[Critique Group 1] submission for november 2018

[sitting.duck at springmail.com]

The story so far:
Abandoned by her flock, Sitting, a visually impaired duck, was walking south for the winter when she found a crippled grasshopper who offered to help her in exchange for not being eaten.
Their journey brought them to The Crystal Pond, an abandoned province in the kingdom of Hades Legions which is currently at war with the kingdom of Silent Enigma.
They are summoned to a meeting of the rulers of the various provinces in the kingdom where some of the rulers consider her useless because she is not a warrior, and others suspect her of being an enemy spy. 
Two provinces have already been disabled by the enemy kingdom, and a new monarch is needed. Sitting suggests that they could defeat the enemy with cunning rather than fighting. This rash suggestion leads to her being accepted as the new monarch.
Expectation that she can solve the problem and get them out of war in one piece weighs heavily on Queen Sitting.
She has never ruled anything in her whole life and has no idea what to do. In fact, she is not even sure she understands the problem.
Following a school of fish in the Crystal Pond successfully killing the dragon sent against the kingdom, Regis and Dark Merlin, two of the kingdoms rulers, appear at the Crystal Pond to help her dispose of the dragon. They assure her that The kingdom will support her. Dark Merlin helps her understand the messaging system, and she invites all the rulers to come for a feast.
The next morning After celebrating her killing the dragon, she finds that her food stores have been stolen, her province ravaged by fire and storm, and many of her subjects killed.
What has she gotten herself into?
If that isn't bad enough, she tries to fly and ends up crashing and feeding grasshopper to a fish.
What is the use of going on? Can our mild mannered duck meet the challenge? Or, is it time to cut her losses and hid south.

1747 words
Part six
A Decision

The fish, first was stunned to find himself with a mouthful of Grasshopper, then started laughing uncontrollably, thus spitting Grasshopper out. Grasshopper spread his wings and made a somewhat safe landing on the other side of Sitting.

“Are you nuts?” Grasshopper scolded. “What were you thinking. You didn't tell me you couldn't fly. What kind of duck doesn't know how to fly. You could have killed me. Killed us both. Good grief. I need a bath.”

“Sorry. I told you before I ran into things a lot.”

“That was supposed to be because you couldn't see.”

“Um. Speaking of that. As soon as I took off, I could see clearly. I got distracted.”

“And, for that reason you decided to kill us both?”

Sitting lowered her head in shame. “I guess I'm just a worthless duck. I can't fly. I can't see. I get myself tangled up in all kinds of messes...” She sat down and stretched her head and neck out on the ground. “Just go get Regis. I'm ready to go.”

Grasshopper paused, looking at Sitting with her closed eyes and neck outstretched. Was that a tear trickling down? he wondered. Slowly, his anger abated. “I'm sorry. it's not that bad. I guess it just takes time. But, next time, watch where we're going.”

Sitting bowed her neck, raising her head slightly. Her bill still resting on the ground, “Quack! “I can't see any more.” she mumbled mournfully. “For a moment after we took flight, I could see. Now it's gone.” She kept looking around, but everything was as blurry as ever.

Grasshopper crawled over to Sitting and, hopping up on the carrier, wrapped it around himself again. “Maybe there is a way to fasten this shield so I won't be thrown out.”. Raising the shield again, he began examining it to see if there was a way to latch it in place.

“Hey, I can see!” She began whipping her head first in one direction and then the other again, trying to see everything. Again, Grasshopper sailed out of the carrier. This time he was headed for the castle wall. He spread his wings and managed to land safely. “What is it with the acrobatics this morning?” 
“It's gone, but I could see for a second.”

“What?” said Grasshopper, hopping over to land in front of her.
“I could see again. Just for a moment after you got back in the carrier.”

“Are you done slinging your head around?”

Sitting sighed. “Yes. Sorry.” She lowered her head so Grasshopper could climb back aboard.

Repositioning himself in the carrier, Grasshopper paused to think. He had been in the carrier constantly since Dark Merlin had put it on Sittings head. The only difference was when he had raised the windshield when She launched herself into the air from the window sill. 

This time he examined the carrier carefully. He had raised the small clear flap at the front edge of the carrier thinking it would shield him from the wind in flight. As soon as they were airborne, Sitting had begun whipping her head first one way and then the other so he couldn't see the pond they were flying toward. When he looked around the edge of the shield, she had whipped her head in the direction of the pond moving his focus to the tree stubs beside the pond. When he had looked forward again, the bank was coming up swiftly and then they had crashed.

“I want to try something. I want you to keep your head perfectly still. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Grasshopper ducked his head and moved back into the carrier, raising the shield.

Sittings vision cleared. She immediately forgot her promise and began looking all around.

Grasshopper was prepared. He turned loose of the shield, and dug his feet into the side of the carrier.

Sittings vision blurred.
“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Trying to keep you from slinging me out. If you're going to keep moving your head so much, let me get off.” He started to get out of the carrier. “Then, you can twist to your hearts content.”

