Heron Lake Plateau Norupo.

A lot of things happened very quickly then, and every one of those things left Fig more and more terrified. Before the boy even made to untangle himself from his sister, there was a flash of movement overhead and a flurry of sounds and feathers and suddenly, the Not-Papa-X landed nearby with a lifeless plop. Fig stared at the body in surprise for a moment, instinctively wanting to go and give it a few sniffs before suddenly, the screaming began.

Fig gaped at Tegan and Towhee with wide, fearful eyes. He’d never heard his Aunt Mom yell like this before, had never heard her so upset and so angry. Tears welled in his eyes as he began to tremble violently against his sister. He squirmed to move her so that he was between her and the shouting adults even as he began to sob helplessly. It felt like there was something he ought to do, some way to make it stop and make everyone be happy again so he wouldn’t have to feel so scared for himself and his sister. But he didn’t know what or how, so he just cried, tried to bury himself against Fen for comfort, and wished that his daddy was there to fix everything.