#flocktogether

She began expecting the large bird, and the slimy offerings of food. It sank heavily into her stomach, hunger relenting with each eager gulp. She learned to voice her growing hunger, and her satisfaction in different notes. The other bird sat quietly, watching her with one keen, black eye.

Her body felt… awkward, somehow. It was the only body she knew (right?) yet it felt bloated, lopsided. A dozen unpleasant concepts slithered up into her brain, and the dissatisfaction grew.  Her arms were too short, legs so thin and weak she could barely move them. The bird returned, her hunger quieted, and she fell quickly into unconsciousness.

The next time she properly awoke, her body felt… less sore. A bit less tender, but just as lopsided. She was able to drag her oversized head to look around, blinking against the way her vision swam. The enormous, disgustingly high-definition body of a baby bird leaned against her.

No… that was her body.

She groaned, hearing her voice come out as a warbling sort of croon. There was something twitching at the edge of her brain that said she should be able to conceptualize this into meaningful sounds. Words, even. This body felt heavy, dragging her down away from something that should have been.

Shit.

But the shadowy bird was always swift to return when she woke up, and the desire for food drowned out logical thoughts.

The tightly woven nest still pricked her delicate skin, sunlight feeling too hot, wind too cold, and the ever-present feeling of vulnerability sitting heavy in her chest.

This wasn’t right…

But, it was the only existence she knew.

So she slept.  

----

“Wake up.”

She groaned, tucking her head a bit closer to her chest, wishing the world would just pass on by. A warm shadow passed over her.

“Wake up, before I eat you.”

A jolt of fear shot through her tiny body, and she shot upright, flailing little stubs of arms (wings?) and kicking out with her feet.

She slumped onto her back, heart racing, muscles already tired from that small movement. The shape above her sharpened into the black bird, beak open in mocking, raspy laughter.

“Now that’s better.” It growled, finally stopping the harsh choking noise. It sidestepped around the edge of her nest, peering at her from different angles.

“You wake up when I come back.” It finally demanded, nipping at her tiny stub of a wing. She pulled it away, tucking it closer to her and trying to sit upright. She glared at the bird with as much strength as she could muster, trying not to feel put-out when the bird just huffed another chuckle at her anger.

“Don’t be so prickly, little squirt. You need to eat more, or your flesh will fall off your bones. I’d rather not try hunting down that good-for-nothing this late in the season. Egg laying is a pain” The bird muttered something under her breath, beak clicking with irritation.

These words mean something. She noted with a blooming amazement.

As unpleasant and aggressive as they were, the bird was still Communicating with her. She opened her mouth and gave a pleased warble, the hunger growing stronger with every second. It gave her enough motivation to lift her head and look around.

Food?  She tried to ask.

The sound came out more like a long whine fading into a teetering hiss. She quickly shut her mouth as the crow snickered at her again.

“You’ll have to practice using that tongue of yours, Kuroko.” The bird’s eyes squinted shut in what could be called a smile, if one were being generous about giving birds facial emotions.

“Since you’re awake, You’ll eat something, yeah?”

She nodded meekly, the gnawing hunger writhing like it could carve open her gut. Black feathers rustled as the bird leapt away into the air, the sound of wings blending quickly into the quiet slide of leaves and wind.

A twig popped upright, from where the bird had been pinning it down.

--

She realized with a some amazement that the food she was being offered was changing, as was her skin. Black down spread swiftly across her back and sides, softening the ugly lumps of flesh. She swallowed something crunchy, and something interestingly sour.

“Always so hungry…” the bird murmured.

I can’t help it. She tried to respond, but only trilled a stilted melody.

Something is wrong, her brain whispered.

It was difficult to tell when the large bird was present, or if it had left yet to retrieve some other weird food. Sometimes she wondered if it even flew, or just appeared somehow. No, that was ridiculous. Maybe flapping just wasn't as noisy as she thought it should be.

She'd be introduced to a variety of long or recently-dead things, and a whole host of leggy, crunchy bugs. (To be honest, she preferred the bugs to the meat, but beggars can’t be choosers.)

At night, black feathers draped warmly over her body, smushing her comfortably into the nest.

The crow’s voice spoke softly of old gods, alliances between giants, and the birth of a world. She was enraptured by the stories, listening closely as the bird described a rivalry between siblings and the disgust that beget the gods’ division.

“Amaterasu brought up the sun, and Tsukuyomi pulled up the moon. Susanoo directed the storms and seas…”  

She forgot most of it, moments later, but remembered the joy in listening.

