Lost Feathers: Chapter 1

He shivered. A sensation ran through his developing body. Instinct crawled up him until he could not ignore it. His understandings of life outside his world were limited. Despite his lack of vision, hearing, and smell, he could sense beings moving around him. They were shuffling about on… on what? Could there really be so much more to the hidden land?

Allowing the urge to control him, he flung his head upward. His mouth opened in shock as he struck the hardened walls of his container. Reverberations ran through him, causing him to shudder. Ignoring the odd and new sensations, he threw his head into the barrier again.

He froze as his realm rocked onto its side. He disliked this position and kicked with his lower limbs. They were stopped by the barricade that held him. Frustrated, he hit the walls repetitively with his miniscule head. He stiffened. There was a loud crack! that even he could hear with his weak senses.

Convinced this was a good thing, he lashed out again. He began to feel claustrophobia setting in as nothing changed. He wanted to hit the barrier one more time, but exhaustion had set in. He took a few moments to rest. His body stilled as he relaxed. While doing so, he noticed the creatures had stopped moving. Were they even still there?

After he regained some strength, he banged the wall with his head, trying to aim at where he thought the crack was. He was rewarded with more splitting noises. Fear jolted through him when he swung, but hit nothing. Curious, he stretched his tiny head out into the new world.

He wanted to let out a cry of astonishment, but nothing came. Harsh wind clawed at his down covered body, which offered little protection. Its chilling prowess ran past his neck and reached every part of him. He immediately curled back into his safe, warm domain.


The cold seemed to have activated something, he noticed, because he was looking at the barricade. Inside his world, everything had a pink hue to it, even himself. He glanced at the opening the chilly air now came through. There was so much going on through that little hole it scared him.

It took some time for his body to adjust to the cold, but it did and he continued. He hit around him in quick, energetic bouts and then took breaks. Much time later, he was surrounded by fissures in the walls. Ready, he gave another attempt, with a different thought in mind, and pressed parts of his body on the barrier. He squealed as it gave way and exploded around him.

The wind grabbed his small feathers violently and he chirped, terrified it would carry him off into the unknown. Brown rods and soft objects that varied in color surrounded him. Two white orbs that were speckled with black dots near the base sat nearby. They twitched every now and then, but did nothing more.

His eyes wandered up and he was face to face with a large amount of white fluff lowering onto him. He cried out, but felt no pain, only warmth and safety. Ignoring his curiosity and fears, he allowed the heat to engulf him and embraced sleep.


Several days passed and creatures similar to him came out of the orbs. One was grander than he was, but the other seemed to be littler. They were covered in soft, white feathers. He assumed he appeared the same, but had no way to know. At first, they simply sat there, much like he did, and stared off. As time went on, they became more active and they began to peck at each other during feeding. He did not particularly enjoy the competition.

He had a good chance to see what the Carer, what he named the large creature who sat on them, looked like now that they would peck it whenever it lay on them. Its feathers, unlike theirs, were sleek. Its head was an orangey-brownish color. It lead to a creamy chest and belly with dark bars that ran across it. Its feet were yellow and had a curved, black talon on the end of each of its eight toes. What interested him the most was the bright rusty tail it adorned. He wanted to see it better, but the creature was always facing them with its dark eyes.

It gave him a quick nuzzle with its black and yellow beak when it saw him staring at it. The other two immediately hopped in the way, expecting food. Annoyed, he waddled into the softest part of the nest.

He regarded his surroundings while his siblings fought over feeding rights. The new stick world was on something he thought was a tall-brown-hard-rod. Around it were more tall-brown-hard-rods, but they were sparse when it came to small-brown-rods that hung off the sides. The upper-world was grey and dull, as usual. He found it rather boring to view. Further out was a massive golden ground-feather-patch. It flowed back and forth with the wind. That he found captivating.

He was alerted when he heard the other two coming to bicker over the fluffy part he was on. Not wanting to deal with then, he hopped away. Did they want everything?

He glanced up as he heard a buffeting sound. He chirped in shock as he saw something larger than the Carer coming right at them. It landed on the edge of his stick-world and shrunk dramatically into the second Carer. The second Carer wasn’t around nearly as often, but usually brought food. He still couldn’t understand how the massive beast transformed into the second Carer all the time.

