World Leap Chap7 Part1

I had learnt a long time ago, how to listen, how to learn. I wrote it all down in a pretty brown notebook with vines drawn with green gel pen on the cover.

We didn't travel often to see the rest of the world, the rest of the birds. But I looked it up, the tune, the volume. I learnt, and listened. I practiced.

But I hadn't practiced in a long time, occasionally my pitch was too high, or too low, my whistle a little off-tune. Disrupting the calm flow and steady thrum of wings and forcing me to start the whole thing again, making process slow and hard.

Sometimes a robot would pass underneath, but the thick brush prevented it from seeing me. Since it was too dangerous for me to go out and get stuff myself, in fear of getting caught like a teenager after curfew, I had constructed a plan to call the birds, to gather me supplies so I could at least build a rough shelter until I found some way of getting home.

I sighed, remembering the days when I sat in the tree in my backyard, studying the bird calls, and learning how to call back, to make them reply, follow, come and gather certain objects, the birds that weren't found in your average back yard I learnt over internet. It was fascinating for me, a hobby of sorts.

I still try to understand them, but there were thousands of birds with thousands of birdcalls. It was hard enough to understand the few I knew. I shook my head and focused on work, weaving vines to create a hammock, laying large banana tree branches above me on the stringed vines for a makeshift roof.

I was doing that when I heard a cracking sound and a startled squawk. I looked up, and saw a blackbird, black… a colour I like. She was flapping her wings desperately, one was awkward, as if it were broken, I climbed up the few branches there, nimbly because of the short distance and the amount of easy to grab branches, I held my hand out and the bird jumped onto it, just as the branch crashed down, I jumped back down and sat in the fork of the branches.

"Why didn't you fly away, or jump to another branch?" I asked kindly, I was stressed for company of the good kind, not robots and madmen.

I didn't expect an answer, and when it cawed I didn't expect to understand it "I have a broken wing! Ain't it obvious?" she snapped, taken aback by its harsh reply.

I started stammering "um… you talk?" the blackbird sighed in frustration.

"Well, aren't you bright? Of course I do! Do you think an average raven would be in a hot, moist rainforest!?" she cawed.

"No…" I replied, "But… you talk!" I continued, ignoring the harsh words and the scowl she was giving me now, if, blackbirds can scowl.

"So do several other brightly coloured animals, damn hedgehog." She retorted rudely before she started growling about how hedgehogs shouldn't run that fast.

"True, except you're not brightly coloured." I told her. Once again, Sonics new look came to mind. He wasn't bright, not anymore. But maybe he changed back too.

The raven shook its head in frustrated defeat as I tore off a strip off my already torn and tattered shirt, peeled off some bark and made a sling for the bird. Though the attempt to actually put it on her resulted in her jumping back she tried to yell at me, but squawked loudly as she moved her wing, I grinned.

She hopped over grouchily and looked away as I pulled the bandage tight. "What's your name?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

"You know, I've travelled the world, seen places nobody has seen, I've even lost track of time: yet I have never even thought about a name." she told me. I looked up at her, she didn't seem to hate me anymore, the tension had decreased and her eyes were softer.

"So, you don't have a name?!" asked, shocked.

"Correct" she stated, testing her wing.

"Well everybody needs a name!" I cried. "What would you like as a name?" I asked.

"I don't know" she replied, looking away. "I've lived my whole life without a name, I can continue living that way.

"What about Sarah? No, you don't look like a Sarah. Ebony? Ebony is another word for black, and you are a black bird" I blabbered.

"That sounds nice; I think I'll have it!"  She laughed, I looked at her, eyes wide.

"Are you sure, it's the first one, well second. They got a million names out there." I attempted, she looked at me with her deep black eyes and shrugged, I sighed. "Well, I have got to finish my shelter, it's a rainforest, so naturally it'll rain before I'm done." I told her, turning away from Ebony's staring eyes.

"I'm sick of sleeping on rag beds and floors." I muttered as I grabbed another leaf a toucan and two bright parrots flew down.

"Why have you been sleeping on rag beds and floors?" Ebony asked, cocking her head to the side as I slid the leaf into a wide gap in the small roof.

"Because Eggman doesn't believe in comfortable beds and I end up falling unconscious at all the wrong times!" I snapped; glad I had someone to talk to about it. I made sure the leaf wasn't going to budge where I'd put it and picked up the end of the hammock, unfinished, and started weaving.

"Eggman?" Ebony asked, spitting out a loose twig into a slowly forming nest.

I tugged a knot tight aggressively, "An egg shaped man, makes stupid robots, and has  a serious case of a large ego." Jutting my thumb out in the direction of some robots far away, arguing about directions and eventually hitting each other.

