It was just past noon when the trail started to widen and become more defined. As I gazed around at the trees, the first thing to strike me was the invasion of noises surrounding us. Made even more noticeable by the previous silence, chirps, rustles, and other sounds seemed glaringly loud.

Crab didn’t seem too fazed by the presence of animals, which seemed to indicate that this was normal. On the other hand, I was curious to see what other animals lived around. Looking into the trees, I managed to spot several fluttering birds making their way through the thin leaves.

As the sun started descending through the sky, we finally reached what I assumed was our destination; a small, snow covered village surrounded by a wooden wall. As we entered through a gate, two men dressed in dark brown garb nodded lazily at Crab before returning to their own conversation. My attention rested on their weapons, which were propped up against the wall, well out of their immediate reach.

The two weapons seemed to be large versions of Crab’s knife, but I couldn’t remember their name.

We received several glances from other humans, but no one looked at us for longer than a moment until we reached a large wooden building. As Crab strode towards the door, a young brown haired human saw us and starting running towards us. He also had a large knife, but Crab didn’t seem worried and simply turned his way and stopped.

The young human reached us, a wide smile spreading over his face, and he began speaking as he reached out his arm.

“You’re finally back!” the boy exclaimed with his hand held out.

Gripping the younger man’s arm Crab replied jokingly, “What’s this? No hug?”

Despite himself, the younger man blushed slightly before going on, “I’m a man this year! The Chief finally let me join the defense, I’ve got to act like an adult now.” As if to prove his point, he gestured towards his weapon.

“Is that so, Donnie? Looks like the village will be safe this year as well!” Crab joked, as Donnie bristled visibly.

“And no more calling me Donnie, either. It’s Donnel from now on.”

Then, noticing my head peeking out of Crab’s coat pocket, he asked, “Who’s this? A new pet?”

I froze, latching onto the inside of my home as Crab tried to drag me out. I stared in horror at this new human called ‘Donnie’ and wondered what he possibly could want. I had gotten comfortable with Crab, out of necessity. That didn’t mean I was ready to be stared at by more humans.

Crab finally wrenched me free of my refuge and said, “This is Senya, a Falnen Black chick. I found her on my way here.”

Donnie’s eyes widen with surprise as he stared at me for a few seconds. Thankfully, Crab broke Donnie’s trance by dropping me back into my home and turning to the door.

“I better talk to the Chief then, don’t you think?”

Donnie left my vision as we entered the building, but I could hear his footsteps as he followed behind. Inside the large building was an equally large hall, stretching down fairly far with tables lining each side. At intervals along the wall were doors that led to other rooms. As Crab passed by some, I saw what seemed to be beds for humans and shelves holding scrolls and books. The few other humans inside the building greeted Crab and Donnie warmly before quickly retreating into whatever they were doing.

As Crab finally reached the far end of the hall, I saw several humans dressed in mottled grey and brown outfits sitting around a circular table. Most of the humans were older, with long beards and wrinkled skin.

Crab reached the table and addressed the oldest man sitting across the table.

“Chief,” Crab said curtly, waiting for the ancient man to look up from a pile of scrolls.

The Chief slowly brought his wizened face up to gaze at Crab, and his features were still a moment before breaking into a toothy smile. He pulled himself up and approached Crab, arm outstretched. The two men grasped arms and Crab spoke.

“There are a few things I need to tell you. Prepare a raven to Caramill as well.”

The Chief’s smile faded quickly as he motioned for Crab to sit down.

“Well then, let’s hear it. Donnie, tell Erik to prepare a raven as well.”

The Chief glared at Donnie before he could get a complaint out, and he turned and strode back down the hall.

“First of all, there were almost no animals near the mountains, I only ran into two. There was a starving Silver Wolf that attacked me, and her.” Without a warning, I was yanked out of my home and dumped onto the table. Startled, I gawked up at the Chief’s sagging face in confusion.

The Chief’s eyebrows raised as he stared at me.

“Is that what I think it is?”

Crab affirmed and the Chief put his hand over his mouth and mumbled something I couldn’t understand. The other humans looked at the Chief in confusion, before he told them, “This is a female Falnen chick.”

Chaos erupted from the four or so other humans at the table. One burly man with short cropped dark hair raised his voice, saying, “That’s impossible! When was the last time someone saw one? Aren’t they all dead?”

As two other men mumbled to themselves as the Chief had, the Chief replied, “We thought they were. But this is undoubtedly a Falnen. I saw one as a young man, and I remember those eyes.”

He continued to lock eyes with me, before I finally recovered and turned to Crab. He was looking at me with concern, but then I promptly jumped onto his arm and grasped onto the fabric for dear life. Understanding my intentions, Crab picked me up and placed me back into my home. I curled up in warmth, and refused to poke my head out again.

As I sat in safety, I heard the Chief’s rasping voice say something about the number of creatures around the village, but I covered my head with my wings and shut out all the noise. I stayed like that until I felt Crab standing up and walking again.

I gathered my courage and poked my head out once again, only to see that we were back outside in the snow. The Chief was walking next to Crab, speaking to him about something I couldn’t make sense of.

We neared a small cabin on the outskirts of the village, separated from most of the other buildings as the Chief spoke, “Watch out for Captain, he’s been in one of his moods lately. He nearly killed Donnie last time we came out here.”

“Don’t worry about it, Captain will get over it eventually.”

Crab opened the door of the cabin, revealing a musty interior with a small bed, a table, a chair and not much else. Light shown in from the one window overlooking the desk, and the back wall seemed to be using the village’s perimeter wall as support.

I looked around inside in search of this ‘Captain’, but the cabin seemed to be empty from what I could tell. Crab sat down on the cot as the Chief exited and left us in silence. It was only then that Crab started speaking to me.

“I’m sorry for doing that, but it had to be done.”

He pulled me out and set me down on the cot next to him.

“The villagers here treat the Falnen as some sort of a god. Your kind always drove out a lot of the other predators, and let the people hunt in peace. I assume that the news will travel quickly though, and that you’ll be the talk of the village come tomorrow.”

I felt a sinking feeling in my tiny gut, as the prospect of being watched by hundreds of people didn’t exactly appeal to me.

“Don’t worry one bit,” Crab said lightly, “They’ll pamper you and feed you the best of their food, once they come to terms with what you are.”

As Crab laid down on the cot and shifted away from me, I thought about my predicament. While the idea of free food sounded great, dealing with that many other humans seemed absolutely terrible. With Crab, I figured I was safe and that he wouldn’t hurt me. With strangers, I had no idea.

The light grew dimmer as the sun settled, and soon Crab was fast asleep on his bed. I sat with my back to him, and stared out the window. Tomorrow, I decided, I would try to get Crab to teach me to hunt. With this, I could try to become self-sufficient; and, if I was lucky, I would avoid all those villagers.

As I was lulling off, a shadow slipped through the window and into the room. I instantly went into alarm mode and pecked Crab’s back repeatedly. Crab shot up, hand reaching for the dagger that was still hanging on his waist, and the shadow leapt onto the table.

In the late afternoon’s light, the four-legged creature stood proudly, staring at us. It was a few times bigger than me, and covered in black fur. Two small ears poked up at the top of its head, and one lazy green eye inspected us. The other was closed, a violent scar passing through the socket. Its long tail swished back and forth slowly as it opened its mouth and let out a soft ‘purrr’.

I stared at the creature, its one eye studying my every detail, sizing me up. Unable to think, I scrambled back into Crab and made myself as small as possible. However, Crab relaxed and let out a laugh.

“Senya, I’d like you to meet Captain.”