'Godddddd I hate mornings'
Standing up with tension in her movements, Kristen cleaned the dirt and leaves in her feathers from the short nap that she took. After checking that there was no danger ahead of her, she walked warily out of the cave before flying into the forest to search for some breakfast.
While searching she came across something odd, there was an arrow embedded deep inside a tree with dirt spread messily around the area.
'humans? I thought that they didn't come here.'
Looking at the scene in confusion she decided to ignore it as it probably had nothing to do with her. Right?
Yeah.
Focusing on the task at hand she patrolled a tiny section of the forest and managed to spot a small hare hiding underneath a tree in a burrow, as she flew down gracefully towards it she somehow managed to hit the ground face first.
[level 1 hare]
[Status:Fearful]
..
.
.
When I was born a hare I knew that I wouldn't last long, but I didn't realise my time would be so short. Being born less than a week ago I managed to dodge predators and survive against all odds, however this lucky streak was about to end as an imposing, large raven swept down from the skies and landed in front of the burrow.
The fear that I felt as what looked like black bird of death stalked towards me was indescribable, I couldn't even move my legs.
When I came face to face with it however my body became completely paralysed in horror and then a second later it all went dark.
..
.
.
'mmmmmm thats tasty, maybe I should get hare more often? Eh maybe. Okay time to leave this part of the forest because I'm getting the creeps from that arrow and its not the good type.'
Thinking about the taste of that breakfast she felt herself slowly getting hungry and so quickly took off flying in the opposite direction of where she ate.
Kristen was still unsure if she should be worried about getting ambushed by the bloodthirsty rabbit herd but she wasn't taking any chances and was on high vigilance at all times. She decided this because of the threat of the rabbits.
Lowering her guard just for a moment she raced through the woods, giving herself a feeling that she didn't ever want to give up. She felt on top of the world as the wind rushed past her ear and through her feathers, sure the body she got reborn into wasn't....ideal, but it was better than nothing.
Calming down from the rush from a few seconds ago her thoughts wandered back to the mark of humanity that she stumbled upon less than 20 minutes ago. 'where did it come from? who shot the arrow? are they still here?'
These thoughts plagued Kristens mind as she went winded through the trees, her flight pattern becoming more accurate the further distance covered.
She felt the urge to go back to where the arrow was, for whatever reason sensing that she might have missed something. Unable to resist these temptations she flew back towards it.
'I'll just see it one last time and turn back. Simple.'
Arriving at the tree with the arrow in it I landed on the ground worn out from the constant exercise.
I trodded up to the scene and looked more closely at the ground around it.
Dirt was flung everywhere like the person who used to be here was in a rush, a piece of paper sticking out from the soil.
With eyes full of interest I saw a map of the entire Black Forest and writing at the top that I couldn't understand. There was a big X in the middle of the map, the place marked as the deepest part of the entire forest.
The entire time Kristen had been in The Black Forest she had only stayed on the outskirts and luckily so because if she had gone further it would've certainly led to her death because of all the high level beasts that had claimed territory there.
There was an arrow marked on the area where Kristen currently was, letting her know where she was in this mysterious woodland.
To Kristen, this was an invaluable treasure; she had been going aimlessly through the forest since she was born and always had to be wary of any enemies showing up unexpectedly.
She folded up the paper into a small rectangle and stuffed it securely between her sleek feathers.
'I knew that there was something here. Hahahahaaa my trusty instincts are always right.'
.
.
Her "trusty instincts" were in fact almost never right.
.
.
Feeling happy with herself she recovered her strength and took off into the air and away from the scene, failing to notice that a pair of stealthy humans had started following her ever since she went back to the arrow tree.
After flying for around an hour with breaks in between, she finally found a suitable place to sleep the night. It was a small nook on top of a thick branch, hidden from view by leaves on all sides.
The sun had not yet gone down and so neither had Kristen.
Checking the area around her she managed to find a small, lonesome rabbit.
Swooping down just like she did in the morning, she grabbed the rabbits small body in her sharp claws.
Immediately cutting off its airway it soon died of suffocation while being carried back to Kristens make-shift home.
Picking out the edible parts of the rabbits body, she ate until the hunger in her stomach went away and she slowly drifted off to sleep.
..
.
.
Seeing that their target had fallen asleep the two cultivators emerged from the shadows, placing the large bird into a space pouch and quickly leaving the area, like nothing happened.