Note: THIS IS NOT MY STORY!!!It was written by the AWESOME user Epicninja1 and I am merely archiving it. But anyway, here it is:
I have never felt the way my brothers have. Never have I felt greed, the thrill of gold (and other such trinkets), or any sort of emotion or behavior associated with my tribe: the Ravens. At a very young age, ravens ooh and aah over shiny things,are taught to pickpocket and steal anything that is not tied down. the only exception to this generalization (as far as I know) is me. But, not wanting to seem out of place, or worse, be exiled for my abnormalities, I leaped to all the tasks set out for me with gusto. I entitled myself "The Shah of Shamelessness" and other such names, so as to be seen as "perfect raven scum" by my tribe. I became quite a good actor. However, I never forgot my true, noble, inner self. And I would never have guessed that I would be famous for it. I would never have guessed that everyone would know my name:
I awoke to a sharp pain in my skull. In opening my eye i found that Razar was standing over me, silhouetted by the rising sun, his hooked hand poised to strike me again in an attempt to wake me up. Not yet realizing I was awake, he let his hook drop toward what I imagined was a swelling lump on my scalp. My hand whipped out and caught his a feather's breadth from its target. "Oh good, you're up," said Razar, instantly moving his hook hand away. He stood up and strode out the door, and, almost as an afterthought, said, "We have a meeting with the lions today, and you're coming with us." A pause. "So get ready." And with that he walked away, across the tangle of bridges and boardwalks that were strung from tree to tree I reached for my small bag of belongings, but didn't find it in the usual place. Pilfered again. Sadly, that was what happened if one left belongings unattended. I wasn't anything new, but it was a bother. Well, it was time to make preparations for traversing to the lion temple. There were projectiles and daggers to be bought, (it was supposed to be a peace mission, but none of the ravens going liked the idea of being unarmed in such a situation) and since very few other ravens liked parting with their money, I assumed I was to buy the arms. And so, pulling a coin from beneath my (false) eye patch, I took my leave, making for the market area.
I limped along one of the many bridges, my metallic artificial leg clacking against the wooden slats. Unlike my metal eye-patch (underneath which was a normal, undamaged eye), the artificial leg was actually replacing a missing part. I shuddered whenever I thought about the time I had lost it, but the more limbs one lost, the more one was respected among ravens, it seemed. My mind jolted back to the task at hand as a raven bumped into me. I instantly felt the inside of my money pouch, which, predictably, was empty. I barred his way as he tried to walk past. "I would like to inquire as to where my coins are," I said, "as they are not in my pouch." The raven smiled nervously, trying to edge past without my noticing. "Well," he said, "How would I know about that? I don't keep track of your money..." I felt inside my pouch again, pretending to consider his words. "No," I said, "you're quite right. Go about your business." I clapped him on the shoulder, snatching my coins back in the same instant. He hadn't noticed anything, however, and walked away looking relieved.
Soon after the encounter, I arrived at the market area: a giant, circular platform built around a tree, the surface of which was covered by flimsy-looking birch-bark stalls that sold everything I could conceive of and more. There were food stalls and drink stalls, Chi vendors (sadly, Chi was not evenly distributed here, but sold), paint and dye stalls, and ravens everywhere; from working at stalls to standing at walkway corners with cans, (expecting money), to sleeping on stolen goods-to-be-sold. I singled out an equipment stall and headed towards it. While walking there I had to avoid getting pickpocketed thrice more, and the "owner" of the equipment kept changing his mind as to what price I was to pay. Once I finally got away (with all the supplies), I limped off towards Rawzom's dwelling, from which the group would depart for the lion temple.
As I came within sight of Rawzom's dwelling, I could see that a small gathering of ravens was waiting outside. Instantaneously I recognized Razcal (due to the large abacus he was carrying) and Razar. Razar caught my eye and invited me over. "Come on," he said. "We were just..."-Razar paused to catch a bag of (presumably) treasure thrown at him-"Betting on how late you would be. Of course, Rawzom seems a bit late too, but as long as he pays extra, I'm fine with that." I glared at Razar, but he didn't seem to notice. The door to Rawzom's house then swished open, and Rawzom himself stepped out. He peered at us each individually with those beady, malicious eyes. "Today," he said in a raspy voice, "We have a chance to get our talons on...trinkets and treasures!" A strange light danced in Rawzom's eyes as he said this. The other ravens cheered, and I along with them, though I felt none of the excitement they did. "If you follow my plan," said Rawzom, "and carry out my orders well, you will come home dressed in gold." There was a silence during the pause that followed, as all waited to hear Rawzom's plan. "We will head out on gliders, land in the trees near the temple, then proceed on foot, having left all weaponry in the gliders. After we've talked peace for as long as they can blab, we go back to the gliders and hide there 'til night. Then, once the guards fall asleep, we go back inside, find the place they keep their treasure, take some" (of course) "and run away before they ever know we've borrowed some goods. How about it?" The group of ravens cheered again, and then we gathered our weapons and made for the glider landing pad.
As we walked to the glider pad, Razar introduced me to the rest of the party. "That's Raze," he said, pointing to a raven with silver charms dangling from every feather. "She's our weapons expert. And Rerde there"-Razar pointed again, this time to a wiry raven with a crystal monocle-"He's going to help Rawzom with the negotiations, I guess. The rest are just random-picked warriors." After telling me this, Razar took out his pouches and began counting his money. It sickened me to watch him do so, and so I looked the other way and sank into my thoughts. The other ravens seemed emboldened by the promise of treasure, but Rawzom's plan appeared thin to me at best. Would the lions be able to tell that we were more interested in the night raid to come than discussing peace? Possibly. And why had I been included in the group? There didn't seem to be any logical reasoning behind it. And the more I thought about it, the more I worried about what part I had to play in the plan. Perhaps Rawzom hadn't told us the whole plan. Still, I always seemed to be paired with Razar on missions. It was hard to follow Rawzom's logic. "You look worried." Razar's voice cut into my thoughts. I instantly put on my "no shame reckless smile". "That's better," said Razar. He then lowered his voice. "Don't let Rawzom catch you looking worried. He might think you're unhappy with your wages...and he doesn't like giving pay raises." "Quite right," I said quickly. "Make haste," Rawzom rasped from the front of the group. "We are almost at the landing pad."
After about fifteen more minutes of walking, we reached the landing pad. Every kind of aircraft from gliders to jets (and even some ground vehicles) were there. Razar started to drift towards his fighter jet, but Rawzom shook his head furiously and pointed to ten gliders nearby. The ravens hurried towards them, starting to prepare them for flight. Razcal looked particularly excited, most likely because we were flying gliders he designed himself. As I secured my Bazooklaw and Grabberatus in the storage compartment and sat down at the controls, I could not help noticing a large chain tied to the back of each glider. "Ah, Razcal," I said, indicating said chain. "What might that be used for?" "Oh, that," said Razcal. "That's a new feature I've installed. If someone tries to attack you from the ground, or if someone gets in your way, just wrap them up in that chain and bring them with you until you feel like dropping them..." Razcal smiled mischievously. I nodded, quickly averting my eye from his. Somehow, I didn't think I'd be using that chain. Shaking my head, I placed a Chi orb in the power socket. Around me the other ravens were doing the same. "Right then," said Rawzom. "Start up the engines." We all complied, the gliders rising off the ground. "Now test flight positions." I fiddled with the controls, angling the wings forward and backward, up and down, until I was comfortable with how it felt. "Alright, let's head out now," said Rawzom. And lifting above the trees one by one, we took flight.
Sig by Sam
It'll take a while to post it on here, but I will eventually. First I have to read the whole thing myself. 
