Chapter Text
A huge amount of loud bird sounds echoed throughout the island.
In crowds, the Javan descended to the ground, making a lot of noise as they looked from side to side to understand what was happening.
Unbeknownst to them, a wave of Pookoos emerged from the bushes and ran around the Javan to reach their houses.
At the larger twig house, some Pookoos that were already inside came out and stood right at the entrance, pulling their arms inward as a command.
The Pookoos began to enter, not attracting the Javan's attention.
As she ran, a Pookoo with two long strands of hair on each side of her head stopped, looking intently.
A pod of piplets was open and untouched, right near her.
She looked up, seeing the Javan with their backs distracted by other Pods.
She hurried on all fours to the Pod.
As she almost reached out, she recoiled when a bird's foot stepped on the Pod, holding it firmly.
The group that was with her froze upon noticing the situation, and the other group watched as they continued running.
The Pookoo quickly looked up and ran, while the incredibly green Javan made a menacing sound and tried to catch her with its beak.
It missed a few times, but managed to catch the Pookoo.
Her group was horrified.
The Javan easily lifted her and threw her away while the Pookoo screamed in panic.
The Pookoos in the larger house waved faster and more desperately, "QUICK! QUICK!".
The motionless group ran even faster.
As the Javans approached, more and more noticed the Pookoos and tried to attack them. But luckily, they didn't catch any more.
When almost all the Pookoos entered the house, an older Pookoo with a baby on its back.
He hurried past the Javan's legs before they noticed him and rushed up. And there were a few more Pookoos doing the same right behind him.
He turned left and jumped over a root, then turned right.
Just a little more.
The pup turned to look around.
His eyes seemed to narrow, with the reflection of a yellow wing coming towards him.
They were hit, being separated on impact.
They fell to the ground and rolled a little, stopping right in front of the larger house.
One of the Pookoos right behind picked up the older Pookoo and one of the Pookoos from the entrance picked up the pup, pulling them inside.
As the last Pookoo went in, a Javan passed in front of the entrance.
Everyone froze in terrifying anticipation.
The Javan swayed from side to side, then its tail rubbed against the ground, seemingly making a line at the entrance, and it flew away.
All the Pookoos stood still, almost motionless, making no sound and just staring intently and worriedly at the entrance.
They remained like that for a few seconds, the avian cries preventing them from recovering.
When the noise subsided, many let out sighs as if holding their breath.
Slowly, they began to talk and find their acquaintances, checking them out.
Ollie stood up calmly, as he hadn't taken his eyes off the entrance.
Those loud and authoritarian cries.
Treating them like rats...
He was slightly startled when two hands grabbed his face and turned him forward.
Caloo moved his head in various directions, examining his fur and skin.
He lowered Ollie's head and rubbed his hair from back to front.
Ollie instinctively closed his eyes and had the expression of someone being petted.
Caloo lifted his head and looked him in the eyes.
His expression was sad, but calm.
However, as his continued to stare at him, his expression grew increasingly tense and conflicted.
And Ollie's expression grew increasingly surprised in response.
Then two arms encircled them and pressed them tightly together.
Calli pulled them closer, "I'm so glad you're okay!"
She let go of them and gave Ollie another hug as Grandma came and placed a hand on Caloo's shoulder with a nod of confirmation.
Calli let go of him, looking at him calmly.
The family noticed the other Pookoos walking towards the entrance.
They soon joined the movement, which stopped right in front.
Everyone stared at the utter apathetic chaos.
The Javan were opening the pods and eating the piplets as if they were starving, some even trying to take a little from each other.
One Javan lowered his head and leaned forward to look inside a house. Inside, there was a small pile of closed pods.
The Javan stepped back a little and ran against the structure, destroying it.
On the other side, a Javan tried to land on the ground, but there was no room.
It glided for a while until it stopped on a stick erected in the Pookoos' enclosure, which soon gave way and both fell behind the crowd.
Ollie's expression tightened.
Maybe they'll leave when the food runs out.
