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Sprig was dead.
The cause of his death was looking at him directly, with piercing brown eyes, a large beak and blue head.
Memories from his past came flooding back
He still remembered the sounds of destruction, the screaming, his mother's and father's hugs before they ran, Polly's crying, the darkness of that basement
Was this what his parents saw before…
He turned and ran
Before he could get any far however he felt himself rise from the ground.
He looked behind to seethe back of his shirt in its beak, he wanted to cry, but he knew there was no reason to, he was dead.
The heron turned around and moved its head to the nest, Sprig had read that it only did that to feed it’s young, he knew he would be torn apart the moment the heron dropped him.
Hop-Pop and Polly would never know what happened to him.
Mysterious disappearances were a common thing in Wartwood, no one really questioned when someone disappeared,
He wondered if they’d even noticed
Sprig, closed his eyes and prayed it would be quick.
He fell.
The first surprise was that nothing attacked him.
The second was just how quiet it this nest was.
He opened his eyes and saw that the heron was sitting outside the nest looking at him quizzically.
Stood up looking around, where were the baby herons?
That’s when he remembered another thing about wild animals, sometimes when they lost their young, they found a replacement.
He was surprised how bad he felt about that.
Now not that he wasn’t going to look a gift snail in the mouth, but he didn’t feel like being some giant monster's adoptive child. However, he also knew that running away was a bad idea, so what else was there to do.
Maybe he could trick it.
“Em, Can I just say I love your nest?”
The heron looked at him awkwardly, it seemed just as surprised that this was his first comment, and that he could talk at all.
Sprig him self was shocked, could this beast understand him?
“So, um, I know where you can get better materials for this nest, I just need you to come with me.”
The heron looked at him still confused, Sprig was kind of glad, it meant it probably wouldn’t eat him.
“It’s just a few hours walk from here, It’s by the lake, you can just walk me there and…”
The Heron lowered its head, Sprig just looked at it confused. Then he realized what it wanted.
“Oh, you want to fly?”
The heron nodded, Sprig had to be honest this was kind of worrying, was this just some sort of trick so that the heron could drop him when he was high enough? But another part of him was willing to trust it, they hadn’t killed him yet, though for all he knew this could be some sort of over long mating ritual.
“Okay,” said Sprig.
Sprig jumped onto the herons neck, he was surprised just how soft the feather were.
Before he could ask anything else, the Heron jumped, Sprig held on tight and felt the two flaps of its giant wings.
“FRRAANNKKK” shouted the Heron.
Sprig closed his eyes and felt himself rising into the sky, he could feel the wind blowing in his face, too terrified to scream.
The heron let out another screech, Sprig then remembered that it needed directions, he thought about if for a second and decided that maybe he could lose it at the lake.
“Okay, fly east for like, two miles?”
The Heron turned around and started to fly in that direction, it was then Sprig opened his eyes.
He could see everything, the world below them looked so small, he could see Wartwood, and the rest of the valley, he was surprised just how small his world looked, in the distance he could see the mountains, still frozen.
He knew if he was dropped from this height he would die, but that didn’t matter, he was seeing something no other frog had ever seen.
So distracted by the beauty of the sight below him, he forgot that they were above the lake.
“Land here,” he said to the heron.
The heron just nodded, and started to descend.
As it landed, Sprig jumped off and looked at it for a second, he needed to escape this creature, and he had the perfect plan to escape it.
“Welp, Goodbye.”
He dove into the lake and started to swim away from the heron.
The heron let out a shriek, Sprig didn’t turn around, not until he heard the giant splashes behind him, only then he could see that it was walking behind him.
“Crud” he thought to himself, as the giant killer bird started to catch up to him.
He was in the middle of the lake when it struck.
It missed however he was knocked away by the wave as its head passed through the water.
Sprig grabbed onto a nearby lily pad and looked as the creature's head returned to the surface, in its beak was something small then it but longer than him, something thin and slithering, he recognized it as a water snake.
He watched as the Heron flung it across the lake and into the forest.
He floated there, looking at the beast.
It had saved him, the monster had saved him
It turned its head to him, he could see its eyes, Sprig froze, the irises were huge, they took over the entire eye.
However, that was only for a second then they turned back to the same expressive eyes he saw before, and this time they looked scared.
“I’m fine.” said Sprig, “Umm, Thanks.”
The heron nodded.
“So, um, yeah, I’ll find some good grass for your nest.”
The next hour was spent picking up Grass and placing it in his hat, The Heron didn’t attack him, it was more interested in picking up logs, it would fly away with a log and then return.
After it had returned for the fourth time, Sprig looked up at it, “I think I’ve got all the grass I can carry.”
The Heron nodded and lowered its head again, Sprig jumped on it, this time when it flew into the sky he kept his eyes open.
When they landed Sprig hopped into the nest, he tipped the grass into the nest and started to arrange it, so it would look comfortable, after a few minutes he had finished, to him, it looked… okay.
To the heron he looked like someone had just dumped a hat full of grass into its nest, it looked at him with “Is that it.” look in its eyes.
Sprig noticed its look, “Well I think it looks nice.” he said defensively
The heron rolled its eyes, Sprig sighed, even the monster didn’t take him seriously.
Sprig was about to apologize then he noticed just how dark everything was.
“Huh,” said “It’s getting late back, I have to go back home.”
The Heron looked at him and nodded, He couldn’t ignore the sadness in its eyes.
He smiled, “I’ll be back tomorrow.”
He turned around ad started to walk into the woods, he only took one step when he heard a roar.
It was not as terrifying as the Heron but whatever it was it would kill him if he tried to walk home.
There was no way he’d get home alive.
He heard the heron behind him, again he felt himself being lifted, he was lifted back to the nest, the heron lowered him next to its right wing.
Before Sprig could ask it lifted its wing, the heron gestured for him to get closer, He obliged and the heron lowered its wing,
Sprig had to admit that this felt right, he was warm but not uncomfortable, and oddly enough safe.
It was weird in one afternoon he had grown to like this heron, he might be crazy, but they seemed like a friend.
“Hey, thanks for this… Do you have a name?”
The Heron nodded and tried to shriek something out.
Sprig just looked at it, “I'm going to call you feathers,'' he said.
The heron rolled its eyes in a joking manner.
Sprig smiled, maybe he was crazy but, it enjoyed this.
Little did he knew that the heron was far more grateful to have him with her.