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Night was approaching in the province of Ulster; life quieted down alongside the bellowing wind thrusting throughout the long stretch of land taken by grass greener than the leaves growing amongst tree branches. Following the darkened skies, the usual blue-hued clouds seemed to turn brighter, duller; grey. A particular being of the endless dark –the raven—would flutter his wings whilst in flight; her strength had been evaluated the entire day prior, and now, her strength was little to none.
Lowering to the bare basalt columns of the Northern-most cliff –now referred to as Giant’s Causeway. Though, the Raven would see in the corner of her eye, a large wolf laying limp –their front legs hanging over the edge. With her intrigue overcoming her will to rest, the Raven landed atop the Wolf’s nape. “Dia Dhuít?” She whispered in the Wolf’s ear, her claws tugging at their right ear, promptly making them suddenly awake and bare their teeth.
Tweaking her head to observe the large scar upon Wolf’s outer shoulder, trolling toward his bicep. The Raven laughed at his reluctance to admit it was, in fact, a scar another predator had inflicted upon him, though her mock shortly turned to one of pity, heeding the call of thunder rumbling beyond the Atlantic Sea.
Hearing it as well, the Wolf succumbed to his pain, lowering his head: “I said leave.” He growled.
“I can help you.” The Raven stated, yearning to hear a response other than anger. One can expect her delight when the Wolf accepted her advance, quickly hopping to grab and yank at thick blades of grass and weeds. “The sooner you tell me who did this, the quicker I can help find the right herbs to treat this.”
The wolf released a low grumble, slugging his head against the cold basalt. “Loon.”
“A loon? You let a loon that is not even from here rip this much off?” The Raven cooed mockingly, bellowing in laughter. “OHOHOHOHOHOO! What a coo! The mighty Wolf, the size of those meddling hairless ape, was beaten in a battle by a little Loon! OHOHOHHOO!” Her laughter continued to echo out into the endless fields; skies filled with a grey hue.
The Wolf grumbled under his breath, hiding his face to cover the faint blush upon his cheeks. “I SAID QUIET!” He would lunge out once again, but now the Wolf would leave a small cut on the Raven’s outer wing.
Upon this assault, the Raven cawed –following a large lighting strike that nearly paralyzed her own lungs, but her point was proven. The Wolf straggled further into the giant’s belly, crawling and laying in a small marsh that stained his thick coat of black and brown fur. “I said you could help me,” The Wolf’s voice echoed back up in the Raven’s ears, “mock me as you wish. But do not act like you know the Loon.”
The Raven huffed in a state of annoyance, taking a moment to gander her new wound. “Such poppycock,” she continued to giggle, “you expect me to believe you? Come now, where is this Loon of such strength? Where is the might, *pfft*, LOON! OHOHOOHOHO!” Her amusement caught the ears of Mother Wolf; from the neighboring peninsula, who carried many cocktails of healing properties.
With every twitch of Mother Wolf’s ears, the wind blew twice as hard as the minute after. And with every hop, the ground shook and dipped by an inch or two. Though, she caught the word “loon” –making her tremble like Winter had crawled directly into her body, though remained in her place until her son felt to the brink of death—yet her confidence at aiding what she saw as a mere puppy dwindled.
Mother Wolf held her breath and hopped his way towards the strayed voice below the thick columns of basalt, ignoring Raven’s demeaning aura that made her pride fade to disappointment. “Say the words, then.” she said hopelessly.
“Enjoying the show from there?” The Raven repeated, her head tweaking from side to side as Mother Wolf continues to ignore her. She chuckled, “I see,” finally swaying down with what power her wing kept in their bones, “You want to be the thick-skulled mother? Go on then, I am not in the mood for an elder’s lecture.” She held her wing out fearlessly, ignoring the disdain the Wolf held for her each minute she taunted him.
“Summon my mother… I wish not for pity from tiny things like you.” The Wolf declared, leaping from the ground and into the frigid water, small droplets of his blood coloring the ripples through his momentum and determination. Moreover, the Raven landed amongst his nape before traversing too far.
“Why? Do you think she can prepare a bath for you? I thought wolves were too good for their parents,” The Raven’s wings fluttered following a small rain drop falling onto her head, “Besides, she is right over by the edge! Why don’t you call her yourself?” Like her own power to control the sky mocked her as she mocked the Wolf.
Feeling his limbs grow weak against the farther he swam, and more pain had swelled in his chest; the Wolf grumbled. “Come mother come; wind become the lament of mother!” The Wolf shouted with a struggle in his voice, spitting out small bits of water that flooded into his mouth. “Chant me, Raven! I need another! She will not listen to only my voice!"
The Raven blinked in confusion, “Why me?” She asked simply, still mocking her furry companion with her claws, digging into the skin under his coat.
“You are the inhibitor of wind! Five more times then she will truly appear amongst us!” The Wolf gurgled out. Through his struggle, the Raven considered what would be in for her by helping a predator; how can they both benefit from an alliance between mammal and bird? What is to be traded?
