Contrary to what Charles had expected in the wake of his discovery to use essence, the man-turned-bird felt almost numb to it. He knew that this could easily be a celebrated occasion, but the fact of the matter was that he certainly wasn’t the only creature that knew how to use this force. Under normal circumstances, he’d be happy that he at least had some kind of weapon to use against the other natural denizens of this world, considering the fact he’d already fought against two creatures capable of its use.
But he had to assume that people would be more than equipped similarly. Whether they could use the same power as him, he couldn’t say for sure, but there was very little that suggested that humans or - if they existed - other sapient species wouldn’t be capable of utilizing essence for the brute force weaponization he’d already learned. Honestly, he doubted they wouldn’t be capable of more, given the finesse and monumental power that humanity possessed when they could pass information on to their peers.
Charles, however, knew that he would be bumbling into this alone with nothing more than his best guess and instinct to guide him.
After having done a considerable amount of testing, thoroughly exhausting himself and leaving a robust stack of wood beside him, Charles decided that his use of essence could be classified in three broad categories. The first was as straightforward as it was powerful, being the act of empowering. By empowering his body, he could accomplish feats of strength and speed that betrayed Charles’ understanding of reality. He’d attempted to hold the energy as well, in order to see if anything changed. However, it quickly felt like he was trying to block the opening of a firehouse with his bare hands. If anything, the fact that he could channel the energy into a strike for even a second was remarkable. Moreover, if he didn’t use his built up energy, a hefty chunk of it was wasted, supposedly dissipating into the environment.
The second theoretical use, which he’d yet to make ground on, was something he tentatively called reinforcing, or cowling. The badger had demonstrated that its hide could be strengthened ridiculously against strikes. Charles intended to get more information on how that worked, but suspected that the badger would be an unhappy but all-too-willing subject to observe the process from.
Thirdly, he was aware of a more passive state of essence in his body, something that he felt simply made him healthier and stronger as a baseline. He couldn’t be certain of the long term effects, but he certainly seemed more effective the more filled with essence he was. The badger, once more, would probably be an excellent source of some tests, albeit a dangerous one.
That was something that he knew he’d have to deal with sooner rather than later, but once more he had no mounting desire to leap before he looked. The badger had been more interested in bullying him out of a meal last time, rather than attempting to make a meal out of him. If that changed, Charles needed to be reasonably sure of his chances to fight back or escape.
Ultimately, risk was inevitable. He’d already had a few lessons in this world, and while he wasn’t willing to throw himself at absurd odds, he had to accept that there was always the possibility that he would die long before he got the chance to help Alterra. Even the far more humble goals of seeing his bird family again would take considerable effort.
That thought briefly made him consider his human family once more. His sister, Elizabeth, would have told him he was being too serious. He couldn’t guess at how mom and dad would have really reacted, knowing that he remembered them through the filter of a child. Rick would have told him to trust his gut, while Adela would have said that he should consider what he really wants, and that she’d be there for him.
‘How hollow that rings now,’ Charles thought bitterly for a second before shaking his head. ‘Not the time. We’ve got food, water, and shelter… one that resembles a nest.’ He thought with bemusement as he looked to the pile of sticks and the sun that sat high overhead, pouring golden light through the leaves and boughs of trees. For a second, he simply stared, realizing for the first time the gentle breeze that brushed against his feathers, the distant babble of the river that soothed away the jagged edges of his mood.
Steadily he continued to breathe in and out, focusing for once only on that action, even the ever present essence in his body a backdrop to the peace all around him. The earthy scents of the forest filled his nostrils, and he let himself forget his promise to Alterra, let himself forget about the traumatic way he died in his last life, let himself exist only now in this moment. No thinking about the future, no thinking about the past, just be.
Almost unbidden, he huddled back into the middle of his only partially finished nest, enjoying the gentle caress of a mild breeze through his smooth feathers. Warmth permeated his bones and muscles, relaxing nerves that he hadn’t even realized were taught. For a second, he almost thought he heard a whisper of noise in the forest, but disregarded it when no following sounds occured.
Resting his head down against freshly trimmed branches, he let the scent of chopped wood fill his nostrils as he drifted off to sleep.
Only a few hours later did he rise, spirits high, and the realization that he still had enough day left for a few things. Grinning to himself, he trotted through the overgrown vegetation, the seeming serenity of the land having receded to the background.