--

“Kuroko, wake up…”

The new-spring leaves unfolded before her eye, time passing in an odd haze of existing-without-direction. She grew restless as the night wind became warmer, and the melody of forest birds shifted tune.  

“Do you remember who I am? My name is Ko----”

She focused on the dappled leaves, watching them shift and dance and cast twisting shadows upon the branches around her. Itchy feathers had begun to develop, and her body had grown nearly large enough to fill up the nest. The crow’s presence became a bit too hot at night, making her squirm when the thick feathers became uncomfortably warm.

She started beating her wings, flexing the quills apart and testing how they caught the wind. It was a marked improvement on the bald, ugly stubs she had been born with. Her body looked more like a spiky sootball than a bird, but it was a marked improvement compared to the  lump of raw meat she had been born looking like. The crow watched her progress, light shining green off black feathers, glinting like pale flames.

How did she know what fire looked like?

---

As her muscles developed, it became easier to look out over the forest, watching other birds and small animals flit around. She felt a pang of longing, and looked forward to the day she, too, could fly. The freedom her bird-keeper must feel, when leaping away from the nest…

Her claws gripped the bark easily, wings pumping absentmindedly as she tried to strengthen her muscles further. She wasn’t sure if it was a gust of wind, or if she really had just lost balance, but she definitely noticed when she started falling ass-over-teakettle down through the branches.

She squawked and scrabbled at the branches and leaves, before landing in a painful pile at the base of her tree.

She lay quietly, panting and getting her bearings for a long moment. The world loomed around her.

She pushed herself awkwardly upright, hunching down and shuffling backward until she was sort-of protected by a large root.

Not good.

Her mind flashed to a dozen ways a baby bird could be gobbled up by passing wildlife - from other birds, to snakes, to cats or dogs. Hell, there might be bird-eating spiders laying in wait.

She eyed the half-decayed leaves suspiciously, heartbeat skipping.

She nearly jumped out of her skin at the dark shape rushing at her, but relaxed when it settled into the familiar feathered shape.

“A bit impatient, are we?”

She shifted awkwardly, tongue sitting heavy and clumsy in her mouth. The apology came out garbled.

The other bird clucked at her, hopping around before stepping closer to her and prodding her sides with that sharp beak.

When she didn’t yip or flinch at the prodding, the bird stepped back, satisfied.

“Find some bugs or something.” The older bird instructed, looking distracted. “Your squealing pulled me away from a good meal, so you’re on your own for this one.”

The elder bird must have sensed her swelling terror, and flicked her tail in irritation.

“Not abandoning YOU, idiot squirt. You need to learn to feed yourself sometime. ”  The bird huffed, taking again to the skies.

She swallowed, watching the bird alight on a nearby tree, turning to stare down at her. She obediently stood up, wobbling a bit as she tried scratching at the leaves and dirt for a bug.

(Honestly, she didn’t know which was more humiliating. This, or waiting for a chunk of mouse to be pushed into her face.)

She hopped over an oddly shaped throwing knife, and a rusty plate of metal in a half-hearted chase after a centipede before deciding it was too much work. Centipedes were bitter anyway.

She did eventually find several black beetles, almost caught a mouse, and apparently that satisfied her mother enough to come swooping in and drag the little rodent back by its neck.

They shared a bloody meal that night, and the black eyes on her back felt much more comforting than the shadows around her.

This isn’t right. Her mind whispered.

Of course it wasn’t she was grounded. Birds were supposed to be airborne, right?

No, why did she know about birds?

She paused, tilting her head to look up at the moonlit sky.

Why did she know about knives, or metal, or how soot looked, to compare myself to? Why do I feel comfortable around that bird?

That was easier - they were both crows, right?

How do you know what a ‘crow’ is? Why would this crow care for you at all?

Those were… very good questions.

She swallowed, the night feeling a bit darker, uncertainty creeping in on her sleep-fuzzy brain.

--

When dawn began sending a pink haze into the dark sky, she woke to find the crow was missing from the branch she had last been spotted on. A warm breeze stirred some leaves, and hunger rumbled in her belly once again.

She ended up flipping leaves over, hopping around the underbrush and kicking over half-decomposed sticks and bark to find little grubs.

