Birds Of A Feather

Road Trip!

Texas and his siblings packed for the journey, while California tried to convince his family to let him go.

"Cali, it is way too dangerous for a baby bear like you," Louisiana said.

"I'm 19!!!" California exclaimed.

"Still, you are far too young," Alabama said. California groaned.

"The Empress is letting León go! León is 17! WAY younger than me!" California exclaimed.

"León is also not our baby. You are our baby. You are not going," Alabama said. Montana laughed and gave California a noogie.

"Sucks to suck, don't it?" Montana exclaimed.

"OH SHUT IT! You have the maturity of a baby!" California exclaimed.

"Still older than you~," Montana cooed.

"By four months!" California retorted.

"Kids! Stop fighting!" West Virginia exclaimed. "C'mon Louis, Ali...California is an adventurous kid, AND a cautious one! He'll be careful!" West Virginia exclaimed, while California put on his best pleading face. Alabama sighed.

"Ok... you can go...," Alabama said.

"YES!"

"But I'm going too," Alabama added.

"WHYYYYYYYY," California whined.

"To keep you safe, now come on, lets pack for the journey," Alabama said. California muttered while following Alabama.

Soon they were off. One of the buffalos agreed to tag along and pull the wagon that had plentiful stuff in it for the journey, one that France warned would take a few days.

"There is a reptilian kingdom we can stop at for more supplies. That one is a little less than halfway to our destination," France said, looking at her map. It looked stained and old, with a bunch of destinations either scribbled out or renamed.

"Where'd you get that map? It looks antique," Alabama asked.

"My father was nobility in the fowl kingdom... at least, while it existed... he was gifted this map by the king," France said.

"Oh... what happened to the fowl kingdom?" Texas asked.

"Humans find fowls delicious," Coahuila said.

"Oh...," Texas said.

"No worries, the leaders were corrupt anyway. Empress Aztec took in any refugees who survived. Your grandmother was leader of the largest, most diverse therian empire in years... of course, that was mostly because they invited so many refugees of other kingdoms to live in her empire," France said.

"Why'd you end up living in the human village then?" Texas asked.

"I was merely a teen, and while fleeing, I got lost. In the human village, there was an old witch- non-therian, but welcomed me regardless- she taught me everything she knew and kept me safe from the therian hunters... one day, she simply vanished, and left me with her home and spellbooks," France said.

"Wow... how many therian kingdoms are there?" Texas asked.

"In this forest? There is our empire, the amphibian kingdom, the reptilian kingdom, and there is also a freshwater kingdom and a saltwater kingdom, but they usually try to evade the land-dwellers like us... there's also a feline kingdom, but it's rather small... more of a village. Our empire used to just be an empire for birds of prey. However after taking in the fowls, and when the Mammal king died without an heir, the kingdoms merged under Empress Mexico. That was around the time she adopted León, and then Coahuila shortly after that... now our empire is pretty much for all therian," France said.

"Huh... I got some big shoes to fill, don't I?" Texas said.

"Yeah, I wonder how you will with your tiny a** feet," Coahuila muttered.

"I heard that," Texas exclaimed, lightly smacking the back of her head. Suddenly, there was tweeting. Texas looked up to see three mockingbirds. They flew beside him, and he held up his hands for them to perch on. "Awww, I got more friends with me!" Texas exclaimed. Suddenly, Virginia, in her dog form, poked her head out from the wagon, and Texas pet her happily.

"Are you sure you four wouldn't rather stay home? It's dangerous out here," Alabama said. The mockingbirds tweeted in a fashion that resembled laughter, and Virginia just went back in the wagon.

"I'm sure we'll be alright, what's the worst that could happen?" Texas asked.

"I dunno, but we shouldn't jinx it," California said. Texas shrugged, before noticing that León seemed a bit nervous.

"Everything ok Leóncito?" Texas asked. León nodded, but stayed silent.

"You're not scared, are you?" Coahuila said, slightly tauntingly.

"N-no, I'm just not a loudmouth like you," León said.

"Oooooh sass, I like it," California said. Coahuila sighed.

"You are a lion, descendant from some of the most respected royals in all therian history! Show some courage," Coahuila exclaimed. León looked a mixture of annoyed and embarrassed.

"Leave him alone, he's still practically a cub," Texas said.

"He's got a full mane! C'mon León, shift," Coahuila said.

"Can you leave me alone?" León muttered.

"Not until you shift," Coahuila said.

"You know I don't like shifting," León said.

"But you can," Coahuila said.

"Leave him alone," France said sternly. Coahuila blew out a defiant breath and slumped down in the driver's seat of the wagon. It's not like she had to steer though, Kansas knew what he was doing.

Soon, they got to a large pond.

"UGHHHHH we gotta walk all the way around this...," California groaned.

"I can just fly over it," Texas said.

"I bet I can swim to the other side faster than you can fly over it," Coahuila challenged.

"Hah, you're on," Texas said. Alabama sighed.

"This is how stupid people get hurt," Alabama said.

"Pfft, don't worry, we'll be fine. Meet y'all on the other side," Texas said, before shifting to his eagle form. Coahuila shifted to her axolotl form, and the two of them raced to the other end of the pond. Texas got there before Coahuila and internally celebrated, but when a few minutes passed and she still wasn't there, he grew a bit worried. Right when he was about to go look for her, she emerged from the water, the lower half of her left arm completely gone.

"OH MY GOD ARE YOU OK?!" Texas exclaimed, rushing to help her. She pushed him away.

"Pft, it's fine, it'll grow back," Coahuila said. Texas sighed, remembering his sister is an axolotl.

"Anyway, I beat you," Texas said.

"Not fair! something bit my arm off!" Coahuila exclaimed. Texas shrugged.

"If you played it up I would've given you a pity win. But ya didn't, so tough luck Huilita," Texas said, patting her on the head. Coahuila grumbled curses at him under her breath. Soon, the others made it to them, and they continued on their journey together.