As Dark as the Forest

Chapter 6

Ori

Finding her way through the city as a mouse was nearly impossible, and she didn't want Asher sending her a letter. Not now. Remo might be even more suspicious. She needed to get to Asher before he could try to get word to her as they had originally discussed, and she couldn't get there fast enough as a mouse.

Mouse-Ori scurried into a deserted alleyway that smelled of piss and old food. She perked her head up, sniffing - no humans were close enough to find her. She sniffed again... an unfamiliar smell. Danger, her mouse-instinct roared in her mind.

An orange tabby cat approached from one end of the alleyway, prowling towards her. Ori felt sick. It thinks I'm food. It was now or never, she hoped her magic would handle a second change in such a short span of time.

Once the change had been made, she launched herself clumsily into the air as a crow. She'd practiced the mouse form many times - the crow, not so much. And she would have preferred to become a hawk, but hawks weren't exactly plentiful in the city. She would have looked too suspicious. Anything could have tipped her off to Remo. And the original plan had been to change and disappear without Remo's knowledge.

Ori's blue-black wings flapped clumsily, until she managed to get herself airborne. Had she been in human form, and not in a sickening state of horror at what she'd witnessed back at the Nest, she would have been awestruck by the birds-eye-view of the city below her. The gleaming rooftops, and winding streets. The Fortress rose in front of her, and she steadied herself, getting the hang of the timing required to keep her at an even altitude.

Ori aimed herself for Asher's windowsill. She was a black form against the clear blue sky, hurtling at the fortress wall. How do I stop?? She thought, panicked for a moment. She thought of birds landing. Imagined it in her mind, and spread her wings out to coast, angling herself downward toward the windowsill.

Ori hit the window, which was not what she had intended, and felt pain shudder through her at the impact. Though the hit jarred her, it must not have been a hard hit for when she shook herself off, and took account of her crow-body, it seemed to be fully in tact, if a bit wobbly.

She peered into the window with one super-focused eye. Stars, I wish I could have a bird's sight all the time. She thought. Asher wasn't inside. Drats. She cocked her head, considering. She'd seen clever little birds do any number of things with their beaks. She might be able to pry these windows open.

****

Ori was half asleep when Asher entered the room, and she almost forgot that her crow form might come as a surprise to him. She heard him curse, "For stars sake, Ori, is that you?"

She blinked at him, too exhausted to do much else.

"Errrr... or are you just a crow and not Ori."

She sighed internally, and perked herself up enough to shake her head.

"So... you're Ori."

She bobbed her head.

"Okayyyyy..." Asher dragged out the word and ran his hands through his hair in agitation. "I'd ask you why you're here but I'm sure it will be difficult to get a detailed answer out of you in that state."

She allowed him to gently pick her up and tuck her under his arm to carry her over to his chair. She just needed to sleep. And then she could change back. And tell Asher what Remo had done. She nestled into the crook of Asher's arm and slept while he stroked her feathers soothingly - perhaps she'd live out the rest of her years as a bird.