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The Guardian (12) - Maybe you expected weeds and mushrooms down here. Maybe you expected bugs. You probably didn’t expect a raven. Or, at least, it looks like a raven. It is a rather large bird, and seems so impeccably groomed that it almost doesn’t even look real. It has no dust, no dirt, no feathers out of line. Sometimes, it seems to mind its own business, but in the darkness you can hear its flapping wings and scratching the ground nearby. All the same, it is very curious about you. Sometimes it will follow you around. It is unintimidated by you in the slightest, and seems to hold no regard for personal boundaries. It might stand at your feet, or on your shoe, or land on your shoulder if it feels like it. It will pick through your hair or pockets, like it is looking for something. It likes jewelry, and you might be wise to remove what you have once the bird starts poking around.
The raven does not just croak or chatter, it talks. Sometimes, it will repeat what you say perfectly. Sometimes it will repeat it in a mocking tone. Sometimes it says something completely new. Maybe you hear it whisper ‘help me’, or you hear it weep, or scream, but sometimes–when you look at it–it seems like it understands. Occasionally, it makes a vague observation about your expression or hair, and while it does not carry out a conversation, there is an intelligence in its eyes that makes it seem like it’s amused by you. It cannot be caught and will shriek and attack if you attempt to cause it, or the cemetery, any harm. It will bite, scratch, and peck until it chases you way, so it’s best to do no harm and let it be.
The raven does not just croak or chatter, it talks. Sometimes, it will repeat what you say perfectly. Sometimes it will repeat it in a mocking tone. Sometimes it says something completely new. Maybe you hear it whisper ‘help me’, or you hear it weep, or scream, but sometimes–when you look at it–it seems like it understands. Occasionally, it makes a vague observation about your expression or hair, and while it does not carry out a conversation, there is an intelligence in its eyes that makes it seem like it’s amused by you. It cannot be caught and will shriek and attack if you attempt to cause it, or the cemetery, any harm. It will bite, scratch, and peck until it chases you way, so it’s best to do no harm and let it be.
"No pictures, no pictures!"
The voice startled Asuka out of her quiet, thoughtful reverie as she moved between the gravestones. She spun, and this time, there was sometihng--uilluminated by jher flashlight,t here was a large, black burd.
A raven, it had to be. She remembered all she'd heard aobut how to tell the difference--about how if you looked at a black bird an thought 'is that a raven?' iot was probably a crow, but fi yuo looked at it and thought 'that bird is the size odf a ******** cat,' it was, indeed, a raven. This bird was definitely large--and strangely perfectly pristine, for a bird tucked in a strange underground cavern.
Ah. Something magical, then. Not a youma, there was no icky youma feeling assaulting her magical senses, but magical nonetheless.
It was practically an instinctive response to bow politely in greeting to the strange creature--it could, after all, be anything, and it was just polite to treat it with the respect it deserved.
"Very well understood, Raven-san! I promise!" She wasn't used to falling back on the polite forms of her homeland, and it felt a little silly on her tongue even as she said it, but every once in a while, you met a bird that just demanded to be addressed as "Raven-san" and you went with it. That was the life of a magical girl. "I didn't mean to disturb anyone or anything, really, this place is just so wonderful I wanted to document it." It regarded her for a long moment, and then, after, it seemed satisfied.
"Pretty girl," the bird said, and then it opened its great wings, flapped over to her, and began tugging at the strings of her tiara. Asuka blinked, briefly, and then reached up and pulled it off, offering it to the strange creature.
"A gift, then, for Raven-san, the guardian of this place," she said. An offering, more like. He seemed like the type of spirit who was quite used to having offerings made to him. "May I continue exploring?"
"Explore, explore," the raven chitttered back, almost cheerfully. Asuka took that as permission enough. She started walking, again, taking in the sights. With the weight of her new friend on her sohulder, she had to shift a little, but all in all her wasn't too difficult to carry, and he seemed to have taken to preening her hair, which was sort of a nice sensation, all in all.
But after a few moments of walking, he-it-her new friend chittered, and spread his wings, and took off.
"Over here," his strange crackly voice said.
"Raven-san?" She called after him, confused. A little frown tugged at the corners of her mouth, and she turned to follow, and when her flashlight landed on him in the dim light, he was perched on a tombstone.
"Did you want me to see this?" She asked. He didn't respond, just fluttered his wings.
A beckoning, of sorts, then. Well, far be it for Asuka to ignore such an obvious sign.
[wc: 505 words]
