Suffered 2 Falling Damage
"Oww" I squawk, stumbling to me feet. That one got my right on the chin!
"Who put that stupid hole there?" I say while staring accusingly at the unsuspecting crack in the ground where I just fell.
Suffered 3 Falling Damage
"GAAHH Why is there ANOTHER hole AFTER that one!!" I grumble and growl, the bird equivalent of a growl being an aggressive hum. How many times have I fallen now? a million times? As usual, the only thing answering my questions is the cool, yet humid night's wind.
Since I woke up inside of that ball of living goop, who's existence I don't even want to contemplate, I moved back to the wall to finish the journey. I know the wall is rocky and harder to traverse, but I'm so tired that it feels like my eye balls are falling out! The last thing I want to do is fight a scary mist beast AND fight sleepiness! From what I gathered earlier in the night, this place is devoid of any life, so there's no threat of attack, and as an added bonus, slamming my head into the rocks every 20 meters is doing wonders for keeping me awake, a reeeal treat. Hence why I'm back next to the wall.
Suffered 2 Falling Damage
"What is my life" I groan. It's hard enough to avoid the holes during the day when I'm fully alert, let alone at night when I'm a walking zombie! My feathers can only shine so far, which is not far enough to reveal the well hidden and maliciously placed pitfalls.
"Why did you have to drop your pencil here God?" I ask in vain "Seriously, why here?". Of all the things to block my path to the boat... its two giant parallel walls. God is such a bully.
'Why am I even going to the boat again?' I mentally question to myself, the sleep deprivation making me doubt my choices. Something about getting to that tree? Ahh, that's right, the big blue looks nice, I must touch it, I must. Something so out of place in the jungle must be worth checking out right? It's not like I have anything else planned... well maybe flying, but that can be practiced on the way.
I guess that sums it up. So I must stay awake! Once I get to that boat I can sleep all I want!
Speaking of giant blue trees, is it just me or has it gotten a lot bigger since I last saw it?
I blink my glazed eyes drearily at the looming tree for a solid ten seconds before the cogs in my sleepy brain start rotating and realization dawns.
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"It hasn't gotten bigger!!! I've gotten closer!!' I state obviously.
Drifting my gaze downwards I'm close enough to see the little brown boat tied to the shore, bobbing up and down in the calm moonlit waves. When did I get this far? I must have gone into autopilot mode without realizing it! A revitalizing surge of happiness blitzes away at the heavily entrenched fatigue in my thoughts and replaces it with the thought: 'get moving'.
'Get moving' is exactly what I do as constant barrage of squigglies blinks away at the forefront of my consciousness, reminding me holes are still a thing, but no amount of holes can dampen my enthusiasm. In fact, each fall only provides newfound energy! Over the distance separating the boat and I, my face and arms become well acquainted with the stones... more than I've been accustomed too.
+ 1 Endurance
I can see it! I can hear it! The innocent boat! The soft waves washing on the short sandy shore! Yes! Yes! Yes! How long have I walked?! How much have I bled?! A whole day and night of literal ups and downs to get this far! A bird shouldn't have to work this hard! Or at all! Such a cruel world!
"Come here Boaty!" I call with joy as the rocky ground becomes smoother and sandy-ier. My goal, at long last, within reach.
I kick up a wave of fine sand as I scramble over the shore and on the tiny pier where the boat is tied. The sound of my talons clacking on the shoddy, dilapidated wooden pier is soon followed by the sight of me dolphin diving gracefully over a tiny span of water into the welcoming boat. Being tired makes you do weird things.
As my body lands, all the accumulated sleep-debt takes it's claim and I fall asleep snuggling next to the single wooden seat at the center, snoring peacefully. Not even Armageddon would be enough to wake me up!
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'5 minutes'
'Please just give me 5 minutes' I silently pray in protest to my happy dreams of fluff being interrupted by a rocking motion.
Oh no I can feel it. The landscape of fluff that I'm dreaming of is slipping away! I'm spiraling away from paradise into the blackness of my closed eyelids.. maybe, just maybe, if I try hard enough I can sleep again! Just gotta ignore the rocking!
Although putting all my concentration into TRYING to sleep is being counter productive! Now I'm so awake I can hear the birds chirping in the forest and the waves lapping at the boat! Still I refuse to open my eyes! To look is to admit defeat! I'll never be able to get back to sleep if I open my eyes!
Oh no... why is the boat still rocking? Even more than before! I can tell that the waves aren't that big! Ok, maybe I should look, it might be another sludgy monster trying to eat me, god knows how it got to the boat, but I wouldn't put it past them.
I'm happy to learn that it takes some effort to open my crusty eyes, so at least I got a solid rest. I crane up my neck and take in the scene before me. What I see is the bow of my dingy vessel and a giant blue tree with white leaves cascading down it surrounded by a huge lake, nothing trying to eat me here.
The boat rocks again, in a way that clearly doesn't match with the harmless waves. The realization hits that whatever's making the boat move is probably behind me. So, with a mild amount of terror, I slowly turn to face the cause of my rude awakening. The cause is something, that in all honesty, should of been obvious.
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"Shoo now little birdy, my boat isn't your bed" comes the hoarse voice of an aged face comprised entirely of deep wrinkles sitting at the back of the boat.
Oh god, what have I done? Is he going to eat me? He's so much taller than me, even while sitting! Did I offened him by sleeping in his boat?! How am I supposed to get to the tree without my boat?! I'm screwed!
"Although, maybe you're not so little... a kind of chicken perhaps?" He asks, glancing me over with a ponderous glint of humor and confusion in his wrinkle-hidden, dark brown eyes.
How dare he.
I'm obviously not a chicken. I won't stand for this.