the raven - TBTT tier 1 - Corvus Umbra

    A light green blanket covered the landscape, not missing a single spot with its soft brush. The sun painted shadows with its mellow light as birds sang their love songs out of sight in ecstasy. No doubt, it was spring. One could clearly hear noises growing louder and louder when walking along the narrow gravel road. It could easily feel like an infestation of people, as they came and went past. For someone who was here the first time, it would probably sound a bit strange to deploy a large event to a distant location like this. Unfortunately the truth was, that no other place in who knows how large radius could hold it.
Anastasia lifted her eyes up to the large banner. It was stretched between two white poles, creating a welcoming and a clear entrance. Reading with bold, bright letters in an obnoxious font, the cloth welcomed anyone walking under to the annual kukuri market. For Anastasia, it wasn't the first time – as a child, she would run away just to see some cute and fluffy kukuri pups up close. Her parents never let her, so she didn't ask permissions. It was a long walk but always worth it. Seeing that ugly banner in the horizon was always the best part – it was always the same one. This time fortunately she had a car, though the woman had to park it alongside the gravel road somewhere that felt like being miles back. Anastasia lowered her head and ran her eyes across the strange sight. Wooden and metal paddocks everywhere you looked, filled with funky looking creatures. Prancing on two legs, most of the furry beasts were screaming, hissing and sounding weird altogether – some from fear, some from confusion, some from enjoyment and some from just the sheer need to be annoying. Anastasia snorted silently and a slight smile rose to her face. She took a step forward as a rebelling, light lock of hair fell on front of her right eye. Without slowing down, she blew it away and headed forward, passing underneath the obnoxious banner.

    The Slavic woman approached a wooden pen. Amongst multiple corrals, she had chosen one that seemingly held nothing when looked at from distance. She leaned over the fence carefully – the boards were old and would easily give one splinters.
Kukuri pups – dozens and dozens of kukuri pups. Anastasia ran her dark colored eyes across the sight with a hearty smile. It made her travel back in time to her childhood. Her parents were always very "people oriented", so to speak. They refused to believe in creatures that seemed like something unreal – horned equines, dragon like creatures, androids et cetera. Kukuris weren't an exception.
"If you want to practice riding, you do it on horseback" was the only discussion Anastasia ever got about the subject. She left Russia after training in competitive equestrian sport field for years. She reassured her parents that she was going to be a successful in show jumping, and many other things alongside. At this point one could just holler loudly that it had been a lie – just a little white one, though. She never said that she would be riding a horse.

    As Anastasia stared the small fur balls immersed into his memories, two more people turned up to see them. A woman with strikingly pink hair squealed softly and covered her mouth with her hands – which was already covered with a dark headscarf, however.
"For fuck's sake, Annie, calm down", the man of the two spoke. Instantly, Anastasia snapped out of her happy place. She turned her head quickly at him, with a mixture of shock, disgust and anger on her face. The mechanical tone in his voice had woke her up, like a knight in shiny armor wakes a dragon in its cave to slay it. What comes to being people oriented, Anastasia had been influenced by racist tendencies and opinions by her parents towards other bipedal species. As she moved out, she settled into the City, which was divided into two. The obvious choice for her was of course the White Side – strictly controlled streets for people who did not mind being so. She didn't see the obsession for control, since she didn't have the need to differ or forge her own path outside their boundaries. Most of the residents of the White Side were human. However, the other side of the two, Slumme, was night for the day. Its residents, mostly nonhumans or humanoids were seen as impure, filthy and leprous. There was no doubt that these two were from there.

    The man was a wyfex – a disgusting mixture of technology and biology from mad scientist that wanted to play another god. The woman looked fairly normal, but her ears were… elvish. Anastasia eyed at the couple with a venomous stare with a face so clearly sour, that it seemed like just a matter of time before she'd start to hiss like a cat in distress. The pink haired woman pointed her finger all over the pen full of kukuri pups. The light colored wyfex had already given up and didn't even try to calm her down anymore. There were a black and white pup with luminescent spots and a piebald on a dark base wrestling that seemed to keep her attention especially. Anastasia gave them a last disgusted glare as she turned away. Her curled flocks swung in the air with her aggressive movement.
As the Slavic woman took a step after another and became more and more distant, the wyfex slowly turned its head after her. His ears had dropped slightly downwards like a puppy flops its ears dreary. He turned his nonexistent eyes back to the pen.
"Maybe we shouldn't be here-", he was cut short by Ann-Len, who was still extremely excited about all this.
"LOOK AT THAT PIEBALD LOOK AT ITS EARS THEY'RE SO SMALL IT'S SO CUTE HELP." Maxuss covered his face with his palm. Yep, maybe they shouldn't be here.

