The Phoenix Bird
Disclaimer and Warnings: See chapter one
Chapter 6: Impossible
"…But the Phoenix is not the Bird of Arabia alone. He wings his way in the glimmer of the Northern Lights over the plains of Lapland, and hops among the yellow flowers in the short Greenland summer…"
"Birdies like him prefer meat to pancakes…"
Yuri paled a considerable amount.
"I- I have no idea of what you're talking about!" he stammered.
"But you do, kid! I know you have a Fire-Wing in your house. I know it!" the man hissed.
Upon a closer look, Yuri realized that this man… wasn't a man at all. He appeared to be around the same age as Yuri, with pale violet hair and even paler eyes. His skin was nearly white. Something about this teen, though, strongly reminded Yuri of Kai.
"What on earth is a Fire-Wing? And why are you singling me out? Just leave me alone!" Yuri said loudly, trying to pull away from the boy.
The boy narrowed his gaze, and it was then that Yuri realized why this boy seemed to remind him so much of Kai.
Neither boys had pupils in their eye- but both seemed perfectly capable of seeing everything around them.
Why hadn't Yuri noticed that about Kai before? He had been so absorbed in the appearance of the boy, and his wings, to consider anything else different about him. So, did that mean that this pale-boy was another one like Kai? If so- where were his wings?
"Why are your eyes… so strange?" Yuri asked.
The boy snorted, "Come with me, and I'll tell you."
He gave a sharp tug on Yuri's arm, but Yuri braced himself and pulled his arm away.
"I'm not that stupid! If you want to tell me anything, tell me right here, right now!" Yuri demanded loudly.
The boy seemed to wince at the intensity of Yuri's voice.
"Fine then," he growled, "I can't tell you right here, for reasons you'll understand later, but you should know, my name's Bryan."
Yuri looked at Bryan stupidly, and then replied, "Yuri."
Bryan nodded, "Then I'll see you around, Yuri."
He turned and suddenly disappeared into the crowd. Yuri stood stock-still for a few moments until he was finally able to comprehend what had just happened.
How could this Bryan know about Kai? He must've seen him somewhere… when Yuri first brought him in! Of course! It was so obvious! But why had Bryan made such a big deal about that? That was the one thing hat didn't make sense to Yuri. And how similar Bryan seemed to Kai… why was that? Were they related?
Yuri sighed and shook his head. He turned and jogged the rest of the way to the library. Things were getting to be really weird, since he had found Kai.
00oo00oo
Upon entering the library, he felt somewhat overcome by the eerie silence. Most people there were studying, reading or looking for books. There was no talking whatsoever. Not understanding why, Yuri took a deep breath to reassure himself and then made his way over to the fictional (not real) portion of the library.
After searching around for anything that might be of use for him to find out what Kai was, and then not finding anything or knowing where to really start, Yuri slumped down in a chair and thought about his options.
Let's see… I know Kai has red wings, bird feet and tail feathers. He looks relatively human besides that- except his eyes. They are probably the most unusual eyes I've ever seen. Mahogany… almost red. I know that he doesn't speak English, but seems to learn quickly. What type of strange animal could match that description?
"Can I help you?"
Yuri started in surprise and looked up. The boy in front of him jumped slightly at Yuri's reaction, but otherwise seemed calm. He had bright orange hair, blue, blue eyes and a clearly genuine smile.
"My name's Brooklyn. I was wondering if you might want any help? You do look pretty flustered," Brooklyn smiled.
Yuri was quiet a moment before answering, "You… you work here?"
Brooklyn nodded, "I do volunteer here a lot. It's nice and quiet, helps you relax. I don't like all the loud noises out there." He gestured to the door as he spoke.
Yuri nodded, "Sure. I don't know if you could help me. But… would you happen to have any books with information on… FireWings?"
Brooklyn's face didn't scrunch up in confusion as Yuri thought it would, but instead he smiled and nodded quietly.
"FireWing… I haven't heard that name in a long time…"
A young Kai clung to his mothers dress as he peered out at all the unfamiliar faces. Many beings of many wings. He had never seen so many different colors of feathers.
"M-Ma, what are they all d-doing here?" he asked worriedly.
"These are the warriors form the lesser-class phoenix's tribes. I think they are here because the darkness is spreading. I have heard that many camps have been taken now, Kai," upon seeing her son's frightened face, she stopped, "but don't worry. We're the biggest, strongest and toughest Phoenix's to exist. The darkness won't get us."
Kai nodded thankfully and scanned the crowd again. His eyes found a young boy, though older than Kai, but not by much. He had light purple hair and eyes, and in a unique combination, his wings appeared to be the same color.
"Ma," Kai tugged on his mothers dress again, "where is that boy from? He looks different."
His mother followed Kai's gaze and then looked back to Kai.
"That is Bryan from the WhiteWings…"
"But his wings are purple!" Kai said.
"He is a half-blood, his Da is a WhiteWing and his Ma is a BlackWing. He went to live with his Da once he was of age and so he is now a WhiteWing. But he does have an unusual coloring, with his hair, eyes and wings the same shade. It is strange, but often the sign of a strong warrior. You're like that too, Kai. Your eyes are much the same color as your wings."
