Birds of a Feather

[Zizikitty]

Ominous clouds hung in the distance, a fore shadowing that no one in the sea plane seemed to take notice. The two men in the front seats of the plane squabbled light heartedly while the young woman sat in the back looking over various maps and books of rare birds. She brushed a lock of sandy brown hair from her face, her hazel green eyes looking over the information. A smile came across her face as she listened to her mentor and fellow college student. "I can't believe you wouldn't let me bring any alcohol. We're going to be stuck on some island with no other people but the three of us. Least you could do was lent me bring some beer." The young man whined. The older man chuckled and shook his head. "Oh stop complaining. There'll be plenty of 'chicks' there, Jonny."

"Oh haha." Jonny drawled in a dry tone. "I get it, Mr. Winston. Because the island is supposed to be a nesting ground for sea birds! That was so funny I forgot to laugh." He scoffed as he folded his arms across his chest and glanced back at the woman. "Are we even close Victoria?" The woman smiled and sighed, rolling her eyes as she did so. Brushing her sandy brown locks from her bronze skin. "You know you wanted to come on this expedition. And yes, were about an… hour away… Huh…" she said as she looked at her compass. The needle which had been pointed north was now slowly wavering. As if the plane was zig zagging. "Huh what?" Jonny said as Mr. Winston answered for him. "Whoa… The compass is acting funny…"

Soon the plane started to beep, various sensors were going off and emergency lights started flashing. From there it slowly descended into panic. Lightening streaked across the sky in front of them, the storm seemingly coming from nowhere. The winds kicked up violently and threatened to toss the plane around like a kite in the wind. "I can't keep the plane up! Everyone get your life jackets on!" Winston shouted above the chaos. Victoria was quick to obey and reached under her seat and quickly put the life saving device on. Jonny did the same. But his actions were in vain. Suddenly the clouds cleared and to everyone's horror they were nose down headed towards the sea. "Brace yourselves!" Winston yelled above Jonny and Victoria's screams.

The impact was violent and briefly knocked Victoria out. She awoke to the salty taste of the sea in her lungs. Panic nearly took over as she tried to free herself. A cloud of red made visibility impossible in the water surrounding her. But Victoria was at least a smart girl, she reached under her pant leg and pulled out a hunting knife. Making quick work of the seat belt. Once free she kicked furiously, her lungs aching from the lack of oxygen and her head fuzzy from pain. The life jacket did it's job and she shot upwards to the sky and the rough seas above. She gasped for breath as she reached the surface. She called for her lost friends, only to realize that she was the sole survivor. She clung to a floating piece of the wing as she watched the rest one the plane be taken by the depths of the sea.

But just as suddenly as the storm came, it was gone. Only but dark clouds over head, revealing the island in the distance. Gasping for breath and wiping blood from her forehead Victoria swam with the last bit of energy she had towards land. Once she got close enough the walk she used her last ounce of energy to drag herself on land collapsing on her knees and dissolving into tears. She looked back and watched as various bits of debris started to come closer to shore. As her tears stopped she looked around at the vast forest before her. "Well…" She spoke aloud to herself. "Mama always said crying wont help a situation… Jonny… Winston…" She shed one last tear for them before she collected herself and walked closer to the forest.


A soft rain began to fall, washing her body clean of the salt. But also making her cold and even more worn down. She moved further into the forest to a dry patch under some trees. She worked quickly albeit wearily to make a cover and a camp fire. The latter part wasn't coming easily. Since she had nothing to spark a fire. Only the knowledge of rubbing wood together to create a spark. Which for the time prove fruitless. Tossing the sticks down she leaned against the tree trunk, exhaustion taking over and she drifted into sleep.

 

[Dip]

The creature walked awkwardly on his heterodactyl feet- not that he knew what that word meant, or that he has even heard of such a thing. He had three toes in the front, and one in the back on both feet, so any scientist in their right mind would classify the feet as that. The being- the bird creature- seemed to smell something in the air, and he was to investigate it. The leaders for the band of birds- though, this one creature called the leaders the band of birdbrains, sent him out to investigate it. What, with him being the youngest, along with him having the strongest of wills and the largest of wingspans.

The creature was given a name when he was born. His birth parents didn't name him, but the leaders did. One of the eldest leaders wanted to name him Jay, because of the blue color that came in his feathers- even if he was just born, the blue was noticeable. Another one wanted to name him Tern, because that one believed that the Harpy would be blessed with great stamina. But, then, the newborn opened his mouth, and practiced a reflex that he was born with.

