(PS I will no longer be trying to write accents)
"What do you mean 'what do you mean?' It means what about the avians on the other side? Your side?" Gilbert explained laughing nervously.
Alfred's heart dropped. "I've been the only one for over 243 years. Freedom and I have had the valley to ourselves," he told. Freedom further nuzzled into his neck. "I was raised alone, by Freedom," he finished, motioning to the bird.
"What? No no, there were others. We weren't exactly on good terms with them-"
"Which is why no one has attempted to go over the mountain," Mathew finished, fidgeting with his fingers.
Alfred carefully sat upright. "I'm not kidding guys. What other avians? I'm the only- I've been the only one there for as long as I can remember. Though I'm not too sure if my memory is very reliable, I'm kinda fuzzy up until around 243 years ago. I don't like thinking about it though because it makes me feel like shit,".
Mathew and Gilbert looked at each other carefully. "I'm going to get Arthur," Mathew muttered, turning 180 degrees.
"What?! Birdie hold on Arthur is such a buzzkill and so stuck-up! Don't get him!"
"Well, who do you suggest I get?"
"I don't know! Any other magic-user would do!"
Mathew sighed. "Gil, Arthur is the only one with the correct skillset in our near vicinity. You're going to have to deal with him,".
As the two bickered, Alfred focuses on trying to warm his body up more. He rolled his shoulders and wrists, hearing some popping from his shoulder blades. He rotated his neck a bit while biting onto his lower lip. "Who's Arthur?" He finally asked, the two looking back at him once more.
"One of Mathew's fathers. He's arrogant and annoying, and his cookies taste like shit!"
"Ah- Gil! Don't say that! He's okay when he needs to be," Mathew squeaked. "Hey don't listen to what he says about Arthur okay? I'll be back in a minute," He said as he walked towards the cave opening.
His wings opened to their full wingspan, the gorgeous colors catching the sun before he fell over the edge of the cavern. A moment later he shot back up into sight, speeding off.
"Ah! There he goes!" Gilbert turned back to Alfred.
"So...Why is he getting this 'Arthur' guy?" Alfred asked. He had begun to set himself up during the other two's conversation, and now he was sitting with his back facing the wall. His wings were spread out, drooping onto the modified ledge.
Gilbert had to admit, Alfred had some of the largest wings he had ever seen in his life. They had a lot of avians immigrate through the North to get to the West and to the East. Many had tried to cross the ridge, that was a given. And Gilbert was almost certain that Alfred was the first to succeed in at least 100 years. Even then, he had met or seen almost everyone that had entered the North, and yet. Alfred was at least up in the top 5 biggest wings that Gilbert had seen, right up there with his own brother and that Ivan guy.
"Yo? Are you good? You're spacing out," Alfred asked, rubbing the back of his neck. Freedom hopped onto Alfred's head, snuggling into his blonde locks.
"Hm? Oh! Keseseseseseses! Of course! I was just thinking of what awesome things I could say once Artie gets here! Also, Artie is a magic-user! He's also one of the oldest avians here, and we think maybe since you're here, he can somehow access some information on the South avians!"
"Right right. What do you mean by 'South avians' though?"
"Oh boy. Looks like the awesome me has some explaining to do!" Gilbert walked over, patting the younger's shoulder. "Not to worry, the awesome me will tell you everything you want to know! Keseseseseseses!"
Alfred nodded, shifting into a more comfortable position.
"Alright. So there are 4 distinct valley's that separate our home. There are the North, East, South, and West valleys. Each valley is separated by a large ridge. For some reason, the ridge separating the North from the South, and the ridge separating the East from the West, are the most dangerous to cross. The North Valley is the biggest valley, but we also don't get too many travelers because of how different the climates are. For instance, the North valley is the coldest, while the South valley is the warmest. Actually, I went to the South valley once! It was so awesome! Not as awesome as me of course but still pretty awesome! I-"
"Do you ever shut up?" Another voice interrupted Gilbert's ramblings. Alfred strained his head to view the owner of the voice.
