10/13/2025, 2:31 PM
cú's sobs die down. it trembles like a leaf, cold and starving, though there is more strength to its limbs than it remembers.
together, crow coos. safe.
cú wants to believe him. it lifts its head uneasily and peers around.
the world is bathed in red light, from the pine trees to the glimpse of water ahead. crow is not bothered, so cú thinks perhaps it should not be either- it has not lived a full turn of the seasons, has never seen an autumn. it bunches its shoulders and sniffs tentatively at the air, tasting only something salty like blood but with none of the warm tang.
it whines a descending note at crow.
crow ruffles his feathers and tucks his beak against its cheek, then flutters off in a flurry of wings. he has found it many meals in the past days, but cú has only grown weaker and each of them has slipped its teeth. maybe in this new place there is food. maybe cú has enough strength now to catch it.
but once crow is gone, cú is alone.
it huddles again into its ball, ears cocked uneasily. its stomach growls.
someone shouts.
cú flinches. ears twist in the sound's direction; eyes dart to follow. it looks frantically for crow, who is not there, and in fear curls tighter, ears flattening and lips pulling over its teeth. a low growl of warning eases from its throat.