He began to sing.

With that, the leaders all decided on a name that would fit him perfectly. From that day on, his name was Efron. It quite literally meant 'singing bird'. And upon birth, that's what he was. Efron jumped up onto a branch on a low-hanging tree, and began to climb. He figured he would get a better view if he saw what he was to see. On his way up, he saw some berries, so he took a few and plopped them into his mouth. Oh, these ones were ripe, but they left his hands red. Almost like blood. Oh well. Some of the juice got onto his jaw, along with his teeth, and those too looked red. He would wash them off later.

Efron reached the top of the tree, and he saw a large something peeking out from the water. Efron squinted, and soon, took flight. With his large wingspan being the best it could be in that given situation, it was only a hop-skip and a jump away. As soon as he reached a piece of the white thing, he instantly was confused. What was this? What was it used for? Efron took one his hand, and began tapping away at it. It seemed hollow. Why was it full of water? Efron gave up, and soon flew to the land.

Again, it was easy to fly back, and once he did, he noticed another object. But... this one looked more like him that anything. But... where was her wings? What was going on?! Efron slowly walked towards the other creature, and upon realization, he figured that this one was born different. If the leaders saw that this one was born different, and it was still alive, they would destroy it. But this one was... Well, it was a lot more beautiful than most of the others here. Efrom slowly crouched before her, and did what any bird would do.

He reached over, and sniffed her. She smelled... like lilacs. And saltwater. And... was that blood? Efron used his fingers to look at her hair. It was far more longer than everyone elses. And it also smelt good. Efron looked to the women again, and saw the orange thing on her chest. Efron, who figured that it was probably her wings, took one of his fingers and poked at it. With his fingers being part claw-like, the material was easily ripped.

Efron was scared momentarily, but the women seemed to not feel the pain. He continued this, until the entire thing was shredded. Oops. Even while it was shredded, Efron looked at the orange strips with his big blue eyes, and saw that something could possibly become of them. He spent plenty of time trying to get the strips off of her, because he saw that she was asleep. And he knew how territorial being became when they were awoken.

But, even with his slightest of touch, the being awoke.

 

[Zizikitty]

Victoria was curled as best as she could between the roots of the wide tree. Huddled against the trunk for what little warmth it would offer. Her dreams were filled with images of the crash. The chaos before and of the two that didn't make it. Her body shivered slightly from the cold, her sandy brown hair slightly matted from the cut she sustained in the crash. Fully asleep she never heard Efron approach her. Nor did she wake when he gave the first poke to her life vest. The only movement she made was to snuggle closer to the tree.

As Efron poked and prodded at the vest it easily shredded from his sharp claws. Allowing the cold wind to bite at Victoria's bronze skin. Her face scrunched and she coiled herself tighter into a ball to shield herself from the cold. It was the cold that brought her from her deep sleep but it was something else that roused her fully. A touch. Something gentle, feathery almost. And a smell. Berries. Almost like raspberries. Her hazel eyes fluttered open to find her orange life vest was shredded. Tatter bits of orange fabric lay over her arms.

Her head had been positioned down so the next thing she saw was the largest avian foot she'd ever seen. At least one that wasn't a fossil. The scaly leg led up to white and blue plumage, which in her moment of disorient was absolutely beautiful. An utterly confused and slightly alarmed expression took over her face as she coiled closer to the tree, placing her hands at either side of her body. Her heart thundered in her chest as she took in the sight before her. Or rather the creature. Yes it had heterodactyl feet and yes it- or rather he- had feathers like a bird, he had a human torso.

She gasped as her eyes shot wide and she compressed herself against the tree as she beheld his clawed hands and eerily human face, both of which were covered with what Victoria only assumed was blood. Fear choked the scream that tried to jump from her throat. Her hand touched her boot and she remembered her knife. "What the fuck are you!?" She said loudly as she tore the knife from her boot and held it in front of herself for defense. She used this moment to slide around the tree and try and escape the creature, what ever the hell he was.

 

[Dip]

Efron figured that whatever the strips were, and what the other was wearing them for, was something like a skin. Why she was wearing it, he never knew. But, he was torn away when he heard her gasp, and a nearly muffled scream. Efron looked curiously at the being, and saw a knife in her hand. Harpies had always created weapons, for hunting or for battle, or just for show. Efron had a knife- he had plenty, but he only used them to hunt the creatures that inhabited the island.

