The rain overpowered the cobble after hours of downpour, with the streets quickly turning into running rivers, and squares into small lakes. The dark clouds rolling through the sky let out an enormous roar of victory, and Talon counts the seconds it lasts for. Around the ten-second mark, the thunderous bellow becomes a growl, before the rain itself drowns it out. Watching the grey city from their perch in the higher battlement of a city gate, the assassin leans against the one-stone brick wall, high enough from the open walls to keep dry even when the wind changed directions. Nowhere near the chill of frost, they still pitied the poor folk attempting to go about daily errands through the flooded streets. But the city could never truly rest. Looking out, the haze of rain brought down their range of vision, and it seemed like the empire's capital could have gone on forever, just past their sight. They remember at one point in their young life, they thought it did.
The fervent fluttering of soaked wings interrupts their quiet thinking, as a dark bird lands ungracefully out of the rain, quick to shake droplets from itself. Its piercing red eyes immediately make the assassin tense, but there is no visual connection between the two, as the creature glares out into the same dreary sky. Befuddled, Talon watches it silently from their little place in the corner. Of all the creatures in this world, these feathered ones were always quicker to lock all six eyes on them than any other. But once it is preening itself with a lifted wing, Talon decides they haven't been noticed. Yet. And they quickly have an idea.
As if agreeing with them, a scar of light flashes somewhere beyond Prime's outer wall, but its pairing thunder is quick to announce its contact with the earth. The bird's feathers rise at the sound, and Talon makes quick work with the window of oppertunity. In three quick strides, they are upon the bird and grabbing its wings and body between both hands so it cannot escape. Feathers still slick from the downpour, they squeeze it tightly. It is both smaller and lighter than they expected, but its loud squawk is as irritable as they knew it to be. The raven's claws are quick to kick out in argument and Talon is sure to keep it at arm's length in case it began to peck. So when its eyes and beak snapped to them and it stopped in all its movements, Talon stares right back at it with wide eyes under their hood. As if they hadn't expected this to have worked, either. Staring into its bright, red eyes and peculiar pupils... The two stay like this for a moment, though it felt far longer, looking into those eyes. So when the raven's body nearly instantly dissipates into a thin, dark smoke, it is far more shocking than any roll of thunder.
Stepping back, Talon finds themself gasping for air, and looking about for where a once physical bird had vanished to. But there was no sign of it. It was simply gone. The rain doubled down in its onslaught, and a powerful gust threatens the assassin, pushing their thick, leather cloak. It wasn't going to let up any time soon, and something in the back of their mind knew to not stay around before it got any darker.
