"Doop doop, hoooo dee hoop~" I whistle breezily, perching in the comfort of a low branch in the forest canopy, passing time whilst my Health and Mana finish recovering.

The forest goes suspiciously quiet following my nonsensical tune. There's no noise to be heard amongst the trees besides the sound of leaves rustling happily as the cool wind wanders along its whimsical journey to where ever it goes. Then, the trees explode with shrill whistles.

"Doop doop, hoooo dee hoop~!" echo back the all other birds at once. A melodic and beautiful sound, although somewhat chaotic due to the variety of singers. Not every bird is a good singer, most are, but those who aren't make up for it with enthusiasm!

Oh! That was pretty good! How about this one then?!

"Hee hee hee, hoooooo, du, huuuu~"

The birds wait a few seconds after my new tune to make sure I've finished whistling, then, faithfully sing back the tune almost perfectly.

"Hee hee hee, hoooooo, duu, huuu~!" they chirp excitedly, sqwarking and chattering in delight as they settle down for the next melody.

This is my new game. I was just whistling to myself when I noticed some other birds copying me, so I kept whistling weirder and weirder tunes until eventually, all the birds were playing with me! Now I have like a hundred singers, ready to learn all of my wondrous songs. But, even though all the birds seem really nice and friendly, there's not a single one roosting on the same tree as me. I have the whole tree to myself. I guess it's probably because they don't know me yet and they're shy, but it does make me feel a little... well not lonely, but... alone? I don't know how to explain it. I don't really care anyways.

"Duu de doop. Duu de doop. Boop, boop, boop~" I chirp merrily, bobbing my head up and down to the notes.

"Duu de doop. Duu de doop. Boop, boop, boop~!" repeat my loyal cohort of feathery whistlers, also bobbing their heads with joy.

Well, this might be fun, but... it would be even funner if Bartlon's friends come back soon so we can go and save Bartlon together, as much as I doubt they will. It shouldn't have taken them this long to backtrack and find me, no matter how fast they were running. I think they probably didn't notice me hit that tree until it was too late, and now they're running ahead without me so they can get to Barlton sooner, which really sucks for me. But despite what I think might've happened, I will keep waiting for them, right up until my Mana is completely full, and then I'll circle again, which should be in exactly one more little song.

"Fuu, fuu, fuu! He, he, hoo! Bu, bu, buu! Dubee dubee duu! CHUUuuuuuuuu!!" I chirrup loudly and proudly, captivating and exciting my audience with each note.

Hahaha! Best of luck my naive students! There's no way to copy that song, it's a masterpiece of music! The different tweets and warbles take hours of practice to do perfectly, there's absolutely no way to do it right on the first try! Muhahah-

"Fuu, fuu fuu~! He, he, huu~! Bu, bu, puu~! beduu dudee doooo?~ CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!"

I reel back on my perch and flounder my wings in alarm as the shrill, thunderous sound shakes the branch under my feet, shakes my vision, shakes the grass, shakes the air, shakes everything. Wildly. The sound of hundreds of birds *chuu'ing* their hardest reverberates through the forest and beyond like a voice of nature made manifest. Sending all the birds within earshot into a frenzy of delighted head bobbing never before seen by bird-kind.

Too loud!

Once the final, boisterous note of my masterpiece song tapers off and the other birds return to their normal, excited chirps and birdsong, and only then, do I find the courage to unveil the curtain of red feathers around my head that's protecting my precious ears from the deafening noise.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Gosh! There's a ringing in my ears and I can barely hear my own thoughts! I didn't expect everyone to go that crazy. That's the loudest thing I've ever heard in my life! But still, it's nice to know that my songs are appreciated. They got pretty close to how it was supposed to sound! Nice try.

I swivel my body from left to right and bow deeply to my awaiting audience, causing them to quiet down and perk up as they wait for the next song as they've been trained to. But my next words are not music, it's goodbye. My Mana is full.

"Thanks everyone for singing with me, but I'm going now! I have someone to find. So... umm, bye bye! We'll play again next time!" (and I need to think of more songs)

I poise my wings to my sides and launch into the sky with a quick, powerful flap of Cinders as I jump off the branch. The birds in the trees closest to me startle from their perches at the sight of flames, but once they see that I was the cause, they calm down and return to their respective flocks, where they chirp, warble and sing their own individual songs like they were before, only this time, with a slight hint of sadness. No doubt missing my amazing music already!

