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Bird Watching - Survivor00 & Chesire Pup

Curtis was relieved that drying her went far more smoothly than washing her had, not wanting to suffer any more blows to the head. He would have to be more careful, possibly teach her to wash and dry herself. She was maturing, much faster than a human would be. She had visibly gotten older by a few years in the couple of months since he had found her. It was a little strange to watch, but it had certainly made a number of things easier. He smiled softly and placed the towel back on the rack, picking her clothes up from the floor. â??Alright, Sora, get dressed and then weâ??ll go teach you to fly.â? He said, â??Iâ??ll be right back, okay?â? He told her, heading over to the door. He picked up the remnants of his clothes, tucking them under his arm.
 
She let him dry her and was combing her claws through her sings, this seemed to be drying them but when she heard what he said she quickly looked up. â??Curtis!â? She said as she quickly jumped from her place and wrapped her wings around him, clearly trying to keep him from leaveing. â??I-I cant!â? She said sadly. Even with the claws she could never seem to get her clothing on by herself. She didnâ??t understand his hurry, she needed his help.
 
He stopped when he felt her wings wrap tightly around his waist, turning to look back at her. When she cried out that she couldnâ??t get dressed on her own, he blinked and mentally smacked himself. He was so nervous, so in a rush to get dressed so he felt more comfortable around her, he had forgotten her own inexperience. â??Iâ??m sorry, Soraâ?¦â? He said, turning and crouching down in front of her, holding her clawed fingers in his hands. â??I know that I havenâ??t been the best todayâ?¦Iâ??m just a littleâ?¦tired.â? He lied.

He set his own tattered clothes down on the floor and picked up hers, smiling softly. â??Now, just like weâ??ve done before, lift your wingsâ?¦â? He held her shirt up for her, holding it over her head.
 
She looked up at him sadly, it was something that she couldnâ??t do on her own and she needed his help for. Why was he trying to run off? It didnâ??t make sense to her and it made her sad. She smiled a little when he said that he was tired. She trusted him, completely. She never thought that he would lie to her and why should he? She smiled bigger and nodded. She held her wings up and let him put the tank top over her, feeling it hugging her midsection. She smiled, next came her panties and her shorts.

â??Maybe you should take a nap.â? She suggested innocently, completely believing his lie.
 
Curtis lifted her panties from the floor, reaching down to help slip them around her taloned feet before pulling them up her legs. It had taken several tries when she had first been dressed, her talons kept getting snagged on the fabric, or they tore the cloth and ruined them. But, with practice - and his help - she was learning. Hopefully, if her fingers kept developing, she would soon be able to do this without his help. Now if he could only get her to wear clothing other than a tank top and shorts. He understood that she did not like the feel of bulky clothing, but with fall and winter approaching, he was afraid that she would freeze.

He lifted her shorts last, smiling at her. "Alright Sora, do you want to try this one by yourself?" He asked her.
 
Sora smiled at the offer and she nodded. He was able to dress himself so she should be able to dress herself right? She hooked her fingers into the belt looks and leaned over. She tried to put her foot in but her talons kept getting caught. Then, finally, she got one leg in. â??Iâ??m doing it!â? she said, excited by her success. She tried to put in the other one but this was much more difficult and instead of putting it in she ended up falling over. She looked sad then she looked at him. She wasnâ??t ready for dressing herself just yet.
 
Curtis kept watch as she tried to put on the pair of shorts, smiling as she finally managed to slip her first leg in, knowing that with her taloned feet, it could not be an easy thing. "You can do it, Sora." He smiled at her, "Just one more. Be sure to stay balanced when-" He tried to catch her before she fell, but he didn't reach her in time. He gasped when she hit the ground, but she didn't look hurt, just disheartened that she hadn't been able to finish getting dressed.

"It's alright, Sora. You did wonderful for your first try." He said to her, helping her up a little and carefully sliding her foot through the leg of her shorts and pulling them up. "All you have to do is keep practicing and you'll have it figured out in no time." After a brief pause, he looked around the bathroom. "Why don't you head outside. Once I'm done getting dressed, we can try teaching you how to fly, okay?"
 
She looked up at him, she was sad but she let him help her with her shorts. He seemed confident that she would be able to fly so she smiled up at him. She knew that she should know how to fly by now but she had gotten hurt so she would have to try and make up for lost time. â??I be by the nest.â? She told him with a nod. She called the tree house the nest, it made more sense to him thinking of it as a nest.

