"Hey! Come down for a moment, please." Shivi yelled towards the shadow's owner.
Listening to her yell, the big bird shrieked a little in response before coming down.
"What is it, little fella?" the Great Eagle asked.
"Nothing, I just wanted to give these to you." She extended her small hands that were full of small red berries towards him.
"I found them in the Orchard today. I can't wait to give you those because they are super tasty." she was grinning like a Cheshire cat.
Eagle sighed, but a glint of happiness was evident in his eyes when he accepted them. A few weeks back, Panther asked him to keep an eye on the child as he was afraid she would not be able to cope with the animals well. Being friends with the Panther for years, he knew that what Panther actually wanted to say was to take care of the kid and see if she is doin' well.
Therefore, the Eagle trails Shivi everywhere she goes from the sky. Shivi noticed him a few times before calling him down by waving her baby hands. He thought she had something to ask whence he came down but what she did made him speechless. She innocently placed some fruits in his claws, telling him she found them tasty and wanted to share them with him. Despite being proud, he still accepted those little fruits as it's the first time he got a gift from a child.
After that, it became an everyday thing, for him to come down for few moments, for her to hand him her fruits when her friends weren't near. He can't reject her kindness because of the smile this Little Fella gave him every time she handed him her little snacks.
"May I asked you something?" she said politely.
"Yes?" he said while munching on the berries.
"What is your name?"
"Eagle."
"Huh?"
"My name is Eagle."
"Oh...then how should I call you?"*
"You can call me Eagle."
"Umm....then I'll call you Mr. Eagle!"
"Whatever."
"Mr. Eagle! It must feel good to fly in the sky, above the clouds?" her eyes shone like stars.
"Amm...do u want to fly too?"
"No...I am scared of heights," she said while waving her hands.
"Then I must scare you enough today." without even giving her the time to register his words, he grabbed her by his wings and placed her on his back.
"WHAT!...NO!....Mr. Eagle, please...put me ba...back." she kept begging, but the Eagle ignored her and started flying.
Shivi clung to his neck and shut her eyes tightly. After some time, when they were high in the sky, she gathered some courage and started opening her eyes very slowly. What greeted her eyes was the view of white, big clouds, and the land getting smaller and smaller. She breathed in the air and felt a different aroma. The lake down there looks exactly like a great Butterfly from here. She started enjoying the view.
"Mr. Eagle, why do you follow me every day?" she asked while loosening her tight hands on his neck a little.
"When did I followed you?huh?"
"Then why do I finds you everywhere?"
"It's you who is everywhere I go. This Jungle is my Home. You are the one who is an outsider and is invading our house." he wasn't going to admit it.
Shivi felt hurt by his words. She asked again, "You....am I really a trouble for you all."
"Of course, you are. We were all living happily before you, but now we have to take note of you first." He threw more harsh words at her.
Tears started welling up in Shivi's eyes. She started crying suddenly.
Hearing her weeping loudly, Eagle panicked. He thought he scared her too much.
"Okay! Little Fella! I will put you down now, don't cry." he only managed to think those words hardly as he never interacted with a human child before.
But Shivi sobbed even more at this. Now Eagle was really frightened, he quickly looked here and there to find a good place for landing, and coincidentally, he found Siya sitting on a tree. He landed right in front of that tree.
Before he can open his mouth to speak, Shivi's sobbing reached Siya's ears, and she landed on the ground anxiously.
"What happened!?" She came forward to hold her.
"What happened, Eagle?" she meowed loudly, carrying Shivi in her arms.
From the past few weeks with Shivi, she got to know what motherhood is, and she found a piece of this feeling in herself. Now she understood why Mother Hen had always been warm to kids. She cares for Shivi as if she is her own kitten. Seeing her cry like this hurt her a lot.
"I... I think I scared her by flying high in the sky." Eagle said while scratching his head.
Siya got angry at his words and started glaring at him while patting Shivi's back. She decided to get back to him after consoling Shivi, so she turned to Shivi, "It's okay! you are here, kid. Don't be scared!" she purred.
"No..." was all Shivi said before she started crying again.
"What no? Do you not want your aunty to be here." Siya misunderstood and got hurt by the thought of being unwanted.
NO..!" Shivi hugged Siya with all her might. She was afraid that her fluffy aunt would leave her.
