The result of the last voting round was a bit peculiar this time around, since the two most popular vote options weren't mutually exclusive. In fact you could say that the winning vote could serve as a precursor to the second-place vote. Which is how I decided to roll with it. I'll be using the winning vote for the material it covers, then continue on from there with the suggestions of the second vote where applicable.
I hope that doesn't feel like a cop out. >.<"
You blink owlishly as you stare at the empty space above the nest. In your long career as a Magical Girl, you've seen many strange and even disturbing things, but even for someone with your experience an invisible girl sitting in a nest made out of your own pillows who demands you give her even more of your stuff is a new one. Not the strangest thing you've been witness to, no, but certainly
new, and you're not sure how to proceed.
The voice didn't sound threatening, nor do you feel like you're in any danger, but it's difficult to shake off years of combat instincts urging you to stay wary and remain on your guard at all times. After all, the last time you underestimated an opponent, you paid dearly for it, as the scar marring your neck can attest.
On the other hand, jumping to conclusions and assuming ill intent when the other party hasn't done anything to harm you yet is no good, either. Even more so when you consider that if the invisible person had
wanted to hurt you, they had ample opportunity to do so before, since you weren't even privy to their presence until they made it known by speaking to you. They could have struck you down with you being none the wiser as to where the attack came from, but opted instead to communicate.
It seems only proper manners to at least respond in kind before doing anything else.
With your hands folded protectively in front of your chest, you take your best guess and look at where you
think the invisible girl's face is. You clear your throat and try to appear as unthreatening as possible.
"Hello?"
You receive no words in reply, only a soft warble that sounds mildly curious. At least, you think it does, but your proficiency in interpreting bird noises is admittedly rather underdeveloped. Still, your invisible visitor didn't attack in response to your inquiry, at least, which you take as a positive sign.
You try again.
"Uhm, I know you're there," you say, carefully keeping the tone of your voice warm and inviting. You offer your unseen guest a small smile, but the effect of that is lessened somewhat when you have only a rough guess of where to aim it at. "Won't you show yourself? It will be easier to talk that way."
This time, you don't have to wait for a reply.
"No, no, not show," the voice squawks. "Mama bird says hide. I hide. You give warm, yes?"
Hearing the girl speak again confirms your earlier suspicion that you are dealing with a child; either that or someone who is creepily good at imitating the voice of one. You're not sure what to make of the 'bird' comment, but the reference to a mother piques your interest.
"Is your mother here now?"
You hear something shuffle in the nest.
"Too much ask, no, no, too much," the invisible girl replies. "Want soft, want warm, not ask!"
By now the conversation is starting to remind you of some you had with your own mother when you were little, only now you find yourself in the role of your mother with the invisible girl having taken your place as the petulant, needy child. This is definitely not what you expected when you found your living room ransacked, but you're not going to complain too much, since the alternative would've been much less pleasant.
Still, that doesn't mean you're going to let her walk all over you.
"It's not nice to demand more of people after you've already broken into their home and taken their things for yourself without asking, you know," you say, putting your hands on your hips in your best imitation of your mother when she scolded you. "The least you could do after wrecking my living room is to answer my questions."
The shuffling noise from before returns, giving you the impression that your guest is wringing her hands together nervously and shifting in place the same way you do when you feel uncomfortable. It's hard to know for sure without being able to see her, however.
"Curly lady… angry?" the girl asks, her peppy voice from before now uncertain and worried.
You shake your head and dial the sternness back a notch; you want her to understand that you're serious about getting answers, not make her cry. You drop your hands from your hips and crouch down at the edge of the nest, hoping to make yourself look more inviting and less threatening. You give a small smile in what you guess is the direction of her face.
"Not angry, no," you answer. "But when someone enters my home without my knowing to make a nest with my pillows, I want to know who they are and why they did it. Wouldn't you want the same if someone started living in your nest unannounced?"
Though you can't see her, the fact that she doesn't immediately respond gives you the idea that she's considering what you said, or at least thinking about it.
"... Mama bird say, not all two legs safe," she replies eventually, her words accompanied by a sad squawk. "I ask warm, they give, they safe, yes? You give me soft, I give trust? You have trust, you give me ask, yes?"
