Bird of Slay By: Monica Vix The forest was quiet, a tension in the air that couldn't be cut by the sharpest blade. Feral animals were silent; fortifications of wood and stone lined up on the edge of the treeline were lively with the sounds of scurrying squirrels. The main bastion of the squirrel territory was standing strong, set up with trees forming its outline. Outside, a few stone's throws away, there was a second tribe crouched in the thickets and hiding in the bramble. Three platoons of chipmunks were waiting, spears and bows at the ready to begin their attack on their greatest enemy. The battlements of the squirrel keep were filled with multiple women, archers with strong arms covered in tattoos of thorn covered vines to signify their effectiveness in battle. War was about to begin between two two tribes who wanted nothing more than to claim the forest for themselves, stealing the spoils of land and resources from the other. On the back lines of the squirrel fortress, a silent third party was sneaking into the wood and stone keep. Reddish orange feathers of a falcon blended in with the rich redwood. Along Canna's reddish orange body was tight leather that barely hid her feathered form, squeezing against her chest and hiding her crotch from view. Talons dug into the ground as she began to sneak along, all the while Canna listened out to the sounds from within. Chatter from the squirrels about seeing chipmunk scouts up ahead caught her ear, making her amber eyes grow wide with excitement. A two for one deal, taking out both of her clan's major rivals! Sneaking along, black talons grazing the wood beneath her feet, Canna began her trek to the front gate from the back. Her objective changed from assassination to causing chaos and forcing both of her enemies into a fight they could not win. Sneaking along the first battlement tower near the back of the keep, the sensitive ears of the hunter could hear soldiers getting their equipment ready. Footsteps walking away, barely any noises. Peaking out, her amber eyes locked onto a squirrel archer woman, adorned in woven grass clothing that barely hit her brown and white form. Silently striding up from behind, the falcon's powerful arm grasped the squirrel by the throat, dragging her away down the handful of tower steps. With a loud crack, the squirrel's neck was snapped. Her body contorted and twitched briefly before falling to the ground lifeless, laying half on the stairway as Canna left the body there. The falcon scooped up the now discarded bow from the corpse of the squirrel and began up the stairway once more, holding the weapon in both arms. Canna came across another two squirrels, an albino and one adorned all over with vine tattoos. The bow was slipped over both of their heads, catching both of the rodents off guard as the taller, stronger falcon started to choke them out with the weapon as a lever to close their windpipes. Canna strangled both of the girls, dragging both of them at the same time to the stairway as they were gasping and flailing. As soon as the kicking and struggling stopped, the falcon let both of their woven grass covered corpses fall down the small fight of stairs, flopping uselessly against the ground and the body of her first victim. Canna's attention was brought to the front gate of the squirrel faction's hold. She could hear the sounds of violence in the distance, the platoons of chipmunks beginning their attack with screams and calls for the squirrel chieftess to fall. Her amber eyes grew wide as a spear flew through the air and impaled a squirrel archer, making the woman fall from the battlements and onto the cold hard ground and break her neck in the fall. Mildly amused, Canna couldn't linger. She was deep in enemy territory with a second enemy approaching. Taking advantage of the chaos, the red falcon woman slunk through the battlefield forming within the sturdy walls of a well fortified clan. Quiet talons stabbed into the wooden battlements as she saw arrow after arrow fly from the fort, spear after spear being hurled into the battlements and injuring soldiers with bushy tails. "O-ow, ow..." There was a whining beneath Canna. The falcon looked down curiously. "A-a bird!" A squirrel girl was barely able to talk with an arrow in her slender stomach. Her mouth opened to try to talk and scream for help, but the falcon would have none of it. The taller and stronger woman picked up the fragile little archer by the neck. Canna took the nameless squirrel in her arms, quickly squeezing and twisting her little neck like a twig. Twisting, turning, applying more and more pressure, a sweet gasp of death and the loud crack of a spinal cord snapping signaled the death of the wounded archer. To hide her tracks, Canna tossed the now limp body over the edge, a feathered hand pressed against the woven grass panties of the short archer squirrel. Canna elected to ignore the screams of a chipmunk that just had a woman thrown on top of her. She picked up the pace. Being slow and steady was barely getting her anywhere. Canna dashed into the tower near the front of the battlefield, near the front gate under siege. Hearing the crashing of flesh on the gates, bodies and spears smashing and stabbing into the wood to try to get a