Unfortunately, the second Carer was empty taloned this time. He stared at the two Carers as they made odd clicks and chirps at each other. He cocked his head, curious. Was this some form of communication he needed to learn?

The two faced their babies. “You need to hear your names,” the Carer said. “Everyone needs a name, right?” Its black and yellow beak curved into a smile and it closed its eyes joyfully. The second Carer simply stared intensely and frowned at them. Its seriousness unnerved him.

The largest of his siblings was pulled over by the Carer, who used its foot ever so gently. “You are Adsurgo, my little princess,” it cooed. The chick cheeped loudly, unsure of how else to respond.

The second Carer pointed at his other sibling, who had grown larger than himself. “You are Screo,” it said in a deep voice. The hatchling did not respond, but stared deeply at the second Carer, as if challenging it.

He snapped to attention when they spoke to him. He twittered for a moment, slightly startled. The Carer motioned for him to come. It clutched him in its food and dragged him close to Adsurgo. He eyed the talons warily.

“You are Juteo,” it said softly. “I don’t think you could be any cuter. Any of you.” Juteo stared at it, still lost about the noises it made.

“You say that every year,” the second Carer muttered grouchily.

“Well they are this year,” the Carer retorted.

“You say that too,” it replied quietly enough where the other would not hear.


Time passed. He and his brother and sister- he was able to distinguish gender now- grew in new feathers. They were sleek, like their parents, but less colorful. He noticed that his were especially lacking pigments in certain areas. His mother claimed it would be fine, but he desperately wanted that rusty tail.

He began to get more involved with the entertainment of the nest. His siblings were far more active than he was. They would tussle with each other, Adsurgo always on top.

He listened more intently to the conversation whenever his father returned, frantic to understand their language. “No food again?” his mother fretted. “What’s going on? You brought too much last year.”

“I don’t know,” his father sighed. He shook his head in a depressed manner. “I think there’s an intruder, because all the usual spots are empty. I haven’t seen anything yet, though. It might just be a local cat that learned to hunt.”

An intruder! Juteo knew that word too well. His parents were always watching out for them, worried they would enter the territory. But what was an intruder?

“I’ll head out again,” he said, “but no promises.” He spread his wings and took off from the nest. Juteo had learned that they were extending themselves now, not transforming

“Good luck,” his mother screeched to him as he left. “Now,” she turned to them, “I bet you’re bored.” They nodded eagerly. “Good, I have the perfect game in mind.” She lead them over to the edge of the nest with her wing. Juteo poked over, fear running through him when he saw how high they were.

“So what are we playing?” Adsurgo asked while asserting herself to the front.

“It’s called eye spy,” their mother replied.

“What’s that?” Screo inquired with his head nearly upside down.

Their mother chuckled, an odd sound coming from her. “I say I see something with a certain trait, and then you guess what it is.”

“What’s the point?” Adsurgo muttered, rolling her yellow eyes.

“The point is to practice your eyesight skills, which you need for hunting,” their mother said coyly. “But if you don’t want to-“

“I do, I do!” she cried, hopping up and down.

“Good! So I spy something green,” she declared.

“What’s green?” Screo wondered out loud.

“See those leaves,” their mother pointed with a talon. He nodded. “They’re green. It’s a color.”

“Is it the leaves?” Juteo blurted. His mother’s reply was cut off when Adsurgo jumped on him.

“I was gonna ask that!” she squawked, toppling over him. She gave him a good peck on his shoulder, which he promptly returned under her eye.

“Now, now,” their mother intervened. She pulled Adsurgo away. “No need to fight over it. That wasn’t even the answer.”

“Is it the grass?” Screo peeped.

“Yes! Good job, Screo,” she praised loudly. He and Adsurgo gave each other nasty looks. “Okay, now it’s your turn.”

The game went on for several hours. Screo won most of the games since his siblings were too busy being irritable at each other. They got into three more fights before their mother said to sit at different spots in the nest. At first they ignored the other by pouting. Then they began to make faces again. Eventually that turned into a game where they made silly faces at their mother when she wasn’t looking. He began to laugh so hard it hurt him.

Their fun was interrupted when their father swooped down from the darkening sky. He carried a vole with him and carefully placed it in the nest. The three converged around it and began to eat. Juteo listened as they spoke. It had become a routine for him now.
“I found the intruder,” their father stated. “It was just a house cat; I gave him a good scare, though.”

