The Crow Has Eyes (Chapiko)

[Aello]

Summer 15, 512 AV Curled fingers ran over feathers; backs over backs. It was as though one were leaning, but there was no support in that. Moonshine fell into muddied entities. Splaying the edges as though they were tearing corn and leaves from the stalk; until it had grown bare as a blade of grass. The dried, shriveling masses that had want for drink, as opposed to the vibrant, naive and young. Those who had seen to many seasons, and were cast back into the earth, so that new life could sprout anew. The aurist sat simply, legs crossed, huddled against the diamond backed bark of an elderly oak. Lost to the throng of trees, the shadows they cast in the sun's wake. Aello's sparrow was perched upon her pointer. Beady eyes, and those of mud settling upon one another as cupped hand was raised, a chalice without a stem, bearing a simple offering: blackberries. Not truly ripened, for some of the circular beads shimmered a bright red, while others sank into the darkness. But the girl supposed that which was found during their travels would be enough, her bird not being a finicky one; although, she seemed to complain of delicate stomach and figure, in that she rarely saw the creature eat before her. At least of late. "Soon we shall go," Aello whispered as she brought her hand a little closer to the bird, so it would be well within her reach. "Whenever you finish eating Yune, so you may take wing if you wish. You know you're always welcome to perch upon the shoulder, besides the straps." There was a short pause as a soft smile crossed the girl's lips. Her bird had turned her head to the side, and seemed to be peering her rather quizzically. "Oh don't you look at me like that. You know what these are love. Blackberries, your favorite, or at least they used to be..." With that, a sigh escaped her lips. She supposed she didn't know her bird as well as she used to. Ever since she had been spending more time around Alenias, and her own kind, it had been so. But perhaps that was for the best. She was only human after all, how well could she care for something she was not?

[Chapiko]

Ahdemonse. He had appeared to her and led her outside, running down the sunny street without so much as a word. She followed, of course she followed, the coyote she hadn't seen in so long. There was a reason for his appearance, there must be. Of course. So she ran after him, his seemingly translucent being that had barely a shadow. She felt safe near him, and she weaved her way through crowds as he ran out of the horrible and terrifying city of Sunberth and into the Wildlands. Where are we going? She thought to him. You'll see. He thought back, still running. And she was tired from running in this summer heat. Sunlight dappled the ground when it streamed through the leaves, and Ahdemonse seemed to be more visible with each stride. She didn't know how long they were running, but she didn't really care. The excitement of seeing her Guardian was enough fuel for her to run to the ends of the earth and back. And he was gone. Why was he gone? He was just there, had he disappeared into the trees? There was no way she could find her way back, now. Perhaps he was hiding? He liked to play jokes on her...maybe this was his way of telling her that following him because she felt like it wasn't very good. Or maybe he was trying to get her away from the city she traveled to on a whim and a hope that Pasho was there. She focused on her hands, on the ebb of movement around her. There were small things, the birds perhaps, and she barely felt the presence of something larger barely moving. But it was much too large to be Ahdemonse. Perhaps he really was gone? She opened her eyes, and pulled out the golden symbol for Eywaat, two feathers in the shape of an X. She fingered it, pressing her hand into the grooves. And she prayed. "Brother-Crow, please tell me why I'm here, why Ahdemonse appeared and led me here." The entire prayer was whispered in her native Tawna, believing that this was Eywaat's favorite language. Not that she knew this for a fact, but she liked to pretend. And that was when she saw the girl, holding a bird in her hand and whispering to it. Was this what Ahdemonse had led her to? "That's a lovely bird you have there."

[Aello]

At the sound of a woman's voice, Aello turned her head, offering Chapiko her profile. "Thank you," she called. "Her wings are quite lovely, aren't they?" she asked, as her eyes raked over the Chaktawe's form. Taller, heavier, far more muscular in appearance, although she still had doubts about the woman's ability to take her in a fight. Her eyes, two dark, smoldering coals, fixated on Yune's twins, and then her. Soft porcelain skin, stained with streaks of mud, run in; against the drying flesh, as though a sculptor were marrying two different sorts of clay to fit a single mold. "Come stranger. Come Chaktawe," Aello beckoned with naught but a motion of her lithe form. "Another of your kind met with us once. The conversation we had, alone, is enough for you to be welcomed here," she went on, as she pat the ground next to her with the back of her berry laden hand, before lifting her fingers to her bird's feathers once more, and running the backs over them softly. Yune chirped pleasantly as they waited, both eyes fixated on the stranger and what she would do. "Now that what he said is starting to make sense, it leaves one with much to discuss. But finding a probable, like mind, with which to do so has been difficult in all this time passed." For a long time, Aello was silent, allowing Chapiko as much time as she needed to get herself situated. To say whatever she needed to before wearing on. First drawing her bird in just enough where she could lightly kiss her forehead, before lifting her fingers up a little rather rapidly, offering the bird a jump start as she took flight. She watched the sparrow's wings flap in a nearly inaudible hum as she took on height, as light filtered through. As she called to her own kin. The girl's knowing eyes could only follow. "Every bird has eyes you know," she whispered. "Especially the crows." Again, she fell silent as a wind rustled the leaves on the trees, and swept her hair off her shoulders, before letting it delicately back down. "They are a sight to behold. Their feathers as black as your hair, but their hearts..." "Their hearts are something to call into question. Whether they mirror their exterior or not," Aello whispered, her eyes sparkling mysteriously as she turned to take the girl in all the more. "Do you know what it is like to be lost in the beauty of the crow? To allow them to relax you with their voices?" she asked.