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"I can't believe you talk me into this plan." said Red Bird.
"What?" asked RJ, "We're getting back home faster."
"Yeah but, I hate trains."
"Why? Because the pigs shipped you off in one?"
"Well, I hate trains even more after the pigs send me away in one."
Red Bird began to feel nauseous, he had been in the train car for an hour now and his belly wasn't agreeing with the plan. He thought it was impossible to throw up, since he hadn't had anything to eat in two days. It was dark in the car, sunlight crept in through the cracks of the door, providing the little light available. He had RJ rest in a nest he managed to make out of salvaged material, the old bird was too weak to do anything, Red Bird must provide the important tasks. The wound on Red Bird's side was taken care of, or it had taken care of itself since it had clotted to form a protective scab. Even though Red Bird was injured himself, he was able to perform the vital tasks. Since they'll be on the train for awhile, might as well see what was here.
Boxes was stuffed moderately in the car, they all vary in shapes and sizes. Red Bird saw that it was all labeled "Energizer," and on each boxes was a sticker with a short profile and description of the products they contain. Red Bird tried to walk in the car, he was wobbling from the dizziness brought upon him from train sickness, he managed to open one of the boxes and peer inside. The box contained Energizer batteries, no, not ordinary batteries, lithium batteries. What good is a box of every battery size provide them? Probably nothing, but Red Bird wasn't going to stop there.
He managed to find a box with a sticker saying that it contains flashlights, Red Bird opened up the box as if he was unwrapping a present from Christmas. Inside the box was flashlights, the ones that require 2 Double-A batteries to operate. He found one flashlight that was designed to operate on lithium, conveniently enough it already came with two Double-A lithium batteries. Red Bird grabbed it and ripped off the package, then inserted the Double-A batteries inside. When he turned it on, it gave off a powerful glow bright enough to stun any creature with eyes.
"That's amazing," said RJ, "Back in my day, flashlights weren't that bright. I remember my father had bought the first flashlight ever made back in 1899, it was called a flashlight since it can only give off brief flashes at a time. You have to wind it up to get the bulb going, it only gives off... What? 5 lumens? How much lumens does that flashlight give off?"
Red Bird looked at the packaging, "One-ten," he answered.
"Amazing," said RJ, "Did you know that the company that first sold the flashlight in the market is now owned by Energizer?"
"Everready?"
"Blimey, Red. You know your history well."
"My dad tutored me when I was a chick, he told me more than I need to know about pretty much of everything."
"The Red Baron, how long had I seen him? Since the seventies? You look just like him in almost every detail, except he was more aggressive, vicious like a hawk as we old birds say."
"He mellowed with old age, even though he still perform his job he does it a little slow since the family jewels weren't producing testosterone as they used to. As you can see, they had served their purpose."
RJ laughed out loud, "Just like your old man, a sense of humor."
"How are you holding up RJ?"
"I'm doing fine actually. You know, when I landed from a height of two hundred plus meters, all the wind was blown out of me. Blown out of me so fast, that everything just hurt. Had I collapsed my lung, I might as well be in worse trouble than now."
"I'm not sure I would wanna sleep, I don't wanna wake up in the morning to find you had died overnight."
"Don't worry Red, going through this kind of situation is part of being an Angry Bird."
"Yeah but, I don't feel angry, I feel depressed."
"Had you lost someone before?"
Red Bird thought of it, he fought back the tears. "Yes," he answered, "My brother, I watched him die in an instant."
"I'm sorry," said RJ, "No wonder I found you crying on that pig train."
"His head split open and dumped brain matter everywhere, that was how I knew it was instant death. His body was still twitching by the time I buried him."
"Did you have a funeral?"
"Yes, in fact my brother's death had brought the pigs and birds together. There were a group of pigs who attending, including the king himself. I never seen such sympathy from the pigs before that point in time."
"No wonder it was easier for you to end the second Angry Birds war through peace, instead of a major invasion and assassination like your father had performed in the previous war."
"Yup, not even going through the same torture routine and being a zombie didn't changed my priorities. Well, I had to admit my free will was temporary down, it was all because of what King Pig told me."
"What did he tell you?"
"He told me that he steal the bird's eggs, the prime reason why we had both Angry Birds' wars, so he could feed his family. That sounded incredulous, yet he was telling the truth. There wasn't much food to go around anyway, the fruits and vegetables weren't providing the nutrition the pigs need to function. Even though they eat a lot, doesn't mean they enjoy the food at times."
"I never eat my greens when I was a chick."
"I only eat greens for oral care, made some sort of toothpaste out of them. It tasted like grass, yet mint leaves made it pleasant."
"You've brought hope and dreams to the hearts of the masses, yet not everyone agreed with what you had accomplished, both pigs and birds alike."
"The ones who cried for the destruction of the other. An old yellow-billed loon shot me with a crossbow because of that, I never knew what happened to him after the assassination attempt. I heard he was executed with TNT strapped to his body and exploded, typical for the loons."
"Those loons with an explosive temper."
Both birds laughed, "Yeah," said Red Bird, "I never thought of it that way."
