"Well, you have done that right!" Scolded the dancer the bigger one.
"I can't help it, that it happens all the time. If the guy sleeps so often, I can't use him for anything." After the yellow bird was put back in the nest and two other magical creatures should stay there to look for him, the master of the house dragged the music box to the big fireplace, where he usually thought about things. It's nice by the warm fire and in his self made armchair. Because no piece of furniture was big enough for him here. After those black days, he could be glad that the door of this property was built big enough to fit inside. He also occasionally hit his head against the ceiling, in some places, but his skull had to endure, because he didn't know where to go. He had to build the winter garden a little bit bigger last summer, but that wasn't as difficult as previously thought. He was used to taking care of himself since childhood. Who needed company if you could engage in meaningful work? He didn't need help from this very nimble bird, but there were penalties for learning from it.
At first he also wanted to punish the singing figure for a longer time, but she seemed to be the only one who could talk normally with the intruder. When he briefly reflected in the window, he also knew again the reason for it.
"Did it ever occur to you that he may be afraid? Besides, you could have brushed your teeth after eating the jam bread. Now that I see it that way, you can really think it looks like blood." Guilty, the bigger one immediately closed his mouth. He didn't really think about that before and he really should know what he looked like. He himself destroyed all mirrors here in a fit of rage, so he never must look at himself again. Over the time, he just forgot how disgusting he was because his housemates were getting used to it somehow.
"Hey, if you want, I can make sure he does his work here right." The little creature at least tried to make the other one feel better. Yes, she thought he should be responsible for his outbursts, but not for his appearance, which he couldn't change.
"You're right. It's better if I don't let myself be seen again." Returned the monster monotonously, and left the room. The singer couldn't even say that she didn't mean it that way. But it was useless to call after the master if he remained in this mood. Then he always ignored everything around him. Maybe she should take the opportunity and warm herself up here by the fire a little. Without her friends, she can't move so fast with her box, and since her guest slept again, it would probably be useless to walk up to this.
Although they weren't all really hungry or anything that felt living beings, it also got cold now and then. Especially when she tried to think of the past. Even though she might not really want to think of it, but something in her believed that the yellow bird would redeem them all. He probably didn't know that, but the fact that he happened to find the property here might have been fate. How was she supposed to teach that to the master? Or would it be better to keep him from this idea? He liked his conservatory with these beautiful flowers. Nevertheless, he wouldn't want to keep their guest here forever, for one broken rose.
The singer shook her head and lies down in her box. She started wondering again how she could leave from this place and she was already looking through all the books and scrolls here. Nothing pointed to their condition and also the landlord himself, couldn't help there. He just got angry when she wanted to talk about that subject. So she tried to sleep a little for now until someone woke her up again.
"What did you think you're doing?" Someone inquired angrily. The purple bird that was addressed ignored that with an eye roll.
"I'm talking to you, princess!" Gale knew he only used the name to annoy her because she wasn't of noble birth. Even though she liked to pretend it, these disguises still didn't make it true. Just as little could her two companions sham others forever. Eventually, a bird will sooner or later notice what they are planning. She would rather not be here then. Even if she was actually looking for something in this place.
"Just be glad he's gone. In that way you can accomplish your plan faster. The house is empty and there is no wedding." Because she had no desire for that. To marry an impatient and childish bird just so that he was no longer single. She admitted he wasn't as intrusive as other men before him. Still, that doesn't mean she must marry this guy right away.
"What if he told someone where he went and who led him to it? How does it look like, the fiancé sends her husband into the forest and isn't worried at all, as this doesn't come back? Do you want us to appear suspicious?" You do that yourself, she thought.
"As fast as he ran around and at that time, he wasn't meeting anyone. At least he brings me something if I want it. Both of you have slackened a bit at that." Gale was a little angry, because she could use new things here and there. Always the same clothes and jewelry will eventually be boring.
