Page 141 of Tiger's Dream
Oh, brother, I thought. It was awkward knowing Ana was watching my old self fawn all over Kells, especially with everything that had recently happened between us. Finally, they sat down and Kelsey pulled out her trusty notes.Gotta love Kelsey’s efficiency. I missed that about having her around. We remained quiet, watching them and listening as they talked. Finally, I got impatient and made a noise.
“Hello? Is anybody here?” I heard my old self say.
What do we do? Ana said, her bird voice honking.
Uh, let’s see. I bobbed my head up and down.I don’t really remember.It was something about clearing thoughts.
Ana ruffled her feathers and squawked at me.Never mind, she said.We’ll figure it out.
She took off and I followed, still awkward in flight though she pulled off a few very impressive pirouettes. My old self actually pulled out the chakram.Please, I thought.Don’t strain yourself. Only I would be wary enough to try to cut off the head of a raven with the chakram.
Always the smart one, Kelsey said, “Let’s wait and see what they do. What do you want from us?” she asked.
Ana landed and echoed, “Wantfrumus?”
“Do you understand me?” asked Kelsey.
Ana nodded.
“What are we doing here? Who are you?” Kells asked.
Taking my cue from Ana, I tried to channel bird and said, “Hughhn.”
Ana cawed and said, “Muunann.”
Kells asked about her stolen items and the honey cakes, which Ana had mostly eaten already. She was probably hungry. I hadn’t thought to try and find her some food. So much for taking good care of the goddess. Now that I considered it, I was starving myself.
Wanting to get the show over with, I hopped onto Kelsey’s knee. When she tilted her head, it came back to me what Hugin did. He’d cleared her thoughts, showing her what she’d face at the top of the tree. That was easy enough. Using the power of my connection to Ana, I placed a thought in her mind. It was more of a memory, actually. I showed her one of the birds who guarded the scarf at the top of the tree. Then I impressed upon her mind what the scarf could do and how she could use it and would use to help them on their quest.
I also gave her an extra memory. A vision of how we’d saved Ren.
“What are you doing?” she asked as my little talons clutched her shoulder.
“Thoughtsrstuck,” I replied.
When I was done, a tiny, wispy worm clung to my beak. I didn’t conjure it so I guess it must have been Ana. I opened my beak and swallowed it like I remembered the bird had done before. It tasted like nothing but fog. When Kelsey gasped, accusing me of brain damage, I could have laughed.
Ana, as Munin, did something similar to me, well, the old version of me.
Kells asked me if Ana was clearing thoughts too. I just twitched back and forth on my bird legs and waited for Ana to ask me what she should do. She never did.
Kelsey kept pestering me and finally I said, “Waitforit.”
Finally, Ana hopped down to the floor holding a wispy black strand the size of an earthworm. She swallowed it.
Um, what was that, Ana? I asked.
When she didn’t answer, I listened to my old self talk. I remembered it, but it felt like it had all happened decades ago.
“I’m fine,” my old self said. “He . . . he showed me.”
Ana bristled. Ruffling her feathers at being called a he.
The old me spouted off about Yesubai and the things I remembered from my past.
What did you do, Ana?
I took away your blame, she said softly.Yesubai would not blame you.Your love and concern for her caused you to remember what happened differently.