foothold, the villainous avian had a devious idea. Her amber eyes scanned the layout of the tower of wood, looking for something to help the chipmunks storm the keep and cause more trouble. With a sweet trill of her cooing voice, the quiet falcon kicked a lever. The wood creaked under her talons as she engraved it with the signature of her foot. As soon as the lever was kicked and clicked into place, half of the front gate opened under the sheer pressure of flesh pressing against the door! The sounds of chaotic battle began to grow louder and louder as the forces on the ground began to storm against each other, like two tidal waves crashing into one another. Commanders of each of the forces were shouting at their troops, all audible through the wooden walls. Canna could smell the coppery scent of blood rising through the air, making her reddish orange feathers puff and flutter with the excitement of a wild hunt happening around her. A simple scouting and assassination trip has turned into a major movement for her tribe to claim more of the wondrous forest they struggled to share! "You two!" A barking voice called out on the ground floor, close enough for the falcon to hear from the battlements tower. "Up the tower, clear the battlements! Pine cone formation!" Canna's eyes grew wide as she realized the pair of soldiers were going to storm the tower she hid herself within. Shifting away from the staircase, the falcon was thinking. Her mind was racing with what she could do to get out of a sticky situation of armed soldiers running up to her position, even if they were unaware of her being there. If she was caught she would be taken care of with relative ease, especially due to her lack of any conventional weapons. The only sharp things on her body was her beak and her razor sharp talons; no match for a spear and shield when carried by one person, let alone two. An idea popped into her head after a moment, eyes sparkling with inspiration. Slinking against the wall opposite to the doorway to the front gate battlements, hidden from immediate view from the stairs, Canna waited. She didn't have to wait long as the pair of chipmunk women started to push. The brown furs and similar dark brown patterns made the two girls look like twins, tattoos of mighty trees visible on their backs further selling the idea that they were sisters in battle. A wooden great-shield and makeshift flint spear passed by, neither of the brilliant blue eyes of the chipmunk sisters noticing Canna pressed against the wall. It was time for the falcon to descend and pounce on her prey, save herself a few glorious seconds to continue her silent assault on both forces. As the spear holding chipmunk in the back began to aggress forward, the black calves of the falcon flexed and sent her forward! Canna rammed into the back of the spear wielder, knocking her down and making her barely clothed body slam into the shield holding chipmunk in the front. The clattering of weapons and huffs and gasps of the two women made a racket, although it was nothing compared to the combat outside. Canna dragged herself up, feathered hands grasping the hips and shoulders of the shield carrying chipmunk. Her position was compromising, but was the easiest way she could take down the two women in one go. Turning onto her back and sliding her legs along the fragile neck of the spear carrying chipmunk, Canna started to squeeze! The shield carrying woman didn't fair any better as those powerful arms grasped at her neck and dragged upward, backward, making her bend at an awkward and painful position while being choked out. Grunting loudly, the feathered fiend twisted her entire body, snapping the neck of the spear carrying woman in her thighs and crunching the strong back of her shield carrying sibling. Weak groans and gasps of death came over the pair, blue eyes rolling back as their bodies were reduced to floppy rag dolls clothed in woven grasses. Dragging herself off of the twin corpses, Canna huffed and stole the discarded great-shield. Heaving the mass of wood adorned with pebbles stuffed in the grain, the falcon dragged and pulled the large object from the pair on the floor. The bottom of the shield only added more insult to deadly injury as it hit its original wielder in the lifeless head while being carried from the tower. Canna's arms and legs flexed hard, powerful muscle hidden under beautiful feathers as she went out onto the battlements once more. Each step of her legs made her leather clothing ride against her slender and strong body, getting a frustrated groan from the avian assassin. With the forming crowd beneath the wall of the keep, the growing conflict of tribes, she took an opportunity to aid one enemy in defeating another. The large hunk of wood was tossed over the edge, falling on top of a group of squirrel women with clubs and stone axes. A satisfying scream and crunch of the hefty shield falling onto their heads, the echo of cracking necks and breaking bones filled the air. Unseen, the falcon ducked back behind the cover of the battlements, her powerful thighs flexing as she began to sneak along the wall. Canna headed back deeper and deeper into the squirrel keep, occasionally peeking and glancing at the combat happening in the main courtyard. To