Several days had passed since that trip along the waterfall. Kigen had not attempted another excursion, for fear of falling prematurely. Had there not been an eagle's body, would he have been the one caught off-guard?
These days, Kigen concerned himself with the flourishing ecosystem of the forest he was in. Everywhere he turned, there was always something to consume.
He had fought with monkeys, snakes, even wolves. Using various means, he had managed to bring down some, but other occasions, he had had to flee emptyhanded.
Nevertheless, he had gained a plethora of experience. He had found new ways to fight, coming up with better application of his strengths. His body had also grown by leaps and bounds.
His body was no longer the weak sapling. Instead, he was completely wooden, with a thick and tough bark covering his body. He still had the green filaments on his body, but they were now much thicker than before.
He had also increased in height. He was now taller than a grown man's palm, and his wings had also grown sturdier. Now, when he went for a hunt, he did not take much damage.
Another piece of good news was that the mother tree was also growing. Her tall and imposing figure in the forest seemed to not be her true self, and she was still growing. As she did, she produced two more buds.
Kigen had been inspecting these buds daily, eagerly awaiting the day the things would sprout and give him his much-awaited brothers and sisters. The eldest of the bud was showing signs of completeness, so Kigen was very excited.
Presently, he was playing with the eagle. The little thing had already sprouted feathers, and its wings looked impressive and ready. However, it still remained in the nest, waiting to be fed. It seemed to think of Kigen as its butler.
As if, Kigen thought. No more freeloading. Hence, he had decided to train it to fly, and the most effective way of doing that was by dropping it.
Tera, the eagle, let out scared screeches as it desperately tried to leverage itself in the air. Its massive wings were already doing their work, and it almost succeeded. It seemed to lose focus, and the next moment, it was tumbling through mother's foliage.
Kigen quickly went and grabbed it, bringing it back to his usual perch.
"Are you ready," he asked Tera, who shot him cold eyes. It wondered why its fairy friend had turned out to be so mean.
"Alright, here goes," he said as he got no reply, not that he expected it.
"No, wait!" As he was letting go, he suddenly heard a voice. He was too startled that he ended up letting the bird go.
"Who said that?" he said as he turned around, only to find a small, green fairy standing before him. Correction, not standing, hovering above him slightly.
Reaching up to slightly above his waist, the little fairy had longer filaments, especially on the top and back of the skull. She also had a slightly circular face. In short, Kigen could tell right away she was a girl.
"I did," she said. Her voice was also feminine, and quite young. She spoke in a playful manner, not at all fearful. He could remember that feeling quite well. That was before his encounter with the eagle.
"Well, hello there little one," Kigen said happily. Looking at that young and cute face, he was overcome with emotion. He could still remember every time Mistress Kering brought in a small junior to their humble home. No doubt another orphan or someone who'd been abandoned.
Back then, they felt happy to have another one, but sad for whatever circumstance brought them over. In this case, all he felt was pure joy. Like a big brother welcoming a small sister.
Kigen had been alone for too long, his only companion a baby eagle. Suddenly, he was no longer by himself. There was another one.
He could still remember Mistress Kering explaining the purpose of a Guardian, which was what he was. His work was to act as a shepherd, protector, and shield for the little ones, and for the mother tree.
Right now, no one needed to force him into his role. Since he first laid eyes on the fairy, he just wanted to protect them from any danger.
"Hello there big one," she replied jokingly, with a sweet smile.
"What do I call you?" Kigen probed. "I'm your big brother," he stated.
"That's your name?" she asked innocently.
"No, my name is Kigen, but I am big bro to you," he stated, "and you are?"
"I don't have a name, what do you call me?" she asked again, so innocently.
"Alright, from now, you'll be called Nina," he said. I know what you're thinking, but this is not some love craze thing, Kigen tried to justify himself to himself. I just really like the name.
Kigen wondered how much even he himself was buying.
"Nina, I like it," she said after some thought. "I like it a lot," she shouted. Kigen could tell by the way she excitedly flew about, without a care in the world.
Suddenly, a shadow appeared. Kigen instantly jumped on the defense, only to find a small golden eagle flapping about.
"Tera," he shouted as he went for the eagle. The thing had managed to find balance and take flight, now it was showing off.
"Wow, it's so big!" Nina said as she stared, gob smacked, at the eagle. She did not look scared, just awed.
"Can you outfly it?" Kigen teased. Unexpectedly, the little fairy shot forward, instantly overtaking the eagle.
Seeing the competition, the eagle flapped its massive wings to catch up to the tiny fairy. For a moment, Kigen worried the eagle would try to hurt the small fairy, but it was really just competing.
Suddenly, the little fairy was caught up in the draught as the eagle swooped past it. She was still a little inexperienced, so she fluttered out of control. It took her a long while to stabilize, and when she did, she came back crying.
"Big bro, Tera hit me!" she tattled.
"Now, now, now. You started a race, don't cry when you lose," Kigen said. He'd seen the whole thing, and it reminded him of babysitting his little siblings back at the home.
"Look at it, flying about, are you going to let it win just like that?"
"Never!" The little fairy shot off again. This time, she would be careful. The eagle had been waiting for her, and seeing her coming, it turned and flew about.
He chuckled at the innocence. Both the eagle and the fairy were going to be very good friends, given that they were agemates.
As the two were frolicking in the air, Kigen jumped and fluttered his wings, going for a dive.
With the two watching, Kigen shot down from the perch, past the clearing, through the trees, disappearing in the foliage. A moment later, he came out, holding a squirrel in his hand. His powerful wings allowed him to lift the fresh kill effortlessly.
Pretty soon, the whole family was chowing down on the squirrel, even the mother tree. Kigen had placed it on one of the mother tree's branches, and a few twigs had extended into the squirrel.
Meanwhile, the eagle was busy tearing the belly, digging for whatever it could stuff down. Kigen and Nina stood on the side of the squirrel, their roots consuming the squirrel.
Without suspense, the meal was over pretty quickly. Kigen did not feel satisfied, so he took flight once more, looking for grub. Nina and Tera were both pretty impressed, and also eager to hunt as well.
After a number of rodents had died for the cause, the three stood on the mother tree's branch, overlooking the forest. Nina was going on about something, while the two pretended to listen.
Kigen felt so responsible. He had finally found his place in the world. Ah! What a wonderful feeling.
As the sun went down, he began planning how the next few days would be.