BeneV(i)olence ( 4 )

Kalani couldn't breathe. Something was on his face. Something su— soft???

His fingers reached out to touch his face, but instead of his face, he felt a feathery texture. As he scratched the strange object curiously, it elicited a response.

"Chirp! Chirrrr..." the thing on his face chirped contentedly. Kalani's face twitched in annoyance when he finally realized what was suffocating him.

He sat up abruptly, which startled the bird so much that it fell, splayed awkwardly onto his legs unable to fly away in time.

Ignoring the poor bird, Kalani breathed in the much needed air deeply. "Huuu..." Kalani exhaled slowly before curling his lips upward.

'Now I feel alive,' he mused and then glanced down at the dazed bird. Whistle had slowly managed to crawl off his legs, but as it tried to stand upright, it teetered and tottered uncontrollably from the dizziness until it finally landed with a plop— flat onto the meadow's grass.

"Pffft...Hahaha!" Tears came out of Kalani's eyes as he slapped his thigh repeatedly. Whistle finally regained its bearings and eyed its human angrily, seeming to consider where to get a good peck in.

Eventually, Kalani wiped his tears away and remarked, "My bad my bad, please don't peck..." Reaching out, he caressed Whistle's head, smoothing out its feathers.

Whistle felt miffed; its human had laughed at its expense, yet he only apologized.

After touching it for a bit, Kalani asked the bird, "Did you bring it?" An evil plan then hatched in its mind.

Acting normally, Whistle lifted one of its wings and revealed a small, black bottle attached on its leg.

"Good bir-" Kalani was mid-way in his sentence before Whistle decided to jump away from his outstretched hand. He paused before making another grab for it, but the bird again hopped away from him.

With its beady eyes glinting, Whistle shook the bottle on its leg in a taunting manner as if egging him to come and get it.

Kalani smirked. "Oh, you're on."

After that, he dashed toward the bird, which had by now turned around and scampered away from him. He thought it would just lead him around and eventually hand the bottle over. However, unbeknownst to him then, Whistle didn't plan to stop at that.

As the boy attempted to capture Whistle, the crafty bird would change its movements, kiting around the trees and through the bushes. To his dismay, no matter what he did, this despicable bird still escaped his grasp.

Then Kalani slipped on some weeds and face-planted hard onto the ground. The bird finally stopped running and peered back at the motionless body. It cocked its head a little as a strange glint flitted through its beady eyes.

In spite of being a little stunned, Kalani had managed to recover quickly from his fall, and he was prepared to chase after it again. Though just then, he heard tiny chirps from Whistle coming closer and closer. Noting that this was his best chance, he waited for the right moment until he even felt the naughty bird pulling on his tousled hair.

"I got you now brat!" he exclaimed as he grabbed at the oblivious bird.

Whistle squawked and attempted to flee but got captured firmly in Kalani's grasp. Quickly, he untied the black bottle and then tossed the uncooperative bird into the air. Flapping its wings hastily, Whistle managed to stabilize itself midair and then glided safely toward the ground.

As his attention was elsewhere though, Kalani didn't manage to catch the triumphant look in Whistle's eyes.

With the bottle in one hand, Kalani examined his clothes. The once-clean shirt now had a dirt streak on the front from his fall.

"Ugh, Mom is gonna scold me again when she sees these stains," he muttered, rubbing the nape of his neck. Then his eyes froze when he saw the rip on his shirt, and he let out a groan. "Scratch that, Mom is gonna kill me..."

Meanwhile, the bird responsible leisurely ambled over to a spot on the ground and picked up a thin scroll of paper. With eyes full of smugness, Whistle took one more look at the fool before taking off into the air quickly.

-Several seconds later-

"Come back here Whistle, you thief!" Kalani roared.

...

On the gravely road surrounded by shrubbery, a covered wagon creaked occasionally as it was pulled by two brawny horses. In the front seat, a man, who wore a wide-brimmed hat over his face, peacefully napped as his palms barely held the reins.

Flaps of a flock of birds then erupted out of the treetops, as if they were scared by something. The flap of the wagon's covering bulged a little before a flaxen head of a boy poked out of the side.

"Dad, did you hear that?" the boy asked. Hearing those words, the driver in the front seat suddenly jolted from his light slumber.

"Ah, ahemm, what did you say?" the driver asked sluggishly as he tried to wake up from his daze. Once he took off the hat, his eyes squinted from the noonday sun's brightness.

The boy's head then abruptly popped out of the front covering right next to the driver, frightening the man wide awake.

"Dad, were you sleeping again?" the boy questioned, narrowing his deepened silvery eyes.

The driver stared at his son for a full minute before awkwardly replying, "I was awake...sort of..." The child sighed lightly.

