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Post by paash on Jun 27, 2009 17:54:44 GMT -5
Crows have always been a sign of bad luck. Whenever a flock would gather around a household, it was believed to be a sign that an ominous event would befall the family residing inside. The crows have been known as the "black birds of misfortune" ever since anyone can remember. Their black feathers have brought fear to several generations of humans.
The superstitious souls of the city were wary on this cloudy day as they came into the town center, as a flock of crows had taken refuge in the middle of the plaza. There were close to thirty crows assembled there, some flying around, scavenging for food, others awaiting the return of those which had flown away to try and steal from them, and others still fighting over some shiny bauble one of them had found. Whenever someone would come too close to the flock, those crows nearest to the intruder would start cawing at it, flapping their wings as a warning to not come any closer. Those who ignored the warning were promptly assaulted, buffeted by a flurry of feathers, talons and beaks until they backed down and left the flock alone.
Chaos was of the essence in the flock, but it was an organized chaos. Amidst the obvious disorder, some might have been able to notice the birds were following a certain hierarchy; usually, the bigger and tougher crows were the ones ordering the smaller ones around, like in a pack of wolves; the alpha males dominated the betas. The chaos was necessary to create the seeming order of things within the group of crows.
One of the black birds didn't seem to follow the order given by chaos, apparently improvising itself as leader of the pack, but being ignored by most. The only time it got a reaction was when it attacked another. Its beak was slightly more crooked than that of other crows, and its yellow eyes stood out from the rest of its black body, glaring at whomever defied the authority it gave itself. Little did anyone know, human or crow, that it was really a Shifter; at times taking on the form of a human, and at others, that of a beast.
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Post by .: T O K I :. on Jun 27, 2009 20:25:39 GMT -5
Damien's cool blue eyes curiously gazed around the main circle. The sky... the rooftops... the ground... the fountain... everywhere he looked there would be birds. Crows to be more exact. They were all doing different things--bathing, eating, fighting, and flying. His eyes momentarily drifted over to some crows flapping around a couple, who later just scrambled off. Something seemed odd about this day, though the teen couldn't put his finger on it--couldn't guess what would happen.
A light wind picked up, though he couldn't feel it through his black hoodie. A few passerby's glanced at him, wondering why he had a jacket on in the middle of summer. Uneasily, he shrugged and flipped his hood over his head in an attempt to make the world disappear. Everyone seemed downcast today... quiet... and cautious. It was like a black cloud had drifted over the town, not that it truly didn't happen once in awhile. Damien sighed to himself in boredom.
His animal instincts were whispering silent words in his head, ones beyond his hearing. His conscious drifted around in his head, trying to tell him something. Ignoring this, he grumbled and began walking around the square. Damien figured in his head, maybe he'll find some clues or better yet, answers. His gaze scoured the area, carefully observing the birds. He was not a pack-structured animal, but it seemed the crows were working together for unknown reasons.
Suddenly his vision went black. In surprise, he flinched and pulled his head back, unaware of his surroundings. Damien titled his head up, flicking his light brown bangs out of his eyes. Startled, his eyes darted around him. He really hadn't walked that far considering how slowly his pace was set to, but it seemed he had accidentally took foot into the crows' assumed territory.
He could feel the crows pin-sharp claws rake against his head, but it seemed lucky for him that he had worn a jacket today. Their beady eyes gleamed with anger and mistrust. With his head down, Damien gritted his teeth and let out a very low warning growl. Unlike anything they had ever seen, the black birds cawed loudly and took off, leaving their victim behind.
Damien titled his head up and cast his eyes after the birds, watching as they flapped over the rooftops. He sighed in annoyance and made is way back to the middle of the town square, avoiding all gazes. He hoped nothing had seemed usual about his... encounter with the strange, strange birds.
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Post by paash on Jun 29, 2009 14:45:15 GMT -5
The intruder's growl had scared away all but one crow. It glared at him with the eyes of one that wouldn't let go, one that wasn't scared of any threat or action, a yellow stare of perfect ease and uncaring for anyone. It was so much so that if no one knew any better, they may interpret it as insolence or mocking. But of course, "an animal can't consciously mock someone".
The flock had left so fast that any item which hadn't found a final owner yet was left behind; bits of food, shiny stones, even a few sparkling pieces of jewelry now littered the center of the plaza. The yellow-eyed crow proceeded to pick up the leftovers; it started with what was closest to itself, not considering whether it was edible or shiny. All of it was its own now that the other crows had abandoned the loot.
With one last glare towards the one who had scared away the other crows, the one that was left ruffled its feathers and cawed; it was almost as though it was trying to make him understand all the items were now its property and he wasn't allowed to come near them.