see that the chipmunks were putting up quiet a fight and matching the squirrels one to one in combat was surprising, almost surprising enough to get a whistle from the beak of the bird. Peeking over the wall allowed Canna to see a collection of chipmunk soldiers pushing past the walls of the keep into what looked like a storeroom. Seeing another opportunity, the falcon got ready to leap from the battlements and onto the battlefield proper. A squirrel warrior woman wielding a makeshift flint pole axe chased the chipmunks into the storeroom, her leather armor decorated with dried flowers that fluttered as she charged after them. Canna leaped from her perch like the bird of prey she was, dropping down on top of the squirrel leader with her legs slamming onto her sturdy shoulders. In a quick and agile movement, the feathered thighs grasped the neck tightly and dragged her forward as she tumbled. The fragile neck was shattered as Canna landed and twisted it in her thighs, making the strong and slender body of the squirrel captain tense up and release stress in the bliss of dying by powerful thighs. The weapon uselessly clattered to the side, discarded by a corpse that no longer needed such a heavy weapon. Heaving herself off of the ground and dragging the broken neck body of her most recent victim, Canna shoved herself against the door of the store room. The falcon pulled the squirrel captain out from under her thighs and took a hold of her limp arm, using it as a brace to keep the door shut. As she released the squirrel, her head drooped and shown a broken ninety degree angle in the middle of her neck. Locking the small group of chipmunks within the storehouse kept some heat off of the falcon as she began to dive in deeper and deeper into enemy lines, hiding behind the building as the growing conflict raged on around her. She peeked around the corner towards the gate, forces of both squirrels and chipmunks in woven grass clothing clashing in a violent heap of bodies. Canna got a taste of her own medicine as a chipmunk woman snuck up behind the distracted scout-assassin, the brown arms grasped around the red feathers of the falcon's throat! Amber eyes grew wide as the avian was caught off guard, but the trained warrior was prepared for this sort of situation. Allowing her training to take hold of her mind, Canna shifted her weight and stepped behind the chipmunk, catching the untrained woman off guard. Now with the balance of power shifted, the falcon used all her might to flip the chipmunk forward and off of her, slamming the rodent girl's back on a log bench with a powerful twack! Paralyzed from the waist down, the chipmunk started to scream for help! "Help! Help! Bird! Bird!" The squeaking chipmunk begged for help. "There's a bird here! The squirrels are dealing with the birds!" The woman was silenced as Canna pulled herself forward and falling on top of the helpless paralyzed chipmunk's face. Fire like tail feathers were the last thing the chipmunk saw as her neck had a strong, toned butt fell on top of her with all the muscular weight of the falcon on it. Her throat and spinal cord snapped instantly with barely any resistance as Canna ended her with a flashy execution, just to show off to the multiple eyes of squirrels and chipmunks that landed on her. The sounds of wood and stone on flesh and bone quieted for a fraction of a second before those distracted by the display were thrust back into the heat of battle. Pulling her leather clad ass off of the corpse, the falcon turned on a dime and began to make a mad dash for the rear of the squirrel keep. Her ears blocked out the noises of wizzing arrows, the twacks of spears into the ground, and the oncoming assault that seemed evenly matched. Whether Canna was there or not, it seems like the chipmunks and squirrels would've ended each other, or been very close to it. However, there would be no chance for her own tribe to come in and claim the prime real-estate of the forest keep if she didn't brave the forces of two armies. Canna's pretty predatory eyes widened as she found herself stumbling into a fight between a chipmunk and a squirrel. The two girls in woven grass clothes were grappling with each other, the grey furred squirrel attempting to grab the golden brown chipmunk by her hair and take her out with a flint knife. Two pairs of eyes landed on Canna as her brilliant red feathers came into view, causing the skirmish between the two women to stop as they both changed targets to their mutual enemy. Grey and brown hands released from each other's bodies, showing bruises across their tattooed forms, all black and blue from the battle they had before the third party showed up. The squirrel was the first to engage, trying to jab her knife into Canna's face! Her grey furred hand barely even grazed the falcon's slender beak as the red feathered menace grabbed her arm and twisted it. Squealing in pain, the squirrel was dragged back into Canna's grasp, the leather of the falcon's outfit pressing into the bare back of the weak woman, right above her own woven grass bra. Both of the feathered wing arms further restrained the grey squirrel, making her present her stomach and face to the chipmunk before her. Weak and struggling, unable to fight