The Grave Mistake [Anari/Open]

[northie]

He had made a grave mistake. At that thought, the man pulled his head back and laughed. Guffawed, chortled until his side hurts and his arm throb and his throat burned. Until he was raspy and hoarse and lacked voice and poison. Ah, what a pun, what a pun. Leaning against the grave stone, Niccolo Fortunato glanced up at the typical dead tree with finger-like branches found in any story book graveyard. On one of the branches sat a large fat raven, its beady black eyes fixated on the distance, the dark depth of the forest. It was waiting. And so was he. The wind blew. Just like in a story book.

The Crow, the one with the bright red hair and the single eye, huddled against the headstone, no sympathy for the soul underneath the grass and the dirt, wincing as he moved. The jacket was torn at the left arm, frayed, dark, and damp. Splattered with blood. He was feverish, or so he felt. Hot, steaming, unbearably stuffy. Someone had stuck a coal down his throat and it had lodged there, scorching his throat. His left arm was numb. Something about the bullet. Something about the bullet wasn’t right. It had grazed his arm, but it felt like it had entered his lungs. A chunk of lead obstructing his breathing.

Crovo slid further down the cool slab of stone, his breathing sporadic. One single eye, hazzy. The other, dark. He could not see enough. He panicked, flipping around and smacked his nose right into the stone. Groaning, the man curled up once more, his head uncomfortably lodged against the stiff marker. Nevertheless, the cruel coldness of the gray slab was blissfully delicious against his forehead. One hand squeezed the other arm. Maybe if he crushed hard enough, the poison from the bullet would seep out. All he felt was...nothing. Above him, the other crow, the black feathered bird with the rotund black glass eyes cocked its head and glanced down at the writhing man before turning back to watching the forest. Any minute now, their assailant might come after them.

Crovo knew that. But he could not move. It was stupid of him, to follow the vampire this far. Past the field and into the forest. Stupid hunter and his stupid bird.

A few feet away, a cracked bird mask lay, splintered on the ground. A silver bullet lodged within the forehead of the mask, which had stopped the bullet, but cracked right down the middle. He had narrowly escaped death. He had not been able fire a single bullet into the Vampire. Not when its buddies were firing from all sides. And he had run in the other direction, a predator on the retreat. It had met its match. For now. Just for now…

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[emiko]

(Pretty Anari)

Pretty, innocent Anari. Exploring? In this creepy place? Indeed. She wasn't afraid of the dark places like this. She had very little fear. She was alone, enjoying the freedom in her eagle form as she usually did. It was by far her favorite form and the crocodile didn't really fit in here anyway. She was calm, calmer than usual. She had been on edge a few days ago, the weather going crazy. Apparently she wasn't the only shapeshifter feeling a little off that day. So, today she was calm and so was the weather. Her wings were silent against the soft winds, taking her closer to the graveyard. She had yet to see this strange place. She had yet to explore but she was a curious woman. A curious woman indeed. She wasn't a fighter, though, so she was hoping not to come across anything that would put her in that situation. She almost feared fighting. Almost. She would if she had to, but she would rather talk things out.

Even in her harpy eagle form she had the same grey eyes with brown flecks in them. Oh how she loved her eyes. Her animal forms were beautiful, just like her. Desired, just as her name stated. Two of them, though gorgeous creatures, could be violent if provoked. The third was a quiet one and would rather run from danger than anything. It wasn't a fighter, much like her. But the large bird form she was in weighed eighteen pounds and her wing span was six feet. She would be something to go up against in a fight. She was in no way a small bird, but her beauty was beyond words. It was so beautiful up here in the dark sky. She could see perfectly through the darkness. She was moving closer to the tombstone filled graveyard. Such a sad place. Full of death and...the smell of blood? Buried bodies didn't bleed. Anari began to turn her large body away but something caught her eye.

Such a tiny bird there on the tree. Tiny in her eyes, anyway. She felt herself want to jump at it, to take the little bird in her huge claws and tear it apart. But then again, this was Anari. She found it to be adorable. Not at all creepy. After all, she was in the form of one of the most powerful birds in the world. She wasn't worried about getting attacked. He was nothing to her when it came to size. But there was a person near him. Her eyes fell on him. She was easy to spot in the sky, obviously. She was too big to miss. Get her in the forest, though, and you wouldn't be able to find her. Harpy eagles lived in the trees, snatching sloths off the limbs for food. This bird was quite intimidating, to be honest. Beautiful, but intimidating. It didn't quite fit Anari. Or perhaps it did, deep down. Maybe she really wasn't as innocent as she seemed. Yea, right.

This man was human by the smell of him. He also smelled of blood. There was a smell of vampire as well, though she was pushing that one away. She didn't see anyone else for now. Her eyes found the black bird again and she lowered herself quickly towards it, landing on a branch in the tree, though not near the black bird. She folded back her wings and turned her head at the man below. 'Such a strange man,' she thought, making a soft noise at him. Was he ok? She certainly didn't want to be a human yet without seeing if he was dangerous. She didn't want to be attacked.

