Wisp - A Scarecrow's Tale

Chapter 3 - The Patchwork Woods

"And that's it?" she asked. "You don't remember anything else?"

"Not a thing," he told her. "Just that I was walkin' in my field when I stopped to try and remember. I guess I got trapped in my think."

"Just how long was your think?" she asked, raising a curious eyebrow at him.

He considered this for a few moments without shrugging. "Dunno. Now that you mention it, I don't think I've ever seen the sun go down."

"The sun? You mean the Solarius?" Niki said, again sounding surprised. "Why would it go down?"

"I ... huh. I don't know." Wander stared at the distant glowing orb through the leaves of the trees. He was certain the sun was supposed to go up and down whatever people called it but just like with the trees he wasn't sure why. It was just the sort of thing that felt natural, now all the stranger seeing as he was finding out it wasn't natural at all.

Niki stared at him for a long moment before hugging his arm.

"Don't worry," she told him, "I'll look after you like you two were my sisters."

"Don't you mean brother? I mean, at least for me," Wander quickly amended as Merry fluttered in front of his eyes in an agitated manner. "Not trying to suppose anything on you, Merry."

Niki laughed. "Don't be silly. Harpies are never boys. Watch out for the hole."

"Huh? Oh!" Wander hopped over a small hole in the road. "Thanks."

"No problem," she said, swinging her wings as she skipped beside him. "It's what big sisters are for, yeah?"

"Big sister?" Wander repeated, looking down at her. "But you're shorter tha-whoa!"

Wander's feet slipped on a small rock lying on the path and fell face-first to the ground, his hat landing just ahead of him. Niki crouched in front of him and smiled as he pushed himself off the ground.

"Funny," she said, sweeping her wing over his head a few times before plopping his hat back into place. "You look pretty short from up here."

She walked off, leaving a stunned Wander to pick himself up and hurry after her with Merry trailing close behind.

They continued trekking through the woods for quite a while before coming to a stream. It was a little too big to jump across and too deep to go through without getting soaked. Fortunately, someone had thoughtfully built a small bridge of wood and stone over the water. Wander was halfway across the bridge when he realized that Niki wasn't following him anymore. He looked back to see her leaning heavily against the bridge railing, her eyes closed as she took in deep breaths.

"Niki? Are you okay?" He asked.

She nodded. "Just ... a little tired. We've been walking for hours."

"Hours?" Wander said, surprised. "Really? Doesn't feel like it's been all that long."

"Yeah, well my legs aren't filled with straw. Can we stop for a bit?"

Looking at her, Wander saw that Niki did indeed look tired. Even Merry seemed fatigued, their glimmering wings sagging slightly. "Yeah, you got a point," Wander said, feeling a little bad for not noticing his friends' fatigue, "All right, let's stop and rest."

Niki made it to the side of the stream before falling to her knees. She dunked her head in the water for a moment before coming up for a breath of air. She was still shaking water from her hair as Wander plopped himself on the ground beside her.

"More used to flying around I reckon," Wander commented.

She nodded as water continued to drip from her hair. Sitting back on her haunches, she said, "We move around a lot."

"Yeah, you said something like that earlier." Wander let out a wistful sigh. "Must be nice, getting out and about. I barely know anything outside my field ... well, remember anyway. Betcha seen some cool stuff out there."

"I guess so." Niki hugged her knees to her chest, her wings easily enveloping her small body.

Wander stared into the river as a handful of coppery fish swam against the current, occasionally leaping out of the water and gliding a short distance on fins easily as long as their bodies before plunging back into the stream. Not all made it back to the water; there were several frogs along the bank that looked like stones right up until the moment their tongues darted out and ensnared the fish in mid-air.

Niki let out a sigh. "It's not fair. We have to move all the time. Just when I get used to being somewhere, we gotta pack up because someone's mad at us."

"Mad at you?" Wander said, surprised. "Why are they mad at you?"

"I don't know!" Niki said, her voice filled with frustration. "Every time I ask Gran, she says I'm too young to know."

"Well, maybe your grandma's just trying to protect you."

"She's not my grandma," Niki told him. "I mean she raised me, but I'm a magpie and she's a raven, y'know. Everyone just calls her Gran"

"But you're from the same flock?" Wander said, feeling confused.

Niki made a face. "We got a bunch of different kinds in our flock: rooks, grackles, magpies. Everyone's really nice, but whenever we go near a city or town, the people come out and tell us to go ... and if we don't go fast enough, they get even meaner."

"Meaner?"

"Sometimes they throw things." Niki hugged her knees tighter. Just looking at her made the straw in Wander's chest feel tight. Niki seemed perfectly nice and friendly to him, and the thought that there were others who'd treat her and her flock so badly didn't sit well with him at all.

"Well, I'm just a scarecrow," Wander said, "but sounds to me like these other folks are a bunch of jerks."

Niki smiled at him and leaned against his side. "Thanks ... little brother."

Wander's gaze shifted over to his companion only to find her already sound asleep with the wisp on her head. Merry's light pulsed softly in synch with Niki's breathing.

Wander let out a sigh and lay back against the tree. "G'night, big sis."