"Mom exactly predicted this," his son mumbled while he crawled onto the wooden seat, but the boy didn't expect it to be so hot. The quick jerks of his hands reminded his father of a kitten stepping on cactus spines for the first time.

The man chuckled and scooted to the part of the seat his son was currently tapping. "Come here, Arlo..." he spoke and patted the space where he previously sat.

To which, Arlo flashed a toothy smile at his dad before hopping onto the warm seat. "Thanks, Dad!"

"Also, what noise were you referring to earlier?" the man remarked, straightening his back as he held the reins properly.

Looking at his father's tall, built body, the boy glanced at his own scrawny legs and vowed to eat more vegetables. It was only until his father ruffled his hair did the boy snap out of his workout imagination.

"I— uh... heard a human yell," the boy explained in a fluster, "So I was worried that there might be bandits."

His father grinned, "Look at you! Being such a good boy." His father tousled Arlo's hair amusedly before placing one of his fists onto his chest. "But don't worry, you and your mom will always be safe with me."

The man turned to look proudly at his son, only to see a half-hearted smile on the boy's lips. Was he that untrustworthy?!

In an attempt to redeem himself, the man pondered hard about who it could be before blurting out, "It must be Kalani!"

At his father's sudden outburst, Arlo blinked in confusion. Why would his cousin be out here?

"I heard the boy was caring for a young bird last year, so the voice must be coming from him," the man added.

Once Arlo heard 'bird', the boy practically had sparkles gushing out of his silvery eyes. "A bird?! How? I mean— where?!" Inwardly, the man was relieved to see emotions more suited for a ten year old child.

"You haven't seen it, but a bird came yesterday afternoon. That's their bird. Your cousin has been training it to send messages and small items to and fro from our house."

His son listened excitedly before pointing out, "But then... why would cousin yell at the bird?"

"From what I've heard, it's a bit naughty," the man replied with an upward quirk of the lip as he remembered the lengthy, ranting missive sent by his nephew.

"What does it look like then?" the boy asked further. That question brought his father back from his thoughts. Squinting his eyes, the man tried to recall how it looked.

"It's completely black with a tinge of blue on its feathers; quite a unique bird when you first see it."

"Then like that bird?" The boy pointed a finger behind him.

"Hm? Wha— aACK!" Shocked, the man accidentally pulled on the reins too hard, resulting in the horses neighing uneasily. Luckily for them, the horses held their ground and didn't bolt.

The man gaped at the bird in question next to his face. In fact, he swore the bird had a hint of amusement in its eyes as it hopped off his shoulder and in between both of them.

Seeing his father's pallid face, the boy giggled with a naughty grin. "The bird was watching us for about several minutes until it came down next to you." Hearing this, his father was speechless in more ways than one. All three then heard a shuffle in the back of the wagon.

A woman's muffled voice spoke up, "Dear, what happened? Are you all right?" her concerned voice paused before adding further, "Is Arlo also with you in the front?"

Arlo glanced back, "Mommy, I'm here. Dad got frightened by cousin's bird."

The covering in the front was lifted slightly. It revealed a slightly tanned woman, whose smooth face was relatively youthful compared to her real age. Although, her light grey eyes and her long, dark chestnut hair tied in a bun gave her an aura of a motherly figure.

"Oh my, such an adorable bird," she remarked with a gentle smile once she noticed Whistle.

Gleeful at receiving such praises, the bird put down the paper note in its beak and twittered while puffing out its black chest proudly. Watching the bird receive all the loving attention from both his wife and son, the father finally understood what his nephew meant about it stealing the spotlight.

'It's even more sad that I am jealous of a bird in the first place,' the man then deflated inwardly as he thought. 'My heart goes to you, nephew; it really does...' As he wallowed in self-pity, his eyes spotted the paper scroll on the seat.

Lifting a brow, he mused, 'Isn't that the note I sent yesterday?'

Yet before he could scrutinize it further, the family was distracted by a crashing noise beside them.

"..."

"Cousin?..." Arlo was the first to break the awkward silence. The couple exchanged glances before looking back at the figure who had stumbled out of the bushes, clearly bewildered by his appearance— and for good reason.

Black hair adorned with tiny leaves and twigs and clothes, dirty and torn in some areas. Would anyone believe this is their relative?

But probably no one was as surprised as Whistle. It had practically flown the whole way here; how the hell did its human track it?! Not to mention his mind boggling stamina...

"You...damn bird...ughh..." Kalani's exhausted but livid voice reached their ears. "I am roasting you on a stick after this, you brat!" His emerald eyes were practically spitting fire.

The bird didn't hesitate to book it, as if running from the plague. Kalani followed in hot pursuit. Of course, only after he gestured an apology for the scare. As they all gawked at Kalani's and Whistle's figures fading in the distance, the man seemed to finally remember something and glanced down.

'The bird didn't even take the note with it.'

...