The Story of Tiberius

Chapter 55

"Oh my god! Tiberius, are you okay?!" Rosa cried, rushing over to her big brother's side. Sleet had backed away beforehand so she wouldn't be run over by the young red tail. Tiberius, meanwhile, gave her a pleading look in his eyes as he mouthed silently, "Help me..." His little sister Rosa was practically losing her mind and her feathers were puffed up as she exclaimed, "Tiberius, please! Speak to me, say something! Don't go towards that light at the end of the tunnel!"

"Rosa, I'm okay-"

"Do you have any broken bones?!"

"My skull is probably fracture-"

"Do you have a fever?!"

"No, I do-"

"How many feathers am I holding up?!"

"Three-"

"How many?!"

"I just said three-"

"What color is my tail?!"

"I'm gonna have a head-"

"Answer the question!"

"Rosa, maybe you should calm down-" Sleet tried to come to Tiberius's rescue but Rosa interrupted her, "Please answer the question!"

"Red..." Tiberius grumbled.

"Where were we born?!"

"Are you kid-"

"Tiberius!"

"I didn't suffer from a concussion, geez!"

"Rosa, he's fine. He's just sore and needs to rest," Dodger pointed out as he came to the tree hollow at last. He was panting heavily, hinting that he had been trying to keep up with a very stressed out red tailed hawk. Looking around, Rosa mumbled, "He's okay?" Sleet and Tiberius slowly nodded their heads. Dodger flopped down on the ground of his home, drawing in shaky breaths while he did the osprey equivalent of a thumbs up. Calmed down, Rosa breathed a sigh of relief and smiled softly at her big brother. Taking a deep breath at first, she suddenly punched him in the shoulder as she cried, "Why would you do that?!"

"Ow... ever heard of I just had a-" Tiberius tried to say.

"I thought you died!"

"So did ever-"

"Don't you ever do that again!"

"I won-"

"Do you hear me?!"

"If you would let me fin-"

"DO YOU HEAR ME?!"

"Yes. I don't need-"

"Do you realize how worried I was?!"

"And I have to listen to-"

"I would have been left all alone in this world!"

"But I didn't die-"

"DON'T TALK BACK TO ME!"

"I'm not-"

"YES YOU ARE!"

"Maybe you should give Rosa some poppy seeds before we send Tiberius home with her in this state," Sleet whispered quietly to Dodger, who nodded his head. The ancient bald eagle and the osprey watched as one red tailed hawk was snapping at her brother, practically biting his head off.