Her persistence in getting something from you is certainly admirable, but on the other hand you can kind of see where she's coming from. If she really is a child like you think she is, it'd make sense that she'd want to know you're at least somewhat trustworthy before spilling everything to what is to her a complete stranger. Granted, you personally don't think your willingness to give her stuff is a good indicator of your trustworthiness, but again, your invisible guest obviously has the mentality of a child.
With a good-natured sigh, you rise back to your feet.
"Very well then," you concede, though you make sure not to sound too bothered by it. "I will give you 'warm and soft', but then in return I do expect you to talk to me, alright?"
A series of eager squawks rises up from the seemingly empty nest.
"Yes, yes," the girl says. "I get soft, I give talk. Promise!"
You nod, then turn around and head to your bedroom. Upon finding it as untouched and not-ransacked as you left it this afternoon, you let out a quiet sigh of relief and thank your past self for remembering to close the door. You do not want to know what an invisible girl who is most likely a talking crow with a hoarding instinct for all things warm and soft would have done to your bed or to your wardrobe.
Crossing your arms, you let your gaze drift around the room to look for something that both makes for an acceptable gift
and is something you won't mind missing. Your first thought is to fetch one of your wooly sweaters, as those would definitely fit both criteria laid out to you, but reconsider when you remember that with your neck now looking as it does you will need all clothes that can cover it for yourself.
Plus they're rather expensive. Not to be stingy or anything, but since you are looking for something to give to a complete stranger you'd rather it'd be something cheaper and more easily replaced.
Your eye falls on a shelf upon which sits your collection of stuffed animals. One of those would serve just as well as one of your sweaters and be more easily missed, too. Nodding to yourself, you go over the assortment of plushy toys and eventually settle for a small, hand-sized one of Hello Kitty. It's soft, huggable and even holding a big pink heart with the word 'love' embroidered on it.
Perfect.
Satisfied with your choice, you pluck the toy from the shelf and return to the living room, while making sure to close the door behind you as you leave. Not that you expect your unseen guest to try anything sneaky now that you're home, but it never hurts to play it safe. One ransacked room is enough, thank you very much.
As you arrive back at the nest, the excited squawking and the flapping of invisible wings informs you that the little girl has spotted your gift and approves of your choice. You smile as you crouch down and hold out the Hello Kitty plush toy, offering it to her.
"Is this acceptable?" you ask kindly.
In a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, Hello Kitty gets plucked from your hands into the empty air above the nest.
"Yes! Yes! This, warm! Soft!" she squawks excitedly, the way indents appear on the toy suggesting she's hugging it tightly to herself. Soft cooing noises are made while the plush animal sways gently back and forth in the air. "So soft…"
You can't help but smile at the, well, not at the sight, but at the sounds that imply an adorable sight. Still, touching as it is, you did make a deal and now that you've fulfilled your end of it, you'd like her to do the same.
"So, will you talk to me now?" you ask.
Hello Kitty stops swaying in the air and gets lowered until it's just a couple of inches above the bottom of the nest.
"Yes, I promise, you give warm I give talk," the girl replies. "I have warm, now you can give ask, yes! Oh, but first…" There's the sound of shuffling as Hello Kitty is put down and some pillows get moved around, then suddenly she retrieves another item she
somehow kept in the nest
somewhere and is now holding it out for you. "... you take shiny, yes?"
You blink and tilt your head in confusion.
"That's… very kind of you, but you don't have to give me anything in return for the toy," you say kindly. "You answering some of my questions is more than enough."
The invisible girl lets out a short squawk of protest. "No, no, that not how it work," she insists. "Two legs give warm and soft, I give shiny, that how it done."
You absorb that little tidbit of information with interest, since it implies that your invisible guest has lived amongst people before, or is at least familiar enough with them to figure out she could get things from them through trade. It certainly makes her insistence on you giving her stuff make more sense; it's simply the way she's used to interacting with people with. In which case it'd probably make things more complicated if you refuse.
"Very well," you say, before gingerly taking the offered item and giving it a quick lookover in your hands.
