CHAPTER 12
After talking to Maester Luwin, I looked around the streets and alleys for roadside stones with smooth surfaces. I returned to my room. I set the chicks on top of the table and put the ragged cloths I picked up from the kitchen around the nest.
I picked up a few stones and used fire magic on them. After they started to feel really hot, I put them under and around the nest to keep them warm until I found a better solution. I dug up some worms; when I went out, then I found two big slabs of stone; one was half the size of the other, and I put them aside. Then I went around the places with damp soil and dug up a bucket of worms. It took me around an hour to pick up all of this.
When I returned to my room, I found it in utter chaos. Those two were crying with all their might. I took a half handful of worms and crushed them in a mortar I bought. After that, I used a small piece of wood, flattened with a width of 1cm (0.3 inches), which I used as a spoon and fed the chicks until they stopped begging.
When the room became silent again, I took the slabs of stones I brought to the table. I used some earth magic on them and managed to change their shape a bit into the form of a wide bowl and put the nest inside so it wouldn't move or get destroyed while the chicks moved inside. After that, I started heating the larger slab to a scalding temperature.
Then put the other smaller bowl-shaped slab to keep it warm. It wasn't direct heat, so that it would be comfortable for the chicks. Now all I had to do was heat, feed, and clean the shit for 1 or 2 months. It is going to be fun, right?
I know it is too much work for two stupid birds. But their parents died right before me, and they became orphans. I just want to do it and feel like I have to do it. They are all alone in this world without anyone to lean on when they are tired or scared. I just feel like I have to. I don't know; maybe I'm being ridiculous.
It has been four weeks since I started looking after them. They are now fully feathered, so I don't need to warm them that much, but I still put some heat onto the slab. Oh, and I named them. One of them has a few white feathers starting right on top of its head and ending close to its beak in the shape of a "V." Its feathers are deep and dark navy blue.
It is smaller than its sibling, so I think of it as the little sister. It is a she; I can't tell for the life of me, but the Maester said it was a female, and the bigger one is a male. So big brother and little sister it is. He is called Erebus. The little sister is called Poe. Erebus looks a bit different in color; it is black as the night itself. They have one thing in common; Erebus also has a few white feathers.
But his white feathers are at his wing joints where his wings are folded. Erebus is a little bit of an a-hole. He is always trying to bite me or anything that comes close to him. Poe is more docile; she doesn't attack unless you poke her.
I decided to use them in my familiar bound training too. I'm sure I will have enough mana to make a connection in 1 or 2 months max, and the ravens would also be able to fly before or at that time. It has been a real challenge to rear them. I had to run all around the place for a whole month because I had to feed them every hour until the sun was down. Because of all that endless running, my speed became 1.4.
"I think I can take it one more month, but if you don't learn how to fly by, then I'm most likely going to cook and eat you, Erebus; but I will keep Poe. She is a good girl, and she doesn't bite daddy. Right good girl?" I started petting Poe with my finger.
Snap… ahh!!
"Bad girl!!"
I was in the Godswood, it has been two weeks, and the ravens have started to learn to fly but can only fly for a few seconds and fall on their feathery bums. It had been a nightmare for two weeks. I'm almost spent from all the training and running around. If they don't learn how to fly soon, I must take a break from training and rest a bit.
While meditating, I felt my mana go up from 29.8 to 30 and opened my eyes, and it had been almost an hour. I had to go back. I got up and started going back. While walking, I looked around the woods and identified the herbs and weeds I saw. I have been spending more time in the library so my body can rest a bit. In the library, I found a compendium about northern herbs. From that, I learned almost all of the herbs on earth have the same name here. Of course, many don't exist there too. There are always new things to be learned.
It was a tiring day. The day was starting to end. The sun rays were beginning to turn orange from the bright yellow, and they were getting caught by Winterfell's 30 meters (100 feet) tall walls, causing giant shadows to be created by the walls.
I got into my room and collapsed on my bed from exhaustion. Something felt so weird. There wasn't any cry for food the second I got inside. I got up and looked at the top of my table, and the nest was empty. I looked around the room; they were not there. I went on to the window to see if the blinds were locked, and they were. I heard a caw then I turned around. This couldn't be real.
"YOU LITTLE MURDEROUS A-HOLES!!!" these two pricks, I have no idea how they got in, but they opened the bird cage and ate Blue. This was the reason they were not asking for food because both of them were full.