“Curious…” The Raven whispered, but she knew how to negotiate, and that can be done when the Wolf is in better condition. “Alright Wolf, lead.”
“Come mother come; wind become the lament of mother!” The Wolf started once more; this time the Raven reluctantly followed along, sliding from the Wolf’s neck to edge a paw closer towards an isolated rock within the water in hopes of making this a less dangerous process. Yet, she had become distracted, feeling as though her body was being taken over –the wind; her chest was bolstering like a tornado had formed inside of her—SWOOSH! A large wave arose amid their chanting.
“Quiet.” A voice ordered from an isolated rock. “I am here, son. Again.” There she was, there as she said she would be. Larger than a grown man, pelt thick and full of black, beige, and brown fiber. Her stance stood tall and firm, showing a large scar inflicted upon her left breast. As she began to lick at her son’s wounds –thusly, the clouds would bounce erratically in tandem with her.
The Raven observed how Mother Wolf’s scar traversed between her collar bone, opening towards the heart. “That wasn’t put there by accident,” she started, hopping from the Wolf to his mother, “that does not appear to have been natural, either. A fight with another of your kin? A meal gone wrong –oh! What about a brawl with Father Wolf?!”
“Raven!” The Wolf intervened; his snout wrinkled through the grueling pain riddling his back –his frustration occasionally broke up with snarls and growls as his wound shut itself in response to Mother Wolf’s tongue.
Mother Wolf chuckled, ceasing her attention now that the Wolf’s wound had healed to the halfway mark –the clouds straightening and lengthening out— “Such an interesting thing you are,” briefly staring at the Raven as well, “why follow predators? Curiosity? Desperation? A death wish?” She huddled under her son, making sure he makes in onto her back to make it back to their den, “perhaps you realized that wolves see the weakness in eradicating all that opposes us, or that taking all food isn’t necessarily a means to an end. It will only lead us to starvation without a plan.”
The raven, following the tip of their tails, noticed the Rabbit was unnervingly calm despite his fear of very apparent threats. “We all have a common enemy.” Just like we all have a common goal,” she started speaking with a clear dialect different from her previously taunting bicker, “sapiens are advancing, and while I may be their messenger, they view me as a decoration. Rabbits are food and pets; wolves are the looming menaces but pest control for smaller beings permeating across our forests and meadows.”
“Your point?” The wolf glared at the Raven with a disdain yet intrigue not previously considered through the Raven’s mocking manner.
“The loon is a start, only us birds can truly understand each other,” The raven carefully flapped her wings, floating above the water to draw the silhouette of the Loon that has supposedly beaten the Wolf at a brawl. “We must forage a storm –make it form faster than it should.”
Mother Wolf cocked her head away from the peculiar form upon the dark water, thinking heavily while her son quietly whined. “Our pride is superior to collaborate with a Raven, bird, any deal we make must benefit us in some way.” She stated bleakly and coldly.
Finally reaching the basalt column before the two wolves, she snickered. “Of course! What fool do you take me for?” Like a moth to a flame, she went back to her taunting self, “I am a scavenger; Ravens are top-tier onlookers when finding and bringing food to our Unkindness… I can help you two, but not only you two."
The Wolf groaned, “Raugh! Why not?! We can only look after ourselves!” A sudden surge of energy overrides his body, digging his claws into the sides of Mother Wolf ---promptly shooting a glare at him. He recoiled, yes, but his eagerness for food seemed to be his priority instead of his own health.
“Oh, come now,” The Raven teased as her wings echoed in the distance, “you know damn well that one of you cannot out-wit an Unkindness of me! You know that, deep down, if you only rely on one person your entire life, then your life is as good as gone.” Her tone was… unnervingly precautious, showing a strange form of defense, the Wolf has never seen before.
Mother Wolf stopped in her tracks, not because of the accusation, but because of the small, dark shadow looming beyond a mist forming on the horizon. Following along, the Raven and the Wolf perked up their heads, seeing the figure as well. “No,” The Wolf began, slumping off Mother Wolf to hide behind a column, “I’m not ready yet! I’m too tired!”
“It was your fight, Wolf,” Mother Wolf proclaimed, slowly lowering her head to confirm who was dwelling inside the cold grey fog, “yes… I know this one.” Her muscles felt tense, yes, but her familiarity with the Loon approaching overcame the senses telling her to back down. She glanced at the Raven, who was just as intrigued as Mother Wolf felt nostalgic. “Tell me, dear Raven, do you feel that same feeling of contempt?”
“Always,” The Raven exclaimed, lowering towards her feet before lunging up into the sky that grew greyer every step the Loon took closer to them, “Caw! Caw!” She cried, the wind blowing directly North where they all felt a dark presence. Indeed, from afar they heard another cry –with the Loon responding in an outrage—a gust greater than a hurricane came to their way, the Wolf almost falling into the water before grabbing onto the rear-end of Mother Wolf’s tail; not paying mind to the thrash of pain.
