Sherry and Fir

"Spirit beast?" Fir controlled his mana to form a symbol in the air. The mana twisted and turned until it turned into the outline of a feather intertwined with cool patterns. The mark glowed with an icy blue and cast a cool breeze into the room.

Seeing the inscription in the air formed by magic, Sherry confirmed her belief. Only a spirit beast was capable of processing both a tangent and intangible form, besides, no animal on Earth could use magic.

Studying the inscription with a scrutinising gaze, Sherry tried to dig through her memory for it. She had an inkling that she's seen it before but she wasn't quite sure when. She frowned, desperately trying to recall. When have I seen such a beautiful mark? She thought to herself.

Fir chirped again, impatient for her to receive his mark. Only then will he be able to form a telepathic connection with Sherry. You could say that the symbol worked in the same way as a phone number.

Gosh, this bird is pretty loud and annoying! Wait…Bird? Sherry remembered that Dylan's spirit beast was a bird.

"…Are you Fir?" She asked, unsure. Fir flew around and chirped happily.

'She knows my name! She knows my mind!' He thought in his mind.

Sherry giggled. "Come here." She said. Fir landed on her arm. "You wish to form a link with me?"

Fir nodded his head. "Okay." Sherry smiled and closed her eyes, concentrating to form her own inscription. It was that of a little cat and a dog side by side at the base of a tree. The design was not as elaborate as Fir's but it was rather cute and adorable looking.

The two inscriptions collided in the middle of the air and a telepathic connection between Fir and Sherry was formed.

"I'm Fir! Dylan's contracted spirit. It's nice to finally meet you, Sherry!" Fir chirped, his soft boyish voice echoing in Sherry's mind.

Sherry chuckled and answered back in her mind, "It's nice to meet you too."

"I've heard a lot about you, Dylan says you're beautiful! I think so too, maybe not as beautiful as me but still beautiful!" Fir sang his praises in an attempt to get on Sherry's good side.

"Ah, you are quite beautiful." Sherry absentmindedly replied. She brushed her finger against Fir's soft feathers, relishing in the delicate touch of it.

Fir whistled with a blush. "Ehehe, thank you."

"How did you meet Dylan?" Sherry mused. She placed Fir on the window sill and cupped her hand with her chin lazily in preparation for the story.

"It was when I was little, like very, very little. Some bad men came into our forest when my parents went out to hunt for food and they found me practising how to fly. Then they threw a net at me and I fell to the ground." Fir's voice was nonchalant and he didn't seem to really care about the event. "When I thought everything was over, Dylan suddenly showed up! He suddenly fell from the sky and landed on the bad people and caught them off guard. He looked very cool even though there were a lot of leaves in his hair. The little Dylan looked like he didn't intend to show up but still picked me up and ran away. The bad guys didn't know what to do so they were slow!"

Fir chuckled at the memory. When he was a little chick, it made him idolise Dylan but not that he thought back to it, it was a pretty silly situation.

"Then, what happened?"

"They kept chasing us so I got angry at froze them~" Fir laughed.

"You froze them?"

"Mhm! The rope they used restricted my magic but since Dylan rescued me, I could use my magic again, so I froze them. And then my parents came back and punished them. Ahahaha."

A young woman was smiling and laughing at a little bird as it chirped and whistled at her. It was quite a surreal scene.

"Do you like being with Dylan?" Sherry asked.

Fir nodded. "Mhm, it's fun! A lot of things happened but it was exciting and Dylan is very nice, his mana is also very yummy!"

"Yummy?" Sherry's never heard of mana having a taste.

"Yep! Everyone's mana tastes different and Dylan's taste like fruits, a lot of different fruits."

"Oh, then what does mine taste like?"

"Flowers, maybe because you're a flower yourself." Fir straightforwardly praised.

Sherry laughed. "You've been together with Dylan too much; his bad habits have brushed on you."

Fir just shrugged in a bird way. "Today's the last day you're grounded right?"

"Mmm, it might last a little longer because I fought with my parents." Sherry hummed.

"Why?" Fir was disappointed because he wanted to play with Sherry a lot.

"Because they made me angry."

"Why?"

"Because I feel like they are too controlling about what I do. They don't care or ask for my opinion and think whatever they do is for my own good." Sherry thought for a bit before elaborating.

"Does being angry work?" Like an unrelenting and curious child, Fir continued to ask Sherry for answers.

Sherry paused and shook her head. "No. It wouldn't change anything. It will just be more time away from each other."

"Then why are you still angry?"

"…I guess I'm just waiting, waiting for them to talk to me for once."

"Maybe they are waiting for you too. When I fight with Dylan, I always want him to apologise first and he always talks to me and we both apologise after we finished being angry."

"Maybe you're right."

"Are you going to talk to them?"

Sherry shook her head. "I think I want to be angry for a little more. It's an interesting experience, I've never done it before." She laughed, "A late rebellious phase. Janine went through it quite early, that's how she was allowed to become a photographer."

"Argh, she made me take so many photos before! It took forever before I managed to escape." Fir sighed, shivering at the memory.

Sherry laughed. "When she gets like that, she doesn't stop until she's satisfied. It's an enviable trait, really."

"You can do it too. Wait and wait and wait until everyone is calm and tell them what you think. If you tell them what you want, then they will know and do it. Then they can also tell you what they want and everyone will be happy." Fir chirped, spreading his wings out wide.

Sherry chuckled. "Then I'll do that."