The island was one that had life- yes, but it also had creatures of either unimaginable power or they were deadlier than anything of which a human as seen. With humans never really having a chance to commonize and colonize on the small portion of land, evolution was rich. There were more advanced forms of birds- like Efron himself. But there were also bats with elongated bodies, wild dogs the size of either small fish or a small horse, and snakes that lived at the tops of trees.

Efron saw the weapon, and immediately took a defensive position. He spread his wings, and flared his tail-feathers and bared his talons, and let out an ear-piercing battle cry. He lunged himself forward, and tackled her to the ground. He pinned her there with his feet, keeping one over her chest and one over the hand that held the knife. Efron leaned down, fought slightly to take the knife, and inspected it.

It seemed sharp, yes, but it also looked thin. Efron took the blade and bit on it, inspecting the metal with his teeth. It tasted odd, not at all like stone. He checked out the hilt, and ran one of his sharp claws over it, thus ripping the leather of the hunting knife. Efron bit it again, and slowly it became dull. A few bites here, some more tearing there, and the thing was jagged and hardly able to cut wood. Efron put it on the ground, and inspected the creature more.

He looked at her hair again, and he leaned over and sniffed her neck. He could hear her pulse, and she smelled like fear. She was stinking with it! Oh, plenty of things could probably smell it. Efron made a small motion- putting his finger to his lips and making a small cooing sound. The leaders had done it before, to warn when prey was near. Efron looked around, and he found some more berries under the tree that they were both under. He reached up, took some of the berries, and rubbed it on her neck.

" You, scared. " He said, as he squeezed the berries on his hand, and doused her with the strong smelling fruit.

 

[Zizikitty]

What ever Victoria planned when she pulled the knife, didn't go as planned. This thing seemed to know this was a weapon and was ready to defend himself. Her hand shook with fear as she stood a moment, almost hypnotized by his unique features, before she tried to back away. She knew enough that if this was in fact a predator, he'd attack her if she instantly took flight. But all of her reasoning when right out the window when he screeched loudly at her. In surprise and fear she screamed and tried to run.

But before she could do much of anything Efron pinned her to the ground. Victoria let out a winded yelp as she hit the ground. Her hand immobilized and unable to defend herself. She screamed in panic and tried to thrash free, her free hand grabbing the harpies leg trying to tug it off her chest. Legs kicking trying to unbalance the beast off her. But it was all in vain. She whimpered as he took her only means of defending herself. "No!" She whimpered as she struggled against the leg on her chest.

To her surprise he didn't finish the kill. No like a raven with something new in it's environment, he inspected the knife. Nibbling it as any avian would. Shuddering gasps left her gritted teeth as she fearfully looked up at him. She slammed her eyes shut as she whimpered, tears starting to form in her eyes as he leaned closer. "No! Get away from me!" She said quietly between tear laden breaths. Panicked shuddering breaths left her as he drew closer but he made a strange sound.

Soft, gentle. It reminded her of the clicks and coos and mother bird would make to her chicks to calm them. And for a moment it worked with her. She stopped kicking and tried to look at him from the corner of her eyes. He moved to smear something on her, the action making her wince and try to turn away from him. Whimpering loudly as she did so.

A voice came to her ears, something she didn't expect. This creature could talk. "Yes I'm scared!" She shouted in a tearful shudder. Suddenly there was a howl in the distance. Suggesting that something had heard her screams.

 

[Dip]

Efron knew that because of all of the thrashing, and the way that she smelled could possibly be one of the reason that she was going to be a feast for the small clan. Efron same another sound. It was loud, and somewhat annoyed. " Too loud! " He told her, as he made the same sign with his fingers and mouth again. This bird wasn't the smartest thing. Where was her wings?

Efron had came to the conclusion that this was a baby bird, that couldn't fly. She probably was protecting her wings from whatever she was protecting them from. Maybe she was protecting them from the big white hollow thing! Efron looked to the sea, and saw that some things were coming to shore. Efron got off of her, but instantly put a hand to her mouth, to make sure that she won't scream again.

