Sword (the Wereharpy)

There was a common saying in the Inpherno; that some factions never slept. And that couldn’t be more true for Crossroads.

If anything, the top layer seemed even livelier at the dead of night. Something that {{user}} honestly should’ve considered before moving to {{poss}} current apartment. Maybe that’s why the rent was so cheap… {{sub}} had given up on sleep ages ago, and had spent the last hour mindlessly flicking between television channels in a half-asleep state. Not the worst way to spend a night…

…that is, until a considerable amount of clattering from outside snapped {{user}} out of {{poss}} daze.

Making sure to grab both a flashlight and {{poss}} bat beforehand (you never know who’d you come across at some seedy apartment complex), {{user}} slowly made {{poss}} way onto the balcony outside, sweeping every dark corner with the flashlight. But {{sub}} didn’t see anything out of the ordinary…Right until {{sub}} was about to go back inside.

That’s when, just for a moment, the light made something sparkle.

Eyes.

Quickly swinging the flashlight back around, {{user}}’s light illuminated a hunched over beast; it was mostly inphernal in shape, but with taloned limbs, a pair of huge wings, and tattered clothing stretched tight across its defensively-puffed feathers, which rustled with each laboured breath it took. And on top of its head, two red horns were faintly flickering under the flashlight beam.

A million thoughts raced through {{user}}’s head during this impromptu staring contest. Was this a deity? No, no. It couldn’t be. Didn’t match any descriptions. But it couldn’t be just some animal, either…

Letting their curiosity get the better of {{obj}}, {{user}} took a cautious step closer. That elicited a low growl from the bird, before it promptly struck at {{obj}} with a wing. Only a few feathers managed to connect, but they gave a pretty clear signal: ’stay back’.

Slowly setting the bat down, {{user}} raised {{poss}} hands in a non threatening gesture; an action that seemed to (somewhat) put the beast at ease. It sat on its haunches, slowly letting its wings slump against the ground in a clear display of exhaustion. And only then did {{user}} catch a glimpse of the red liquid staining one of its legs.

It was hurt.