CHAPTER 6: STARING Quail wondered behind Toucan and Nali, observing many of the intricate sculptures and details within the castle that he hadn't noticed before. He paused for a moment, and looked over to an ongoing conflict. Two (assumingly) corvid skyaries were arguing. They seemed related, so Quail didn't seem to worried until he heard a bit of the argument. "MAVERICK, I AM STICKING TO THE PLAN!" one of them said. "NO WE'RE NOT! WE'RE NOT COMMITING SKYARIESLAUGHTER! I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE PLANNING TO KILL SOMEONE!" The other yelled back. The confused one (the one who was referred to as "Maverick") seemed like a bat-corvid skyarie, but the other one seemed to be a leopard. Perhaps they weren't related, or distantly related. At this point, Quail had only now realized that Nali and Toucan were also staring at the commotion. 'Mavrick' poked at the other corvid, returning the stare to the group. "Raven they're looking at u- Oh hey... guys! What's up?" Maverick spoke. Quail gave an awkward and slight nod wave while rapidly glancing back at the group. "Sorry about that, excuse us. Actually, would it be fine if I joined y'all for a bit? Raven scares me." Maverick stood up, starting towards the group. "Oh, yeah! Of course! I'm Toucan, by the way. That's Nali and that's Quail." "Oh, uh, I'm Mavrick. Nice to meet y'all." Mavrick gave a crooked smile and blended in with the group. "Hey, uh, Maverick, er, if you want to, would you mind informing me on what that was about?" Quail asked, slowly beginning to walk forward. This perked up the group and prompted them to begin walking. "Oh, uh, yeah. My cousin, Raven, is actually insane. She was planning on killing someone to take over the throne. I thought they only- well, besides our current queen- took males? I mean, whatever, but it's kinda weird." Maverick explained. "Initially, I thought she was going to scare someone to the point that they escape the throne or something... like a prank. But she's planning to drive a spear into a heir's head!" Maverick exclaimed. This tone was a mix between surprise, shock, and amusement. "That... oh." Quail said, unable to really muster up any words. "That's... bad." "I know! She is actually crazy. Well, I'm going to run off to my room now. Nice meeting you, Quail! And, um, Toucan..? OH! And Nali. Bye!" Maverick concluded, running off to his room. "That was weird". Toucan stated. CHAPTER 7: ANOTHER ONE Quail finally returned to his room and sprinted to his bed. He lunged himself, falling dramatically on the bed. Just as he did, he heard a chirp. "Oh Feather, not right now, please... I'm tired." He said. Another chirp. And another... scarily close. "Feather? How do you chirp so quick... oh." Quail had looked over to see the other egg had hatched. He groaned, grasping his head. "I cannot deal with this right now." The sket was brown with a grey underbelly and orange markings. "Oh! Ok ok, I won't mess up this time. MEALWORM! GET IN HERE!" Quail yelled. Mealworm dashed in on que and gasped in awe. "This one! I wanna name it Sun'sip!" Mealworm cooed. "ok, ok. Sure. What does that even mean, though? I still like it." Quail grinned, staring at Sun'sip. "And that one- oh... ew." Mealworm's tone lowered in disgust. "Oh, I already named that one. That's Feather." Quail spoke before realizing what Mealworm was referring to. "Oh! Oh mealworm, stop that. He's perfectly normal. Now scurry along. Hey, while you're at it, would you mind asking Ikaika if he has any news for me?" he asked. "Oh! Yes!" Mealworm replied excitedly, running out the door. "I can't take care of 2 skets and a child. I don't even know where Mealworm came from! She's just a random child that imprinted on me, or something... I don't know." He spoke to himself, defeated. "No news, by the way." someone spoke up. "Ikaika? Oh! Jupiter? Hello! Hi! How are you? Come inside!"