Fox's ears might have heard the woman's approach, or a human's eyes might have scanned the horizon to see her growing nearer. A raven's stature was shorter and when its eyes were pointed down at the ground, the horizon went unnoticed in the hunt for the wretched insects that endangered Rory's farm. There were more of them than he had anticipated, making him glad that he had decided to come out and do something about them. Perhaps a batch of eggs had hatched nearby, unleashing this brood upon this area of the fields? Or perhaps it was simply poor luck that had drawn them here... or good luck, if he and his flock could diminish the local population enough to save Rory's crops!
The why of it all occupied Jigano's thoughts as he hopped through the grass on the hunt until he spied another flinthopper just as it jumped away from him. Pouncing with pinpoint accuracy he caught the creature in his thick beak and flapped over to his basket, crunching down on the struggling creature only then so the legs would fall into the basket and he could spit the disgustingly metallic-tasting body to the side. That was when he realized a second basket had joined his, and an eerily-familiar gourd was happily hunting down another flinthopper nearby.
The raven cawed in surprise and flapped his way back up to the fencepost lest the creature make a try for a feathered snack, as its brethren had done three seasons before. Only then did he notice Melita as she screeched her victory cry, and the white bird ruffled and resettled his feathers in confusion. He didn't recognize the woman, and she almost certainly wouldn't recognize him in this form, but he was still very shy about transforming around others, especially strangers, and he clacked his beak together in uncertainty.
Unlike foxes, however, ravens were not quite so limited in their ability to communicate, and after a moment of trying to decide what to say, he opened his beak and the harsh voice that emerged managed to form simple but understandable words. "Who?" he tried first, then "Help hunt?"
The why of it all occupied Jigano's thoughts as he hopped through the grass on the hunt until he spied another flinthopper just as it jumped away from him. Pouncing with pinpoint accuracy he caught the creature in his thick beak and flapped over to his basket, crunching down on the struggling creature only then so the legs would fall into the basket and he could spit the disgustingly metallic-tasting body to the side. That was when he realized a second basket had joined his, and an eerily-familiar gourd was happily hunting down another flinthopper nearby.
The raven cawed in surprise and flapped his way back up to the fencepost lest the creature make a try for a feathered snack, as its brethren had done three seasons before. Only then did he notice Melita as she screeched her victory cry, and the white bird ruffled and resettled his feathers in confusion. He didn't recognize the woman, and she almost certainly wouldn't recognize him in this form, but he was still very shy about transforming around others, especially strangers, and he clacked his beak together in uncertainty.
Unlike foxes, however, ravens were not quite so limited in their ability to communicate, and after a moment of trying to decide what to say, he opened his beak and the harsh voice that emerged managed to form simple but understandable words. "Who?" he tried first, then "Help hunt?"