Without much warning, the bigger seized being grabbed her and pushed her against the wall. The wing, which was only put on the arm, was now briefly thrown to the ground. Hooves came to the light, holding the purple bird by the throat.
"You shouldn't allow yourself too much with me. Nobody but me can give you all that luxury, and you know it. But you seem to forget that my generosity isn't infinite and that you are replaceable. Nobody knows you exactly here. If you're gone tomorrow, nobody will look for you." With that he released her and she fell to the ground, breathing heavily. He grinned, picked up the false wing and vanished from the room, seeming sure that these words were enough to keep her on track.
The left-behind bird tried to calm down again. Maybe it was really wrong of her to send the yellow one to a search of a rose. She knew very well he wouldn't find any at this time of the year. Before, she never had that bad feeling what was in her mind now. However, since they entered this village, some things have been different anyway. Gale already knew this area, but no one probably remembered her because she only met with one bird on her last visit. At that time, she didn't disguise herself like that and didn't have such crude appendages with her.
She took the key from her jewelry box, which she always hid, and unlocked the beautiful thing in the closet. Some chains and bracelets came to light. One exemplar wasn't so shiny and studded with any jewels. A black and probably self-braided leather strap with a wooden medallion. It looked like a heart and she opened it always with caution. A picture with a smiling pink bird came to her face. She listened again if anyone should enter her room and looked at the window. But nobody seemed to be there to watch her. So she sighed sadly as she looked at the small picture. Just a mourning, but also disappointing memory. The friend on the picture was gone and sometimes she wondered if she could have changed anything at the end.
But why would that have been her job? No, she thought indignantly, closing the old thing so she wouldn't see that smile anymore. She put the medallion back in the box. What could she have changed? After all, her friend wrote her no more letters for no reason and also ignored her papers. Although she also visited the house where the other one used to live, there were other birds living there now. She didn't even asked if they knew something. She didn't want any more disappointing answers. Like, for example, that her friend was tired of writing to her and found a better company with whom she left.
She could do that too, she thought back then, and so began her journey on the water with these strange characters. It lacked nothing so far. So why did a feeling in her say she had to change? Why did it have to be right here that her head whispers such things to her? It's probably just old memories that make her go crazy in this place. But that she will not allow. So she went outside to play the worried woman and to see if anyone saw her fiancé.
Should she have behaved differently with Chuck and perhaps talked to him about whether he had seen or even known her friend? After all, he had been living here for some time. But the taller guy she was traveling with wouldn't tolerate her questioning. Not after he thought that he revealed everything to this sad truth. Even if his story is true, why did he want to return to that village? Here to this place, where supposedly a monster lived nearby, that ate birds and anything else. He also told the residents here, who confirmed that some villagers were already gone. But no one here saw the alleged monster itself, because no one could really describe it. Or rather, no one objected when Leonard said it was several feet high with huge sharp claws and bloodthirsty eyes. Maybe there was something living in the woods. Maybe not, and the birds got lost in the bushes. Because the green areas here weren't exactly small. But her fiancé allegedly had this ability to run at lightning speed since birth, so that one can't see it with the eye.
Creepy, when she thought of what this bird was taking advantage of. But somehow the guy didn't feel like a voyeur. He would also have to show more interest in her. Or did he hide everything very well with this special talent?
The brooding made no sense, because now he was gone. And finally she saw a few birds, whom she could complain to with her suffering. After all, she just had to speak enough chatterboxes, so she didn't have to run through the whole village. Take a quick look back and pretend to search around in panic. A handkerchief in the wing, was always helpful, so you could play the worried woman better.
'You shouldn't lie to birds so often!' A voice blamed her in her thoughts. But Gale ignored those words. Her friend is gone, so she didn't have to follow her speech, which was supposed to make her better. Surely it would also be heard that she had sunk very low at the moment. But her actions brought her what she needed to live, so she wouldn't refrain from doing so, just because an old phantom is advising her. Why does she found it so hard to let the past rest?