It's about what you expect a talking crow would offer up in trade, really; just a plain, normal rock. It's about the size of the palm of your hand, just a bit lighter than you expected it to be and feels slightly warm in your hand. When you turn it over, you discover that the other side has been worked on, with someone having carved out an image of what looks to be
a western dragon with impressive detail for such a small stone.
It's not the kind of art or subject that you prefer, nor something you'd normally trade one of your stuffed animals for, but you have to admit it'll probably look nice put on a shelf around the house somewhere. Definitely more tasteful and arguably valuable an item than you expected to get from a talking bird child.
Not to be rude, you just didn't expect a crow to have more to offer in trade than discarded feathers or some small pebbles.
You put the stone away for now and then bow politely towards the nest.
"Thank you, I'll make sure to treasure this," you promise with a smile, earning you what you think is a pleased or satisfied coo from the girl. "Now, let's talk, yes?"
The unseen bird makes an agreeing noise. "Yes, yes, you give ask, I give talk."
You take a chair and place it down facing the nest, since the coming conversation might take a while and you'd kill your knees and feet if you spent the entire time crouching. You sit down and smooth out your skirt, then open your mouth to start questioning her, but stop when confronted with the sight of the empty nest and the floating Hello Kitty toy.
"Ah, actually, before we begin, could you show yourself?" you ask. "It… It's kind of unsettling talking to empty air."
The invisible girl lets out a low crow. "Mama bird told me not let two legs see me," she says hesitatingly. "But me promise give talk if curly lady give soft. Curly lady gave soft, but can not give ask unless see me?"
"Well, I could, if you really don't want to," you reply. "But I would prefer being able to talk to you face to face if at all possible. It's more polite and easier that way, you understand?"
There's a brief silence as the girl thinks over what you said. At least, that's what you assume she's doing, you have no way of telling, really.
"I show me to curly lady," she announces after a while. "But… You no tell mama bird, yes?"
You can't help but smile at that. "My lips are sealed," you promise solemnly, hand on your heart.
You've never encountered an invisible girl who might actually be a talking crow before, so you're not certain what to expect from your guest revealing herself to you. Even with this in mind, however, you're still caught off guard when suddenly, without any ceremony or warning, a small figure just pops into existence in the nest. It's only your honed instincts as a Magical Girl that keep you from leaping off your chair in surprise.
Even more surprising than the suddenness with which she made herself visible is the girl's actual physical appearance. This entire time, you've been wondering if you were dealing with a child or an actual talking bird, but as it turns out, it's actually a bit of both.
The majority of her body is that of a human child, roughly around the age of ten by your estimation, but her legs from the thighs down are covered in scales and end in bird feet and she has black feathered wings instead of arms. You can also see what you think are tail feathers poking out from above her butt, roughly at the spot where the human tailbone would end. Her head is covered in a mop of soot black hair that matches her feathers, while you think you can spot the glint of little fangs in her mouth. She's dressed in a ragged top and what could generously be called a skirt, both looking so tattered you're afraid they'll fall apart if you so much as breathe at them.
The child clutches the Hello Kitty toy to her chest with one of her wings, while staring at you with a pair of big and wide blue eyes filled with undisguised curiosity and a twinge of apprehension. When you don't immediately say anything, she tilts her head in the most adorable of fashions and blinks at you.
"Curly lady not good?" she asks. "Not talk, only look. I show me, me not look good?" She actually looks a bit nervous and self-conscious at that last question and folds her other wing in front of herself.
You snap out of your surprise at her appearance and shake your head.
"No, no, you're absolutely fine," you quickly assure her, already feeling like a heel for making something so adorable worry. You give her an apologetic smile. "Forgive me, I didn't mean to stare. I was just surprised, since I don't think I've seen someone like you before."
Still, surprised or not, you realise that's no excuse for being rude.
"I'm sorry, I'm making a mess of things. Let me start over properly," you apologise, before clearing your throat and giving a polite bow. "Hello, pleased to meet you. My name's Tomoe Mami, what's yours?"
The girl perks up excitedly.
"Snuggly!" she chirps, her free wing raised. "Snuggly the Crow!"
You blink at her in surprise. "I… I see," you murmur. "Did your mother give you that name?"
