𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐈𝐂𝐄 》 JACK FROST

XXVI. Crows

CROWS

2007 AD
16th March, 12:13 PM
Unknown

Ten days had passed since Noir had arrived, and slowly, Agatha was beginning to forget the language he spoke in. Jack hadn't noticed, always watching from a distance as Agatha's face twisted as she communed with the crow but Noir did. It worried him greatly. The forest they were in worked in mysterious ways. When he had first arrived in a desperate search for his master, no matter how strong the will to find her was, it was easily crushed and he had become an ordinary crow.

It was like everything had been erased. Luckily, crows never forget a face, and the second he had spotted her and Jack from the distance, was the second it all came flooding back. Well, most of it anyway. He was here for a reason, and despite being ever so glad to finally find Agatha, something told him he had a next step planned for once that happened. He was worried that by the time he remembered, she wouldn't be able to understand him anymore.

He crowed rather aggressively and Agatha turned to him, placing a finger near her shoulder so he could hop onto it. She held him at her face, trying to take in his micro-expressions, but it was all scrambled up, giving her mixed signals as Noir waved his wings, squawking and jumping as if he hadn't got her attention yet.

Agatha stared, her face slowly dropping with every noise he made.

"What is it?" Jack asked, stepping up beside her, tentively placing an arm in her shoulder, where Noir had once been as he peered at the crow and then at Agatha, trying to understand the little guys message.

"I... I don't know," Agatha said, laughing ever so slightly in disbelief. She shook her head, leaning forwards as she tried to understand. Her words made Noir pause. And then he went wild. Crying louder than she had ever heard.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked, anxiously licking his lips. He stepped further away slightly, as if that would make it all clearer. "What's he saying exactly?"

"That's just it, Jack," Agatha shook her head. "I can't understand him." She paused, guiltily looking across at him. "I've slowly been forgetting how to communicate with them, and now its final."

Jack gulped, looking down at Noir who had finally calmed down, now looking more sullen then ever, wings pointlessly laying limp by his sides as he shook his head at Jack. Jack licked his lips again, passing his weight into his left foot as he held his hands up. "Okay, listen, probably not the right time, but it's been happening to me too."

Agatha furrowed her brows. "You've forgotten how to speak crow?"

"I-No, I," he took a deep breath, looking in her eyes. "I've forgotten how to fly."

Agatha frowned. It seemed flying was one of his personality traits because with this new knowledge, she realised how Jack hadn't been acting as boisterous as usual. She looked down, eyes trailing on a root absentmindedly, following it up a tree and across the canopies. "Its this place. It must be."

Noir was revived then, chirping nonsense as he flew to Agatha's eyesight, nodding dramatically to get the message across before flying off.

"Wheres he going?" Jack asked desperately, throwing his hands into the air. Agatha caught his arm just as it began to fall back down, tugging him so hard he nearly face-planted the mud below.

"He wants us to follow him!" She yelled, running after him.

"I thought you couldn't understand him anymore!" Jack struggled to find his footing as he was dragged through the jungle, ankles scraping against roots and his forehead clanging into branches, all which Agatha dodged elegantly.

"I can't!"

"Then how do you know?"

"I just do, okay! Now c'mon!"

Jack laughed loudly, using the last of the wind he had controlled over to elegantly twist, allowing him to run besides her and bot be dragged by her instead.

Honestly, Jack had no idea how Agatha was doing it - had no idea how mortals did it, even. He was already out of breath, having new bruises in his cheeks and calves from how many trees he had burned into, and he was panting like mad. Who knew running was so exhausting?

"Tired, Frosty?" Agatha called, amusement laced in her voice as she ducked under leaves, doing her best to keep Noir in sight. The little guy had no concept of how fast he was going.

Jack laughed again, only this time it was more of a sigh and cough, as he struggled to gain his breath back. "Just tell me when we're nearly there."

Unfortunately, the further in they went, the harder it got. It seemed like the jungle itself was against then, turning up its humidity, sending flies and mosquitos at them in heards. At one point Agatha was sure a root reached up for her ankle - and it did. Gasping, she released Jack's hand to hold them in front if her face to at least try to protect it. Jack dove forwards, hooking his arm around her waist and hoisting her backwards, almost sending them into a nearby ditch.

"Jeez, what is this place, boobytrapped?"

Noir squeaked from above them and their eyes widened when they looked up. Calmly sitting in the branches if any nearby trees, were crows. None of them belonged to Agatha, and she had no way of finding out where they had come from.

"Well, this is weird," Jack said, slowly turning to get a look at them all. "You're not some crazy bird lady, are you?"

Agatha didn't bother answering. Furrowing her brows as she softly shook her head in Noirs general direction. To be honest, she was struggling to identify which one was him anymore. Hut there was no need, he hoped forwards, flying a few meters away from their faces and straightened up to salute them.

"What?" Agatha muttered.

Noir dived to the right, the crows following them. Jack groaned, head tilting backwards as his arms flapped pathetically at his sides before he shook his head, placed his hands on his hips and gave a deep sigh, head flopping towards Agath. "Here we go again."

"You could use the exercise anyway."

With a laugh, Agatha evaded his hands and followed after her bird, Jack, unamused and sweaty, followed after her.

The two screamed, picking up their pace when the birds followed in union, one or two accidentally scraping against their skin, but it wasn't long before they realised the crows weren't attacking them.

They swooped at their feet and sides, occasionally sunmersaulting above their heads. At first, they didn't see it. But then, the forest began fighting back.

Roots broke out the ground, whipping at their feet. Agatha screamed, jumping and knocking Jack's side as she dodged one. Jack took her hand, pulling her along until she regained her footing, and even then he didn't release it.

The birds cawed, yelling orders to each other and Agatha wished she could understand it, but from what she could make of it, they were protecting them. The crows behaviour seemed frantic, but when you looked closely, you could see how they bit the roots, snapping their beaks at mischievous vines, and happily eating the flies.

"This is about the weirdest thing I think I've ever seen," Jack mumbled in disbelief, risking a glance in Agatha's direction, her eyes still scanning their surroundings.

"Tell me about it."