A Precious Roc

The roc was quite a sight to see. A large eagle like creature with a snake’s tongue and fangs lining her beak. Her reptilian eyes were a blood red color with thin, black diamond shaped pupils. Her head was white but her body and talons were black. Her nest was lined with treasures she had found and collected. “Abandoned” items such as cars, pipes, boats and even animals. She preferred flying at night, but could fly anytime of day. She was currently flying over a field with silos dotting it. It was around midnight so hardly anyone should see her and the lights from the nearby interstate weren’t bright enough to shine over. She effortlessly ripped a hole in the roof with her hooked beak and gulped down the grain that was being stored. Her size was so great that she was sitting on the ground while she ate. When she had emptied the silo, she turned to the others and continued. She didn’t know what those containers were for, so she ate all of the grain in the five nearby silos. Her belly was bulging a lot, but she wasn’t even full. She took off again and flew towards the countryside where she landed in a cow field. Some of the cows scattered while others just looked away. She gulped down about twenty of the fifty cows, then took off again. Her belly was full of grain and struggling cows, but she still wasn’t full. She thought of where she could get more food, when she saw lights ahead of her. She opened her beak and a plane flew into her mouth, which she then swallowed. She thought of a good place and landed in the park. There weren’t many people around, so there weren’t many options. She studied each of them, but none of them looked good. Her belly was still moving as she had eaten many cows. The movement had attracted the attention of a male who was walking a German Shepherd. The man wore a simple red T-shirt and khaki shorts, white ankle socks and black and white sneakers. His hair was brown and messy and she could tell his eyes were brown as well as see he was clean shaven. His dog had seen her moving belly and bounded over for closer investigation, dragging its owner along. The male froze when he realized how big she was. She lowered her head towards him. He didn't move as he dropped the leash that was in his hand. The dog was sniffing her talons and the bottom of her belly. The boy backed up slowly before tripping on the grass and falling onto his back. She walked over and towered over him. She was surprised that he hadn’t screamed yet. His dog was sniffing her tail, but for now she didn’t mind. She sniffed the man, taking in his scent, his cologne, and his sweat from fear. She leaned forward and gave the man’s face a short lick with her tounge. He tasted salty, but fresh. He wiped the saliva from his face, then grabbed his dog’s leash. She rasied her left wing into the air and groomed her side with her beak. When she looked back down, the man was gone. She looked up and saw him running towards the entrance. By now, everyone else was gone and there were no cars on the streets. She jumped into the air and watched him from above. She saw him enter a tall apartment building and decided to leave, returning to her nest.
A few weeks past and she decided to “invite” him to her nest. Once again, it was getting dark, so she flew to the city. She screeched loudly and people instantly scattered and starting screaming. The roc was amazed at how easy it was to scare them. She landed on a street and glared down at the small cars below her. Some people got out of their cars and ran away. Others just froze and pointed at her. One car caught her eye; it was a small, four-seater and four girls sat there, looking like they didn’t care about the current situation. They continued to drive, going between her feet and continuing on. She looked over her shoulder and decided to leave them. She felt something hitting her head and turned to see police firing at her. The bullet did nothing but amuse her. She lowered her head and some of them starting running away. She let out a short, loud caw and that sent the rest running. She lifted her right wing and started to groom it, but something hit her foot. This annoyed her and she looked down to see what had hit her. It was a double decker tour bus and it was filled top and bottom. The front of it had been smashed in from hitting her foot and she grabbed the front in her beak. (So the front of the top row in touching the top half of her beak and the bottom is touching the bottom half.) She lifted it up to netutral level, so not pointed down or up. Her tongue glided across the windshield, easily breaking off the wipers and mirrors, which fell down her throat. Her tongue then tore the front windows off and those fell down as well. Her tongue licked the driver, then it went further down the bottom row, licking anyone it could reach. It made it to the back, then slowly removed itself from the bus, giving everyone a second lick. She lifted it into the air and opened her beak, causing the bus to fall into her mouth. She closed her beak and returned to neutral level so that the bus was sitting neatly on her tongue, more or less balanced. She lifted her tongue so that those on the top row hit the roof of her mouth, causing them to duck. She slowly crushed the top, but not completly. The tongue settled back down, then reared, causing the bus to slide off onto the base of her mouth. The muscle then overlooked the bus, like an incoming wave. A small stream of saliva rolled off of it onto the people below, soaking the top row and slightly flooding the bottom row. The tongue straightened out and slowly descended onto the bus, crushing the top row and cramping the bottom. The tongue then slid under it, then the roc lifted her head and swallowed. Satisfied that the nuisance had been taken care of, she jumped into the air and circled the city, looking for another place to land. She found one near a park and she fell from the sky, crushing a playground when she landed. Luckily, no one was on it, but there were definitely people around, who immediatly took notice. Those who were closer to the playground had fallen do to the ground shaking from the landing. Other screamed, pointed and ran. She walked through the park to the street, bending and breaking trees and equipment as she did so. A screen caught her attention and she went closer to investigate. It was a news report and it showed the damage and turmoil she had caused. A noise made her turn away and she saw a helicopter shining a light at her. More copters showed up, at least twenty, and all trained their lights on her. She now stood out do to the night sky, the bright lights, and of course, her size. She raised her left wing and flapped it so it covered her face. The resulting gust of wind blew the helicopter out of control, as well as casuing people, cars, and flags to fly. She continued her walk until she saw a familiar building. She walked closer and saw the man from a few weeks ago. He was on a balcony that would make him eye level to her. Smiling to herself, she walked over.