Snuggly shakes her head. "No, no, birds not need words," she explains. "Not like two legs. Kind lady came, she gave me warm, gave me soft. She needed word, she say she call me Snuggly. I like word, it warm and soft, like warm and softs she gave me. So I take word, make easy for kind lady and now make easy for curly lady, too!"
You nod in understanding. So she got that name from someone else, presumably another human. Makes sense enough and at least you can stop referring to her as 'invisible bird girl' in your mind now.
"You mentioned your mother before," you begin, moving on to the next topic. "Is she here with you?"
She shakes her head again. "No, no, not see mama bird since fall asleep," she replies. "I wake up, only me in two leg cave. No mama bird."
That raises several more questions, but one thing at a time. "You were moved here while you were sleeping? Do you remember where you were before that?"
Snuggly frowns in thought and taps her chin with her free wing. "I not know two leg word for place. Mama bird made nest near two leg cave on big rock with white cold, but two leg cave not good, broken," she says slowly, rubbing the side of her head with her wing as she struggles to dig deeper into her memory. "Two leg cave have many screams. Sometimes two leg came from cave, mama bird chase away if come close to nest."
You have no idea what kind of building she could be referring to based on her broken description, though her comment of it being 'broken' suggest a ruin of sorts. You suspect it might have been situated on a mountain top, if the words 'big rock' and 'white cold' mean what you think they do. If so, if Snuggly's nest was high up enough for there to be constant snow, you wonder how she survived when wearing nothing but those rags. You doubt her wings alone would be enough to keep her warm…
Something to figure out later, you suppose; for now there are more pressing mysteries to be solved than that one.
"Do you know how you got here?"
Another shake of her head. "No, no, not know."
You see no reason for her to lie. "Well, maybe we can figure it out together, hmm?" you say, your voice kind and a warm smile on your face. "Can you tell me the last thing you remember before you fell asleep and woke up here?"
Snuggly clutches her new Hello Kitty toy to her chest with both wings, while staring up at the ceiling in thought. She lets out a soft, low chirping, which you suspect is her equivalent of humming.
"One day, kind lady came from cave," she begins slowly. "Kind lady different. Not hollow. Not bad, no, no. Mama bird pick up kind lady, fly away. Not know where. Mama bird stay away for long time. Sometimes, come back with kind lady. Kind lady nice, gave me soft and warm and a word." Her face perks up at the memory. "Then, kind lady and mama bird not come back. Stay away. I good, I wait."
Hearing this, you feel a sinking sensation in your stomach, as you begin to suspect where things are going.
"I wait more, but mama bird still not back. I alone, keep waiting in nest. Then, sky grows black, nest grow cold. I get cold too, but I good, I wait for mama bird to come back." Snuggly's hugging her stuffed animal tighter to her chest; the happy expression on her face from before has vanished completely. "Everything cold. Cold make me sleepy. Try to stay awake, wait for mama bird, but too cold. So I sleep, know mama bird will wake when get back."
You swallow the lump stuck in your dry throat. Does she not realise the implications behind what she's telling you?
"W-what happened next? Do you remember?" you ask, your voice trembling.
She tilts her head curiously as she ponders it over. "I sleep. In sleep, I have dream. Was nice, dream of warm and soft, of place under mama bird wing." She smiles again at the memory. "Then, hear call. Hear ask if I want wake up. I want; sleep is nice, but sleep long enough. Two leg lady come in dream, give talk."
She doesn't, you realise, confirming your sorrowful suspicions. The poor girl d-
died and doesn't even realise she did, merely thinks she fell asleep. Why? Is it due to the fact that she's a bird, lacking the mental faculties to understand, or because she is still a child? If so, should you envy her or weep for her innocence?
Your heart aches regardless and you can feel tears threatening to spill forth in the corner of your eyes. However, despite how sad and horrifying this revelation is in its own right, it has also provided you with a strong hint as to the girl's origin and the reason for her appearance in your apartment. Fortunately, there's an easy way to confirm your suspicions.
"This woman you saw," you begin, doing your best to keep your voice steady despite how emotional you feel. "C-could you describe her?"