After that she went back out and struggled with the door knob but after a few attempts she managed to get it open and she hurried out to the tree house. Once there she finished drying her wings and began to flap them, trying to get herself into the air so that she could fly back up to the tree house. She wasnâ??t sure how she was going to get up there if not by flying.
 
"Okay, I'll be right out." He smiled to her. As soon as Sora left the bathroom, Curtis began cleaning. She had made quite a mess, and he didn't want his parents finding out about her. He still wasn't quite sure how they would react. He drained the tub, collecting any feathers that had come off of her in her panicked rush across the bathroom and flushing them down the toilet. Getting a towel, he dried both himself and the numerous puddles around the room, and organized the bottles and containers on the counter again. Once that was done, he gathered his clothes and carried them to his room and dumped them in the closet.

Getting some new clothes from the dresser, he quickly got ready, not wanting to keep Sora waiting for too long. He pulled on a T-shirt, some jeans, his ever-ready jacket, and some hiking boots. With a pause, he also reached into the closet and retrieved the falconing gloves that he had always dreamed of using. He didn't think they would work here, but he didn't see the hurt in trying. He slid the thick leather gloves into a pocket and headed out the door.

He walked down to the base of the tree, where he saw her flapping her wings, trying to fly. "Don't hurt yourself, Sora. You still need to practice some." He said to her as he walked up to her.
 
Sora kept flapping, there was a wind today, a breeze that seemed to call her into the sky. She thought back to her parents when they tried to teach her how to fly. She thought back to the way that her mother held her wings, how often they were flapped, she thought back to all of the times that she had seen one of her kind fly and she flapped her wings, letting the air catch beneath her in an attempt to pick her up.

Then she ran. She ran as fast as she could, flapping her wings and trying to take off into the air. She took her feet off the ground and tried to fly but she only ended up falling. Now she was sitting, frustrated and kept trying. She kept this up for about an hour but she just kept falling. Finally, her latest fall brought her to tears and she sat there and she began to cry.
 
Curtis could only stand there and watch her as she tried to fly, knowing he would be little help outside of motivation. She seemed determined to take off on her own as it was, with the amount of times that she tried to take off. She would start flapping her wings, run into the wind, and try to jump into the air to fly. Each time, she would fall back to the ground, scuffing her knees and bottom with dirt and grass stains.

â??You can do it, Sora. Just keep trying!â? He encouraged, flapping his arms up and down.

After about an hour of practicing, Sora was spent, and she was crying in the grass. He rushed to her side and hugged her close. â??Itâ??s okay, Sora. Nobody gets it on the first try.â? He said softly to her, helping the harpy to her feet. â??Just keep practicing and youâ??ll get it.â?
 
She cried into her wings, why couldnâ??t she get this? She felt him hug her close and she buried her face into him as she cried. â??You donâ??t get it!â? she sobbed, â??Harpies are supposed to get it on their first try. They get pushed out of trees and if they donâ??t fly they hit the ground...â? she buried her face into him. â??Who would want a mate that canâ??t fly?â? she asked him as she cried.

This was new, she never mentioned mating before today but now it seemed to be on her mind, she mentioned the story about her friend earlier and now she was worried that she would never get one if she couldnâ??t fly. â??Not even you would want a mate who canâ??t fly.â? She sobbed, it seemed that she was worried, now that she didnâ??t have her flock he was the only male around and she was worried that he wouldnâ??t even want her if she couldnâ??t fly. Even humans must want their mates with the ability to fly right?
 
Curtis stroked her back as she cried into his shoulder, frowning as her body shook with sobs. â??Itâ??s not your fault, Sora. Iâ??m certain that if you had not gotten hurt, you would have flown beautifully on your first tryâ?¦â? He tried to comfort her, hating to see her cry. â??Youâ??ve just been unable to practice for aâ?¦â? His words faded as she questioned him about a mate unable to fly.

