Woohoo, another story about an OC laguz character! I hope people read it anyway, though, since I have up to Chapter 12 planned out... So, here we go! crazygunbladergirl now presents:

Clipped Wings

Chapter 1 -- Another Morning in Kilvas

The first thing she heard when she woke up was the sound of crashing waves along the cliffs. She slowly woke up and watched the sea from her window. She could see quite a ways out, since her room was built into one of the higher cliffs. Stretching her arms, legs, and wings, she walked over to the mirror and silently observed her reflection. Her elegant black-streaked, blonde hair lay unkempt around her face, and her white feathers were still a bit ruffled out of place. Yawning, she made her way to the dresser and pulled out various articles of clothing to accomodate her flight. All she needed for now was a thick, short purple dress and some leggings. Her short, loose boots remained untied, for she disliked the cramping feeling on her feet that was shoes.

"Hey, Lucrezia, you ready yet?" came a bored voice from outside her room.

"Give me a chance to preen, you uncouth raven!" the girl called back. Those silly crows cared not for the state of their feathers. If only they would take the chance to clean up their plumage, some of those crows could be quite handsome.

Suddenly, the girl named Lucrezia snapped her fingers and was instantly transformed into a magnificent white heron with black-tipped wings and black stripes near her eyes. The bird used her long bill to clean and groom her feathers. Soon her plumage was even more breathtaking. A stretch of the neck, and then Lucrezia was once again a winged girl.

"All right, you may enter," she called.

The door opened, revealing a cocky man with straight, black hair tucked behind his long ears. The man sported a pair of wings like Lucrezia, only his were jet black and much messier.

"I still don't understand why you herons waste so much time on grooming," the man muttered. "It's all gonna get messy anyway when you fly."

"We herons are much more pure and elegant than your pillaging kind," she replied sharply.

"Sheesh, Lu! Why the attitude?" the crow-man asked. "We're visiting King Naesala today!"

"That's the reason. That cocky crow spends more time trying to smooth-talk me than he does actually doing his job as king!" Lucrezia pushed a section of black hair behind her left ear. "Ever since I came here he's been overdoing the politeness. It's completely fake; I know it."

The man shrugged and walked out of the room. Lucrezia returned to her window and stared longingly at the sea. It is beautiful, she thought, but it could never match the elegance of Serenes...

Lucrezia had not been to the forest of Serenes in over twenty years. It was her home, the home of the heron clan, but twenty years ago it had been destroyed in a massacre led by citizens from Begnion. However, Lucrezia was not around when it happened, for she had sought to learn about and live among the beorc. When she heard that the forest had been destroyed, she simply travelled around Tellius as a travelling bard, always making sure to hide her wings under a heavy cloak. For the past couple months she had been staying with the ravens of Kilvas, much to her dislike, to escape the growing anti-laguz sentiment in Daein.

Ravens are so dirty, sloppy, and silver-tongued! I can't say anything without being bombarded by niceties! Despite her elegant form and cleaning habits, Lucrezia much prefered to be treated like any other laguz. She barely had any ties to the royal family of the herons, and she much preferred the life of a commoner. Even the lowest beorc scum of Begnion would have been preferable to these crows...

Lucrezia finally made her way to King Kilvas' throne room, which looked more like a pirate hang-out than a classy throne room. Naesala sat slouched on the throne with a bored expression on his face. His advisor, Nealuchi, carried his usual friendly grin. For a crow, Nealuchi had impeccable manners. The crow king instantly stood on seeing the heron enter the room.

"Ah, Lulu! Nice to see you this morning!" shouted Naesala as he ran a hand through his dark blue hair.

"Don't call me Lulu. You know I hate it," Lucrezia muttered.

"Well, Lulu," Naesala continued, ignoring the heron as usual, "I have a proposition for you."

"If it's about raiding another merchant ship, the answer is no. You know how much I loathe your pirating."

