Chapter Twenty-Six: Head for east
The hawk chicks were inseparable with Rapunzel after getting attack by the gopher snake. They huddle up, Joan and Rai closely on each side and Jin in front of Rapunzel every night and day. They seem to grow on her. Rapunzel decided to stay with them for a while. Few days have pass and Rapunzel notices the chicks' are losing their feathers. Knowing they're molting and getting bigger. Then a week later both side of their wings have dark brown juvenile feathers and shows some reddish brown on their chest and throat. The hawk chicks are resemble into adult hawk and they're starting to learn how to fly. It may take weeks till their grown in the meantime they stay with their mother. But as for Rapunzel however, she thought it was time to leave the nest. She pack up her things, faced forward to the mother hawk and the chicks.
"Well, this is it, I'm leaving," she said "Goodbye, mother hawk and thank you for letting me stay in your nest." Rapunzel gave a hug to the mother hawk and came to the chicks and said "You three be good now and please don't play rough. I'm gonna miss all of you." The mother hawk and her chicks gave her hugs and cuddle with their heads. Rapunzel walk over the nest and fling her long golden hair around the tree branch and rappelled herself, climb down from branch to branch and land on the ground. Rapunzel wave goodbye and went on.
She walked and walked then came to a running stream, she stoop down, drank and splashed her face, and fill her gourd up with water. About the time she finished, her plan was to go back to the Beaks but it is in the far east of this land. Rapunzel got going again, and walking to an open plains with few of trees, dry creek beds. Nine 'o clock, she scrambled up the slopes, as she got on top, went on through from bush to bush later she stopped for a rest, then moving on.
On and on by morning. At night, Rapunzel traveled a little until it was time to make camp and found a burrow, climbed in and rested. Woke up early in the morning and she journey out.
Rapunzel walked and walked to tall green grassy field when suddenly she saw something, an unusually bird. It had a long neck and legs, its plumage were shaggy brown with a black tip and pale blue on its neck. It had wings but the body was too large to support lifting off the ground. It seem to be a flightless bird, a largest flightless bird about one point five high, Rapunzel has ever seen. The emu pecks the ground to get a morsel of worms. Rapunzel came up to the emu saying "Hello, there." The emu fixed its eyes to Rapunzel.
"Yes, well sorry to disturb you. I know you're eating but it will be quick. Do you know the way to get to the-" The emu run a little from her and pecking the ground. "That's seem rude." She came up to the emu again and said "As I was-" But she didn't finished as the emu move from her again, pecking the ground. Rapunzel was little impatient and came up in front from the emu and said "Please, if you can just-" The emu move away from her yet again. It's obvious the emu doesn't want to cooperate, as the large bird pecking out the worms, she ran up and grabbed hold on its left leg. The emu didn't really care of Rapunzel holding onto its leg or even run, the emu kept on pecking the ground. Rapunzel climbed its long leg to its shaggy feathers and up on the emu's back, she hold on its neck.
"Okay, then I guess, riding on you will get some bound to the Beaks. We'll go on east from here. So uh…go." The emu finished its meal and started running, Rapunzel was bumping up and down on emu's back holding tight. The emu ran through the long dry grassland and then stopped. Rapunzel moved her head to aside and saw they were at the edge of cliff, further away in the distance she saw another cliff edge showing vegetation of eucalyptus woodland and towering rocky spires, it was the Beaks. But between her and the Beaks was a sea that leads to the north of the Sea of Hoolemere. She can never make it across the cliff of the Beaks and the emu can't swim that far. And so she turn the emu around and back to the grassland.
"If I can't get to the Beak, I just have to find another way," Rapunzel thought. They journeyed through the wide open field few miles and later at night they stopped for a rest. The emu sat down, legs folded, Rapunzel hop off of its back lay next to the large bird and they fall asleep. The emu woke up eight times, preening its plumage and got up foraging some grass then lay with its knees down to the ground next to Rapunzel and went into a deep sleep.
The next day they set out.
The emu paced through the wide open field, Rapunzel look around the land, it seem to be nothing. And thought to herself what sort of land is this. They traveled on and on still in the field then the emu stopped itself, Rapunzel wondered why the emu stopped move her head to the left and noticed they came to an slopes edge beyond was a forest. Rapunzel want to go through the vast land but the emu didn't budge, with stubbornness it didn't want to go in there. Then Rapunzel said "Well, I guess this ends here. Can you lower yourself down so I may get off?" And the emu did and Rapunzel hop off its back and continued "I'll go from here. You can go back to the plains now, thank you. For letting me ride even if I did climb up on your back." Rapunzel hugged the emu, began climbing down the slopes.
"Farewell."
The emu stood up and watched on as Rapunzel walked to the forest and disappeared.