Free Birds - Heart of an Eagle by QuailyCat (essential reading txt) 📕

small group of birds always working together to help each other. You might not be able to fight or hunt, but you could nurse chicks. You would be a Nurse. It would be great!" Chirp explained. "Please come with me!"
"Okay, okay. I will." Feather said.
"Oh, good! Have you seen Berry?"
"She went off that way." Feather jerked her head to where Berry had gone. I went off that way, and began to call:
"Berry, Berry! Berry? Berry are you there?" There was no answer. Chirp started to get worried. He didn't know what had happened to her.
"Feather, did anything happen?" Chirp demanded.
"Well, I heard a scream, but I thought it was just my imagination. It sounded like Berry though."
Chapter Five

"What?! No! What could have possibly happened to her?" Chirp cried.
"Don't despair, Chirp. She'll probably be fine." Feather soothed.
"I'll never forget her." Chirp murmered.
"Won't your new Dreamflight friends be wondering where you are?" Feather tried to change the subject.
"Yeah, you're right. We'd better go see them." Chirp agreed, and led Feather to the tiny dip in the ground where Scarlet and Large were waiting.
"Hello again, Chirp." Scarlet said, and turned to look at Feather. "I am Scarlet, leader of Dreamflight, and this is my deputy, Large. When I am unable to lead, he will take my place, and when I die, he will become leader. Chirp, you have only brought one though. Where is the other?"
"Scarlet, this is Feather. She has agreed to join Dreamflight. But we couldn't find Berry. Could we wait until the morning to go looking for her? It's getting late." Chirp requested.
"Or course, Chirp. Large and I will now show you our camp, the place where Dreamflight lives. We can introduce you to your Flightmates, then we can give you your Flightnames." Scarlet decided.
"Flightnames?" Feather's eyes were filled with confusion.
"Names that members of a Flight would have." Large told Feather.
"Who will my Trainer be?" Chirp asked.
"You'll have to wait and see." Large said.
"What's a Trainer?" Feather asked.
as much training, but you would still need a trainer." Scarlet replied."They teach you to be a Flier, a fully trained fighter and hunter." Chirp answered.
"Will I need a Trainer? I'm not going to be a Flier. I'm going to be a Nurse." Feather said.
"You would need to learn to fight to protect the chicks if anything happened. You wouldn't need as much training, but you still need a Trainer." Scarlet replied.
"Okay." Feather said.
"Now, let's get back to camp." Scarlet said, then added, with a mischevous look in her eyes: "But, if you want to join Dreamflight, you must prove yourselves worthy. You must beat me and Large back to camp. Since you don't know the way, we'll tell you which way to go if we're behind, and you can just follow us if we are in front."
Scarlet and Large darted off through the trees, closely followed by Chirp, with Feather slightly lagging behind.
"Come on, Feather! We've got to beat them!" Chirp encouraged her, and the two birds seemed to get an extra burst of energy, because a moment later they were far ahead of Scarlet and Large. They could barely hear their orders of which way to go, but somehow, Chirp seemed to know which way to go, as if he had been destined to become a Flightbird his whole life, and needed no guiding.
Soon, the trees began to bundle closer together, and Chirp saw a small, circular copse of trees with a pond in the middle.
Large landed behind him and said:
"Welcome to your new home, Chirp."

Chapter Six

Chirp pushed through the wall of ivy surrounding the camp.
"Intruders!" One of the birds cried, and screams of fear sounded from around the copse.
"Stop them!" Another ordered, and leaped at Chirp. Chirp fell backwards as the bird landed on him.
"Get out of this camp! Or else- or else you feel these." The bird warned, and showed him razor-sharp claws.
"But-" Chirp protested.
"But what? Isn't that clear enough? Don't tell me I didn't warn you." The bird said, and shot up into the air and dived down again, his talons ready to rip Chirp's skin.

Imprint

Publication Date: 04-01-2012

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
To my quail Hortensia and my ducks, Francis Drake, Jemima Puddle Duck, and newly born Francis jr. and Daddles the second.