"What will happen to Bryan and the others?"
"They'll leave soon, and probably try to set up another camp. Or maybe they have been so shamed that they will go and hide among the Wingless."
"What? How? How can you hide among the Wingless? We have Wings?"
"It's not that difficult, Kai. But it does require a large amount of concentration and willpower. That is why we prefer not to hide our wings. And besides, who wants to look like a Wingless?"
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Kai opened his eyes tiredly. So much had happened in the past day or two. He had been beaten by Evil Wingless, taken in by a kind Wingless, begun to learn their language and was also living in the home of a Wingless.
He got up and nibbled on the round-bread and then looked to what he had done in the book with the mark-maker. So far he had learned six words from the Wingless language.
Cat, Bird, Dog, Yuri, Kai and No. He knew there was much more to learn and he was determined to find out what he could before It got home. So, slowly, Kai slipped out of his room again and then, with more confidence, prowled down the hallway. He came to the room with the learn-box in it, there were still many pictures dancing around in the Learn-box, but Kai found he had explored this area as much as he needed for now. He turned and made his way back to It's room, but then something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. There was a bird outside, on some sort of balcony.
Kai cautiously made his way over to the balcony, and was about to step out when he walked face-first into… something. He yelped in alarm and pulled back. Hesitant now, Kai reached his hand forwards and brushed the tips of his claws across the 'Not-Wall'
It didn't seem to be harmful, but more just as a view to the outside. Kai desperately wanted to talk to the bird, someone- even as droll as a bird- who was not entirely stupid enough to have a conversation.
Growling, Kai clawed at the Not-Wall, and then discovered the handle to the side. He pulled and the door slid open. The bird suddenly sprang up and went to fly away, but Kai called after it.
"Wait! Please stay," ha asked.
The bird turned around and landed on the balcony, looking Kai over.
"Who you to know word of Robin?" it demanded.
Despite the fact that it was quite stupid, Kai was glad to have someone who could partially speak his tongue.
"I am Kai, of the FireWings."
The bird let out a shrill whistle, "F'reWing? You 'dem big birds up in sky with mean claws, mean words!"
Kai blinked stupidly, and then said more calmly, "Who are you, CommonWing?"
"I is Robin of CommonWing, RedBreast!" he said proudly.
"Tell me, Robin, where am I?" Kai asked quietly.
"You is in big, big fleshy-stick nest! Fleshy-Stick nests much, much big, go on for long time!"
"Fleshy-Stick? You mean Wingless, don't you?"
"Fleshy-Stick no Wingless no more! They fly now, many, many in big bird.
"They fly?" Kai cried, appalled at such a thought. The beautiful sky was now tainted with Wingless as well?
'Why you in Wingless nest? Me no see F'reWing for many long time. Only hear in stories from Ma and Pa about F'reWings now."
Kai's eyes widened, "S-so you mean… I am the last?"
Robin nodded swiftly, there was a loud noise from below and Robin leapt into the air.
"G'bye F'reWing!" he cried and then vanished into open sky.
Kai stared, shocked, after him. The truth had finally settled in on him. Why his Ma had never come for him. Why she had hurried him away from their village… she had known she would die. She knew… they all knew… and so his Ma had sent him away in hopes that he would be able to survive and find refuge with another village. But all the villages were lost now… Kai was the last.
Kai almost launched himself after Robin, but as he spread his wings, it came quickly to him the he couldn't fly, and a sharp pain in his wing reminded him his wings were completely useless until they healed.
Utterly distraught, Kai sank to his knees and leaned on the railing of the balcony for support. Robin had to be lying… he couldn't be the last… he couldn't…
He couldn't…
Oh dear… a bit of a sad way to end the chapter, but I hope I haven't made all of you bored out of your brains. So now we have met Bryan and Brooklyn- in one chapter! It was somewhat unexpected, but as you can see, they play a bit of an important role to the success of Kai and Yuri's relationship.
XD oh my I enjoyed myself writing how Robin talks. I do hope I can bring him into the story later on sometime, but if he just annoyed you guys, I can just leave him out.
So what will Yuri do if he finds out Kai is a Phoenix?
And about FireWings, WhiteWings, BlackWings and whatnot, it's like classing of 'birds'.
Most birds, like Robin, fit into the 'CommonWing' category, because they are just common birds.
The Phoenix's are their own category, because they are not very common. So apparently there is a subsystem within the Phoenix's species.
FireWings, obviously, are the top of the pack. And then we have yet to know where the others are. Mostly the color of you wings determines what level you are, since two WhiteWing parents almost always have a child with White wings.
So what will happen now? Review to find out!
Demenior
p.s. REVIEW PLEASE!
Also, I want to thank everyone who has read and REVIEWED this story. At this moment in time, this story has 1000 hits, but less that 30 reviews. Sorry if you find me being greedy or anything, but I find this depressing! So if you read this, just leave a review. You don't need to say anything special, but let me know people are still reading this, okay? Thanks!
