Taylor Livingston/Aile Noire
Aile Noire sat perched on her branch for a short time after her new friend had disappeared, she could hear the distant sound of shouting and 'battling' so her survival instincts told her to hide. She finally slipped down from her crouching position and onto the forest floor, her bare feet making no sound on the earth. A sound made her spin around to see two Bandits approaching, she instinctively summoned her staff, the sharp crystal facing the oncoming men. They hadn't noticed her yet, and were approaching the clearing where most of the fighting was taking place. She slipped into the cover of the trees and lowered down into a crouch, moving sideways until she was directly behind the Bandits. She was now close enough to hear their conversation, "For God's sake, Sam. Stop messin' around." The taller, and more muscular one addressed his acquaintance, who was frequently pointing up at the sky with a worried expression in his face. Aile Noire followed the gaze of 'Sam' and a small smile creeped up on her lips when she noticed a small gathering of ravens and crows circling the Bandits. There was about 5 of them, but they were getting closer with each beat of their wings.
The dark-haired woman waited until her opponents were far enough away from each other and burst out from her hiding place, leaping up and wrapping her slender arms around the tall one's neck. "What the-" She tightened her grip on the man's neck so that his airway was cut off, causing him to make disturbing wheezing sounds. Sam turned his head a fraction in their direction, but not enough to see what was going on behind his back. "What was that, Paul?" He asked, his gaze still fixed on the dark birds in the sky. The man that Aile Noire assumed was named Paul reached up to grab her arms, his sharp nails digging into her flesh. She winced but tightened her grip further, until his attempts of getting her off of him began to weaken. She loosened her grip slightly, letting him fall to the ground. Dead.
Aile Noire advanced towards Sam, who was beginning to back away from the birds that were just a few yards away from them. She grabbed ahold of his messy black hair and pulled it back, resulting in him yelling in surprise. She held her staff to the neck of the man, the sharp edge of the crystal digging into his neck. "Who are you?" He somehow managed to cry out, but the woman just smiled sweetly and pushed him closer to where the birds were. She finally gave him one last shove and he stumbled forward into the screeching crowd of black wings...