One large chunk of bark flipped up, and revealed a coiled up little snake. She stared at it for a moment, frozen where she stood with wings half-open for balance. Then it was moving, and she shrieked, flapping backward and tumbling into a graceless pile. Leaves rustled as the brown snake fled, and she relaxed, rolling upright again with an ungainly flop of wings and flailing legs.  

“Sometimes I wonder why I even bothered to let you live.”

She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden voice, chirping in distress and whirling to find the crow standing on a nearby rock. The older bird jumped down, walking toward her with an aggressively lowered head. Where on earth did she come from?

“After all this work, you jump out of the nest like an idiot , and freak out at the smallest thing.”

She blinked at the grumbled words, meekly pecking at a small spider crawling near her feet. Her feathers prickled, and she spread her wings in a futile attempt to show she wasn’t weak.

“You won’t be able to fly.”

The crow snapped her beak with no small amount of irritation.

“Not before a damn cat gets you, anyway. You’re too young and stupid to use the shadows properly, but I’d rather not have wasted all this energy for nothing.”

The ruffled chick froze, feeling her mother looming over her, regarding her with one dark eye.

“You’re the only one out of your siblings that had a lick of Chakra, so don’t make me regret not eating your egg as well.”

Grey eyes widened, and she twisted to look at her mother - she must have been her mother. What else could that comment mean?

Darkness swallowed her.

And Darkness ignited.

---

Kuroko screamed, thrashing out of the shadows and squirming in the woven nest she landed in.

Electric fire lanced through her veins, starbursts exploding behind her eyes. Liquid shadows poured between her feathers, black claws twitching spasmodically as a billion images and impressions raced through an unprepared brain.

Her mother (That was her mother! Kokoro!) sat quietly on the edge of her nest, watching the fledgeling flop around, before growing still.

Kuroko laid for a long moment, panting as words rushed back through synapses. "The Northern Roost was laid to waste by fearful humans” “You were born on the eve of-” “She was jealous of her son’s Chakra, and turned our script against-” “Kuroko, can you understand me? Can you-” “Susanoo, angry at his sister’s insistence, lashed out and drove Amaterasu to hide in a cave, bringing an all-consuming night.” “Wake up, little one, I can’t tell if you’re breathing-” “The Many-Eyed, corrupted, was pulled from their union, and split into the Great Tailed Bijuu. Kaguya was sealed-” “Kuroko, please eat. The Southern Roost is calling, I can’t-”

Kuroko wheezed, curling up a bit tighter, letting the sounds and images and thoughts, oh gods she could think clearly!  Wash over her in convoluted, overlapping trails.

“Are you dying, Kuroko?”

She sucked in a stuttered breath, squinting one eye open at the dark crow perched over her. Her mother’s feathers were flat, black eyes dull in a miserable expectation.

And the darkness of unconsciousness enveloped her at last.

----

When Kuroko awoke, she was alone.

Well, in the broadest sense of the term.

She could see birds swooping through the trees, and a pair of squirrels scampering from tree to tree, chattering at each other and weaving a graceful dance of travel.

For the first time, her mind was clear.

She could recall the legends her mother murmured to her in the haze of twilight, about the moon and sun, and the creation of demons. - and that word meant something now.

She marveled at the efficiency of her own mind, flitting from subject to subject, directed completely by her own willpower. She focused on the word, demons, and found countless mentions over the long weeks she had been alive.

“Humans feared us or worshipped us,” her mother had said.”It depends on the individual, whether they want to call us ‘kami’ or ‘demons’. Every once in awhile, you’ll find one who does both.”

Kuroko stretched her wings, identifying the feathers that had been plucked and named while she watched in a sleepy haze.

“Coverts. Alula. Primaries.” She whispered, stretching her wing this way and that, to make them shift. “Secondaries…”

Kuroko twisted her head around, tilting her head and delighting at the strained position. It was new  and novel just like the rest of her ‘awakening’.

“Tertial…” She flicked her tail. “Retrices…”

“Remember all your feathers, so you can put yourself together again.” Her mother had said.

Kuroko wiggled her tail, considering what that was supposed to mean.

She shrugged, having no idea whatsoever, and deciding that was alright.

The warm darkness still seemed to be pooled in her chest, twisting and pulling with every delighted movement she made.

“Chakra?” She wondered aloud, mentally prodding at it. The silky warmth seemed to ignore her touch.

“Chakra is your spirit’s way of connecting with the world.  It is your energy, your essence, your life. It’s how we manifest, and how our kind can use the shadows.”

