"Anywhere got a zoo with baby big cats?"

"Hm... Dunno. If you're in the mood for a zoo... Guess we could just start places I've heard of? Pretoria, San Diego, Singapore..."

"Don't have a preference, really."

She shrugs, and, picking kind of at random: "San Diego it is."

They can get coordinates and a very usefully high resolution and three dimensional image of one of the teleport areas nearest the zoo, then.

Loki has a blast, fascinated by the animals - especially the predators.

A crow notices them during lunch, hopping on a railing nearby and cawing at them.

"Hey buddy!" Nausicaa says. "Guys, what do crows eat..."

"Seems to want your lunch right now."

The crow caws. A bit mocking, maybe.

Loki puts a hand to her head. (What?)

(Why does she feel like she knows a bird - )

"Well, crows are supposed to be pretty smart, so hopefully they'll know not to eat stuff that's bad for them..." she says, gently tossing a bit of fruit the crow's way.

The crow just stares at her.

Well.

More at Loki.

"Guys, there's something wrong - " she grits out.

" - What?"

"I don't see anything - "

The crow takes off, flying heavily past them, one wing clipping Loki.

She flinches.

"Hey!" Nausicaa shouts after the crow, now annoyed.

Loki shakes her head. "That was - weird. Come on, let's finish lunch and get moving. Though I don't have much of an appetite now..."

"Yeah. Wow, American wildlife's as rude as the people..."

She starts laughing, a bit startled, and indeed manages to finish her lunch.

The incident's pretty quickly forgotten as they go about their day at the zoo, Loki stubbornly ignoring all the trees full of crows watching them. It's a perfect day with her friends, and she's not going to let some asshole birds ruin that.

Everything's great.

There's no reason for it not to be.

She dreams, that night. Of a tree and chains and three women weaving - how quickly it lights -

(She's burning.)

(Isn't she?)

(Isn't that what happens, when you light a fire to destroy your enemies? It never goes away, and it eats and eats and eats and eventually there'll be nothing left for it to eat but you - )

Loki wakes up shivering. Disturbed.

The dream feels sticky, not fading like unpleasant things should - but she's never even been burnt working with campfires -

(No, that's not right - )

She shakes her head, taking a few deep breaths and glancing out her window. The views in Genosha's capital are always so nice, especially if you have money for a good hotel room...

There's a crow on her windowsill.

Looking at her.

She almost dismisses it.

Stops.

"Genosha doesn't have crows," she says out loud. It sounds weak, shaky.

Deep breath. The bird doesn't feel like someone shapeshifted. It feels like it fits in the shape it is.

"Genosha does not have crows."

She stands. She walks to the window.

She opens it, a bit too harshly.

"Who are you?"