Dark Crow Rising

"What do you want?" I snarl at Ho as he rubs his eyes next to me. Kicking my feet against a nearby tree, I try to distract myself from that annoying gaze of his.

"Is there anything... I need to do with you?" he asks, forcibly blinking and yawning halfway.

Turning to face him, I express myself wildly, "Why would you need to do anything with me? The slavers are teaching us how to shoot those guns. Vapooliar's putting you in the dirt every other second!"

He finishes another yawn and shakes his head, "Everyone else is teaching me something..."

"What would I even teach you? They're the fighters, I'm just some stolen villager!" I clarify for him just in case his stupid head forgot it. Driving my claws along my scalp, I watch him as he wobbles and tugs at the armour he is wearing.

"You move around quite well, not as smoothly as when Vapooliar goes," Ho begins to say as he also starts making weird noises as his hand goes near the grass, "But you move your feet quite well... And your arms..."

"What are you getting at?" I snap so we can get to the point. I wasn't in the mood for his childish behaviour and boredom.

"Can you teach me and help me move better?" he asks with a surprisingly soft tone. Jerking back against his rightward drooping, he straightens himself out.

"You look like you are about to fall over dead. So no, I won't be teaching you anything." I tell him with a breath of disgust.

"Please? Please can you show me? I'm having trouble moving..." he asks as his eyes start to close. Shaking himself awake, he returns to staring at me.

"That's not my problem, Ho. Besides, how are you even going to use what I can show you? We're going into caves! Stupid, hairless Ho!" I tell him as he moves his head away from me.

Swiping my tail across the ground like a whip, I watch him as he start to smile, "I got hair up here, hair along here, hair down here and hair rig-"

"I don't need to know about that, thank you!" I interrupt before his hand points away from his legs.

"Then you show me something." he threatens as he smiles at his flexing finger.

"Show you what!?" I go as he continues to be a clueless, wobbling idiot.

"Well, there are a lot of trees there... Maybe you could show me how to quickly move around them and then I can have a go?" he points out as his finger moves in the direction of some trees.

"Fine, just keep quiet and don't say a word." I tell him as I smack him with my tail on the way away.

"Soft... Comfy..." he goes as he wobbles forward.

"Not a word." I growl quietly as he forces himself back up. Yet, watching his gaze, I only find myself growling some more. He isn't paying attention in the slightest. So, instead, I roll my eyes as he rubs his once again.

"Nice... Comfy bed..." he moans like a pup as he finally focuses on me.

Snorting, I lower my body and aim for the widest of the trees, one with a trunk that splits in the middle naturally. I don't know its species, but compared to the straight logs of everything else here, it will do. Straightening out my tail for counterbalance, I stop and wonder. What is the point of this...?

He can't even mimic my movements!

But, I find myself hiding a smirk as I consider it. Clearly, he is too tired to think clearly, so now's a good chance to just humiliate him. He isn't going to pick up on it, so there is no better chance than now to do it. So I keep my smirk up, flex my tail in the air and my claws against and into the dirt.

"Make sure to pay attention!" I remind him as I put the smirk away.

"I am!" he whines as he anchors his body against a tree. Knocking it up and out of the soil slightly. I glance at the now-exposed roots briefly and return my focus forwards.

Starting, I feel the dirt scrape away under my claws and the splitting tree grows closer. The wind blows through my tail and I subtly shift it as I move. Moving my body upwards, I cling to the growths and broken bark of the splitting tree. Moving up and around the trunk, I arrive at a thick, welcoming branch and I let my right leg fall.

"Did you get all of that?" I ask him to which he nods vigorously. Placing my chin against my left backhand, I watch as he stumbles back up. Putting one foot back, he brings his arms up. His preparation means nothing, however, and he just starts to stumble forwards.

Feeling the hairs on my neck rise, I watch as he gets closer and closer to the tree. Not liking this, I dive off of the branch and turn back to him as he barges his way through the split in the trunk. He looks around rapidly and then turns to me as I snarl. Standing up, I cross my arms as he starts to move again.

"Stay right there!" I tell him before he gets any bright ideas.

"I broke the tree... Need to try again." he explains like the oaf he is.

"No, that's enough practice for today!" I tell him as my right eye twitches. Calming myself with some therapeutic fingers through my hair, I breathe.

