i'm sorry i'm offended

tdp is actually giving me so much like...

d r a m a

i demand an apology

right now

because this show is making me love everyone and i can't choose between pro and antagonists

st a h p p l z

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"Fire!" I quietly gasped as the booming sound of canons fired right outside the hiding spot. I shivered, warming up against the chest of my mother, who protectively held me in her grasp. Tears were running down the sides of my face and I didn't know what was happening. The canons exploded once more and I flinched, the sound of footsteps drawing closer, pounding on the ground.

"I need to go."

"Mother, please," I sobbed, clutching onto her by the scarf. "Please don't leave me." She shushed me but sighed, cupping my face and managing to kiss my forehead, despite the cramped space. Touching the black circles above my eyebrows, the markings glimmering and flickering with her feel. I was always told they would be useful one day. Maybe this is the time in which the spell should be used.

"It'll be okay. I'll come back, I promise." With that, one last bomb rang and I was gone.

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The day always started by going to the pond and skipping rocks, trying to see how many skips I could make before the rock fell flat. After that, the sun appeared, and I tried to scour for pop-up bushels of fruit and berries. Successful every time, because after all, this is Xadia. After that I'd wander, not meeting very many people, but ran into various kinda of deer all the time, on the bright side. The animals honestly didn't like me very much, in fact somehow they seemed... scared, almost. One look at me and most of them would run away, in terror, pupils wide and irises clogged with the gut feeling of "Get Out. Now."

I sighed, looking at my usual skin tone, cracked grey with black seeping in through my veins, to my fingertips. I knew I was unnatural looking. I knew all of this and yet I just couldn't seem to fathom why people, or animals, hated me so much. Appearance was just that important, I suppose. Honestly I'd kill to be even living in a dungeon, in a confined space where I could at least see one person every single day.

The last time I'd seen another living creature that wasn't an animal or a plant was eons ago. I couldn't even remember a time. Only maybe had I seen a hunter many moons ago. I don't know the purpose, but he had wandered into Xadia.

"This is so boring..." I groaned, chucking a rock into the sky. Suddenly, I heard a faint "caw" and a thud. I immediately started to run towards the noise of thrashing. Shoot. I think I hit something. The forest started to part as I saw an open pavilion, a black bird in the middle, screeching.

"Oh geez, I'm so sorry!" I whisper-yelled, trying to calm the bird down. "Hey little guy, I'm so sorry, it wasn't intentional, I didn't mean to hit you-!" The creature stopped moving and squirming as soon as I placed a finger on its wing, muttering basic spells for healing. Slowly but surely, it seemed to relax. I breathed a sigh of relief, the bird fluttering back to life, its black eyes staring intently at me. I realized it had a parcel clutched in its grasp, and I gingerly took it. My eyes widened as I looked at the wax seal.

I knew that...

I knew that seal.

"Please, don't go Mother, I'm so scared. When will the guards leave? Humans are so scary..." Shields. Blood. War. Prisoner.

My eyes watered as I gingerly placed the parchment back into the crow's claws, patting it closed. "Fly away, little one. Fly away and please don't come back." I carried the bird and raised it into the air, letting it shake its head before pumping its wings and flying away, a few feathers landing by my feet, the figure slowly disappearing into the dark sky.

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"Relax. It was just a bird. Just a tiny little bird, nothing to really stress out about." Biting my fingernail, eyebrows furrowed in worry, body shaking. "But what if they find out about me? What if hunters come to track me down?" I slapped my face lightly, nose scrunching up, pinching my arm.

"That won't happen. It won't. I'm safe in Xadia." I guess I was speaking too soon, since almost right after I became calm, the sound of footsteps became faint in the distance, heavily advancing. My instincts took action, my feet bounding into a tree, eyes peering down at the scene. But no, these weren't the sounds of human guards but...

Moonshadow elves? I almost hopped out of the tree in excitement. Oh man, finally another creature from Xadia. I began to step down, but quickly noticed their skin. Why was that mode activated? Squinting, I saw three of them sign something, nod, then advance to the border in the West side of Xadia.

What were they doing? I took a snake charm from around my wrist and played a few notes on a reed pipe I always had around my neck. The metal bracelet sprung to life and started to follow the elves silently. I watched through their eyes as the assassins approached the king's castle after performing a binding ritual. Interesting. I stopped playing the reed pipe and let my snakes lay in the grass, just coils of metal for the time being.

If this was my chance to go, I had to do it now. Without hesitation, I jumped off from the tree and sprinted towards the border, snatching my metal snakes and bending them into their original place once more. Being careful not to step on any crackling leaves or twigs, I snuck into the human grounds.

Despite my serious expression, my insides were actually squirming like worms.

"Oh man, I'm finally in their territory, what am I gonna do? Why am I here? I should just go back to Xadia-" A needle made its way into my neck. I gagged and gasped, turning my head towards the person who had just shot me.

A pair of very confused green eyes met mine as I fell into slumber.

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When I woke up, the sound of birds immediately allowed for my brain to stir. I grunted, trying to pull myself up. Metal against metal clanged, and I looked at my wrists. Gasping, I started to mutter, eyes turning into bottomless black holes, the shackles around my hands melting into a puddle on the ground. Looking around, the thing that was the most noticeable about the room were the hundreds of scrolls lying around on a desk, shelves, and scattered absolutely everywhere. Birds in cages spread across the ceiling, hanging from it, and others sat on shelves.

