Book One: Lost and Found: An Angry Birds Fanfic

Chapter Seven: Crimson

I just sit there, hugging him, holding him tight as my head rests on top of his. My tears soak his head feathers, but he doesn't seem to care. It breaks my heart to see him crying, but I have a feeling that he'll be fine.
He'll be fine.
So many emotions fill me. Pain, confusion, happiness, and more bring me to shed more tears. In my peripheral vision, I see movement.
Without moving my head, I look up and I see Matilda, Bomb, and a yellow bird nervously watching, shifting from one foot to another a few times.
Why the pluck are they standing there? Why don't they see that this is one of those moments where you're supposed to walk away?
I can feel my anger rising, but I didn't let it get the best of me.
I want those birds gone. I give them a death glare. Matilda automatically understands and ushers every bird out, leaving me and Red in the room.
Thank goodness they're gone.
My anger lowers and I go back to feeling a bunch of emotions.
I didn't want them to see Red like this, crying and broken. Something told me that none of them would understand.
"I can't believe I have a sister," Red sobs into my shoulder. My chest tightens as I hug him tighter. "So many years of pain and I had no idea you existed."
Those words knock me down.
He went through years of pain...
Because of me.
"I was bullied and made fun. Every bird told me that I had no friends. And..." Red's voice trails off as he cries harder.
Crimson, you idiot!
"I'm sorry for not being there for you when you were younger," I apologize quietly as I continue to hold him. "We were separated."
"How?" Red asks quietly.
I can't explain. It would be too much for him... but he deserves to know.
I'm not gonna tell him, I just reunited with him, it'd be too much for him too handle.
"It's a long story for another time," I reply.
"Okay," is all he says as he continues to hang onto me.
I avert my eyes to look at the place we're in. Bamboo floors, a strong, straw thatched hut, a bunch of pillows to sit on and so many wind chimes.
This Matilda bird must be some boring hippy lady.
I avert my attention back to Red, who continues to sob in my wings.
I have to do something.
Silence hangs between us until I start singing.
"It's like a storm
That cuts a path
It's breaks your will
It feels like that
You think you're lost
But your not lost on your own
You're not alone."
I stop. I feel like I'm about to choke up.
This was supposed to be his hatchling song.
I always imagined his hatch day ceremony to be a bunch of red wild flowers, and this song would playing.
But he never had that.
And he never will.
As far I as know, Red was never sang to, but now, now he is. He quiets his crying but still holds onto me. Then he looks up at me.
"Please keep singing," he whimpers.
I smile at him.
"Of course," I answer. With tears still in his eyes, he smiles back and tucks back under my chin. I take a deep breath before continuing.
"I will stand by you
I will help you through
When you've done all you can do
If you can't cope
I will dry your eyes
I will fight your fight
I will hold you tight
And I won't let go."
Just as I'm about to sing the second verse, Red sings it.
"It hurts my heart
To see you cry
I know it's dark
This part of life
Oh it finds us all
And we're too small
To stop the rain
Oh but when it rains,
I will stand by you
I will help you through
When you've done all you can do
And you can't cope."
I'm taken aback. Not because he can sing but because he knows the song. Also, the way he sings is like he's putting his emotions in it. Just like the way our father did.
He's just like our dad.
I join him halfway through the chorus.
"I will dry your eyes
I will fight your fight
I will hold you tight
And I won't let you fall,
Don't be afraid to fall
I'm right here to catch you
I won't let you down
It won't get you down
You're gonna make it
Yeah I know you can make it."
Our voices harmonize, filling up the half empty room. This is how things should be. No, this is how things should've been from the start. We should've been together from the start. We should've been a family that was inseparable.
But I had to give them away.
I push my thoughts away. I have to live in the present and make the most of every moment with Red. I'm with him now, and I'm not gonna let one second of my life to go to waste when I'm with him.
"'Cause I will stand by you
I will help you through
When you've done all you can do
And you can't cope
And I will dry your eyes
I will fight your fight
I will hold you tight
And I won't let go
Oh I'm gonna hold you
And I won't let go
Won't let you go
No I won't."
We are silent after we finish the song. Then, Red breaks it.
"So," he starts as pulls away to look at me. "You know that song."
Yes, I do," I reply.
It was supposed to be your hatchling song.
I want to say that so bad but something holds me back.
I could tell that he isn't good to talking to new birds, considering the fact that I'm his long lost sister and this is the first time we've actually met.
He's only nervous, I mean, Mighty Eagle took care of him and Terence.
Terence!
"Where's Terence?" I ask, startling Red.
"Wait, who, what?" Is his only response before he hits the bamboo floor.