I finished weaving and tied the two longest vines to a fork in the tree, right under my childish carvings. "Why were you with him? Were you his prisoner?" She pressed.

I heaved a sigh as I picked up the vine I had woven with some others earlier, making a small fence that would hopefully stop me falling to my death. "Yeah" I murmured.

"And… why were you falling unconscious? Is it something to do with you being his prisoner?" she asked. I sighed again and turned around, leaning on the hammock. Testing its strength.

"Because at night… I turn into…. How should I say this? ….I turn into a type of beast…." I trailed off; Ebony was silent next to me. "I'm still me…. I look different and lately… I feel different…. It's… hard to explain but… it scares me!" I shook my head and burst into tears with no warning whatsoever. I covered my face with my hands and tried to wipe them away. I had to be strong, had to keep going.

I had to keep fighting, no matter what.

And then she was on my knee, trying to think on what to do. Did raven's even cry? I wasn't sure, but it looked like she was struggling to come up with something to say.

"I wished so hard not a week ago! I wanted to go on an adventure!" I sobbed as she shifted uncomfortably. I slumped down, shaking my head.

"I thought I'd be okay to leave everything behind! Hell, I guessed that things wouldn't of been perfect, I thought I'd have a friend by my side… But everything's just been going to shit, I don't know if my family's okay, or my friends, I've felt nothing but pain since the start of this foolish endeavour and the whole time I've had some crazy, stupid, annoying madman has been at my thro-" I started to choke as something deep burrowed into my chest, I doubled over and Ebony jumped off my lap as I groaned in pain.

"It's happening!" I cried in warning. Ebony gave me a fearful look and I was almost afraid I was about to lose what I had just gained.

"No… Ebony…" I choked. "I wouldn't hurt you… Only Eggman…" It was a grim thought to realise that what I spoke was true, I would harm Dr Robotnik, even go as far as to kill him.


I looked back up to the sun as she nodded, the last dazzling rays beaming over the horizon, barely visible through the trees. "The sunsets beauty used to bring joy into my life, now it only brings fear for the night ahead." I murmured, she looked at me.

"Friends?" I choked, nearly a beg.

She snorted, "I thought we already were."

"I've always wanted to be a nomad… well… not always, but for a long time" I half sobbed.

"It's nice,' she murmured. It was solemn for a moment as the sun slowly disappeared behind the trees.

I shuddered violently in pain but something was different, it was weaker, I didn't hurt as much as it did before.

"Are you okay?" Ebony asked, I could only just hear her rough voice, I managed a grin as I looked up, "I'm just turning into a big furry animal that's all" I ended in a groan. A dark veil of dark purple mist clouded around me. After a while of struggling with the pain it started to clear, I looked up, I was the beast.

I looked around as the last few wisps of mist floated away, "That's new" I murmured.

"What's not new?" asked Ebony.

"Everything but the mist" I replied, shrugging my furry shoulder.

"Ok…" she murmured.

We looked up at the moon, a bright silver ball in the sky. "Why do you change?" Ebony wandered aloud.

"Just recently… I've been studying ancient manuscripts, it sounds boring, but…. It's quite fascinating, all the prophecies and legends written down in runes that only few can understand, I had just finished one, the Gaia manuscripts, when it was stolen, as were all copies. In it, it spoke of a 'entity sealed within the earth' it was named Dark Gaia, only a few days ago, a week maybe, the Earth was broken and Dark Gaia was released, I think… I think he transferred some of his power over to me, and since… since he is much stronger at night… I think his power, which is sealed within me, awakens at night also…" I trailed off.

"Interesting…" Ebony nodded. "Do you not like night?" she asked after a bit.

"Sort of…" I replied.

"Why… um… what's your name?"

I laughed: "Jessica, and the reason I only sort of like it is because I am yet to get used to this…form, so until I do get used to it, it's a sort of" I answered her unsaid question.

"Okay then Jessica" Ebony told me "May I please hear the whole story?" she asked politely.

"Of course." I nodded, trotting to the edge to let my tail dangle off the edge, she hopped next to me: Deep through the night I told her my story, when gentle raindrops began to fall on my head I moved my book into the shelter. And as I spoke and Ebony listened, we looked up at the moon, barely visible through the clouds and leaves, we listened to the rustle of leaves, soon the clouds departed and the stars appeared one by one, and as they sparkled and glistened I finished my story and Ebony told hers, how she's travelled around the world, how she slept through the earthquake after a full day of travel, how she broke her wing as she fell off her branch.

When she was finished she taught me about the stars and constellations, her own special map. And when she was speaking I thought, paying attention to her and thinking about what Eggman said, I thought well into the night and well after Ebony had finished her tales and set herself to sleep, but it was a hard question and the answer wasn't any easier when it finally came.