297. Colours of earth, 3

(Rose)

We keep heading north, following a road or another between dried or partially buried cities.

I carry a log onto my backpack, on which stands Ana. I can't hold such a heavy bird on a single arm. And its talons were too painful for my shoulders when I tried to hold her directly like that. It's really heavy though since I had the weight of the log to what equipment I carry along with Ana.

Until Bleue would eventually manage to craft leather and rubber covers for my shoulders, I wouldn't be able to discard the log. I walk a little heavily meanwhile, still with a bird towering above my head.

R - Why do I have to carry your bird?

B - Because you're the most gentle rose in the world. And I'm still a little weak, cough cough.

She does still look pale. The bird above my head looks alright however. When I raise my head to look up, Ana looks down toward me and our gaze meet.

What does a bird think of this situation?

Sometimes she rests her head and neck on top of mine, or rubs them against me like a cat or dog would.

Aside that, it's simply a big bird.

It's curious about everything but never tries to fly away, nor to walk. It doesn't cry even. Though it opens its beak to signify it's hungry.

Wrapping a blanket around her arm, Bleue managed to have it fly to her, with a piece of fresh meat as bait.

Ana did fly to her, grabbing the food, and trying to land on her arm. The later part was less of a success. Ana pushed Bleue down with her weight and momentum, finally settling on the arm when it was resting on the ground.

It's really not ideal.

During the evening, as we camp around a small fire, Bleue tries to teach Ana a few words. She believes crows can speak for some reason. Maybe a tale she heard from our father in a different time.

The land at twilight is of deep maroons, burnt orange and dark greens.

I daydream looking at their play.

We're running out of meat. If it was just us I wouldn't mind, but with a new large beak to feed as well, we have to hunt even more.

So I go to sleep early, listening to Bleue trying to teach Ana to speak.

And at dawn the next day, I let Bleue sleep, pick up bow and rifle and go away to hunt.

Someday Ana will help, but it will take some time.

I don't find any mammal to hunt this morning. I do find a river and a collapsed city in what became a swamp. There must be some animals in there. I wait over the edge of a collapsed building, above the water. The water is clear.

The algaes and moss covering every sunken surface are soft greens. They enjoy a lot of sunlight.

I see small fishes here and there. I could fish them perhaps? They would be hard to get with just a bow however.

After an hour or so, as I lie there motionless and observing them, I see something unusual.

The fishes vanish in a hurry.

I see a shark coming through, silently, without disturbing the water. It's a small one, not the full grown sea wolf. A river shark maybe? It's longer, slim, with grey and malachite green spots, like the fur of leopards for the pattern.

I pull the string of my bow. It keeps swimming around, gobbling the small fishes when it has the chance.

I've had time and occasions to train as well.

My arrow hits, pierces, and gets stuck in the ground below.

The small shark tries desperately to escape, but it doesn't manage to break the thin wire.

It only mixes the water with mud and blood as it painfully tries to flee. It's a painful death, I can't avoid that.

When it ceases thrashing around and tries to save its remaining energy instead, I pull the rifle out and put it down more cleanly.

The noise made a few wide birds fly away. I guess they were fishing around here as well.

~

Bleue sees me return carrying an animal that has no legs, but fins. She looks amazed. I went to hunt inland, and I returned with a shark. That's no small feat.

B - Was it a land shark? Or a sky fish? You didn't kill a mermaid did you?

R - Nothing that amazing. A few kilometres from here a city has collapsed in a river, making a kind of large mangrove with the buildings. Many things swim there. Although, look at the teeth.

B - These really are shark teeth... I didn't know they could live in soft water.

R - Neither did I. Some species can nowadays henceforward. Let's hope Ana likes it.

Ana loves it. She's willing to fly dozens of metres to grab a piece of it.

~

We slowly travel to the sunken river city, by making Ana exercise her flight as much as possible.

Along the flying tree, we're drying pieces of the fish or shark, to keep hopefully a few weeks.

Bleue attempted to make leather out of its skin, but it was too difficult. It didn't work.

B - It's probably possible but I would need more tools and time in the same place.

R - So I have to keep carrying that log...

B - Thank you Rose. Say thank you Ana!

A - Hyaa.

R - Not too bad for her first words.

We reach the city where many things swim around. Bleue loves the sight.

B - It's like Venezia!

R - I didn't think of it. It's true in a way.

Except there is no boat to be found around, nor bridges. It's a sunken and flooded city over a few metres of depth.

We make camp in one of the largest buildings, accessible on foot from the edge of the swamp.

From its rooftop, we have a nice sight of the area. Mostly dry land with warm earth tones. But there, the river line suddenly spreads in a thousand streets, forming a wide pool surrounding this city scape.

We decided to settle there for a while.

Over the next few days and some, we set many fishing lines and nests.

And more importantly, we train Ana, from one rooftop to another.

One of us holds her somewhere, the other one baits her from further and further away.

It also nicely adds the third dimension of space to her flights. From the top of skyscrapers to the two stories building barely emerging from the water level, and vice versa.

We make Ana dive into the sky and climb in it. We can see it is challenging for her at first. She gets better fast. And Ana also improves her way of landing onto Bleue's shoulders without pushing her down.

To Bleue's regret, Ana still doesn't speak, but I think it's alright.

~