CHAPTER 3

It was a little later in the afternoon as Panda rummaged through Maxwell's library. He pulled a heap of books off of the shelf that might contain information about birds of prey and then organized them on the small desk.

He cracked open a few books and flipped through the pages, tossing ones to the side that didn't have what he wanted. Finally one of the books - a birdwatching guide - had a list of many species of birds and included illustrations. He tried to picture the appearance of the falcon in his head and then went through them to find out what it was. Peregrine falcon? No, too dark. Saker falcon? Didn't have a gray head. There were many to go through.

Finally Panda stumbled upon one that seemed to match the appearance: a Common Kestrel. The book showed that these birds have vivid brown bodies with many black spots, a gray head, and a white tail. This had to be the one, though the one in the book looked much healthier. Panda scanned through the words to find its diet.

"A Common Kestrel's diet consists of almost exclusively mouse-sized mammals. Shrews, voles and mice tend to make up most of their diet. On islands where rodents may be scarce, perching (passerine) birds may be hunted. Arthropods may also be eaten seasonably or when the bird can find them. Beetles, spiders, and other bugs will generally be eaten with delight."

Panda's paws became a bit sweaty upon reading the part about most of its diet including "mouse-sized mammals", which of course included hamsters. It appeared that they liked bugs, though, which he could definitely give a shot. It wouldn't be too incredibly hard to round up a bag full of insects.

He went into the storage room, a room where everything you could possibly imagine was to be found. He found a small net after rummaging around for a while. He also found a medical kit, which would probably come in handy. He stuffed the kit into his backpack and went outside to the thick grove of trees in the park.

The bugs weren't incredibly hard to catch, but they did startle Panda more than once due to their quick, unpredictable movements. Once a cricket jumped and hit him directly in the face. Once he caught them in his paws he slammed them against the dirt to subdue them. After about 15 minutes he had found enough to stuff his sack full. It was time to head back to the falcon.

Panda had nearly reached the tunnel that lead to the edge of the forest when a cheery voice stopped him. "Hey! Hey Panda, how's it going?" It was Hamtaro. He ran up from the door of the clubhouse which he had just exited.

"I'm fine. I was just going home, actually. I'm taking the scenic route," Panda told him.

"The scenic route underground?" Hamtaro asked. "Also, what's with the net?"

Panda had forgotten he was holding it. He tried not to lie too much. "Oh, I was out catching bugs."

"Why's that?" Hamtaro asked. Of course he would ask.

Panda thought up a good excuse for a moment. "Oh, haven't you heard? The insect diet is the latest thing. Supposedly it's really good for you. I got a bag full of them here."

"Eww! Really? Well if you say so … I guess I haven't been eating very well lately myself …" Hamtaro said.

"Don't knock it till you've tried it!" Panda called out as he left Hamtaro in the tunnel.

After a while of walking he reached the hole that led up to the edge of the forest on the mountain. He climbed up to receive a whiff of the smoky air. Yep, this was the right spot. If he was correct, the falcon should have still been in the depression in the ground. He trotted over to where he remembered the spot to be.

Sure enough, there was the bird, sitting on the ground with its eyes shut. Panda took out the med kit and laid it on the ground, then slowly approached the falcon with the rest of the insects in the bag. It opened one eye when he whistled.

"Here, fella … got some food for ya …" Panda said softly. The falcon lifted itself up and ambled forward. It lowered its head and cocked it to the side as it approached, seemingly apprehensive. Panda was nervous. He held open the bag so the falcon could see and smell what was inside.

Without warning, the bird pecked the bag out of Panda's hands and dragged it around, ripping it open with its beak and claws and scattering the contents all over the place. Panda, who had fallen backwards, held his heart after the momentary shock. He stood up once more.

"Messy eater, aren't you?" he said. The falcon froze completely and looked up at him for a few seconds, then resumed devouring the insects. Its burned wing still looked painful.

Panda walked over and grabbed the medical kit that he had set aside and opened it up. Inside were some bandages, ointment, scissors, and other useful things. He looked up at the bird who was preoccupied with its dinner. The feather shafts were still poking out all over the end of its arm. The scissors might come in handy to cut the rest of them off. He grabbed that as well as the ointment, some gauze and bandages.

