"If I could fly I would never come back", you said
She had been scouting for familiar streaks of purple through the jungle when she came upon the tree. It had been looming on the horizon for a good long while, taller than any other tree within miles and miles, but for some reason Maea hadn't been convinced that it was real. It seemed far too big, and she had no memory of passing by such a sight while purging the desert woodland together with her friends.
Those closer she got, the more she had to doubt her own senses. Was it as big as the Mathair? Bigger, even? Was it the barren desert on one side and the dense jungle on the other that made it appear as grand and healthy, or was it something else? The song of the leaves drew her in to flit among the branches, careful not to nick the bark with her sharp talons. The seeds looked tasty - at least, they probably would be if she shifted back to a less meat-loving form - but she didn't dare sample any.
Below her on the ground, there were signs of people coming and going. Footprints speckling the sandy soil between wide ranging roots, and the occasional dropped seed. Were they being collected, then? She could understand that. Something about them begged to be plucked and carried off - and the idea of another such majestic tree sprouting elsewhere was incredibly appealing.
So she did. Snipping off a pod with her beak, she cradled it securely in a taloned foot and took off. Maybe it would make more sense to collect several, and spread them as far as she could... Alright, make it two pods. Then the white crow took off, cheerfully throwing herself up into the sky to find a good spot to plop them into the ground.
Those closer she got, the more she had to doubt her own senses. Was it as big as the Mathair? Bigger, even? Was it the barren desert on one side and the dense jungle on the other that made it appear as grand and healthy, or was it something else? The song of the leaves drew her in to flit among the branches, careful not to nick the bark with her sharp talons. The seeds looked tasty - at least, they probably would be if she shifted back to a less meat-loving form - but she didn't dare sample any.
Below her on the ground, there were signs of people coming and going. Footprints speckling the sandy soil between wide ranging roots, and the occasional dropped seed. Were they being collected, then? She could understand that. Something about them begged to be plucked and carried off - and the idea of another such majestic tree sprouting elsewhere was incredibly appealing.
So she did. Snipping off a pod with her beak, she cradled it securely in a taloned foot and took off. Maybe it would make more sense to collect several, and spread them as far as she could... Alright, make it two pods. Then the white crow took off, cheerfully throwing herself up into the sky to find a good spot to plop them into the ground.
Maea