"Speaking of TNT," said RJ, "Back in the castle before I set them all off, the pig boss was bantering you about death threats."
"Old fellow, we both agree in a lot of things, though his common sense had become rusted solid. Vengeance is all that drives him, so I won't be surprise if he had survived. If I play my cards right, I might as well get the pigs to turn on him. But I fear I may start a civil war between the pig's generation."
"It's going to happen anyway, maybe not in 20 or 40 years or even in your lifetime, it's going to happen someday."
"Someday... The birds would suffer the same fate, I plan not to be around when that happen since I will be a target, even when I'm dead."
"I think the same way."
Red Bird went through another box and pulled out an electric lantern and stuffed it with D cell batteries, it let out a bright glow which would save the juice in the lithium flashlight. He looked over to the door and saw that light no longer shines through, night must had fallen, the second day had drawn to a close. Good thing Red Bird had got out those portable lights, or else they would've been in the dark. He turned off his flashlight and walked up to RJ and managed to snuggle in a spot within the crude nest, their combined body heat was enough to keep them warm in the cold train car.
"The next stop should be coming here shortly," said RJ, "We should wrap up our activities here before we leave."
"Good call." said Red Bird.
The birds waited for awhile for the train to stop, 10 minutes had past and the train was beginning to slow down. Another 2 minutes and the train had ground to a halt. Red Bird picked up RJ and grabbed the flashlight before he opened the car's door, he discovered that they're in a train station not far from home, Red Bird waste no time leaping out of the car and into the night. He thought about his mother and father, hoping that they weren't too upset, or ill. If that were the case, then Red Bird will have to endure hell for another two weeks. He crossed his feathers and hoped that wouldn't happen.
. . .
Already night had fallen, Female Red Bird was just near home. She wondered what to say to her kids returning home without their father, she feared that they would grow up without him. Her heart ached as it twist itself into a knot, the closer she get to home the greater her anxiety grew. She looked back in the past, doing her best to ease her suffering. Female Red Bird recalled the day when they had built the hovel, it only took them an hour or two. All in the while, Red Bird was reassuring her that everything will be fine. She believed his word for it.
"Oh Red," she said, "It's gorgeous."
"And private." he replied, nudging her on the side.
Female Red Bird giggled, "Take me a way, mate."
His singing was good, his moves were a lot better. How Female Red Bird remembered the day when she lost her virginity to him, it was an overwhelming experience, yet a part of her wondered if it was right. She had looked at him as affair for months, almost an entire year. Maybe it was worth it, Red was quite honest with her for the most part. Once they were done with mating, he went on and talked how his father past on the leadership to him. He wasn't sure about the job at first, but took it nonetheless. Female Red Bird wondered if she would be a target.
It still hurts that day when she kicked him out for returning with broken eggs, months went by and her sympathy for him took hold. It doesn't happen right away, it takes time, a lot of time, for it to take hold. Once it did, Female Red Bird began crying about it, she wanted to tell how sorry she was to him. Red Bird, of course, had ran out of steam for anger. So did she, and she wanted love, not hate. Only when she realized how much Red Bird loved her when the pigs kidnapped her so she would provide them eggs, he managed to get her out with diplomacy.
Not only did he got her out with diplomacy, Red Bird managed to cut a deal with the pigs about the eggs. He made sure that the hens that were laying the eggs were only chickens, and they were paid for doing so. Of course, why chickens and no other bird? Its because chickens are able to lay eggs 1 or 2 days at a time, not several weeks. White Bird wasn't happy about it, but the birds let it past by regardless.
Female Red Bird want to put the past to bed, she wanted to settle down with Red Bird and raise a family for once. Now Red Bird was missing, and she felt like the past was coming back. She shrugged off the feeling, and approached her home.
When she realized the door was wide open, a chill ran down her spine, her pulse jumped as she approached the door, expecting some big monster to come out and attack her. The place was dark, she couldn't see anything inside, the hut was also cold so the door had been left open for awhile. "Hello?" asked Female Red Bird, "Babies? Orange Bird? Anybody?"
She heard someone groaning, someone was hurt. Female Red Bird approached the fireplace and lit a small flame, once the fire got big enough to illuminate the place she was too horrified to do anything. She stared at shock at her nest, it was destroyed, bits and pieces of it were everywhere. Female Red Bird began panting, she went and shut the door just in case the intruders were still somewhere in the vicinity.
Where were her chicks? She left them in the trust of Orange Bird, the little bird himself appeared beat up, a black eye says it all. "Orange Bird!" cried Female Red Bird as she shook him vigorously, "Wake up!"
"OW! OW! OW! OW!" he said in rapid fire, "Don't, everything hurts!"
"What happened!" she cried, too shocked to give her sympathy to Orange Bird, "Where are the chicks!"
Orange Bird managed too look at her with his remaining eye, the other one was swollen shut from the bad bruise, "The pigs," he said, "They took them, I couldn't stand a chance. We were trapped, there was no way to save the chicks. Please, I need a doctor, I need a doctor!"
"Calm down," said Female Red Bird, "I'll get you help, it's okay, everything is going to be okay."
TO BE CONTINUED...