Birrrrrrrrrrb

Darwin remained motionless until a familiar song hit him. He turned, disregarding any stealth, glancing over at a small blue jay and almost immediately fluttering himself closer. "You bring news, yes?" Darwin gave an expectant glare as the blue jay gave a slight nod. The lesser began to speak, his speech plagued with small stutters and sudden decreases in his volume, "W-w-w-well, yes of course, but... I a-a-a-also bring a n-new one. Said he's with [i]them[/i] before I...I d-d-d-did what I was told." The blue jay moved aside to reveal a small unconscious raven, not unlike the one Darwin had just 'spoke' with. "I take it you have a place for me to do my dealings as well?" The blue jay nodded frantically, gesturing to the tree they were and a large vacant space. "Used to be filled with owls, o-o-o-or so I'm told. No one's seen anything from them...Safer than safe s-s-s-since most know to steer cl-cl-clear. G-got it all set up with the things y-you need!" Darwin nodded, nuzzling his beak into the blue jay's side. "And to whom do I owe this good work?" "I-i-i-i-...Isaac, sir. Anything to stay f-f-f-fed. All the lady birds in the area've been guarding their eggs well. I-i-i-i-i consider myself a damn g-good thief...but not when the conditions are improbable...T-t-thank you mister Darwin... " "Understood, Isaac. You know where to find your prize." And with the little bird fluttered off in a hurry, perhaps out of fear, but more so a commanding starvation. Darwin brought the comatose bird inside the aforementioned crevice in the larger tree, setting him down adjacent from the entrance before glancing through materials left for him and beginning to use some to cover the entrance. Once done with this, Darwin picked up a few roots from the collection using them as a sort of twine to retrain the youthful blackbird while he was still out. Moments after he was done, the bird awoke with a screeching squawk. "Ah, you're awake. How lovely, we were just about to begin." "Huh, what?! Where?! Who are?! Damn you, let me go! Another one of the king's loyal subjects?! Go kiss up to his ass and stay the fuck away from mine!"  Darwin snickered, sorting through the other belongings entrusted to him before speaking, "You have an astounding number of empty threats, meaningless threats, threats that lack any threatening vibe to them word-wise." His tongue slid itself about the surface of his beak, leaving it a bit shinier. “I think I have just the spot for you, friend. A nice place where you can commune with the rest of your kind, filthy, rotten insects. If that doesn't appeal to you, perhaps you could be used to nurture such being in your own remains. A lovely thought, no?…!~” Darwin began to pace, back and forth as he refused to break eye contact with his victim. The raven remained silent before it dawned on him just what this potoo was proposing. "Y-you monster!...Who gives you permission to do this? Are you the king's very executioner?!" The raven cringed for a moment, his loud tone inducing a headache unto himself. His tongue felt around the inside of his maw, the residue of a berry he didn't remember eating still evident. [i]Sedated...I was sedated...?[/i] He thought as he glanced back up at Darwin with a new found, sluggish horror, watching his tormentor begin to speak once more. His thoughts blended and morphed as he found himself barely able to comprehend or even focus on the potoo's words. With such a strong berry, it was no wonder one full one was enough to knock him out. “I work for none but myself," Darwin began with a soft sigh, "I simply find those on your 'side' much easier to obtain for my own personal needs. Besides, if the king every caught wind of my deeds, if he saw their record only pertaining to children of the Rebellion, my punishment, if any, would be far less severe. Now then, I need you to understand on e thing. You’re going to be beautiful, no matter what you end up being, whether it be raw nourishment or the soil in which to plant the seeds of my harvest... just what I need to keep going, to keep growing. Just what any rule needs to suppress your kind.~” Darwin ceased his pacing, staying in front of his victim. "Every regulating force has its darker means of getting what they want, do they not? Ah...on an unrelated note... Perhaps it's my dear old mind playing tricks on me, a bit of clouded judgment, an assumption that could make an ass out of you and me...But I think I’ve heard your voice before...” He chuckled, backing off once more and again sorting through his tools, acquiring a silence that urged the small raven to do the same. This of course, giving the unfortunate victim a moment to drowsily process those words in is sedated state. “When I first thought of that I was confused… Thoroughly perplexed even. ‘That is odd’, I said to myself, ‘I can usually match a face to a voice.’ But now that I think back to my previous dirty, dirty deeds...I remember that a face similar to yours was infested with sustenance for myself." Darwin extended his beak towards the raven's head, running the tip through his feathers gently. “Perhaps I’m not the only one that’s heard your voice but haven’t seen your face, hm? Perhaps you’ve acquired some...listeners, a crowd, a flock of absent minded sheep that you think you’re giving direction and purpose?...!” He raised his voice a bit, obviously losing his patience. “And now you’ve given yourself to me...[i]A delicacy to unwrapped...and unwrapped again...and savored[/i]…” He stood himself up a bit taller all of a sudden before plunging his own beak into the skull of the raven, producing a deafening shriek of pain. "Aw yes! I've only imagined such a day! I've always dreamed of giving a lobotomy! Friend, I cannot express my gratitude in any other way! I'M, SO VERY THANKFUL!~" The raven stuttered and stumbled, trying to find words to articulate his distress, but perhaps that little bit of berry left was enough to bring back a fog to his mind, a fog that clouded his thoughts and ability to act. “Dear, you’re going to have to speak up. I can’t understand a word you’re saying… You’d have to be crazy not to speak better than that. In the presence of all people, darling, you dare undermine me by playing dumb?!” Darwin knew full well that is was the sedatives talking, and yet he couldn’t hold himself back anymore. [spoiler]He plunged his beak into the top of the raven's head, letting it pierce the adequately damaged skull and settle into the blob of grey matter within. No matter how reckless and rageful this act seemed to be however, it was very precise, hitting an area that would survive such a blow. It was easily forgettable, but Darwin knew there was no sense in killing such a valuable mouthpiece. “Dirty fucking revolutionary! I’ve tried all I can, darling! I’ve been good! I’ve been kind! And yet you all still keep rising up as though it will get you somewhere!!!” With each exclamation, there was a pause in which his beak found its way back to the squishy brain flesh, a sickening gushing squelch of a sound being produced as a result. Blood practically spurted as the raven lost sight of all his thoughts or go unconscious altogether.

