A Crocodile's Journey

Chapter 11

Kitwana felt out of place.

Since he returned with Bakshi to the flock and she announced he was now a member of it, there was a ruckus. Apparently, what happened with Mshale was still fresh, and most of the other egrets feared for the safety of their chicks. Mshale's mother, in particular, opposed strongly, but she was overruled by Bakshi and Simba.

Unfortunately, she was right in something: Kitwana had grown amongst crocodiles, who were naturally violent unlike the usually peaceful Egrets, and many assumed he had learned those habits from them. Bakshi assured Kitwana would not repeat that behavior again, for he was there in part to learn the proper way to behave for a bird.

However, he was still treated as an outcast. Apart from Bakshi and Dalila, no other member of the flock wanted him near, in fear he'd hurt them or their chicks, who had also been told not to even talk to him. Mshale seemed to be enjoying Kitwana's misery, which he hid very well under a 'traumatized' façade.

At first he, did nothing. Bakshi suggested him to watch the behavior of everyone else and try it out himself to start practicing, but he ignored the advice and continued to act like a crocodile, if only partly because he still did not accept that he was a bird... or didn't want to see it. The once hyperactive and happy ibis was now almost a shell of his former self, hidden underneath a seemingly endless ice age. Once he noted that continuing to act like a croc wouldn't really change anything, he decided to try it out.

That was when the trouble began. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't properly imitate the egrets' behavior.

He lacked the balance to sleep on his feet, and fell to the ground everytime he started to get sleepy.

He'd also fall to the ground whenever he tried to scratch his head with his talon, like he had seen some of the adults do.

When it came to preening his feathers, both with a partner and on himself, his nibbling was a bit too strong than it should be and ended up accidentally hurting his back.

Thankfully, he could feed himself the 'bird way', since Makuu had taught him how to, perhaps knowing he'd eventually need it.

As for Makuu, he could not understand why instead of being happy and relieved that he didn't have to care for the chick anymore, he found himself... sad and missing the little one. Naturally, since he didn't want anyone to notice, he tried to hide it by sulking and acting in a grouchy way. The float noted he was in a sour mood and, knowing it wasn't wise to disturb him in that state, they tried their best not to cross his path unless either it was important, or he called for them himself.

And the worst of all: he started dreaming again. Both about the past and the events that led to him losing everything as a hatchling, or about the mother ibis's ghost, who haunted him and berated him for breaking his promise. He told himself he had looked after the egg and then the chick, which was more than enough for him to survive. Bakshi would teach him how to fly, she knew how to do so, it was something he could never teach the kiddo himself for obvious reasons.

But this didn't stop the nightmares. Not even Akina knew how to help her mate if he wasn't willing to accept what was causing this, even though he knew it perfectly. Something urged him to see how Kitwana was, but he always ignored it, despite the pain he felt in his chest everytime he did so.

"Stupid chick..." he muttered, sulking over on a more private part of the lake, where he usually went to cool down whenever he was mad at someone. But this time it wasn't working. "Stupid promise I made to a stupid bird!"

He would have continued to curse his charge if Akina hadn't approached him, concerned. She had noted he had started isolating himself from the float most of the time, and he had not slept peacefully. "Makuu?"