I used to be Connor, but not anymore.
I am an African Grey Parrot.
I am mischevious, friendly, and what some would call a 'very clever bird'.
But don't let my small size and playful disposition fool you;
I do bite.



His first coherent thought was Why does everything look so big? The second thought was Wait, where am I?

It was so strange when eyes that weren't his own opened up. It felt like a dream; It was too beautiful, the air felt too clean. Oh, and he had been scaled down to less than a tenth of his normal height and he had wings and a bill. Much to his dismay however, after exploring the area and speaking with the inhabitants of his 'dream', the African Grey eventually concluded that this was, in fact, very real.

Panic kicked in as questiins attacked him.
---
~Several days later~

It feels like summer. So I'll call myself August. Besides, the other me, Connor, wasn't a bird, right? Right. The parrot thought as he tried to figure out how to crack open the walnut at his feet. The last few days have been frusterating, but solving simple problems like these seemed to ease away the stress. Eating regularly seemed to help too, despite him having yet to feel hungry.

He picked up the nut and worked it around in his bill, watching the animals frolicking down below from his perch on a banister with curious detatchment.

Jay listened to Hunter and Scarlet with a detached air. He couldn't help it. Something kept nagging at him despite the fact that he knew he should feel most concerned about the moving halls. It was just that...when were they moving? He'd seen so much proof of it, but he'd yet to see the halls move when they were looking at them. So was it only when they turned their backs?

"Hey! Hey guys!" he huffed, fluttering all over the place when he came to his conclusion. He even smacked the other two a bit with his wings, but he was too excited to care. "What if we want the halls to change? Make a map! We definitely need a map, but we need to follow the passages that open up after we pass by! The Menagerie doesn't want us to find the way, so it only shows after we've passed by!"

It was a wild theory, but it just might be the right one.

~~~

The hall Mrs. Mouse had led them down opened into a wide space with vines looping from the ceiling and a beautiful, carved-wood banister that separated an upper story with skylights above. It looked similar to many of the other rooms, except this one housed a great deal of animals. It seemed that they'd run into so few on their journey despite the fact that The Menagerie housed so many. Animals were social though, clumping together whether still sentient or not. She found herself staring up in wonder, wishing she could fly like some of the birds she saw perched above.

Scarlet ducks under Jay's wing as she tries to look up at him, no easy feat, "Jay, Jay calm down a little and please stop trying to smack us with your wings. Take a deep breath I know you are excited but calm down a little please. I already started making a map and I agree with that theory that the walls change when the Menagerie wants them too. What if we all took a section of area where we could hear each other if someone got into trouble and start mapping them out?"

Loki and Night looked terrified at the thought of being.social.

August's eyes pinned in satisfaction at the loud snap! of the walnut cracking open in his bill. Strange. It usually doesn't taste this good... He pondered as he chewed thoughtfully on the edibile center. He gazed down at his fellow creatures--
....Was that mouse looking at him? She appeared intelligent, sentient. Did she need something?
Oh, August. You're so nosy. The parrot thought. Curiosity getting the better of him, he tilted his head and fluttered down to her, telling himself he just wanted to be polite.

"Oh, alright," Jay huffed despite still not feeling the least bit calm. He'd had a major breakthrough here. Shouldn't they all feel this excited? He flew up toward the third fork in the hall which hadn't been there before. "We'll each take a leaf then and map this whole place out. If it's just revealing what was hidden before, then The Menagerie probably isn't moving at all. We just feel like it is. We'll see when we have a map. Just remember that the hidden places are where we should be going."

~~~

Mrs. Mouse was so focused on staring at the skylight that she almost missed the movement of a parrot until the bird was right in front of her. "Oh, hello there. I hope you didn't think I was staring rudely," she murmured, twittering her tiny paws together. But it wasn't unusual that they should gain attention. After all, she was a mouse traveling with a group of predators.

August sighed and shook his head understandingly. "No, that's alright ma'am. A bit surprising, considering there are much more colorful birds in the room, but alright." He gestured vaguely to a nearby Major Mitchell's Cockatoo as if to prove his point. "But if you don't mind me asking, is there a reason you were gazing up at the ceiling like that? Did you need anything at all?"

Which included two cats. Who were busy arguing over whether they had to be socula or not.

Mrs. Mouse tutted over her shoulder. "Now, now. Don't argue in front of someone who's acting like such a gentleman." Loki and Night really never stopped. She turned back to the parrot, offering her best approximation of a grin. "Oh you see, I was gazing at the skylight, wondering how we might be able to get up there. We're looking for the door out of this place and I'm sure that skylight marks the center-point." It just didn't look like there as an obvious way to get up there excluding flying and skilled climbing animals.

"Theres no qau out i told you!"

"Yes here is!"