Chapter 29

Flocke reflected the smile that shone on Shiny's face. He was going to enjoy being his friend. When Larimar pulled Shiny to her side Flocke smiled. She was not enjoying being mommy, and it amused him. As funny as it was though, he knew he'd help her take care of Shiny. He wasn't going to let her take care of an hour old chick, alone, when she was only a few days old herself.

Turning back towards the fading light of day, Flocke waited for the others to return. He looked up into the multi-colored sky, and watched as the colors changed into darker shades. He could hear the night critters beginning to come out. Crickets were chirping, and the hoots of large birds could be heard in the distance. Normally Flocke felt tired by this time, but for once, he actually felt just as awake as the animals surrounding him.

Taking in a deep breath, Flocke let the evening chill enter his nostrils. He didn't know why, but he felt like he was going to enjoy the night.

Only a minute or so's walk away Skah and Ghost labored on. They thought that they hadn't gone far but pulling something twice your combined weight made any distance seem great. And Skah's pain was returning.

They stopped for a moments breath, they were only 15 metres away now. Gathering their last reserves of strength using more than their fair share of determination they hauled the food the last few metres depositing it a small distance away from the tree so as not to lead predators straight to their bolt hole.

Skah collapsed sideways, exhausted and closed his eyes. Ghost was not in much better shape, but she had enough energy to call out to Flocke, who she could see standing at the mouth of their den. "Flocke, we have food", her voice rang clear through the quiet, before she too dropped down to rest.

Flocke looked away from the sky when he heard Ghost call out. He smiled broadly when he saw the food, but it was quickly swept away by a frown when he saw Skah's collapsed form. Flocke quickly looked into the cave and said, "Food's here guys, get up.", before trotting over to the older two. He didn't know if they heard him or not. Lolly was probably too deep in sleep to have heard him, but Larimar and Shiny might have. He didn't have time to make sure- he wanted to know what was wrong with Skah. (And he wanted to eat, but I digress...)

"What happened?" he asked worriedly. There didn't seem to be any injuries, the two just seemed exhausted. However, Flocke didn't mistake the flash of pain that flew across Skah's eyes. He lent closer to the older male, though kept a respectable distance. "Are you okay Matoskah?" he asked quietly. As hungry as Flocke was, he wasn't going to start eating if one of his companions was hurt.

"Got kicked", Skah grunted, "nothings broken though". Skah rolled over facing away from the food. His appetite was gone for now, lost in pain. In truth his leg was so painful that it could of been broken, but he could support himself on it so he thought it couldn't be. Flocke was still hovering around so Skah in moment of softness joked, "No tree climbing for me for a couple of days".

Ghost set about opening to carcass so that they could get to the softer insides. The younger chicks wouldn't have the strength to tear through the outer skin. Once she had succeeded to open the kill up she tore several strips of meat of gulping them down whole. After several minutes of this she tore a few strips of meat off and dragged them over to Skah. "You have to eat to Skah", she whispered quietly before sitting down and directing her strong gaze upon her friend. She wasn't going to move until he ate.

Flocke laughed lightly at Skah's joke. "Yeah? Me neither... Too many birds." he softly joked back. He walked over to the carcass and began digging in. It tasted great. When he was done, he walked over near Skah and Ghost and laid down. He stayed alert, making sure to not let himself get sleepy. "I'm gonna take first watch tonight." he told the two. "Lolly is exhausted, Larimar has Shiny to look after, and you two did the most work out of all of us today, so you deserve to sleep..." he paused for a moment, before continuing. "I'm sorry about today. I shouldn't have climbed so high. I wasn't thinking. I won't do it again, I promise." he said quietly. Not only did he get caught so the others had to go save him, but he also put Larimar in danger. He made a mental note to be more careful from then on out.

"But on the bright side," he said weakly. "We found Shiny because of it!" he laughed, but there was no humor behind it. Even with the happy note, the cons far outweighed the pros. Flocke tilted his head in apology towards Skah. "I really am sorry."

Getting somewhat exasperated, Skah forced himself to eat the meat that Ghost had brought him. He then ignored her completely. Flocke's sincere apology forced Skah to not be so gruff about things, "Its fine Flocke." But he added as an after thought, "Maybe a bit more thinking wouldn't hurt though." He decided that he needed the warmth of the den, so he pulled himself to his feet and worked his way to the den, hopping along on three legs. Parting he reed curtain he stumped over to Lolly and dropped down near her. He wasn't that out of sorts that he would break his normal distancing behaviour.