The bladebeak made his way calmly towards the river, following lightly packed trails from his movements back and forth, feeling far more spry and energetic than he’d felt in a long time. His muscles hummed with energy, and as he jogged, Charles felt like he needed to run, to burn that energy. It was the kind of hyperactive energy that he remembered having as a kid, when he just needed to do something.
That, or as though he’d just had three cans of energy drink dumped straight into his gut.
Even when he reached the river, he couldn’t help but sprint, first taking elation just in the feeling of sheer speed and control. Then, he started bounding at trees, imagining being able to vault off of them.
The first attempt, he admitted, could have been better, but also a lot worse. He slipped off of the bark with an ill-placed claw, instead managing to bank right off the side of the tree, stripping a layer of bark as he tried to steady himself with razor sharp wing feathers. Somehow, though, it felt satisfying in a way he couldn’t quite place to have left a mark like that.
Undaunted by his initial failure, Charles moved through the trees, practicing being able to perform various acrobatic maneuvers against them. Even as a human he hadn’t been anywhere near flexible and athletic enough to pull this off. Silently, he vowed that he’d make sure that his body this time around was a well-tuned machine, ready for whatever he needed to throw himself at. He jumped from one tree, flaring his wings widely as he did so and surprising himself with how much his trajectory changed.
‘Huh… I wonder if I can glide?’ Charles pondered between trees. With an almost manic grin, Charles charged at another tree and tilted back at the last second. A minor hop carried him upwards enough that he could pump his legs hard against the tree, sheared bits of bark from extended talons falling beneath him. With a strain of his muscles, Charles leapt from the tree, extending his wings wide, angling them forward.
To his delight, he was able to carry himself much further than he’d hoped he could go, fully four times as far as he could have jumped. Inspired, Charles then directed essence into his wings, seeking to enhance them beyond what they’d been capable of.
He pumped his wings hard, seeking to get lift with them as he descended and… blinked in confusion when the essence didn’t seem to click like it had before. Instead of ascending, the act of folding his wings dropped his glide early, though Charles was able to catch himself. Still confused, he guided the essence to his wings with a simple enough application of will. When he flapped, they were no faster or stronger than before, and after a short amount of time the energy began to disperse once more without that familiar sensation of settling that he’d had with his legs.
“But why?” Charles murmured to himself, cladding his wings once more and deciding to try to slash out at a tree with them. Once more, nothing happened, leaving him stunned as to what was going on. In a panic, he pushed energy towards his beak and struck.
Faster than a professional baseball pitch, he surged forward and his beak pierced through the bark from his targeted tree. It was easy, his essence leapt to the command and carried it out with gusto.
A little too much gusto, honestly, considering Charles then had to dislodge fragments of shattered bark from his feathered head.
Once more, he tried to force energy to his wings. He struck with them, leaving gouge lines from his feathers, but little else. Without essence in them, he swiped with his wings again at the bark, leaving identical results. Further perturbed, he wrapped his legs in energy, striking out at another tree as he wandered towards it, feeling dull satisfaction in the back of his mind from the deep marks he left. He hit another tree with a non-essence strike, leaving much shallower marks.
“Alright, so why the peck isn’t this working?” He eyed his own wings, frowning as he still couldn’t manage to get that sensation where the essence clicked into place.
Slowly, Charles moved the essence to other parts of his body, some more focused than others. His back, his stomach, the surface of his body, and so forth. Yet, no matter what he tried, it didn’t seem like the essence would adjust.
Finally, Charles decided to give it a break for the time being. His breathing had grown deep, and in spite of the short time he’d been testing, he was becoming a bit peckish once more. Considering the testing he’d done earlier, he wasn’t terribly surprised. Perhaps he’d try to test something more later, but at the very least he wanted to have a full stomach and be nearer to home.
With a bit of frustration, he realized that he’d actually gotten much closer to home than he’d expected, and looking back, also realized that he’d just left a mess across the trees, scattered throughout a huge area.
“Well, at least other critters will know this is my area,” he shrugged to himself, hoping that would be sufficient to mark his territory. His instincts, which had been practically vibrating with happiness while he was testing, seemed to corroborate that suspicion, but if nothing else he was much more comfortable on his feet than he was before.