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Post by .: T O K I :. on Jun 29, 2009 16:15:52 GMT -5
Damien puffed a breath in content. After the last black dot disappeared over the horizon, the city suddenly seemed to burst to life. The citizens picked up their careful steps, the sky seemed brighter without all the black in the sky, dogs could be heard barking, cats could be heard meowing, even the birds were singing. It was something you'd see in a fairy tail--happy people, happy animals, bright sky, and terribly cliche.
Damien's frown lifted into a small, content smile. It was cliche, but the dark feeling had sure dampened everyone's spirits. He slowly turned around while looking about the town. Man was this town superstitious. He briefly wondered what had made it that way, maybe something had happened before. Or the people here are just thinking outside of the box... way outside. Sometimes he couldn't believed he actually lived here, only sometimes.
For a moment he caught sight of a lone crow shuffling and pecking at the ground. He blinked blindly a few times, thinking of a reason as to why it was still here. Hadn't its flock already left? What was it doing here then? It was pretty averaged sized, but its eyes were an odd yellow color and its beak looked crooked. Seeing Damien studying him, the crow ruffled its feathers, making his size look bigger.
It cawed out at him from almost half way across the plaza. Damien looked at the bird side ways and curiously inched forward. He cast a few glances to see if anyone was actually watching him, he did after all have somewhat of a good reputation and didn't want that ruined by him looking stupid--not that his actions would harm that. Who wouldn't be curious of a crow left behind after all the others took off?
He inwardly sighed and brought his attention back to the bird. Damien crouched down and hopped a few paces forward. Once he was at a good distance, he crouched there leaning on his toes, and watched the bird with a patient look. His arms were wrapped around his legs and he leaned his head down, ear to knee. It's not like Damien had anything else to do at the moment.
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Post by paash on Jun 30, 2009 16:35:56 GMT -5
The last remaining crow watched every movement the human made. It seemed to comprehend each of them like it acted from conscience instead of instinct, and therefore was able to know what the motions meant, like a human would. There wasn't any threat in the human's attitude, and it could see that. Had it been acting out of instinct, it would've followed the flock, but it didn't want to be associated with any kind of regroupment for too long.
As the human crouched over to have a better look and tilted his head, the crow mimicked him; it bent forwards and tilted its head in an exagerrated way, all the while keeping an eye on the human, as though hoping that the staring would get on his nerves. It had time for this little staring contest; there was no reason for it to walk away from it; there still remained over three hours before it'd have to change back to human form, and unless it spoke, no one would know it was a Shifter.
It crooned ((is that the right word?)) inquisitively, barely even blinking. It sounded like it was some sort of question; it began low, and got on a higher pitch as it went on. It attempted to taunt the human, for the simple reason that it was funny seeing people lose their temper.
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Post by .: T O K I :. on Jun 30, 2009 18:24:18 GMT -5
As Damien moved the crow mimicked him--every movement, tilt, and twitch seemed copied. The bird's sharp eyes studied him, seeming to see all of him at once. It was kind of odd, but he figured that birds were like that. They were weird, even the ones he had personally met. The boy breathe a light chuckle at the crow, finding it amusing. It was very uncommon to find a bird mimic someone, he kind of looked funny too.
It leaned forward, breast nearly parallel to the ground and titled its head side ways. Damien's smile lifted as he gazed at the crow's antics. The bird's beak opened slightly and he loudly cawed at him. The pitch was low and soon ended in a high call. If Damien knew better, he would've thought the bird was practically taunting him. Even so, he wasn't one easily to be taunted at and give in. It was easy to take things lightly, and just take everything as a joke.
He curiously stared at the bird in wonder, contemplating on what it was thinking. He knew animals could think, but it was usually with instinct rather than with their head. Was this bird sick maybe? It didn't seem likely. Damien's lips barely moved, "You're a very weird bird, you know that?" He whispered quietly. His words blew away with the wind, making it seem like he said nothing.
Damien pulled his head back up and leaned his chin on his hand instead, not wanting to get a neck cramp. He stopped to rub his neck and fortunately he didn't have one, but it did happen every so often. He quietly murmured random words to himself, in which he didn't even know, and looked back up at the bird. Damien contemplated on what to do. Maybe there was food somewhere? He glanced behind the crow for any stores that might have a little something, just for enjoyment of course.
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Post by paash on Jul 10, 2009 23:32:50 GMT -5
There was no goal in the crow's game, only seeing the reaction made it laugh from the interior. A mere lifting of the eyebrow was sufficient to bring satisfaction to it, since it hinted a much greater interior puzzling and confusion. Getting spoken to as well was a very rare opportunity, and merely added to the fun. Since no one could know it really was a Shifter, the humans sounded like complete nutcases when they spoke to it, since they actually knew they were speaking to something that first, couldn't say anything back, and second, might not even understand what was being said in the first place.
