After what’s-her-name found a new quill and went back to writing poetry, Kellyn hopped out of the shack. He was struck by how windy it was outside; it blew all the way from the jungle to the edge of the cliff, carrying the wordless echoes of countless’ Pokémon’s voices. The tones of rage, confusion, and fear were unsettling, and so was the stark drop to the savanna below. Strange, because he thought that he wouldn’t have an instinctive fear of heights now.
He looked around for a place to practice flying, and saw that the shack had a pole that lead up to a balcony made of planks of wood. The pole’s incline was gentle enough for him to walk up, and it was smooth, but not slippery; was it made of dried bamboo? Once he was on top of the balcony, he looked around for a place to land. He was not going back to the jungle any time soon, that was for certain. Further down the cliff, a few scattered, pink flowers that swayed in the wind caught his attention. They were near a bush, and growing next to it was a small tree. Perfect!
Kellyn spread out his wings and prepared to jump off. Wings moved like arms, right? Except, he realised too late, they weren’t. His elbows were permanently bent, the part that felt like a forearm was relatively longer, and the part that felt like a hand was stiff. He couldn’t figure out what rhythm he was supposed to beat his wings in, so his awkward flapping sent him on a collision course with the bush.
“Ow...”
If only Starly were here...
I met a brown bird
Who brought hope to lonely me
Like a shining star
“...What do you think, Star? I call it... ‘Ode to a Brown Bird’!” Autumn Blaze asked as she looked up from her poetry. She wasn’t expecting an answer, of course - it was just great to finally have someone to talk at. “...Star?” She looked around to see that Star was nowhere to be seen. “STAR!” She hurried out of her shack and looked around the cliff, her heart pounding. Could it have been blown of the edge...?
She heard the sound of rustling coming from the bush and raced towards it, noticing a few dark brown feathers poking out. She carefully prised Star out of the bush with her light blue telekinesis, and placed it on the ground in front of her. Twigs were stuck to its stiffly spread-out wings, but it otherwise seemed uninjured. Or would “unscathed” be a better word?
“I was so worried about you!” exclaimed Autumn Blaze. “Promise me you won’t go wandering off again, okay?”
Autumn Blaze noticed the pink flowers that grew on the rocks, and remembered how much she loved their sweet aroma. They were like beacons of hope, not only surviving, but flourishing in these harsh, lonely conditions. It was why she refused to pick them. As she bent down to smell them, though, a question crossed her mind: Are there any other Star-birds out there?
Starly woke up laying face-down on a patch of dusty ground, her wings spread out uncomfortably to either side. At first, she thought she had collapsed in Pueltown, but Pueltown wasn’t warm enough to cause her feathers to involuntarily fluff out. Not to mention, she was far too good of a flyer to ever fall out of the sky!
She stood up and looked around to see that she was in the clearing of a jungle she didn’t recognise, surrounded by a sharp ridge’s walls. The trees’ roots and branches curved in unusual ways, and upon closer inspection, she noticed that small houses were built into them. But instead of humans, this village was inhabited by less than a dozen quadrupeds who came in a rainbow of muted, earthy colours. They all had bushy manes and tails, and a single, antler-like horn, which reminded her of a rather gruesome mission involving illegally-trafficked Stanler antlers.
Starly realised that this heat was making her thirsty, so she flew towards a stream and drank from it. While she did so, one of the inhabitants of this village, dark blue with a yellow mane, walk up to her, reflected in the crystal-clear water. Its huge, purple eyes were half-closed in a glazed-over expression, as if it didn’t even notice her.
“Do you mind?” exclaimed Starly. The dark blue one didn’t say a word, and she looked around to see that they were all like this. Some of them were drinking from the stream or a fountain, while others were growing vegetables, but they all had one thing common: they looked completely and utterly bored. A Feebas swam past, and Dark Blue still looked completely unimpressed. A Feebas! Those were rare! And didn’t normally live in mountain streams! This place was so silent that the whistle of the breeze, the rustling of the bushes, and the flowing of the stream seemed loud in comparison, and it was starting to give her the creeps.
Starly flew upwards and perched on a tree branch. From her vantage point, she could see the entire village. A magenta orb that stood out against the fruits in a market stall caught her attention; she flew down and perched on it to see that it was a quivering Bounsweet.
“Are you alright?” asked Starly.
Bounsweet’s face peered out from under her leaves. “Are you a Pikipek?”
“No, I’m a Starly,” she replied bluntly, before her tone changed to gentle. “What are you worried about?”
“Can’t find Big Sis...” Bounsweet sniffled.
“What does Big Sis look like?” asked Starly.
“Yellow Steenee...” Bounsweet replied. “We lived in a jungle, but now she’s gone...”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure she’d never abandon you,” Starly replied. She knew full well that her reassurance was insincere, and kinda felt bad about it. She hastily looked around, and noticed a path leading to the depths of the jungle. “To be honest... I don’t know where we are, either, but I’m sure Steenee will be around somewhere. Follow me!” She jumped down from her perch and waited for Bounsweet to follow suit, then flew towards the jungle, staying low to the ground so Bounsweet could keep up with her.
Anything would be better than this crazy village, right?