“Well that’s good,” their mother replied.

Juteo munched on a fatty part of the vole while trying to picture what a “house cat” was. In his head, he saw something similar to his parents, but smaller and less colorful. He decided that what he thought of must be a cat and continued feeding.

“Do you mind if I go out tonight?” their mother asked. “It’s been a while now.”

“No, go ahead,” he responded calmly.

She took off after a quick thank you. Juteo watched her leave them, shuddering. He didn’t trust his father. They almost never saw him and despite being smaller than his mother, he was far scarier.

“C’mon,” he said, standing high so they could huddle under him. Juteo noticed his underside was white like his own.

“No,” Adsurgo declared. “We wanna play another game.” She puffed out her feathers to prove a point. Juteo was pretty sure it had no effect, but didn’t point it out.

Their father scowled, obviously not pleased with the tiny rebellion going on. A grin suddenly appeared on his beak. “I think you’re ready.”
Juteo cocked his head, curious at the change in his tone “Ready for what?”
“To fledge.”


They were forced to wait for the next day to fledge, but it took an extremely long time to calm them down once it was mentioned. He eventually got them to settle; some force was needed with Adsurgo.

They perched on the edge of the nest, trembling with excitement. Juteo felt his fear of heights returning as he peered over. The ground appeared to be quite a bit away. He shivered and looked up, trying to imagine flying. The sky was dark today, warning that a storm would be coming. The wind clawed at him much like the day he hatched.

He started when Screo began falling rapidly. He almost jumped after him until he saw his brother had grabbed a branch. He felt his feathers relax at the sight and quickly gave Adsurgo a dirty look for pushing him off.

“I didn’t do anything,” she screeched at him.

“He jumped,” their father said before a battle could ensue.

Juteo stared at his brother, aghast. He was about to ask why when Adsurgo leaped as well. At a loss for words he looked to his father for aid. He saw him staring back, waiting. “Do you not love us?” he whimpered. It sounded random, but he had been thinking about it for a while now. His observations pointed to yes, but he wanted to hear it from his father before his assumed death.

His father walked to behind him, not responding. Juteo followed him, swiveling his head around. He felt his father’s foot on his back. What is he doing? He wondered.

“I like you,” Juteo noticed the pressure intensify as he was suddenly free falling to the ground.

He chirped piercingly as the air did nothing to slow him. He had no idea how to fly. Their parents told them nothing. He rushed past his siblings and branches. He was going to die. He knew it.

He gasped as he abruptly came to a stop, discerning pain from his wings. He glanced to his sides and observed something he would have never imagined. “I-I’m flying!” he squealed. His tail flattened and curved to balance him. His white wings were stretched out, catching the sky beneath them.

“Oof!”

He forgot to land. Juteo peeled himself off the ground and looked up. His father flew to his siblings and stopped for a moment before moving on to him. It appeared as if he was speaking to them. He landed next to Juteo lightly, making him embarrassed.

“Not bad,” he remarked. He was grinning. His own father was smiling! “But now you have to get back up.” Juteo slowly realized what this meant.

His father flew off again, circling the sky over them to keep watch. His siblings chirped at each other, arguing on how to fly back up. He glanced at the grass beneath him. It was bristly between his toes, making him uncomfortable.

Movement above him caught his attention as Adsurgo and Screo figured out how to reach a higher branch. The dilemma of his problem was rapidly becoming more obvious. He held out his wings and copied them. Flapping as hard as he could, he gave a little hop off the ground into the air. He almost made it to the lowest branch as he powered himself up, but froze when he peeked down. His fear of falling wasn’t making this easy.

He landed a bit more gracefully this time. His eyes wandered up for a moment. His siblings had just reached the nest. The darkening sky made it harder to see, but he watched as his mother settled in for the night. His father continued hovering overhead, still keeping watch. It looked like he was going to have to do this alone.

Desperation attempted to overwhelm him. He took deep breaths, reminding himself that as long as his father was out, he would be fine. He tried once more to reach the tantalizing branch. If he could simply reach that one, the others would be easy. He beat his wings with all his might. The muscles in them protested, pain shooting through him. He had to do this.

He smiled as he began to pass the branch. A little higher and he would be able to grab it. He gave one last effort and grasped the wood between his growing talons. At the last second, his wings gave out, but he was already on the tree. Proud, he puffed out his feathers.

