Built to Burn

From beyond his safe nook below the bed Zephyr could hear the escalation of sound, his ear slits squeezing shut against the violent discord raging within the room. The only movement upon the young bird's body was his breast rising and falling with his unsteady, panicked breaths. From beneath the bed he could see the rapid movement of black paws, a flash of rusted steel, the occasional wingtip and talon as the killer bird fought to it's last breath. His talons quaked upon the hard stone floor, occasionally shuffling audibly as his nervousness peaked. The sounds of combat had stopped with a rather sudden wet squish and silence fell upon the abandoned room.

The wolf's sudden appearance caused the chick to leap, his head thunking hard against the broken frame which had shielded him. 'Hi, little guy,' the creature spoke, Zephyr's feathered brow furrowing in confusion. Within the beast's mouth were dozens and dozens of beaks! Pointy, long, sharp beaks. He shrunk further, his juvenile feathers pulling tight against his body in fear. 'It's okay, the bad bird is gone. You can come out now. It's safe, I promise.' Bad bird? Well, that was a bad bird, and if this beast had killed it then he obviously couldn't be too terrible a beast, either.

Zephyr eyed the outstretched paw suspiciously, scooted himself to align sideways with the stranger, and then reached out his closest talon to poke lightly at the obsidian fur. "Do you have feathers on your legs so they don't get cold?" He peeped softly, bright eyes of cyan roaming the oddly shaped foot. Having sufficiently poked the paw, he shifted his leg so that one curved talon tip could hook behind the wolf's claw, using the weight of the beast to pull himself hesitantly closer.

"Zephyr"