Crows and Peacock

Meanwhile, Haalfrin is pulling an ax out of the back of the last of the Wolves holding down the fort. He turns around and sees Freyya arrive with her spear and lantern. "Ah, you're getting faster at coming here, Freyya," he remarks.

"Well, your death aura is growing thicker, Haalfrin. It's easier to find you now."

Freyya then looks to the sides real quick and says, "You know, I heard you met the Felkin the other day from some of the souls I've taken recently…"

"Yeah?"

"…" She pauses awkwardly for a second before abruptly saying, "Were they more beautiful than me?"

"Um... No."

"You're lying!" she blurts out, "Everyone says the Felkin are the most beautiful creatures! Look at me! I have freckles! My feathers are dull and dark."

"Um... well..."

Haalfrin curls his toes in his boots anxiously. He can't just LIE to Freyya, since lying to people you care about is wrong. However, he doesn't want his answer to upset her.

So finally, he says, "They're certainly more PHYSICALLY attractive but..."

"So you like them…!?" Freyya shouts before her voice tapers down to an awkward silence.

She's looking down, and Haalfrin can see her body temperature rising through his enhanced vision. "Why are you getting agitated?" he asks.

"No reason. It's…," she answers slowly, "Yes! It's definitely because they're all proud peacocks!"

Haalfrin pauses for a second then says slowly, but with pure honesty in his eyes, "Any girl who isn't overweight and takes care of…Er…"

He was about to say, "any girl who takes care of herself and keeps herself clean is attractive," as a compliment to Freyya, but he remembers just in time that she eats junk food all day, lazes around, and never goes outside. If she didn't have a blessed goddess physic, she'd be one VERY fat and greasy Crow by now.

So, he swallows his words and says quickly, "A-anyway, you look fine! There's no point in a crow comparing to a peacock anyway. Peacocks look prettier, but anyone would rather have a crow at their side than a peacock since crows are smarter. I even hear that normal crows are very sentimental and remember the faces of those who help them for the rest of their lives."

Freyya chuckles and says, "Yeah, and normal crows also remember the faces of those who piss them off. They go out of their way to sh*t on them and peck at them. They even teach their children generational hatred. 'Back when I was a hatchling, that man in with the crooked nose stepped on me! Go teach him a lesson, my children!'" she imitates in a raspy, old-person voice.

Her own imagined scenario sends her into a rare fit of laughter.

Haalfrin doesn't laugh, but he does curl his cheeks up in a smile. He actually thinks that what she did was pretty really cute.

"Exactly!" he chuckles, "Crows are way more interesting than peacocks… or most birds, for that matter."

Hearing this finally brings a smile to Freyya's face, puffs out her chest, and says, "That's right! Crows are some of the best birds alive! Peacocks only have a bunch of silly, overgrown plumage that slows them down and gets them caught by carnivores!"

She flashes another smile and gives him a thumbs up, "You gave a good answer. You get a second helping of cake." She takes out the cake and slices a larger portion for him.

As they dig into their cake, Freyya perks up and asks, "So you know a bit about Crows? Do you have any other interesting stories?"

"…Wouldn't you know more about crows than me, girl? You're a Crow too."

"I only read fictional stories," she admits, "Textbooks are boring."

"Well, I have a good book for you. Once I get back to the Threshold, I'll arrange for someone to send it to you. It's called, 'A study on animals for the uninitiated.' My master had me read it when he first got me into educational books. It mostly talked about interesting stories about animals in the hopes of getting young people interested in learning more."

Freyya rolls her eyes and jokes, "So you read a children's book when you were in your 90's? That's kind of silly."

"Well, whatever. All the stories inside were true anyway. There was one instance where a local wildlife researcher – one of my master's peers, actually, saved a crow by chasing away a snake coming for its nest. After that, it would come by his house every day and drop off bits of shiny coins or colorful ribbons. It only stopped after about 5 years or so. Since the researcher had a connection with the crow, he used spirit magic to find out it had passed away."

"Aw. That's sweet. Wait…"

Freyya suddenly realizes… hasn't she been effectively doing the same thing? Haalfrin had cleaned her house, been there for her, and befriended her (and some other things she doesn't talk about). Since then, she'd been coming by with gifts every time they meet.

That's… kind of embarrassing.

Not wanting to think about it anymore, Freyya abruptly stands up and says, "Haalfrin, are you on a mission right now?"

"Ah yes. Jay called me about something urgent earlier, though he didn't really explain; I guess I'd better get to it." He stands up and clips Dakka's ax onto its holster.

Before he leaves, he looks Freyya in the eyes. "Girl, there's something I have to ask you while you're still here…"

"What is it?" Freyya asks while she notices Haalfrin fiddling with the Spirit Stone bottle.

He takes a deep breath and starts talking. "Earlier, a few Crow clansmen came by and said that they needed to help the little one here…," he says as he jostles the bottle with Frey in it, "…to get her 7th Name and become a goddess. Is that true?"

Frey is surely listening to this conversation right now, but her bottle is oddly still; she must be listening EXTRA hard right now.

Freyya pauses for a second, scratches her head, and replies simply, "Yes. I'm the one who told the Crow clan about little Frey. At some point, she WILL need to go with them."

"But Freyya," Haalfrin brings up, "the thing about Fate is that it tends to happen on its own. Is it really important to have her rush this by leaving now?"

"…" She is silent for a moment before she gives him an answer. "You got that token from the humans with my message in it?"

He nods.

"Frey needs to focus on getting her 7th Name. She needs to leave with the Crow Clan before the calamity hits in 80 years; I can't risk something happening to the Crow clan before Frey finishes what she needs to finish."

She backs away and waves, "I'm sorry for taking up so much of your time. You need to go meet up with your companions, right?"

"Yes," Haalfrin frowns. "See you later, Freyya."

He looks over in the direction he needs to go, and he holds up Frey's spirit stone bottle. "I have an urgent mission right now, so we'll talk about this once things quiet down."

The bottle shakes briefly with Frey's acknowledgment, and Haalfrin puts it back on his belt. "Good. I'm glad we understand each other."