A man wearing a plain but pleasing outfit stood at the cave opening. Raven wings with streaks and blots of white folded against his back. Mathew scratched the back of his neck, nervously smiling.
Alfred grinned. "Yo! You must be buzzkill dude!" Mathew's jaw dropped while Gilbert burst into laughter. "Kesesesese! You! Kesesesesese! You- May just almost be as- Kesesesese! Awesome as the awesome me!" Arthur marched over to Gilbert, smacking him on the back of the head. "Quiet you! What have you said about me to this boy?!"
"Kesesese! Only the truth, like how much your pastries suck ass!" Gilbert guffawed, thrown back into his laughing fit. "My pastries are fantastic! They're heavenly treats made by a professional chef! Right, Mathias?!" He yelled, looking back over to Mathew.
"Its Mathew..." The other whispered. The small polar bear from earlier waddled up to the blonde and pawed at his pant leg. Mathew picked up the small mammal, the bear cuddling into his thick coat.
"Yes yes, I'm sure. Now open your mouth lad and swallow this medicine," Arthur waved off, thrusting a bottle into Alfred's hands. Alfred looked down at the substance. "So...What exactly is this?"
"Tch. Just drink it Southerner. You should be thankful," Arthur growled, shoving the open bottle into Alfred's mouth. The other gagged, gulping down the fowl-tasting liquid before sputtering. "Oh- g-god that was just- Agh- so, fucking terrible!" He whined, scraping his tongue with his teeth.
Arthur scoffed, grabbing the glass bottle and shoving it in his bag. "Kesesesesese! Even the new guy agrees!" Gilbert snickered. The small yellow bird nestled in his hair chirped in agreement.
A sudden warmth spread throughout his body, and the hair on the back of his neck stood on edge. His feathers puffed out, startling Freedom from her spot and causing her to shuffle to the corner of the ledge. "Woah dude, what the fuck?"
"Be quiet. I'm adding the last couple things to this potion. You should be thankful I'm even willing to do this for a Southerner," he snarled.
"Woah chill bro! What did I do?" Alfred asked, raising his arms.
"Artie is still hung up on the Southern raids," Gilbert explained. Alfred cocked his head to the side. "Oh right! I was explaining about the different sides!"
"So the Southern valley is actually pretty small compared to the others, and the Avians on that side wanted more land, so they started to invade and tried to steal land from the other valleys to grow their area. The only problem was that the ridges made it difficult to cross, so the South Avians started to raid with these kite things, they'd glide through the pass to get to the other side, carried by the warm winds that would come from their home: But get this! They had no way of getting back other than by crossing through the West and East sections. Which also meant they'd need more resources! So they raided smaller villages for supplies, Arthur was staying at one of those villages with his family when, well..."
Gilbert grew quiet, turning to look back at Arthur and Mathew. Arthur has stopped grabbing things from his bag, and was still, while Mathew was looking down to the ground.
"They took Arthur's son, and Mathew's brother," Gilbert finished.
Alfred looked horrified. "They did what?! Dude that's so not cool! What was his name? Have you found him?"
"Tch- no we haven't found him. He didn't have a name. Avians get their names when they get their wings. He had not yet grown his wings yet, so he was unnamed," Arthur sneered was though it was obvious (it probably was, but Alfred wasn't one that had been introduced to avian etiquette).
He thrust a medium sized bottle with twine wrapped around its neck to Alfred. "Drink two teaspoons of this everyday for two weeks. Your memories should return to you by then," he explained whilst packing his things. "I'm going now. Francis is probably spending all our money on West Wine again," "Thanks you Arthur," Mathew nodded.
"Yes yes, it's whatever Mathenial," "It's Mathe- oh forget it," Arthur stepped off the ledge that led to the outside and flew away.
"Sooooo.... guess your staying with us for a bit!" Gilbert announced, posing. "That would be for the best, eh?" Mathew agreed.
Alfred smiles. "Haha! Thanks dudes!"
(WHEW. THAT TOOK MONTHS! There will be more chapters! I swear to you- but they will be SLOOOOOOOOOOW!"