Old Crow, Young Cardinal.
Sitting in a Tokyo tree.
AN: this is just a little ramble I worked on between fics, I don't expect it to appeal to many, but thought I would upload it anyway, inspired by the album Old Crows, Young Cardinals by Alexisonfire.
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The old Crow, and the young Cardinal were an unlikely pair, but still they found themselves nesting together on the top branch of the Tokyo tree, at dusk every day.
The Crow, the totem of mystery, his midnight feathers cloaking his darkest secrets, masking that place beyond the unknown, were hidden away from the young Cardinal forever.
The Crow, he partook in death, his actions, which reaped shadowy consequences, kept an omnipotent watch on his Tokyo tree.
His branch, the top branch, the strongest bough, he shared with the young Cardinal, gave him a perfect view of the branches below.
The bottom branches were gnarled, and had many treacherous spurs in its twisted limbs, they were shrouded in permanent darkness, the branches above preventing the light of day from ever reaching the black undergrowth.
Only the most treacherous murder of crows, or the worst unkindness of ravens, could ever hope to hold their purchase in the obscurity of those branches.
The old Crow who perched at the top, also belonged in those branches at the bottom, the ascendancy of his existence in the Tokyo tree, was what kept the tree growing straight and strong, the old Crow, his place in the Tokyo tree was everywhere and nowhere.
This old Crow, was particularly fond of treasure, as any Crow was, and his collection was the biggest of them all.
His trinkets though, always seemed to lose their shine, none of his baubles could hold his attention, even for the sheer amount he had, until he spied the most lustrous of prizes in the bottom branches of his Tokyo tree.
Something so perfect in clarity, which had a luster of its own, was bright enough to stand out in the gloom of the undergrowth, didn't belong within the depths of the bottom branches.
Crows were fiercely protective of their things, and this little Cardinal, with its crimson plumage, was the Crow's most valuable thing.
He took the young Cardinal under his wing, back to his top branch, it was the safest place, but also the most dangerous for the red bird, much more dangerous than the bottom of the Tokyo tree.
The top branch was exposed to all the harshest weather, first to be hit with the rain, open to the strongest winds, uncovered in the coldest winter blizzard..
The young Cardinal though, with his vibrant color, which reflected his fiery nature, stood out against the cold backdrop of horrible weather.
The white snow, it highlighted his red feathers, the gloom of rain could never penetrate the purity of his color.
The trilling young Cardinal, with its stubborn pips and peeps, made its own territory on that top branch.
And no matter how many storms lashed at the unlikely pair, shaking the Tokyo tree down to its roots, the bright red Cardinal fought for its perch next to the old Crow, refusing to hide under the oblivion colored wing offered to it.
Cardinals were known for defending their territory with fervor, the brighter their color, the more successful the bird, and this bird was the brightest of them all.
He belonged on the top branch with the old Crow, his shrill innocence gave it much needed pigment, which was sometimes as dark as those dreary limbs at the bottom.
The storms always passed, and in the end the old Crow was still at the top with his young Cardinal, it might have been the most dangerous place, but the strong bough could tolerate any storm, and the old Crow hadn't chosen the top branch for no reason.
The top branch, it was the first to see the new dawn each day, it was the first branch to be graced with the sun's warmth, from the top branch, you could see the sun fall each night.
The top branch had the best view, it expanded from horizon to horizon, you could see the entire world from the top of the Tokyo tree.
Every morning, the unlikely match of the black and red bird, awoke to the view from the top branch.
Every morning, old Crow and the young Cardinal, sitting in the Tokyo tree.