But if the food runs out...what will the Pookoos have?
##
The scene changed to a room with a rockier floor, with only small patches of green that were probably moss.
From a connecting tunnel, the family arrived in the room, stopping along the way to look around.
"Well...", Caloo said with a dejected expression, "I guess this is our home for now".
Suddenly, Grandma walked very quickly for someone in her condition, surprising everyone.
She sat in a rocky corner and lay down against the equally rocky wall, "So this spot is mine," and tried to laugh.
Calli made a disapproving face, but didn't seem to have the strength to try anything.
This made Grandma's expression drop a little.
Ollie got on all fours and walked a little, sitting on the stone floor.
Cold.
Colder than the rocks up there.
He looked to the side, at a patch of moss on the ground.
He rubbed his hand and looked at it, noticing the almost soaked fur.
Very damp.
Better never sleep in this during the winter.
Mom went further inside while Dad looked around a bit.
He turned to the tunnel, "I'll see what the others are planning to do."
Ollie looked at his dad with furrowed brows, "Is it that bad?"
Dad tensed. He continued with his back turned. He didn't say anything.
"Not even the leftovers we saved will be okay?"
He still didn't say anything.
Calli went to Ollie's side, "I don't think so, dear," she said with a sympathetic expression.
Ollie looked back at his father, "But can we do something?"
Calli still didn't speak.
Calli frowned, "Your son is talking to you."
Then he sighed, but his body still seemed tense.
"Why are you still like this?"
Ollie and Calli's eyes widened slightly.
"You went to a dangerous place where a fish almost ate you and you don't seem to care."
"Then you taught that bird to eat piplets..."
Calli's eyes widened even more and she looked at Ollie.
He looked away in embarrassment, "Sorry."
Calli pressed her lips together.
Then she put her hand on his shoulder.
"How many times do you need to have problems to stop being naive?"
Ollie kept his head and spoke in a low tone, "I just...thought it would be different."
"You thought you wouldn't be used? That someone would walk all over you? That they wouldn't take advantage of you?"
Caloo rubbed his head with both hands.
"You need to learn for your own good, and now for the good of others...not everything can be your friend. Maybe they didn't even want to be your friends, they just used you."
Calli walked up to him with a serious expression, "Can you at least say that looking at him?", she whispered.
"I can't...", he whispered back.
Calli's expression loosened, but no less relieved.
Caloo turned his head slightly for the first time.
"Animals are animals, they live by the food chain. And unfortunately, we're right at the bottom."
And he walked outside.
Ollie's eyes fell to the floor, his expression shocked.
##
Pookoo Island was even more teeming with Javan. But now, they were everywhere.
There were Javan that stayed in a large group amidst the old Pookoo structures, just making uncontrolled noise.
Others were further away, making temporary homes and nests.
And others rested on the branches of the trees.
One of them was watching the others and almost asleep standing in a large tree, its eyes blinking slowly.
It shook its body, becoming a little more awake.
Some green feathers came loose and fell slowly.
One of them moved away from the rest and fell near a hole in the tree, with moss on the wood and surrounded by simple, small plants.
Then a brown-furred hand emerged from the hole and felt the moss on the wood.
It approached and touched one of the plants, then stood up and grabbed the stem.
In a swift movement, it ripped the plant out and made it disappear into the hole.
The hand returned and felt around the ground until it touched the feather.
The fingers rubbed the feather and soon recognized it, dropping it and quickly returning to the hole.
After a few seconds, the hand returned and found the feather, rubbing it again.
Nothing happened.
The hand dropped the feather and pushed it away disdainfully.
The hand felt around a little more and found another stem, picking it up and disappearing with it into the hole.
The scene changed to inside the hole, which was the interior of one of the tree's roots.
And Ollie, now older and with his hair combed, held the stems.
He left them in one hand and walked inside with the other three.
He soon appeared in one of the tunnels and entered the house, "I'm back!".
His grandmother, who was lying on a bed made of several layers of old leaves, sat up, "You're coming back faster and faster".