Ghost was pleased when Skah ate the meat she had saved for him. She was less pleased when he ignored her afterwards. When he hopped away she made to follow him, before changing her mind and deciding to stay with Flocke for a while. She was tired, but she was a creature of the night, it was when she felt the most comfortable, flitting through the shadows, unseen and unheard. She rolled over so that she was next to Flocke, surprising him. "You know, he's not as cold as he seems", she remarked.

Flocke watched the entrance of the hollow, as if Skah were still limping through it. He had been surprised when Ghost rolled up next to him. He didn't feel like he was getting very close to the older two, social wise, so the act was somewhat startling. However, he got over it quickly, and looked back to the hollow's entrance. He pondered on Ghost's words, and knew they were true. He thought about it for maybe a second before realizing why Skah was so cold to him.

"He just wants to be in charge." he replied without thinking. Then he realized how insulting his words could sound. "Well, what I mean is- I can feel it too. There's a need to be the one making the decisions and to tell everyone what to do. I can feel, deep down inside, a need to tell Skah to go away, because I want to tell everyone what to do."

But I don't like the feeling. My head is saying, Be in charge, but I know that, that's not me. I'm not an in charge griffin. It makes me feel mean and bossy. It makes me think I don't like Skah, but I know that's not really true. I think Skah is really cool! He's stronger than me, smarter than me and bigger than me. I want to be like him, but I don't want to be the boss of him. He can do that, because I don't want to. Even if my head is telling me to."

Skah only acts cold because he has similar thoughts. I think his head is saying the same thing about me. It's telling him that he doesn't like me, but I hope he'll learn that he doesn't have to worry. I'll tell my head, No, for him. So he can be the leader." Flocke finished with that. It felt nice to not only figure out why Skah was distant towards him (And him to Skah) but also to be able to talk about it. Yeah, it was Ghost he was talking to, but he felt like he could share it with her.

Stretching, Flocke looked back up to the sky and gasped. The sun had gone down completely, and now the stars were out. Millions upon millions of shiny blinking lights filled Flocke's eyes. "Pretty..." he said quietly in awe. He decided then and there that, yes, he would like to someday fly. If only to touch one of those pretty lights.

Ghost listened to Flocke's thoughts attentively. She rather liked listening to Flocke, Skah wasn't much of a talker. She didn't quite understand the relationship between the two males, but then maybe that was it. She was female and they were male, we think differently.

She let the thought go and looked up at the stars with Flocke. She to thought they looked pretty. Tentatively she said, "I wish I could catch one of them, and keep it, like you do your feather."

Inside the tree, Skah had drifted off into an uneasy rest. One thought kept repeating, You are the future.

Flocke turned to Ghost, surprised that she had been thinking similarly to him. He then smiled and nodded his head in agreement. "When we learn how to fly, I'll fly up there with you and help you catch one!" he liked this plan. He looked back up to the stars and watched them as he continued the conversation.

"So, you've been with Skah since you've hatched right? You must be best friends by now! I can tell he trusts you more than us. His gaze softens a bit when he looks at you." Flocke was surprised at his attention to such a small detail. He hadn't realized he had noticed it until he spoke of it. He decided to change the subject. "Do you remember what your mother sounded like?"

Larimar woke up to the sounds of Shiny's hungry peeps. Still half-asleep, she growled, "Go catch something yourself!" The black chick started shaking her, begging for food. "Ugh." Larry sat up, her eyes opening a crack. She took in a deep breath. "Food...food! They did it! Come on, Shiny!"

She dragged him out with her, not even bothering to let him regain his footing. She passed by Skah and Lolly. It surprised her to see him sleeping already. It must have been quite some hunt. She saw Flocke and Ghost outside, eating from a dead...thing. Larimar paused. What was that creature? It was bigger than anything they'd ever caught before and had weird, long legs.

"What'd you catch?" she asked as she jogged over. Not waiting for an answer, she started tearing at some of its leg. Whatever it was, it tasted great. Shiny looked at it with wide eyes. His beak filled with saliva, and he suddenly knew that he was hungry, and this would relieve his hunger. He made a little nip at it. Delicious flavor filled his mouth. So this is food.