    After doing some more circling, Anastasia leaned back towards another wooden fence and sighed. People, apparently made of sugar, were running and jogging around between pens and shelters. Her eyes followed any movements in the rain, partly with an annoyed and partly amused look on her face. Other sounds masked footsteps behind her against still dry sand.
"Good day, miss. Can I help you?" A middle aged man with slightly creepy mass of grayish mustache tipped his dark brown hat to greet the Slavic woman. Anastasia turned her head just enough to see the man from the corner of her eye. He wasn't too tall, and his physique was slender. Honestly, she was a bit astonished that he hadn't been trampled to death by these large animals. Anastasia nodded and gave out a fair, slight smile to greet him back. She turned her head forward as she spoke.
"No, thank you. Just holding back the rain." Anastasia sighed again. She was just about to say something as she felt a gentle, warm draught on her neck. She quickly took a step away from the fence she was leaning to and turned on her heels. A large creature was eyeing her, slightly tilting its head. Its black face gave out a striking contrast to the light hood, decorated with a dark collar on half way. Two horns one below another and a left golden, right orange eye. The kukuri pranced a bit, lifting its head higher. It turned around, doing a quick pirouette before resuming staring the Slavic woman. Anastasia got a glimpse of its tail, which had longer fur on it than on a regular one's tail. The dark one tilted its head again, now the other way than before. The man snorted in amusement and took a few steps forward.
"He's really proud of that tail of his. He shows it to goddamn everyone who just happens to walk by." Anastasia glanced at him with slight suspicion in her eyes.
"We call him the Raven", he added and looked at his foster, seemingly proud. Anastasia shifted her eyes back to the kukuri and carefully approached it again.
"So, um. Is he, well, raven then?" She asked, as the man shook his head as an answer.
"Probably not, most likely not. Raven has a hint of purple in certain lighting, he's just black. Ebon most probably, hazed crimson from the mother."
"Just mother?" Anastasia turned her head to see the owner.
"The sire was a registered azure, hard to pass", the man said and lifted himself onto his toes for a moment. The woman looked at the kukuri again.
"I see", Anastasia said with a heard thought in her voice. Pondering, she eyed the dark animal from the tip of its ears to its sharp, black claws. As she crossed her arms onto her chest, the owner shifted his eyes to her. He raised his brow as Anastasia turned her head to speak to him.
"Could you show me how he moves?" The Slavic woman was experienced with horses; she knew that one shouldn't buy an animal that didn't move as anticipated. As for kukuris' muscle structure and movement, she didn't have too many expectations. As long as the animal didn't limp and was healthy, it was pretty much six of one, half a dozen of the other how the kukuri was otherwise. The owner nodded slightly and smiled at Anastasia.
"Of course", he said calmly with a clearly delighted tone. Anastasia thanked him as he collected a halter and a lead rope to his hands from top of one of the farther fences. Easily he jumped over another and walked to the dark kukuri. The animal clearly knew this man well, as it didn't resist at all as he gently slid the halter onto its head and attached the lead rope to it. Hollering strange noises, the man kept other animals at bay as he ran around the pen with the Raven. Anastasia examined it with her eyes carefully. The kukuri kept its head high as it took high steps. Its posture indicated of an attitude that could cause problems later, if not rooted out properly. Any of the kukuri's movements were smooth and well executed, as if the animal was performing a dance like no other. A few minutes more, and the show was over. The owner climbed out from the corral and walked to Anastasia.
"Well?" He asked shortly, slightly out of breath. Anastasia left an eerie pause into the air before answering.
"I'll take him."