I hated to admit it... But I was proud of myself for only falling on my face two more times as I toddled after her. I mean, sure, my beak hurt after falling on it four times. But so what? Falling down only five times as a newborn chick wasn't a bad thing... Right?

I grunted as I faceplanted once again, and I heard my mom sigh from ahead of me.

"Goodness, I didn't realize we were sitting on such a bevy of shiny things." She said offhandedly.

I climbed to my feet and directed a tired glare at her.

"I can't help it! I keep being thrown off balance by something!"

She tilted her head to one side as she regarded me.

"It's the way you're walking."

....

"Come again?"

"You're trying to walk as I do. But since your stubby little legs can't handle the weight of your body, you fall over. If you want to walk without falling over, then try shuffling your feet as you walk."

I peered down at my little legs, then up to her long, strong legs.

"It couldn't hurt." I decided as I started to slowly shuffle my feet towards her.

One step.

Two steps.

"So far, so good."

Three steps.

Four step—

"And I'm on the ground again."

I felt strong toes wrap around my body and lift me back onto my feet.

"What am I doing wrong!?"

"Nothing... Except watching where you were going."

She pointed with one of her talons to a knot on the branch.

"You tripped over that."

"Oh..." I was sure that if my face wasn't covered in feathers, that I'd be blushing up a storm right now.

"That's embarrassing."

"Don't worry," She said gently as she brushed her body against mine. "I've already seen you fall down nine times. One more won't change my opinion of my sweet wittle Rage~" She cooed.

I felt my feathers twitch as my annoyance spiked. Then the fact that my feathers responded to my emotions freaked me out for a second... Which caused my feathers to react again.

"Okay, calm down... It's okay... I'm... I'm not going to freak out about my feathers... Nope... I'm definitely not freaking out!"

I felt something brush against my side.

"It's okay. I know it can be a little surprising the first few times, but it gets easier." She cooed.

"What does?"

"Your feathers reacting to your emotions. Everyone goes through it... Most of us don't look like we're standing in our own, personal hurricane... But it does happen to everybody." She spoke with clear amusement in her words.

And my feathers reacted... again.

She stood beside me and cooed a little wordless song until I was calm enough to get my feathers under control.

"Thank you."

"Aww, it's alright wittle Rage. I'm your momma. It's what I do~"

She began walking again.

As I followed along behind her, I was careful to watch my step as I wondered at our surroundings. So far we'd gone through the trunks of three trees, switched branches some twenty times, and walked for what felt like an hour... And yet the branches and the surrounding trees never seemed to come to an end.

Wherever we were, the sky I could see through the treetops was completely and utterly clear of clouds and the mist I was so used to seeing out of my hospital window. But even with the beautiful sky above us, the forest surrounding us seemed... Lonely, somehow. It was as silent as a graveyard... Or a battlefield the morning after a horrible massacre.

"Where is everyone?" I asked her.

"Hmm? Oh, only nesting mothers come to this part of the forest. We used to allow the fathers to come visit their eggs... But a few bad apples proved to us that it was a bad idea to leave them unsupervised in this area. They can still come, but they must be supervised by the mother or a guard."

"And... What's to stop the guard from letting the dads come in, anyway?"

"Because... Only nesting mothers are chosen to be guards."

"Oh... Are you a guard?"

"I was," She agreed. "Until you hatched. Now another mother will take my place."

"But... if all the guards are moms... How do they watch their eggs?"

"The nesting area is over a natural heating vent, so the eggs usually stay warm on their own. Which means we are left with a decent amount of time to patrol the perimeter. Two or three rounds around the area, then return to our nest while another mother takes our place."

...

"She's speaking like a soldier."

I listened intently as she pointed out things I hadn't noticed before. A nesting mother swooping low to the ground far beneath us. A second one gliding through the sky high above us. A third one flying in wide, sweeping circles as she patrolled the nesting area itself. And a fourth one following at a safe distance behind us.

"Why's she following us?"

"She's probably my replacement. It's customary for a replacement to see their predecessor out of the nesting grounds before returning to her post."

"Oh..."

She hopped over a pair of thin, interlocking branches that crossed over the branch we'd been following, then helped me climb over them.

We walked while following the branches for probably another ten minutes before I saw another bird besides mom... And it was dad.

"Hello, Tahir," Mom said as we drew closer to him.

He was waiting on a branch beside a massive tree trunk with a scowl on his face... How I knew it was a scowl, I had no idea. But it certainly felt like he was scowling at us.

"Is that... a door in the trunk of that tree?"

"Tawny," He said curtly. "You certainly took your sweet time, didn't you?"

"We took the scenic route. Didn't we, Rage?"

"I guess so?"

"Did we take the scenic route?" I wondered.

"See?"

He chortled at the two of us, then hopped off his branch to land in beside mom.

"The chicklings are anxious to meet their new brother."

"Of course they are." Mom laughed back.

She lifted one of her long legs and pressed what appeared to be a square block of wood on the front of the 'door'. The block sunk into the door briefly before popping back out with an audible *click*. Then mom used that same foot to push the door open to reveal... A house.

The inside looked like something out of a cartoon. Pictures of various colorful birds smattered the walls, a large rug, which appeared to have been woven out of various branches and leaves, covered the floor, and a gaggle of chicklings raced back and forth across the little room, chirping and laughing all the while.

"That's... Not exactly what I was expecting?"

"Surprised?" Mom asked as she ushered me into the room.

I nodded dumbly in response.

"Don't worry... Most re-lifers find it a bit odd at the beginning." She calmly explained.

I froze in place.

"Re... Lifers?"

"Yes," She said patiently. "People who have been reincarnated. You are one, aren't you?"

I slowly turned my head to look at her... She looked completely calm, almost serene, even.

"You don't have to worry, wittle Rage. About fifteen percent of the forest kingdoms population are re-lifers, so you're not alone in this."

...

"Really?" I asked trepidatiously.

"She's right." My dad interjected. "I work with three of them. Never thought I'd have one as a chickling, though." He finished offhandedly.

"And... You're not mad?"

Mom brushed against me as she stepped into the room.

"Whatever you were in a past life doesn't matter anymore, wittle Rage. You're my chickling now."

"Mommy!" The chicklings cheered in unison as they laid eyes on her.

I looked at dad with what could've been tears welling up in my eyes.

"What're you looking at, chickling?" He demanded. "Get in so I can shut the door. You're letting the cool air out."

....

"Way to ruin the mood, dad." I sighed.