The girl let out a sigh of bliss staring at her new handiwork. In her hands was a tattered grey robe...though it was meant to be a dress. It didn't even resemble a robe anymore, instead looking like a dirty messed up and old shrine maiden outfit. Obviously, the clothes she grabbed was definitely too big on her. 

The reason she made clothes was simple. Everyone around her was wearing something and, even though the girl knew she wasn't the same as these, well, dead things, and the fact that she doesn't feel any real need to wear anything to cover her, it was a bit chilly last night, not that she actually knows what the word chilly actually means. Also, despite how dirty the "dress" she is wearing actually is, the dress still retained a snuggly and soft touch. In other words, it was really nice to snuggle with and, to that extent, wear.

For some reason the crow didn't leave. He had the chance. His wing was healed enough and his flock was close enough that, if he flew when the girl was sleeping, he could have gotten away. Yet, instead he chose to stay and fall to sleep, hiding in a large hole in a large dark blue chestplate. 

When the crow woke up, the girl was already awake and was sitting on all fours on top of the axe she has tried so hard to get out. Seeing her like this, the crow couldn't help but think of her as a prairie dog, standing guard for any threat. 

The crow was also hungry. He had thought of eating the girl's mother while her back was turned but decided against it. Even if the girl was a newborn despite...not looking anything like a baby, he had no doubt in his mind that she doesn't want him eating her mother's body. It was a shame but the crow had other fresh bodies around. The mother wasn't the only one killed by those soldiers. 

It's also a shame that none of the soldiers or the mounts they were riding on, he thinks they are called horses, died. They had plenty of meat on them even without their training. But, atlas, the horses and the soldiers got away scot free after chasing down their targets.

So, after locating a fresh body, or as fresh as a two week body can be, the crow returned back to where the girl was. Why? He doesn't know himself. And, as stated above, the crow found the girl playing with a bunch of fabric, making some kind of robe or Light Dress* with it. It did cover up the girl partly but that's about it. He had no idea how a girl that is definitely humanoid can find such a thing comfortable.

"Ah! You're back, Black!" The girl shouted upon seeing the crow watching her where she found him yesterday. Already she has thought of a name for the bird, not that she knows what truly a name is nor what a bird is.

"How do you like this?" The girl asked, standing up and spinning around, causing the dirty fabric she is wearing to flare up. The crow gave both the girl and the "dress" a look of disappointment. 

Seeing that, much to the crow's surprise, the girl frowned, a pout on her face.

"Well, I tried my best!" The girl pouted before turning around with a humph. 

The crow narrowed his eyes at this, feeling slightly disappointed in himself. 

"Well, now that I have something on me, it's time to get that axe!" The girl exclaimed, her previous pouty attitude gone in an instant. 

The crow, if he could, would be frowning.

The girl was true to her words. She launched herself at the axe, trying her best to rip it free from the ground. However, just like yesterday, the axe didn't budge even a bit no matter how hard or how long the girl tried. When the girl finally gave up, forty minutes had past. With all of her energy spent the girl laid down on the sandy ground below.

"This is too hard!" The girl said in between pants. The crow only gave her an amused wink, causing the girl's cheeks to go red.

"H-How about you try then!" The girl shouted, rolling around in the sandy ground, causing her already dirty "dress" to become even dirtier. 

The crow flew on top of the axe and stared down at the girl, giving her his answer.

"Yeah, I guess you are too small," The girl sighed, sitting up.

To the girl, the fact that she can't lift the axe out of the ground is a huge problem. She has already decided on a name for herself yet, in order to get that name, she must lift the axe out of the ground. Only then can she go after the something that killed her mother. Yet, no matter how hard she tries to make the axe even move a little bit, the axe won't budge. In her head, the axe had already become a big bad boss. A enemy she must defeat before moving on. So, with renewed determination, the girl got ready to challenge the axe again.

Only, reality had other plans.

The girl's stomach let out a mighty growl, causing the girl to stop in her tracks. Her limbs felt weak and something told her it wasn't from trying to lift the axe out of the ground.

Confused, the girl turned towards the crow for help but, upon seeing him, she felt a strange feeling. Her head was fuzzy and, for whatever reason, the girl wanted to do something to him. What she doesn't know but, if she does give in to whatever it is her body wants her to do, will this feeling stop?

The crow was busy cleaning his feathers at this point so, when he stopped, he was surprised to see the girl giving him a weird look. It was then that he remembered hearing the sound of a stomach growl. Quickly connecting the dots the crow squawked in alarm, flapping his wings. If he didn't act quick he might end up as the girl's food!

Before the crow could do anything a shadow passed him, sending an all too familiar sense of dread. He quickly looked up just in time to hear the loud screech of a Palcanorn Falcon*. The falcon was diving right towards him, its talons ready to grab the crow. Normally, due to their small size, palcanorn falcons don't attack crows. However, if a crow were to, let's say, stray from its flock...