The forest leaves give way to the vast blue of the sapphire sky as I Cinder higher and higher into the air. My ascent slows once I reach what feels an appropriate altitude and I steady my wings outwards to catch the wind and glide. For a moment, I do nothing, and savor the liberating sensation of the sun bathing my feathers and my body slowly falling back down. Then, it's back to business.

Look out Shaggy Fluffs! I'm back on the hun-whoops-I mean, the search for Barlton!

"Cinders" I caw, gushing flames to my side and causing the world to spin around me.

"Hello blue tree, you're still there huh?" I comment absentmindedly, eyeing the greenery below and tilting my wings to widen the size of my horizontal, circling loop. The Harou Tree doesn't respond of course. It just keeps showering its ghostly, petal-leaves all over the island and surrounding waters as always. Much like how I'm showering my own petals of fire over the trees.

Okie dokie, dokie okie, well... because of that wild goose chase with Bartlon's friends, I don't really know where I am anymore, but hopefully, that shouldn't matter too much. With my Mana almost fully replenished, I can keep Cindering for good while! And even if I accidentally overlap with the area I've already searched, I will find Bartlon eventually. That's the genius of circling! And I'm sure that I'm closer to finding him than I was before, or else I wouldn't of ran into his friends in the forest. Right?!... Yes, that's right. I'm getting closer to Bartlon, I can feel it, just a little while longer and I'll find him.

Oh hey! Isn't that Bartlon's village I see? Alll the way over there?

That's strange, isn't it? I remember those brown buildings being: Allllllllll the way over there when I first circled the sky. They were too far to see clearly, so I payed them no mind. But now, those same structures are just: alll the way over there, and I can see the larger ones clearly. They've gotten closer, no, I've gotten closer? Why did that happen? All I did was fly a circle over Barlton's house. Was I off with my circle?

Oh of course you silly goose! Bartlon's friends must have been running in this direction. That's why I've gotten closer! Duh! I can be so forgetful sometimes, geez, I was distracted by all the singing and whistling. Silly me.

Although something about that doesn't seem right about this. I'm closer now... wait... what? Now I'm really confused! Towards the village, that's where Bartlon friends were heading, but that doesn't make sense at all!! How could Bartlon possibly be that way? If he were somewhere next to the village, then why would his friends be searching for him all the way over here? Did they miss him, go past him? How careless!

And they only ran back to the village after seeing me, that's stranger still.

Nope. No. No. No. That thinking is stupid. I will ignore the stupid village and keep circling because I know that I'm a genius and that my aerial loops are the smartest. Even Mr. Squiggle thinks so! He increased my 'Intelligence' when I thought of it! So I'm probably just overthinking things with the village. Bartlon's friends might've just gone in the wrong direction, or have taken a wrong turn, or something like that. I don't need their help to find Bartlon anyways, I can do it myself, I just need time.

Or maybe, maybe, they weren't even searching for Bartlon in the first place? That would kinda make sense, but, would it? Hmm.... that's....... no. Not true.

As I cut through the sky like an arrow of fire, my feathers begin to rustle a little faster. My beak clenches a little tighter. My wake becomes a little hotter. The wind whistles a little louder. Ceaseless are the dubious thoughts and questions springing up in my brain and frolicking around like hungry blankets. They dance around and taunt my mind with their uncertain answers, making me doubt.. lots of things.

Round and round I spin, alone with my thoughts.

I don't want to be distracted by them, but I can't help it! My brain isn't shutting up! What were Bartlon's frien- are they even his friends? Because they didn't say hello to me. What were those two humans doing so far away from the village, and so close to Bartlon's home? What reason is there? I don't know! I thought they were looking for Bartlon like me! But, they wouldn't be running back to the village if Bartlon has yet to be rescued. That much is obvious. It was only after seeing me, did they run. Did I make them run? How?

*-sh*

Hgggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. These questions are stressing me out beyond belief! I just want to see Bartlon safe and get my two promised coins from him! Flying around like a headless chicken is not my definition of fun... well, it is fun, but it's not very fun at the moment! Not when I'm looking for someone!

*Twish*

"Huh?" I tweet into the wind surprised, drooping my head down and looking at the trail of flames behind me feet.

I heard something, and felt something? It sounded like it was just behind me, but... there's nothing? My imagination? Is there a bird following me?

*Twish*

My head snaps back up at the space in front of me. That time it was right there, I know it! It felt so close! It's definitely not a bird, but whatever it was, it sounded like it was going upwar-

*Twis-thut*

Suffered 17 Piercing Damage