" Too loud, " He whispered. " You die. " He finished, trying to tell her that she really needed to calm down, or the beast would possibly kill her. Whatever the beast may be. " Come. " He said, as he took his hand away from her mouth and helped her up. Efron, along with plenty of other members of the band, knew little human speech. Efron was learning more of it, because he was the youngest, and one of the strongest. Thus, he was dubbed spacial and possibly a gift from the gods.

Efron took the scared creature by both of her hands, and began to fly into the air. She was light. She was a baby bird! Efron only noticed that she might have been heavy only when she was in the air. But, nonetheless, he flew into the air, and placed her on the branch in the berry tree. He sat next to her momentarily, and made the same symbol for 'hush'. " Stay. " He told her.

With that, he went down, and awaited the beast.

 

[Zizikitty]

A muffled yelp tried to escape as Efron clasped his hand over her mouth. Smearing more of the red berry juice on her lips. She shuddered and moved to rip his hand away but she lay frozen. Too loud? She was being too loud? It was a threat, she was sure. This beast was covered in blood... smelling of berries, but she was sure it would kill her. Nothing looking quite like this could have anything civil going through it's mind.

His next words sent a chill down her spine. You die. This thing was going to kill her. He was going to disembowel her and pluck out her eyes. But against her assumptions the creature grabbed both her hands and picked her up, helping her to her feet. "Whua?!" She said with surprise as much to her horror the damn thing picked her up. Easily lifting her into the air as it flew off. A scream jumped from her throat as she flailed. "What are you doing!? Put me down! Argh!" She yelped as she was dropped on a thick branch.

Shuddering breaths left her as she clung to the tree, feeling completely confused. She darted her head back to watch him drop out of the tree canopy back onto the floor. Even more distressing was her knife was still on the forest floor. Panicked she looked around quickly trying to see the best route away from this blood thirsty avian abomination. She started to moved along the branch, moving into a nearby tree when a sound made her freeze. Another howl. This time very close.

It was a high pitched almost screechy howl. Something that strangely sounded much more threatening than the strange bloodied bird man. Her eyes caught movement near the forest floor yet once again she didn't believe what she was seeing. It's head was the size of a large dog although it clearly had the face and wings of a bat. But where the body should have stopped it seemed to keep going. Having a tail to which she associated with that of a sugar glider or flying squirrel. It's huge black eyes glinting in the dim light, ears and nose twitching as it looked for prey. It scurried down the tree, lifting it's nose towards the tree base where Victoria had been laying. "Whua-What the hell is that?" She said in but a whisper, but it was loud enough to attract the attention of the elongated bat. She gasped and froze as its beady eyed gaze looked towards her position.

 

[Dip]

Efron went down to investigate, and he saw that it was nothing but a bat. That was an easy kill. They looked scary, yes, and they could kill someone, but their skin was easy to puncture. They bled like crazy, and they tasted good too! It was an adult one, and it was obviously powerful looking. It must have been at least a few years old, possibly five or six. It really was long, so that could be a factor in it's age.

Efron tried to go and attack it, but it slipped from his grasp and howled loudly, but the howl was cut off by the creature catching a whiff of something- it was the fear that the other was giving off. It made up for it's lack of skin with the fact that it could run fast. The creature came over to the tree, and it began to sniff. He was about to get bored and leave, but Victoria was, again, too loud.

You could see the blood lust in the creatures eyes. It was hungry, and the baby bird was it's prey. The bat was about to fly up and tear out her vocal cords, but Efron let out a loud screech- much like something a bird would do when it's territory was being threatened. And it was! Efron ran over, and used his large claws to grab the bat, and in one motion, Efron took the thing in his hands and bashed his head on the trunk of the tree, thus cracking it's skull and killing it.

Efron looked up at Veronica. " Too loud! " He almost shouted. He pointed at her with the dead body of the bat. " This! " He pointed to the lifeless body. " Kill you! " He finished, as he threw the bat down in anger " You die! " He finally said. What was SO HARD to understand from that?

 

[Zizikitty]

Victoria saw the bat creature glide it's beady eyed gaze towards her and she clasped her hand over her mouth to muffle her shaky breaths. Where the hell was she?! This island like some savage nightmare that she couldn't wake from, only this was real. She watched as the bird like creature screeched back and with quick movements attacked the bat. It was over in a matter of seconds, the sickening thud and the halted screech from the bat made Victoria jerk her head away. But when she looked back she could only look at Efron with confusion.

