The Phoenix Bird
Disclaimer and Warnings: see chapter 1
Chapter 5: New Discoveries
Author's Note: Sorry I haven't updated in forever, been busy with assignments and midterms are coming up ((sad face)) wish me luck!
"…He flies through the chamber of content, and brings sunshine into it, and the violets on the humble table smell doubly sweet…"
First of all, Yuri was stunned. He hadn't expected Kai to react so violently against him. They had seemed to have gotten to a point where Kai could almost feel comfortable with him. But of course, Birdie was still wary of normal people. Yuri sighed inwardly, seeing as he had really hoped Kai would trust him, it had been painful to have the bird-boy reject him so harshly. As a vet-in-training he had a natural curiosity for anything with fur, feathers, scales and tails. And as a normal human, he was intrigued by meeting someone/thing the world had never seen before. To say it at the least, Yuri's interest was most certainly roused by the appearance of this strange named Kai.
And secondly, Kai had spoken another word! 'No' might be a simply, common and overlooked word, but it was thrilling to know Kai was learning, remembering or had learned other words somewhere else. It also meant that they might be able to communicate and maybe that would help Kai overcome his fear of others. Then Yuri could learn about him and maybe make a discovery that could change the world! Wait, no, he wouldn't… he couldn't do that to Kai. Kai would have to be kept secret.
And as for now, Yuri would help Kai learn to trust again. He knew that Kai needed comfort of some sort, and as long as he didn't mess up and make the bird fear him more, he and Kai would have a chance at getting along with one another. But right now, he needed to do some research. The library would be a good place to start. Yuri pondered a moment, wondering if he should leave Kai alone, but then decided that Kai would feel safer if no one was in the apartment. He went back to his room to get dressed, then pulled on his shoes and a light coat, and headed out the door.
Kai stayed curled up in the corner. He was so confused! His Ma and Pa, and all of the Phoenix's had told him how evil and stupid the Wingless were, and yet this one had saved him, was taking care of him. It seemed reasonably intelligent, incapable of much useful speech, but agreeable. Kai felt slightly upset over how he had reacted to the… to It. But he couldn't stop thinking about those evil Wingless!
Why did they do that to him?
No, no, no! Kai hit his head at every word to emphasize the point. Don't think about that! Don't think about that! Focus on right now! The past doesn't matter!
He pulled deeper into himself and the corner while he tried to figure out the strange Wingless that was taking care of him, and the new environment he was in.
Yuri walked slowly, eyes trained on the ground as he thought about Kai. The poor boy must be some exile from an experimentation war-camp or something. And the experimenting seemed to have messed with his brain. Kai was, Yuri felt guilty to admit, fairly stupid and couldn't communicate that well. But with the simple understanding of hand/body gestures and when he had spoken those two, no three, three words, it proved he could learn. And Yuri felt strangely obliged to teach him.
He slowly trekked towards the library. Shuffling along, he didn't acknowledge people when they complained about the ignorance of the new generation, or when rude remarks were passed to him for not keeping his head up.
Kai was a strange enigma. Where had he come from? What was his purpose? What did he like? Dislike? Did he have any family? Did he have any parents? If so, who? How had he escaped? Why hadn't anyone come looking for him? Surely world of a 'strange, winged boy' must've come from those men who had…
Yuri's step faltered. He felt a strange stirring of emotion in his gut. Hate. He was furious, vengeful and full of hatred for what those men had done to Kai. Why, why, why? Why on earth did people do things like that to each other- or to animals?
Animals? Just because Kai had feathers and claws… did Yuri think he was an animal? Well, he wasn't human… what made a human a human? They needed two eyes, a nose and a mouth. Ask anyone and they could name at least a dozen animals with those qualities. They needed two ears; a way of communication, intelligence, limbs… almost any animal could be a human! Why hadn't he seen it before?
Human and animals were so similar, but humans had the sense that because they had learned how to live 'better' that they were dominant. That they were supreme and everything else was beneath them. What if Kai was some part of a new race that was coming to invade earth? If so- then those men had really done something great for the human race! In fact, Kai might be sending a message to his people that humans were worthless, repulsive beasts who needed a better source of control, or complete annihilation!
After a moment, Yuri stopped and chuckled quietly to himself. Another race come to wipe out mankind? Someone would see something strange in the sky and then the army would blast it to smithereens. That's how humans were. And Kai seemed fairly weak, about human strength if he had been overpowered by…
Yuri stopped and continued going. But suddenly he heard someone calling to him. Looking up he came face to face with an old man, covered in grime and the virus of poverty and street life.
Yuri didn't feel quite in the mood to talk to the man, "What do you want?" he asked bluntly.
The man smirked and beckoned Yuri to lean in closer. When he did, the man quietly breathed, "Birdies like him prefer meat to pancakes…"
Weary of sobbing, Kai finally pushed himself to his feet. Years of life alone and independent had taught him to eat at every chance, even if he didn't feel like it. It could be a long time before your next meal.