Once more he moved to the river, patiently wading into the shallows and watching for any fish, and other predators. While he doubted this river should host anything the size of an alligator, he certainly didn’t want to risk being wrong. For all he knew, there could be any number of dangerous organisms all over the place.
In spite of that, Charles managed to snatch up two more fish in the span of ten minutes, more than happy with the seeming quantity of life in the river. After taking a bit of time to preen his feathers - a deeply soothing motion, he noted - he decided to go back to the nest.
The pile of yet-unused branches greeted him, and Charles began to steadily bring them inwards towards his construction zone, intending on making it truly like a nest. The work was fairly tedious, but as far as he was concerned he didn’t really have much better to do right now. And besides, it was probably a good idea to reinforce his home. Within the hollow space itself, he bent several branches together to form something resembling a bed before pulling additional moss into it. He left space for him to grow, knowing that very likely he was far from full size.
Then he began to move the branches around the interior section of the trees, pressing the longer, sturdy branches between the trees of the outer circle to keep things out from most directions. That part took some extra work, mostly due to the fact that he had to lever the stick up in his beak, holding it as tightly as he could with his wings too, and then to pull it down at an angle to wedge the branches. The formed barrier was fairly short, only a meter and a half right now, but they’d be added on as he grew.
A few minutes later, he began to lay branches against those that were already placed horizontally, trying to press them into the dirt where he could. As far as walls went, he doubted they’d hold up something very large, but anything that large would have a problem getting through them without making a lot of noise. He hadn’t had any issues with other animals or home invaders so far, but Charles didn’t feel comfortable without something to at least protect him as he slept, and he wanted to have more than just a magic sigil for protection, just in case.
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It took a lot of work, quite some time had passed when he realized partway through that he needed more branches, specifically that still had leaves on them to help blend in a bit better with the environment. Without them, he would still not expect most people to notice from afar, but with some foliage they might even walk past his spot if they weren’t paying special attention to it. Hopefully the same could be said of any predators in the area, though Charles hoped that he himself might be on the high end of that scale.
Having finally finished with the nest, he stood back from it and appraised it.
“That’s actually not bad…” he nodded at his hard work. It was hardly the pristine construction he’d imagined in his mind, and while he had something akin to hands, they were hardly capable of the finer manipulation he needed for anything better.
Still, it was his nest truly now. He was a resident, and with the fact that the outer ring of the nest was now fairly walled off, he could feel comfortable in the knowledge that if anything wanted to enter, it’d have to come through one of two openings opposite of each other and then circle the inner ring to the only entrance into his inner nest. That should keep anything from directly spying on him from the front entrance, while also giving him some time to hear a potential invader before they got there. Especially with the several small sticks that lay scattered across the ground outside. When they dried, they’d make for a noisy approach for just about anyone, he suspected.
With all of that finished, Charles stretched and let out a satisfied screech into the air.
And started with shock as he heard a screech answer back.
Charles stood frozen in place, staring hard in the general direction that he’d heard the sound. He hadn’t at all been ready to try to listen in depth to the noise, but he was fairly certain it was a much higher pitch and different tone than his own. And yet, it was so very familiar in a way that he couldn’t place.
The screech sounded again, this time closer, and followed by a second, slightly deeper one. It echoed through the forest and sent a thrill up Charles’ spine, even without him knowing why. Before he could stop himself, he found himself answering it with a call of his own, louder, sharper, with a kind of enthusiastic energy that made his heart quiver.
‘What am I feeling right now?’ He wondered, noting the strange flutter in his gut. Even beyond that, he felt his heartbeat speed up. Distantly, he realized that his essence had shifted somewhat as well, but he didn’t understand why. The pair of calls came back, this time much closer, insistent, almost to the extent that he would say desperate.
Charles called out once more, realizing where he’d heard the sounds before. Belatedly, he could almost feel the gentle thrum of essence coming from the call, and in his memory he could recall feeling it before. It was unique in a way that he couldn’t quite describe, his own essence able to sense it. Even without his frankly novice skill in essence manipulation, he couldn’t mistake the sound and essence it carried with it.
His wide eyes followed a pair of shapes as they darted through the trees, expertly weaving between them on short but broad wings. Graceful and deadly, the pair of predators darted between branches, in some cases bounding off of them to push themselves forward at even greater velocity. All in a harried path directly towards the young bladebeak below.