He blinked. This was the second time she had mentioned mates today. â??Iâ??m sure thatâ?¦â? Once again, her words cut him off, leaving him speechless this time. Did she mean it likeâ?¦ How could he reply to that? She was growing fast, faster than any humanâ?¦but she was stillâ?¦ And he had raised herâ?¦could he really ever see her as something more than his â??daughterâ??? Or â??little sisterâ??? He felt a strange chill squirm inside at the revelation. Holding her close, he sighed, closing his eyes. â??There, thereâ?¦Sora. Donâ??t get discouraged. Youâ??ll be able to fly soonâ?¦I promise.â?
 
She felt him stroking her back and it felt better just to sit with him while he held her. It made her feel better. Ever since she was little he had that ability to make her feel better but also to make her panic very easyily. Everything was still so strange to her. She burried her face into him and cried for a bit. He may still remember her as a little girl but she was growing up very quickly and she was a lot more intelegent then she had been when he first rescued her. When she finally stopped crying she looked up at him, her eyes red form the tears. The words that came out of her mouth next would be the last thing that he was expecting to hear.

â??You know the animals talk?â? she asked him, though she was still sad she was calm now. â??They talk about all kinds of things and I get to overhear them sometimes. Birds will push their chicks from the nest when they think that they are ready. If they are wrong then their chick dies form the fallâ?¦â? she told him calmly, then she looked down. â??I heard other animals talking before a few nights agoâ?¦ talking about their young. A shewolf as talking about her pups, she said that one of her pups wasnâ??t going to open his eyes ever. She told me that mothers know when their children areâ?¦. Defective.â? She paused, this was a word that he had never used in front of her, she must have heard it somewhere else.

â??Do you thinkâ?¦ thatâ??s why my mommy left me? â? she asked him as she looked back up at him. â??Becauseâ?¦ she didnâ??t even fight for meâ?¦ I saw two birds fighting off a preditor when it threatened their babiesâ?¦ My mommy didnâ??t even fight for meâ?¦ or yell at the menâ?¦ or even say good byeâ?¦â? she looked up at him as she spoke, her eyes held her confusion. Even in the danger she didnâ??t understand why her mother hadnâ??t fought for her, other animals did, why not her mom? â??Do you think that she knew that I wouldnâ??t be able to fly like the others? Is that why she left me to die?â? and she meant every word of what she said. She was sad and confsed and trying to figure out what was wrong with her. There were no other harpies for help or advice, only him and she hoped that he would be able to help her.
 
He let her cry against him, knowing that she would feel better once she got it out. He kept patting and rubbing her back softly, feeling each sob, each breath. He closed his eyes and shook his head softly, slowly leaning in to give the top of her head a kiss when she looked up and spoke to him. He blinked at her words, as she spoke of hearing the animals speak, talking about their young, about â??defectiveâ?? children, and how the mothers just know when they werenâ??t ever going to get better. Heâ??d never even said that word around her, how did she learn it? Why was she even speaking like this?

â??No. No, thatâ??s not it. Sora. Never say that.â? Curtis said to her, but she continued. Even Curtis felt like he was going to cry a little bit at her words. The confusion in her eyes and the seriousness of her words almost made his heart want to break. â??No, Sora.â? He finally said, hugging her tight. â??It wasnâ??t like that. Those men werenâ??t like the predators you saw the birds fight off.â? He held her close to him, â??They had guns, and knives. If your mom had tried to fight them, she would have been killed.â? He told her. â??Iâ??m sure it broke her heart to leave you, but youâ??re both safe now.â? He said to her. He hoped they were both safe.

â??Now come onâ?¦â? He carefully stood with her in his arms â?? she was getting close to being too heavy to carry easily. â??Do you want to go back inside, or do you want to keep trying?â?
 
She just really needed to cry. She clung to him and cried her little heart out to him. She liked being with him. He seemed to always know how to make her feel better, how to make her feel safe. She heard what he said and she looked up at him. She looked out at the sky, it had been cloudy before but now it was dark. A loud bang rang out and she cried out in fear and clung to him. A clap of thunder that sounded almost like a gun.

Not long after that rain began to pour down from the sky. She looked up then at him, â??The sky says thatâ??s enough for today.â? She said with a weak smile.

Animals had no religion. They didnâ??t have a got to believe in. The only thing that they could understand was the sky and the earth. It seemed to that her they were two beings that controlled the world and for the fact that she had no teachings it seemed to make a lot of sense. Her body was very tired as was her mind and she nuzzled her face into his chest, falling asleep in his arms even before they reached the house.
 
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