Snuggly nods and after an affirmative squawk gives a description that sounds exactly like the Firekeeper, proving that what you suspect is true. She is not, as you previously thought, the result of someone's wish or a Magical Girl's magic, but the spark you lifted from the Flame with your own hands, reborn in this world.
"Two leg lady give talk, sound very kind," Snuggly continues, unaware of your own inner musings. "That problem, because I already have kind lady, cannot give same word. But new two legs smell like smoke, so I give new two legs word fire lady!"
She looks so proud for having thought of that herself, too; you'd no doubt be fawning all over it if you weren't still reeling from all the revelations you've just been hit around the ears with.
"What exactly did the fire lady tell you?" you ask, after taking a moment to compose yourself.
Snuggly's expression saddens and she bows her head, staring forlornly at her Hello Kitty toy, which she clutches tightly to herself with both of her wings. Seeing her like that, you wonder if this is what it's like to kick a puppy.
"Fire lady give talk, about mama bird and me," she begins, her voice sounding as sad and she looks. "Say that if I want wake up, can not be with mama bird, because mama bird not be there." Her hold on her stuffed animal tightens. "I give ask, mama bird angry I sleep, that why not be with me when wake up? Fire lady say no, say mama bird tired, need sleep like me, but her tired more, so need more sleep too."
You make a strangled noise when you try to hold back a sob and take a sharp intake of breath at the same time. In your lap, your trembling hands are clenched around fistfuls of your skirt. You are almost glad the revelations from earlier already broke your heart, because it means it cannot be broken again
right now.
"I get much sad, so fire lady give me hug. I give talk, say I not want wake up if not with mama bird, I not want be alone," Snuggly continues. "Fire lady kind, say she help, want to take me to new nest, with two leg who is like mama bird. I not know how two leg can be like mama bird, but fire lady say, two leg will like and care for me, like mama bird."
While you do find it a bit presumptuous of the Firekeeper to just promise the girl that you'll like her, you do have to admit that in this case you can't really fault her for doing so.
"And what did you think of that?" you ask, managing a smile despite your trembling lips.
"I not know. Only live with mama bird before, never with two leg. I worry, will I be good? Not miss mama bird much?" she replies, while giving her Hello Kitty toy another squeeze. "New nest sound scary, but fire lady say, old nest still cold and dark, that also scary. Know mama bird never want me where it scary. I give ask, what happen if not wake? Fire lady say, I sleep more."
The humanized crow gives a sad shake of her head. "I not know. Not want more sleep, but wake with no mama bird, not know want that too. What I do?" She rocks gently back in forth while clutching her toy. "I give fire lady ask, what two leg who is like mama bird like? She say, two leg much alone like me, need friend. I give ask, I make good friend? Fire lady say yes. So I think!"
Hearing this, you can't help but frown somewhat. Of course you are touched and happy that even when you're worlds apart, the Firekeeper still thinks of you and is concerned about your wellbeing. You just hope that didn't make her nudge Snuggly your way through guilting her, even if unintentionally.
"Did the fire lady ask you to wake up?" you ask pleasantly, not wanting to immediately jump to conclusions about your currently only friend.
"No, no, not give ask that. Only give ask, if I want wake up, please be good, be friend to two leg who like mama bird," she replies, with another shake of her head. "I think and then I know. Not want sleep. Not want alone. Will miss mama bird, but mama bird happy if know I happy and not alone. I tell fire lady, I want wake up."
You wipe away a few stray tears from your cheeks and do your best to give her another smile. "And that's when you found yourself here?"
Snuggly looks up at you and nods. "Fire lady say she make me wake up where lonely two leg should be. I open eyes, I in this two leg cave," she says. "Fire lady say she take me to new nest, so I try, but not find nest. I look for two leg, but also not here. I think, maybe two leg come back if I wait. But I good girl, I make place for waiting."
That last bit gets a soft chuckle out of you. "And so you decided to steal all my pillows for your place of waiting, hmm?" you tease, as you sit down on your knees in front of her so your eyes are at the same level.
The feathered child blushes and hides behind one of her wings.
