straycrow

[straycrow]

Unrelated to what I had originally planned to post here, but I like this artwork. It was a commission, the character is not mine.

[straycrow]

Madeline Jerez.

[straycrow]

David kept playing with his eyes closed, avoiding the gazes of those who stopped to listen and tossed a coin, letting his hands repeat the patterns they knew by heart. Just as his mind was slipping into that comforting, detached state of meditation, a familiar voice cut through the music, pulling him abruptly from his focus.

“Excuse me, sir, do you know where the Theatre Academy is?”

A note faltered. No one noticed but him and his perfectionism. Yet the chill that ran down his spine forced him to lift his gaze and search for the source of that voice. There she was.

Madeline stood only a few steps away, speaking to one of the passersby who had paused to hear his music. David recognized the scatter of freckles across her face, her long, wavy brown hair pulled back into a practical bun, the curve of her eyebrows that recalled the mischief of her childhood. The man pointed her in a direction, and she thanked him with a smile that revealed her crooked teeth. But instead of continuing on, she lingered.

It was only for a few seconds that her hazel eyes found his. There was a faint curiosity in her gaze, for the music David had composed, inspired by her. Not that Madeline would ever know, of course. But that was all it was, curiosity. No trace of recognition or familiarity. No glance back as she walked away toward the Academy. To her, he was a stranger. And, truthfully, that was what they were. What remained of the boy she had once known?

[straycrow]

[straycrow]

Standing before her was a young man, though he looked older than she was. Tall, with strikingly silver-dyed hair, wearing a formal shirt that clashed with his sweatpants, and sporting a four-day beard. His blue eyes regarded her with a mix of indifference and boredom that pushed her to break the uncomfortable silence.

“Hi! Excuse me, I’m looking for David. Does he still live here or…?”

“Madeline?” The deep voice speaking her name caught her off guard.

No way. She knew ten years was a long time and that the boy she remembered must have grown and changed, but people couldn’t change that much… could they?

“David?”

The laugh that escaped his mouth was answer enough. The boy she knew would never have laughed in such a coarse, nasal way. This was not David. But then why was he in his house, and how did he know who she was?

“No, my name’s William. Hey, don’t look at me like that. Come on in.” William stepped back, gesturing for her to enter. “You must have a lot of questions. Can I get you something? Tea, coffee, brandy? Oh, you’re going to need brandy.”

The first thing that greeted her inside was the strong smell of tobacco, followed by the sound of old jazz. The living room was unrecognizable from how she remembered it. The few pieces of furniture looked expensive, yet they were buried under piles of manuscripts and crumpled papers. Madeline searched for a place to sit, clearing a few papers aside, and simply shook her head.

“I’m fine, thank you. Sorry, do we know each other?”

William poured himself a cup of coffee that had clearly been sitting there and took the seat across from her. “No, darling. I only know you by… reputation.” He sipped his coffee, as if searching for the right way to continue. Madeline watched him in silence, waiting. “Look, there’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just get to the point: David is dead.”

[straycrow]

His name is David Elroy.

When he was a kid, he was playing alone in the woods and accidentally killed a crow with a slingshot. The crow had a dormant spirit inside, that was freed and used David as a new vessel. There now there’s two sounds in one body. The incident cursed him with crow controlling powers that he has no idea how to handle. Eventually, the spirit developed basic language and self-awareness, though David remained in control.

First sketch is how David would look without the curse. The two sketches in the bottom middle is how he looks when the crow spirit takes over.