They were all crows. Just like the one I had encountered before. The whites and irises of my eyes returned as someone stepped foot into the room. We locked eyes. His were green. The hunter's green.

I immediately bolted for the door, desperate to get out. The human blocked the entrance, slamming the cellar door shut with one hand, his foot barricading it. His left arm was held behind his back. Oh I get it. I was a prisoner now.

"Let me out this instant!" I demanded, pointing to the ground and stomping my foot. I didn't have experience in these types of situations, needless to say. "I-I won't hesitate to hurt you if you don't escort me out right now!" The mortal seemed perplexed, but then gave a hearty chuckle.

"I wouldn't recommend that right now."

"And why not?"

"Some elves just tried to kill the king... and I don't think you'll be an exception for one." He gestured to my ears. I gasped, feeling a bit mocked.

"Y-Your ears are just weird! They're flat!" I protested meekly, feeling uncomfortable. He gave another laugh, this time louder. I felt embarrassed. Embarrassed that such a creature could make me feel this way. Humans were always viewed to be weak. But why is he able to take a hold of my feelings this way? Hesitating, I made my way back to the corner where the pile of liquid, formerly known as shackles dripped and seeped into the cracks in the ground.

The male human whistled lowly and stepped into the room, looking at the liquid metal.

"You did that?" he asked, pointing to the mess. I nodded, pressing my lips tightly together. "That's pretty cool. You know, you look like an elf, but not one of those from the six primal element books I've read and borrowed from the librarian. Like... an elf infused with dark magic."

I'd heard that word before. Dark magic. Subconsciously, I touched the black dots above my eyes and immediately felt a burning sensation on my forehead. I hissed, blinded by the pain and stumbled, crashing into a chair, falling flat on my back, getting the wind knocked out of me. The other figure in the room immediately rushed towards me, tending to my state.

I couldn't see anything but darkness as black consumed my eyes, fingertips twitching and glowing purple, my mouth gasping in breaths of air.

"[Thou unholy spirit, find a way to my divine soul and claim it as thee, for I was made to serve thine master's purpose.]*" Scripture crawled out of my throat like smoke as I uttered more spells and sayings, the boy in the room with me panicking, hearing stomping and the pounding of feet approach nearer. So he decided the best way to hide me was to shove me behind a bookcase as armed guards barged into the cellar.

Awkwardly, he smiled, pointing finger guns at the guards and laughing, scratching the back of his head.

"Hey you guys? What's going on...!" he said, leaning against a table, which promptly collapsed under the pressure on one side. He laughed again. In my deliriousness, my conscious could still make out some of the conversation.

"So... no one else is in here with you?"

"No, no! Not at all!"

"Lord Viren said that he sensed something in here. Dark magic with you."

"Dark... magic?"

"Well I know for one that a mere Crow Boy can't use Dark Magic, that's for sure," one of the guards chortled.

"It's Crow Master, not Crow Boy, not Crow Assistant, but Crow. Master." The guards cleared their throats, peering over the corner, noticing the luminescent glow my markings gave off.

"You do seem to have a purple light behind your bookshelf, however."

"It's nothing, I recently got a new candle that radiates purple light, actually. They're extremely rare and made in Xadia." So I guess now I'm a candle. Great. Thanks.

"Huh. Well, yes, alright. We'll be on our way then. Enjoy your spooky candle, I guess."

They made their way out of the room while my body was still spasming. Crow Master, as I learned, dragged my body out from behind the bookcase and tried to tend to my mental state by patting my head, holding my body close to his to prevent me from spewing ancient curses.

"It's going to be alright, nothing's going to hurt you, I promise. Calm down and relax, you're safe for now..." My mind whirred, buzzing with a nostalgic feeling. And just like that, the storm cleared as my black markings flickered and went out, instead of beaming purple light.

"Mother...?" I whispered, stirring. My arms wrapped snugly around his body and I sighed in content, the feeling of his warmth gave me a sense of comfort. Rubbing my cheek along the leather half-neck he was wearing, I breathed in deeply. My eyes shot open, realizing that the musky, slightly smokey, grimy-in-a-good-way scent was definitely not my presumed-to-be-late mother.

Crow Master was staring back at me, red-faced, his nose bridge and cheeks dusted with a blush, green eyes stretched wide open to reveal almost the whole of his iris. I noticed his hands were resting on my back, arms wrapped around my figure. Mine were around his shoulders, loosely hanging from his elbow crease. Quickly standing up, blood rushing to my face, I walked over to a chair and sat down, avoiding eye contact.

He silently got up, returning to his desk. Sitting down and folding his hands, Crow Master twiddled a bit with his thumbs before looking at my figure in a defensive stance, legs crossed and hands holding my kneecap tightly, shoulders hunched.

"What now, then?"

"I don't know," I quickly replied, turning my head.

"Why don't we get to know each other? I did bring in some food earlier. I don't think you noticed I was hiding it behind my back. Fruits and streusel, if you'd like. I have a bit of a sweet tooth." He popped a berry in his mouth and chewed, staring at the rolls of paper laid out on his desk.

"So... Crow Master, right?"

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*Translated from Theban, a Wiccan language