Disclaimer: The raven belongs to E.A. Poe. I'm just borrowing the hateful creature for a little bit, okay?
A/N: Just a little whim thing. It's horrible, really, but… Yeah.
A slender woman shuffled along the dock, her head down and her tangled black hair hiding her face from view of those who might be passing; although, in consideration, the dark night alone would have sufficed for that task, but she did not trust it.
She started a little at a ruffle of feathers as something shot past her in the inky blackness. There was a caw, a muffled thump, and then a scratching. She paused to watch the spectacle unfolding.
An ebony raven finally managed to find a good perch upon the bloated, wet wood of a dock post. It observed the woman much as she observed it, with cunning and keen dark eyes. It tilted its head at her, and opened its black beak to caw once more.
"Go, raven," said she, at last; "What purpose doth thee serve? Go, fly away; I have no use for thee."
The bird still stood; her pleas it paid no mind. Its maw gaped as it croaked, "Nevermore."
She jumped in surprise at the spoken word, then quickly became tempered. "What is it thy means, by 'nevermore'? Speak, now, devil! – lest I find reason to leave myself."
"Nevermore," it uttered again, jumping once upon its perch.
"Vexing demon!" she swore, making a lunge at it. It hopped just out of reach, scrabbling a little for purchase on the next post along. It cawed a laugh and gazed at her with something akin to contempt.
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."
"Speaking in riddles," hissed she. "Why, if I did not see thee for the simple bird you are – trained to speak, and to frustrate, more likely than not! – I would rend thee limb from limb."
The raven gazed at her undecidedly.
"Leave now, foul creature! Tempt me not with thy continued presence. Fly, fly away – as all others have done."
"Nevermore," it croaked a final time, and spreading its wings, it took flight.