"I not know these are curly lady's softs and warms. I not have sticks for nest, not find way out of cave to go find outside," she mutters, in the cutest of abashed voices. "Did not mean to take curly lady's warms and softs and not give shiny." She bows her head and hides even further behind her wing. "If I give talk, say sorry, curly lady not be mad?"
You take a brief moment to send a quick prayer of thanks to whatever god would hear it that you remembered to lock the front door and that the girl didn't figure out how to open the window, for things could've gone terribly wrong if she had. With that out of the way, you focus on the orphaned crow before you, still hiding behind her wing in her nest, waiting nervously for your reaction. You smile at her, though she does not see it.
Then, slowly, you reach out with shaking hands and gently pull her against your body in a warm embrace.
"Of course I forgive you, little one," you whisper into her hair, while fresh tears well up in your eyes and blur your vision. "I wasn't even mad to begin with."
You feel the petite frame of her body stiffen at first when you wrap your arms around her, most likely out of surprise at the sudden embrace, but she quickly relaxes and returns your hug by enfolding you in turn with her wings. With a soft, but unmistakable delighted chirp, she leans in closer to lay her head against your chest.
"Curly lady soft and warm…" she murmurs as she snuggles her face deeper into your bosom, which admittedly sends the blood flowing to your cheeks. Despite the slight discomfort you feel at this rather, ah, unexpected and
enthusiastic display of affection, you do your best to ignore and think nothing of it.
After all, she is a bird, so she probably has no idea of human propriety, right?
The two of you remain like that for a while, content to just bask in the comfort of another living being's presence. You have little doubt that she was in just as dire a need to hug someone and be hugged in return as you were, even if that someone is still basically a stranger. You haven't even known each other for more than half an hour, after all.
None of that can detract from how nice it feels to be hugged.
"Is curly lady lonely, too?" Snuggly asks after a while, not moving from her warm perch in your arms (and chest).
You feel your lips twist into a bitter smile. "Yes," you admit, the words feeling like coarse sand in your throat. Your fingers idly tap the nape of her neck. "I've been alone for… for a very long time."
"That mean… When fire lady give talk of lonely two leg, she give talk of curly lady?" she replies, leaning back a little so she can raise her head and look you in the eye.
You look down to meet her gaze. "Yes, I am the friend the fire lady spoke of," you confirm with a soft sigh. The bitter smile from before turns into a weary grimace. "I was… sleeping, just like you, and she helped me to wake up."
"Like she help me?"
You nod. "Yes, just like you."
Snuggly scrunched her face as she looked at you in a manner that suggested she was thinking hard about something. She even rubbed her temple with one of her wings.
"If curly lady is lonely two leg and fire lady friend," she begins, brow furrowed and her head held between her wings. "That mean… Curly lady is two leg who like mama bird, take care of me?"
You nod again, this time with a genuine smile on your face. "Yes, I will take care of you," you confirm. "I promised I would to the fire lady, though she failed to tell me that I'd be looking after a bird girl." The last part is muttered as little more than a whisper, meant mostly for yourself. Not that you are really upset about it or anything.
Snuggly hugs her Hello Kitty toy to her chest. "That mean, until mama bird wake up," she asks, her big, wide eyes shimmering with hope as she looks at you. "Curly lady will be two leg mama bird, yes?"
That actually makes you laugh and you reach with a finger to give her a ticklish poke on the nose. She giggles and swats harmlessly at the offending digit with her wing.
"That's not my name," you scold her with faux sternness. "I'm Mami, remember?"
She tilts her head and blinks. "Mami bird?"
"No, no!" you reply in between chuckles. "It's-"
Whatever it is you wanted to say, the world will never know, as you are interrupted when Snuggly slams into you mid sentence. With a delighted squeal, she wraps both of her soot black wings around your body and before you know it, the little girl is hugging you as tightly as she did her stuffed animal mere moments ago.
"Mami bird! Mami bird!"
You open your mouth to try one more time to correct her, but stop when it dawns on you that, really, you actually don't mind. Carefully, you wrap your arms around her frail, petite body to hug her back, one hand gently rubbing her between her shoulders while the other buries itself in her raven - heh - hair. You smile, so widely it threatens to split your face in half, even as happy tears roll down your cheeks.
No, you really don't mind at all.
