Wisp - A Scarecrow's Tale

Chapter 4 - The Teddy

Wander had no recollection of sleeping during his time at his field, which is why he was surprised to be jostled awake as Niki rifled through her pack. Stifling the urge to yawn, he watched as she pulled out an old leather-bound book and began to read. The leather was worn and most of the gilt paint on the lettering had long sense cracked and flaked away, but Wander could just make out the title: "Dreams of the Realm."

Wander watched her read for a few moments before asking, "Whatcha got there?"

"Wander!" she exclaimed, nearly dropping the book in surprise. "How long have you been awake?"

"Only a bit. Guess I was tired too."

Niki relaxed and sat down beside him again. "My mum made this during her migration. She'd read to me from it when I was just a hatchling."

"Ah, stories she heard on her journey?"

"Yeah. Legends, folk tales, that sort of thing." She opened the book and flipped to a page with a picture of a teddy bear carrying a sword twice its size in one hand and a shield in the other. The expression on the teddy's scarred face could only be described as fierce as it faced what looked to be a dragon with the head of a cat.

"The Teddy and the Teaslewyrm," Niki said, smiling as she ran a gentle claw across the page. "Not everything's a story, though. Here, look at this."

Niki turned to a different page, this one showing an image of a group of harpies of varying colors engaged in a sort of mid-air dance. The page bore the title, "The Caucus of Lumos."

"Blue-jay, cardinal, canary," Niki said, pointing at each harpy in turn, "Macaw."

"Harpies of every color, eh?"

"Oh, that's nothing. You should've seen all the flocks at Ygdrasa before ..." Niki's excitement fell instantly. She looked sadly at the page for a few moments before closing the book and slipping it back into her pack. "We should get moving."

"Niki?" Wander said, but she was already rising to her feet. He did so as well before glancing around and asking, "Uh, where's Merry?"

The wisp shot from under the bridge, water dripping from their faintly visible wings. Smiling, Wander said, "All right. Back to it."

They continued onward through the woods until the trees gave way to rolling hillsides and distant fields filled with the familiar sight of waving grain. Past the fields lay a sleepy-looking little town, itself unremarkable save for the small sun floating directly over the city. Wander glanced back curiously and quickly spotted the normal sun, the one Niki called 'the Solarius', still hanging in its usual spot in the twilight sky.

"Well, ain't that somethin'?" Shaking his head, Wander asked Niki, "Think maybe someone in town knows somethin' about your flock?"

"Maybe," Niki replied, though something in her voice gave the scarecrow pause.

"Hey," he asked, "What's wrong?"

She fidgeted with her talons for a few moments before admitting, "I'm not comfortable around people."

"I'm people," said Wander.

"Yeah, but you're harmless," she said, smiling at him.

Wander shrugged. "Well, it's up to you. Thing is, towns have lots of people, yeah? And lots of people mean lots more chances someone's seen your flock, yeah? I'm thinkin' it might be our best bet. And hey, maybe your flock just had bad luck at those other places and the folk here will turn out to be real nice, yeah?"

"Yeah, maybe." Niki said, not sounding convinced. She took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. Let's go."

They continued down the path, soon leaving behind the hills and reaching the first of the fields. The sky grew brighter with every step, eventually settling into a comforting shade of blue as the smaller sun showered them with all the light and warmth of a fine summer's day. The Solarius was still behind them, now as faint as a full moon in the day.