Pf47: So then. We've discussed some of the weaponry of Swordbird, namely swords, bows, and arrows. Now, let's move on to some of the characters—

Aska: Ooh, does that mean it's my turn to talk?

Pf47: —a few of which you've met already. Since she's so excited about speaking, why don't we start with Aska? She is the main protagonist of the story.

Aska: Yaaaaaaaaay! So what should I start with, hmm? Let's see…Stone-run, my tree, Cody—

Flame-back: Say, where is Cody?

Pf47: I'm not sure, but while we're on the topic, we should start with him and Aska.

To tell you the truth, I was pretty surprised when Cody and Aska got together at the end of the book. For the most part, Cody was a side character in the story. All he really did was help the Bluewingle tribe defend against Turnatt. In addition, there wasn't a lot of initial romance between the two birds. The closest thing I saw of Cody showing his love for Aska was when he gave her the rose before she left for the Waterthorn tribe.

With Miltin the robin.

If anything, I thought Aska was going to pair with Miltin. The blue-jay and robin seemed to be very compatible right from the start, when Aska first met Miltin while he was still imprisoned in Fortress Glooming (that's Turnatt's fortress, which was never completed). After he escaped the fortress, Miltin stayed with Aska in the Bluewingle tribe. He accompanied her in her perilous journey through the mountains to the Waterthorn tribe, where he eventually died.

Aska:…

Pf47: Aska? I thought you wanted to talk.

Flame-back: No, leave her be. She's still a bit sensitive about Miltin.

See, the thing is, she and Miltin could never have become a pair for two reasons. One is the unfortunate, premature death of Miltin in the Waterthorn village. The other is that, well, Aska's a blue-jay and Miltin's a robin. Sure, the two could have stayed together if they truly wanted to, but for a married couple, they would be very strange.

In addition, they wouldn't be able to have chicks.

Pf47: True. By the way, you brought up another thing about Cody and Aska.

Flame-back: Marriage? How's that strange? Don't you humans do it too?

Pf47: Yeah, because we're humans. You guys are birds. Because of that, you aren't supposed to marry. You're supposed to mate with each other.

Flame-back: I don't see a difference. It's just terminology. I guess birds and humans have similar views of love.

Pf47: Okay. I can…possibly…see that.

Anyway, the point is that Cody and Aska make a very random pair, the primary reason being that Cody hadn't shown too deep of affection for Aska in the book. However, a few of my inside sources have confirmed several stories about Cody's love for Aska. I guess these stories never made it into the book. Here's one such story.

The meadow is peaceful and quiet. Suddenly, there's a loud roar. Cody bursts into the meadow with a red rose in his beak. There's a massive bear chasing him along the ground, occasionally swiping for the fleeing blue-jay.

"No! Go away, bear. This is for Aska!" Cody yells to the bear.

The bear roars again and keeps chasing him.

The chase continues for a good ten minutes before Cody realizes he could have just flown straight into the sky, leaving the bear behind on the ground. He does so, feeling a bit foolish that he didn't think of the idea earlier. At least no bird would know about the incident and his plain stupidity…

Pf47: Alas, we would know about what happened. But this isn't saying that Cody's dumb, though his choice of action wasn't exactly the smartest. Instead, this goes to show how far a guy will go to impress the girl of his dreams.

Aska: Cody never told me that story before.

(Flame-back laughs)

Flame-back: I don't think he ever will.

Pf47: Well, incidents aside, Cody really loved Aska—

Aska: He still loves me today!

Pf47: —and nothing shows that more than Cody and Aska's wedding day.

Aska: Yaaaaaaay! My wedding day! I always wanted to tell this part of the story.

So, um, our wedding day was on May 1st, 2007. It was absolutely GORGEOUS that day; the sun was out, the trees were all green, the meadows all had flowers. So yeah, um, we got married at the Bluewingle home tree, right at the top crown of the tree, directly beneath that beautiful sky. So we, um, each said our oaths, and we got married! Isn't that just soooooooo romantic? Yeah, and after that, we had a great feast, the Flying Willowleaf Theater was there again, and they danced and sang and played music through the entire thing. It was so great!

(Aska sighs in remembrance of her wedding day)

Pf47: Mmm-hmm, it was a great day. However, Aska left out a very important part of that day.

