Ruffled Feathers

Our meeting with the queen was going to be in the city of Congerlin. That’s the capital of the Erdareich, also known as the Face of the World.

We had two goals. Meet with her to talk about the state of the world, and ask for her help with getting to dad. Daddy’s in a country where Indena came from, which was on the other side of the planet. Only the queen may have the means to get us there.

At least, we hoped she would.

While we were staying in the capital city, Miss Lauri’s niece offered to host us. Conveniently, Marek also had a friend there, but he was pretty quiet about who that was. We were heading there now by train.

All of us were sitting in a booth together in one of the passenger cars. Yamin, Me and Uncle sat on one side, while Miss Lauri, Indena and Marek were on the other. A table was between us.

“I didn’t know you were related to the Wellington family, Yamin,” Marek commented.

“Oh…” she was caught off guard by his comment. “Well, not by blood. They’re actually related to my mom.”

Yamin was adopted when she was little. Miss Lauri’s actual last name is Samuel, whereas Yamin’s last name is Kintsugi.

“Bah…” Indena waved her hand. “Family’s more than blood. I don’t even know my own parents, but that doesn’t stop me from having a family.”

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that an organization called the ’Family of Sai’ was a type of actual family. Criminals and cultists, but still family.

It’s not that much different then Uncle and I. He’s a magical construct, and I’m an Exceed. Although, it’s pretty mysterious how he, dad and I all looked similar. Maybe we were made of similar DNA?

“Uncle, can I scan your DNA?” I asked, holding out my hand for a sample.

“No,” he replied.

“Please?”

“No,” he smirked. “What’s this about?”

“I wanna know if we're really related.”

Yamin put her hand on my shoulder and twisted me toward her. Her eyes squinted as they seemingly peered deep into my soul. Then she turned to Uncle and looked at him just as intensely.

“You two are definitely related. Like, I can see it,” she nodded. “Honestly, he could easily pass as your dad.”

Uncle isn’t my dad. That would just be silly. Otherwise, calling him ‘Uncle’ would be ironic.

But with how he’s practically raised me longer than dad did…

Wait! I shouldn’t think like that. Dad has a duty to protect mankind. That keeps people away from their families, just like superheroes. I have a super hero daddy.

“I agree with Indena’s perspective,” Miss Lauri proudly stated. “Blood or not, raising a child from a baby makes them your own.”

“So, tell us…” Indena leaned on the table and glanced at Miss Lauri with a sly look. “What was Yamin like as a baby?”

“Oh ho ho!” Miss Lauri let out a loudly haughty laugh. “What a little handful!”

“Ma…mom!” Yamin blushed, using a big sun hat to cover up her face. “D-don’t say anything…”

Miss Lauri held a breath in her mouth, ready to expel grave details about Yamin’s childhood that would compromise her fragile adolescent dignity.

Lucky for her, a conductor showed up just in time, claiming to have a phone call for Marek. He stepped away for a moment to take the call.

“Wow, would you look at the time?” Yamin looked at her Manona crest like it was a watch. “I have to go to the bathroom! Come on, Yalda!”

“What? Why am I coming with?”

My question received no response as she took my hand and dragged me out of the booth. Do humans schedule communal bathroom breaks or something?

She took me into the train car behind ours, one that had a fancy food bar set up in it. A few people were dining in here, but otherwise it wasn’t too busy.

“Oh boy…” Yamin shook her head. “Mom’s gonna drive me nuts.”

Do people really feel that uncomfortable about when they were children? You can’t really control the things you did as a baby.

Like, when I was a baby, I used to drool coolant all over the place. Dad would get so mad and force Uncle to clean it up. I have…uh…since then kicked that habit.

Alright, maybe it is a little embracing to think about. But my point still stands.

Yamin took a seat at the bar and ordered a glass of water for both of us. I sat next to her.

“Does it bother you when she tells baby stories?” I asked.

“I used to be a little brat.” She nervously snickered, taking a sip of water. “Ahh…yikes, I was a handful.”