Although, this one seemed to keep a normal tone when speaking to it, like it was another person. Some people used a hushed, careful tone if they spoke to it, using very simple terms, which was what made them truly sound dumb, but the simple fact of speaking to it was funny, in its opinion.
It looked downward, then up to the guy again, and then once again to the ground. It didn't look so much like nodding, but it was simply responding for itself, no need for the human to know it was really giving an answer, it would be too obvious, and would break the fun.
As the human got up, the crow straightened its stance as well. It chirped lowly, almost in sync with the human's mumbling which had begun when he had stood up, though it could guess the human was getting bored of speaking to it. It would be time for a little switcheroo very soon, away from any witness.
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Post by .: T O K I :. on Jul 12, 2009 2:19:59 GMT -5
As Damien whispered, the crow twitched it's head. For a moment, it seemed the bird was staring at the ground, though there was nothing there. After a quick pause the bird's eye looked back up at him, but again went back down. Damien brought his head back as if he flinched, but he was only amused. This bird certainly was odd! Neither living as a cat or a human had he encountered something like this. Of course there was those times when the bird's twitched, fluttered, cawed, or did some other odd thing, but it seemed as if it were practically nodding.
Never had the bird made a sound except for its call yet and neither had it moved anywhere. Then again, Damien hadn't moved at all either. No one paid him any mind, but if anyone had seen the bird they... might have had the same reaction? First it leaves its flock behind, then it mimics him, and now it's... doing weird things that Damien didn't even know. Soon enough as he stood, the bird... already standing, stood up... higher. Yes, higher.
He didn't think it was possible for a bird to even do that. Then again, he was sure cats couldn't do a lot of things... 'till he learned he kind of was one. The crow, almost looking like a grackle, cawed to itself just as the boy had. Damien smirked and whistled, amused to what the bird might do. Would it sing? Maybe it would hum an odd pitch like it had before.
((I'm really sorry for the horribleness. I just got back from vacation and I'm so tired right now. Dx))
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Post by paash on Jul 13, 2009 15:39:03 GMT -5
((By the way, what's a grackle? XD))
Now was the right time; interest had been peaked, just enough that the human would want to find out more, but too few that he would be completely confused. Should he decide to follow, or should he remain behind, he would certainly encounter the crow again before long, but may not recognize it. More of a certitude than a possibility, he wouldn't even know the crow really would be there at all.
The crow played along one last time, chirping on a similar note the human had whistled. Just as it was finished, it spread its wings and flew towards the human. Making a split-second stop on his head, it flew off towards the opposite direction he was looking at, towards a backstreet hidden behind a wall. There he would be safe to do what he intended to do.
As it landed, it looked around for anyone who might witness its transformation. The backstreet was deserted, and only one citizen passed by every minute or so. It was safe. The crow's size progressively increased, and after about five seconds, it was as big as a hunched over human. As it grew, its eyes changed from a ghastly yellow to a dull brown, a lens somehow separating from the eyes to become glasses. Its wings and talons became arms and legs with long black sleeves, its beak became a nose and its whole face was cleared of feathers, except for those on its head, which became jet black hair.
He chuckled as he straightened. "Still wondering how my clothes can meld into my feathers," he muttered to himself. He chuckled again, having a thought about how he would look like if he wore colourful clothes when he changed shape.
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Post by .: T O K I :. on Jul 14, 2009 14:10:27 GMT -5
((A grackle is a little bigger than a crow, and most of the time is darker in color.)) After a pause, the bird mimicked the whistles high pitch. As soon as the note ended, the bird lifted its wings and glided over toward Damien. Damien blinked in surprise and began to stand up in astonishment. On the way, the bird stopped on his head and flew off again, almost making it seemed like it hopped. Jeez! What the hell was that? He spun around on his heels and gawked, stony faced at the disappearing bird. Damien absentmindedly rubbed his hair where the claws had scratched, but luckily did nothing. As the first surprise washed away, he stood there thinking about what had just occurred. He'd never seen a bird do that, ever. It was generally in their nature to just fly away or attack, the normal fight or flight response like any other. He didn't think hard on the point though, as the teen didn't tend to think things through as much. In a split decision, he decided to follow. Very inconspicuously, Damien stuck his hands in his pockets and lazily trudged off in the general direction the bird flew off. He mostly likely would never actually find the bird though, but even so a new scenery would be nice. He was careful to notice that no one really paid him any mind, maybe they hadn't seen what happened? He had certainly saw where the crow was heading, but didn't know exactly where. He headed toward the less crowded areas and stood. Damien was unsure what to do, and instead of doing nothing he looked around, now bored. The crow had struck his curiosity, but hopes were already losing as he realized it probably just flew away like any bird. Any normal bird. Maybe that's just what it was. A bird. He sighed in thought, his careful gaze catching nothing interesting. Already giving up hope, Damien yet again change directions and walked off to the nearest park.
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