the strong avian that held her, the grey squirrel could only whine and try to wiggle out of the falcon's grasp. Despite both of them turning on Canna after their squabble to the death, it was an inviting sight to the chipmunk. She, like the squirrel, threw a punch aimed at the falcon's face, but missed and hit her temporary ally in the face instead. Such a punch made the squirrel drop her flint knife directly into the ground, making the squirrel lose her only salvation against Canna's painful grasp that stretched her shoulders in an awkward position. The chipmunk saw the weapon tumbling down and bent down to get it, only to be met with a kick in the face from the squirrel's frantic struggling. "Aw, poor chipmunk." Canna teased in a short quick sentence. "Are you going to take that sitting down? Or be a real warrior and strike back?" The falcon egged on the tension between the two women, starting to drag away the squirrel as she kicked and screamed. Doing her best to bite at Canna's arms, the squirrel protested. "Let me go, bird brain! Let me go!" She squealed. "Chipmunk whore, get her! Lets get her together!" She tried to retake an ally, but was clearly too far gone from being friends with the invader. Not even wasting her breath on responding, the chipmunk lunged forward with the knife, still mostly on the ground. The sharp grey blade slashed through the air and she was met with another kick from a grey paw. Not even granted the basic courtesy of their mutual foe attacking her! Grasping the agile, deadly weapon in her hand, squeezing hard enough to crack the weak wood handle, the chipmunk woman stabbed forward towards Canna. Her lunge didn't land true, however, instead stabbing the restrained squirrel in the stomach. Huffing with the wind knocked out of her, the squirrel could barely double over in pain in the powerful grasp of Canna. The falcon didn't care about her living shield being hurt. Her hands shifted from restraining the arms to restraining the grey squirrel's head in a choke hold, applying pressure and force against her fragile rodent skull. As the chipmunk went for another stab, Canna twisted the neck of the squirrel and snapped it right in the middle, sending her to a quick and relatively painless death as her eyes rolled back in her head. Canna continued to hold the squirrel up as a shield against the chipmunk's relentless attacks, continuing to back up step by step with her talons stabbing into the dirty ground. Finding herself backed against a wall to the squirrel throne room, Canna huffed. With her back to the wall, the falcon had to think of something quick to either cause more chaos or escape. The pressure from the wildly swinging, unskilled chipmunk wasn't making things easier; the constant slashing and stabbing that all landed into the limp body of the sexy squirrel. Tossing the corpse forward, the falcon used the dead squirrel to catch the chipmunk off guard and create an opportunity for herself to gain a new living shield and take care of her foe. Red feathered arms grasped the wrist of the golden brown chipmunk woman and dragged her closer, forcing the smaller girl against the wooden wall and restraining her. Twisting the wrist of the helpless woman caused the flint knife to drop to the ground, a trail of blood following it in the air as it fell back down onto the corpse of the limp squirrel. Canna held both wrists of the chipmunk behind her back, ramming her head against the wall to daze and potentially concuss the wimpy warrior. Her other arm wrapped around the slender neck and applied pressure, choking the chipmunk within her last breath of life while forcing her forward. A large wooden door that lead into the squirrel's throne and war room was shoved open with the face of the chipmunk warrior that Canna had captured in her powerful grasp. Weak groans and whines rose from the golden brown furred woman as the falcon charged headfirst into the practically barren war room with her in front of the avian as a living shield. Canna's red feathers a blur as she stepped forward with talons clacking against the ground like the sound of a bone drum stick slamming against a tree; the sound of violence and war in every thudding, clacking step. The invasion of the throne room was short lived as Canna saw the lack of any form of notable figure; none of the cowering squirrels shown any form of importance or potential aggression. Ignoring the handmaidens and advisors, the falcon assassin continued to storm the keep deeper and deeper, hunting for the chieftess like a bloodhound. Exiting out the back of the wooden floor throne room, Canna continued her quest to take out such a key figure in the growing conflict. The squeals and whines of the chipmunk captive distracted and frustrated the violent avian. Unceremoniously, the falcon squeezed and popped the neck of the helpless girl, making her pass out and fall limp in those powerful arms. Canna dropped the chipmunk and continued on her quest without the useless warrior. Slipping down slender hallways and tunnels, going partially underground in a section, the falcon was hot on the trail of the escaping chieftess coward. Emerging from the underground tunnel at an exit covered in leaves and dirt, Canna huffed and sneezed with the dust