This spawned completely randomly from listening to the song The Crow and the Butterfly by Shinedown.
The art I made for this before the story came out may help you understand what exactly is going on here.
I don't exactly know how to create a link here, so if any are willing, search for me at DeviantArt .com under the same name, and you'll find it.
Enjoy!
It was cold up in the mountains. The air was icy, the skies unchanged by the feeble streams of the sun's warmth, poking through veiling clouds. The freezing winds pushed it away, leaving the rocky peaks hard and unfeeling.
He pushed on. None of this affected him.
In a few powerful beats, he drove his wings downward, sending him higher into the marbled sky. A small, hard edge of smug satisfaction twisted his mouth as he thought of how striking his plumage looked against the sky.
He tucked in his wings, leaning into a steep dive. He flew straight as an arrow, plummeting toward the craggy rocks and snow. The air whistled through the mask he wore over his eyes. His ears pulled back, ringing with pressure. He barely blinked, though tears streamed from his eyes.
He threw open his wings when he was merely feet away from certain death. He cried out, muscling past the pain in his wings and chest as he soared upward once more. The smirk that had been hinted on his lips grew. He was Crow, Lord of the Clouds and Air. He was strong, fast, and powerful, and none could surpass him in the skies.
Turning in a great arc, he spiraled down to land on an outcropping of stone, his long talons clicking against rock and ice.
His talons were black, a deep darkness that traveled all throughout his body. Fur, skin, and feathers; all were black as night. Even his mask, the sash around his waist, and the bracelets on his ankles and wrists were black, nearly indistinguishable save for highlights and shadows. Only the whites of his eyes were truly vivid, smooth ivory surrounding his eyes, whish were twin black holes, deep and merciless.
He opened his great wings, rotating them to work out the aches in his muscles, the glossy feathers rustling.
Life was merciless, and so he needed to be, especially up here, in this place. Crow cared for no one, but to stay up out in these peaks he deferred to only one. Mountain demanded respect, and in the interest of survival, Crow was willing to give. He remembered Mountain's stern face and hard violet eyes. The first and only time they had met, he'd revealed himself in red sandstone, towering over Crow in a power play of dominance. That day, Crow was allowed to stay in Mountain's home.
Crow stretched his arms above his head, his wings spreading to their massive extent. The dark pinions caught a feeble shaft of sunlight. Inwardly, he preened, eyeing the silky shine of his feathers. He took to the air once more, smoothly cutting through a vale of mist before him. Truly, he was the greatest by far.
His majestic flight was sharply interrupted as something blasted past him, jerking his wings and making off with several feathers. Crow hissed, whirling around.
The smirking face of Wind appeared before him. Through a sculpted half-mask, his green eyes gleamed with excited mischief. His faded blue body was wispy, half-formed, and flowing with the breezes whipping around him. Smiling cheekily, he waved, one of Crow's feathers clenched in his teeth.
Crow lunged forward, slashing his talons through Wind's face. Wind's form collapsed and howled past him. Crow turned again just in time to see Wind waggle an admonishing finger, and vanish.
Crow gritted his teeth and swooped away. He hated it whenever Wind came. The stupid pest would always disturb him, insisting on bothering him. What really angered him was that, even flying in his own element, Wind could outmatch him at every turn. Mercifully, he never stayed long. It seemed against Wind's very nature. In any case, he didn't belong here; Only Mountain, Crow, and one other.
Snow.
Falling in a steady glide, Crow touched down at the edge of a great glacier; snow and ice glittering in a faint luminescence. Intricate snowflakes lay in powdery bluffs across the vast expanse of ice that stretched down nearly the entire west side of the mountain. Silver and gray blue beneath an endless stretch of white glowed against his blackened form. Deftly flicking his talons, he scooped up several flakes into his mouth, savoring the ice water against his tongue. The smallest of rustles caught his ear, and he tilted his head, his eyes sliding to the left.
Snow leaned forward against a rock, watching Crow with turquoise eyes, hard and bright as the ice forming her waist. Her gaze had all the warmth of the glacier surrounding them. Crow held her eyes without showing any emotion, his hand still held before his face. A mirthless smile graced Snow's full lips before she shrank out of sight. Crow watched her until there was no trace of her. He slowly breathed in, closing his black eyes. Snow was most likely the one he tolerated the most.
Mostly likely because they were both cold.