Sick Bird

Who's There

Scar pov:

As the voices drew closer, I climbed up into a tree to remain hidden. From my vantage point, I could see faint lights, one red and the other purple. "Geez, every time we have to come and check on Grian and Mumbo, we always have to come out so far. By the time we get there, they're probably asleep," a voice grumbled, the source of the red light.

"Normally, I would make this trip alone, but brother, why did you want to come along with me this time?" the red light asked the purple one.

"Mumbo kidnapped one of my heroes, and I want to see if he is okay. Grian might have hurt him by now," the purple light replied. This voice I recognized-it was Xisuma. So, the red light must belong to his evil brother, Xavier.

"Are we anywhere close, Xavier?" Xisuma asked as he walked underneath the tree I was in.

"Yeah, actually we are already on their land and right over their house," Xavier said, pointing toward a dilapidated house that hid the cave entrance.

"There is no way super villains live in that house," Xisuma said, dead serious, his voice flat.

Xavier was caught off guard and ended up laughing. "Come on, I'll show you," he said before taking his brother's hand and dragging him over to the house, much to Xisuma's discontentment.

For some reason, I didn't get out of the tree and follow them, even though I knew they were headed in the same direction I was, or at least where I had come from. They were looking for me-well, at least Xisuma was. I was still confused about what had happened in the cave. That poor bunny man...

I looked at my phone and saw that it was close to sunrise. So, that's what I decided to wait for. I could tell my time with Grian and Mumbo might be coming to a close soon, as Mumbo had returned home and Grian was getting better. I rubbed my neck a bit. I could still feel his hands around my throat, and I remembered the intense fear in Grian's eyes.

I couldn't tell if it was a nightmare or a memory from his past. As I watched the sun rise, my mind wandered. I started to think about what would happen if I didn't go back to the cave.

What if I just gathered my stuff and left without a word to anyone? The thought lingered for much longer than I expected it to. I looked up at the beautiful colors of night giving way to the warmth of the day. That's also when I noticed it wasn't just Xisuma looking for me.

I was confused by what I saw because I didn't see him leave the house. Grian was flying around, looking for something-or maybe he just needed some air.

I looked back down and nearly fell right out of the tree. I was met with Mumbo's deep red eyes staring at me. He was holding my phone, which had dropped off my lap.

"What are you-" Before he could continue, I did fall out of the tree.

"Oh gosh, are you okay, Scar?" he asked, walking over to help me up. "You were really quiet."

I grumbled a bit as I took a second to recover. "We were looking for you," he commented.

"Is that why?" I asked, pointing to Grian flying high.

"Yeah, he's so worried about you. I guess he was used to waking up to you in his bed or something."

Once I was on my feet, I brushed the dirt off my back and head. "Also... I wanted to apologize for my temper last night," Mumbo said, surprising me. "I didn't mean to make you upset. It's just... those two. If you knew what they did to Grian..."

I looked at him with my arms crossed. "Sorry, I couldn't legally let them just get away with what they did," he said, handing me back my phone. "I can let you go home if you want to, now that I'm back." He sounded like he didn't really want me to go.