that flew in the air. Her predatory eyes glanced at the ground and up to the forest ahead, seeing the trail of the chieftess. She sprung into action and hunted down the squirrel ruler, the scent of her practically hanging in the air leading the falcon bee-lining for the noble. Black talons dug into the dirt and leaves, shoving herself forward step by step with vile agility towards the escaping chieftess. Canna could practically taste her she was so close. The hunt was on, the sounds of the battle within the keep's walls fading by the footstep, the battle hushing to allow the violent bird to focus on her prey. There she was! Canna's amber eyes widened as she saw the chieftess running, her blue dyed woven grass standing out like a sore thumb against the greens and browns of the forest. Her pace quickened, dashing directly towards the chieftess, not worrying about getting spotted as she inched closer and closer to the fleeing ruler. The silky gold fur, the large bushy tail, the locks of ivory... it was all just a glorious, gilded target in Canna's eyes. Hunting the chieftess was a prize in of itself, but the glint of a silver necklace would be a glorious trophy of the assassin's triumphant hunt and expedition. Closing in, closing in, getting closer and closer towards claiming the squirrel chieftess as nothing more than a trophy kill. Canna was spotted. She saw those sapphire eyes land on her, full of fear. It only encouraged the murderous falcon to pick up the pace, breath heavier, take the chieftess and drag her corpse all the way back home. The red falcon dashed up, closing the distance quicker and quicker. Fifty feet. Forty. Twenty. She was practically touching the fleeing chieftess as she called out. "It's over! Your keep is gone! Your home will be bird territory before the full moon!" Canna threatened, boasting her clan's might and sewing the defeat of the squirrel and chipmunk groups. "Not even those chipmunks will keep those wooden walls away from us!" She cawed and intimidated the fleeing chieftess. Screaming for her life, the golden squirrel continued to run and flee until she tripped on a loose branch and fell face first into the ground. The chieftess rolled over and held her hand up to the approaching falcon, trying to stop the oncoming assault of brutality with a simple extended hand. Her words caught in her throat as Canna loomed over, like a blood moon about to crash down upon her with unrivaled power. "W-wait, wait!" The chieftess begged in her breathless state, trying to vie for a moment more to beg for her life. "I-I can help, I can help! I'll surrender and help!" The panicked voice of the chieftess turned from begging cries to a sharp scream as she was pulled up by her arm, yanked from the leaf covered ground and into the powerful arms of the avian. "Please, spare me, miss! I'll be a good servant, I promise! I have nothing to lose but dignity, but I'll trade it for my life in a heartbeat!" Her loud whines and begging for life sounded shrill, panicked, as if it was already the end. Canna's red feathered arms grasped the golden shoulders of the adorned chieftess. Her cold amber eyes stared forward, staring icy daggers into the squirrel's soul. Just the force of her glare was enough to make the large fluffy tail of the quivering woman drop to the ground, brushing leaves aside as if it was only useful as a broom, flicking across the ground in her nervous fear. The chieftess could only gasp as a hand reached for her neck, brushing up against her golden fur and the crude silver necklace that gleamed so amazingly against her royal coat. Canna's powerful hand started to squeeze and feel the fragile neck of the squirrel, measuring up the strength of bone and muscle underneath. "Hm. Hold still." Canna spoke in a low voice, as if she was talking to someone that barely held the same social class as a pet. Her hand slipped to the jawline of the chieftess and started to increase pressure, pushing the squirrel's head to the side slowly, creeping her head more and more to a sharp turn. "I was planning to keep your necklace as a trophy. I suppose I can keep you, too. However, you're not going to run away on my watch." Her hand squeezed harder, creating hairline fractures in the rodent's jaw, before Canna yanked the chieftess's head to the other side entirely! There was a loud crack as the chieftess's body fell limp, the golden fur barely covered by jewelry and woven blue grass falling still in Canna's arms. Quick, loud breathing continued from her lips, the woman reduced to a pet quivering from above the neck. She was at a loss for words as Canna claimed her and the once squirrel occupied keep for the clan of powerful avians. The red falcon ran her hands along the slender, curvy body of the chieftess, heaving her up over her shoulder with a feathered hand against the plump butt covered in essentially a grass skirt. "Don't worry, pet." Canna began as she walked away from the keep. The sounds of violence rapidly fading into nothing but the sounds of the forest. "You'll be back in your old home soon. Maybe I'll get a promotion and you'll have a cushy life still, just under the thumb of a bird instead." Chuckling darkly, the falcon slapped the soft ass and made the shocked chieftess squeal in pain.