“I could see. I was trying to see everything. It was amazing. Now, it's gone again.”

“Hum,. Hold still.” Grasshopper moved deeper into the carrier, and raised the shield again.

As before, Sitting's vision sharpened. This time she kept her head still. “What did you do?”

“I raised the shield. The part of the carrier that is supposed to help me stay on when you are flying. It turns clear. It seems that when it is up, you are able to see what I see.”

“When I launched off the window sill, I was able to see to fly. It was amazing. For the first time, I could see clearly. I was looking at everything. The leaves in the pond, the fish floating on the surface, the clouds up above, the charred remains of the trees, the blades of grass on the ground; it was amazing.”

Grasshopper moved forward a little, and peeked around the shield. “Can you see?”

“Yes. But, I'm seeing things off to the side.”

Grasshopper tucked his head under a fold of the carrier. “Can you see?”

“No,” she said sadly.

He brought his head out so he could see again. “Can you see?”

“Yes.”

It's the carrier. Somehow, it seems to be transferring what I see directly to your mind when the shield is up. I won't have to tell you what I see anymore, I think you will be able to get it directly from my mind.”
“Hum, I wonder what else it can do?” 

“Dark Merlin said that when we put the visor down, we would be invisible. I'm not sure what...” Grasshopper noticed a flap folded back against the top of the carrier. “I wonder what this does?” He slipped the ends of his antennae between the flap and the top of the carrier. The flap dropped down and snapped into place on the top edge of the raised windshield. “Ah, that's the latch I was looking for. Now, maybe I won’t get thrown out so easily.”

Sitting started looking around again. More slowly, this time. Despite the destruction to her land, it was marvelous to be able to see the sharp lines of the trees, the clutter of leaves and ash on the pond, and, sadly, the scales on the dead bodies of the fish floating in the pond. 

“Hey. Where did you go?” 

Sitting turned her head toward the sound. An unfamiliar head was staring at them from the water.
“Who are you?”

“Where are you?” said the fish.

“I'm right here. In front of you.”

“I can't see you. You were there, and then you just disappeared.”

Grasshopper tugged on the visor with his antennae and it snapped back up to the top of the carrier.

“Oh. There you are again. I am the new lead fish. The former lead fish was killed along with many of our school. They will be gathered into the storage bins as soon as possible. They can be eaten. They gave their lives for the province. We know that most of the food has been stolen. They would want their bodies to serve the kingdom.”

Sitting looked at all the floating bodies. She felt a terrible sense of loss. She hadn't known them individually, but they had done what they could to help her. The thought of eating them, now, was sickening. “Yes,” she agreed. “Would you be able to see to that?”

“Yes, My Liege.”

“Thank you. I will be talking to you again later,” she said as she turned and began walking toward the castle.

She had much to think about. How could she fly away and abandon these creatures that had done so much to welcome her, and make her feel at home. But, she had no idea what to do. she felt she had friends now, and she was sure they would do whatever they could to help. Then, there was the surrender option. She didn't know exactly how to do that. Also, the members of this kingdom were enduring a lot of pain and hardship because they had refused to surrender. She didn't understand why. It seemed the obvious way out, but Dark Merlin and others had suggested that surrender was the last thing they were willing to do.

“Could we go around to the edge of the castle where that puddle of stagnant water was?” asked Grasshopper.

Sitting, deep in thought, turned toward the repaired battlement and walked around to the puddle Grasshopper had mentioned.

She sat down beside it and stared at her reflection in the water. Suddenly, her image disappeared. “Hey, I'm blind again. I can't see myself.” She raised her head and began looking around. She could see the sharp lines of the stones in the battlement, and the ant mound behind the castle. She tilted her head toward the water again. She saw some mosquito larva floating on the water. She snatched them up with her bill. “Where is my bill?”
Then, her head and neck reappeared in the water.
“What's going on?” she asked.

“The visor,” said Grasshopper. “I figured it out. When I raise the windshield, you are able to see what I see. I found a flap in the top of the carrier. When I lower it, it snaps into place on the edge of the windshield. When it is lowered, we are invisible.”
He raised the visor again, and Sittings image appeared in the water. “Now, I'm pulling it down.” Her image disappeared.

“Well,” she said. “That's a handy little bit of knowledge.”
She waded out into the puddle and gazing out over the charred remains of her province, settled down on the water to think. The province is a mess. The enemy is going to destroy me along with the rest of the kingdom if I hang around. I don’t belong here. My presents is just an accident. There is nothing I can do to help.
“Lower the visor, snap yourself in. We're going south for the Winter.”

Saying nothing, Grasshopper pulled the visor down, and it snapped into place on the top edge of the windshield as Sitting spread her wings and lifted them both into the air.

On the ground, tiny eyes filled with despair as the flapping of wings followed by a rush of air marked her departure.
To be continued...