....well, you get the point. 

Just as the falcon was about to nab the crow, a hand reached out and grabbed it from the air, crushing the falcon's ribs. The falcon let out a shriek of pain and turned its head to look at whatever grabbed it. When it did, it met the two large glowing red eyes of a predator, giving the falcon a look of confusion...and hunger. 

The girl studied the falcon for a bit, watching it try to squirm free from her grasp. As it did, blood started to well up from the holes where the girl's claws had punctured the falcon. Upon seeing the blood, the girl licked her lips, her tongue longer than most and forked. Then, without even being aware of what she was doing, the girl opened her mouth and bit the head of the falcon clean off with her teeth.

The sharp smell of blood and the sound of something being eaten caused the crow to stop shielding his head behind his wings. When he looked around he saw no falcon, well, not at first anyway.

He did spot the falcon. The decapitated bloody corpse of the falcon being eaten by the girl.

Seeing this, the crow smartly decided to fly away in case the girl was still hungry when she finished with her meal.

 

 

. . . . . . . .

 

 

....Six Years Later......

 

Ai woke up with a might yawn that somehow sounded like a baby feline. Her new companions decided that traveling by carriage was better than walking by foot with all the injured. Seeing this, Ai instantly jumped on top of a carriage and settled down, basking in the sun. Today there weren't a lot of clouds in the sky which allowed Ai to get a nice sun bath in. Needless to say, Ai fell asleep while on top of the carriage.

Now that she is awake, the sun was still in the sky, though now there were more clouds, blocking Ai from continuing her basking. Letting out a slight hiss of annoyance and discomfort at that, Ai shook her body like a wet dog and sat up, looking around. At some point more carriages have joined theirs and, by the looks of it, they were escorting them. Ai could tell by the increase in soldiers in the carriage. She even saw a Captain* among them.

"Finally awake, huh?" A friendly and old voice asked.

Ai turned to the left, facing where the voice came from. Riding on a chestnut brown horse beside the carriage she was on was General Obaskis, his dark blue and silver armor looking polished and clean compared to how it was when she first met him.

"Yep!" Ai replied cheerfully, her signature smile returning to her face, "You never waste a good bask around here. You never know when the clouds will part again."

General Obaskis nodded, actually understanding the girl's words.

"So that must mean you are from up North, right?" Obaskis asked, recalling that the clouds in the North aren't covering the sun as much as they do in the other parts of Nostalisk.

"Ehh, kinda? I normally hanged out around the North and the Northeast, around the Algerans," Ai admitted honestly, a finger on her chin.

"Algeran*, huh?" Obaskis asked, though it wasn't really a question, "I haven't heard of that place for a long time. Last time I heard about them was when they were attacked by the Vanyans and, soon afterwards, the Zhenshi*."

"Vanyans?" Ai asked with a slight tilt of her head. She has heard the name Vanyans once before but she had no idea what or who they were.

"Vanyans," Obaskis said with a slight scowl, "Ruthless raiders who live up North. Allies to the Vikings* and a force to be reckoned. Their Faction, known as the Vanyan Faction*, are one of the best armies in all of Nostalisk. Every few years, a bit more than a decade normally in between, the Vanyans go on a War Rampage*, attacking any Faction in their way and  causing massive damage to their targets before they retreat back up North into their frozen wasteland."

"Fought them?" Ai asked, seeing the contempt in Obaskis's eyes.

"Me? No, I never personally fought them," Obaskis admitted with a slight shake of his head, "However, when I was still a Captain my brother was in a fort stationed close to where I was. It was so close, in fact, that letters were ran back and forth within six hours. His fortress was hit by the Vanyans and, true to their legends, they slaughtered their way through the fortress, crushing it and everyone inside with supreme ease. And, just like the legends, our fortress was saved since it was considered "out of the way" to the Vanyan forces. In fact, since their target was a couple of cities from the Nation*, many soldiers and citizens died by Vanyan hands."

Ai was silent for a while, taking in what Obaskis said. Though she probably wasn't alive during the events Obaskis described, she finds it surprising that she has only heard the word Vanyans once.

"So, are they the enemies you wish me to fight?" Ai asked. She hoped the answer would be yes. She has yet to clash with a Vanyan, after all.

"The Vanyans? No," Obaskis said with a shake of his head, crushing Ai's dreams, "The Vanyans aren't due for another War Rampage in another eight to six years at least. Normally there is around a fifteen year wait but, in this case, the Vanyans are waiting around twenty-three years."

"Why the wait?"

"Well, the Vanyans are recovering from some kind of war amongst themselves," Obaskis explained. He wasn't annoyed of Ai's questions. In fact, he found them welcoming. She was a fresh break from his daily life and, to be honest, she kinda feels like his granddaughter.

