The West Woods

Chapter 2 : Caged

Everything from the wooden floor to the very stone that protected them from the hounds Wes had built with his own hands. And when he had finished building their home he planted a garden, and the garden kept him busy with planting, and fertilizing, and watering, and trimming. And that got to where it was tamed, and he hadn't much to do but water the plants in the day and trim a few stray twigs from the berry bushes. And so he would occupy himself with Woodie's farms, watering the vegetables. And one particular day when he was very bored after having finished all his work he made a sign for the front, a sign for the garden, and a sign for the farms.

And he could still recall the look of confusion when Woodie came home that night and read aloud 'WesWood Residence' on the signpost.

But after it was all done there wasn't much left to do but sit around and wait for the day to end, unless by lucky chance he could harvest honey from an empty hive or pick up the meat from an unfortunate catcoon. And after that there was nothing left to do.

Wes was left home alone waiting for Woodie to return, and he would sit bored, for the time because he'd eaten, and he'd made boards, and he made chests, but those were things that didn't take long enough to fill his time. So he decided -after eating his breakfast- that he should make himself an Avian Room. And so he set out to gather twigs and seeds, and reeds to make paper, and he broke into his stash of rocks and gold.

He broke two pillars of the west wall in the front room to make a doorway, and then he began setting down new pillars to shape his new hobby room. After he had finished with the size and shape of the room he began to piece together the cage, and when that was done he placed it in the back of the room, in the corner, because there was more to come and there would be rows of them. Then he dusted his hands and smiled at his work, looking up just in time to see Woodie returning home.

He gave him a wave in greeting only to have a look of concern returned to him.

"A birdcage?" Woodie groaned.

And Wes nodded his head. Yes a bird cage! After all he needed something to spend his time on.

"You're kidding right?"

Wes knew how badly the lumberjack detested birds, but he was certain -after he got a few eggs out of the feathered creatures- that he would find himself far more civil about their presence, but Woodie only groaned again and Wes could see the tension forming on his brow.

Wes pouted his lip and moved to open the gate and place his hand on the other man's back. He guided him to sit down by the fire pit, and got him some carrot juice from a container they had made. He handed it to Woodie who nodded and drank eagerly, having been out chopping all day.

Wes looked again at his bird cage and his nose twitched, not unlike a Rabbits, and he stepped to one of their chests to pull out some silk and twigs. He crafted himself a fine bird trap and set it down, baiting it with seeds and stepping back into the front room with Woodie who rubbed his face.

"You're kiddin' right? You're not actually gonna have a buncha birds, are yah?"

But Wes only smiled at the man and nodded his head.

"They'll be chirping at god awful hours of the mornin'! Why would yah want that?"

Wes simply smiled and patted his tummy and pointed to a Tallbird egg they had managed to snag.

"Eggs?"

He nodded his head.

Woodie sighed and rubbed his face but didn't argue any further. Wes was pleased with this, but unsure as to why Woodie was so against his idea. It was a good idea, and he knew the birds would eat meat that had gone bad as long as it were cooked, so they would be able to get rid of some trash that had been left. And of course there was the eggs.

Wes and Woodie couldn't eat rotten meat, so the birds would help dispose of it, and in return they would get fresh eggs that they could cook. It was a fair deal, and Wes would handle it all. After all, Woodie did so much on his own, all of the hard work of chopping and mining. So Wes didn't mind taking on one more thing to help out.

Woody groaned but was finally removing his hands from his face and taking the bag off his back. He removed a satchel of berries from it and handed them to Wes. Wes smiled at this and moved to start a small fire to cook them over.

While Wes cooked Woodie chatted with his ax, Lucy. Wes gave a worried look at the fire. Woodie was a good man. He was a hard worker, a kind heart, and an attentive fellow who went out of his way to communicate with Wes. But the mime did worry for the woodsman's state of mind. Wes could not hear the sharp calls of Lucy, and as such worried when the other would begin holding full conversation with the inanimate object.

He made not a gesture to let this be known to the other. It was likely a coping mechanism, and Wes did not wish to judge the other for seeking comfort, no matter how odd the method might be.

Wes finished with the berries and split them into even piles. He handed the first half to Woodie and kept the second half for himself, and they sat in silence eating for a time before Woodie spoke again.

"Winter's comin', we're gonna need some warmer clothes." He mused, though whether this statement was directly to Wes the mime wasn't sure.

Either way he nodded his head in acknowledgment and made a mental note to find materials to craft winter attire for them.

With the winter so close the days were getting colder, and neither quite fancied freezing to death. It was one of the worst ways to go, next to starving as it were. They were long deaths, painful, and they dragged out too long for anyone to garner any peace from the release of it. No matter how many times Wes went through it himself he never did get used to it, he never was able to take it even knowing soon he would be warm again.

The snapping sound of a bird trap being set off and heavy batting of wings jolted him from his thoughts and he looked at the bird in the cage. It was a redbird and Wes smiled to it as he approached. Calmly he pried the cage open and gripped the bird. Softly he smoothed his thumb down its back, waiting till it had calmed some before moving to the cage to put the bird into it.

He turned then and smiled to Woodie who looked back at him skeptically.

Wes only shrugged and returned to sit next to the fire, Woodie would simply have to co-exist with the bird, that's all there was to it. He'd learn.