Once again he was speaking, but this time he was scolding her. Wait so he didn't mean he'd kill her. But other things would? So he was... protecting her? Her lips quivered as her jaw opened and she tried to speak, but she found none in this moment. "S-Sorry?" She hissed in a whisper loud enough for Efron to hear. He seemed quite annoyed now, perhaps because of the misunderstanding. She really didn't know what to say, so naturally she just blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"I-I thought you wanted to kill me!" She whispered loudly at him.

 

[Dip]

Why in the world would Efron ever want to do that? The only threat she posed was her pulling out the knife, but then again, that wasn't as sharp as his and the knife was quickly ruined. Efron would have to give her a new one, but for now, the baby bird needed to know that he was nice and that he would not hurt her. She seemed to be greatly confused. Why would she ever think that he would ever want to hurt her? SHe couldn't even fly, let alone fend herself. It seemed one-sided that she would even think that!

Efron angrily threw the creature on the ground, and he turned to Victoria and pointed to himself with two wild motions of his hands. " Vegetarian! " He seemed to scream at her. Wasn't it obvious? How he was so much skinnier than her? Or how much faster he was, or how taller? How much muscle mass he lacked, compared to the other Harpies? He only ate meat a few times a year- that being for a festival, or a celebration of some sort. Other than that, he lived off of berries and roots and tree branches and other plants. They were good, yes, but they didn't leave him as strong as the others.

 

[Zizikitty]

Vegetarian?! That damn thing was covered in what looked like blood. "But you are covered in... blood..." She flung her hand out at Efron, pointing at him with the hand that had clasped her own mouth. Her words trailed off when she looked at her hand. It was blood red, just like what Efron was covered with. She looked at her hand then at the harpy, bringing her hand to her face to sniff the red liquid. The strong smell of berries was all she smelled. Now she started to wonder if in fact it was blood on him.

Feeling rather sheepish she looked away and back at him. Gripping the tree she carefully climbed down to the ground so that she could see him better. And didn't have to keep speaking louder than needed just for her words to reach him. But she remained no closer than that. Her hands touching the trunk of the tree as she looked him over. She swallowed her fear and spoke again. This time pointing to her hand then at him. "So... That's... not blood on you?" She said shakily.

 

[Dip]

Efron looked to his hands, and gave her a very strange look. No wonder she was abandoned. She was a little crazy in the head, but that was alright. Efron could look past it, and possibly show her how to be a real bird. Efron showed her his hands, and then pointed to the berry tree. " Blood berries. "

The kids usually covered themselves with it, making it look like war paint and such. They would wear tarps on their head and pelts on their back, and pretend to battle, the good guys and the bad guys. Efron, as a child, had always tried to play with them, but he would be pulled away and taught a lesson. Usually about speaking, reading, and understanding English. It came in handy, yes, but he just wanted to play like everyone else.

Efron could still see that she was scared. Very scared. He could hear her heart beating a million miles an hour! Efron reached forward, slowly, and rested his hand on her heart. " It's too fast. " He noted, looking at her. Was it hurting her, for it to go that fast? He really did hope that it wasn't. " Don't be scared, " He said, taking his hand away from her heart.

He used his hands, and touched his own heart. " Nice, " He said that, like he wanted her to believe that she could trust him.

 

[Zizikitty]

Blood berries? So it wasn't blood but berry juice? Well that explained the pleasant smell coming off him. And berry juice was a much better thought than him being covered in some poor sods innards. She looked back at the berries in the tree then back at her hand. She pushed a lock of her sandy brown hair from her face, trying to get as little as possible in her hair. Not that keeping it clean made much sense, it was still with salt water and a bit of real blood. "Blood berries?" She whispered as she nodded at him.

Her heart thundered in her chest as she looked at the dead bat and then at him. Neither creature looked like anything she'd seen before. A frog croaked in the distance and it cased her to jump, darting her face in that direction. For all she knew it could be something just as terrifying. She looked back to see Efron coming closer. She gasped and scooted away at first, clinging to the tree trunk as she did so. But his hand came harmlessly over her heart. Fearful shuddering breaths escaped as she watching him wide eyed.

