Book One: Lost and Found: An Angry Birds Fanfic

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Crimson

"Crimson? Are you awake?" A voice quietly asks from above me.
I blink open my eyes and look up to find Tamahara with a white, glass plate in her wings.
Why does she have a plate?
"Now I am," I yawn as I sit up, not really caring to ask.
"Well good, cuz I brought you some food," she tells me. "You're gonna need it."
Well, there's my answer.
I roll my eyes in annoyance.
"I don't need it," I inform her, although hunger slightly gnaws inside of me.
"Eat it," Tamahara demands me as she shoves a piece of pineapple in my beak without warning.
Its citrus juice makes me cough, resulting in me spitting out the piece of fruit.
"Are you crazy?" I snap at her, wiping my beak with my wing.
"No, I'm just making sure that you're okay since every bird else left you!" Tamahara fires back.
I open my beak to protest, but I quickly shut it as I take a look at the cages around me.
Empty.
Not a living soul.
Every bird left me.
I guess I deserve it.
Letting out a quiet sigh, I feel negativity fill the inside of me as I remain quiet.
"I'm sorry," the princess apologizes. "But please, just eat a little bit at least."
I look up at her and hesitantly give in.
"Fine," I sigh as I take the plate from her.
I almost drop it, making me curse under my breath
Why's this so heavy?
I look down at it.
What the pluck?
Large amounts of pineapple chunks, apple slices, blueberries, grapes and chocolate covered strawberries fill the plate, weighing my wings down.
Hasn't she ever seen me eat? I eat normal portions.
"How much do you think I eat?" I ask her, my eyes wide with shock at the amount of food in front of me.
"I'll help you," Tamahara volunteers as she sits down next to me, dancing around my question.
I shrug my shoulders and pop a blueberry in my mouth.
"So, we're going to Bird Island," I say slowly, not really knowing what to talk about.
"Yeah, we'll be dropping the eggs off there, and then you're working for Mudbeard," Tamahara tells me, grabbing a handful of grapes. "And lucky me, I have to marry him. I'm just glad it's nothing more than words and getting crowned."
Oh yeah, she's gotta marry him.
I don't know who's worse, Draven or Mudbeard.
They both obliterated islands, tore apart families, spread fear over the lands, but Draven hurt more birds close to him than Mudbeard did.
"You've got some really bad options," I point out to her before eating an apple slice.
Its sweetness fills my mouth, making me slightly smile and reminding me of home.
When this is all over, I can go back to Poldras Island and go on with my life.
In the corner of my eye, I see Tamahara stop eating and look at me.
"What do you mean?"
"Well," I start. "You've gotta marry Mudbeard, but you've also got Draven in your life, and he's a horrible bird..."
"Excuse me but you should take a look at yourself and think before saying anything," she snaps at me.
I look right at her, anger taking over me as I hold myself back from hitting her.
What? Me?
I have to think?
"I'm not a horrible bird!" I fire back at her.
"Then why'd you lie to your own family?" She starts angrily. "Take a look around you! Tell me, if you're not a horrible bird, then why did every single bird leave you?"
"Keep my family out of this!" I yell at her, throwing the plate to the side.
It shatters.
"Why? Why should I keep them out of this? You hurt them! You got their hopes up only for it be shattered, just like that plate. You held it, and then threw it away like how you threw away the truth and threw out excuses, only for it to all shatter! You held their hopes and expectations, only to throw it away as if it were nothing!"
Can't she leave me alone?
"Why does any of this matter to you?" I immediately yell at her, standing up.
She stands up too, and I actually get a shock of fear as I realize I need to look up at her.
I internally freak out.
Is she really this tall?
"Because it doesn't matter to you," she says firmly as she glares down at me. "If it mattered to you, you would've told your brothers everything, and not just about your dad. You would've listened to all the birds around you. You would've been a better bird now. If it mattered to you, you wouldn't be alone right now."
I feel threatened, as if I'm not safe, and I can't keep looking at her so I turn my head away to stare off in the darkness.
Why does every bird keep putting me down?
Why is it always me?
Why does every bird hate me?
Question after question reels through my head as Tamahara keeps running her beak.
"If you've got nothing to say, then I'm just gonna leave," Tamahara sighs angrily as she takes a few steps back. "Oh wait, what else is there for you to say? An excuse? Another lie?"
...there's nothing left to say.
"What about an apology to your brothers?" She continues sternly and waits as if she's expecting an answer.
And why am I always the one that has to apologize?
I don't say anything as I stand there, looking at the darkness, not daring to look back up at her.
"I really hope that you get your head out of your tail feathers," Tamahara growls as she walks away. "See ya later."
That's if there's a later.
I see the light shrink as she closes the door, leaving me here in a thick blanket of darkness.
The lies, the holding back, the hate, the darkness all weighs me down, pulling me down to the floor of the cage but yet, I don't cry.
What's the point in crying if no bird will hear me? What's the point if no bird will listen to me?
Well, no bird will listen to me now.
So what's the point in saying anything?
What's the point in even breathing anymore?
I sit there, in a battle with myself and with those around me as my eyes come across a broken piece from the plate.
I pick it up and try look at it through the darkness.
It's glossy and smooth, just like my lies. They've convinced every bird I've ever lied to, just going with the flow until I break it, making rough, jagged edges of the truth.
It's more than enough to tear any bird apart.
What's the point in anything anymore?
My wing comes across a sharper edge, pricking me as a sudden panic runs through me, and I throw the piece of plate away.
"Gah!" I gasp, my eyes widening as I start to tremble. My heart beats faster, and an old pain pulses through my fist.
Memories from when I was younger run through my head, and I try to shake them away.
That bird I met, those trees, the feathers I plucked.
Heck, Red and Terence don't even know about that, but I don't plan on telling them.
Now that I think about it...
Is it so much of what I said? Or rather what I didn't say?
I know I lied to them, but there's so much I didn't tell them either.
Are those unspoken words lies too?
I sigh heavily as I lean against a bar of the cage, its coldness creeping into me, taking the breath of the warmth I have left.
It's cold, but I don't care because it doesn't affect me as much as the things that I've done and false words I've spoken.
I've been the horrible bird all along,
What have I done?