Kuroko pondered that explanation for a moment, feeling the warmth shift around her body. She stretched, and the warmth stretched to her wingtips with her. Her mother had such nice things to share.

“I have to go again - I’ll be back soon. The Southern Roost needs me…. I can’t lose them again.”

Kuroko paused, remembering her mother’s words a few nights ago, before she vanished again within darkness. The roost was… “Our home, from the beginning of this world. The crows gather there to breed, and connect.” ... Like a big nest, or a collection of a hundred smaller nests. She couldn’t remember what it looked like. (Had she ever seen it?) but if something was wrong, then her mother was right to worry. That kind of thing was important.

Kuroko flexed her wings again, looking up at the mottled clouds beyond fresh summer leaves, wondering what she was supposed to do to pass the time. Existing in a haze and worked up until that point, but she wasn’t eager to return to it.

She spent a few long hours waddling along the thick branch that held up her nest, stopping periodically to pump her wings and feel the wind stir her feathers. (And her Chakra. How interesting)

Kuroko eventually fell asleep as the sun sank down toward the horizon. She remained blissfully unconscious when her mother came back, squishing against her in the tight nest, and fell asleep.

---

“Good morning, Kuroko. Are you hungry?”

She yawned, shaking her head with a flurry of bristling feathers. Kuroko blinked at her mom, and the unusually haphazard way her mother’s feathers laid. Her memories were still trickling in, but she always remembered the glossy black feathers had been neat and tidy.

She stood up, leaned over, and tugged one of her mother’s back feathers (scapulars her mind whispered) into place.

“Yes.” She finally decided with a little head-bob. “I am hungry.”

Her mother froze.

“...Kuroko? Do you… know who I am?”

“Yes? You’re Kokoro - my mother.”

Some halfbloods just went on to live as normal, albeit uncannily intelligent, crows. They could use their demonic bloodline just fine, but wouldn’t be able to bud off a chunk of themselves in the same way - they’d have to mate, to have children.  The bloodline would then dilute again and again and again until the only sign the crow had any demonic ancestry was a fondness for shadows and above-average intelligence. Halfbloods could mate with each other, but so long as the children would never lose their need for a body, and they’d always be considered ‘half’.

Holy shit she thought to herself. That made so much sense .  

“Could a crow demon, then… just give a chunk of themselves to something that wasn’t a crow?”

Chiyobi had given her the strangest look. Somewhere between surprised and revolted at the idea. Her response was a sharp  “No.”  

No further explanation was given.

Tero and Kokoro had become absent again, but several of the other crows had become more friendly with her. They shared meals, and no longer left or paused conversations when she visited a group clustered together. Not exactly welcomed into the conversation, per se, but not outright pushed away either.

She was still an outsider - but not a threat.

In the process, Chiyobi had grown oddly distant.

Kokoro had begun sending her out on patrols, too. She found it difficult to keep up with the relentless wings of her peers, their conspicuous lack of a need to breathe becoming more obvious the more she lagged behind. There were assholes who forged on, of course, and she started to hate a particularly petty crow, but more often than not, they’d notice and slow down a bit. Sometimes they even stopped to ‘investigate’ some ‘suspicious activity’ that always turned out to be some leftover human trinket or a trick of the light. She still appreciated the breaks where she could get them.

“Normally your kind don’t get sent on border patrols.” A tall bird confided in her one  evening, staring out across the treetops from where they perched together.

“Area sweeps, sure, but it’s more efficient just to send us to circle the whole marsh. We didn’t expect much from you.”

“Did you change your mind?”

Himitsua tilted her head, blinking slowly at her.

“You’re a better than expected, but still slow, so- no.” Oof. Blunt.

She wilted a little, expecting something a bit more positive.

“But…” the crow continued, stretching her wings, “Your Listening range is impressive. My brother is alive, because of your quick orders.”

She almost brought up the fact that it was her mother issuing them, but thought better of it. She should just take the appreciation and let it lie. As the small patrol lifted off into the air again, Kuroko wondered how everyone just suddenly knew about the ‘half’ thing. Was it really that obvious?

Yes. She decided, landing back on the bit of nest she had claimed after night had truly fallen, sucking in air like her life depended on it. The rest of her patrol casually scattered across the grove, landing without a feather out of place. She absolutely was that obvious .

But… something was bothering her about the whole situation, despite the growing comfort around the others of her kind. It tickled the back of her memory, like a long-forgotten smell, or a feather just barely out of place. Distracting, but not quite prominent enough to pinpoint.