She tried to reply to him but only a frightened mumble seemed to slip out. Victoria stood frozen but she still heard his words. He didn't mean to harm her. A fearful tear escaped her eye when he touched his own heart, a tear she quickly wiped away. "Nice?" She nodded, showing that she understood. She looked deep into his blue eyes, and in them she saw genuine kindness and truth. He wasn't lying. "Okay... Um... D-Do you have a-a name?" She said tentatively. She was slowly relaxing but still the fear was there. She placed her hand on her own chest. "I'm Victoria." She said softly.

 

[Dip]

Victoria? Well, that was a name that really didn't fit her. Victoria was a name given to a future soldier, because Victor was in that, and everyone thought that they would fight and they would be victorious. But, this little innocent bird was no more of a soldier than he was! " Victoria? " He checked over, with a small chuckle. He would call her Baby. That's what she was, till he found out what she had done that had made her victorious.

" Efron. " He said, as he pointed to himself. Surely she must know what that meant. If not, he would just have to try and sing. Sometimes, when Efron was alone attending to his own business, he would simply begin to chirp and sing- but if he did it publicly, he would be made fun of, no doubt.

 

[Zizikitty]

Efron was a strange name. But then again he himself looked strange. Victoria in fact didn't know what his name meant, nor did she even remotely assume he could sing. Slowly she nodded, looking at him made her confused and scared. But he was also interesting, from a scientific stand point. He was also friendly, or so it seemed, and could possibly help her get off this island. Or at least show her how to survive. "Efron." She said softly, a ghosting smile trying to make it's way on her face.

"Um... wh-where are we? You see uh my plane... my plane crashed and... I'm lost and... whua-what... what are you?" She said in a string of words. Her fear was slowly ebbing away but she still wasn't so sure about this bird creature.

 

[Dip]

Efron, unlike most Harpies that he knew, knew where he was- or, roughly where they were. Lots of big white bird looking things crash- or lots of big white duck looking things came by, and people would drop stuff into the ocean. Efron claimed them as rightfully his. They were in big square containers and small rectangle containers, and some times they were just a completely different shape. Some of them were easy to open and some were harder. He never showed anyone else what he found, because he knew they would think that something was wrong with him. There was nothing wrong with him, he was just interested about the objects he never saw before!

The things he sometimes found were CDs, jewellery, and books and magazines, but mostly clothes- not that he knew any of the names for them. He only kept the pretty clothes, because he liked to look at them. One time, he tried to wear a muscle shirt from the band ACDC- again, he didn't know it was called that, or what an ACDC was- but his wings fitted too awkwardly in it and it was hard to fly. He just put all of the pretty clothes in a big square container, and sometimes took them out and looked at them. As for the books, he ripped out the pretty pages or the ones he could read the best- some had really big words that gave him trouble to pronounce- and he put them on the walls of his tree.

Efron, like most of his tribe, lived in hollowed out trees. Efron's was the biggest. Again, because he was the youngest and he was sacred and so on and so forth. And because his was the biggest, that meant he had plenty of room to decorate. And that's what he did, with the CDs hanging from the ceiling by string or the glasses that had been broken and were now on the wall. For means of looking at himself, of course.

Efron looked at himself- his legs, arms, and his wings. He turned to Victoria. Wasn't it obvious? He used his hands to motion to himself. " Harpy? " That's what everyone else called themselves. He figured thats what he was. He didn't know what a plane was, but it must have been that big white bird looking thing. " I know where, " he said, with a small smile and a gesture to the island- more or less. " Come with me, " He slowly reached for Victoria's hands, and tugged. He ripped some maps from some magazines and other books.

 

[Zizikitty]

Efron said the word but it didn't click right away with Victoria. "Harpy?" She questioned, trying to understand if she'd heard correctly. The first image that came to her mind was her favorite childhood movie, which had a unicorn and a harpy villain. But that harpy was most certainly female and a carnivore. She remembered playing a game of 'Dungeons and Dragons' with her uncles. Even the harpies they mentioned were hideous, and female. These fleeting memories of harpies were not as beautiful as the creature before her, nor were they male and friendly.

"You're a harpy? You're just... not what I think of..." She paused as he reached for her hands. She started to take them away but she gave in to trust and allowed Efron to take her hands. With the tug she followed him willingly, albeit still slightly afraid. "Where are we going?" She said quickly, really hoping he'd stay true to his word about being a vegetarian.

