Pure Dawn
The sun's rays filtered through the exotic green of forest trees to rest upon the cheek of its intruder. It was a girl, no older than seventeen years, with long silver tresses that were tamed back in a tight braid and green eyes that rivaled the deepest emerald. On her lap sat an injured fawn, a shallow cut on its leg oozed the red liquid of life as the girl tended it. The fawn's mother watched warily as the girl worked, but she paid her no mind, too focussed on her task. Not far off the rest of the herd and a black horse grazed upon the fresh grass that was still wet from the morning dew. The horse raised his head and sent a soft nicker to the silver-haired girl.
"I know," she said, securing the bandage on the fawn's leg, "it's time to go." She helped the fawn to stand and watched it wobble towards its waiting mother. A small smile adorned her face as she walked towards her equine friend, making sure to run her hand over each doe, buck, and fawn as she went. The herd watched as she easily swung up on the bare horse's back, "I shall see you later my friends," she whispered, directing her mount through the invisible path that she saw so clearly.
She listened to the sound of the nearby stream, the songs of the birds, the distant howl of the mountain wolves, and the gentle rustle of the leaves as the morning breeze passed through. The forest was truly magnificent and her home away from home. The veil of calm disintegrated as she left the sanctuary of the trees. Instead of the calm sounds of the forest she heard the screaming of her foster parents, the wail of car horns from the roads, and the screeching of tires on asphalt. The sound made her ears throb and the haze of defiled nature made her head hurt, however, the companionship of her equine friend made the pain bearable until she could return to her forest.
She heard her mother screaming for her before she could see her. "Azurathea! Azurathea!" she was screaming so loud that the neighbors would undoubtedly hear her wails. Her voice reminded the girl of nails on a chalkboard, and she winced whenever she opened her mouth, waiting for the agony that her voice would bring to her eardrums. The name meaning 'pure dawn' was anything but when spoken from her mother's mouth. She sighed, that was the life she had when she wasn't in her forest sanctuary.
"Azurathea! Where have you been? Don't tell me you were in that blasted forest again!" The chalkboard continued to screech as more poison flowed from her mother's mouth, she didn't hear the words, only the scorn and distaste and the screeching.
Only when the valve on her mother's mouth was closed did the girl speak, "I am sorry to have disappointed you, I am a disgrace, and this disgrace to you is going to school now." With that the girl with silver hair, emerald eyes, and the name of pure dawn, Azurathea, left for school.
She bid goodbye to her friend and made her way to the bus stop. Around the neighborhood, she witnessed others making the same journey. Some had their earbuds jammed in their ears, their music cranked so high that she could hear it from where she walked on the other side of the street. Others had their backpacks so full that the zipper looked as if it would burst and they were hunched over like an old man, trying to bear the weight on their backs. The rest looked like bears that just emerged from their caves from a long winter's hibernation. They walked with their heads drooped, eyes half closed, clothes wrinkled and put on half hazardly, and their hair sticking out at odd angles.
She shook her head at the sight of the miss matched group of students waiting for the bus. When it arrived, she took her usual seat in the far back. She stuck her earbuds in her ears and started her favorite country playlist. The first song that came on was one of her favorites, "Alright" by Darius Rucker. She closed her eyes and let the flow of the music take her away from her thoughts of the upcoming torture she would endure at school. So engrossed in her music, she didn't notice the bus pulling into the drive of the huge two-story, red brick building that was Oakfield High, until students got up from their seats and departed the sighed before she too got off the bus and made her way to the front doors of the school.
The hallways were already crammed full of students. All around students were grouping around lockers, in the middle of the hallways, in front of the stairways, or in front of the bathrooms. She made her way over to her locker, located next to the library, which was blocked by a couple making out. She sighed, obviously she wasn't going to be getting into her locker this morning, thankfully she knows from experience to keep her things for her first three classes in her back pack. With a shake of her head, she leaves the couple behind and heads to her first class, advanced algebra with Mr. Welks.
The classroom is empty when she arrives, save for Mr. Welks and the two rats, Cheddar and Colby, that sit on the window sill behind his desk. She puts her things by her desk, which is right next to the windows and the teacher's desk.
"Good morning, Zura," Mr. Welks greets her with a smile. The warning bell rings and students begin to file into the classroom. Almost all of them sneer at her or a constant river of poison would leave their mouths. Her only solace were the visits from the local birds during lunch period. There was only one person who didn't spew poison, and whose voice was not the screeching of a chalkboard, however, fear permeated his soul and he didn't dam the river of poison. His name was Vash, his last name had never been heard through the screeching of her peers. He was like her, but he didn't show it, until today.
It was during the lunch period when he approached her special hideaway on the roof of the school. She was sharing her lunch with the birds as she did every day. Unlike with everyone else, the birds did not take flight when he approached and sat upon the ground next to her, instead, they frolicked toward him. Azurathea had never gotten a close look at him before, but she noticed similar facial features to her own. His jet black hair was long, covering up half of his face so she couldn't get a good look at his eyes. It wasn't until he raised his head to look at the small chickadee that had perched itself upon her shoulder that she saw the striking blue eyes, as exotic as her own.
"You come here every day?" he asked. His voice was not the screeching of a chalkboard but of the morning breeze whispering through the exotic greens of the forest.
"Yes," she said, "I am an outcast there so I prefer the comfort of my friends." She stroked the head of the small chickadee. The wind blew on her face and she closed her eyes, inhaling the scents it brought her from the distant forest.
"You are like me I suppose," he said, fingering the fabric of his black hoodie. "You go to the forest every day with your horse, Element X, let him bring you to me." With that statement, Vash left, leaving a very confused Azurathea.
Throughout the rest of her classes, she thought of what he said. How did he know of the name she gave her friend, she had told no one. No matter how hard she racked her brain for the answer, it did not come. It's as though he knows her, but how could he for no one knew her the way her friends did and the way nature knew her. It was then that she knew she had to find out, and the only way to do that was to do what Vash said, let Element X take her to him.
Thankfully, her parents were not present when she returned home from school, otherwise, she would've been buried with chores and she would have been unable to go to her sanctuary. She stuffed her backpack with the first aid kit, bread, carrots, apples, and oats before going out to the edge of the forest where X awaited her. She pulled herself up on his back and allowed him to take her. She breathed in the scent of her sanctuary and got lost in its majesty. She felt X's muscles constrict as he soared over fallen logs and cascaded through the forest. She noticed he was following the stream deeper and deeper into the forest until he reached a hidden glen.
Under the tree in the center of the glen sat Vash, stroking the head of a young buck. Next to him stood a horse that was as red as flames, he raised his head and looked at the midnight horse and silver-haired girl.
"Why did you have X bring me here?" she asked, glancing warily at the mystery of a man that looked as at home in the forest as she.
Vash chuckled and a white smile lit his face, "I brought you here to take you home dear Azurathea," he said. Her expression of puzzlement made him chuckle again, "You don't belong here dear girl, in fact you are not human you are Fae."
"I can't be. I am human," she denied clutching her head.
Vash moved toward her and placed his fingertips on her temple. A menagerie of colorful visions passed before her eyes, memories, history long forgotten. "Now do you see, dear Azurathea, you belong with the Fae, come now let us return home." Vash held out his hand to which she placed her own in it. He pulled himself upon the flame horse and led her through a veil. When her eyes cleared, she was surrounded by emerald leaves, the sounds of distant streams, and of animals in the distance. Finally, the pure dawn has found where she belongs.
Hello readers and thank you for reading the first chapter of the Pure Dawn series. Please read and review. :D