//------------------------------// // The Innocent // Story: Songbird's Forte // by The Infinity Doctor //------------------------------// Songbird awoke, his eyes flashing as they activated, settling on yellow as his head painfully shifting to the side so he could catch a glimpse of what was sitting on his chest. The small thing stared him directly in the eye, its green eyes wide and curious as it just sat atop him. He decided it was female, given its eyes were so similar to Elizabeth's. A pang of guilt and sadness shot through him, reminding him of his failure. He was provided one job- protect her no matter what, and now he could do nothing now that she was...gone. The thought made him sick to the core, a void inside himself as the space usually reserved for the little girl was open, and nothing could fill it. Drawing himself back to the present, he spied the small avian hybrid still on his armored chest, her feline legs sprawled beneath a simple white dress. One of her small claws reached out, her small fingers open. The appendage touched his eye, himself flinching slightly as he shied away from her touch. 'Who are you? Why are you here?' he wondered, watching as the avian as she played with his face, taking the courage to push onto his beak. Was fate perhaps giving him a second chance? He banished the thought- none of the humanoids would replace Elizabeth, ever. Her hand glided across it curiously, feeling the strange material beneath as both sides continued to inspect each other. Taking notice of his surroundings, he discovered one of the large doors slightly ajar, a crack of light slipping through into the otherwise dark room. 'She must have come from there...' he thought slowly, his brain just catching up, due to the lack of oxygen it'd received. The hatchling continued to bat playfully at the tube feeding into his beak, oblivious to the yellow eye upon her. 'So small...yet so brave...' Were all of them like this? As brave as this hatchling? That would certainly explain why the soldiers attack his charge, as well as himself. His head perked up, shifting ever-so-slightly as a taller humanoid entered the room, her eyes wide as she stared at him. 'Oh creator...not again...' he groaned inwardly. The female shrieked, her beak wide as the offending sound grated on his ears, further amplified by the interior of the spacious room. She then leapt into the air, her wings flared as she dove towards him- or more specifically, what was sitting on his chest. He twisted his head to the side, eliciting a jolt of pain as the hose followed his beak, slipping off the side of his body. Catastrophe avoided, the female quickly removed the hatchling from him, darting away as fast as she could, her breaths heavy. The hatchling chirped, almost inquisitively as the female continued to stare at him, her eyes following his every move, limited as they were. How he wished he could communicate with these things, it would make it so much easier on him. She then bolted out the door, into the burning sunlight, the hatchling still in her arms. Why must it always be him? Nothing these humanoids did made any sense...given, if he were different, and discovered him looming overhimself, he supposed he would be afraid, as well. But he didn't be afraid, nothing perturbed him in the slightest. Except for that DeWitt character...maybe... What? Where did that come from? That wasn't his mind talking...was it? Why did it sound so...so...what was the word for it? Alien? He was definitely sure of that... What was happening to him? Was he losing it? Elizabeth sat cross-legged on the floor of the kitchen, having worked up the courage to sit just slightly under the table, still under its protection. As she sat, she stared down at the golden whistler sitting in her lap, gleaming in all its glory thanks to the sun filtering through the nearby window. She sighed wistfully, remembering all the times it'd brought Songbird, and the memories they themselves shared back in her lonely house. Picking it up, she blew, testing it as it let out a sour note. 'Guess I'm a little out of practice...' she thought, wincing after the bad note had been struck. "What was that?!" the male, Heavy Lift, if she remembered correctly, shouted, bursting into the room. "S-sorry..." she said meekly, hiding the whistler as best as she could. "What was it?" he asked, curiosity and fear intertwined as one of his wings flicked out, a joint or two cracking as he did so. "I...I was just...p-practicing..." she stammered. "Practicing what?" he asked "It sounded like a *henhouse!" "Lift! Language around the poor thing!" Mrs. Stitch called from deeper in the house. "Damn hearing...just like a harpy..." he muttered. "I heard that!" she shouted. She giggled at the couples' antics, some form of comfort forming as Heavy sighed, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, what was that you were saying?" he asked. "I was...just practicing this" she said, not knowing why she was presenting the whistler to him. "Never pegged you for a musician" he said, a brow arching. "Neither did I..." she murmured. The two waited in awkward silence, quiet permeating the space between them. He jumped, herself doing the same, as a panicked griffon flung herself into the room, a small griffon in her arms. "Misty? What the h-" He caught himself just in time, changing what he was about to say in front of Elizabeth. "What in Goddess' name are you doing?" "Monster...barn...thing...Danny..." she gasped, setting the griffon down as she bent over to catch her breath. "He's awake?" she asked, hope filling every fiber of her being. She shot a confused glance to her, before taking notice of her presence. The griffon's eyes rolled into her head, collapsing to the floor as the baby griffon toddled over to her. It cooed as it flopped into her lap, taking great interest in the whistler situated there. "Awwwww," Elizabeth cooed, carefully picking the griffon up by the arms "you're just absowutewy adowabwe, yes you are, yes you are!" She rubbed her nose against her beak- and in response, the baby sneezed, a small puff of air blasting out from her nostrils, and then began to wail. "Wh-what did I do?" she asked, terrified she was the cause of the baby's distress. "You didn't do anything wrong," he sighed, stepping away from the unconscious griffon "she just likes to fuss" He plucked the baby from her grasp, securing her in his own arms as he turned to leave the room. "Don't you, ya little stinker?" The griffon continued to cry, a hiccup sounding off, as if in response. "Why Danny?" she asked suddenly. "What?" he asked, turning his head. "Why'd you name her 'Danny', if she's a girl?" "Her full name is Dancing Wind, Danny is just a nickname for her" "Oh..." she said, her small mind grasping the concept. "You want t' go and check on your friend?" he asked, nodding his head outside "You can go on if you want, just be sure to tell us if anything changes with him" "I will" she reassured, standing as she picked up the whistler. With that, she set off towards the large red structure sitting beyond the farmhouse, a small spring in her step. Pushing the door open with a little effort, she found her friend, his wings spread behind him as the great bird lay on his back, his yellow eyes flickering in their sockets. "Hello," she said, not running to him, in fear of hurting him more "I'm glad you're alright" The Songbird release a small tweet, indicating he'd heard her. It took all of her strength to not charge him, and give him the biggest hug he'd ever received. "Listen...the griffons out there, they're friendly- they're not destructive," She knew human nature, after going through the books in the library, the same behaviors were similar in the avian-hybrids. "Could you please, just please try to be nice? Proper? Just like Ms. Lutece taught me?" A weak nod of the head. "Please be better soon," she prayed, planting a small kiss on his great beak as he shifted "I'll be right here, shhh, I'm never leaving you" He couldn't believe what he was seeing- Elizabeth, right before his eyes! Alive! His excitement could only be presented in a twitch of a wing at the moment, given his current condition. "-I'm glad you're alright" she finished. 'The same could be said for you' he replied mentally, knowing full well she couldn't hear him. He let out a squeak, comparable to that of a field mouse, watching his charge alive and well before him. "Listen...the griffons- there, friendly- not...destructive," He mulled it over, thinking on it as he threaded the words together. "Could you please, just please try to be nice? Proper? Just like Ms. Lutece taught me?" With effort, his cranium bobbed for a brief moment, before settling back into the straw. "Please be better soon," she said, her voice tearful. Something warm pressed into his beak, sending a shiver through his entire system. "I'll be right here, shhh, I'm never leaving you" 'Bless you,' he thought 'the same for me, never again'