"Aww! But, Lulu, just think about how much extra cash you'll have to spend when you leave again on your travels!" the crow protested. "I think you should at least try it once while you're here. You may as well take part of one of the fine traditions of Kilvas!"

"I'd rather not," Lucrezia replied. She knew that no matter how much she protested, the crow king always found an excuse to make her go.

"Well, if you won't take part, then I suppose you'll have to just spend the whole day with me." Naesala smiled mischieviously. "I'm sure we could have lots of fun. If you know what I mean!"

Lucrezia glared at him. "You stupid crow! I can't wait to be rid of this place!" Then she angriliy stormed off to join the raiding party.

"Goodness, she's fun to tease!" Naesala commented to himself. Nealuchi simply sighed, embarrassed.

The other crows stood out on one of the cliffs, watching as a small trading vessel sailed along in the distance.

"This one should be packed!" exclaimed one of the raiders. "We'll have enough gold for each of us to buy the best beorc weapons!"

"Not like we need weapons. We can just pick the sailors off from the air," noted another.

The one who had woken Lucrezia up earlier came up to her with a bottle of black, sticky liquid. "Here you go. It should be dry by the time we get there."

"Yeah, yeah..." Lucrezia, being such a rare heron, had to cover her wings with black dye and dye her hair to blend in with the crows. Otherwise, a poacher or slave trader may notice her and try to capture her. It was a pain to have to put this on everytime she had to leave, but it was the best source of protection for now.

After her beautiful white wings and blonde hair were dyed black, she took off with the other crows to attack yet another helpless ship. Man, I can't wait to leave this place...

The wind was just right for flying -- not too fast, but just enough to give a decent boost. Lucrezia enjoyed flying, which was why she secretly wanted to go on the raids. She also enjoyed hunting for fish. However, today she would have to go against the old heron traditions and fight for once.

I hope that stupid crow knows what he's getting himself into, Lucrezia thought bitterly as she soared along.

Before long they had surrounded the ship. It was quite small for a trading vessel, but it still had a few soldiers on board.

"Okay, Lu, you just have to dodge the arrows and it'll be easy!" the crow reassured her.

"Yeah, easy for you crows to say. You fight all the time!"

"You don't have to necessarily fight! Just steal stuff!"

Then they soared in for the attack. There were only a few archers on board, but they were still fairly skilled. Lucrezia was almost hit in the wing, but she dodged it just in time. She searched carefully for shiny goods as she flew back and forth. Soon the other crows had taken care of the archers, leaving the deck free for landing. Lucrezia landed behind the others and spotted a glint near the mast. She quickly dove over to it and picked up a large, white gem.

"Wow, look what Lu found!"

Lucrezia turned to see a group of crows behind her. Their eyes were wide in excitement.

"It's a white gem! Lu, you're amazing!"

Lucrezia looked at the gem in her hand. It was quite beautiful, but she couldn't figure why the crows would care about the look of the object.

"Those sell for 10,000 gold in beorc currency! We're rich!"

Of course, she thought bitterly. What would they want with beorc currency, anyway?

Upon returning to the palace, Lucrezia was congratulated by many of the crows for having succeeded in her first raiding mission.

"You're turning into a crow, you poor thing," Nealuchi told her when she walked into the throne room.

Naesala grinned at her and asked, "Well, Lulu! Do you wish you had been born a crow instead of a heron? Isn't raiding ships much more thrilling than sitting in a forest all day?"

"It's so barbaric," Lucrezia replied. However, she couldn't help but smile. "Somehow, I really... enjoyed it."

"I knew it!" Naesala fluttered over to the heron and gave her a pat on the back. "Deep down, my lady, you are a crow. Just admit it. Now you just need to learn how to fight!"

"That is something I refuse to pick up!" Lucrezia protested. She handed the white gem to Naesala and rushed out of the room. When she finally got to her own room she let out her supressed laughter.

"That really was so much fun!" she whispered to herself. "Of course, I could never let Naesala know that, or he'll just tease me again."