Chapter 254: A Bird Walked Into a Farm

Yara had been arranging the dried herbs on a makeshift woven rack when a shadow passed overhead.

She looked up and squinted before shock made her freeze.

A bird?

She had not seen birds since she was a child. Was this a good sign that other animal life was coming back?

However, when the bird became bigger, she grew even more confused.

It circled once, then descended sharply towards the farm.

Yara frowned, and her confusion instantly cleared the moment she realised that birds weren’t supposed to be that big.

A beast?

Yara set the herbs down and quickly made her way to the farm. The other remaining clan members noticed the newcomer, and they rushed there, leaving behind three beast folks to watch the cubs.

The male bird beast stood at the edge of the crop rows, dark feathers trailing down the backs of his arms and layering across his shoulders like a cloak that hadn’t fully committed to being one. His hair was white and windswept, while his wings were still half-open behind him, twitching in that restless way birds had when they weren’t sure whether they needed to take off again.

He was staring at the farm with confusion.

The Jackdaw Tribe farmed. They had done so for years, but he had never seen one this large, and there were different types of plants here.

He wondered what kind of beasts had figured this out. The tribes and clans that passed their route while migrating had all been surprised and baffled by the patch of land the Jackdaw tribe always had.

He looked up to see the beasts coming towards him, and they stopped when he walked to them instead. His attention drifted from them to the shelters behind.

Tervo’s wings folded tight. His initial surprise curdled into something dismissive and jealous.

They were living in actual shelters. That was unexpected. So their tribe hadn’t been the only ones to have proper roofs over their heads.

But his jealousy dwindled when he noticed the shelters were rough and haggard in a lot of places.

He smiled. The beasts who had built these had ambition, but not much skill.

And what kind of flimsy material was that?

Yara and the other five members stopped.

The bird male quickly eyed the beasts, and they all stared at him with expressions that ranged from wary curiosity to open suspicion.

"Who are you?"

One of the males frowned, offended. "Who are you?"

Yara chimed in, "Are you lost? If you need rest, we can offer you food and water."

The male was also offended. How dare they think he was lost? He wasn’t a helpless land beast like they were.

"I am not lost!"

His irritation only spiked when they didn’t look convinced. Even Yara was giving him a look of pity.

"I am an envoy!"

"A what?" Yara was confused.

The male’s eye twitched. "A representative. I speak for my tribe."

"Oh!" Yara nodded vigorously. "You should have just said that."

The others nodded too, and the male’s mood soured even further. Who were these idiots?

Tervo’s wings shifted in what might have been irritation, and he pressed on. "I am Tervo of the Jackdaw tribe. I need to speak with your leader. A massive storm flood destroyed our settlement some weeks ago, and my tribe has been wandering since. Your land looks fresh. We—"

Tervo stopped, his mind blank at the way the clan members had turned away from him and were whispering amongst themselves.

They hadn’t even let him finish talking.

Who were these ungracious beasts?!

However, the word "Jackdaw" made Tera’s clan members pause. A look of realisation appeared on two faces, while the other three, including Yara, were confused as to where they had heard that word from, until they all exchanged sharp glances.

Wasn’t that the tribe Tera had been exiled from?

They huddled together in an enclosed circle.

Whispers broke out instantly.

"Jackdaw," one of the males hissed to the other.

"Is that not—"

"It is!"

"They exiled her," one of the males hissed.

"I know!"

"And now they want shelter? From us?"

"We won’t give them anything until she returns!"

"Yes, I agree, but should we tell him—"

"Tell him what?!"

"That our leader is from—"

"Shh!"

"But—"

"SHH!"

Tervo watched this exchange with the growing confusion of someone who had come to deliver a formal announcement and was instead watching a group of beasts lose their collective minds over words he had not even completed.

"What are you all doing?" he snapped.

The whispering stopped. All heads turned to him.

Yara spoke first, "Our leader is not here at the moment. She will return soon, along with the rest of our clan. Maybe by the time you return with your tribe—"

"Your leader is not here?" Tervo’s head tilted. "You have beasts, cubs, and females left unguarded without your leader present?"

Even if most of the beasts went hunting, the leader was always meant to remain behind to oversee the tribe.

"We are not helpless," Yara huffed.

The others puffed up too. "We are not unguarded! Leader Tera left us to—"

The beast who had blurted out Tera’s name slapped his hand to his mouth, mortified at the slip-up.

A silence fell over the group that was distinctly different from the last one.

Tervo’s wings went still.

His eyes moved from face to face.

"Tera," he repeated, as if tasting the word. "You have a leader named Tera."

One of the males stepped forward, arms crossed, chin raised. "Just because our leader is shiftless does not mean she is not capable!"

Tervo’s eyes went wide.

At first, when they had mentioned Tera, he had thought it was a funny coincidence that their leader bore the same name as that shiftless troublemaker.

But it really was THAT Tera.

He could not believe this.

That disgrace was leading a clan?

That Tera?

These beasts were just as pitiful if they were letting someone like her lead them. No wonder they were so stupid.

"She’s your LEADER?!" he let out in a bark of laughter.

The clan members’ faces darkened.

Tervo slapped a hand over his mouth, but his shoulders were shaking. His wings trembled with the effort of holding back what was clearly building into something much worse.

"The—the shiftless one—" He pressed both hands over his face. A wheeze escaped. "—is your LEADER?!"

"Does it sound funny to you?" Yara’s voice had gone dangerously flat.

Her other clan members shot a look at her. Yes, it would sound funny to beasts who did not know her!

Tervo couldn’t answer. He had doubled over, one hand braced on his knee, the other still clamped over his mouth. His wings shook behind him like dark curtains in a wind.

He straightened up, tears forming at the corners of his eyes, and took a shuddering breath.

These beasts were beyond stupid.

He collapsed on his back and started kicking his legs up as he let out a full peal of laughter. The clan members thought he had gone deranged for a second.

"HEY!" Yara shouted, about to confront him when Tervo shot up into the air, still laughing.

He flew away, but the sound of his laughter drifted back down.

The others needed to hear this.