"Ugh this is the second time today that I fell," Red growls as he shakes his head.
I just giggle.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking," Red grumbles jokingly as he stands up.
"Are you okay?" I ask on the verge of laughing.
He rolls his eyes.
"I think you're a bit late in asking that," Red states as he smiles.
"Well that's the point. Laugh at the person first then you help them," I tell him, trying my best to calm my laughter, but I couldn't contain it.
We both look at each other and start laughing to the point tears come to our eyes.
"This isn't even funny," Red states through gasps and small laughter.
"Who cares?!" I exclaim.
"No one!" We both exclaim at the same time. We laugh a while longer before calming down.
I just can't believe how much he looks, and sounds, and acts like dad did.
Same eyes, same feather color, same eyes brows, same personality, and their voices sound alike, except dad's was a bit deeper.
Dad would love him.
But dad isn't here anymore.
I can feel the joy in me start to falter. It happened every time I thought of him.
"Hey, is everything okay?" Red asks. I hadn't realized that I had stopped laughing.
"What? Oh yeah, I'm fine," I assure him.
I'm not fine though.
Once again, I push all my thoughts away.
"You said you had the letter, right?" I ask him.
" I have a letter," he replies as opens his comic and pulls a pice of paper out.
The letter is starting to yellow in the corners. Folds are creased so deep show how many times it has been opened and read.
That has to be the letter.
" Uh, so here it is," Red states as he hands the letter to me. His wing is shaky. I carefully take the letter and read, analyzing each word and punctuation.
"Mom and I wrote this," I tell Red, not looking at him.
"Wait, so if you're C. T. what's mom's name?" Red asks, voice full of curiosity.
"It's Kyra Tide," I tell him as I hand the letter back to him. "Our last name is Tide."
"Oh, well, if you and mom wrote that, what about dad?"
My heart drops.
I can't just tell him dad is dead, he'd be devastated. He'd probably push me away.
I'm over thinking again.
He'd understand.
"Dad was gone at the time," I lie in a calm voice.
"Where was he?"
"Well, he was at one our allies' island trying to figure what to do with the pigs," I continue to half lie. Dad went to our allies a few months before the war, so I'm technically not lying. "He was the leader of the army."
"Is he still the leader of the army?" Red asks.
"No, not anymore, he was discharged," I answer. Red still has a look of confusion on his face.
This is killing me, I can't believe I'm lying to someone.
And that someone happens to be my own brother.
I never lie.
But I have to.
"He was released due to fatal injury," I bluntly explain.
"Oh," is all he says. He hugs me again and I wrap my wings around him. I close my eyes. Silence hangs between us for what seems like hours before he moves to the left of me and grabs the two halves of the picture and leans on my shoulder.
"So, this is dad?" Red asks as he points to the identical looking bird. I nod.
"And I know that's mom," he says as he points to the maroon female bird. "Who are the rest of the birds?" Red asks studying the picture.
"The eldest bird with the red and orange feathers on the right is Grandfather," I state. "The orange bird with the brown head and tail feathers in the middle is Lolan, she's our cousin."
Before I could say anything, Red exclaims,
"Wait, is that Terence?!"
"Yep, that's him."
"There's no way he was ever that small," Red mumbles.
Wait... pluck I gotta find Terence.
"Red! We have to find Terence!" I proclaim as I jump off the couch, running towards the door. Well, I attempt to run to the door. When I jump off the couch, I almost crumple to the floor.
"Gah!" I gasp, pain shooting up my leg.
If it weren't for Red standing beside me, the floor would've became my best friend.
What the pluck?
I hadn't taken realization of the fact that my leg is in a splint.
"Crimson! Get back on the couch!" Matilda orders as she runs into the room. She gets on the left of me and Red gets on the right of me. With the two birds as support, I hop back to the couch and sit back down on the couch.
"You broke your leg," Matilda quickly explains as she has me lay on the couch. She props my leg up with a few pillows.
No, no, no I can't be laying here while my brother is out there.
"Matilda, listen to me! I have to find Terence!" I cry out as I attempt to get off of the couch only to be held down by Matilda. I try to squirm my way out of her grip, but it's useless. I can feel my anger rising. Defiance fills me and flows through my veins.
"Matilda, stop!" Red demands as he tries to pull Matilda away from me.
"She needs to heal!" Matilda snaps as she lets go and turns away from me.
Now's my chance.
I quietly slip off the couch and do my best to get to the doorway.
Finding Terence is number one priority right now.
"Are you seriously gonna keep her apart from her family?" Red shouts at Matilda.
"And do you want your sister to have a permanent limp?" Matilda fires back. The bamboo floor squeaks beneath me and and she turns towards me.
