Tedrick was far from an engineer; physics and engineering and the sort were definitely on his list of things to learn, but he never got around to them. A lot of things fell into that field. Something unfortunate since he now had to haul nine hefty, stinky, loud, and just about suicidal four-legged bird monster babies across dense forest. He even had to figure out how to disable his to make their constant noise less grating.

However, what he did understand were simple machines and his earth magic. A little experimenting showed that he could create organic things via his , albeit only things pretty weak in nature. He was starting to find that ki seemed better for manipulating pre-existing materials rather than making new ones altogether but wasn’t fond of destroying plants for his needs when he could just make new ones instead.

The nice thing about creating plant fiber, though, was that there wasn’t much by way of limitation on strength when you just make the rope thicker. With a little creativity, ki, and telekinesis he could pull it off. He was sure of it.

Smiling to himself in satisfaction as he tested his idea using stone replicas equal in weight to the birds, he realized just how much miscellaneous information his life really threw at him. He knew every moon of every planet. He knew the formula for air resistance. He knew the chemical signs and the elemental number of every element. None of this was extraordinary or privileged information.

He was going to miss the internet, now that he remembered everything he learned.

Playing with designs, he eventually found one that worked; a sled, like they used in all the dog sledding movies. The difference was, he was going to be the dog. Hours became a blur as he crafted thick, heavy rope, attaching them to the front of the sled and melding them into the stone. He’d been using hypnosis to silence the birds when they got too loud and tried to toddle out of the nest.

There was another issue though. Actually getting the birds out. He could just lift them, but it would be better to take the nest too; they could use as much home as possible. He’d tried to extricate the nest itself, but couldn’t without destroying it. After attempting to use his to sever it cleanly, and failing, he came up with another solution; crack it where he could after the nest, then snap it off. Then chop the space between the nest and trunk so that he could catch it safely without killing the babies.

Using a combination of ropes, telekinetic force, and heavy stones, he managed to break the big, heavy limb off the tree with a mighty CRASH. He had to damn near tilt the whole tree over to do it, but he did it. The rest came easily.

Time to go.

He paused though, realizing that a lot of sap was coming from where the branch once was. Shit. That was no good. Using his existing ropes and other large branches, he hefted the big branch back up to where it once was on the tree. Weighing the ropes with stones close enough to the branch’s own weight to let it stay more or less in place, he healed the branch back in place. It looked awkward as hell, with a sudden change in branch thickness, but the trees didn't get embarrassed and it would live. If any fae lived in this tree, it’d be an easy enough fix, probably.

There was a tickling sensation on the back of his neck. Tedrick froze, feeling the strongest sense of being watched, looking around. He couldn’t detect anything though… not a situation he was fond of.

Shaking his head, he reattached the ropes to the sled and began Operation Sled Dog.

Slinging the ropes out, he wrapped them around a big branch nearby and pulled. It moved. Not much, and it would take a while, but it moved. Good.

So he began the treacherous process of dragging the large enclosed stone sled through the woods, occasionally stopping to recover stress stamina and refresh the air in the container. Fully recovering ss at this point took five hours or so, less if he meditated, and he never let himself get below half. This resulted in twenty or so two-hour dragging sessions, interspersed with hour-long recharge meditation breaks. He was really glad he didn’t seem to need to sleep. Or, at least he hadn’t suffered any ill status effects from not partaking in it, so the tiredness he did feel at times was psychological. The same seemed to be true for all other traditional needs; he hadn’t eaten or had something to drink since he arrived, yet he was only hungry or thirsty when he thought about it. A bit of research told him fae drew upon nearby life energy to fulfill needs instead. Handy.

It didn’t take much to scare off the paltry predators that did show up; between this strange stone box creation many multiple times his roughly six-inch size, at least a foot high and two feet wide with a dome top, the occasional loud noise illusion, and a few simple illusions of big animals, they were more than happy to leave this strange little sprite alone.

Thankfully, he didn’t actually have to drag it all the way to where the village was. Only far enough to be directly on a frequently traveled path for the local sprites other than himself. On the way, he slowly crafted himself a cloak, tunic, and long split skirt of leaf-like material with a hole for his wings. It felt weird when flying, and he could scarcely assume they’d never seen him naked without his notice, but it felt better being dressed when he expected he might be interacting with civilization. Not to mention, it felt better at least attempting anonymity. Perhaps it was silly but there was no reason not to. He certainly had the time, and while the dragging efforts were definitely taxing, it was nothing he couldn’t more or less automate with a little hypnosis. Like knitting while watching tv.

It was a very simple task of repetition, and so long as he kept an eye on his ss and ks, there’s no reason he couldn’t multi-task with a little help. He just needed to pay attention to where to direct the ropes, which was no problem at all.

Hypnosis really was a game-changer, he thought as he completed a pair of removable sleeves with gloves for the tunic, as well as a scarf to hide his face like a niqab. He was getting carried away… But it felt nice to have a wardrobe again, now that he knew what he could do.

He hadn’t realized how much he missed such little things.

Besides, even if they thought it was weird, fuck ‘em. He’d look how he pleased. He was here to deliver some babies, not impress anyone.

Catching motion out of the corner of his vision, he saw what seemed to be another sprite vanish into the woods.

Well, this was far enough. Word would get out quickly enough. Especially when he made a very simple but very large illusory arrow hanging in the air. He’d stick around to keep watch and make sure no predators had funny ideas in the meantime.

It took two or three hours of watching from a cliff some distance away, but the sprites showed up. Good thing, too; maintaining such an illusion for so long was very tiring, and he already had to take a break.

The sprites, curious about what was in the box, busted it open with ease.

Well, he knew they’d get into it, but it would have been nice if it took at least a little effort, even if they did hit in at a weak point…

Putting his pout aside, he took off. As he left, he thought he saw one of the sprites looking right at him.

He knew they’d know what to do with the birds, as he’d tested a simple text illusion on a passing creature during his wait. It seemed that any attempt at communication from him to another explicit, individual creature would be understood. Tedrick directed the message at the first sprite he saw buzzing around the box in relatively big text. He hadn’t had the chance to test if it was vice versa yet, of course, but he had no reason to think it would be otherwise.

His job was done. He could finally be alone once again. He wasn’t sure that the hypnosis wouldn’t have a long-term effect on such young minds, so he stopped making them quiet down after the second break. Their cries were overwhelmed by the shitty roaring sounds he produced for his illusions.

He was very, very tired of baby bird screams.

Maybe he should take a nap. That might be nice.

A mental image of the reaper flashed to mind, souring his mood immediately.

He could nap when he had leveled a few abilities. It’s not like he needed sleep, and this was clearly more important.