Piece By Piece

The Truce

That afternoon, Red, Chuck, and Bomb were feeling victorious with the three hatchlings, Zoe, Vivi and Sam-Sam.

"Another successful day of protecting the island!" Red said, beaming with pride. "Great job, guys!"

Bomb and Chuck gave each other a high five as the hatchlings jumped into Red's wings.

"You saved us, Red!" they cheered.

"You're our hero," Zoe added.

"Well, what can I say? It's what I do," she said. "Now, why don't you just go ahead and run along and keep your big, cute eyes peeled for the next pig prank, alright?"

Zoe and Vivi ran off, but Sam-Sam turned back to the adults and scowled.

"Pigs!" she hissed. Red and the guys were surprised.

"I'm going to get you!" Zoe teased as she and Vivi, dressed as pigs, chased Sam-Sam around the beach.

Red chuckled. "Adorable. Okay, let's just finish cleaning up the rest of these crabs, and we can move on to..."

Using his super speed, Chuck zipped across the beach, grabbed every single crustacean in sight, and tossed them in the recycling bin. Unfortunately, he also managed to stuff Bomb in there. All he got out was his head, either because he was stuck or he was more focused on the tiny, green, floaty thing in the distance. Red and Chuck noticed it, too.

"Red, what is it?" Chuck asked curiously.

"What the heck?" she wondered aloud.

Turns out, it was a green balloon with a face on it. And not just any face, it was the face of a familiar, bearded pig. A rolled up piece of paper was tied to its string.

"Oh, look!" Bomb said, climbing out of the bin. "It seems like some kind of note."

Chuck gasped. "What if it's a love note? What if it's like a message in a bottle?"

"Or a genie in a bottle!" Bomb guessed excitedly.

"Guys, there's no bottle, so just, you know, stop," Red told them, and read the note.

"Dear birds, we humbly request a truce. Can we talk?

💚 Leonard XOXO"

So, it is a love note, Red thought, cringing. She was all too familiar with Leonard's... motives.

"Nice try, piggies!" she scoffed, crumpling up the note. "News flash, we're not idiots!"

Another note immediately flew over and hit Red in the face. She decided to read that one, too.

"Dear birds, you are idiots. But...

We are serious about the truce."

Red looked up and noticed hundreds of green balloons floating above Bird Island, each one of them with offers of a truce. And the rest of the birds took notice.

"Check it out, everybody!" Alex announced, holding up a note.

"Let me see that," Pinky said, reading it. "A truce! A truce!"