A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Best Friends

"Come on, it seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Oh yeah, sure, Corbin. It 'seemed like a good idea at the time' to piss off a witch, did it? Like I'm supposed to just believe that your judgement is actually that bad?"

Corbin frowned as best as he could with a beak, "Was that a compliment?"

"Shut up," Felix grumbled. He slowed his pace and crouched down low to the ground before springing up onto the fence in front of them.

"Woah woah hey, don't leave me here!" Corbin cried after him in a panic, and Felix turned to look at him with an incredulous expression. A most peculiar look for a cat to be wearing as they typically never seemed confused about anything.

"Fly, birdbrain," he snapped, 'Don't get your feathers in a twist."

Corbin blinked, "Oh, right," he said sheepishly and fluttered up to the fence to join Felix. "Sorry," he giggled, "Still getting used to this body."

Felix rolled his eyes and began to make his way across the fence. Careful not to lose his balance, something that he found delightfull easy in this new form. Not that he'd ever admit it. "Well don't get too comfy," he told Corbin, "We're going to get home and we're going to fix this as soon as possible."

"Hey don't think I didn't catch those bird puns earlier," Corbin teased, hopping along behind Felix. "You're enjoying this too, just a little bit. Admit it."

Felix ignored him in favor of focusing on his landing as they reached the end of the fence. He leapt to the ground gracefully and this time, didn't bother to see if Corbin was following.

Corbin ruffled his feathers indignantly and spread his wings to swoop down next to Felix. He drifted carefully, flying as close to the ground as was comfortable. Though he quickly found that while it was easier to keep up with Felix than when he was hopping, it wasn't quite smooth sailing to stay aloft without air currents to support him. "Hey, mind if I catch a ride?" He asked at last, risking Felix's wrath by breaking the silence.

"Fine," Felix sighed heavily, "Hop on."

"Yay!" Corbin crowed and landed onto Felix's back, careful not to dig in too hard with his talons. "Thanks Felix, you're the best."

Felix just muttered something under his breath before slowing down slightly to prevent Corbin from falling off. "Thank me after I clean up this mess you got us in," he hissed.

After a long and tedious trek through the neighbourhood, the pair finally arrived at their destination. A nondescript house amidst a row of identical looking buildings. Just a quaint little home in the suburbs and if you didn't know to peer through the windows, you'd never even guess that it housed anything supernatural.

Felix shook himself off, dislodging Corbin, and curled up in a sunny patch next to the house with a tired yawn. "Go knock on the window until she lets us in," he told Corbin as his eyes fluttered shut.

Corbin dipped his head, Felix really was tired. "Got it," he said without a fight and took off to make a quick loop around the house, hoping for an open window he could call into. Unlucky, everything was locked off. She must be working on a spell. Who knew how long it would take for her to notice them outside. Still, Corbin was at least mature enough to know that he owed it to Felix to try.

So dutifully, he picked a window far from Felix so he could rest, and began to tap at the glass. A steady rhythm that hopefully could not be ignored. And luckily for him, the window swung inwards after not too long, and he was greeted by the smiling face of a young woman. "Hello friend, have you got a message for me?"

"Lorena!"

Her eyes widened as she pushed back from the windowsill in shock. "Corbin?" she asked frantically, "Where's Felix? What happened?"

"We're fine," Corbin reassured her, "Well, other than being transfigured of course. Can you fix us?"

"Oh gosh yes, give me a second." Lorena rushed out of sight and soon reappeared outside the house, next to Corbin. Felix was already scooped into her arms, having placed himself closer to the door than Corbin did. "Come on you two," she said, holding out an arm for Corbin to perch on. "Let's get you inside before the neighbors start staring."

She whisked them inside and whipped up a potion just as quickly. In no time at all, Corbin and Felix were back to looking like ordinary, teenage boys. And as soon as they did, Lorena had them lined up in front of her at the dinner table where she stared down at them with her hands on her hips. "Now, tell me what happened," she said sternly. "Didn't I tell you two not to get in trouble if you could help it?"

Both Corbin and Felix couldn't help but dip their heads in shame under her scolding. Though she wasn't actually much older than the two of them, you'd certainly never know it in times like these.

"I-" Corbin started but Felix cut him off.

"It was my fault," he said through gritted teeth and Corbin's head snapped up to look at him.

"Felix..."

Felix grimaced, "It was my idea to go to the woods today, I forgot about the witch that moved in. And if it wasn't for Corbin distracting her and goading her into turning us into animals so we could escape, I'm sure something worse would have happened to me."

Lorena stared at Felix for a long time, and he finally met her eyes. As if daring her to call him out, to call him a liar. At last Lorena sighed, "Just be more careful, both of you. Now go study upstairs and study your spells. Dinner will be ready soon."

The two nodded in unison, "Yes Lorena."