double the stomachs, double the hunger

Zephyr's world was expanding quickly, at almost the rate his young body was exploding with growth. The fact that he was once content to remain nested within his fireplace was almost laughable now, with the wide world of Artorias' castle in view. His savior wolf had found for him some food, cleaned the soot and spider webs from his face, and eventually unleashed him upon the Hallows.

The fledgling argentavis had been told where the exit was - an oversized main door that led out into the courtyard. The prospect of going quite that far was still overwhelming, so he noted its position to explore more at a later time. Toddling across the stone floors across the spacious high-ceilinged grand foyer to the east, he made his way through into the next wing. Some of the wooden doors here were shut, and no matter how hard Zephyr scrabbled against them they would not open for a bird of his size. He slid his body onto the floor and tried to peek through the bottom crack to investigate within, but found his beak too fat for his far-set eyes to reach to see.

Abandoning the inaccessible room, he continued across toward the first opened door he was able to find. The chick was not entirely sure what this room's purpose was, but judging from its comfortable-looking furnishings, warm inviting lighting, and lack of any strewn personal possessions he figured it was a communal zone of sorts. He wobbled forward, giving the various bits of furniture a cautionary yank with his beak as he passed by. In places the floor changed too, growing thicker and warmer and colorful then the surrounding stone. It felt nice upon his talons, reminiscent almost of his nest, and Zeph made a note to ask Artorias for one of the special floors for his own sleeping area.

Reluctantly abandoning the very cushiony flooring, Zeph made his way back toward the expansive hallway. His talons clicked loudly as he sauntered past closed door after closed door until, another room appeared.

The chick hopped forward through the open doorframe, watching with wonder as the stone morphed into a smooth cold tile. Pits of various sizes were built into the floor, each with an odd hole-ish circle at the bottom that Zeph was certain would consume him if he moved too close. He hop-stepped closer still, avoiding the massive death pit and instead reaching for the odd contraption hanging over it. Though the bird stretched out his neck and pried open his beak, it remained frustratingly just out of reach. Relaxing his body with a sigh, he turned his head to survey the rest of the room. Small things that might have been food were on a nearby stand and -

-plop! He was under attack! Fluffed up in all his glory he raced unevenly away from the rogue water droplet, scurrying past the might-be-food stuff and out into the safety of the hall. It did not take long before Zephyr decided this wing of the castle wasn't that great at all. He hurried back past the closed doors and the soft-floor room, hooking a left back into the grand foyer and by the time his tired talon reached the stairs, heaving a full-body sigh.

How big was this castle? It would be easy to remain here where there was plenty of food traffic, SOMEONE would find the poor exhausted bird and take him somewhere warm with lots of food, right? Though he couldn't anticipate how long he might wait, and the longer he stood before the stairs the more his hunger grew. Giving in to his constantly roaring stomach, the bird continued on toward the west wing.

Already the first room was much better than any of the others on this floor, and though Zephyr's sense of smell was nothing compared to the wolves, he could tell there was food here somewhere. Hopping along the stones with his wet head forgotten, he moved through the grand room in search of the hidden feast. Emulating his wolf role models his beak tipped up as he waddled, waiting for the scent to guide him as it seemed it guided his furred family.

This room never seemed to end, and poor Zephyr was practically dragging himself across the ground as he made it to the doorway that smelled like heaven. It was much smaller than he'd expected the adjoining room to be and smelled more of fire than anything else food-ish. Confused, he continued past until a small dimly lit stairway came into view.

Zephyr was not good at stairs, this much he already knew. However there was very little the stomach-guided bird would not do for food. It took him mere moments to banish the instinctual fear of falling and for the hatchling had decided the risk was worth the reward. Zephyr turned himself so that he could move down backwards, beak stabilizing his descent.

This room was the best room of the house, surely. Ecstatic chirps peeled from his open beak as he waddled through, sniffing hard and trying to find a foothold to reach the higher-up morsels of meat.  

WORD COUNT: 858

"Zephyr"