"Would you please carry me down, then I can talk to him about it." The dancer took him out of his mind and Chuck looked again to the conservatory to briefly consider whether the monster lingers longer in there, but did that demanded fast then.
"Next time I would it prefer slower. Your wings are shaking pretty much when.. I want to go to the room with the big fireplace. This here is closed anyway." Stellar explained as they were standing in front of a door that was more in the shade in the corner. The bird almost missed it, but he stopped with caution and looked for the landlord.
"The whole nailed boards in front of it say that really well." He added and of course, the curiosity immediately came up in him.
"What's behind it?"
"I.. I do not know." Then she answered honestly, because she really would like to know too. But as the Lord said that only bulky waste was stored here, she believed him and asked no further questions. It wasn't that the three blues were not trying to look through the keyhole on a chair. Or the others tried removing the nails from the wood. But they were all too weak and really many boards and nails were used. Besides, it would also be noticed if they all work together at the door. So they never tested it out.
"Let me guess, it's the only locked room here in this place and he doesn't want you to look in there." That only got his curiosity going even more.
"He said there was nothing important behind it." The singer also knew that it now sounded unbelievable.
"A monster I think doesn't really belong, lives here with six magical objects, or whatever you are in this huge estate and there happens to be an obstructed space that, of course, that shouldn't be entered." The bird's words came out of the beak too fast, but in his frustration of getting stuck here, he did not really know what to do.
"Please, do not call him that anymore." She asked, because she did not like it from the start. But Chuck did not listen because he was already working on the door. The way back to the kitchen, to look for a sturdy fork or something similar, he brought in a quick moment behind him. He just had to look into it. A big saw blade, which first came into his eyes, would probably have to do the job as well. Back at the door with the boards, he immediately went for it.
The lady in the jukebox wanted to prevent him from doing so, but she didn't do so loudly because she didn't want to alarm the Lord. Besides, she finally wanted to know what was here. Maybe here behind the wood was the solution to everything.
Even though the yellow was fast, it took some time to find out how to remove the nails. And then Stellar heard a noise and she looked into the still empty corridor.
"He's back in here." She tried to warn the working bird, who still had two boards in front of him, until the door was completely clear of the wood.
"Finally." He announced pleased, but hit the wings again on the beak, because it was pronounced a little too loud. The lock of the door itself seemed destroyed. That's probably why it was locked up differently. Footsteps approaching were now heard.
"What should I do now?" He inquired desperately softly at the small figure.
"Why did you have to distribute the wood that way? Ditch it as fast as you can in the shadow. Or better right in there." She blinked and half was already gone.
"And now?"
"Can you still bring me to the fireplace room? I distract him and you look around the room. But please quietly!" Said and done so Chuck ran as fast as he could. He knew the monster couldn't catch him so easily and yet he still got scared.
"Huh?" The big something looked inquiringly down the corridor. He hid only in the corner in the shadow, breathing with fear a little harder, than from the run.
"What is it?" Inquired the little figure to distract from the hallway and the bird.
"It was like.. Surely only a breeze. I should bring a bit more wood here too. Somehow it's chilly in here today." Relieved, the feathered leaned against the wall as the monster strode all the way to the room with the fireplace. So he crept cautiously into the forbidden room, expecting everything. Apart from complete darkness. There probably were no windows here or they were nailed up as well. What now? He didn't even have matches. And then the talking candle came to his mind. But was it really smart to get that now? If he often ran in and out of the room, the landlord would notice it at some point. He wasn't deaf and just noticed him as a breeze. Did the other birds in his village really notice him too? He didn't know it, because he lived alone until now. Unimportant.
Nevertheless, he stormed out of the room again and as if summoned, Ashes wasn't far away in the corridor. This was just taking a breath to tell him something, but he didn't allow it. He took the object, shut his mouth where he suspected it, and ran back into the dark room.
"Well, let's take a close look at everything here. Stellar sits with your master in the fireplace room and distracts it for so long as possible." Then he took his yellow wing from the magic object.
"But how did you manage take away all the.."