“Kuroko, please join me at the line Mangolia”

She perked up at the sound of her mother’s voice, shaking off the exhaustion with a few quick breaths and taking off again. Growing agility let her weave neatly between massive maze that was becoming familiar. Sharp talons snagged a certain piece of bark in just the right way that she could scoot neatly between two tightly spaced branches.

Even in the dead of night, when fog obscured the stars, she could still manage to maneuver around these trees. Of course, she still missed her nest, and the memory of Akahito’s friendly growl left a sad sort of ache in her chest, but… she could life here, probably.

It was… becoming home.

The group of crows perched around her mother was not so familiar.

“Now that everyone’s here, we can begin.” Oh, good, she hadn’t missed anything.

Kokoro took a long breath, the feathers in her neck maintaining a constant, irritated sort of fluff. Tero stood beside her, looking just as displeased.

“In return for their aid during last week’s battle, the Cranes have named their compensation.”  Black talons dug into her branch perhaps a bit harder than strictly required.

“We will help their contracted humans, in a dispute.”

Outraged sputters broke out across the tree, several objections voiced at once. Beside Kuroko, Himitsua just hissed softly, reminiscent of a quietly furious snake.

Faster than Kuroko could properly track, a shadow flickered across her mother’s feathers, and the noises silenced.

“We will not be participating in any skirmishes.” She rasped, looking around at them. “Our losses were quite enough, and they know this. We will be messengers only .” A few soft whispers broke out, and then quieted again.

“Kuroko,” She straightened. “This is where you come in. Tero will lead the group, but you’ll keep us all connected. Report back to me each night, and make sure messages get passed as they are meant to.”

Kuroko nodded sharply, taking a quick breath and steadying herself.

Himitsua was chosen for her speed. Tero as the leader, and three other birds she had only ever briefly met.

Kokoro told them to meet the Cranes at the river’s main bend, tomorrow morning. They’d escort the group and explain further, from there.

“Kuroko, please stay behind. Everyone else, good luck, and good night.”

Her mother watched the other crows fly up and out of the lone Mangolia, seeming to not even pay attention to her daughter for a long moment.

“Please let me know everything the Cranes tell you.” She murmured, still staring up at the departing wings. “Allies or not, I don’t trust them, and I certainly don’t trust their humans. If anything goes wrong, if- if anyone gets hurt, you are to tell me immediately, and I’ll get you out of there.”

Kuroko nodded, swallowing. That did, actually, make her feel a little better. But-

“There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you.”

Kokoro turned her head, finally facing her head-on.

“Back when I was… just hatched, you said that you had eaten my siblings for not having enough Chakra, and...that laying eggs was hard. Why did you say that?”

Her mother watched her for a long moment, before looking away, beak moving like she wanted to say something, but remaining silent..

“You said I’m ‘half’, right? That means-” “I know what that means”

‘Kuroko blinked in surprise at the interruption, feeling apprehensive as her mother shifted and ruffled her feathers, re-positioning her wings and otherwise delaying. Kuroko sucked in a small breath as it occurred to her.

“I’m not, am I?”

Black eyes glanced at her soft murmur, and then closed with a soft nod.

“I’m not a halfblood. You-, I-” She snapped her beak shut, bristling as frustration and confusion built up into a strange sort of anger. “Why did you want them to think I was half ? More importantly, Why do I still need to breathe?! ”

Kokoro wouldn’t look at her.

“I don’t know.”

“You dont-” Kuroko cut herself off and hissed, shifting side to side and plucking up bits of bark to toss to the ground.She was more confused than angry, pouring over the details she had amassed about the differences.

Demons don’t need a physical body .

“Was that why the foxes were so bullheaded? They just assumed I could suddenly stop being a bird whenever I wanted?”

“Probably.”

Her temper flared back up.

“ Why didn’t you just tell me what was supposed to happen?!”

“ You should have known already.”

“How!? You never told me! As soon as I started talking, you flew off! Why do you keep just throwing me into situations without telling me anything?”

“Because I didn’t think you’d live this long.”

Ice plunged into her heart.

Kuroko froze, her breath catching.

“W-what?” Her voice came out tiny and choked.

Her mother continued to avoid making eye contact.

“That’s, not… that’s not what I meant.”

“You... were trying to kill me?”  Kuroko swayed a little, the ice spreading and cracking in her chest.

“No.” Black eyes pinned her in place, voice firm.

