Bo paused in his attempt at walking when his ears picked up a familiar sound: Twigs hopping toward him.

He spun around grinning when he saw his best friend rapidly run-hopping toward him. 'Twigs!' he cried out, abandoning his training to hug her.

'H-hi, Bo,' she said quietly. She patted him on the back gently before stepping back. 'W-what a-are you d-doing?'

'I'm walking! Or, well, trying to walk...'

'How c-come?'

'Um...' Bo looked down. Should he tell her? Branut said he shouldn't spill...But surely Twigs would keep his secret, right? It would be fine. But just in case...

He took a glance around but so no one watching them. But he knew from experience that just because his eyes couldn't pick up anything, it didn't mean that no one was around. He strained his ears but could hear nothing in particular. His whiskers picked up no subtle vibrations creeping toward him.

Satisfied, he leaned in closer to Twigs and whispered: 'I met a Squirrel and she said she would teach me how to fight if I learned how to walk.'

Her eyes widened and she whispered back: 'R-really? D-do you t-think she would t-teach m-me, too?'

Bo frowned. 'Why would you wanna fight?'

'...I-I don't w-wanna b-be helpless a-anymore, Bo. I-I wanna d-do something.'

'Well...I guess I could ask her. But I have to learn how to walk first. She might not teach you if you can't walk, though.'

'I-I hop!'

'Yeah, but that's not walking.'

'B-but...h-how do I walk?'

'Uh...with your legs?'

They both stared at Twigs' legs. They were thick and puffy while her talons were long and arched. They were suited for gripping things, not walking. How would she walk?

'Well...maybe you could copy me?'

'H-huh?'

'Well, I have to put one leg in front of the other so maybe you should try that?'

Twigs nodded and proceeded to spend the next five minutes trying to move her legs in the way Bo told her. Nothing worked. Frustrated, she threw up her wings and hopped onto the nearby rock to go sulk.

'Oh, come on, Twigs! I know it's hard but it's not gonna happen instantaneously.'

Twigs looked at him. 'H-huh?'

He puffed out his chest and raised his ears high before bragging: 'Michi taught me that word. He said it means something happens super fast.'

'Oh...B-but I spent f-five minutes d-doing i-it! That's n-not i-instan...i-instantan-That's n-not s-super f-fast!'

Bo shrugged. 'I don't know what to do...Maybe if we knew an ostrich...'

'W-what's an o-ostrich?'

'Um...I think it's a bird.'

'W-why would w-we need o-one.'

'Because...' Bo thought hard. Why would they need an ostrich? And how did he know what one was? They weren't in any of Michi's books...Maybe he met an ostrich one time and forgot? But he didn't think he'd forget an ostrich...He just needed to think super-duper-extra hard and-

{You have received a Memory. Processing...processing...knowledge of the species 'Ostrich' has been updated!}

'They can walk!' he cried.

Twigs hopped up, just as excited as he was. 'S-so if w-we f-find an o-ostrich, I-I can l-learn how t-to walk?'

Bo nodded fiercely.

'B-but where w-would we f-find one?'

'Well...they live in Australia.'

'Where's t-that?'

'Uh...in Australia?'

'H-huh?'

'I don't know...My brain hurts. Let's just go ask Michi.'

'M-Michi isn't h-here, though.'

'Um...maybe Lima Bean?'

'She's t-talking w-with M-Momma.'

Bo sighed. All of the adults he knew were all busy. Why couldn't there be one around just to answer his questions? Life was so frustrating!

'S-so if w-we don't k-know where A-Australia is, w-we can't g-get to i-it...Then w-we can't f-find an o-ostrich a-and I c-can't walk!' Twigs was working herself into a frenzy but Bo managed to calm her down.

'What if we just used magic?'

She glared at him. 'H-how w-would magic m-make me w-walk?'

'Um...' Bo thought hard again. There had to be some way magic could be used here. Michi said magic could do anything! His [Trickery] perk was buzzing in the back of his head and the barest dregs of an idea were forming. But he didn't have it just yet!

He pulled up his Status and dumped the rest of his unspent AP (he had 14 left after originally spending one when Lima Bean told him to fix his Status) into his Intelligence stat. He would have to be smarter! Feeling like he was on to something, he refocused on his perk, trying to understand what it was telling him.

I have to upgrade the perk to tier II! he decided. To tier up, [Trickery] needed five Perk Points. Bo purchased the second tier and then boom. He knew what to do!

Grinning at Twigs, he told her his Super-Duper-Extra Awesome Plan.