“I don’t think I could do it, Stark,” Vesper grumbled.
The raven paused in his preening to shoot her a smug look. “First time boy saying don’t think she could,” he laughed. The normally raucous cawing was softer this time, though, and he dropped down from the scraggly tree to land on her back as per usual. She adjusted her balance accordingly and peered at him with a scowl. It was true that she hated admitting the things she couldn’t do, but she had no problem telling the bird when a particular skill was as impossible.
“I’m too slow to learn to read or write my own language, let alone learn another—especially that of another species.” She just couldn’t see herself doing it. She knew Helotes could talk to horses, which she hadn’t been able to imagine him doing either, but he already knew English and Spanish.
“Not same,” Stark said gently, tapping her with his beak. “And boy needing skill. Not all Inferni ravens speaking like Stark, yes? Boy leading all scouts, including birds.”
That logic made her brow furrow and her teeth grind together in frustration. She’d already learned archery for the benefit of her clan, and it was true that she’d wanted to use the ravens more properly too. Sometimes Stark would translate if a particular bird had something important to say, but such conversation was shaky. A more direct approach would help, and not all of the ravens had the capability for intelligence that her partner did to learn high speech. Some individuals spoke as fluently as Stark, others only a few words, but most spoke in the caws and croaks of their species and nothing else.
“Needing teacher,” the raven concluded. “Not only Stark.”
She nodded. He’d led her away from the pack lands for just that purpose, although she didn’t know where to begin. Eventually, he’d said that he spotted a few larger birds in the distance, and they’d headed south near the artisan pack she’d visited before. Just because a hawk or two was circling the area didn’t mean they had a canine companion, however. Frowning, she stretched out on her stomach at the edge of the shrubs, closing her eyes and listening to the raven walk back and forth in front of her.
Word Count → 382
Hopefully this is okay. My post suuucks. xD
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