Beauty and the Bird

Chapter 2: "Run" by Daughter

Aiden looked back down at his gun. He questioned whether it was he who shot the bird. It had to be him he was the only one here. Did it just go off as he was putting the gun down? He stopped thinking about that and quickly ran to find the bird. The tree was a few feet away from him but he couldn't see the forest floor under the tree branch because of the enormous bushes. When Aiden finally arrived under the tree branch, he was shocked at what he found. There was no bird. Instead there laid a girl. Her hair was black and her skin was pale. Her body was covered in a red feathered dress that covered her breasts and just above her knees. She lay there unconscious with no bullet hole and no blood. Aiden was in distress. He wasn't sure what he should do. He screamed for his brother and carefully carried the girl into his arms trying not to wake her. By the time he had walked to the river with the girl in his arms, Aiden's brother, Liam and the guards had arrived in panic. When Liam came, he asked if his brother was okay before noticing the girl in his arms.  

"Aiden, what happened? Who is that?" Liam asked. He held him gun in one hand and brushed his hair away from his face with the other. 

"I don't know. I heard a shot and then a bird fell... but when I went to check on it, she was there. I- don't." Aiden began hyperventilating. Liam touched his shoulder and told him it was alright. Aiden continued, "I think I shot her." Liam froze. 

"Then we must get her back to the castle. Come, let's hurry!" Liam exclaimed. He ushered the guards and Aiden to follow him back to the palace and had one of the more stronger guards carry the girl. The men rushed to the palace and got the girl to their healer. 

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When they had arrived to the palace, servants guarded the men and asked questions regarding the incident. Gossip flowed through the palace halls about a girl wearing feathers that had been rescued. The servants made up stories about how she probably had been living there in the wild or maybe was running away. One suggested that it could have been the curse, however, many people disregarded that saying it was impossible because the curse wasn't real and that no animal could turn into a young, beautiful girl. 

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The healer had found the bullet hole and was able to take it out and stitch the girl's wound. The healer told Aiden and Liam that she is still alive and will most likely be fine, but that they won't know for sure until she wakes. If she wakes. The healer wrapped her wound and put a mixture of special herbs to prevent from infection. The servants changed her out of her feathered dress and put her in a white nightgown. 

After hearing that she was okay, Liam left to go tell his father what the whole news was, while Aiden stayed with the girl, hoping that she would wake.