Three days later, I felt like a new person. So much better. Spending so much time sleeping in bed made me feel like I could start growing mushrooms soon.
Shigure had gone out, but he told me I was still on leave, so I went to the gym to do some exercise and get some practice in. After so many days of lying in bed, I was out of shape. Just an hour or so of exercise and self-defence practice and I was exhausted.
Ok. After looking at the clock, it was closer to two hours.
I took a slow shower and then stood at the office window to look outside. A bird was calling an alarm nonstop. Downstairs, Shigure and Homeward were standing beneath a tree. The tree had a crooked nest with a little blue speckled egg in it. The bird flittered about, scolding the two men.
The more I listened, the more I understood what the bird was saying. They weren't words as such, but more concepts.
Opening the window, I leaned out to see if I could communicate with the bird through the same sort of channel that Homeward and the giants tended to use. Shigure wasn't so sensitive to this style of speech although from what I could tell, he could detect and understand part of it when he concentrated.
The bird jumped up as if startled, looking around until it saw me. And then it flew into a panic.
*"What to do? What to do? My egg, my nest, danger! What to do?"*
I did my best to tell the bird there was no danger and that we could help straighten or relocate the nest so there was no risk of it falling down.
The two men below looked up at me with curiosity and small smiles. They must have heard my voice and felt my attempts to communicate on that other wavelength channel.
My message was definitely not getting across to the bird.
"Uki-chan, what are you doing?" Shigure asked.
"Trying to talk to the bird and reassure it," I pointed at the nest.
"Ah. No wonder the bird was so upset," Shigure said and tilted his head at Homeward. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Wasn't paying attention," Homeward shrugged.
"Can you tell what the bird is saying?" Shigure asked me, mentally having a look at the communication channel I had established with the bird through his link with me.
"My egg. My nest. Danger. Go away. What to do? Go away," I interpreted. "Something like that."
"Uki-chan, may I carry Homestead through our link to have a look and see if he can help?" Shigure asked. He had a cheerful expression. The sort of look he got when he had something new and interesting he wanted to examine or research.
"Uh," I scratched my head. "Sure."
Mentally, I felt Shigure pull Homestead along into our shared channel and then carry him to the tentative new communication channel I had established with the bird. With my permission, Homestead sent a greeting and the bird startled, almost falling off the branch it had been hopping up and down on.
I couldn't understand what Homestead said exactly, but I felt him send reassurance to the bird and an offer. Listening, I felt like I was still learning a new language.
The bird tilted its head and refused bluntly. A few more exchanges and then it agreed. With a jump and a bit of climbing, Homestead reached the forked branch where the nest had been built with ease, frightening the bird even more.
I heard the bird stutter.
*"Two legged monster! You - you - you - you - you... Monster!"*
"I am the one who has been talking to you just now," Homeward pointed at me, speaking both audibly and through the channel in my head, "through this girl. She can somewhat understand you and I'm borrowing her to speak with you so that she can learn and you can hear my intentions more clearly. Also so that I can better understand what you are saying."
*"What - what - what - what - what?"* the bird became flustered. It didn't seem to understand all that Homeward had said.
"I'll hold the nest straight," Homeward said, simplifying everything. "You strengthen it."
Shigure was already searching the nearby grounds for some suitable nesting materials. I offered some of my hair and paper strips.
The bird's eyes lit up and through me, told Homeward what to do.
"Higher. Lower. Higher, higher. No. Lower a little. Make it straight. Not straight. Not straight."
I sent a picture of a buttress to provide the nest extra support and keep it even. The bird glanced at me with surprise.
*"Good, good,"* it chattered at me.
So mental pictures worked better than thoughts and emotions for me.
Homeward was very patient, but after a while, the communication channel with the bird began to flicker. The bird tilted its head in confusion. Shigure and Homeward's heads both snapped over to look at me with concern.
"Stop leaning through the window, Uki-chan," Shigure called out to me, running away. Why was he running away? "Quickly sit down."
Stop leaning through the window? Sit down? Why?
Even though I didn't understand what was going on, I obediently began to withdraw from the window. My eyes went wide when I saw Shigure come running back and with a few jumps and leaps, climb the tree and jump from the tree to the side of the building. I didn't even see what he was holding onto or how he was climbing, because my vision suddenly began to crowd in and go dark.
To prevent myself from falling far, I sat on the floor, just in time to see Shigure slide through the open window, roll and then catch my head to gently lower me to the floor. That was when the tiredness and exhaustion hit me.
I didn't know why I was so tired. I hadn't done anything yet. Hardly anything at all.
"You've done plenty, today. I've got you, Uki-chan," Shigure smiled at me. "You can go to sleep now."
The last thing I saw was Homeward rolling in from the window as well to check on me.