Kieran was amazed at the corvid's dexterity. It reminded him of
some fancy teppanyaki he'd heard about, where the chef performed
tricks while cooking up the customer's food. He looked suspiciously
at the tea. He rarely accepted food from others, just in case.
Melody dodged the tea drops. She picked up the teacup. "Should I
drink this?" The crow nodded. "You do have to follow our directions
to get back, after all."
The general laughed. "Then wait. Eventually, we will find the fate
of those pitiful children."
Melody took a sip of the tea. It was strange, tasting like honey
and milk. The crow gestured. "Now tell us a story!" "Wait, what?"
"A story! Tell us one!"
Kieran didn't know what to say, which was fine, since he couldn't
really say anything... A perk of being a raccoon dog, he supposed.
He waited to see what Melody would say.
"You want me to tell you a story?" "Yes, silly. Tell us something
that happened to you!" Melody looked uncomfortable. "I...fine, if
it means getting out of here, I'll do it." She took a deep breath
and looked down at the table. "When I was 5...I almost died. We
were currently living in a cabin by the woods in Oregon. This was
around the time my parents started ignoring me. I wanted to go
exploring, and my brother didn't want to have to watch me run
around playing games that he didn't like. Even at 7, he was a drama
king. So, I went off by myself. I went into the woods, and I was
playing by the river. I leaned forward, and....and I fell. I fell
into the river, and I was floundering. My head went under..but
somehow, I managed to grab a branch and pulled myself out. I had to
walk back home shivering." She slid forward in her seat. "Happy?"
Kiran took yet another sip of tea before replying. Despite how sus
it appeared at first, it was deceptively good. After he slurped it
down, he asked: "Do you even understand me?"
Kieran ignored Melody for now. "Ah, ok..." He scolded himself on
not being able to think of anything quickly. After a minute, he
began to speak. "Supposedly... I ate the food in my cupboard that
was meant to last 3 days in just an hour or two... I'm a
werecreature, by the way. I bought groceries, but forgot to eat
before shapeshifting, so instinct took over... by the time I
regained consciousness, the food was all gone," He trilled as if to
chuckle.