Ma captures a merc who'd caught her to try to trap her son and the rest of the party. The leader of the flock of raven-folk, imagine the looks on Wraithvine's and the rest of their faces when she shows up with her new feathered friends.
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https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-03351-i063-the-nature-of-mothers#@internutter/re-bkf-r88htb -- DaniAndShali
The Raven-folk were said to be cursed by the gods. They had the power of creation taken away from them. Less superstitious types who studied the evidence of eons had a more sensible answer - they were the descendants of created beings.
Once upon an eon ago, a villain calling themself the Master of Crows decided to take Corvids and turn them into the perfect servant. Only capable of mimicry, never capable of invention, they would follow the letter of their instructions to their dying breath. Which was as close to a curse as any creature could get. The Master of Crows was defeated by a mighty hero[1], and his corvid minions escaped to become the Raven-folk. Minions for the rest of time, subservient to the nearest dominant will.
Which, when she got right down to it, creeped Ma Oxbrydl out. She would tell this bird-person to sit and they would sit. She could give it any instruction and it would follow. Well. All instructions but one: "Choose for yourself."
The bird, named Talon, would tilt their ebon-feathered head at her and simply... blink. They may be shaped like a humanoid, but there was still a bird's intelligence behind those eyes. Ravens were smart, but they weren't that smart. And the ancient villain had removed all their self-determination.
She had to tell them, "Show me the way to the safe exit," and "Show me the way to the place where you got me." And on the way through the labyrinth of traps, Ma Oxbrydl found it easier to think of the poor creature as a child. Child-adjacent, perhaps.
It wasn't Talon's fault that they didn't know how to behave. They were told bad things. So, as they camped and shared what supplies they found, Ma taught Talon some manners.
"Say 'thank-you' when someone gives you something," she said. And, "Sit nicely when you're with company." She said, "Ask for things with a 'please'," and, "You can improve the world with kindness, all you need to do is work out what makes a situation better and then try to do that."
She had recovered her Everywhere Bag, and her Fibrecraft bag. Thanks to Venin, crochet was now a habit. Soon enough, Talon had a multicoloured coat made of odd ends.
"Very/ Thank you," said Talon. And, after some twitching and clicking of their beak, added. "Why?"
"You can't be blamed for doing what you're told," said Ma. "It's all you know how to do. Maybe, if me and mine show you, you can learn how to be kind."
She was the first person in centuries to try believing in a Raven-folk[2]. And belief, as all know, can work miracles.
Something fundamental, something invisible to the naked eye, changed.
Talon learned. Talon would go on to teach their flocks and families. Thereafter, the Raven-folk would change even further. In a millennium or two, they would become intelligent creatures.
All because of two kind hands.
[1] Probably Wraithvine.
[2] The other one was Wraithvine. It didn't take.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / csehakszabolcs]
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