Chapter 19 - Polly Wanna Cracker?
A/N: Attention Readers: I know you're out there! Thanks to that nice little hit counter, I know just how many of you read and don't review. Flames and fans are welcome. I would just like some feedback. I don't care if you're opinion is 'you suck' or 'you rock.' Feedback would be nice. I will respond and return the favor to the best of my abilities. Thanks!
An hour or so later, Green, Blue and Red were chilling in another, less violent, pub. Red had turned back into the exotic parrot after she'd finished her meal so she could fly around and cause general mayhem and mirth while picking at scraps of other people's lunches.
Green gave a short, sharp whistle to call the bird back to her. Red began to waddle to the end of the table she was currently entertaining, paused, then snatched the last grape from a rather stern looking man's plate, before taking off and alighting on Green's shoulder.
"Satisfied?" Green asked. The parrot burped.
"Where are we going now?" Blue questioned as the three made their way to the door.
"I just need to pick up a few things," Green told her. Red flapped her wings. Blue did not feel good about this.
Black rode back with the men to the Horse Men's capital. Edoras was one of the few people settlements she could still tolerate. It was filled with horsy smells, sounds, sights, and the like. Any people who were good horse people Black could get along with. So long as she didn't actually have to talk to any of them.
She started humming as she thought about her plan. Perhaps this time it would actually work. She'd been waiting for so long to just…end.
"You there!" came a voice from behind. Somehow she didn't think he was talking to the pack horse.
Blue waited outside a dark, shabby shop in the more sinister part of town, waiting for Green to re-emerge. Red had refused to go anywhere near the evil looking place, so instead she took off to circle the sky like a vulture.
When Green came out she looked none the worse. She still had the same blank, unreadable expression on her face and Blue could detect nothing else different upon her person.
Red saw Green appear and dive-bombed toward them.
"Bwraaack!" she squawked as she misjudged the distance and tumbled into the dirt. She got back up woozily, and stumbled a few steps before she flapped her wings and landed on Green's shoulder.
"You!" the man shouted again. Black remained facing forward. "In the black robe!" he called. Black looked around.
"I'm sorry, were you speaking to me?" she asked.
"I've seen you before," he mused.
"Is that a fact?" Black said. "Huh." She turned back around and pulled up her hood. The mounted man trotted up next to her.
"You attacked me," he stated simply.
"I assure you, it was nothing personal," Black replied. She cast a glance at the blondish horseman. "It was a simple mistake." His clothes never would have fit her properly.
"The Dwarf said you could throw fire with your fingers."
"Loose-lipped idiot," Black grumbled.
"Who are you?" the horseman demanded. Black smirked.
She shot a jet of flames out of her finger. "Black Fire," she answered, blowing the smoke off her fingertip. "Nice to meet you." She held out her hand. He eyed her suspiciously and did not take her hand. Black pulled it back with smug satisfaction.
"Run along, now, Horsy-boy," she said. "I'm sure you have important things to attend to."
He eyed her again before spurring his mount forward.
"Simpleton," Black scoffed. "Albeit, a nice looking one."
Green, Blue, and the parrot Red walked into yet another pub later that day. Red bobbed up and down on Green's shoulder, sizing up the occupants. As they walked through the crowd, one young man with black hair noticed Red.
"That is a beautiful bird," he told Green, in a light, airy voice. Red preened and cocked her head.
"Hm?" Green said absentmindedly. "Oh, yeah…"
"Polly wanna cracker?" he asked, holding out a wafer.
Red squawked. "Polly wanna beer," she said. Then she took flight and landed on the bar, leaving the young man in shocked disbelief.
Green pushed her way through all the people to stand next to Red, who was squawking at the bartender.
"Beer!" she cawed. "Beer! Beer!" She flapped her wings incessantly.
"Shoo, stupid bird," the bartender growled.
"Beer!"
"Just give her one," Green said. The bartender looked at her as if she'd just sprouted horns. Green nodded, so the barkeep shrugged and filled up a mug and set it in front of Red.
Red hopped toward the mug and dunked her beak inside. She came back up, ale dripping from her bill. She let out a bird belch and fell over. When she woke up again she was still lying on the bar, but Green and Blue were not around.
Red staggered to her feet and tried flying to her companion's table. She faltered and went sprawling onto the tabletop of two men's dining table. They looked down at her with shock and amusement.
"Well that was interesting," one said.
Red jumped back up and shook out her wings. One of the men was short and squat with scraggly gray sideburns. The other was the pirate man with the dreads and feather and gold-capped teeth.
"I know that parrot," he mused.
Red fluffed herself up.
"I think it likes ye, Jack," the other man said.
"Sorry about that," Green interrupted, leaning between the two men and seizing Red. The parrot wriggled and shrieked in protest, but Green held fast. As they exited the bar, Green put Red back on her shoulder.
"Polly wanna Jack," Red squawked.
"What I do not understand is how she survived the explosion of the wall," Aragorn said, as he, Gimli, Legolas, and Éomer discussed the black-clad woman.
"We knew she possessed some kind of sinister magic," Legolas insisted.
"Yes," Aragorn continued, "but I saw her. She was in the culvert when it ruptured…"
"I witnessed it as well," the Elf told him.
"Humph," Gimli huffed. "She's evil. Some kind of dark magician. We should just have her head and be done with it."
"Did you not say, Aragorn, that the woman wished to throw herself into the fires of Mount Doom?" asked Éomer.
"Yes."
"Well then," said Gimli, "problem solved! Let her kill herself!"
"What if she falls into the hands of the Enemy?"
"Well…"
"But if the rocks did not kill her, are we sure the lava will?"
"No," came a low rasp from a small distance behind the companions. They all turned to see the dark woman sitting placidly on her dark horse, face hidden in the shadows of her hood. "But I mean to try all the same."