Agathe relayed what Sasha had said about her fingers being covered
in berry juice and her not wanting to get his feathers dirty, and
he trilled again. "He said he would be fine with it and he
appreciates you taking the condition of his feathers into
consideration. Oh, Shaye, Sasha said that you are more than welcome
to ask for something in return." At this addition, Shaye chirped a
few times. "That's very nice of you." She turned her head towards
Sasha so she could "look" at her. "He said that he doesn't want
anything in return other than what you have already offered, and he
explained it as a kinship, though that's bird talk for friendship.
They just don't like how that sounds." She chuckled.
"Kineship sounds much closer and runs much deeper so I like the
sound of it too. I really like learning more about his culture and
animals in general. I kind of feel bad now. Like I came in and was
disrespecting them without even realizing it. If he ever needs
anything. I am more then happy to help anyway I can. Not out of
obligation but because I genuinely want to help," Sasha said,
checking over their berries. "I think we are good. Shall we head
back?"
"We can head back now." Agathe adjusted her grip on the basket with
the berries and Shaye flew above them to make sure they would head
in the right direction, but not too far ahead. As they walked she
repeated what Sasha had said, almost word for word. She smiled as
he cawed loudly and let out a series of trills and chittering
sounds. "He thanks you for your kindness, and he says that you
never offended him or his kind since you never really interacted
with them much, but now that you are, you're doing a rather good
job with the respect. Respect is a huge part of his culture if you
hadn't figured that out." She chuckled softly and stepped over a
root when Shaye called out warning her of it.
"I did catch onto that importance of respect. If more humans abided
by it and freely gave respect to those different, imagine how much
better things would be?" Sasha asked, sighing happily at the
imagines world. She helped navigate with Agathe and Shaye.
"That would be a truly wonderful world..." Agathe said with a smile
as she could just imagine walking down a street without fear of
being beaten, and she might even find work with people who need to
work alongside animals if only they'd set aside their ridiculous
notions of her being a witch.
Once back inside, Sasha washed the fruit before cutting up some for
their breakfast. Storing the rest, she then went to wash her hands
so she could feel Shaye's feathers.
Agathe followed Sasha and helped with whatever she could. Shaye
hung out on Agathe's shoulder and watched, thoroughly entertained
with the food preparations.
"Okay, I have laid things out so that you can pick whatever you'd
like to add to it," Sasha explained to Agathe. "I took the liberty
of filling our bowls with the oatmeal. There is sugar, brown sugar,
strawberries, peache slices, blue berries, apple slices, honey in a
bowl, and I put some bananas and oranges out. You would have to
peel them or I can show you how to peel them if you haven't before.
It is all laid out so you can try them to see what you like before
scooping more into your bowl. And to your left is a napkin.
Anything that doesn't suit your fancy, just put there. You are
experiencing stuff therefore there will probably be something you
don't like sometime. I hated peaches when I was younger but my mom
loved them. Now that I am older, I can't get enough." Sliding over,
Sasha placed a bowl down for Agathe, leaving it up to the woman to
do as she pleased. "I forgot to tell you there is a spoon on your
napkin right now. So feel free to use it if you'd like. Each bowl
has a spoon too. They are in a row in front of you. I am going to
touch Shaye's feather before taking my seat across from you."
Agathe nodded and let Shaye know that Sasha would like to touch his
feathers, and he moved to the back of a chair within reach of
Sasha. Agathe moved to the table and slid her hand along the
surface until she found the first bowl. The contortion of her face
was hilariously comical. She'd never had anything so sweet and
after the taste subsided a little she giggled. The next bowl caused
a similar reaction, but she was ready for it since it was called
pretty much the same thing, with the exception of a color in its
name. She smiled as she tried the various fruits and put a little
bit of each into her bowl. When it came to the honey, she didn't
try it and instead put a little into her bowl without hesitation.
"I think I'll leave the bananas and oranges since I don't know if
I'll like them and don't to waste them if I don't."
Sasha reached out, brushing her fingers over his feathers in a
light touch. She smiled, loving how soft and glossy they felt.
"Wow...having wings has to be super cool..." She said, awed.
"Shaye, you are amazing!" Slithering back around to her spot, she
settled down before spooning fruit, some brow sugar and honey into
her bowl. "So what do you think, Agathe? Which do you like and did
you try the honey? I might have missed that but I know I saw you
add it. That isn't a bad thing, I am just being nosy."
Shaye tilted his head back and then spread his wings and tail
feathers when Agathe repeated the praise Sasha had given him. He
made almost a purring sound, but much higher pitched, and this made
Agathe giggle. "He was saying that you are quite amazing as well,
and that yes, having wings is super cool." She took a bite of her
oatmeal before continuing. "I really love it, and I liked all of it
with the exception of the sugars... They're a bit too sweet for me.
The honey on the other hand is delicious and it's one of my
favorite things to eat when I could make friends with the clan that
owned the hive." She chuckled softly and took another couple bites.
"The bees. They are divided like clans, and often war with each
other if they get too close to one another." Agathe giggled as she
remembered something. "There was this one time that I actually
worked with a bear and a clan of bees so that we could all share
the honey. It took a little time, but it was so worth it. The bees
got the protection of the bear, who got a share of honey and
wouldn't get stung, I got some honey from the bees, and the bear
took me fishing later that day. That was a good day." She smiled as
she took another bite of breakfast.
Sasha shook her head, awe'd by the life Agathe had with her ability
to talk with animals. "That sounds positively amazing...I would
love to experience the world the way you do. It just sounds so
exciting!"
"It was amazing. Though I can sort of give you a walk in my shoes,
or rather lack thereof, for a day if you wanted. Like we'd go out
into the forest beyond the temple and we'd live with the animals,
again, if you want to." Agathe had grown a little more serious with
that comment. "I mean, we could always get back to the temple, but
it'd be sort of like what I went through... On a smaller and safer
scale of course."
Sasha's eyes lit up Ana she nodded her head as Agathe explained.
"Yes! Oh please, yes! That sounds so fun!!!" She exclaimed. "Should
we do that today?"
"I think we could do that today. No reason why not." Agathe turned
her head over towards Shaye. "Would you like to come with us for
that?" Shaye cawed and ruffled his feathers. "Okay. Whenever you
need to." She looked back to Sasha. "He said he might have to come
back to meet with some other hawks, but other than that he'll stay
with us."
"Are hawks run in a sort of military style?" Sasha asked, Shaye and
his idealologies feeling sort of like a general in an army to her
from what she had read in books. "And sweet! I am really excited!"
Agathe shrugged and nodded. "I suppose that's a decent
comparison... They meet up with the rest of their group and discuss
things, but most of the time they go out for thermal hunting and
work on their glide time. Each group has their own territory and
sometimes things get pretty heated if someone strays... Does that
sound about right Shaye?" The hawk chirped a reply and Agathe
nodded and then chuckled at Sasha's excitement.