Jonas looked at the bird that sohow reminded him of a little child. A child that loved to talk. While it looked like it was made out of flas, the trees that it was standing on didn't catch fire, which made Jonas wonder if maybe the image of a fiery bird was just because of a quality of the feathers the bird had.
"What are you?" Jonas asked, wondering if he should instead be focused on how to try and get out of here, even though he had a feeling that it was going to take at least a few hours.
Possibly even days as far as he'd be aware, considering how long it seed to have taken for Elin when she was stuck in here for rely a full day.
"I'm a-" the bird started to say, but then stopped. As if it realized sothing. "Sorry, mother said not to say. That I shouldn't tell anyone outside my family. Or those that my family trusts."
Jonas nodded as if this was what he'd expected. It was a roadblock, but at least it was one that made sense. Especially if it ca from a child.
"Well, I have a friend who said that they have a sister is in here," Jonas replied, hoping that Ember was the bird's real na and not just a moniker that it used to keep their identity a secret. "Their na is Ember."
The bird turned it's head to the side, as if it preferred the view of Jonas that way. "But I don't have a brother or sister nad Ember. My brother's na is Grisha and my sister's na is Elysia.," the bird said.
"What's your na?" Jonas asked, wondering if he was just given more information than this bird was supposed to give out. As actual nas could be easier to work with than exactly what kind of creature this bird was.
"Oh, I'm Etaina. My father said that it ans 'she who shines.' Isn't it beautiful?"
"It is," Jonas agreed, even though he wasn't sure what kind of na that was.
"Anyway, you looked like you might have recognized 'Elysia.' Have you seen her? She said she'd take for a midnight flight when I learned to fly," Etaina said, and then without warning took off and was flying all around before she landed on Jonas' shoulder, her talons placed carefully so they didn't poke into his skin. "And as you can see I've learned to fly. So, I was wanting to go on that flight with my sister. So, if you've seen her, would you let know? I really want to go on that flight with her."
Jonas kept himself from responding right away. He had a feeling he might be going out on a limb here, but he got the sense that so things might be less coincidental than they appeared right then. Especially with how Etaina got the nas 'Elysia' and 'Grisha' down without a problem. Nas of individuals that Jonas had originally thought were human, but was starting to wonder if maybe they weren't.
"I've t Elysia, but only in her human form. She wouldn't change into a bird for , at least," Jonas answered, hoping that his hunch was correct.
"You know about our 'human' forms?" Etaina asked, almost in wonder. "But-but mother said we're not supposed to say anything about them!"
Jonas rely shrugged. "Hey, she didn't say anything about it. It's just that I have a friend who can change her shape and so I kind of deduced what was going on."
"Okay, good! Mother would have been very upset if she had shared that information. As it makes it harder for us to hide from those who would hunt us."
"Ah, you an, like Douglas?" Jonas asked.
At the ntion of Douglas' na, Etaina flew away in alarm, clearly frightened. "You're one of his allies!" she cried, almost mournfully. "You just want sothing from ! I thought you appearing here was weird."
"If I was with Douglas, then why would I ask about what you were?" Jonas asked. "Wouldn't that have been a waste of my ti?"
In a way, it wouldn't if he was actually trying to gain Etaina's trust. In a sense he was, but not because of anything to do with Douglas. Rather, it was in order to try and either help her or figure out what exactly was going on around him.
"Let ask you this," Jonas said, doubting that him just saying he wasn't with Douglas would be sothing she'd accept. "Would your sister spend ti around if I was involved with Douglas? Wouldn't she know better than to do that?"
"Okay, but I've only told you her na. What else do you know about her?" Etaina asked, as if she had Jonas there. That there was no way she'd know anything more than her sister's na or rely superficial things about her.
"Well, she did call a friend of mine sothing along the lines of a 'brother of the fla' or sothing. Oh, her last na is 'Violet,' so I'm guessing your family na is 'Violet' too. She also doesn't like being around others much, either."
Etaina looked at Jonas, though with her bird's eyes, it was hard to tell what she was thinking based on that alone. Jonas doubted that she was getting ready to attack, but he couldn't be sure. She might be thinking about the best way to attack, as he could tell that her guard was still up.
Finally, she spoke, letting him know at least sothing that she was thinking. "Fine, so you know sothing about her, though I'm not sure what that 'brother of the fla' thing is. I haven't heard her say such a thing before."
Jonas rely shrugged. He'd heard Elysia say that once, but he'd never really asked her about it. Nor did he even really consider that significant enough to think much about.
"What else would you like to say?" Jonas asked, hoping that there was sothing that would at least let him get on her good side. Even though he didn't see a point in doing so. Aside from the fact that she was the only other creature around at the mont, that is.
"What else?" Etaina asked, sounding stunned.
Jonas couldn't help but feel surprised. Had this bird not actually thought that far ahead? While it gave weight to the fact that this bird was still little more than a child, it felt hard to keep that in mind with the fact that it was a talking bird as well.
That while she 'wanted sothing more' she herself wasn't sure what that was. While it was possible that it was one of those 'I'll know it when I hear it' sort of things, Jonas had a distinct feeling that it wasn't that. That she really had demanded sothing she hadn't thought about what would be acceptable or not.
Jonas rely sighed with that revelation. Which also told him that anything he did manage to learn from this bird was probably going to be sothing that he'd feel guilty about having learned. Given how innocent she was.
"Look, you don't trust and that's fine," Jonas said, hoping that this statent would at least help nd so of the loss of trust that he'd accidentally caused. "In fact, I wasn't even supposed to co in here. It was an accident that I entered and I'm going to have to wait a while before I can leave. So, if you don't want anything to do with , then I can deal with that. You can watch or ignore as you will, but I promise you that I won't try to do anything to you, or even try to catch you and when the ti cos, if you want to leave with , you can. Or you can remain in here if you want. It'll be up to you."
Without waiting for a response, Jonas rely turned and walked away, exploring this small forest. Though, when he reached the edge, he was surprised to find that it was like a glass wall, despite the fact that he could see the forest extend beyond it. As if he'd reached a point where the crystal started another enclosure or sothing.
"You're not going to be able to go very far in any direction," a voice giggled, letting him know that Etaina had followed him. "Where you were was the center of this place. That stone has always been the center and right before you appeared, it glowed brightly. Brighter than I'd ever seen it glow."
"Interesting to know," Jonas remarked, not sure what else to say. It wasn't anything he really needed to know anyway.
"You don't have many friends, do you?" Etaina asked, as she landed on a branch at least ten feet about Jonas' head.
"Don't really need any," Jonas said, the lie stinging even as it left his lips. He couldn't deny that he'd been lonely ever since he'd been taken when he'd been in high school and he was starting to suspect that he'd sohow been taken to another world. That his own 'ho world' wasn't where he'd been taken from to enter this competition.
"That's a lie, liar," Etaina retorted. "Lying isn't nice. Even if it's just to yourself. That's what father has always told ."
Jonas shook his head in wonder. He had a feeling that this bird was only calling him out on that lie based solely on the fact that she didn't ascribe to that idea. That she would have said the sa thing, even if he truly believed it.
"Why not open up?" Etaina asked, in a more cheerful tone. "I'm sure you'll have more friends if you do. Though, making friends is hard. Especially if you can't tell them everything."
Etaina's spirits seed to plumt when she continued talking about friends. As if it was a sore subject for her.
"Well, there's things I can't tell you about myself," Jonas offered. "How about we start there?"
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