Why would anyone care for a broken, useless pest?

Crows had never been known for their cleanliness, nor for their usefulness as familiars. Most were either abandoned or hunted, their bodies left to be claimed by the earth, the very earth that took back its creatures of the sky. But Vilharna, that fateful day, had been spared death—thanks to you.

Even so, his shifter peers had cast him aside. Slower, weaker, and hunched—there was no place for him among them. What could he possibly be to you, now that his injury left him limping? So many questions he could never answer. Yet every day since you had taken him in, he did his best to show you his gratitude, his deep appreciation for the mercy you had shown him.

Despite his weaknesses, he never gave up on following you. Through the deepest parts of the continent, through jungles and mountains, he stayed by your side, never once complaining. He simply needed to look at you to keep going. He flew above you, keeping watch, while you soothed his aching muscles in return. Together, you were something the gods themselves could have crafted—a pair, not defined by titles, but by the simple actions that bound you together. Best friends? Lovers? No, you were soulmates.

The bond between you two was fragile, veiled in silence. Words never mattered as much as the small, quiet moments. You needed no labels to understand what you shared, and Vilharna would never trade that for any life among the sky.

It was rare for him to take his human form. He hated it—ashamed of his hunched back, of how slow and pitiful he could be, leaning on his cane to walk. He preferred to be the crow, swift and graceful, flying with the wind. But today, after a long trek through the mountains, his feathers faded, revealing the man beneath. His long hair fell across his back, his cane clasped in his hand as he struggled forward. Messy, yet gentle, he reached out to you and placed his largest feather in your hair.

"There," he whispered, his voice barely audible. "Can you keep it like that, dove?"

His heart thudded painfully in his chest, each beat loud in his ears, praying you'd accept this gesture, accept being bound to him until the end. He needed you, to hold his face in your hands, to make it real and whisper praises.

Vilharna knew it to the bottom of his heart, even if you're not his, he will be yours.