The yellow bird woke up again, but this time because something was on it. Did the monster torture him and he didn't feel the pain properly because his body was so weak? Maybe he didn't live anymore and so felt the time after death.
"Get up!" Somebody tried to wake him up and Chuck instantly knew that he was still lying in that soft bed. Carefully, he opened his eyes, but the huge figure had luckily disappeared from the room. Even the little dancer didn't seem to be here anymore. Only the other two objects were still in here with him. One of them was on his stomach, so it felt like he was being pushed lightly. It began to bounce, which then became uncomfortable for him and so he sat up to push the orange-black being away from him.
"I'm getting up already." He said, doing the said thing from the nest to take a better look at the figures. He also wanted to distance himself, than the smaller one looked like, as if it wanted to attack him.
"It's about time. Congratulations again that you could annoy the master so much. First you make it worse and then also sleeping for a long time!" Threw the little something to his head.
"It really wasn't..." Tried to interfere the almost black thing. This burned even on the head and arms. Ah, a candle, albeit a very round one, the bird assumed here.
"Yes, it was supposedly not his intention. You're repeating yourself. Why are you actually defending this guy? Who must endure the whims of the Lord again? We! And to whom do we owe it? Him!" The small bowl with lid ranted. The tallest in the room couldn't control himself and ran to the little angry thing to open it. Candies came to his eyes. So this was a container for it. Even though he was fast, his actions were nevertheless noticed.
"Hey! Who do you thing you are to allow yourself to do this?" Scolded the dish.
"Excuse me. But you also have to understand my curiosity a bit. You don't see something like that every day."
"Of course, we understand that. I would too.." Again, the candle was interrupted by the other talking subject.
"If you had just walked out after the night like a polite bird, you would never have seen us. Then maybe we would have been spared a lot. Hey, what are you two doing? You can't just let him walk around here ?!" The last sentence went to the black and round object that hopped after the yellow one. The guest didn't let him even to talk to the end, how rude, the sweets bowl thought. This was ignored by the other two. Because they stepped in the corridor already out of sight. Angrily, the crockery jumped from the edge of the bed to a cushion that was lying on the floor so it wouldn't break, and then quickly into the hallway. Well, yes, at least as fast as the creature did it.
"If I'm not allowed to leave that easy, I should at least be able to take a look around here." Chuck said and now looked around in peace, because he could hear no growl or heavy footsteps. That meant the host wasn't nearby. It calmed him down a bit for now.
"That's true and I'll gladly show you everything." The candle also seemed to be as friendly as the music or jewelry box. He wasn't sure there. But at least then someone was here to help him. Somehow.
"You can't just run around here as you want. This is not a museum!" The orange-black thing raged again.
"What if I should get your master something from another room that you can't carry. How am I supposed to do that without infuriating him, because I don't know anything about this place?" The dish wanted to object again, but then thought about it.
"Fine. But if it really has to be, then I'll go ahead." And so the bowl hopped proudly ahead, while the two in the back looked at each other shortly satisfied, before they also walked on.
Normally, the yellow one would run through here as fast as possible, to look at everything, so that he could disappear afterwards. But probably a second escape attempt would only end in the cold forest again. And this time forever, because the monster had no desire to drag him back. He paused for a moment at these thoughts, because the big something could have simply left him out there to his freezing death. Or this wanted to feed him really fat for a snack later. That would at least explain the good breakfast. Maybe the birds from the village disappeared in another way and he wrongly accused someone because he was thinking of all the fairy tales from his childhood. The one where the monster is always killed and the noble prince saves his beautiful princess.
His life wasn't such a great story. Yes, the monster almost frightened him several times to death and he still had terrible fear. He must have been crazy before, just throw an inappropriate tone at this. Despite all that, he was neither tortured and still was in one piece.
"So here is the kitchen. If you must, eat a small.." But the candy bowl didn't come to the end of the sentence.