[northie]

It looked up, spotting a larger bird of prey. The scavenger cawed in alert, its raspy dry cough loud and vicious. CAW, CAW! Crovo glanced up at his pet, then at the giant shadow in the sky, circling over him and the panicking raven. Kass cawed again, hopping towards the next branch as those black marble eyes continued to watch the harpy eagle for any sign of hostile action. The man at the foot of the tree moaned, scrunching up once more as he felt fire and ice roar through his veins. Stars—beautiful, glittering stars—erupted in front of his eyes. If the vampires who had shot him found the curled up hunter now, Crovo wouldn’t have been able to tell left from right, let alone defend himself. He would have to depend on Kass, who was busy defending itself from the other large bird. The harpy eagle landed on the branch of the same tree, far enough from the raven to reassure it slightly.

Again, Kass shrieked at it, as if warning it back before leaping from the branch, descending on the tombstone its master laid nearby. Not once did its eyes leave the eagle.

Crovo gasped, as a wave of agony gripped his belly then released, leaving him sprawling on the ground. Green eyes stared, lifeless, at the dark sky above. Then suddenly, they shifted and it took seconds…several seconds for the man to focus on the eagle above him. Ah, such beautiful form. Another wave of pain overtook the man and he shut his eyes, breathing in and out like a woman about to give birth. In and out…in and out…in and out…gasp. Again, the pain passed and several seconds later, he had forgotten what the pain was like. It was ghostly, but ceaseless.

Glancing up, he noticed that the bird was still there. Wiping the sweat from his eyes, he reached up, as if the bird would notice his outstretched hand, erected like a perch. Maybe it’ll come down so he could get a better look. Maybe it was a vulture, waiting for him to roll over and drop dead. Fresh oozing flesh. If that was the case, Crovo hoped it get a stomach ache from the poison seeping into his flesh. But that sounded better than becoming the slave of a vampire. Or getting chopped up bit by bit…

The man’s mind was starting to wander off.

“Hey pretty birdie…” Crovo muttered, beckoning to the bird. Ah, if only he had his camera with him.

[Sorry, post sucks. ._.]

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[emiko]

The tiny crow was quite annoying with all the noise. Anari wasn't going to bother it, though. She did make a loud noise back at it, though. Not threatening, just something that said she was quite annoyed. 'Shut up, little bird,' she thought, as if it could read them. 'He's hurt,' Anari thought, wondering what she should do. She had no idea what she could do to help him. She had no healing powers and quite frankly, she had no idea what was wrong with him in the first place. She wouldn't let anyone harm him now, that was for sure. Innocent Anari couldn't stand to see someone in pain. She would have to help him. 'God's help me,' she thought, her bird eyes peering down at him. this crow seemed hell bent on protecting him. Was it his pet? Strange thing to keep as a pet, wasn't it? But, it was cute. Trying to seem all protective like it would give her a fight or something. How cute.

The bird leapt from its spot on the branch to go closer to it's owner. She noticed it watching her and she stayed put on her branch, not wanting to frighten it or the human down by the tombstone. Poor thing. What had hurt him? By the looks of things, whatever it was wasn't around anymore. She didn't feel threatened. The noise coming from the man caught her off guard and she flinched a bit. Poor man. He was in so much pain. The need to help him overcame her. She had to help. Maybe he could tell her how. She moved to a closer branch, still feeling tense. She didn't want to get hurt. What if he had been trying to kill someone and got hurt in the process? He might want to eat her if she wasn't careful. Then again, turning into her crocodile form might make him change his mind about that. She could swallow him whole. Well, she could try.

She turned her head to the side as he stretched his arm out. What, did he expect her to stand on that? That would be a bit different. Odd, really. She had no intentions of eating him, that would be disgusting. Smaller animals appealed to her animal side. Well, this one anyway. Two of her forms were carnivores and one was a herbivore. So that pretty little crow over there? Yea, it was looking mighty tasty right now. But Anari was in control of her aninal urges. They wouldn't overcome her. Though, she was feeling a bit hungry. He called her a pretty birdie and she smiled inside. A compliment. What was she going to do? 'Shhh,' she told herself, lifting from the branch after thinking about what to do about the arm. She landed quite gracefully on his extended limb. What was she doing? She needed to help him, not let him admire her while he was dying. She could be such and idiot sometimes.

So, she leaned over, moving her beak over his arm comfortingly. She seemed to be trying to calm him down. She really didn't want him to freak out when she changed forms. 'Please don't shoot me,' she thought, her eyes soft as she peered at him. She jumped up off of his arm and stood on the ground beside him. There, she changed her form. The pretty bird changed into a gorgeous woman. Her dark hair held up in a purple ribbon and her clothes were a dark blue. Her grey eyes held a fearful look, afraid he was going to attack her. "Sorry," she whispered. She was wearing a cross necklace and black bracelets. Like the bird, her beauty was beyond words. "Tell me what to do. I want to help," she said, looking him over and eyeing the crow. She seemed so shy and innocent, but outgoing at the same time. Pretty little Anari. What was she getting herself into?