Pluck.
"Crimson!" Matilda gasps as she runs towards me.
"Crimson, you can't walk on your leg!" Matilda warns me as I put some weight on it, and I grunt a bit from the pain, but I block it out.
"Watch me!" I snap at the white bird.
The same yellow bird from earlier comes rushing in the room.
"Matilda what's-" starts the yellow bird before I push him out of the way. He crashes into some exotic art garbage statues.
"Never mind I figured it out," he grumbles, his voice cracking a bit, after he falls on the ground. Matilda, who's chasing me, trips over the small canary and falls on the floor.
Well, that was easy.
My leg is hurting so bad right now, but I push the pain away.
"Gah!" I gasp with every step I take.
Keep going, almost there, almost there.
Just as I'm about to walk through the doorway, a large figure blocks the way, his shadow covers me. I stop dead in my tracks.
I look up.
He looks down.
No, this can't be him. He was too innocent as a hatchling.
His once wide and curious eyes are now small but intimidating. His beak used to have the smile of a young hatchling that would radiate happiness but now, it's a dangerous smirk. His maroon feathers only grew darker with age. And his size is unbelievable.
"Oh. My. Gawd," is all that comes out of my mouth as fear gets a grip of me.
He looks me up and down and his smirk fades to a frown, his eyes grow wide with pain and sadness. He steps towards me.
Okay, it's official.
I'm freaking out.
"Terence?"
He nods.
"Oh my gosh Terence it's you!" I exclaim as I jump toward him, but the splint prevents me from fully jumping so I trip over my foot only to be caught by Terence.
"Terence! Oh my gosh my baby brother is well, not so baby anymore," I state slowly as hug him.
"He's your brother?" The yellow bird gasps with wide eyes as he zooms beside Red.
"Wait, he's my brother?!" Red asks in a shocked voice. His jaw hangs open.
"No, he's our bother," I correct Red as I slightly pull away from Terence to look at Red.
I'm confused.
How do they not know that they're brothers?
Red's face drains of color as he stumbles onto the couch.
"I need to sit down," Red stares as he puts his head in is wings.
Mighty Eagle took care of them. They should know that they're brothers.
Didn't he?
Terence continues to stand in the doorway, hugging me while looking back and forth between me and Red.
"Wait, hold on," I say as shake myself from my thoughts. I let go of Terence and try to hop my way towards Red. Terence helps me by picking me up.
"Huh?" I say as he picks me up.
Okay, and he's really strong.
Which is a bit scary to me. I gulp.
"Okay, let me ask you something," I state as Terence sets me down on the couch beside Red. Terence sits on the floor cuz the couch is too small for him, which I find low-key hilarious.
"Didn't Mighty Eagle take care of you two?" I ask, tilting my head to one side.
Red picks his head up and looks at me, utter confusion is written on his face.
"What do you mean?" He demands angrily, his brown eyes narrowing. "How do you know him?"
"He was supposed to take care of you and Terence until I came back," I tell them.
"Well he didn't," Red snaps as he turns his head away.
Mighty Eagle told me he would take care of them.
He promised me he would take care of my brothers.
He obviously didn't.
"Hey guys, I brought some cookies!" Bomb exclaims happily as he walks into the room. No one pays him any attention, except for Matilda. She walks over to him and says something that I couldn't quite catch. Bomb sighs sadly as he sets down the plate.
I look at Terence. Shock is still on his face.
"He promised," I breathe out. "Have you seen him at all when you were hatchlings?"
Red continues to look away and Terence says nothing.
Why isn't Terence saying anything?
Something isn't right.
I knew I shouldn't have trusted him.
I shouldn't have trusted anyone from the start.
Anger fills me, causing me to growl and rip off the splint.
"Where is this so- called 'Mighty Eagle?'" I demand as I get up. Pain shoots up my leg but I ignore it.
"Bird Mountain but Crimson, please just rest!" Matilda begs me.
"I'll be fine! Just leave me alone!" I snap at her.
I've been through worse than a broken leg.
"Tell me how to get there," I demand.
She doesn't say anything. No one says anything. Silence hangs in the air again.
"Alright well, I'm leaving," I announce, anger filling my voice.
I limp towards the doorway and down the hallway, this time no bird stops me.
Mighty Eagle is gonna get a piece of my mind.
Since he broke a promise, he'll pay the price.
I open the door and sunlight streams in. Before I can take a good look at anything, I feel my legs give way. The ground below me is pulled out from under my feet. I fall and darkness takes over me.
Again.

(Song is called I Wont Let Go By Rascal Flatts)