The King of Crows

Forest Walks

Throughout our walk to the forest, we had garnered at least five, or so, stares from strangers passing by. Thanks to Philza's, now cloaked, attire and the murder that flew above and around us with happy squawks. I was honestly surprised he hadn't gotten tired out by the time we finally got to one of the many entrances to the forest. Though I did have to explain what the closed off Water Tower was beside the forest's entrance. Which was.... fun-
"It looks like a fat penis" I swear I heard one of the crows blurt out-

"Be careful, lots of bushes have thorns on them," I warned him, crushing said thorn branch with the stomp of my boot. "Awful pain when pricked or scratched."

"I am going to assume you have been stung perchance?" Phil asked, lightly holding my hand as we finally got into a slightly bigger clearing. Less bushes and instead just more dirt paths, freshly dampened by a pour of rain.

"No..." I shook my head with a smile, walking on the drier edge of a squelching mud path. Phil right beside me holding my hand the entire time. "But you ever been stung on the sole of your foot before? I like to believe that's the level of pain it is."

As we got back on the dry section of the dirt path, I turned around to see Philza physically recoil and shiver at the thought. One of his feet actively twitching and hovering off of the ground for a moment, before being forced to plant itself back down to continue walking.

"That is... a vivid imagination I never wish to experience again." He groaned out as I looked back at the path, that had now changed thanks to us now being more out in the open, making sure I didn't trip over any tree roots that dared sit out of the gravel-covered dirt pathway. The crows flew from tree to tree, playing with one another high above us both while I had to help navigate Philza around on the land.

"I know, and that poor bee!"

I could feel him roll his eyes as I continued guiding him throughout the forest; thankfully the gravel pathway now making it slightly easier for him to understand.

"May I ask how far we must walk to get to our resided designation?" I thought for a moment after he asked the question. Hopping over a relatively thick root before giving my answer.

"Probably around thirty-or-so minutes," I looked over to see him shrug his shoulders in response, a quiet hum in tune to the shrug. Only to hear it turn to a low groan as he realised we had to trek up another hill, now with a dirt-gravel path! "Calm down. After this uphill we don't needa deal with another one for a while!"

"You best be correct."

My eyes quickly averted back to the uphill pathway, a little more wide as I registered how low his voice went when speaking in a groan. It made me listen more to him. But it made sense, he did use to be a king after all. It only made sense for a ruler to have such a commanding tone in his voice range.

It didn't take long after that to reach the top of the hill, showing the pathway now massive and in the form of a circle of sorts. Different dirt-gravel paths sprawled out from the circle, leading Phil to look at each pathway for a moment before turning his head in my direction at the end.

"Don't worry," I smiled, pointing to the pathway that was in the top-right of our vision of where we stood. "It's that path. Well, that's the path I'm most familiar with when it means getting to the Centre."

"Lead the way, my love," Phil said, smiling back with so much love. His commanding tone long gone as he realised that he was talking to someone who had grown up around the forest they were now standing within. One crow flew down to us and rested on Phil's shoulder, snuggling up and taking a nap right there and then. He gently grabbed the crow and cradled them in one of his hands, the bird still conked out. "I am amazed how well adjusted you are towards such a forest, but at the same time I am unsurprised."

I glanced over to him as we were beginning to walk down the path I had pointed towards. Walking past a person with their dog. Such a bundle of fluffy joy. I looked back up to the sky, seeing the crows still playing around above us.

"Like a beautiful fairy of the forest."

I paused my guidance, head whipping around as I stared at him and his loving eyes. All I could respond with was a sigh to calm the inevitable blush that was beginning to dust upon my cheeks. The hand that was holding his' grip tightening for a moment; when I calmed and my hand loosened, Phil proceeded to fully intertwine our hands together with a silky clean motion.

That. That made the blush return to my cheeks. How effortlessly it was for him to do, damn sir teach me please! We continued walking down the path, I never bothered to look at the other paths when we got a split of three. 'Continue walking forward' is what my mother taught me and our late family. It helped us a lot from accidently getting lost in the forest's intricate paths.

"There's a small pond on the way to the Centre," I recalled the memory to Philza, excitement in my tone as I spoke to him. He seemed to perk up at my tone, as I felt him gently squeeze my hand to, presumably, continue. "Yeah. There's a small wooden bridge to get over the pond, and every time I crossed the bridge there was always a group of ducks hanging around."

"Oh how delightful!" Philza said in awe, his tone very obvious in the fact he wanted to see this little peaceful section of the forest now. He softly stroked the crow in his hand, continuing to follow me through the forest as he kicked a few stones with the tips of his boots. Small clouds of dirt-dust floating around our covered feet as we trudged through on the pathway. "It is truly such a calming sight to behold, I can not believe that mortals were able to keep such a treasure like this intact."

I glanced over to him, seeing his blue eyes look around the forest with such care and appreciation. A smile resting on his lips. His cloak's hood resting around his shoulders, allowing his hair to blow a little in the gentle breeze. Despite how many times I had been in this plain forest, Phil... Phil somehow made it magical.

"Oh look!" I announced with excitement, my eyes snapping in front of me as I pointed down a small hill in front of us. Trees clinging to one another to create a ceiling of sorts, blocking the view of whatever was underneath for Phil to see. "The pond's down there under the trees! Let's go!!"