✯ — NOW MY HEART STUMBLES ON THINGS I DON'T KNOW

She trembled as she looked into the mirrors. Her eyes, the pupil as dark as night, a film over her eye before she fully blinked- it was unnatural. It was the first of the signs. Her witch like qualities had brought her human normality to an end. Feathers were already poking out alongside her hair. Her ears were starting to point, and it would be long before the talons and her wings soon followed. The woman.. wasn't enthusiastic, and it was certainly to the point that the harpy eagle and the white winged crow wasn't happy about it either.

She left the mirror of the bathroom in her house, moving shakily into her bedroom. A screech, not human nor birdlike, tore from her as her hands bent and snapped, spindles of feathers dragging out of her arm. She made a face of pain, her shirt tearing as something ripped from her tailbone, snapping about. The birds fluttered on the front porch, wary of what happened within the darkened home. Her hands- nay, they were taloned now, could she even call them hands?- beat against the bed, only tear at the sheets as feathers shot from her arm.

But what really hurt was her legs. They bend, the skin mutating as her feet twisted and became something else. The woman staggered against the wall, undaring to move, her breathing heavy and tears in her eyes as her body became something she didn't know was possible to become. She had read of them before, but her life.. she couldn't imagine what it would do to her life. She couldn't hide the wings that grew from her- or what was her arms, now, nor the sharp tail, most unbirdlike but still human in the straight, narrow shape. The talons on her feet wouldn't allow for normal walking.

She could see so much further now, her eyes wide and clear. But her hands.. her hands were what worried her the most. How could she ever grind herbs like this? How could she write, care for or pet her harpy eagle and her crow? Vivian closed her eyes, heaving a breath before nodding slowly to herself. She brought her hands, which had been digging into the wall previously, to her eyes. She looked over them, then stretched her 'arms' out to inspect the feathers. They were red, spotted with patterns of white and black.

She whipped her tail into view. It wasn't fully grown out, she supposed, knowing that a bird's tail feathers helped greatly with flight. She looked to her feet, before moving towards her dresser, trying to change into clothes that would actually work with.. whatever this was. A harpy? She really hoped this was just a small interval in her life, yet she knew, somewhere, internally, it wasn't. Vivian slowly walked outside, going without shoes- she didn't really need them anymore- and looking around.

A small gasp graced her lips. Her faced had remained mostly the same, excluding the higher cheekbones, her eye shape changing slightly, and her ears shrinked and pointed. Her harpy eagle screeched and took off, beating it's wings. Vivian glanced to her arms, before grinning to herself. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Her arm beat, before she jumped from the ground, her arms almost instinctively moving now. Nay, these weren't arms. These were wings. Her talons dragged against the ground as she hovered, before landing, her breathing heavy now.

She wasn't ready for flying, she supposed.