"Pssst! Whisper." As soft as he could, he barely managed to stop himself from making a sound of astonishment as he started to look away from the candle. Apparently he arrived in the treasury. Gold, silver and jewels wherever you look. Large paintings that didn't look cheap were also hidden here. Some frames looked like real gold. With the stuff that was lying around, it was definitely all real. He curiously opened one of the many chests standing around. Fabrics with which you could make the most beautiful clothes came to light. As he passed Ashes around more, he also noticed scratch marks on some things. Because the pictures were so huge, he noticed only when he saw them close that many of them were destroyed.
Probably from big claws, which unfortunately he had seen up close too. Nevertheless, he still could see birds in these pictures. Mostly birds in red tones that looked proudly or perhaps bored to the painter. At least that's how it was, in the pictures where he could still recognize faces.
So there seemed to be something true in his theory. The inhabitants of the house really had to disappear. And the monster just had to have something to do with it. It was looking for a cozy place to stay, which was better than a cold cave and here was a large estate, where it fit into it without causing a stir. And you don't hear anyone screaming so deep in the forest, so no one noticed the crime. But it was also strange for him that he never heard before, that birds lived alone out here. Almost everyone in the village knew everyone, but he never heard of this great estate.
Maybe birds that wanted to be left alone. Yet no one had the right to kill them and occupy the house.
No, he thought again too absurd. If it were easy for the bigger one to kill, then he wouldn't exist for a long time. On the contrary, he got something to eat, a bath and a bed. Murderers didn't do that. Well, not that he ever met one, but he didn't believe it anyway.
"That's all so nice here. I don't understand why the Lord included this? Well, the broken pictures you can't hang on the wall, but the vase over there makes sure a nice look in the entrance area. Maybe that's all around here, because I once broke something. It was.." Ashes continued chattering in a moderate tone as the bird tried to find out more of these paintings. He noticed that most of the pictures were from old birds that looked like something from another time. Probably illustrations of several generations. He also noticed that most birds had very prominent eyebrows. For some, it almost looked as if the feathers had been trimmed at the point. Surely only a fad from the past.
The older the frames of the pictures, the less they were damaged. Or maybe it was not the intention that all paintings would be destroyed here.
'He has devastated entire rooms in a short time, as if it were the lightest in the world.'
The words of the singer came to his mind again. If someone breaks in somewhere, then pictures of strangers are not destroyed in that sense. You could have just got rid of them but this stuff was still here. Something weird was going on in this house.
"The picture got the most rage." Informed him the candle and pointed away from all the shiny things. Irritated, he shone into a rather dark corner where a painting with only a wooden frame lay face down on the floor.
"Someone probably did not like the picture." Yes, that 'someone' was especially mad at the sight, Chuck thought. They could actually call this someone by name, but he let the discussion go. The bird put the candle on the ground so he could pick up the destroyed image. Yes, a brown and ordinary picture frame, with drooping tatters in the middle. The family here didn't have much left for this bird when he got such a small and simple painting. Lazy eggs are probably in every nest, he thought for a moment before he tried on the ground to arrange the tattered shreds a little bit. Of course it was again a red bird.
"It's a pity his face is missing." That's what the talking object was saying, fascinated as he watched it watched him working on the puzzle. Chuck noticed that this character looked somehow younger and not so cocky in the picture. The scrap of eyes, a small bit of eyebrows and beak, was missing completely, as were some smaller parts of the background, but still he could see clearly that this bird was different. Why? Surely the answer was the missing part. Was this bird disfigured?
As a kid, he always hated when he got a jigsaw and a piece was missing. Now he felt no different. But he couldn't run with Ashes through the room because the flame would probably go out. Without him, he couldn't see everything. The yellow left his partner and searched the room. In his haste, unfortunately, some chalices and other valuable vessels began to waver.
"Watch ou!" Said Ashes a little loud and pointed to the now falling jar. The small object also tried to hop to save the glass that threatened to fall off the table, but it was too far away. Chuck just managed to catch the thing on the ground before the impact. Then he put the glass back up and kept the rest of the dishes steady before returning to the unfinished picture at a normal pace.
"That doesn't make sense at all." The yellow one didn't know why, but found it difficult to take his eyes off this painting. It had the most charm of all the pictures here. Perhaps this red bird was not liked here by the others in the gold frame, because this scorned the wealth and nobility for unknown reasons. He could speak from his own experience that rich doesn't always mean nice. Birds of any status may be mean, but rich ones will more easily become greedy for more.