Charles let out an involuntary squawk as the pair flapped their wings hard upon seeing him, shock clear in their raptor eyes as they backpedaled as hard as they could. The wind buffeted him, debris scattering for a few seconds as they neared the ground only to ascend upwards and backwards almost as rapidly as they’d come.
In spite of himself, Charles felt a little hurt with how they’d responded. ‘Ah, right. They don’t know that I changed.’ He watched them with a weariness, already feeling the tragedy unfold. Being no stranger to it, he immediately set aside his hopes for the encounter, only wishing that this would be over quickly.
To his surprise, though, his Mother and Father did not immediately flee, instead hovering a little less than eight meters away. Charles could tell that they were confused, but even so, he was surprised by the next thing that they did.
The pair let out another sharp cry, one he felt in his bones. Just as before, he felt their unique essence as it rolled out across him. Then they paused, watching Charles with a combination of wariness and confusion. They’d clearly heard the cry of their lost young here, however different some of the sound was. They hadn’t expected to come across their youngling ever again, but in its place they saw this radically different form of bird.
Charles understood their confusion, but couldn’t help but realize that, perhaps, the fact that animals seemed to be overtly more intelligent might actually work in his favor.
‘Worth a shot,’ He swallowed, trying to clear his apprehension. Charles took a deep breath, feeling his essence mobilize even without his direct guidance. The shrill cry he released into the air carried far and wide, a chunk of essence draining out of him in a radiating wave.
The pair of red hawks dropped from the air, and for a moment Charles started forward, alarmed that he might have had something to do with it. Instead, as they landed, he realized that it was something else entirely.
At that moment, Charles recognized something in the eyes of the two birds that had been his parents for so short a time. Meaning filled eyes rested upon him, an almost silent cooing sound coming from them. No matter how different they were from humans, there was no question in Charles' mind about what they were feeling.
Mostly because his own heart was leaping up into his throat, choking back an emotional squeal.
‘Ah, Alterra damn it,’ Charles gave up resisting the waterworks, tears and a pitiful noise emitting from his mouth even as his parents flapped once, the family moving inwards as one. He could hear them cooing and trilling loudly, even as they busily fussed over him, a blend of what felt like broad hugs with wings involved and preening his feathers. Charles looped his own head up and around his mother, even as she startled at the motion. She must have decided that was quite nice, because she was doing it back a moment later.
As they embraced, Charles didn’t even bother trying to parse meaning from the noise they made as they continued unabashedly examining him. They were clearly very curious about what happened to him, and he only now realized that he was taller than they were now.
“What about my siblings?” Charles asked aloud, remembering distinctly when he’d managed to discern what they were saying.
His parents looked to the other before turning back towards him and staring. When nothing was forthcoming, Charles couldn’t help but let out a small tired sigh.
“Away.” He heard the word come from beside him, Father shrugged, “Grown.”
Charles tightly sealed the elation he felt at the fact that he could actually make out what they were saying, “You mean they’re alive?”
“Alive,” Mother’s voice confirmed, still leaving Charles reeling at the sounds of actual words. Relief surged through him at that, glad to have confirmation that they were yet still alive.
“Good, good… after the snake… and with the nest empty…” he trailed off, letting his fears go unspoken. His parents picked up on his discomfort, searching him for any signs of injury as they preened through his feathers once more.
“I’m fine, I’m fine!” Charles laughed when they poked at ticklish spots, “I’ve just been worried.”
Mother huffed, making it clear that he wasn’t the only one.
“Healthy?” Father’s single word question caught Charles unawares.
“Uhh… yeah. Well, better now at least that I’ve gotten some food.” He chuckled to himself.
This time, Mother beamed in happiness, “Hunting?”
It was at that point that Charles felt his enthusiasm dip, ‘So, they’re only able to really do one word responses?’ He mulled that over, but quickly pushed the disappointment away while reminding himself that any conversation was a lot better than none.
“Yeah, hunting well.” Charles managed to channel more excitement than he felt. In a corner of his mind, he could almost remember something similar to when his human parents had been around. When he didn’t want them to worry, or when he wanted them to smile.
