The Lands of Ralosia & Ranuulo (Books 1-3)

Earth & Sky Chapter 6- The Sparrow

~Chapter 6- The Sparrow~

Corri was glad she landed on such a bountiful island. The water and fruit here kept her satiated. But she still intended to escape.

She searched for a tree that bore no fruit. She took the edge of her hand and chopped at the tree until she cleaved through it.

She did her best to break the wood up and gathered it into a pile. She found a few stones in the cave to serve as flint. She dashed the stones against each other next to the wood. After some trial and error, she successfully started a fire. She stoked the flames, and soon a pillar of smoke rose into the sky. Hopefully, that would signal that she was stranded there. Surely, Cielo would be looking for her.

She was pacing around the cave when she heard a fluttering of wings outside. She rushed outside, hoping to see Cielo, but instead, she saw a bright red sparrow drinking from the wellspring. The sparrow was at least two meters tall, larger than Azul or Will, but far more slender.

Corri smirked. Cielo said that taming a wild bird was much more satisfying than purchasing one. This was her chance. She hid around the trees and slowly approached the sparrow.

She sprinted forward and jumped onto the bird. It spread its wings and shook to get her off, but she clung to its feathers. The sparrow flapped its wings and rolled in the air, knocking Corri off. The red bird promptly glided off the island.

Corri cursed herself for messing it up.

Later that day, the sparrow returned, picking its beak at the various fruits on the island. Corri circled behind the bird again. She sprinted at it once more, but before she could get on, the bird dodged to the side and flew off. She ended up spending another night on that Sky Island.

Corri heard the beat of wings approaching - maybe the sparrow had returned? This time, she would get it for sure. She stepped out of her cave and saw the same red sparrow being pursued by two crows. Both of them were larger than the sparrow.

One of the crows pinned the sparrow to the ground with its talons and began to peck at it. Corri charged in. A crow flew into the air with its talons extended. She grabbed the beast by its claws and swung it around, tossing it into a nearby tree. The crow frantically flew away, terrified of the strong little girl.

Corri bounded through the air at the Crow which held the sparrow down and kicked it hard in its beak. It squawked, turned tail, and flew off the Sky Island.

When Corri looked back at the red sparrow, it was struggling to stand. When she tried to approach it, it cawed aggressively at her. She backed away, knowing not to approach it now.

The red sparrow waited near the wellspring, and Corri came to it with an assortment of fruits she had plucked from the trees.

"Sorry about jumping on you earlier. Hopefully, this makes up for it," Corri said as she laid fruit out for it and left the bird alone. The red sparrow was hesitant, but eventually ate them.

By night, the sparrow had recovered. It flapped its wings and circled the island. But rather than leave, it flew near the cave Corri slept in and perched itself above it.

Corri woke to find the sparrow staring down at her. She jumped to her feet.

"Umm, hey there..." She said nervously.

The sparrow simply stared, completely comfortable around her. The sparrow turned its back to the girl and continued to look at her. As if telling her to climb aboard. Corri hesitantly climbed on, taking a firm grip on the feathers of the bird, and the sparrow began to flap its wings.

Corri wasn't sure about this - without a saddle, this might be dangerous. Before she could jump off, the sparrow flew from the cave high into the air at intense speeds, far faster than she ever went while riding on Will. The two appeared as a red blur in the sky. Corri hung on for dear life as they cut through the air.

The sparrow leveled out its wings and carefully carried her. Corri allowed herself to get comfortable atop the bird.

She took the same position on the bird as she had on Will. She began to shift her weight around, and the sparrow turned in reaction to it, just as Will had.

She skirted about on the sparrow, attempting to steer it around until the sparrow reacted as she wanted. She had it soar high into the air so she could get a look at her surroundings. In the distance, she saw the Sky City and directed the sparrow towards it.