"Don't leave me, fluffy aunt!" Shivi peeked into Siya's eyes with tears flowing in her own eyes.
Siya sighed in relief and scolded herself inwardly for being so foolish.
"Don't worry, kid! I am here! Tell your aunt what happened? Did the big Eagle scared you?" she coaxed Shivi.
"No.." she said in a low voice with her head down.
"Then..?" Siya looked towards Eagle questionably. Eagle just shrugged, signaling her that he has no idea.
"I...Did you find me annoying as well? Huh, Fluffy Aunt?" Shivi had eye contact with Siya.
Siya frowned and asked her while stroking her hair, "What do you mean, kid?"
"Mr. Eagle said it's not my place to be here, and I am annoying. Do you think the same, aunty?" Shivi dropped her head. She doesn't want to face Siya telling her, 'Yes, it's not your place to be! You are destroying our peace!'
Siya got startled by her words. Eagle flinched at her thought as well. This entire time they both were thinking that maybe the kid got scared. Only now did they noted that the kid was scared for sure but not because of height. How naive are they to think that a child can adapt to a new home so suddenly? Of course, the kid lacks a sense of security. Been deserted by her own family once, she had fears of getting rejected again. Only now they saw the hidden worries behind this child's smiling face. They learned a new thing about this adorable child today,
that her greatest fear is being left ALONE.
After listening to her cries and looking at the terrified look on her face, Eagle regretted his words now. He regretted them so much that he felt like punching himself. Just because of his stupid pride, which doesn't allow him to let the child know that he cares about her, he broke the child's heart.
At this moment, he realized, in his heart, he cares for the child. But what is the point in accepting this now? This kid who made him smile every day is crying because of him today. He had no idea what to do now. So he just decided to leave, thinking that maybe, letting the kid alone with Siya will be able to calm her. There is no way that the kid will want to see him now. So he left silently.
Siya drowned in her thoughts, didn't notice Eagle leaving. Shivi's sobbings finally broke her stance. She meowed slowly and said,
"Kid, we had already accepted you since the day you asked to live with us. We never thought of you as an outsider after it. Eagle might have said some harsh words to you, but that's not what he actually thinks. He just wanted to hide his emotions from you! Don't mind him. He had always been like this hard at the outside, but soft from inside." She patted Shivi's back gently with her paws.
Shivi finally felt better, but she still has doubts, so she looked up at Siya and asked, " So do you mean you like me, aunty?"
"Yes! I like you very much, child!" Siya smiled at her.
"But you don't even remember my name, Fluffy aunt?"
"Huh?"
"You never called me Shivi or Shivanshi. You always call me like Kid! Hey, Kid! Oh, Kid! Child!" Shivi pouted lightly.
Looking at her adorable pout, Siya laughed, "Kiddo...sorry Shivi, I will call you Shivi from now on. Is this alright?"
Siya asked while rubbing and pinching Shivi's baby fat-filled cheeks playfully. She had learned in the time she spent with Shivi that human kids too liked to have love-filled skin contacts. And as she predicted, Shivi's mood lifted instantly by her touch. She nodded and beamed while burying her head in Siya's fur.
Days passed, Shivi had forgotten about that incident now. After being encouraged by her fluffy aunt, she had started living more freely now.
One day she was playing hide and seek with her little friends. It was her turn to find others in the game now, so she was roaming here and there, acting cautious, but because of the small sizes of her friends, they hid too well, and even after searching for few moments, she didn't manage to find anyone.
So she decided to look in another direction for them. She started walking in the opposite direction, looking for her friends in a burrow, behind the stones and bushes, hidden under the shades, etc. She didn't notice that she had taken the wrong way and entered the Crystal Spring Lands. When she finally did, she looked around to find herself in a totally different place.
She flinched, but when she saw clearly, she found herself in beautiful heaven. A way full of flowers with a warm spring on its center surrounded by a bed of flowers greeted her eyes. She stared at the view in awe. She felt enchanted by this breathtaking view. She started walking forward in a spell-bound state.
After few moments, she was standing in front of a wall. The wall had made up of big rocks, covered by creepers and beautiful vines. Shivi's mind went blank as if she was in a spell. She moved her hand forward to touch the wall when suddenly...