Axolotls

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  And now, The old woman wrote. The snowball is beginning to roll. You know, that is an odd expression, isn't it? I wonder where it came from.

  Doni sat up. He had just faceplanted rather uncomfortably in the dirt due to that weird trick Lynix used. Soil still lingered in his mouth, and so did the feeling of confusion at how Lynix was so weirdly good at escaping people.

  Rude, He thought, though there wasn't much bitterness behind his thoughts. I was just trying to tell him that the weather was going to be worse than ever. Why did he do that?

  Whatever. I'll just go home, I guess.

  The old woman chuckled. This particular friend's perspective was very... interesting, to say the least. He did always love to prank people. Or troll them, as was sometimes said. It's a wonder he didn't catch on to why Lynix didn't want to be pinned down by him, She wrote.

  Back at home, Doni sighed. The rain pummeled down harder than it had ever been, and quicker too. They usually did more looming before they broke.

  The owl moved near-silently through his house towards the kitchen, a habit that he always had since he was a child. A raven flew down from the rafters and perched on his shoulder, trying to get at his food, to which the trickster shared a bit.

  It wasn't all that unusual for birds to come down to bug him for something. Most often it was food, sometimes it was something shiny. The latter mostly happened with crows and ravens, though. It was nice to see how the birds liked to fly through his, usually sunny, home.

  "KraaaAA," The raven croaked, seemingly pleased, before flying off. To where, Doni didn't know, but he did make a little chirping noise in response, another habit that still lingered.

  It was cute, A much smaller part of him said, hopeful. I hope it comes back.

  Me too, He thought back. Me too.

  After that, Doni decided that it would be nice to go read something, so after grabbing some hot chocolate he had made for himself, he went upstairs to his small bookshelf.

  The shelf in question was small, and made of polished dark oak. Not many books lived in it, but those that did were well loved, especially a book of stories. The cover was a worn purple, bandaged and sewed up many times, and the pages were tinted yellow with age. The spine was ruined from leaving it open due to the lack of a bookmark for many nights, and the trickster held it gently as he moved to his room, glancing at the purple entrance to a place he had only been once.

  The storm thundered on, making sure its presence was known. The dark sky was lit up with a flash of lightning and a rumble of thunder, causing a small jump from the owl.

  "Ack!" Doni's voice was half startled, half annoyed. "Where are all these storms coming from? By the sky!"

  Another flash, this time illuminating a murder of crows, huddled in a tree. They seemed to be observing something on top of the hill Doni lived in.

  "CAW!" One of them screamed, followed by a chorus of answers, including from the raven. Doni noticed their eyes now appeared to be fixated on him, but he shook it off. Why would that ever happen?

  But oh, The old woman wrote. Was he foolish to think that.

  He was so foolish.

_:_

  Hello cacti! Remember what I said in Old Tales about the upload schedule? Well, I decided to change that. Now, alongside the once a month chapter, there will be other chapters as well. Anyways, some of you might already know some things that were referenced in this chapter. I also learned how fun ravens are to draw this chapter! Anyways, have a nice time!