He yawns once again, "I'm tired..."

"I am too." I agree for more than just one reason.

"I don't want to go through the mountain..." he worries with a moan.

"None of us do. But, it's just something we have to do. I don't even want to share a camp with you or the two slavers. But I have to!" I complain as I turn towards the camp.

"I like to share the camp with you, even if you are disgusting!" he proclaims loudly as he hides his ears.

"Trust me, if it was up to me. I'd have left you clueless as to what we were saying." I explain to him as I gesture for him to follow. Like a good pup, he listens and does. Hearing him yawn once again, I fight back the urge to perform one myself. Barely.

Bringing my tail around, I hold it close to my face as we arrive at the edge of the smoke barrier. Stepping around his attempt to grab my tail, he goes into the smoke with a clumsy stagger. Bringing my cloth up, I hide my mouth and nose and follow him through despite what he just tried. Stepping out into the stale air, I look around.

"Where did he go...?" I ask as I let go of my tail. Feeling someone near the hairs on its tip, I spin around and jump away.

"Aw..." he whines as he comes out of the smoke and into view. I snarl at his jestering.

"Do not touch my tail!" I warn with wide eyes and bared teeth.

"Come on... Just a little. Stop being so mean!" he whines as I back away with it in my clutching hands.

"Do not touch it!" I tell him as footsteps approach.

"What's going on?" Vapooliar asks as the Ho finally stops.

"He's trying to grab my tail!" I snap at her.

"Nin, do not do that." Vapooliar asserts as I continue to make slight shuffles away from him.

"But I am tired and her tail is soft and would make a good pillow or blanket..." he cries?

Frowning, Vapooliar steps towards him, "Sit down, then, you've said before you have been struggling to sleep."

"Okay..." he answers with a sniff as the two disappear. Releasing my tail, I watch them move towards the campfire. Shivering slightly, I follow them until I can go straight for my usual spot by it.

Nin collapses.

"He's finally tuckered out, then?" I ask as Vapooliar takes him the rest of the way to her choice of seat.

"Draaat, if I haaad bet an it..." the younger slaver complains as her father sits up against a pile of torn cloth. Hiding my smile at his painful winces, I look up at the two humans. But, despite how I feel about the two slavers, I am glad the father is healing. He is far more helpful like this than in any other state he has been in since the attack...

"I just hope he can recover enough energy on his own." Vapooliar comments as she starts to stroke his head.

"We have a whole single night for him to do so. So make sure he does." I tell her as I glance at the guns we were drilled to use.

"Paps..." the young slaver warns as the older one starts to stand up.

"Pipe down." he groans as he starts to stretch and bend some of his limbs. Despite the injuries he has, I am quite surprised to see him just... Moving like this. However, glancing away from him, I see a gunked-up knife by the capture-sacks.

He has been drugging himself...

"Okay, for a better topic. Today's our last day of living. So what is for dinner?" I ask after slapping my knees. The slavers, surprisingly, act rather ecstatically.

"Ooo, honey." the older one goes as he returns down to rest. My ears turn first at the mention of something sweet, then my head.

"Where'd you find honey?" I ask as I have certainly not heard any beehives, let alone bees up here. Neither aelenvari for that matter, though I'd like to pass on their honey.

The young slaver smiles and holds up a hexagonal-barreled gun, "Fram Pap's aaamma cantaaainers!"

"W-What...?" I go as I try to even process that. The honey is from a gun...?

"How do you get honey from munitions?" Vapooliar questions as she frowns.

"Want see?" the older one offers with an enthusiastic grin.

"No." I answer quickly as the container he holds up violently buzzes and rattles.

"Blaad Waaasps, very daaangeraus." the younger slaver explains as she presents a collection of jagged sticks. Very carefully, she places them on her makeshift pan and smashes them apart gently with a piece of scrap metal.

"It's just honey, why the care...?" I ask before she throws away what now looks like a hand that has just been ploughed through shards of glass. Though seeing this, my question might as well be rhetorical.

"Very shaaarp." the slaver answers as she starts to melt the broken-down honeycomb.

"So why have you only just started giving our gruel good flavour?" I demand to know before she blinks at me.

"Gruel? I faund same meaaat!" she exclaims with a puffed up chest.

"Oh." I go as a smile slightly forms. Something tasty!