A wing  slapping itself across the poor blackbird's face brought them back to reality shortly after the small break they got to be unconscious. “I forgive you darling, really I do. Don’t you fall asleep on me...Am I boring you? I’m dreadfully sorry about that. One more horror is all you need to witness...Then you’ll be ready...Then you can dream dreams like never before...Speak the will of his highness without a doubt...Speak my will to your loyal herd…” Darwin backed away, going through some woodland, well crafted tools before stumbling upon something that triggered a soft snicker from him. "Oh Isaac, you're a smart one." Darwin murmured, picking out the dismembered beak of some bird of prey. The bits of flesh that barely clinged to it where evidence of its origin. Of course Isaac wasn't a killer, merely a secondhand benefactor. Just another bird with fond respect for the wonders of decomposition. He returned to the raven who was squawking up a storm, trying desperately to comprehend his own pain and muddle through his own mind. Darwin stalked closer, drinking in the lovely sounds before his eyes settled on one of the raven's talens. He gently took the raven's left talon, kneading the flesh a bit in his grip before carefully setting it inside the disembodied beak. He gently set the beak in a more...useful position, letting his own talons rest snugly on the top. “Just try to grin and bear it, for my sake...For the sake of future generations…” He gave the raven the slightest of comforting nuzzles, rather conflicting to the punishing he had previously received. And with a sickening snap and an abundance of blood, the raven was gifted with boney redenned stubs instead of the claws he used to know. “Don’t look at that dear. Look at me. Use the pain to focus. Darling, look into my eyes. Do you see it? Do you see the nobility?” As Darwin stared into your black bird's eyes, sure enough, the young bird found his mind drifting off to vague memories of the king, what his family had told him about the king and his grace. Desperately he attempted to recall the horrid things he had witnessed the corruption of the crown do. But, try as he might, he couldn't think back to such a time. It didn't help that all throughout Darwin spoke of good deeds of the king, and his own observation of Aaron's interactions with Rita. The sweet benevolent side of the king most civilians on his good side witnessed. Verbal subliminal messaging, no. [i]Brain washing[/i].  “When I first learned how to fly, my mother always used to tell me of the small list of things that could save one's life whilst soaring through the air. Life can be so scary, so frighteningly evil in its ways without direction, no?" The raven neared a cataleptic state once more as all he could manage was a simple nod. [i]What are you thinking, nodding? Why are you agreeing?[/i] the raven thought before quickly answering his own question. He just wanted this to end. He's listen to the potoo, he'd praise it, hell he'd kiss it if it meant his escape would be any closer, his suffering over, and his wounds healed. "Good good good, mother raised you well, didn't she?" Darwin distracted the raven once more, to which the bird, flashing in and out of consciousness merely nodded again. "How about you come with me to the kingdom for a bit, in exchange for getting to fly back to your mother as soon as we're done?" Yet another nod was produced as Darwin gave a sweet nurturing smile. He did away with the restraints and unsealed the entrance, helping the raven hobble towards it with a satisfied sigh. "You made the right choice today boy, maybe you don't realize it just yet, but you did. I'm proud of you. Now, follow me." The raven nodded once more, stumbling over a few words until he produced one, "G-g-gabe..." Darwin tilted his head with a bit of confusion, glancing back at the raven. "My n-name." "Ah, I see. My name is Darwin. If you ever feel troubled, please do not hesitate to call me name." The raven froze, confused by this notion as his senses began to become more clear. But, he didn't know what to believe at the moment, and simply went along with it, stretching out his wings slightly with the help of the potoo to right his balance.And with that, Darwin took off, leading the raven to do the same towards Aaron's presumed location, letting out an echoing melodic call to indicate his eminent arrival, the raven eventually pressured to do the same. Perhaps it didn't have to be nightfall for the potoo to enjoy  himself.