I found that hard to believe. But as a kid myself, I had to wonder how I’d look back on myself at her age. Just being on the surface world for a few weeks now has changed me so much already. I wasn’t a trouble maker before though, I think.

“What matters most is who you are right now, right?” I said. “As long as you like that part of you, you’re doing alright.”

“Yeah,” Yamin smiled. “I agree.”

Haha! Anime can teach you useful life lessons!

Tink!

We both tapped our glasses together and took a sip of our waters.

While we were cheering, a woman came running in from the door opposite of the one we came in from.

“Excuse me…” she was running up and down the train car trying to get someone's attention, but nobody seemed interested in hearing what she wanted to say. “Please…won’t somebody listen to me?”

Her thick accent definitely made her stand out among everyone else. It wasn’t one I’d heard since coming to the surface, so I wonder where she was from.

Yamin stood up and walked over to her.

“Is everything okay, ma’am?” Yamin asked.

“I can’t find my baby,” the mother said. “I…I don’t know where he went. I’m so worried.”

Oh no! A baby went missing?

Well…the good news is that he couldn’t have gone far. This train is only so big and moving pretty fast. Unless he managed to jump off the…

Oh heckin’ nuts! This could be really bad!

We asked her to explain what happened, so she started telling us the story.

“We’ve been on the train all night, so I decided to close my eyes for a few seconds. When I woke up, he was gone, and…”

The story was pretty simple. But her franticness was even easier to understand. A mother missing her child honestly was the only explanation we needed to get our butts in gear and start searching.

~☆☆☆~

Yamin and I reported back to the group, letting them know a baby was missing. They all decided to check the front few cars, while Yamin and I checked the back.

The lady was very adamant about making sure nobody told any of the train personnel the baby was missing. It was super suspicious, but we decided that our mission would be stealthy anyway.

After about ten minutes, Yamin and I had checked all our respective cars. Not a hint of the baby in sight.

“Could someone have stolen him and gotten off at another stop?” I asked.

“I’m really worried they might have,” Yamin said. “But let’s not lose hope. Maybe the baby is just playing hide and seek.”

This was supposed to be a toddler, so it was a gamble if that was the case or not. How smart are human toddlers?

*Thump thump*

“Should we check the luggage compartments?” Yamin opened up a small compartment under a seat. A suitcase full of clothes sprung out and exploded all over the place. “Ahh!” She shrieked, quickly collecting everything and cramming it back in.

“Woah, those compartments are stuffed like a Christmas turkey,” I said. “I doubt a baby could fit in one.”

*Thump thump*

With my aid, Yamin managed to get the suitcase put back in place. Just in time too. A dude in a fancy suit came in and retrieved that exact one.

“That was close.” Yamin sat back to take a breath.

“No kidding. We have to be more careful.”

*Thump thump*

What the heck was that noise? It sounded like something was jumping on the train car roof.

Oh dear God…

“You don’t think…” my face twisted with disbelief.

“With our luck, I think we both know the answer.”

~☆☆☆~

We both ran out to the very end of the train car and climbed the ladder leading to the roof.

Sure enough, the baby was there. He was swaddled in a red blanket. But somehow he was able to perch himself on a railing. He looked like an upside down chrysalis with a face.

“How did the baby get up here?!” I shouted over the heavy wind.

“Not a clue!”

Yamin was ready to go out there and grab him, but I stopped her.

“No, I’ll get him,” I said, reminding myself that humans can’t fly if they fall off a high speed train.

I magnetized my hands and feet and crawled out onto the train roof. The baby wasn’t far away, but if I didn’t move quickly, who knows what might happen to him?

Finally I reached him, but he looked all happy as a clam to be up here, not scared at all.

“Come on, you little scamp…” I stood and reached out with my hands.

“Peep!” he squawked as he pecked my hand.

“Ouch!”

What the heck…did he have a beak?

I quickly unwrapped his blanket, stunned to find the baby did in fact have a beak. Actually, he looked like an adorable cross between a person and a bird.

He was a bird person!