"That's huge!" Chuck said loudly, because what he had at home, you could hardly call a kitchen. He had to look at everything quickly now.
"Hey, stop it! If you mess things up, the Lord will certainly prolong your punishment. Do you really want that?" But the fast bird didn't really listen to that. He had never seen so many different spices. Some of them weren't smelling really good for him, but he also had no idea what food you made with it. A door in the kitchen suggested that there was more.
"No! You leave that door.. And he already runs into the cellar. The Lord will be hopping mad." The scolding of the orange-and-black thing was beginning to be a plead, than it had no desire for the anger that would follow later, just because an intruder did what he wanted here.
"It's not that bad if he looks around a bit." Added the candle with a smile. Immediately they heard a strum from below.
"Not bad, huh? He will make sure that the Lord is miserable for the whole next season. My nerves." Complained the smaller object before both hurriedly hopped down the stairs.
"Ahhhhh!" Both shouted almost simultaneously as they reached the bottom, than the yellow bird lay lifeless on the ground and covered in blood. The shelf in front wobbled a bit. Did something fall off and hurt this yellow speed now?
"We have to alert the master!" The round burning thing was already jumping up, trying to be as loud as possible.
"But.." Tried to find the dish some objections but also going up again.
"We can't just leave him there!" Now it was the candle that looked a little angry.
"You're right. You keep shouting and I use the servant bell in the kitchen." But the bowl of sweets had barely said it when it was already ringing in the room.
"What are you three doing here? Anyway, don't go into the cellar!" The announcement of the orange-black object, was meant for the toys, that now wild pulled on the string of the bell.
"It's good that you were close by, we wouldn't have come up here so fast." Admitted the wax creature and then set out to make noise in the corridor, hoping the Lord noticed it. It wasn't long before they heard the heavy footsteps.
"What is going on here?" Inquired the owner of the house a little annoyed, because he didn't sleep long in his bed. When he saw the faces of the others, he already knew what was going on.
"I really tried everything, but he didn't want to listen to me." Meant the dish, but the candle mixed in worried and slightly hoarse.
"Quick, he is in the basement!" And without further questions, the biggest one ran in the cellar. Once there, he got a shock. But nevertheless bent immediately down after the yellow bird. He puffed in relief as he realized his guest was still alive. Even if this was unwanted and he himself was considered a monster, he still doesn't want someone in his estate to be harmed.
"Is he about to.." The candy bowl didn't dare to utter it's thoughts.
"No, he is not." Answered the big figure and locked the basement once and put another barrel of oatmeal in front of it, what was just behind the door.
"But all the blood.."
"It's just wine. Some bottles certainly fell off the shelf because someone played there despite the ban." The three toys immediately looked guilty to the ground.
"We'll talk about it later. I'll take care of him first. Ashes, start to heat the bath water. Sweets?"
"Yes, master?"
"Prepare a little something to eat. Our... guest will soon be hungry again." Even if the dish didn't really want, it nodded in agreement.
"And you three help him." The three toys were also satisfied with the decision. After that, the big guy went to the bathroom with the unconscious bird.
"Again he is unconscious. Slowly I wonder if he did it on purpose so he doesn't have to work." The beast sighed and glanced down at the bird in his paws. Well, the wine dyed the plumage pretty red.
"What am I thinking about? This time it really was an accident." Now that this guy was so calm on his arms, he could actually look closer at it. A moment later, he immediately shook his head, because why would he want to do that? It's not like he's never seen a bird in his life. A faint whimpering came from below and he paused in his steps. The bathroom was already in sight. With his big steps, the building seemed rather small. Oh, he shouldn't worry about what that yellow something made for noise and just wash it fast. Maybe some red on the feathers wasn't just wine.
Great, now he had to investigate this criminal again on injuries. There he thought he could just punish this with some work and even stay away at the time. Why must it be so complicated?