"Colour-Robin. In-Zoo. With-Humans."
"Me. Too. With." Axel added
"Together. We. Famous."
"But. Lonely."
"So. We-Plan. Escape."
"Become-More. Famous."
"You. Come."
"Set-Free."
"We. Plan."
"But. Chirr. Missing-Toes. Humans-Dislike."
"Tuk. Good."
"We-Plan."
"Kill. Chirr."
"More. Famous-Now?"

Once they finished - their story made more sense. Slightly, but he was still quite angry about Chirr. Wanting these 'humans' to like them more sounded not important to Tuk. But apparently that was everything to them.
"So. Travel?" Winnifred asked.

Their story wasn't good enough. He didn't want to travel with them and he couldn't figure out why they kept trying so hard to get him to travel.

He couldn't. They killed Chirr.
"No..." He chirped before flying off - not wanting to hear their answer.

He continued to fly across the sky and he saw the trees come closer. He saw several nests in trees and little birds hopping around looking as if there was no problems in the world. It should have made him happy - but he couldn't feel connected to them.

He wanted a willow tree. He wanted one for Chirr. He wanted a Willow to remember all the great things that had happened with Chirr.

To forget what had happened to her. To just be happy. A little happy place to call home. Here, wasn't it.

He swooped in for a landing on a tree branch where he saw a robin building a nest.
"Hello!" The robin chirped to Tuk.
"Willow. Where?" He asked.
The robin seemed confused by this but answered.
"Meadow. North." The robin responded.

North. That was his destination.

"Thank." He began to fly off when the robin called after him.
"Wait! Name?"
Tuk was annoyed. He wanted to travel and not meet this new robin. He wanted to fly to a Willow for Chirr.
"Tuk." He responded.
"Tuk. Yeep." The robin, now known as Yeep called.

Yeep kept talking but Tuk was flying way too fast to hear Yeep.

Tuk flew north, thinking about Winnifred and Axel's weird story, Tuk thought about Yeep - who was probably very confused. About the Baby circling bird - did it remember that brief time it saw Tuk?, and that Awkward Odd-Wolf, was it still in that place with the vines? But most importantly - Chirr... Chirr, had done so much for him. She had saved him and he had saved her. He didn't even get to thank her for all she had done for him.

Tuk hoped Chirr - wherever she was. Forgave him - for not having the time to thank him. Her last words 'Sorry...' Haunted him - What was she apologizing for? Was she going to say something important? Several more questions about those words filled his mind.

He snapped back into focus - seeing the edge of the Forest and seeing the shape of a large river appear. He saw the meadow on the other side.
"River" was the wrong term - it would take about a two hours fly to get across to the meadow - how did it even get there? How was it possible? Tuk didn't know. He just wanted to cross into the meadow and land in the Willow.

Maybe he could learn woodpecker and ask it to carve a photo of Chirr on the bark like he had seen in the place where he had found Winnifred and Axel with the 'Snake, Berry, Berry' sign at the front.
He liked that idea. He flew faster - hoping a woodpecker would live there.

Now, he was close to his destination. He was doing this for Chirr.
He continued flying across the sky, watching the shapes of smaller birds swimming across the top of the water below.

He had never met a bird that lived near water. He had seen animals go by water but never assumed that there were birds made to swim across the surface of the water.
He now realized that everywhere except for the Odd-Wolf place, had a bird living there. His old home had him of course. In Chirr's forest there was the Raven that had saved him from the Ground-Wolves and Chirr. In the Circling-Bird area was the Circling-Bird, in the Rock city was Winnifred. And in the new forest was Yeep, and now here were the water birds.

Birds were everywhere. He realized. And he was only just one of them. But he had to make it to the other side of this sea for another very important bird. The bird that had been loyal enough to travel with him all his way. The bird who taught him new things, the bird he taught things to as well.

That bird was Chirr.

~💔~