Of course, like any bird, he had a healthy pair of wings for arms…which he started waving at me, playfully sending huge gusts my way.

“Gah!” I uttered, trying to resist the wind of both the train and the baby. “Stop it! Bad baby!”

“Yalda!” Yamin announced, seeing the conflict.

“Peep peep!”

Maybe we could come to an understanding, since I myself have wings. As a sign of trust, I materialized my own wings and spread them out.

“See?” I flapped them a little bit. “I’m like you.”

“Peep?” the baby’s head tilted. “Peep peee!”

His mouth opened and he aimed it at me. At first I thought he was going to attack or something, but Yamin figured it out.

“He’s hungry!” she shouted over the wind.

“Sorry, little guy, but I didn’t have any half-eaten worms on me.” Well, I did have some monster meat in my inventory…not cooked though.

“Hold on, I’ll get something!” Yamin ran back into the train, moments later coming out with the bird child’s mother and something in a tin can.

“Tori!” the mother announced, shaking the can. “Come here, baby!

“Peep?” Baby Tori turned to his mother, his eyes going wide as his mouth. “Peep!”

I was going to head back to grab the food, but the baby wanted to follow me. Even a slight wind was causing him to slide off the train once he let go of the railing.

Suddenly, the whole situation got a whole lot more real for him. He scrunched up, placing his wings over his body along with the blanket, his talons clung on tightly onto the metal bar.

I tried with all my might to pull him out, but he was way too scared to budge.

“Darn, I think he’s too scared,” Yamin said to the mother.

Tori’s mother pulled out a small little wooden box, requesting that I let the baby listen to it.

“I can’t leave, or he might fall off,” I said. At this point, I had to hold him in place. The winds were picking up, and even his talons weren’t going to be enough to keep him steady.

I could have grabbed him and flew off the train, but a big problem was up ahead. There were a bunch of signs and wires just that would make flying out of here a complete mess. We needed to wrap this up fast.

“Oh boy…” Yamin let out a quick breath, taking off her sun hat and handing it to the mother. “Guess I’ll have to get it to her.”

It was way too dangerous for her. No matter my protests though, Yamin held onto a metal bar and crawled her way toward me.

This was super dangerous for a normal human, like a deadly roller coaster ride.

“Oh God, what am I doing!” Yamin was close enough to reach out and hand me the little wooden box. Once I had it in hand, she slowly crawled backwards. “LORD have mercy!” she continued screaming that until she was safely off the roof.

This thing was a music box, but it just made this really muffled chirping sound.

“Peep peep…Momma…” a tear ran down the baby’s eyes. “Peep peee…”

He looked at me, his innocent little gaze sullen by watery tears.

“I may not be your mother, but please, let me take you back to your human one. Okay?” I said.

The baby nodded his head, then his wings stretched out to me and I picked him up. He was so light, like a little doll.

Yamin had already crawled back to the end of the train, so I just needed to get back myself.

“Yalda look out!” Yamin screamed.

A metal train sign was about to hit me!

I ducked down, it just barely missed.

But that wasn’t all. A few more were heading my way. The worst part was that they were at different heights. Adding to the layer of difficulty, the train was rounding up a hill…meaning this was about to turn into a very twisted game of Duck and Jump Frenzy!

Well, no sense in crying about it now. This was a learning curve I had to get a hold of fast.

I had mere seconds to jump and duck under each of the metal signs as they’d pass by. All the while I had to slowly move back toward everyone at the end of the train. A tunnel was coming, so I needed to get out of this mess yesterday!

Jump! Duck! Jump!

Jump!

Duck!

Duck!

Goose!

Wait a minute…

Finally, after one more duck, I rolled off the roof of the train, being caught by Yamin and the bird baby’s human mother. Just in time too, because we reached the tunnel.

“You okay?” Yamin started inspecting me and the baby.

“Yeah,” I nodded, handing the baby back to the mother. “He’s hungry.”

With mama and baby reunited, I felt relieved. But now I had so many questions that needed a good answer…