Man’s POV
My dog had passed away and now I felt alone. I went out to my balcony, hoping it would make me feel better. I turned around because I thought I heard somthing, but my room was empty. Sighing, I turned and nearly jumped out of my skin! Two blood red, reptilian eyes stared at me in the darkness. I opened my mouth to scream, but it quickly, yet gently, pushed its beak onto my lips to shush me. I was frozen as the head slowly moved back until it was 10 feet away from me. I was wearing nothing but shorts and a T-shirt, so I was shivering. The head turned slightly and the beak parted a little. I shivered from fear as the light from my room was just enough to let me see the fangs along its beak and the slimy interior of its mouth. The ground shook beneath me and out of instinct, I grabbed the railing to steady myself. The ground shook again and this time I fell backwards, hitting my head on the floor. When I opened my eyes, the head was right above me, the eyes staring down at me. The beak opened and I braced myself to be eaten. However, the beak merely clamped onto the front of my shirt and lifted me to my feet. I was dazed and dumbfounded, but I snapped out of my gaze as the head came closer to my face. I squeezed my eyes shut, but only felt something soft rub against my head. I opened my eyes to find the giant head rubbing against my head, nearly knocking me over. The beak grabbed the front of my shirt again and pulled me further outside. Suddenly I was airborne and grabbed by something. I couldn’t see anything, but I could feel something tough. That’s when it hit me; I was in the grip of a bird’s talons. Wind rushed past me, whiplashing my face and I could barely hear or see the great wings flapping. The foot that held me pressed against the bird’s lower abdomen and I was pressed against soft, fluffy feathers. The flight seemed to take forever, but finally the bird seemed to be slowing down. Suddenly, the foot lowered and the talons let go. It all happened so fast that I couldn’t hold onto anything. I fell through the air, bracing myself for impact and certain death. Instead, I landed on a vast pile of feathers that were, no doubt, from the beast who had taken me. The bird landed beside me and my surroundings vibrated. When I came to, the bird was grooming its wings, not even paying attention to me. I looked around at my surroundings. The nest was made from uprooted trees, but its location baffled me. It was located in a cave. I noticed something glinting through some of the trees and I climbed to see what it was. What I saw made me cover my mouth in shock. There were piles of things further in the cave. Cars, drainage pipes, houses, and even cruise ships. Everything was neatly organized, but it was a vast collection. I looked back in the nest and noticed an egg was lying near the pile of feathers. The bird itself was still grooming its wings and I didn’t want to disrupt it and make it angry. I got down and started to walk over to it, trying to be as quiet as possible. I was right next to its left foot and saw it’s talons. Curiosity overlooked me and I stepped forward to touch it. However, my foot landed on a branch and the step caused it to snap. I quickly recoiled and looked up at the great beast.

Roc’s POV
I was in the middle of grooming my left wing, when a snap resounded around the cave. My wing still outstretched, I looked down and saw the little man gazing up at me in fear. It was obvious he had made the sound. Keeping my wing out, I lowered my head to eye level with him