IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE!

Hi everyone! Ok, so before you start this story I just want to explain something to help you better understand. The Maleficent movie was told from Aurora's point of view, but some of the events she recounted seemed like they were missing pieces or they were slightly incorrect. Also in some areas I think there wasn't enough detail, or there was TOO MUCH detail and precious movie time wasted on inconsequential things. SO I have written this on how I think the story REALLY HAPPENED.

That is why I at the bottom of each chapter in this I am going to have an authors note explain what I changed and why I changed it. And I URGE YOU all to read it.

Thankyou, and without further ado here is the first chapter of my new story...


Unlike most birds, this particular raven had never really seen eye to eye with sleep. It had been many years since he had actually slept properly. He couldn't even remember what a good sleep felt like. Nightmares plagued him every night, making him toss and turn in whatever form he was in until he shocked himself awake. Or until whoever he was serving noticed his thrashing and hit him themselves. But for the first time in decades, his nightmares weren't what disturbed him.

A bloodcurdling scream erupted from a distance, snapping him awake. The wailing filled the midnight air, high pitched and feminine. He could feel the pain, the anguish of the scream, as if someone was slicing him right down the middle with a blunt blade. The yells continued until he felt he couldn't bear much more of it. He curled his head into his chest, hoping that his feathers would drown out some of the sound, to no avail.

Oh gods, he thought to himself. I think I would have been better off with the nightmares.

The woman finally stopped after a few minutes, and the raven couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He felt horrible for this poor woman. What could have happened to her to make her scream so? Not even the dying screamed like that, and he should know.

He searched for his current mistress, finding that she had somehow slept through it all. He cawed loudly, making sure she was truly asleep. When she remained unmoving, he very gently unfurled his wings and jumped down from the tree. God, if she woke up and found him gone she would surely kill him. But he couldn't just ignore someone in such pain, could he?

Sometimes he really hated having feelings.

He took to the skies, watching the dark with his keen raven eyes. He had grown accustomed to searching the night, training himself until he had even better night sight than that of a normal creature of the dark. It was often that his owners would demand him to search for things at night, as there was less chance of attack and his dark feathers blended in easily with the night sky.

He continued searching until his eyes fell upon some slight movement by some ruins. He could feel the magic surrounding the creature, it made his feathers stand on end. With all the trouble magic had caused him in his life, if he never saw it again it would be too soon. He landed gracefully on a few feet from her. The woman was bundled up in a dark olive robe, and he gave a quiet caw to get her attention.

Startlingly green eyes peeked out from the cloth, wide and surprised. He suddenly made out the long black horns atop her head, which the darkness had previously concealed. Suddenly he felt insanely stupid for alerting her to him.

He noticed her eyes were red and puffy, conveying such a deep sadness he could barely stand to look at her. She was mourning. He cocked his head to one side, asking in his own way if she was alright, and the woman blinked. Her full, ruby red lips were revealed to him, and high, protruding cheek bones. She was certainly an odd looking creature, but he'd seen odder. And there was something about her that struck him as enchantingly beautiful.

They continued to gaze at one another for what seemed liked forever, one's gaze curious, the other one's tired and hurt. Suddenly, embarrassment shot across her features, the raven's pitying gaze made her feel weak. She didn't want anyone to see her like this; wingless and betrayed and broken. The black bird immediately noticed her change in demeanor, and wondered if he should leave her, allow her to mourn in peace by herself. His contemplation was interrupted when she blew a soft gust of golden wind in his direction. He jumped, deciding to fly away before he angered the creature.

He watched her from the skies though, and as he returned to his mistress, he wondered what kind of creature the woman could possibly be. She was no human for sure, for humans neither looked like that nor possessed any such magical essence. She was curled up quite close to the border of the Moorlands- the place his mistress had been trying to sneak into for the past weak- so he assumed she was one of their folk. He began to list off all the creatures that dwelled there in his head.

Certainly she was no nymph, she was far too big. Definitely not a Waller Bog, or a Cheep, or a Tree Giant, or a Dew Fairy. While pixies could change their size, he knew no pixie could be so powerful. A fae perhaps, but fae folk had wings, and he knew a woman her size would need wings so big even complete darkness could not conceal them. Pixies could hide their wings... Gah! This was so confusing!

The raven tried quite hard to stop thinking about the woman, and focus on where he was going, but it was easier said, thought, than done. When he neared his mistress' resting place, it was sunrise, and he carefully snuck himself back into his tree.

"Did you have a nice little trip, slave?" He jumped at the voice behind him, horrified to find his standing behind him, murder written in her violet irises.

Oh shit


So yes, Diaval is a slave in my story, and he has had a very rough life. He WAS the raven that saw Maleficent the night of the 'incident' but I honestly don't know if that's a change or not. Also, notice that I haven't narrated his name anywhere yet... ;)

All of this will have reasoning in the NEXT chapter. Yes, I do have some CRAZY things planned for this story, I'm so excited!

Please review, it gets you the next chapter quicker...