BEYOND 3A: BloodRed and ScaleBlack

The Forty-First Feather: Blue Birds and Red Birds

The following day, Corna was still on Jake's fur-covered body with her eyes closed, since she had to go through another sleepless night. The entire night, she kept twisting and turning, plagued by painful anxiety and dread. The sun hadn't risen yet and yet Corna couldn't stomach the agony swirling in her core, so she got up, eyes barely open, and went to the kitchen to eat some bread.

She turned on the lights and opened their breadbox which was like a fake treasure chest containing only one rusty coin. But in this case, it was a single, hard as a rock, slice of plain bread. She picked it up and stared at it blankly, pondering to herself where it all went wrong and why the best bread she had excess to at the time was the equivalent of a brick.

Suddenly, she heard a revving sound coming from behind her, where the entrance was. Corna slowly turned around, eyes wider than a dinner plate, and saw Meggie standing there with an overly-joyous, yet vacant expression and a blender in hand. Corna muttered: "O-oh, it's just you... Meggie..." but she received no response, instead Meggie turned the blender on and off again, as if it was a threatening gesture. Corna focused her eyes a little more and finally noticed the blender. Her expression then dramatically switched from simple confusion to utter fear as Meggie stepped closer every passing second. Meggie kept walking toward the cornered Corna until she was only one step away from her. With nowhere to run, Corna asked, panic stuttering her voice: "W-What do you want from me?"

And surprisingly, she received a response: "Oh. You're awake."

Corna: "...Y-yeah... I was just about to go back-"

"I messed up." She interrupted, immediately turning around and going to another room with the blender. Corna, now more unsettled than ever, hurriedly went back upstairs and crawled tightly behind Jake away from the door.

Some time passed, and the sky finally became blue. The red girl opened her eyes after another miserable night, only to be immediately jumpscared by Meggie, who was bending down and waiting for her to wake her while her face was an inch away from hers. Corna sat up, her heart beating rapidly, and exclaimed: "AAAAAAH! Jesus Christ!"

Meggie: "Jesus Christ? No, I'm Meggie!"

Corna: "Sigh... Okay, she's not holding a blender...Yeah, I know who you are."

Meggie: "Whatchu doin' in my room?"

Corna: "Your room? I thought this was Pitch's room."

Meggie: "My room."

Corna: "Alright. Do you know where he went?"

Meggie: "Baseball. Big game today. Family's gone, too."

Corna: "I should've guessed. Hey, Jake, wake up wake up wake up!"

Jake: "Hrm...(Morning already... Morning, Corna...)"

Meggie: "Hello, doggy!"

Jake: "Woof. (Good morning, Meggie, I'm glad you are in good health.)"

Meggie: "Thank you!"

Corna: "Huh? You can... Oh, right, you can read his mind, too. I forgot."

After a brief moment of silence, Meggie's expression changed into that of concern and said: "Bird girl."

Corna: "Yeah?"

Meggie: "Talk to me."

Corna: "Uhh, what?"

Meggie: "Taaaaaalk tooooo meeeeeee!"

Corna: "I heard you, I just don't get what you mean!"

Meggie: "I read your mind..."

Corna: "Oh. Are you trying to cheer me up? Thanks, but you really don't have to."