"An outcast." Something pulled at him, the candle came closer again.
"Um .. Maybe you should not spend too much time on it."
"How so? Don't you think that's interesting too? Maybe this guy was really ugly and.." A throat clearing that sounded too deep for Ashes made him freeze.
"I've had enough of you!" He was grabbed by the collar and thrown away from the picture. Of course, he now got the homeowner to face. Nevertheless, he wondered how he could not hear this. The roar of what was bigger made him tremble again, as if he were in the freezing cold.
"What did you want in here?"
"I just wanted to.."
"What? Steal again?"
"No, I .. please, let me explain. I .." He was held up to face the monster when speaking to him. The light from a real candlestick, held in the other paw, also shone into the face of the taller one. The cowl was probably sliding back in anger again. Actually, Chuck didn't want to look at his counterpart and did not know why he dared to, but then he noticed something that had not occurred to him before. The monster had black eyebrows above the eyes. These were very similar to the eyebrows of the red birds. That couldn't be a coincidence.
"I don't need further explanation from a thief!" He was hurled out of the room by the bigger one. He just managed to catch himself. A gasp behind him revealed that he was about to be hunted again. He ran quickly into the fireplace room, while the monster scolded the poor Ashes. Stellar couldn't warn him before, because a thick book lay on her box. He quickly took it down.
"Let me... Oh, it's you. And could you find something out?" But the bird didn't get to an answer.
"He could find out that it is time for him to go!" The host announced loudly in the fireplace room.
"You let me go?" Chuck asked wondering and tried to overcome his fear to see the bigger one in good light, but then this wanted to grab him. He evaded, of course, and tried to climb up the monster to pull down the hood. It took a moment despite its speed.
"You're only causing trouble! So get out of here!" The beast bellowed uncovered and he fell to the ground. Nevertheless, he could now better look at his opponent. Where were the red eyes from before? His resting to muster was exploited and he was pulled up by the collar again. The something pulled the cowl then also with a growl back in the face.
"You can't be serious? You want him out in that weather.." But even the dancer didn't get far, with her sentences, because her box was closed again and weighted down with a book.
"You wanted to go, now you can do that as well." The big one continued angrily, while the candle had to remain in the fireplace room, because the door was simply closed. Then he glimpsed something red, at the other claw before it disappeared again under the dark robe. The bird couldn't think much about it, because they hurried to the entrance of the property. Chuck quickly looked out of the window and now knew what the singer meant before. Outside, a snowstorm was waiting again. But when the monster wanted to open the door outside, he now clearly saw what the red of before was. The taller one wore a bandage on the other side. This was already completely red and the blood dripped now in the hall entrance to the ground.
"You're bleeding!" He remarked, staring at the wound, because just as the bandage was soaked, a lot of blood had to leak out. Did not this cause any pain to the other?
"It's none of your business!" And already the beast ran with him outside to the gate, where it stopped again briefly. The other paw had to hurt, the yellow thought, but he really shouldn't care. After all, he will be free soon. The something ran with him after opening the gate further into the forest, where it left a red trail in the snow. Suddenly it stopped and looked around, just as he did in this confusing tree labyrinth. Nevertheless, he didn't dare to say anything further. Somehow he didn't look forward, but on to the monster. It didn't look as scary as before. At least if it didn't look at him with angry eyes.
Then it went on fast. Well, not as fast as he, but still in a hurry. In any case it was still dangerous, if the other thing suddenly decided to drop him. He heard sharp inhalation through the teeth and the drops of blood in the snow were getting bigger. Even though the monster, in contrast to him, was huge, even this had to run out of blood sometime. Or the body is at his end at some point because of going flimsy.
"Wrong way!" Complained the big something and looked around again. It wavered a bit.
"We should go back." Meant a soft third voice and he agreed.
"Yes. We really should.. Hey, what are you doing here?" Round looked at him apologetically and a little sleepy from his waistcoat.
"I just wanted to look at your things. I certainly wouldn't have broken anything. And then I must have fallen asleep."
"All right. We can't change that now. But can you tell me what's wrong with him?" He pointed up, at the monster that still held him, but somehow seemed lost. It didn't even catch Chuck talking to anyone. For the fact that it was previously more attentive, it felt very strange to him now.
