Jigano was fast. He relied on his speed more than anything else, sane or crazed, clever or cunning, especially against those larger than himself. The manticore's size should have made it slow to react, however fast in flight those massive wings could drive it when the goal was the marathon rather than the sprint. Only, the white raven hadn't taken into account the lightning speed of the stinging tail, overconfident in his blighted rage - or perhaps simply unobservant in his obsession with the Rose.
The blighted bird had begun to let out a cackling croak of victory before the sound turned to a squawk of pain and fury as the wickedly sharp tailtip sliced through the air a breath behind him, shearing two feathers from his tail in a spatter of black blood as they were pulled out by their shafts. He struggled to right himself, flapping madly for a higher branch a little ways away as he spun and hissed back at the manticore's mighty roar, too crazed to feel the appropriate bone-chilling fear such a sound would spark in anything sane.
Talons flexed on his perch as he surveyed his handiwork. The manticore's body shielded the rose from his sight, but the spray of red petals scattered across the snow sent a feeling almost like pleasure buzzing momentarily through his icy black blood. His hiss turned suddenly to a chirring purr that was almost gentle as he crooned aloud with his clever raven's tongue:
"Re~mi, Re~mi,
Do Re Mi."
Plants a grave of roses
Beneath the goddess-tree.
He cocked his head slyly at the great beast, black eyes dark with a vicious, cruel humor utterly unlike the bard Remi had known.
"Re~mi, Re~mi,"
Playing in the snow
But Ronin's gone a-hunting
And Aoife's
All
Alone.
The blighted bird had begun to let out a cackling croak of victory before the sound turned to a squawk of pain and fury as the wickedly sharp tailtip sliced through the air a breath behind him, shearing two feathers from his tail in a spatter of black blood as they were pulled out by their shafts. He struggled to right himself, flapping madly for a higher branch a little ways away as he spun and hissed back at the manticore's mighty roar, too crazed to feel the appropriate bone-chilling fear such a sound would spark in anything sane.
Talons flexed on his perch as he surveyed his handiwork. The manticore's body shielded the rose from his sight, but the spray of red petals scattered across the snow sent a feeling almost like pleasure buzzing momentarily through his icy black blood. His hiss turned suddenly to a chirring purr that was almost gentle as he crooned aloud with his clever raven's tongue:
"Re~mi, Re~mi,
Do Re Mi."
Plants a grave of roses
Beneath the goddess-tree.
He cocked his head slyly at the great beast, black eyes dark with a vicious, cruel humor utterly unlike the bard Remi had known.
"Re~mi, Re~mi,"
Playing in the snow
But Ronin's gone a-hunting
And Aoife's
All
Alone.