“No, I never tried to kill you. I never tried to push you further than I thought you could handle. You just… Kuroko,  you were born not knowing how to talk .”

She didn’t reply, breath trembling with every exhale.

“Your friend, Chiyobi, she’s younger than you by months . You couldn’t even feel your own life until I flooded it with mine. You couldn’t fly until you’d built a body that could fly for you. Calling you a halfblood is better than-” “-Better than calling me broken ?”

Kokoro reared back like she’d been pecked. Hesitated, then nodded once.

The ice had become a dark, heavy weight in her gut.

“If I couldn’t learn to Listen , would you have still brought me here?”

The long silence spoke more clearly than a voice would have.

“Please, Kuroko, I am trusting you with this.”

“You’re trusting Tero with this,” She corrected, watching a leaf hit the ground with dull eyes. “You’re trusting him to keep me safe.”

“And I’m trusting you to keep them all safe. Do you know how far Chiyobi can Listen ?”

Kuroko huffed a breath, not answering.

“From this Mangolia to the far side of the Roost. Do you know how far Himitsua can?”

Still no answer.

“From here to the Willow, if she’s trying. Tero can barely get to the River on a good day. You could hear the Roost from your first nest, and that’s so far away I can’t actually properly describe it. I’ve never flown that distance directly, because it’s too damn far ”

“I get it.”

Kuroko kept her wings hunched up, still staring down at the ground. “I’ll head out with everyone tomorrow morning, okay? I’m not-” Her talons dug a big further into the bark. “I”m not going to do something stupid or anything, I just…”  She didn’t know what she wanted. To know she wasn’t broken? That was markedly false. The cold, heavy feeling seemed to increase. To know she was wanted? Apparently her mother had only stuck around to wait for her to die. Had only spent time with her, with the thought that she’d eventually bite the dust.

Her feathers felt too heavy, heart pounding too fast in her chest.

“Kuroko, squirt, plea-” “-Goodnight.”

She turned tail and fled, flapping back to the tangled web of nests and tucking herself into a warm hollow close to one of the crows she’d be leaving with in the morning. He didn’t complain, just shifted his head a little so she could step past without bumping.

Her mother never tried to follow her.

Despite the warmth, despite the familiarity of the tangle of branches and starlight past them…

She felt alone.

----

The next morning, she rose when the other crow did, following him to Tero’s perch, quietly listening to the small group banter back and forth. She faked an interested expression when Tero explained what the Cranes had told him. Something about brothers and betrayal.

She couldn’t help the hopeless, empty feeling that had replaced last night’s cold weight.

They took off, flying briskly to the East, to the river and beyond.

Kuroko didn’t look back.

---

Past the river, they were joined by a single Crane, and Kuroko wished she could be more enthusiastic about this whole adventure. She’d never seen anyone with such a long neck and beak, and the bright crown of red upon their foreheads certainly drew the eye.

They flew deeper into the mist, keeping low and avoiding the patrols of shinobi everyone else appeared to be able to sense. Kuroko failed to keep the bitter feeling at bay, at yet another thing about her that was broken .

The bird led them to the outskirts of a sprawling village, flying them low and quiet over a pale wall and into thicker fog. They followed several twisting channels, before darting over a lower fence and landing on the edge of a wide pond. Kuroko noted a high-arched red bridge spanning the small river that fed into the pond, and an artfully but clearly man-made waterfall a bit further up. Red maple leaves stirred only with their wings, and she briefly wondered if the fog ever relented enough for the tree to get any sunlight.

She heard the sound of footsteps and twisted around to see a human walking slowly toward them, dark hair and eyes standing out against his pale skin.

He bowed low, a crown of pale dewdrops (ice?) glinting on his hair, in what little morning light could pierce the fog.

“Thank you for answering our call. I respectfully ask for your assistance in this matter.”

Tero stepped forward, dipping his head slightly. Their guide stood placidly to the side, neck tucked up in sweeping curves against her body.

“I wish for your help to spy on my brother, for I fear his mind is too far gone. He has been acting erratically these past months, and we fear for both his safety, and the safety of our clan and our village.”

Kuroko wondered if she’d ever be able to speak as smoothly as Tero did, when answering. He must have had training on dealing with humans.

“We hear your plea, and will assist you in this manner to the best of our combined abilities, so far as none of my Murder is harmed.”

The man bowed and thanked them again.

“I will provide food and lodging for you, and ask only for information - never for your lives to be put at risk.” Tero nodded.