Aska: Hey, what—

Pf47: She forgot to mention that Flame-back and a few of his buddies decided to fill Aska and Cody's delicious raspberry pie with a vinegar and baking soda capsule, just for kicks. So when they broke their pie to eat, the pie exploded, and raspberry pie went everywhere.

Aska: Peregrine! I thought you weren't going to—

Pf47: I still remember. It took you, like, three days to completely clean your feathers. And even after that, your feathers still looked purplish for a few weeks.

(Pf47 and Flame-back crack up laughing)

(Aska's face turns red, and she pouts)

Aska: I hated that! I still can't believe you would do something like that, Flame-back. C'mon, guys, stop laughing!

(Pf47 and Flame-back ignore her and continue laughing)

(Aska bursts into tears and flies out of the room)

Flame-back: Poor girl. Yeah, that was probably the funniest prank I've ever played on somebird else. But it did ruin her wedding…

(Flame-back flies out of the room to console Aska)

Pf47: Huh. He's actually going to apologize to her. Speaking of Flame-back, there's a story about him, too. This took place several months after the wedding and exploding raspberry pie, so in a sense, I think this was revenge.

Here's a bit of background information. It was high summer in Stone-run Forest. The Flying Willowleaf Theater had returned to the Bluewingle tribe for the first time since Aska's wedding—and the events that happened during it. This time, however, the theater had an extra member: a pretty, young female cardinal named Josephine. Needless to say, Flame-back, who was single at the time, immediately took to liking the young cardinal. Unfortunately, the theater didn't stay with the Bluewingle tribe forever. Eventually they had to leave, and Josephine followed them. Poor Flame-back was heartbroken for several days after, and continued to miss his one true love.

About two weeks after Josephine left, Flame-back woke up one morning to find this note stuck near his perch:

Congratulations, Flame-back! You are a new father!

Aska and I have just heard some news from the Flying Willowleaf Theater. Josephine had actually laid a brood of three eggs several days after she left us. Now, two of those eggs have hatched. There is one male chick and one female chick, and they're both healthy. The third egg hasn't hatched yet, but Josephine says it's about to.

Again, congrats on being a new dad, Flame-back! Now I wish we had our own chicks…

~Cody

Pf47: Flame-back freaked out after reading the note. For the moment, he couldn't believe that he had accidentally fathered a brood of chicks with Josephine, and that he hadn't known until now. He spent the entire day trying to find more information about Josephine and, according to Cody, was actually packing his stuff in order to go after her.

It wasn't until the end of the day that Cody and Aska went to Flame-back to tell him that he just got tricked, big time. It seemed that the couple laughed for about three seconds before Flame-back chased them out of his tree, embarrassed and humiliated.

Cody and Aska had intended to do the prank on April 1st, which we know as April Fool's Day. The problem was that Aska's wedding was in May. They'd have to wait a year for the prank, at which point Flame-back would probably have forgotten about the exploding raspberry pie.

(Pf47 turns to see a blue-jay doubled over, laughing his tiny head off)

Cody: Falcon, that story gets funnier every time you tell it.

Pf47: Why, thank you for commending my storytelling skills.

In my opinion, Cody's prank is probably the best prank you could play on a guy friend of yours, whether he's a bird or a human. Remember, this prank will only work if your guy friend has recently broken up with his girlfriend/bird. If he's a bird, wait a few weeks, then write a note like the one Cody wrote to Flame-back and send it to your guy friend. If he's a human, wait nine to ten months, and do the same. Or, if you're lazy, send an "It's a boy/girl!" card to your friend.

(Flame-back returns to the room just as Pf47 makes his comment about the card)

Flame-back: What was it you said about a card?

Cody: Oh, nothing, Flame-back.

(Flame-back looks around suspiciously, but is interrupted by Aska returning to the room)

Aska: Cody! You're finally here! Where have you been? You missed out on our little party.

Cody: I just got caught up with some business back at the tree.

Flame-back: Yeah, right. Business.

(Pf47 shakes his head, still bewildered that the characters of Swordbird had suddenly appeared in his bedroom)

Pf47: This is taking too long. That's enough romantic stuff—

Aska: Aww, but why? Don't you all love romance?

(Aska cuddles up next to Cody)

Pf47: Well, we've talked about your love life for quite some time now. I think we should move on to some other aspects of your life, Aska. Because I think you could represent all of the Bluewingle and Sunrise tribes for your eager fans.

(Aska blushes a deep red color)