“How dare you!” A low, guttural voice called out from the approaching fog, a loud flutter echoing across the wet meadows of Ulster. “Who art thou whom oppose me?!” Continuing, the Loon’s luminescent red eyes rolled out of his socket with nerve-endings leaving a trail of a strange black mucus to curse all those who have fought with him. A growl left his throat, seeing every foe he had accumulated in the span of a few days, and yet, his excitement fueled him like the sky fuels his eagerness to return to the endless dark.]
“Awh, thy feverish mote! Doth, thou pelt remain in one piece? You ought to scurry to your flock, no? Oh, poor welch; they’re all dead! Ohohoho!” The Loon scorned endlessly, the Raven’s ears ringing as though the former’s voice had entered her head –tormenting her over her failure. She waved her wings, fighting off the Loon’s capabilities of warping the mind with his call alone. “Ay, no need, thou knowest the consequences of thievery!”
“I never meant to get involved!” The Raven fought, desperately glancing at the Wolf –of whom was suddenly stunned by his shock of another revelation. “You’re the one that left that rabbit out! You’re the one that set to gather what you knew you couldn’t!” She exclaimed, taking what time she had to counter the Loon’s attack on her, flapping her wings to bring the rain down like a waterfall, knowing the Loon would quickly drown if he didn’t get undercover within five minutes. “You could never utilize the power of the wind! You’ll never understand the art of bringing all that makes time pass the way I know how! You’re a folly, Loon!”
The Raven finally stood up, shooting from the ground up into the clouds, thusly the clouds morphed into a circle around the Loon’s position. Following her movements, the latter would calculate his own move—only to be tackled by the neck—as the Raven had signaled to the Wolf that he may have his way with the meddling bird.
His body was overtaken by the instinct to flee, but the Loon’s neck was held within the strong grip of the Wolf’s jaw –his teeth barely penetrating the innermost skin. Despite this, he laughed. “I’m the folly, little bird?” The Loon’s way of speech left, returning to one of the commonfolk, “you can’t even finish your own fights! I see you… every time… you crawl back to those who could protect you! You spout about your excellence, and yet… the only thing you can do for yourself is being a nuisance! A pest; the cockroaches of the Corvids.” He spoke, clawing at his captor with all his might –though mere smudges of the Wolf’s fur were left.
“I’m about tired of hearing your voice,” The Wolf said coldly, though muffled as his bite remained as rough as he could –revering in the Loon’s strained groans and shivers he felt move down his foe’s spine— “maybe you’re the folly, chasing down a single Raven for something she took? How do you know it even belonged to you?” He declared further, shaking his head when the Loon attempted to escape.
“The Wolf finally has something to say…” The Loon giggled breathlessly, growing weaker with every passing second, “oh well… all the better to see the fool you’ve become.” His demeanor remained all-too confident. He accepted it, there was no breaching the clutches of a wolf’s jaw, and, at that moment, it was evident that this Loon’s time was up. With his lingering strength, he saw Mother Wolf sitting –upright, tall, confident in her son’s ability— “Have it your way.”
The Loon quickly swerved his neck from one side to the other, promptly making it snap due to the crushing weight amongst his jugulars. Finally, the Raven came down to observe the new cadaver, and while yes, he is a rival, something better must be done to preserve a peculiar alignment. “Perhaps these feathers can be used for something,” she proclaimed, glancing at Mother Wolf whilst she plucked a single feather from the Loon’s wing, “here, place this feather on the gums of your teeth; a new reminder for this moment.”
Mother Wolf, confused at first, obliged the Raven’s request. She used her tongue to maneuver the feather onto her gums. A faint black pigment forming upon the tissue—as did the Wolf’s follow suite. The sensation was strange; a faint tingle remained on the site for around a minute before the full pigmentation formed, now a dark brown for both subjects. “Curious…”
The Raven flew atop the Wolf’s snout, now holding a small piece of skin she’d pulled from the Loon’s leg. “Consider this the beginning of a wonderous kinship, friends. I look forward to bringing chaos with you, and maybe, more of you will come along.”
“That seems to be too large of a leap, bird,” The Wolf responded, returning the favor by offering a leg to his cohort, “let’s find someplace to rest, first, I’m tired.”
Mother Wolf approached from behind, carefully rubbing her head against her son’s forehead. “Indeed, while that wound is still healing, it’ll just take a few more hours. These… physical adjustments are also something we should sleep over.” She’d take the lead through her brief moments of comradery and peace to return to her humble abode.
The Raven snickered, “I’m sure suffocating and breaking a bird’s neck is tiring enough.” She flew around, excited to see where this may go. “Come along then! We have so many things to discuss! Oh, we’ll be up for hours after a lovely nap!”
“One step at a time, Raven,” Mother Wolf responded firmly, fully intending on not listening until she had a full night’s rest, “one step at a time…”
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