He arrived at a stone table in the middle of the house and picked up a bright green leaf from underneath it, "I think the Javan are too fat to attack."
The grandmother chuckled slightly.
She's the only one he can talk to like that and not get a moral lesson afterward.
He picked up two twigs and placed them at each end of the leaf.
Then he took a stem and tied it between the end and the twig. And he did the same on the other side.
He took his hands away and stepped back a little, observing.
The stems, twigs, and leaf became a functional basket.
He picked up each end and carried it to the side of the grandmother's bed, who followed him with her eyes.
He looked at it all with a satisfied smile, "With this, I can leave plenty of food for you so you don't have to get up."
Since the invasion, the Pookoos haven't been able to eat much, and that amount decreases at certain times. But it's getting smaller and smaller over the years.
And Grandma is certainly the most affected, although her age has never been something that limited her. Perhaps it was the stress of a life like that.
The grandmother seemed slightly frustrated, "You didn't have to do that."
Ollie changed from satisfied to satisfactory, "You didn't want me to put in so much effort for you, so I did something that requires less effort."
His grandmother laughed, "You're too clever."
He looked away, "Maybe."
They turned at the sound of approaching footsteps.
Calli entered the house, "How are you?"
Ollie seemed a little disheartened, "We're fine."
He turned and walked over to the leaves, twigs, and stones they had begun using as decoration, "How was it out there?"
He smoothed one of the leaves, removing the creases.
This is all they have of belongings.
They can't reach the houses and retrieve personal items, so they have to use what's underground in the tree.
Actually, it's not even underground in the tree, it's underground in the tree's roots.
Calli tried to smile as she approached him, "It's getting harder. The Javans keep showing up."
She came even closer, "And because winter is coming, they're bringing the pups along and eating even the leftovers."
She reached his side and started arranging some twigs, "This time of year is always harder."
He slowed down his brushing, "But you said the Javan keep showing up. Shouldn't they be decreasing?"
The mother didn't answer.
"If it continues like this, they might live here and there won't be anything left for us."
Calli was shocked.
Ollie stopped brushing.
Oh, no.
She got annoyed, "You know I don't like it when you talk like that!"
Ollie sighed.
Just give in.
"But it's the truth. We don't do anything to stop them."
"Because we can't stop them!"
"I know. Because we're cowards and everything is dangerous."
Calli's expression softened, "This is something that ensures your well-being."
Ollie's expression became sadder.
"I didn't say it's wrong. It's just that..."
Ollie took a breath.
"Is that it? We have to live based on distrust and weakness, because otherwise it would be blind faith?"
Calli's expression was more empathetic, "Your father said that years ago, you don't have to be literal."
Ollie dropped the spoon and fell on his bottom.
"I know he still thinks that. He only looks me in the eyes once in a while."
Calli raised her hand to his shoulder, but stopped just short. Her expression seemed to be searching for some thought.
Then she placed her hand firmly on his shoulder, "He doesn't blame you. He just doesn't know what to do."
Ollie rolled her eyes in a slightly ironic way and rubbed her wrist under one eye, "He's not the only one."
She slid her hand down his back, rubbing it gently.
And everything went silent.
Silent in a way that seemed to require some noise.
"Ah? Calli?"
She turned to her grandmother. Ollie turned slightly less.
She smiled like someone who had no teeth left, "Could you get me some water?"
It took her a second to widen her eyes, "Oh, sure!"
She walked to a pool of linear stones on the other side of the house.
She looked inside, not seeing a drop of water.
She was disappointed, "We already have to fill this up again."
And she left on all fours.
And silence returned.
Ollie was now fiddling with the sticks his mother had been fiddling with, just looking bored with them.
His grandmother stared at his back with a firm look, "Your father loves you."
Ollie let out a tired sigh, "I love him too."
"You love him so much that you just feel guilty because you think that's what he wants."
Ollie stopped fiddling with the sticks.
"And why wouldn't I be guilty? Look how we're living. Look how you are."
