@belladona
qiao rummaged through silt and scree. around her little piles sprung, the evidence of a day’s work in the dirt.
she was searching: here the voices grew louder in their hushed whisperings, drawing her to near frantic digs in the half frozen earth.
The raven watched the wolf, from high up in the air, and it wondered whether the wolf had a cache of food. She circled croaking lowly, then fluttered down a safe distance away. Her beady purple gaze stared, haughty, at the wolf.
a shadow blotted the sky. qiao turned her eyes upward, catching the graceful drift of a raven on the wind.
it croaked, approaching with a flutter of dark plumes. long ago, qiao had learned the significance of a raven on the wind. you come at a good time.
the seer clucked, setting aside her patch of dirt and peering at the indigo eyed carrion bird. are you hungry?
Belladonna had learned early in life that following wolves meant a free meal - this time was no different. The wolf spoke, and the raven contemplated her words, before letting out a delighted caw. "Ravenous!" it cried, hopping closer. She clicked her beak, then ruffled her feathers against the cold wind. "What do your kin call you, wolf?"
ravenous! qiao smiled at the pun. it was her impression ravens could be exceedingly clever.
in turn this made them exceedingly useful.
"qiao." she dropped her head - the coarse greenrbrier rope slipped from her thin neck. from its wrapped sack, she extracted a cured piece of meat. "two - one now, and one when you return the goods. interested, iskat?"
The raven cawed in delight as Qiao extracted a piece of meat from a sack, and when Qiao next spoke, it was with a bargain. "What kind of goods?" the raven asked, though she edged nearer to the wolf and the meat all the same, her interest piqued.
this one caught on quick. no beating around the bush -- a directness qiao found endearing. she tossed the piece of meat to the black-plumed creature, so that it might inspect the worth of its barter first before accepting her mission.
"goods that require -- ah, wings." qiao's eyes sparkled. "south of here, there is a high ridge. along its eastern face is a series of birch -- white trees which lean against the wind. you will see some of these have mushrooms growing along them. those trees are marked for death. i can smell them on the wind, but the crossroad is iced over and i have no wish to break my neck for a morel."
qiao pulled from her deerpelt a thin wedgeshaped stone -- its surface glittered maliciously. "take this, and use it to carve them from the tree. do not use your beak, or you too will join the trees in their march to the end." she placed the stone upon the pelt and folded its edges together. "bring me back two loads, and i will pay you well."
The raven snatched up the first piece of meat greedily; it was gone in mere moments. She listened as Qiao told her of the mushrooms and the dying trees. When the stone and pelt was offered, she took it up in her beak, then squawked around it, "I will return soon."
Belladonna took flight, the wind carrying her fast and far; she spotted the trees and circled lower. Here and there were mushrooms, but the raven was careful. She fluttered to the ground, deposited her parcel, then took up the stone in her beak carefully. She used it to carve the mushrooms from the trees, going slowly so as to not use her beak on accident, and then placed them carefully in the pelt. It took her maybe ten minutes, and then she was soaring back to Qiao; she let the parcel drop at the wolf's paws, then the raven, too, came fluttering down.
"I can do more than collect morels - I could be a second set of eyes and ears. No one pays any mind to the birds." She clicked her beak expectantly, turning her sharp purple eye on Qiao. "Interested?"
this bird was delightful. it tilted back its craw and boom! morsel gone. qiao marveled as it flew away.
in short order belladona returned, laboring under a full packet of morels. their scent tinged her nose. qiao's second offering was ready: this time, a clamshell fat with fermented roe. she pushed it towards the carrion bird with interest. "what is your price?"
The raven gave another one of her delighted caws as Qiao pushed the clamshell towards her. She tasted a beakfull, shivered slightly - it tasted divine - then told the wolf, "Protection. And food." Easy enough, right? She did not think wolves regularly hunted ravens, but even so, she didn't fancy going into a pack of them. "I can travel with you, or you can call whenever you have a job for me. Your choice."
qiao marveled the freedom of birds. belladonna hopped towards the clamshell, beak clacking as roe slithered down a black-throated gullet.
protection. food. two necessities for most. "i would have many uses for you." qiao smiled and began to don the greenbriar around her slender neck. "and in return, i will keep you fed and protected." she imagined very few things would go for a raven that kept company with wolves. even eagles were not so bold. "that is the last of my roe until this spring, though."
She polished off the clamshell. The raven's appetite was finally sated. She ruffled her feathers with a very contented look on her face, then looked to the wolf once more. "Where to next, madam?" she inquired, bowing and spreading out her wings slightly. It birds could smirk, she would be - her eyes danced once more. This seemed like it was going to be a wonderful partnership.
the raven bent her dark head, black beak engulfing the roe whole. the clamshell stripped of its quarters, belladonna practically wore an indulgent grin -- if beaks could be shapely.
"anywhere you detect a coven, or witches." the answer was hardly definitive -- but qiao trusted this clever bird to draw her own inference. "i go to the red mesa tomorrow. i will howl if your services are needed."
here's the last from the bird!
"I shall seek them out, madam Qiao. Until next we meet." The raven gave a bow, extending her wings. She took her leave of the wolf, soaring up into the sky, and letting the wind take her from there.
until next we meet. the bird bowed, her iridescent plume shimmering. qiao returned the gesture with a grave dip of her skull.
farewell, bird. belladonna took flight in a great flurry of feathers, leaving qiao but a speck among the ruins of winterwood and snow. the herbalist murmured an old incantation to herself and made east.