i have never had a coherent thought in my life

Delta was strange. They always had been and Mallard never minded, however he couldn’t help but worry about what the others at their school might think. Too many backhanded compliments from other parents would do that. Delta never noticed though and Mallard was thankful for that. 

Unfortunately, –or maybe it was fortunate, Mallard hadn’t decided yet– the friends Delta made as they grew up were equally as weird. One of their most recent ones, Hickory, apparently talked to fish on the regular. Mallard was assured that the fish responded, but once again he wasn’t sure if that was good or not. She was a nice kid, at least, and got along pretty well with the Fledgelings. 

All of Delta’s friends had picked up on their little trinket collection. Most of it had been left behind when they had to move out of the Aviary, but it steadily regrew to its original size as they brought old coins and rocks and buttons and all sorts of other stuff with them when they would hang out. Hickory would bring shells and sea glass, Al would find rusted screws and gears that were unusable, and Nosk would bring dice and whatever else he could scrounge up. They were obviously searching for these; Delta never picked up or mentioned it though.

The worst however, were the bones. 

Yes, much to Mallard’s dismay, Delta would add bones to their collection and even had a whole separate box to organize them. It was never teeth though, only ever the occasional fang. Mallard would have fainted if one of them had brought a tooth. 

So yes, Delta and their friends were strange children. Maybe it was a good thing he never let the Abvolates take custody of Delta, they never would have allowed it.

Back to the present time. Delta was going out on an “adventure,” as Hickory had put it, for about a week or two. They were definitely coming home with more to their collection, which Mallard and Pilot had made an agreement to make a better box for their things as a surprise for when they got back. He couldn’t help but worry about them, it was only going to be Delta and Hickory.

That’s right, even after everything that had happened, Mallard was letting Delta go off by themself with one other person and no adult supervision. “Think of it like a camping trip,” they had said, grinning. “It’ll be fun! And, no dangerous activities planned.” Like that had made it better. Pilot and him talked about it before he agreed to let them go with Hickory. 

At least they would be traveling along the coast, that would make it easier to track them down if needed. It won’t be, they’ll be fine.

The day the two left, Mallard had given them extra food and bottled water, just in case. Sure, Delta was a decent forager thanks to the Fledgelings and Hickory could fish, but still. That was his baby going out there. He had told them both to be safe and pay attention to their surroundings, while Pilot had handed a small parcel to Delta and said:

“See you in a few weeks kiddo, remember to always carry a switchblade and ibuprofen.”

(Ibuprofen was under a different brand name that the author had not made up out of laziness, but now the readers know what Pilot is talking about.)

Delta nodded before Mallard could tell him off and they and Hickory sprinted off towards the gate of the front yard, giggling. Pilot had a smug look on his face. Mallard resisted the urge to smack him and instead waved and said goodbye to the two. Although, once they were out of sight Mallard stopped resisting and punched him lightly on the shoulder. 

It was not light, unfortunately. Pilot let out an “ow” before trying to return the favor and hitting Mallard back. He missed and Mallard got on to him. “We are not encouraging Delta to start carrying around weapons!”

Pilot rubbed his shoulder where Mallard had hit him. “We aren’t encouraging anything, I’m just making sure they’re safe on their trip.”

Mallard shook his head. He’s insane. He didn’t voice that, just went back inside as Pilot called out behind him. “Besides, it’s not like they’re going to get into trouble. They’re smart kids.”

“I know I know.” He sighed.