Username;; Lilian Nightshade
Name;; Venice
Story;;
(Instead making him meet myself, I chose to make him meet Berkshire's pseudo, Serawyn, with her permission ^^)
It was a very peaceful morning. The weak sunrays slowly crept through the woods as they stirred the resident wildlife in their path. The birds, as usual, were the first to awaken from their slumber. It didn’t take long for their chirps to break the silence and fill it with fresh new energy, like messengers of the sun itself spreading life wherever they flew to.
A certain resident of that land, however, barely noticed the change in the forest’s atmosphere. The ashen colored pseudo had awakened long ago, too used to the comforting moonlight to bother waiting for the birds’ call at all. One could easily tell it was his routine by now: rising extra early and climbing up his favorite tree only to watch the sunrise with a privileged view.
“Good morning.” The young male murmured, letting his smooth voice get carried in the morning breeze. The thought of greeting that powerful, bright king of the skies gave him some sort of soothing sensation... a sensation only his mother could bring him…
Venice sighed, resting his chin on his crossed hands. The young male cherished the tranquility of every morning. It felt great to have the sun as his only company... for if there was something Venice absolutely loathed, it was dealing with other pseudos.
Whenever he crossed paths with someone else, they would point out at his rather… unique features. Big eyes, feathered ears, short mane... everything. Apparently everybody wanted to make sure he knew how different he was, and that thought alone made him roll his eyes with a hoarse snarl.
They made fun of his big “owl” eyes, they joked about the way long plumes stretched out of his ears, they teased him about how short his neck plumage was for a male... of course, anything out of the ordinary was “funny” to them.
Venice snorted, scarring the bark underneath him with his sharp claws. He hated that word with a passion. He wasn’t funny, pathetic or whatever else they may call him… he was just different... Special...
Oh yes, special... now that was a word he deeply cherished. Venice could remember very well the way his mother would let it roll off her tongue with a melodious voice, soothing the little one whenever others mocked his looks with their heated, poisonous tongues. To them he was a loser, a pathetic ball of plumes… but to his mother he was her special “little owl”, one with eyes of amber and a heart of gold, not to mention the adorable ear tufts she would preen so lovingly every night before lying down.
Venice couldn’t suppress a smile from crossing his muzzle at the memory, it brought him that familiar comforting warmth from before. Oh how he missed her… she had left this world so early, leaving him to defend himself from all those cruel stares and words… it wasn’t fair at all.
Sighing once more, Venice leaned up and sat on his haunches. At that moment one would easily say he had acquired two little suns of his own, for the sunlight flowed into his golden eyes with unbelievable perfection. His nostrils flared as they inhaled the fresh air, fueling his thoughts. If only things could be simpler, if only he was born normal…
“Hey.”
Venice jumped at sudden voice that echoed right behind him. His claws dug into the bark as quickly turned around, feathers standing on end, to face whoever had stepped into his once safe haven. It was a black and blue female, he noticed, although he didn’t remember ever seeing her before.
“Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you.” She continued, carefully approaching him. Venice noticed her apologetic look and relaxed his stance a little, then looked her up and down.
“What are you doing here?”
She cocked an inquisitive eyebrow at the question, sitting down. Then nodded to the sunrise. “The same as you, I guess.”
His feathered ears twitched suspiciously. He could tell she had noticed his odd looks, it was visible in her blue eyes… then why hadn’t she brought it up yet?
“What’s it?” She inquired, since the unknown male had been staring at her for a while.
“Aren’t you gonna, y’know, mock my ears or something?”
She blinked for a moment… then couldn’t suppress a sudden, amused chuckle from bubbling in her throat. “Seriously? Why would I??” She then approached him further and gestured to his ears. “In fact, I find them pretty cool.”
It was Venice’s turn to blink now. It was the first time somebody hadn’t bothered him about his different features and he wasn’t sure how to react to that… all he could do, after staring speechlessly at the female for a while, was muttering four simple words.
“My name is Venice.”
((797/800 words))