Book One: Lost and Found: An Angry Birds Fanfic

Chapter Three: Matilda

"So then I zoomed in and saved the eggs," Chuck boasts, sticking his beak in the air.
"Um, Chuck I hate to break it to ya, but Red technically saved the eggs," Stella points out, a frown on her beak.
"Oh c'mon, can't you see I'm trying to impress you?" Chuck groans, rolling his eyes in annoyance.
Stella rolls her eyes back at him and laughs.
"Speaking of Red, where is he?" Bomb asks.
"He probably decided to stay home after all," Chuck guesses.
I roll my eyes.
"What else would you expect from him?" I respond.
"Well Matilda, he was a clown for a child's birthday party," Bomb starts. "Well, at he least he was supposed to be."
Every bird chuckles.
I look up at the sky, which is pink and orange from the setting sun, which reflects off the small, calm waves of the vast ocean.
I kind of wish Red would come out, I mean, he could work on his social skills. He's not too good with talking to other birds.
Correction, he's not good at talking nicely.
Whatever, I guess.
"I forgot to start the fire!" Chuck gasps and runs to the large pile of wood, pulling me out of my thoughts.
Stella shakes her head.
"I don't understand him, especially at times like this?"
"I don't understand how you're together with him," I say honestly. "Of all birds, you choose the one that knows nothing but parties."
Stella laughs a little before replying.
"You're not the first to say that."
Again, we all laugh.
Once we calm down, I take a look around to notice the bird around us.
The Blues, that mime bird, heck even Mighty Eagle is here, laughing and talking with the rest of the village.
Probably boasting about himself more than Chuck has.
I continue to look around, but there's no sign of  a large maroon cardinal that I dearly love.
Terence isn't here yet.
"Hey, does any bird know where Terence is?" I ask as I turn back around to look at the birds close to me.
Every bird shakes their heads, making their head feathers bounce.
"Last time I saw him he was with you," Stella says shrugging her shoulders.
Well, I should've seen that one coming.
"Phew, that was a close one," Chuck says, breathless. One of the feathers on the top of his head was smoking.
I roll my eyes.
Anything's a close for him.
Stella giggles, taking a cup of water and dumping it on him.
"Sorry," she giggles as she hides her beak with her wing.
"Haha, real funny," Chuck sarcastically says but smiles at her.
Silence hung between them as they lock eyes, and I start to feel a little uncomfortable.
But thank goodness for Bomb.
"Oooh it looks like we've got some love birds," Bomb teases.
Chuck breaks his gaze with Stella, "Oh, shut up! At least I have a love life."
Okay, now that was uncalled for.
But I still can't help but stifle a little laugh, despite the rudeness of Chuck's remark.
"Well, at least, uh, at least," Bomb stutters while wringing his wings.
Chuck waits patiently for a comeback, that sadly, we all know will never come.
"Okay, you got me on that one," Bomb gives up. He looks kind of sad, but he brightens up as he changed the subject.
I shake my head in pity for the black bird but yet, I say nothing.
"Hey, I'm gonna get food, any bird wanna come with me?" Bomb asks as he looks at all of us.
A new song comes on, and Chuck rejects his offer.
"Can't Bomb buddy, I'm gonna dance," Chuck says as he smirks at Stella. She smiles.
Oh for the love of plucks.
"I will," I reply with a smile.
We get up and temporarily go our separate ways.
For the time we walk to the food bar, there is silence between Bomb and me.
There really hasn't been much to talk about anyways.
But still, Bomb always has something to talk about, and it's not like him to be acting this way.
We get to the bar and never in my entire life have I ever seen so much food.
"Ugh, there's so much!" Bomb proclaims as he scans the buffet. "I don't know what to get."
Decisions, decisions.
Chopped pineapple, sliced apples, grapes, strawberries and other assortments of fruits are sitting in bowls. Along with a variety of nuts, some worms, dishes of caterpillars, and coconuts with straws in them are placed to the right of the fruit.
"I think I'm just gonna stick with some fruit," I say casually as I scoop some pineapple chunks onto my plate. I notice that Bomb isnt picking up anything.
That's unusual.
"Bomb are you okay?" I ask, concern filling me.
"Huh? What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," he stutters.
I put my plate down and cross my wings as I look at him.
Here he goes again with his lying.
He'a really not good at it, and I don't understand why he even tries anymore.
"No, you're not fine, and, no offense, but you're not a good liar," I tell him. "What's wrong?"
Bomb sighs.
"Chuck's right, I don't have a love life. I just freak out and go boom all the time." He cries out as he looks down, tears starting to fill his eyes. "Who would love a bird like me?"
It seems kinda dumb to get upset over something like this, but love can hurt sometimes.
"Bomb, don't say that. You just have a hard time controlling how you feel, and once you're able to control it, you won't blow up all the time. Also, why wouldn't any bird love you? You're better than Chuck."
"Yeah I guess I am better than him," he smiles. We laugh.
"So you think a bird would love me?" Bomb asks after a few moments.
"I don't think so, I know so," I smile. "She may not show up in your life soon but I know someday she will."
"Thanks Matilda... you know, you should be a love bird expert," Bomb suggests.
I laugh.
"I would but I'd much rather be with the best anger management group ever."
We laugh, again. The ground below starts to shake. We stop laughing.
Well it's about time.
