My Little Bird | Blue Eyes (Under minor grammatical editing)

Chapter 22

Blue Eyes had just finished skinning a buck caught by a few other young hunters when his uncle Luca approached.

"Go to your home. Queen Cornelia wishes to see you." The large gorilla signed.

Blue Eyes grunted. He thought this was a bit strange, his mother would normally have her hands full with his younger brother around this time, but he didn't think too much of it. He bid goodbye to his uncle and his peers before making his way through the village to his Home Tree. When he climbed the spiral staircase that wound around the tree's massive trunk, he caught a whiff of Rain's scent. She had been here not too long ago, and now he wanted to go look for her, but he knew he couldn't.

He had to fight to keep the smile off his face at the thought of her. He felt like the luckiest chimp in the forest. Rain was his everything, she was the air he breathed and the strength that threw his spear. She was his little bird. She was his. Blue Eyes huffed to himself, trying to push the thoughts away. His mother would definitely question it if he just showed up smiling like an idiot. He wrangled his emotions down and battened down the hatches of his emotional mask, sealing his thoughts in and to the back of his mind. When he reached his penthouse home, he looked around for Cornelia.

At first he couldn't spot her, but then she turned around and he seen her in the back, fixing one of the flower nets hanging from their ceiling. Her fur had made her blend in very well, but once she turned, Blue Eyes easily found his mother. She smiled in welcome and beckoned him to come closer.

"Uncle Luca said you wanted to see me?" He asked as he moved to light a few of the lanterns built into the walls.

She nodded. "I don't get to see you as often anymore. Not like when you were younger. You're growing up so quickly." An air of nostalgia drifted around her.

"Where's Haze?" He asked, noticing his brother wasn't present.

"Out playing." She answered, turning toward the back of the room. "Come play chess." She signed, gesturing to their little table and chessboard.

He sat down and helped Cornelia arrange the pieces neatly before letting her have the first move. He admitted he did sometimes find himself missing the days when he would stay by her side and go to his uncle Maurice's lessons, but if he had the chance to go back in time he wouldn't. He had grown and now it was his little brother's turn to learn under the safety of his mother's wing.

He moved one of his pawns a space forward. The game went on silently for about a minute before Cornelia sparked a conversation again.

"Rain has come a long way, don't you think?" She signed.

He glanced at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," she said. "She's much like we were when your father freed us. Scared and uncertain. Now look at her. Happy and confident."

He nodded. "I suppose she has."

He thought about it for a moment, comparing the girl from when she first arrived to now. At first she had been timid and he thought it had been obvious she had been doing her best not to offend anyone, but he soon found she just had really good manners. When he compared her current state, his thoughts went to this morning's confidence when she had gotten her dress back from him. Blue Eyes had to quickly divert away from where that thought train was taking him. He couldn't handle thoughts like that when he was sitting across from his mother.

"She has improved a lot." He nodded in agreement.

"I think you can thank yourself for that." Cornelia smiled. "You had a lot to do with it."