Ai let out a happy little humming sound, her questions done and her curiosity satisfied enough to let her mind rest. Ai has been doing primarily whatever she wants ever since she was born, but now she has a job to do. One that provides a more clearer goal than the one Ai is always on, which is to find her Mother's killer and kill them. Because of that, she finds herself to be both nervous and excited. 

Whatever the future brings, she knows one thing for sure. She definitely won't be bored anymore.

 

 

. . . . . . . .

 

 

"Blackey! I'm bored!" The girl cried out, her head a couple of inches away from the crow. Said crow was giving the girl a look that had no pity. In fact, it seemed like the crow was scolding her.

Sensing this, the girl pouted harder at her unfair treatment. Though, to her defense, she didn't know what she did was wrong. After she killed and ate the falcon, the girl located the body that crow ate from earlier and wolfed most of it down, eating what had to be around three times her bodyweight. When the crow came back, having no idea where his flock went and scared to go search for them by himself, he returned back to the body he ate earlier only to find the girl lying peacefully down besides it, and the body all but gone.

Regardless of the danger she presented the crow was filled with fury and woke the girl up by pecking her on her forehead, squawking loudly in her face. The "poor" little defenseless girl could do nothing as she was rudely woken up and ran all the way back to her home base, a angry crow chasing after her.

After the crow calmed down, it didn't interact with the girl all day. Now it was night time and the girl was utterly bored and sorry. She didn't even know what she did wrong but she does know that she did something to upset Blackey. Now, all she wants to do is make up to him. Of course, since she was born yesterday, she doesn't know how to.

"Blackey, can you please not be annoyed at me?" The girl begged for what had to be the eighth time today. She had already started crying at this point, her mind overworked from trying to desperately think of a way to make up to her only companion. She was exhausted and felt weak, her mind fuzzy, yet she wouldn't stop until Blackey became nice to her again.

The crow, after trying his best to ignore her efforts, finally couldn't ignore them any longer. He was no predator but he knew the girl was exhausted and forcing herself to stay awake just for him. Even he couldn't resist the guilt that started to well up inside him, knowing that he was the cause of her discomfort.

So, with a sigh, the crow flew down and into the girl's chest, wrapping her neck in a hug, something he has seen humanoids do many times before to comfort one another. 

Needless to say, it was extremely effective.

The girl's eyes went wide her crying ceased. Deep in her she felt a warm feeling, a feeling she hasn't felt before. It felt nice.

The girl fell asleep in no time at all. Curled in a little ball, the crow was tucked neatly in the middle of her, lying on top. For some reason, it felt nice to the crow, like he was back home, back when he wasn't an adult, back in his nest with other animals he could trust around him, keeping him warm.

In no time at all the crow too fell asleep, tucked on top of the girl's arms.

 

 

Captains: A agreed upon rank in battle. They are more skilled than normal soldiers and often lead a number of soldiers and Officers in battle.

 

Algeran: A medium-sized Faction that has been around for a long time. Though not older than the Empire nor the Senshi Factions, this Faction was one of the dominant powers back in the early days of Nostalisk, including being one of the Factions to create a Tyrant but a Warmonger as well. Ever since a massive war, the Algeran weren't as mighty as they used to be and had to temporarily withdraw from many of their wars in the Great Wars. Currently, the Faction is led by Trishi, The Warmonger.

 

Viking Faction: A Faction known for their raids. They weren't one of the primary Faction back in the old days but, now, in the present, the Faction is one of the dominant powers tied with the Kingdoms Faction, the Empire Factions, the Shenshi Faction, and the Alliance Factions. They are known for their black and red armor, strong warriors, their navy, and their grudge against the Kingdoms Faction.

 

Vanyan Faction: A Faction known throughout all of Nostalisk, even down to the Southeast. This Faction raids not to support themselves, but just for the sake of doing it. To spread fear throughout Nostalisk. Despite the Faction being made up of many nomadic tribes, the Faction never moves, is united, has technology that puts all the dominant Factions of Nostalisk to shame, and a highly skilled army with unwavering loyalty. They are very similar to the Viking Faction and the two are allies, though the Vanyan Faction don't help their allies out unless they stumble across them during their War Rampage.

 

War Rampage: The words used to describe when a Faction goes on a conquering/raiding streak, moving fast and striking hard until their own supplies cannot handle their army anymore and they have to fall back. Normally this is used to describe what the Vanyans do every decade or so.

 

Zhenshi Faction: The second largest Faction located behind the Senshi Faction. This Faction rarely sees war but, once they do, they often dominate. Unlike the Senshi, they do not shy away or criticize their neighbors for their war-like behavior. They did, however, create the monks. This Faction often searches for balance within themselves.

 

Nation Faction: A Faction that is located below the Kingdom Factions and below the Empire Factions. They are a peace-loving Faction that, surprisingly, hasn't been wiped out yet. Many assume the Nation Faction has powerful backings, but from which Faction isn't known. While the Nation Faction will deny this, this has been proven as fact since they could have never won all the battles they did otherwise, no matter how much they say luck is on their side.