"Terence!" I happily proclaim as I turn around and look up at the big, dark red bird. He grunts softly, making me blush and smile like crazy. Happiness takes over me as give Terence as large of a hug as I can give him.
"Hi Terence," Bomb greets the large cardinal. Once again, a grunt.
"I was just giving Bomb some advice on love," I explain as I let go of him. A grunt and a small nod is all that came from Terence.
"He's basically saying 'good'," I explain to Bomb.
"Oh good, that's a relief actually," Bomb laughs nervously.
All of a sudden, Terence starts pulling on my wing, which almost pulls me to the ground.
What the heck?
"Terence, what's wrong?" I ask, surprised.
He starts grunting and pointing to some rocks.
He has never acted this way before.
"There's something over there," Bomb says, walking to stand next to me. Terence nods his head and starts to walk in the direction he was pointing to. Bomb and I look at each other and shrug our shoulders and follow him.
It's some distance from the party, and I feel as though we've been walking for far too long.
I look up at the sky, purple streaks across the dark blue sky as stars, one by one, glitter and shine as nighttime takes over.
It's starting to get real dark...
"Um, Terence, don't you think we should head back now?" I ask, kinda nervously.
Then, Terence stops, stoops over and picks something up. No, it isn't something.
I gasp.
"What is it?" Bomb asks as he tried to look over Terence's shoulder, but it's no use. The cardinal is just too big.
"More like who is it?" I say aloud, half to Terence and Bomb, half to myself.
Terence shakes his head.
"Bomb, quick, light a stick," I order him.
"Uhhh, stick, where's a stick? Stick!" The black bird cries out before tripping.
"Oh hey, you guys I found one!" He laughs as he quickly gets up and runs back to us. "I hope I don't go boom."
He takes the stick and places it by his head feathers, his wing shakes a little as he holds the long piece of wood.
"Remember what I taught you a few days ago, breathe when you force yourself to blow up," I remind him
"It will prevent me from actually going, well, boom," Bomb finishes, taking a deep breath.
"Exactly," I respond with a small smile.
Bomb takes a few deep breaths, then he tenses himself. His feather starts to steam. The stick starts to steam too, and eventually, it catches fire.
"Okay, breathe," I tell Bomb.
He does and the fire stops.
Bomb starts smiling like an idiot.
"I didn't blow up!" He proclaims as starts jumping around, his head steaming.
"Give me the stick before you drop it," I roll my eyes but laugh.
"Sorry," Bomb apologizes as he hands me the stick. He walks away to cool his steaming feathers in the water. I turn around and hold the torch above the unconscious bird.
I gasp, then I look at Terence.
Terence eyes are wide. His beak is open, as if something impossible has happened.
"Who is it?" Bomb asks once more as he walks over to us. Then, he stops.
"Woah."
"Impossible," I say. She looks exactly like Red, except her feathers are ombré, bright red to a deep maroon. She also kind of looks like Terence.
"Terence, we're taking her to my hut, she'll stay with me," I order him.
He still looks shocked as he nods and walks away. Once again, Bomb and I follow him.
                                     • • •
"Terence get some medical tape and gauze pads, Bomb, get a rag and a bucket of water. Oh and Terence, make sure it's the nonsticky tape."
Terence gently places the stranger on the couch as he walks away just as Bomb comes back with the rag and water.
It's hard to tell but she has cuts and scrapes all over her wings and stomach, along with a long gash going across her face. I take the rag and dunk it in the water, and I start dabbing at her wounds.
"I wonder what her name is," Bomb asks. "She's kinda... well, uh, never mind, forget what I was trying to say," he adds on.
"It's alright, go on, I won't tell any bird ," I assure him patiently. "What were you going to say?"
He sighs.
"I was just gonna say that she's kinda pretty."
Oh my gosh, maybe this is Bomb's love!
There I go again, obsessing over matchmaking.
I've really gotta stop myself.
But maybe being a love expert wouldn't be too bad...
"She's beautiful," I tell him. I start to clean the gash. Her feathers are wet.
How long has she been unconscious? And how long has been in this condition?
I hope not days.
"Bomb, can you grab a towel and a blanket?" I quickly ask the black bird, not looking at him. "Oh, and a pillow too. Thanks."
He nods and goes off to get the items.
Terence comes back with the medical equipment and hands them to me.
"Thank you," I smile up at him. As I start covering up the wounds, questions and thoughts start to fill my head.
Where is she from? Why did Terence looked so shocked when he saw her? The Judge doesn't want any strangers, what if he finds out before I tell him?
Bomb comes running back into the room with what I've asked for.
Perfect.
"Hey Matilda, are we still gonna have class tomorrow?" Bomb asks. "I remember you saying something about a break."
"No we're not," I reply as I finish the last of the bandaging. I take the towel and I start to dry her wings. Bomb hands me the blanket as I turn around, but something stops me.
"What the..." a voice groans. I turn around and it's the bird. She slightly opens her eyes.
"Shhh it's alright, you're alright," I calmly tell her as I lay the blanket on top of her.
She looks at me, then at Bomb, then at Terence.
"Terence?" She weakly asks. Then, she opens her eyes more. "Terence!"
She sits up, but she sits up too fast.
She's gonna go unconscious again!
"No, no, no!" I start to warn her, but it's too late.
She passes out.
What is even happening?
Terence...
I turn around.
"Terence?" I ask quickly.
But the big red bird is gone.