Two Birds of a Feather

Chapter 31

Waking up the next morning, Wendy yawned quietly. Blinking the last remnants of sleep from her bright yellow eyes, she looked around. The storm must've passed sometime in the night because there was no sign of it anywhere now. Everything was just soaking wet. It even smelled damp. Inhaling deeply, Wendy let out a sneeze. This caused Tiberius to finally wake up.

"Morning," Wendy spoke softly and cheerfully. She was hoping that she might've caught the older red tailed hawk in a good mood. Her hopes were dashed though when he growled back, "Get away from me..." That was when Wendy noticed that she was still curled up under his wing. And by the irritated look gleaming in his eyes, the old hawk wasn't allowing her to stay there any longer. Lowering her head with a soft whimper, Wendy crawled out from underneath his left wing and went to the far side of the shelter.

Huffing as he watched the young hawk curl up into a tight ball, Tiberius rolled his light brown eyes in annoyance. He hadn't the slightest clue as to why he had allowed Wendy to sleep next to him last night. Most likely because it would shut her up and let him sleep. But there had to be other ways of making her keep her mouth shut... right? Shaking his head to rid his mind of these thoughts, the red tailed hawk got up on his feet. Wendy did the same as she asked, "Where are we going today?"

"I'm going home. You can stay here," Tiberius snarled while he stretched his aching back. Watching him with round eyes, Wendy whimpered in protest, "But I don't want to stay here. I want to go home too."

"Then go find your parents!"

"But-"

"You do have parents, don't ya?"

"...yeah..."

"Then go to them!"

"I... I can't..."

"Oh for the love of the Tribe of the Heavenly Stars, why the heck can't you?!"

There was no reply. Not answering the older hawk's last question, Wendy stared down at her feet, not saying a word. She was visibly shaking and her eyes were glistening with watery tears. A few were even rolling down her cheeks. Laying down on the dirt ground once again, she curled up into a ball with her back facing her traveling companion. Her face covered by one of her small wings, she cried quietly.

"Great, now ya gone done it ya old fool..." Tiberius growled under his breath, hearing Wendy cry in the corner. Glancing over at her, the old hawk could see that she was trembling. He definitely gone too far over the line now. Pacing back and forth, he wondered what he was supposed to do at this point. Should he just head home by himself or take the helpless youngster along. Looking over at Wendy one last time, Tiberius reluctantly made his decision.

He left.