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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.


Alden had not wanted to go into the cave. As much as he liked being out in the wilderness and helping people at his new job as a Park Ranger, much better than just being a student at the local University, he didn’t like caves that much. Especially when it was starting to get dark outside, which meant it would be harder for him to find his way out. Still, he had to come and investigate the reports they had gotten about either a bird or someone being trapped in the cave. If either were the case, he would have to call in backup. If there was one thing he had learned, it was to never go climbing or go into caves alone, at least not without letting someone know you are there. He had left his current coworker to go and search it himself.

If there was one thing he could say about his job, was that they didn’t nearly have enough people scheduled when they should. So that meant one person staying at the office and doing office things and the other doing… everything else. Not much could be done with just two people.

But there was no turning back now. He could see the mushrooms that people had been talking about and had to admit that they did look interesting. They would have looked cool under the moonlight but they were too far into the cave for it. Still, he snapped a picture of his phone, just to have a picture of them. Maybe he could find better ones that people posted later.

He continued to walk into the cave, shining his flashlight, with plenty of batteries and an extra packed just in case, when he thought he heard the rustling of feathers and suddenly he felt something on his shoulder. He couldn’t help but jump a bit as he turned his flashlight and immediately saw what looked to be a raven, but it was… off somehow. He couldn’t say how without taking a picture and carefully examining the two, but it definitely was not a raven that he knew of.

“This must be what they were talking about…” He mumbled to himself and suddenly the bird said, but louder “ABOUT!” Which echoed through the cave quite a bit, and Alden could only hope that there wasn’t some Youma or other magical monster at the end of it that would get angry from being woken from it’s slumber.

He waited a minute or two to see if he could hear anything else, with the “raven” curiously looking at him, before he let out a sigh. He hadn’t heard anything at least. Suddenly with a “CAW!” The bird went for one ofå his side pockets and fished out his compass? It flew to a nearby ledge and started to poke at it and Alden could only groan. “Really?” It wasn’t an expensive compass or anything, but it meant that he would have to replace it now, not something he liked to do if he could help it.

Still, the “raven” seemed satisfied with it’s prize and flew off into the tunnel where Alden lost sight of it. He just shook his head as he made his way back out to the entrance. They would have to put up warning signs that there was a bird in there that could steal one’s possessions and to avoid bringing in anything that one didn’t want to lose.