Blackfeather Woods and stole my heart away complete

the feisty child landed in a rumpled heap, staring upright still at the black plumes of the beast which sat wholly out of reach. astara eyed its clacking form resentfully, a low growl bubbling in her throat as she saw it shake its long wings and flutter well beyond her vision.

she turned in time to see her mother prone on the ground; this position vexed the girl, and she approached with her head tilted. the body language was not unknown to astara, for she had seen it displayed in moments of subservience among her packmates. did her mother believe those winged rats were somehow better than them? why would a creature possessing fangs and claws ever bow to a plumed and fragile race? astara's ears swept back - half in confusion, half in slight disbelief.

surely it was a joke, right?