Stink Bug – Chapter 12

I couldn’t get K’eel nor W’oo’woo to elaborate any further. They were nervous and eager to change the subject. I decided not to press. T’rb’l would explain later, I was sure.

K’eel flew off, leaving me with W’oo’woo.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, raising the crest on his head and fluttering his wings. “We can eat, yes? Good food today.”

I had a stomachache already. Dinner hadn’t sat well with me. Though I was hungry, I wasn’t sure an other meal of fruits, nuts, and leaves was going to do it for me. Of course, I had no other option. “Sure.”

W’oo’woo coaxed me down the ladder. I kept touching my eyes and smearing the black cream that surrounded them, making my fingers slippery. I almost fell off the ladder more than once. W’oo’woo could just trill from below.

“Hurry, hurry,” he encouraged.

I was glad to get my feet back on the ground. My legs ached from the previous day’s walk, and these allergies had taken their toll on my energy. I really wanted eggs and toast for breakfast.

I gasped. W’oo’woo cocked his head at me. “Nothing. Nothing.” It wasn’t nothing. But I wasn’t about to tell W’oo’woo how delicious I thought eggs were. What a horrible thing to say, or even think, to a bird. And even though these weren’t really birds, per se, they still laid eggs.

But the eggs didn’t hatch. How horrifying and depressing that must be.

W’oo’woo raised his feathers again. “Yes. Let’s go?”

“Sure. What’s on the menu?”

W’oo’woo walked ahead. “You will like this.”

Tendrils of smoke wafted through the forest ahead, streaming across the stage from last night. There was a wonderful smell with them. “Bacon?”

W’oo’woo stopped and fluttered at me. “No. Not bacon. We don’t have that here. But this is good!”

“It smells good. Maybe I don’t want to know what it is.” A light breeze came up. “I do wish Keel had told me to grab a coat before we left.”

W’oo’woo clucked. “It will warm sooner than you would like. Meantime, you can cover yourself in my feathers.”

“Bizarre,” I muttered. “I’m snuggling with a bird.”

W’oo’woo slicked down his feathers.

“Oh, no. I’m sorry. It’s just— This is all so strange.”

W’oo’woo puffed up again and nodded. “Yes, of course. Come come.”

He led me to a feather-lined depression and had me sit, hopping off to get some food. It did smell like bacon. I hoped it wasn’t cooked bugs. Or, if it was, that I wouldn’t be able to recognize it as such. My eyes itched and I rubbed them, once more smearing the black film all over my hands.

W’oo’woo walked back with K’eel beide him. They looked emaciated, with their feathers were pressed flat against their bodies. W’oo’woo carried a tray piled with food, steaming in the chill morning air. He set the tray down in front of me and quietly sat beside me, fluffing his feathers so that I could cover myself. K’eel came to the other side and did likewise.

K’eel did not make eye contact. “Please eat,” she said. “T’r’bl will be here soon.”

The breakfast platter looked splendid. It looked like pancakes and bacon. The pancakes were a little small, with strange dark flecks, and the was short and narrow, but I didn’t care. I was sure they weren’t really pancakes and bacon, but I was going to let myself think that they were.

W’oo’woo and K’eel were silent while I ate, clucking and trilling occasionally, but nothing more. Other Vrr’ak’l were chattering quietly nearby, picking at food on their own plates. The atmosphere was solemn. It made me nervous.

A hush came over the Vrr’ak’l. They looked up. I scanned the forest canopy but saw nothing. The woods were silent. There was a tiny snap in the trees over head. I turned my head. T’r’bl swept down toward me. I yelped and ducked, expecting to be clawed to pieces. Dust kicked up. I hid my face. Everything fell silent. I peeked.

T’r’bl stood over me, her wings open and her arms folded across her chest. Her feathers were puffed. She blinked down at me. I swallowed hard and dipped my head in the best bow I could manage from my position.

“You have questions,” T’r’bl said. She laid her feathers down, shrinking to less than half her starting size.

I nodded.

“Have you eaten enough?”

“Yeah, probably. This is delicious. Thank you.”

She nodded and clucked. Other Vrr’ak’l clucked in response. T’r’bl folded her wings and sat down. She casually preened her feathers as the other Vrr’ak’l gathered. She paused and looked at me. “You may eat more.”

“Oh sure. It is good.” I picked up a strip of bacon and chewed on it. “It’s really good.”

“That is viverox there,” said T’r’bl pointing at the meat in my fingers.

“I don’t know what that is,” I grinned. “It’s probably just as well.”

“It is not a bug,” said T’r’bl matter-of-factly.

“That’s good to know.”

“Tell me your questions. You may eat while I answer them.”

“Mmm.” I had just stuffed another piece of viverox bacon in my mouth.

T’r’bl cocked her head at me and nodded. “Eat then. I know your questions. ‘Who are the Keepers?’ That is one, yes?”

I nodded. “Yes.” I swallowed some of the bacon in my mouth. “Are you alone here?”

T’r’bl raised the feathers on her head. “Let me tell you of how we came to be here.” There was fluttering among the Vrr’ak’l. “That should answer most of your questions.”

Read Chapter 13.

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