Chapter 1 – First Encounter

A/N: Hey everyone, I'm back with a new AB fic. I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Angry Birds.

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"Guys, are you sure we should be doing this?" Willow asked nervously.

"Of course! C'mon Willow, aren't you at least a bit curious?" Poppy muttered.

"W-Well yeah, but this is the forbidden part of the forest. You know we aren't supposed to be here. We might get in trouble." The pigeon stated anxiously.

"No we won't, as long as we don't tell anyone about it." She replied.

Stella smiled as she listened to her two friends chattering while focusing on the map. They should be near the exile's home by now.

All their lives, Stella and her friends heard so many stories about birds like Mighty Eagle who was said to be the protector of their island. Then there was also the exile who interested Stella the most. He was said to be an unusual and mysterious bird who left their village fifteen years ago and never came back. Some say he's dangerous to be around, but all the adults refused to tell them why.

Of course after hearing about this enigmatic bird for so long, Stella's curiously got the best of her and she finally decided to seek him out. She managed to convince her two friends to come along. While Willow was somewhat reluctant about it, Poppy shared the same amount of excitement as Stella. This could be their chance at finding an adventure!

"Stella, are we there yet? We've been walking for so long." Poppy asked tiredly.

"If I'm reading this right, we should probably be there soon…" the pink bird and her two friends suddenly stopped in their tracks when they came across an old wooden sign in their path.

GO AWAY!

Stella shared an uneasy look with her two friends.

"We should probably listen to it and go home." Willow said nervously.

"After getting this far? No way!" Poppy exclaimed.

Stella stared at the ominous sign for a moment in consideration before turning to her friends. "Poppy is right, Willow. We can't turn back now." she then smiled at her. "Don't worry, if anything bad happens we'll go home, okay?"

Willow hesitantly smiled back and nodded. "Alright,"

Wasting no more time, the three girls walked passed the sign, ignoring the warning it had.

But as they continued going in that direction, they stumbled upon more signs.

TURN AROUND AND LEAVE!

YOU'RE NOT WELCOME HERE.

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

The three felt their uneasiness grow with each passing minute.

"Man, this guy sure likes his privacy," Poppy joked, trying to hide her own nervousness and failing.

Stella was really starting to wonder if they were making a mistake, if she might be putting the three of them in danger, but as soon as those thoughts came she quickly pushed them at the back her of mind. No, they couldn't go back. Not after coming this far, not after all time they spent to find this place.

Swallowing back her fear, Stella glanced at her friends. "Let's keep going," she said determinately and started walking again.

She made her way through the bushes and saw that they reached a clearing, but that wasn't surprised her.

There was a small white house at the edge of the clearing, looking like it had been there for a long time.

"Is this the place?" Willow asked breathlessly.

"Yeah, I think so," Stella said, unable to hide her excitement anymore. They did it, this could be where the exile lives!

"But where is he? I don't see anybody here." Poppy muttered as she looked around.

"I don't know. Let's just keep an eye out, okay?" the pink bird replied, grinning.

Without a second thought, the three girls began approaching the house. Looking around curiously, Stella spotted a pile of broken branches and sticks on the ground. She raised an eye brow, trying to figure out why it was there. There was also an axe placed on a tree stump, but other than that there wasn't much to look at.

"What are you three doing here?"

The girls stiffened at the new voice. Slowly, they turned around to see a red bird glaring at them with his arms crossed. He looked slightly older than them with light brown eyes and big black eye brows. They had never seen him in the village before.

"Didn't you read the signs? You're not welcome here."

Stella snapped from her trance and felt herself squirm nervously under his hard gaze. She hadn't been expecting this. "S-Sorry, we just came from the village to look for the exile and-"

As soon as those words left her beak, the red bird scowled darkly and for a second she thought his feathers started glowing.

"Get out of here,"

"But-"

"I said get out!" he shouted angrily, sparks flaring in his hands. She didn't understand how it happened, but the next thing she knew the bird's hands were on fire.

The three screamed in panic and barely managed to jump out of the way when he threw a ball of flame at them. Stella scrambled to get away just in time to avoid the second ball of fire, but Poppy wasn't fast enough and it grazed her arm.

"Ahh!" she cried out and fell to her knees.

"Poppy!" Stella and Willow exclaimed and hurried to her side.

Stella scowled and glared at the red bird, ready to shout at him for hurting her friend, but she stopped herself when she saw look of the horror and guilt on his face, like he just realized what he had done.

But he quickly shook himself from the shock and glared at them again. "Get out of here and never come back!" he growled.

Helping their friend stand up, the three wasted no time running away from him. Stella glanced back at the red bird one last time before following her two friends.

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"What were you guys thinking!?" Dahlia scolded as she tended to Poppy's injury. Luckily, it wasn't anything too serious and she managed to treat it easily.

"I'm sorry, Dahlia. It's my fault. Going to the forbidden part of the island was my idea," Stella said guiltily.

"It's okay, Stella. It doesn't hurt that much. Besides, if there's anyone to blame than it's that jerk for attacking us like that." Poppy said reassuringly.

"You three should have known better than to go there. Everyone knows the exile is evil and dangerous. The way he attacked you is enough proof of that." Dahlia stated.

But Stella was reminded again of the look of guilt on the red bird's face when he burned her friend and she couldn't stop thinking about it no matter how hard she tried. It didn't make any sense. If he really was a horrible cruel bird then why did he look so guilty, so ashamed of what he did?

She had to know. She had to see him again.

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A/N: Thanks for reading and please review!