 

[Dip]

He really didn't know how to say, 'I'm taking you,' without it sounding somewhat threatening. Instead, he just said, " Map. I'll show you. " Victoria must be really confused if she was asking what he was. Wasn't it obvious? She was like him! Minus some obvious factors, but he could look past them. She was a Harpy too, but with little wings! It was alright if she had baby wings. She would grow them out soon! She would, and Efron would show the others that she was normal. Well, if he was to ever show them. If they knew that she was different at any point in time, they would surely have her head.

Literally.

Efron led her to a large tree, that looked like the trunk stretched for miles on end. He let go of her hand momentarily, to feel around the trunk of the tree. His hands grabbed a portion of the bark, and he pulled it off. The bark was large, and when Efron pulled it off, it made a small opening. Efron put the bark off to the side, and motioned for her to come inside. Once she did, he took the bark, and put it over the opening, so that way no one would come in without Efron's consent.

As Efron reentered the room, he pawed around in the dark, till his hands came across a small container. He shook it, and some light emitted from it. He did that for a few more of the containers. He collected fireflies for a light source, because they were easier to catch and fun to watch. Once all of the jars in that room was lit, the held one up to the wall, with a whole bunch of magazine pages and book pages on the wall. The pages from the books were from those kind of books with pictures on each chapter, like Alice in Wonderland, or A Series of Unfortunate Events. He knew that he ripped some pages from a world atlas, so he was looking for that right then.

" Here! " He pointed, once he found it. He had read that book all night and all day, and he finally discovered their location after a few weeks of looking about. He realized that they were on an island that was somewhere off the coast of Madagascar. That island was a few miles away, maybe a hundred or so. It wouldn't be a long flight for a Harpy, but they never left the island. And really, Efron wouldn't want to risk it.

 

[Zizikitty]

A map! Oh Victoria was over joyed, a smile even crossing her face as she thought about possibly getting off this island. She went with him now, much more willing than she had been. As they traveled she wondered what type of map it could have been. Something hand draw? Oh she hoped not. A hand drawn map would be so utterly useless to her and she was not looking forward to something like that. She hoped it was something modern. But then she wondered how would something like that come into his possession?

She was led to a huge tree, bigger than she'd seen before. It's immense trunk reminded her of the giant sequoia trees that grew in California but this was most certainly not of the same species of flora. She stared in wide eyed wonder as a bit of bark was removed and to her further surprise it was a hollow tree. Her eyes widened with amazement as Efron started to shake various jars, illuminating the dark roomy space. The room was unlike any she'd seen or could imagine. Barely no space was left on the walls where Efron and hung various pages from magazines and books.

She recognized a few and stared at those as she turned to look around the room. "This is... Amazing! Where did you get all this stuff?" She said as he returned from rummaging through things to bring her something. The map, thankfully, wasn't hand drawn but a real modernized map. To her surprise she was exactly where she had meant to go. "Wow... Guess those tales were true..." She mumbled to herself, though it was loud and clear enough for Efron to understand.

"It would be a rough trip to Madagascar if I tried to make a boat..." She said once again in the low voice, looking up at Efron she offered a smile. "Thank you. For showing this to me." As she looked at him she started to wonder, was he the only one? "Um if-if you don't mind me asking... Are there others? Like you?"

 

[Dip]

She seemed to surprised at the room. But was it really amazing? Efron smiled shyly to no one at all. She would answer her question later, because he knew that the big plane probably carried plenty of things like that. What a strange bird... She looked like one unlike he has seen before. But, Efron only knew at least fifteen or twenty. Harpies didn't breed a lot, only because of how long they live for. Sometimes two hundred years! Efron was only around twenty years or so- he would have to look back and count. Maybe twenty three, or twenty four.

Tales? What tales? Like the ones in Alice in Wonderland? There was a rabbit looking fella in that strange fabric, with a watch? He faintly remembered finding a watch once... It was in his small pile that he kept for jewellery. Though, he never knew why people wearing them. Efron tried to wear a ring once, but it didn't fit well and frankly, it hurt to put on and take off. " Tales? " He questioned, as he walked to another portion of the room, to shake up the fireflies. He would soon have to go out and catch more.

Victoria was acting quite strange.... How could she not have known that there were more? Of course there were more! How else would he be there? " Yes, lots more, " Well, twenty or twenty five was lots to him, when they were all to have a feast or when they were to have a celebration of some sort. He would have to disguise Victoria sometime, and he could invite her to the celebrations. Or atleast give her some of the food there.