@detective-with-one-arm asked:
Feeding and befriending the local crow population was a regular pastime for Richard. The creatures were such...intelligent and emotionally complex creatures. They were not much different than humans, yet they were completely different. It was an honour and a privilege to be let into their lives.
The man had many keepsakes from them. Gifts they often brought him when he arrived at the park to feed them. He always took a stop at the local grocer with a small bundle of raw meat to rip into strips for the scavengers.
Now, crows were something Richard was used to. Ravens were not common and mostly lived out in more remote places closer to the woods. Ravens were much larger and far shyer than crows were.
But Ravens...were not this large.
Which must have been why the crows seemed adamant on leading Richard here, tugging him by his hood until he walked with them.
Because before him cowered a creature covered in shining iridescent feathers like his crow companions, but...it wasn't a crow. It was...human. Almost.
No. He knew what this was. This was a harpy. And certainly not something Richard had ever seen himself, though he had heard rumours about them.
And the poor thing looked frightened. It was no wonder the crows led him here.
Richard still had some meat left over to give to the harpy. Perhaps his method of winning the crows over would win this harpy's trust. Gently leaning down, the man ripped a large chunk out of the meat and held it out for the harpy to take. "It's okay...you can trust me. I won't hurt you." Deep in his throat, he made little quiet churr noises similar to the ones crows made. Quieter than a full-on caw, but not quiet enough to be inaudible.
Leo had just escaped and was still scared. He had flown a long way looking for somewhere that humans wouldn’t catch him. After landing a couple times, he’d been surrounded by humans trying to lure and catch him. Finally he found an alleyway that was clear and flew into it. No humans seemed to follow him, but other birds, smaller than him, but similar to him, had followed behind.
They flew down to the ground with him, pecking at his feathers and inspecting him. They could tell he was different, but they didn’t seem to be hostile. Just curious. Leo didn’t know what to do, so he just let them land on him and give gentle, exploratory pecks to his feathers and skin. After a while several of them left, flying off into the air. Leo payed them little mind, too busy worrying that he’d be caught by a human.
He hid behind a dumpster, shaking and peeking out every now and then at the street past the mouth of the alleyway. Cars would pass by and he’d quickly duck back down and hide again. He was still scared. Leo didn’t know what to do next. He didn’t know where to go or how to survive.
More crow noises returned and Leo looked up to the sky, expecting the birds from before to return. But he didn’t see them. He could still hear them though. And footsteps. He heard human footsteps.
Dark eyes were blown wide in fear as Leo peeked his head out from behind the dumpster again and saw the crows pulling a human by their hoodie towards him. Scuffling noises filled the air as Leo scrambled backwards clumsily until he hit the wall behind him.
As the human came closer, he let out a warning screech and lifted one of his feet to bare his talons threateningly. However, the human continued forward cautiously, holding what appeared to be a chunk of meat out for Leo. They were trying to lure him and trap him! Leo was sure of it.
Flapping his wings frantically, Leo didn’t take off, but instead gave a warning display for the human not to come closer. They spoke softly and even mimicked noises he could make, but Leo didn’t trust them. He didn’t want to be in a cage again. He was terrified of going back.
He bared his teeth threateningly and kept flapping his wings, occasionally giving out a warning screech. But he was backed into a corner. He couldn’t fly away. If the human came any closer he’d have to fight his way out.