Mother and Father took a few steps back, postures comfortable as they took in his full body once more. Once more, he was reminded of all the differences between them. The red hawks were standardly clad in red and black feathers, and stood at just over a meter in height. They were much larger birds than he’d ever personally seen, at least not counting himself, and the fact that he was only mildly taller than them was still an awe-inspiring realization.
But above all, Charles felt lighter on his feet with the knowledge that his siblings and parents were definitely alive. He didn’t know them long, but somehow that didn't matter. They’d accepted him fully, and he valued them more than he’d expected he would.
“Nest?” He heard Father’s voice rang out, eyes glancing around in search of any indication of the nest. His sharp eyes picked out the many locations where Charles had shorn off branches with his beak attacks, but he couldn’t see where his nest was given the strange sort of magic that his little home seemed to have. In truth, it wasn’t far behind him, and after all the work he’d done on it, no one should be able to miss it this close. Charles was glad that he’d managed to find the place.
“Yeah, I’ve got one.” Charles smiled, “Wanna come see?”
Mother and Father blinked at that before assented. Excitedly, Charles turned and had them follow him, their trotting steps across the forest floor quickly giving way to them flitting from branch to branch overhead. Only a minute later, he was just outside of his nesting area, low walls of wood protecting it and still vibrant green leaves clinging to them.
Charles turned to see what their reaction was, only to stutter to a stop as they seemed to have extreme difficulty actually looking at any of it. He frowned as he studied their line of sight, even going so far as to invariably slide off of him, eventually ending up on either side of his nesting grounds than to be looking in the direction at all.
“Confused,” Mother’s eyes kept trying to focus on him. Everytime they ended up elsewhere, and her plumage gradually fluffed up more and more as she became frustrated. He also noticed that they stopped following him closer.
‘That’s admittedly sad to hear… but good to know, I guess.’ Charles sighed, now realizing that his new nest probably didn’t need his walls at all. But, if nothing else, it gave him some semblance of security if something that could have seen him wandered through.
“Well, I guess that’s off the table then for now,” Charles turned back to his parents, moving closer to them and putting the nest off to his side in their view. He found it more than a little freaky how their eyes suddenly snapped onto him, startled, having watched them be unable to focus on him mere seconds before. Was that because they were more like animals than people? Was that even the case? Already they’d demonstrated more intelligence than he’d expected he could see, and clearly they could actively communicate. That, as far as he knew, was impossible for a standard animal.
Though, he supposed, he couldn’t really know that, given that he’d never been an animal before. He idly wondered if animals in his old world had this ability.
And then put the full stop on that thought, partly because it was distracting, but also because of the extreme level of horror that would put farm factories at.
“So,” he firmly dragged their attention back to him, still noting the confusion on their faces, “How… uh… how are you two?” For lack of anything to really bring up - Charles really didn’t know what he was supposed to say here, even if they were human - he defaulted to general things.
“Better,” they chirped aloud, giving him a meaningful stare. Once more Charles felt a warmth in his chest at the sight. The pair looked to one another, a subtle nod before they moved closer to him, a clumsy, hopping motion as they preened his feathers once more.
Charles chuckled at the ticklish sensation, but all too quick they withdrew and turned away. “Oh, uh, where are you going?”
They paused, turning to him whilst blinking owlishly, “Away.” His mother stated.
Father expanded slightly on that statement, with a nod towards Charles, “Grown.”
“I… I see.” The bladebeak uttered, mind leaping to catch up. He didn’t know exactly what he expected. A long talk? Living together again? This wasn’t exactly a human family, the same sensibilities didn’t apply.
Even so, it ached to see them leave so soon, “Keep in touch, yeah?”
They smiled warmly at that, nodding to him, before turning once more. With a single strong hop, the pair took off into the air, wings fluttering rapidly to gain air. They let out keening cries as they moved out through the forest, and Charles couldn’t help but tear up a little.
Even so, he drew a deep breath and let out a shrill call, wishing them well and putting all the emotions he could feel into it.
“Man…” he stared after them for a few seconds, feeling tired, a little sad, happy, and at peace all at the same time. As he turned back to the nest, shaking his head, he sorted through all of his thoughts. As he lay down on the mossy bed he’d made, he decided that this was indeed the best he could have hoped for. With one eye on the sky, he decided that perhaps going to bed early today might be for the best.