"You're not to blame for me being like this. You're not to blame for any of this."
Her gaze seemed to try to comfort him, "You were just a child. You just..."
"You trusted others too much?"
She gave a very small smile.
"Because you had hope. You believed in the goodness of the world."
Ollie turned slowly.
His eyes were bright, but there were no tears.
"That's a strange thing to say when you tried to teach me to be careful by telling me the legend of the fire wolf."
She looked away, looking disappointed, "Like your mother said, it was for your own good. I just recognize that these are difficult times."
She looked back at him, "But I've lived long enough to be in a time when happiness and suffering were two balanced things, instead of opposites fighting each other for more space."
Disappointment, worry, are parts of life just like loving and being happy. It's not fair for you to blame yourself for experiencing this, especially with the good heart you have."
She placed her hands on either side of her body on the bed, seeming to get up, "We make choices that affect lives, so we are responsible for our decisions."
She pulled herself up enough to propel herself out of bed, standing on trembling legs.
She tried to walk, but it felt like she was going to fall at any moment.
Ollie very quickly went to her and held her arms, keeping her upright.
Her eyebrows furrowed.
Her hands looked thin, thinner than a normal Pookoo's.
He looked at her legs; they looked weak from atrophy.
And then he looked at her torso; it was thin, almost empty.
The abnormal amount of fur she had hid her condition.
And his eyes widened.
"How much have you been eating?"
They looked into each other's eyes.
He was worried, and she was composed, with a look of comfort.
"We are responsible for our choices...and I chose that I'm too old to have to take food from you. I am completely responsible for what happens."
Ollie's expression changed.
He was becoming more broken, hurt. Sad.
"You're already responsible, you shouldn't blame yourself. You hate yourself too much for doing something with your heart."
He stood motionless. With that broken expression.
He slowly led her back to the bed, letting her sit down.
He let go of her and walked back a little, without breaking his gaze.
From one of the tunnels, the mother emerged with a grayish-brown root, polished in a way that looked like a cup.
She walked over to the grandmother, who took it with a smile, "Thank you," and began to drink.
The mother turned to Ollie, "Can you help me get water for—"
She grew worried when she noticed his expression.
"Uh-huh," he said monotonously. And walked outside, still without breaking his expression.
The scene shifted to the outside, showing the tree and some Javan nearby.
As the sunlight faded, the Javan disappeared or stayed in their makeshift dwellings. And everything became quieter.
The scene shifted back inside the house, now darkened and with everyone asleep in their beds.
Ollie lay on his side, his back to his grandmother, still stuck in that hurt expression.
He just kept thinking.
He thought about every word his grandmother had said.
He knows he's responsible, that's why he feels guilty.
Isn't feeling guilty a sign of empathy, of character?
But then again...if that were enough, his father would have already looked at him...
Ollie can't feel any more guilty to solve this, so maybe his grandmother was a little right about the direction he chose.
What should he do?
"You have a good heart."
Just having good intentions isn't enough, he needs results.
Suddenly, a weak breath became loud, as if he were out of breath.
Ollie's eyes widened.
It was his grandmother.
It was a very noisy breathing, as he tried to force himself to pull in air, but the sound made it seem like it wasn't working.
Ollie didn't turn around; he kept looking ahead.
With each attempt to breathe, the noise decreased a little.
Ollie's body tensed. He couldn't turn around.
She chose this, and he honestly didn't know what to do.
The noise was getting slower.
His eyes were getting brighter, and for the first time, his expression was changing, unfortunately to something sadder.
The sound was becoming inaudible.
He clenched his fist.
The labored breathing disappeared.
The night silence returned.
Lines of tears formed in his eyes and were initially absorbed by his fur, but it got so wet that they ran down to the bed.
He sniffled.
She chose this; she took responsibility.
But she did it for them without thinking about how they would feel.
Her good intentions weren't enough, not for him.
Responsibility requires more.
It requires a general effort.
He had a determined expression.
And he'll go through those Javan if necessary to get any results.