He sat there, panting from exertion. Staying here to sleep was an option, but to him it meant giving up. If he continued to the top, he would prove to himself and to his family that size did not affect his power. He took another deep breath, stilling his body. Focusing on his next target, he heaved himself up. He knew he ran the risk of falling again, but didn’t care.

Cold air pressed around his tiny body. He was fine in daylight, but it was still cool at night this early in the year. The sky was calm; however, when he was at this altitude. He shivered for a few minutes after landing on the third branch. His heart thudded inside him, begging for rest. He trembled from not only cold, he noticed, but from his overused muscles as well. Sleeping there was becoming more tempting by the second.

He chirped in surprise as buffeting wind warned him of someone approaching. The branch shook as his father landed near him. They stared at each other for a moment. He still wasn’t pleased about being shoved away from home. “You’ve done well,” he quipped.

Juteo didn’t respond. He felt unease building when he was around his father more and more often. He couldn’t explain why, but he didn’t quite trust him like his mother. “I must apologize,” he continued. “I always thought that whites were weaker than the rest of us.”
His curiosity was peeked at the word “whites.” “What do you mean?” he asked warily.

His father eyed him for a moment. “You’re all white. I’ve seen partial whites, but full whites are rare. I’ve now learned; however, that there is nothing wrong with being a white.”

Juteo peered at his plumage. He was aware of the white on his front and he was sure he had brown on his back, but never bothered to check. He was shocked to see his father was right. His feathers didn’t have one speck of color on them. His feet were almost as pale as his feathers. Then it hit him; he would never have the gorgeous red tail he dreamed of.

He looked back to his father, suddenly shaking. He wanted to cry, but not here. His father pulled him in with a wing. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “We can sleep here tonight.” Tears ran down his face and dripped off his beak. Silently, he huddled close and slept.


His dreams were interrupted by a loud screeching sound. He pressed his head against his chest, struggling to blot it out. His eyes snapped open as he heard it again. He peered around when he noticed the absence of his father. It was still mid-night.

The screaming continued. He cocked his head up to see what it was. He assumed his parents were having a quick skirmish, but there was more to it than he thought.

Circling above him were five birds, all larger than his parents. One was a tawny gold, which was massive when compared to its companions, while the others were black and white. They were silent, but his parents were releasing shrieks louder than he had ever heard before. He hunkered down, a sinking feeling filling him.

His father was already in the air, and his mother took off in a rush, charging right at the gold one. She screamed in its face, clawing at its eyes. Juteo was horrified. Why would a bird ever attack the other? He thought in his panic. One of the others rushed her, forcing her away. His father intervened, pulling some feathers from its tail.

Two of the others grabbed his father’s wings, holding him helpless in the air. He cried out at them, still kicking out with his talons. He wasn’t sure how, but Juteo knew this was all very wrong. The two birds gave a tug, pulling his father’s wings out of the sockets. He screamed in pain, and Juteo had to do his best not to call to him.

He stared in dismay as they released him from their grasp, allowing him to plummet to the hungry earth. He rushed by Juteo, feathers following peacefully. He crashed, unmoving.

His attention was diverted by more screeching. He glanced back up to see the large golden bird holding his mother in its talons. The behemoth’s beak moved, but it was too far away to hear what it was saying. His mother retorted with a peck on the eye, causing it to drop her. She flew up to it for another assault, but was mobbed by the other four. She too fell.

Juteo shuddered as a thought passed through him. Where were Adsurgo and Screo? His question was answered with chirping from above. He wanted to warn them, tell them to stop, but it was too late. Their calls were cut off as the two-toned birds reached them. The nest fell shortly after, catching on a branch halfway down the tree. All five birds then flew off, as if nothing had occurred.

He shivered in the moonlight. His mind raced with what he had witnessed. His family was all gone. He was alone in the cold, much like when he was climbing up the tree. This was different; though, he was truly alone now.

Unsure of what else to do, he glided down to his mother. Many of her luscious feathers were gone, ripped out by those evil birds. Blood seeped from the lifeless body. He had never seen blood before. It seemed to glow before him, crimson and alive. He looked away. He should not be examining his own mother after her death. That was one thing he would never need explained to him. Death. Death was something he knew very well, even before seeing it.
Tears streaming across his beak once again, he settled in next to the cooling body. He closed his eyes and cried himself back to sleep.