A blanket of darkness covered the sky like a tight glove, allowing no moon or stars to appear. A tranquil peace covered the land below when suddenly, loud moans of pain swept through. Creatures were woken up suddenly by this eerie sound and huddled close together as though trying to hide themselves. Suddenly, like a door, a portion of the dark sky slid opened and a white figure fell straight from the sky. As sudden as it slid opened, the portion closed back and no evidence were found of the sky ever being opened. The sound of loud moans, too, were suddenly gone.
A white figure lay on the dark ground, not moving. It was the only thing that had color while its surroundings were hidden in the thick darkness. Golden eyes of the woken creatures stared curiously at the figure from the safety of their homes, yet none were brave enough to approach. Suddenly, the figure stirred as though awakening from a deep slumber. What appeared to be white cloak was in fact, huge white wings covering the figure's body. Pushing itself painfully up, the figure flapped its wings twice before spreading them wide.
Suddenly, the figure screamed out loud in pain. The creatures quickly hid themselves, fearing the scream and the figure itself. The huge white wings suddenly bursts into millions of white feathers and only a small huddled figure was left trembling alone in the darkness as the wind billowed gently around it.
"This is the punishment given to those who sneer at those beneath them. Accept your punishment and live hidden in the body of the very thing you hate the most. Live hidden in the body of a mortal," a voice billowed together with the wind. The figure wrapped its arms tight around its knees as though trying to hide deep within itself. "Though you still retain the wings you so adore, the transformation will be severely blistering. No one will accept you despite everything that you have done," the voice continued. "But know this, only when one accept you as who you are now, will the pain of transformation be lifted."
With that final words, the wind suddenly died down. Soft sobs could be heard as the figure lay its now mortal head on its knees, its now blue hair falling gracefully to cover its clasped hands.
Several months had passed and the figure lay alone in a small bed. Its pain-streaked ice-blue eyes stared blankly at the ceiling while sounds of soft snores surrounded it. Suddenly, the door to the small room opened offering little light into the room.
"Go to sleep you little whelp. You'll be working in the day and at night from now on. No rest for you" a gruff voice rang out in the room angrily. With that said, the door was closed roughly and soundly. Several of the children woke up in fright while several of the smaller ones cried softly. The bigger children shushed the smaller ones quickly, fearing their master will return once more. He could hear several of them muttering wicked words about him but he chose to ignore them. Once again, silence filled the air while the others quickly went to sleep. His hands, which lay listlessly on the bed, suddenly gripped the sheets tight. Tears filled its blue eyes as he sniffled, determined not to show his vulnerable side. In his mind, thoughts of someone accepting him were dashed.
From within the darkness of the alley, blue eyes stared at the people walking around. The night had settled in quickly but he could not return back. Scanning the people from within the safety of the dark alley, he searched for unsuspecting preys. Suddenly, he found himself watching a small auburn-haired girl, about the same age as him, walking with an older man whose black hair seemed to shine silver. He watched as she looked up at the man whom he presumed to be her father with adoration. The man, in turn, smiled fondly down at his daughter. He frowned bitterly as he envied the girl. His eyes scanned the girl and found that she was holding tightly to a small doll.
He moved into the darkness and walked out of the alley with his head hanging low. His dirty blue hair covered his face as he followed the auburn-haired girl and her father, looking for the précised time to make his move. He continued to follow them until the three of them were the only ones left outside. He stopped with a sudden and quickly hid himself near a lamppost when the girl and the man stopped directly in front of a house. He watched as the man bent to pat the girl and left her side to enter the house. He waited until the entrance door was firmly shut and moved away from his hiding place.
Lowering his head more, he swept past the girl, barely brushing against her. With quick hands, he snatched the doll away and made his escape. Behind him, he heard no cries but he could not care less. All that mattered to him was that now the girl will be as miserable as him. Seeing a corner in front, he made a sharp turn and suddenly twisted his ankle. With a sharp cry, he fell hard and lost his grip on the doll. Turning his head slightly, he saw the doll lying a few feet away from him. Pushing himself up, he tried to stand but cried out painfully when pressure was applied on his injured ankle.
Breathing hard now, he tried to wobble his way to the doll. He was now within reach of the doll when a loud honking rang out. Turning his head slightly, he watched in horror as a car loomed nearer and the headlights nearly blinded him. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his and pulled him back just as the car whizzed past. He fell back heavily against a soft body. Pulling himself quickly away, he turned and found himself staring into a pair of toffee-coloured eyes. It was the little girl gazing back at him with concern in her eyes.
"Are you all right?" he heard her asked in soft voice. Not knowing what to do now, he tried to run away from her when his injured ankle acted up. He winced in pain as tears pooled in his eyes, yet he made no sound. "You should not move. Here, let me help you," the little girl said as she lowered herself down and massaged his injured ankle. Soon enough, the pain was gone and he felt that he was able to walk slowly back home again. He watched as the girl straightened herself up and smiled at him.
"Riku?" a deep voice called out suddenly, snapping him out of his reviere. Both turned towards the voice, him more sharply. Afraid of getting caught, he sprinted away from the girl just as her father appeared.
Once again, he found himself staring up at the ceiling with others snoring softly around. He knew that his master would appear in the doorway once again but he did not care. As he stared at the ceiling, an image of the girl smiling at him appeared in his mind.
"Riku."