"Are you alright, Sir? Oh no!"
"What is it?"
"He has that headache again."
"Headache?" The yellow inquired.
"I don't really know why he always has that. But the way I see it, we'll end up in the snow anyway."
"Why?" It only took a moment longer before the monster staggered more and then fell to the ground. The yellow bird just managed not to land under the heavy mass. Carefully, he stepped away from the bigger one, but it just did not move anymore. The ball hopped anxiously around his master to see if he had hurt himself.
"He's bleeding!"
"He had that before. But now tell me why headaches make him pass out?" Maybe Chuck could use this information.
"Stellar can explain that better. It has something to do with remembering. That's why he's trying to avoid it."
Crack.
"What was that?" In panic the bird looked around, because that didn't sound normal. An ordinary floor shouldn't make any breaking noises. And then he noticed that the three of them were not on the forest floor but on a snow-covered ice. The cracking of the ice continued, probably because the biggest thing in their crew was too heavy for the frozen water.
"Please stay deep in my pocket so you don't fall out when I run back quickly." Chuck said to the ball and started tracking the trail of blood before more ice shattered. But what would happen to the monster?
"We can't just leave him here!" Told him the toy and of course it was right. To make matters worse, he not only felt cold from the wind on his feet, but now slowly ice water.
"Hey, wake up!" So he tried to wake up the bigger something before it went down.
"It doesn't work." The ball whined in despair.
"Please wake up now, Sir!" The bird tried a little more vigorously. Before that, he spoke in a loud voice because of the wind, but now he really had to hurry up. One last idea came to mind and he pulled the cowl off the beast's head to find his ears. That was easy and the fur didn't feel so bad. He repressed that thought continuing to do what should help.
"I broke off all your roses and threw them into the fire! After that, I also burned your ugly glasshouse!" The yellow roared as loud as he could. He hoped that finally woke the other and made this really angry. Well, he needed him more awake than angry, but he hoped he would come to his senses and strength faster.
"You.. YOU HAVE WHAT ?!" The little one quickly ran away and the monster followed him, of course, in blind rage. Unfortunately, the crackling of the ice continued. Why did not they notice before that they were standing on a lake. At least that was the only explanation for him, for the current situation.
"If I catch you, I will.. What the.." The bird stopped, because the voice behind him fell silent and that was a mistake, because an ice floe suddenly towered up with him at the top in the air. The other side was in the water with the heavier end. Although he still tried to run to get away from here, but he could only hold on to the floe, which clattered down fast. He just managed to jump on another piece of floating ice. But waves did not make the whole thing easy and so he had to jump on. The surfaces were still slippery. The monster noticed in the meantime where it was, but didn't make it back on the ice.
"Stop moving so much!" He cried, but the taller one didn't hear him. Chuck looked at the shore. He could do it alone, but the other would surely drown if it fidgets on. He took a deep breath, hoping his decision was worth for all three. And that he wouldn't freeze in the middle of it. Quickly he jumped from ice floe to ice floe to the monster.
"What's this supposed to be? Stay away!" The something screamed at him, but he just jumped on its head.
"Be quiet for a moment and listen to me!" He said as loud as he could to get the attention. It worked.
"Try pedaling like a wooden board on the water. It's best to lie on your back." Although the larger something still wanted to reciprocate, it didn't and the heavier body turned. The yellow one tried to balance him so he wouldn't fall into the water. Strangely enough, the monster took care that this didn't happen.
"Now, spread out your wi.. arms and act as if you were going to fly like a butterfly." Again, this was done without rejoicing until they arrived ashore. The thick ice floes simply displaced the larger one in backstroke. Wet and cold, both dragged ashore.
"Thanks." Announced the monster, but only heard a softer voice.
"Round, what are you doing out here? You could have dropped into the water!" He scolded the little creature, but realized it was pointless for now. He had to take care of the unconscious bird again. This had just like him already small lumps of ice in his feathers. The taller one tried to shake off the water and ice before it wringed out the cowl. Or rather beat out the ice globule. Then he squeezed the bird cautiously to the chest, hoping to give it enough warmth until they are back by the estate.