Jack POV

The wind! The air! The sky! Everything has had a fresh new taste and feeling ever since he woke up in the service of Vitmori. He darted around trees and branches with even more speed and control than he ever could as an ordinary bird, and he already knew the first thing he would do.

His heart pulsed with mana, his wings reverberating with power as each flap sent him forward. Escaping the treeline with a growing velocity, he manipulates the wind around him as he soars higher and higher into the sky before bringing his wings in tight.

He shut his eyes, feeling the weightlessness take hold as he stopped rising and began falling. The air whooshed through his feathers and against his body before opening his wings at the second to last moment, propelling himself forward mere inches away from the ground.

With another flap, he slows to a stop, steadying himself to touch down on a mossy log of a long fallen tree. But as he lands, one of his clawed feet breaks through a hole hidden under the moss. Now he's tumbling forward, flapping his wings wildly before landing in the grass and dirt with an oof.

Now on his back, he looks to the cloudy sky above him, letting out a low whistle before just chuckling to himself in delight. "I'm so big now… But now I know the world is even bigger." He shifts around, flapping his wings before hopping to his feet as he looks around and examines himself in the sunlight. "With a body like this, I could fly for days! Hehe~ Amazing." He let out another tweeting whistle, pacing around as he gets a feel for his somewhat longer and stronger legs. "This Forest is under the protection of Vitmori, and it's under the protection of me! Jack the Sparrow." He whistled with approval, enjoying the sound of his voice.

He looked around, hopping and swaying a little from side to side. "Even though I'm a big bird now, I won't be able to protect everything by myself… What I need is a team… A crew of other scouts who can work for me while I work for Vitmori. Yes, that's what I can do. Yes.." His gaze darkens as he looks to the ground, his left-wing flapping in an unconscious twitching reflex as his thoughts zip around his now much bigger brain. "And once I have a crew, I'll go after the defilers who took the Evertree from the rest of us… Gosh, how could I have forgotten that." He looks to the sky, a newly rediscovered resolve having been found thanks to the improvements by Vitmori. "Your days are numbered, you greedy bastards." With a flap of his wings, he again took to the skies.

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The Next Morning

August(Aug)/Young Dwarf Girl POV

Breakfast was berries and other fruits with some tasty bird meat and herbs. Young Aug wished for some sweet pancakes with honey or syrup, but she was a good girl who knew not to complain and be thankful for what she got. Momma was busy making new clothes with Miriam for the group using the canvas of the extra tents and from the wagons, and while Aug was usually a good little assistant, today, Momma wanted to have some quiet time while she worked.

Today Aug was meeting up with some other kids; apparently, Woody and Virtisa were organizing a group to head out to a river one of the huntsmen found yesterday. Woody was going to teach them how to make fish traps while Virtisa was going to show them veggies that grow by the water as well as herbs for medicines and cooking.

Aug, for one, was really excited to get out of the camp for a trip. After getting permission from her Momma, she went to join the group. She smiled at Twig, who smiled back at the young girl. Soon enough, Isaak also joined the group as a sort of guard. He was friendly, too; he made lots of angry faces but was quick to smile when approached.

The walk through the woods was uneventful enough. The birdies were singing, and the sun was shining. On days like these, it was always great to go for a walk. One of the beastkin girls began singing a walking song, and soon most of the other kids were singing too. Aug wasn't a very good singer, though, and didn't talk much anyway. But! That doesn't mean she didn't have fun listening and skipping along.

Just before Aug's feet could start to hurt from all the walking, since it was a little harder for her to keep up due to her stubby legs, they had finally reached the riverside. It was so big too! Far bigger than she could ever jump!

The kids started to scatter a bit, but soon they were divided into two groups. The kids who wanted to learn how to make fishing traps with Woody and the kids who wanted to know about herbs with Virtisa.

Aug went over with Woody, being good with her hands as they folded and tied sticks together with grasses to make simple traps. It was pretty fun for Aug; it almost reminded her of making baskets or even knitting, in a way. Twig had even complimented her on her trap, which got her all bashful since she didn't feel it was nearly as good as Woody's.

Now they go over to the water and begin to install some of the traps, though Woody gets distracted when he finds something called water cucumbers. He was really excited about the bunch of cattails he saw, too, saying something about making bread with it, which Aug was excited about.

After her trap was installed and Woody was installing the traps the other kids had made, Aug couldn't help but go to the water. Smiling and cheerfully splashing around by herself. She didn't even realize the mud was crumbling away under her feet, and suddenly she slipped further into the water with a nearly quiet yelp.

'H-help me…' Is all she can think as she's washed away by the deceptively strong current.