The Story of Tiberius

Chapter 76

Five months had passed since Ivory had fled to London. And Tiberius feared that something had happened. One night way back in October, he could not sleep at all due to constant nightmares he had had. By the time morning had come around, he had been shaking in terror from a total of eleven terrifying dreams. That had happened one week after he had seen Ivory last. Now with winter gone and spring coming around the corner, the red tailed hawk, now almost nine years old, had never felt so alone.

Waking up in his shed only to be welcomed by the darkness the hood brought, Tiberius sighed quietly. Rolling over onto his feet, he blindly began cleaning the feathers on his shoulders when he heard something moving around outside. And it wasn't Alfred's footsteps or Ivory's for that matter. If anything, it sounded like there were three small pigeons out on the rooftop. A moment later, he could hear them cooing to each other, confirming his suspicions that they were pigeons. Feeling a little lonely and wanting someone to talk to, Tiberius cleared his throat before calling out quietly, "You guys want to come in here? I sense that there's going to be a storm coming soon."

The pigeons' cooing came to a stop and an eerie silence feel over the roof. Growing a little worried, Tiberius murmured, "Was it something I said?" Just then, he heard one of the pigeons coming towards the shed. With his hood on his head, the only senses that the hawk possessed at the moment was basically everything but sight. Listening quietly, the red tail heard a small gasp before he heard the pigeon fly away from the shed door and whisper to his two comapnions, "It's a hawk." The other two gasped. Silence fell over the roof once more, bothering Tiberius. He spoke up again, wanting some company, "Come on guys, it's safe and sound in here-" The sound of laughter interrupted the hawk.

"How stupid do you think we are hawk?! We ain't falling for your tricks!" the first pigeon shouted.

"You tell him Dave!" a female pigeon cheered.

"Safe and sound with a hawk? Yeah right!" an older male joined in.

"I'd rather be with a cat than a wild predator like this guy!"

"At least the cat probably will be too lazy to catch us!"

"My point exactly!"

"But... I'm a domestic," Tiberius pointed out, shaking a little at their taunts. He couldn't see them but he could picture them vividly in his head, laughing their own off.

"But are you really?"

"Yeah, if you're truly domesticated, then I must be the queen of England!"

"Once a wild animal, always a wild animal!"

"Predators should never be trusted."

"Not one!"

"He's nothing but a bad bird!" Dave's voice called out over his two companions. At that, all three pigeons began chanting those two words. His head pounding while their words rang inside of his skull, Tiberius cowered at the back of his shed. His feathers bristled and he trembled greatly. The hawk tried his hardest to drown the pigeons out but it seemed that they were getting louder. Practically a ball now, the red tail thought he was about to have a panic attack or something when he suddenly stopped. Though he couldn't see them, he glanced down at his talons. "They messed with the wrong hawk..." he muttered under his breath, a plan coming into his head.

"It's alright guys. You can stay out there and get your feathers wet," Tiberius called out to the pigeons, causing them to burst out into laughter again. Hopping up onto one of the branches inside his shed, he continued, "Guess I'll have to eat all this food by myself." He let his words hang in the air while the laughter stopped instantly. He smiled to himself as he heard the city chickens cry, "Food?!" Keeping his cool, the hawk replied, "Oh yeah, lots of food. Sadly, I think it's all going to waste. You guys don't want it, do you?" He didn't have to say anymore when he heard all three rush forward and enter the shed without question. Sensing the trio were all inside, Tiberius slowly shut the door and put himself in front of it, blocking off their exit. Shaking with excitement, the pigeon known as Dave asked, "Alright, where's the food?"

"Right where you're standing..." Tiberius growled, his talons scraping across the floorboards. Letting out a loud screech, he lunged forward and showed no mercy. About twenty minutes later, the red tailed hawk was laying on the ground fast asleep and full while the skulls of three pigeons lay beside the rest of their bones.