Slowly, he crept to the broken door and pushed it open. His body tense, Kai waited for any sound of an approaching danger, and then eased himself into the hallway. Slowly the Phoenix slid down the hallway, pausing to sniff the air at a few moments. And then he reached It's room. Curiosity got the best of Kai and he slipped in.
Crawling over the springy, soft object Kai realized was a bed of some sort; he perched on the end and looked around the room. There were many articles of clothing strewn about. It looked like the big wooden box was used for holding It's clothing in. Looking down, Kai saw a book of some sort and a long, stick-like thing lying beside it.
He had only vaguely heard of books from the other Phoenix's. Sometimes Storytellers would record a story in one, using pictures, or how many beasts a pair of Phoenix's had killed during a contest. And even a Wingless had a book? Maybe they weren't so stupid? Taking the strange stick, Kai examined it curiously.
Narrow and pointed with a black tip at one end, most of it was a golen-yellow. There was a hard green metal band at the opposite end and then a soft, pink substance. Kai looked closer, but accidentally poked himself and dropped the stick in surprise. It fell onto the paper and made a small mark. Amazed, Kai cautiously picked up the stick again, which he had now deemed a 'mark-maker'. Hesitantly, he made another mark on the paper, and then pulled back abruptly in case anyone caught him doing such a senseless act.
After making a few marks without getting caught, Kai got bored. The Phoenix's had long, long; long ago lost their writing language, and only used speech. There wasn't much point in the activity. He left the room and slowly brought himself to the main room. There was a long chair of some sort, and a box on the other side of the room. The front was made of glass but the rest was black. Kai hurried over and eagerly examined it. There didn't seem to be much too it. It reeked of Wingless, and seemed slightly hollow. But it didn't smell like food. He noticed some small knobs sticking out of the bottom, and curiously, he pressed on one.
The box sprang to life with Wingless voices. So sudden did it come that Kai shrieked and sprang back onto the elongated chair. He found something rectangular and hard, and noticing it had many other little knobs on it as well, and smelled like the frightening box, he pointed it at the box and pushed a number of knobs.
The picture changed and had many colorful monsters dancing around on the screen. Kai growled and tried to warn them to stay back, but they didn't seem to hear him. He growled again, the feathers on his wings puffing up, but they continued cackling and leaping around. Then some Wingless showed up inside the box and Kai was horrified! Wingless put each other in these small, little boxes- for what? And they looked like very young Wingless too! The horror!
Then, some strange Wingless symbols appeared on the box and the young Wingless and the monsters began sounding it out. Kai sat up, more focused, as he realized he could learn some of the Wingless tongue from this box of horror! Now excited, he got up and ran back for the book and mark-maker. He dashed back and sat in front of the box and scribbled down, as best he could, the word. Then he listened closely to the sounds and the way the Wingless's tongue and mouth moved.
"Katt" Kai finally got out.
Sounding out the word, he began to understand that the almost-complete circle made a 'kuh' sounds. The small circle with a tail made the 'ahh' sound. And the cross made the 'tuh' sound. He felt pleased and was eager to learn more.
"Duguh." No. it didn't sound quite right. Not like how the monster and punished Wingless said it.
"Dog!"
Now it showed a picture of an animal with pointed ears, whiskers, big eyes and a long tail. The letters appeared beneath it.
CAT.
"Cat!" Kai cried triumphantly. Quickly he tried to draw a 'cat' beside the word. It then proceeded to show a dog, and Kai was able to name that too. Next it showed a bird, sitting on a branch.
B-I-R-D
"Bur-duh" Kai said slowly. He wasn't sure why he was so interested in learning the Wingless language, but he wasn't going to give up now that it had opened up to him.
"Burrr-iduh."
"Burd."
Kai waited and listened thoughtfully to the way the Wingless children said the word, and then tried again.
"Bird!"
After drawing the bird beside the word, Kai looked up to realize that the monsters and Wingless were gone. Slightly disappointed, he left the learn-box and went into the cooking area. His stomach growled and Kai saw the food It had made for him this morning.
Shyly, Kai reached out and grabbed one of the flat breads. Taking a bite he found it actually wasn't much like bread, but in a way was, but more like… like…. something else! Kai eagerly ate another two before beginning to feel a little better. He picked up the rest, and then stopped a moment. He didn't want It to worry about him, no matter how much he hated Wingless. So then, thoughtfully, he took one of his feathers from his wing that was already quite loose from the treatment of those evil Wingless…
Kai placed the feather down on the platter that the yummy food had been on. He then went back to 'his' room, closed the door quietly, and recalled all the new information he had acquired that day.
Well, here we go. So I guess Kai and Yuri are beginning to realize that they can understand each other, and that they need to learn to trust each other. Who is that old man? How does he know about Kai? Will Kai and Yuri ever really get along?
And as for the plot, I've decided to do more of a mixture of A) and B) we'll have crazy fighting scenes, heartbreak, drama and someone/thing trying to take over the world- how does that sound?
R&R please and thank you!
Demenior.
