Frama and His Raven

Wild Animals

Flap flap glide

I lean to turn and tilt to avoid smacking right into a tree's trunk or branches. Behind me is a determined weasel scuttling and hopping from branch to branch. On a normal day (whatever one would constitute as that) I would be impressed by its grace and elegance in which it balances and bounces on the thick and thin tree limbs alike.

The thin limbs jitters and jiggles yet the weasel persists. Precise with its judgment and not missing a beat. (It would plummet to its death otherwise.) Even with curt and brief looks back, I can see its comparatively short limbs jut back and forth in the mere seconds of being airborne. It looks cute and even a little silly. But I understand the reason behind the movement.

Momentum keeping the ferret-ah; no weasel, airborne.

Regardless of my observations I wasn't about to let this predator make a snack out of me.

Accepting my fate as a bird isn't the same as accepting my death!

Damn, I can't seem to shake this thing off my tail!

I'll admit, I'm scared to latch onto a tree to begin ascending. I'm worried that within the few seconds it will take me to let my talons settle into the bark and climb up to give myself a head start before I start flapping my wings to fly up, the weasel will make a jump on me and sink its teeth into my neck.

Not taking any chances on my life. While the raven is the biggest species out of the three omen birds, a weasel is still a formidable foe here. My size doesn't matter in the struggle, only my agility and speed.

I recall that foxes or wolves, was it? Will stop chasing a rabbit if it gets to the point where pursuing it any further would waste more energy than it would gain from the meal.

I hope the same applies to this situation as well.

Surely I can't be that nutritious to it, right?

Up ahead, I realize my savior is here.

It's not a person nor animal, but by the ordered chaos of Mother Nature.

The tree line thins out here, and beyond me I can make out from between the trucks that there's a clearing area.

I can't quite judge how large the area will be from here, but any size clearing will do. The weasel can't follow me there through empty air. Only one of us can fly and it's not it. Ha!

When I gauge that I have two trunks before the opening, I tightly fold my wings against my body and lean down. The speed boost I hope is good enough to not let it have an opportunity to jump onto me. (Then again if it were to do that here, wouldn't it still plummet? Guess I would have broken bones and it would do some maneuver to latch into the last trunk to have a smoother landing to the forest ground...)

Childish as it may seem, I imagine a pop sound as I break through the line.

I hear a hiss so I imagine the weasel does not follow.

Poggers!

I swoop low and land in a mess of tree roots on the other side of the clearing. Disappointingly, the clearing was rather small in grandeur. But there was a part of me that was thankful it was small as it meant I could get to a resting spot much faster.

I was dog tired after that chase, ugh.

As much as I want to hop to a spot with sunbeams kissing it. My feathers were black, and it would be better to be in a tired state if I stuck to the shadow spots.

As I've said before, camouflage is taking on a completely different meaning for me now.

The innate ability is the difference between life and death.

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Bird watching, but literally.

Get it? Because I'm a bird now and I'm watching animals? It's like people watching but less interesting because they don't talk.

...I don't have any jokes anymore. There's no material to make fun of in the woods. Unless I make self-deprecating jabs at my own predicament.

It stops being fun after a while. It's not nearly as funny if no one else is around to hear it.

Though while we are on the subject of animals not talking... I'm not lying about the statement, but I can somewhat understand them.

In the manner that one understands a dog's folded ears or wagging tail. I understand the tones and general emotions and message that it conveys.

Bird calls and mammal shrieks make more sense to me. It alarms me to danger or an animal looking for a mate. Lost social birds calling for their flock and young calling for their mothers.

Hisses of aggravation and warnings. The noise of the woods is a language in it of itself. Learning it was initially fun in a weird twisted sense. They're still very needed for my survival. A cheat almost...

Oh, this is what people in isekais call these sorts of abilities. I wouldn't really call it a true cheat as much as it is to be able to read and write and speak the language of the place you're currently dumped into.

Still, it's cool and I suppose another form of entertainment. That is, in the sense of not letting my mind rot away.

Complicated brains need complicated stimuli.

Ughhhhh, I'm still soooo bored.

It's been what I guess a few hours since the weasel chase. I've gotten myself up to a nicely lit branch up upon a towering giant of a tree.

Hmm, sun warm.（ '∀｀）☆

Resting here makes me feel content for the moment. I cannot bask in the sunlight for too long however, I must have food soon.

Typically ravens needed to eat every 6 hours if I recall correctly. I exerted a lot of energy escaping the wease and needed to regain it back.

Now what should I look for; for my next meal? Hmmm.

I scouted out the area.

Squirrel. Perfect.

I jumped to a lower branch and began my descent. The squirrel heard my coming however and scurried towards the center mass of the tree.

I pursued and managed to grasp its backside with my talons. It squirms and sputters and I ram its head into the tree in attempt to either kill or partially incapacitated it. It doesn't work as I planned and I nearly lose my grip on it.

I should probably just get to it now. I land to the ground and begin to pluck its eyes out. As such its desperation becomes more intense as I assault its face. Careful to avoid its claws and teeth, I tired it out enough to begin tucking into my meal.

Turns out I'm not hungry enough to bother picking it clean, so I leave the remainder for scavengers to pick apart.

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This is just a filler chapter to get across that the MC has been in the woods for awhile and is familiar with it to traverse it properly.

Also to note that she kinda 'talks to/understands' animals.

Next chapter is where the plot begins!