Like the night before, he stared at the people walking again from the dark alley. But this time, he searched around looking for the auburn-haired girl. His blue eyes lit up when he saw the girl walking with her father past the alley. Summoning up his courage, he trailed from behind while his hands gripped a small bag.
Once again, the girl and the man stopped in front of the same house. He watched as the man pat the girl again and entered the house again. Only then, he walked up to the girl who shuffled her feet around while waiting for her father. As he got nearer, he saw the girl turned to him and smiled as recognition reflected in her toffee eyes. Waves of warmth flowed in him upon seeing that smile once again. Wasting no time, he stood before her and awkwardly shoved the small bag towards her. Surprise shone in her eyes as she looked down in the small bag.
"I'm sorry about your doll yesterday. Here's a new one that I bought for you," he said awkwardly as his cheeks tainted pink. He shuffled his feet as he watched the girl pulled out a small bunny doll from the small bag.
"You know what will make me happy?" she asked as she looked up at him. He stared at her and fidgeted as her stare made him feel awkward. Suddenly, she smiled. "It would make me happy if you would be my friend."
He ran as fast as he could, not caring if he bumped into people on the way. He could hear them cursing from behind but he could not afford to stop and apologize. Turning around a corner, he skidded to a stop in front of a house just as a auburn-haired girl walked out of the house with her father. He panted as he watched her turned and smiled at him. He watched on as she turned towards her father. He could only see her mouthed to her father to which her father smiled and nodded.
He nearly grinned widely when he saw her ran towards him and stopped in front of him. This time, he really did grinned widely when he looked down and saw her gripping the small bunny doll tightly in her arms. Taking a deep breath, he held out a hand towards the auburn-haired girl.
"Let's go play Riku."
Breathless now, he flopped down beside Riku as both tried to catch their breaths after playing throughout the night. Luckily, the night was not as hot as the day and the wind billowed gently around them.
"That was fun!" he heard Riku exclaimed. Glancing at the corner of his eye, he grinned when he saw the auburn-haired girl bounced the small bunny doll up in the air. He nodded and glanced up at the dark sky. She, in turn, followed his action and gazed up at the twinkling yellow stars above. "I wish we can stay like this forever," she said before taking a deep breath.
"So do I," he breathed.
"There you are brat!" a shout came out of nowhere, startling both him and Riku. Both turned and saw a huge man coming towards them, his face red with exertion and anger. He stiffened with fear when he saw the master coming towards him. He should have known that he would find out sooner or later, but, he did not care about the risk. A whimper beside him snapped him out of his stupor and he glanced to find Riku clutching the doll tightly in her arms. Instinctively, he stood up quickly and turned to the auburn-haired girl who seemed to be frozen in her tracks.
"Riku, we have to get you somewhere safe. Come on," he urged as he pulled her up and ran with her.
"Dammit! Don't run you little piece of trash!" he heard the man shout but took no notice.
"Get Riku back to her father," he heard a whisper in his head. With that, he began to run towards the house where he knew her father would be at. By the loudness of the footsteps his master was making, he knew that he was getting closer to them. That made him run even faster, in his determination to get Riku back to safety. He did not care if anything happened to him but nothing should happen to his friend. This made him tightened his grip on Riku's hand. He knew that after beating him to pieces, his master would set his sights on Riku, despite her having a relative. Up ahead, he could already see the familiar house.
Suddenly, he felt Riku's grip loosened and a sharp cry made him turned his head back. His eyes widened when he saw Riku being held back by his master. He froze in his tracks before slowly turning around to face his master.
"Don't take another step. I won't make promises of her not getting hurt," his master sneered. He gritted his teeth but did as he was told. He watched as his master tightened his grip on Riku's hand, causing her to cry out. Something snapped within him upon hearing her cry of pain.
He threw back his head and screamed in pain just as huge white wings burst out with a sudden. He fell to the ground as his blue hair turned long and golden. Breathing hard now, his hands turned to fists on the ground as he tried to fight the harsh pain of the transformation. He could hear his master took a sharp intake of breath but no sound was heard from Riku. When the transformation was completed, he watched from the back of his mind as his other self lifted his now golden head and stared at his master. Knowing that his other self would protect Riku, he stayed at the back.
He pulled himself up and gently brushed aside dirt from his white clothes that seemed to appear as he transformed while his white wings flapped restlessly. With a sudden, he whipped his golden head up and stared at the man whom his other self called 'master'. He watched with bitter amusement as the man flinched at the sheer coldness of his golden eyes. "Let her go," he said in a deep and soft voice. He saw the man trembled with fear but strange enough, he did not sense any fear from Riku. He turned his attention to th auburn-haired girl who stared back at him with calm toffee-coloured eyes. Suddenly, he heard a swishing sound and found that the man had pulled out a knife.
"Don't make any sudden move. I don't know who the hell you are but if you don't do as I say, the girl gets it," the man threatened as he held up the knife under Riku's chin. His face remained calm but his hands were balled into tight fists, trembling slightly. With a sudden, Riku brought her arm up and deflected the imposing hand away from her. With quick reflexes, he moved towards the man just as she knelt down. He lunged towards the surprised man and both fell hard on the ground behind Riku. Rage now coursed through his body as he swung his fists one after another onto the man's face, not caring if they were getting bloodied. In his mind, only one thought ran through again and again.
He had held a knife against Riku.