As he advanced towards the bird he sneakily picked up a cricket to distract the bird with and tossed it in front of it. It ate happily. With that, Panda circled around to the damaged wing. He took out the scissors and began to cut off the remaining charred stumps. The bird didn't seem to notice. With all the feather shafts cleared away it was time to clean up the wounds and wrap it up.

Panda squeezed some ointment into his hand and gently placed it on the falcon's bare wing. It winced and pulled away, its mouth hanging open as though it were angry or in pain. Its body grew stiff. Panda spoke softly to attempt to calm the bird down as he rubbed the ointment on.

When that was finished he gently wrapped the wound in gauze and then placed the bandages around it. Amazingly, the falcon held still for the majority of the operation. When it was over, Panda lightly caressed the bandaged wing to see how the bird would react. It did not rear back to the touch this time, seemingly content. This would help it heal faster and avoid getting an infection. The bird hobbled back over and laid down after its large meal. Its large black eyes were focused on the hamster.

Panda could not help but feel a sort of fondness for the pitiful creature, dangerous or not. It appeared to have no interest in harming him. He tried to walk towards it to see if he could pet it, but at every advance the falcon would shift slightly in order to avoid him. He sighed.

Even with the bandages in place and after having a good meal, Panda couldn't just leave the falcon now. It would take some time before it would be well enough to hunt on its own. He would need to keep returning to nourish the bird back to health, but at the same time keep the falcon a secret from the ham-hams.

A few days had passed since the initial discovery of the falcon. Panda had once more found himself in the library studying, but this time he wasn't researching birds but instead looking up knew that if he named the bird he would become attached, but he couldn't help himself.

None of the ham-hams seemed to notice where he had been disappearing lately. If anyone questioned, he merely told them that he needed to be home early - a common excuse that most of the hamsters thought nothing of. They didn't typically may much attention to his whereabouts to begin with.

It was almost time for him to visit the falcon again. He had already gone and caught a backpack full of bugs, so he picked one name book and one mythology book off the shelf to bring with him to help name the bird.

Panda had been returning to the falcon on a daily basis to bring fresh food and water. It had definitely gotten better and was hopping around in the basin where he had originally found it. Rays of golden sunlight broke through the treetops and splashed the ground. Upon seeing Panda appear over the hill, the falcon trotted up to him and pecked playfully at his backpack.

"Hey, knock it off, you!" Panda said, giggling as he pushed the bird away. The bird now equated his appearance with being fed and always grew excited at his return. He no longer felt as nervous around it. "Here you go." Panda dumped out the contents of the bag and the falcon ate with content. He picked up the books he had brought with and sat against a tree to help him decide what to call the bird.

Panda looked through the name book first, but didn't quite find anything he liked. He was hoping to find a bird-related name to call it. Instead, he opened up the mythology book he had brought with, knowing that bird were often featured in ancient myths. He flipped through the pages to find what he was looking for.

"Let's see here … Garuda, a bird-man of Hindu myth … Quetzalcoatl, a feathered serpent god … Roc, an enormous bird … Hraesvelgr, another giant bird of Norse myth who caused the wind to blow when he flapped his wings … Phoenix, a fire bird that was reduced to ashes and reborn again …"

Panda looked up at the falcon as he read the last name. Phoenix … it fit perfectly. The bird who had been reduced to ashes and born again…

"Got it!" Panda said aloud. "I'm calling you Phoenix from here on out." The falcon lifted its head to look at the hamster and twitched it around comically.

After eating the bird the bird ignored Panda but no longer avoided him like before. He came up to it to check on its wounds. He lifted the bandages slightly to see how it was progressing.

The scars that had been left looked to be getting better. Some of the feathers had already been growing back near its elbow joint. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for what was at the tip of its wing. There was no sign of any feathers coming in at the end. This was troublesome, as the feathers at the end of the wing were most important for flying. Panda worried that the falcon may have been rendered flightless for the rest of its life.

He couldn't accept that this was the end for it, though. There had to be a way he could reverse the damage and help it fly again. There had to be a way …