Butterfly Kisses Part 1

Chapter 41: Once Blue, Now Black

"Huh?"

"You mean...you're not going to do that for me?" Yellow puppy eyes looked into Penna's soul and crushed it.

"I...fine. But I'm leaving some stuff out." 

"YES!" 

"Lets see...the oldest memory I have is probably when I was about 9 years old. I had an older brother, we were basically opposites. He was top of the class, I wasn't, he didn't have feathers, I did, so on and so forth. Whenever anyone bullied me for 'not being human' he'd beat them up for me, got him into a lot of trouble. Our parents didn't like that." Penna stared up into the cloudless sky, his scarf loosening.

"Sometimes, I'd come home crying and he'd go round their houses, try and beat them up, and ended up coming home with a bloody nose and a black eye." They chuckled.

"How old was he?" Hawks managed to say through small laughter.

"12, maybe 13? I was the weaker kid, emotionally and physically, so there was no way I'd be able to stand up for myself. Then, one day, he just left. Dad said he ran away from home but I knew that was a lie. I still don't know why he left, I just know that he did."

"What made you realise your parents were lying?" 

"They didn't look...sad enough."

Clouds began to form over them, covering the beam of warmth they had. Everything became cold very quickly but neither of them minded.

"The bullying got worse, one of them even broke my wing and kicked a dead pigeon in front of me, saying "I found your real brother!" and other stupid shit. Anyway, I'm getting side-tracked, the bullying got worse and the colour of my feathers somehow changed because of the stress and pain. They were blue once, dark blue...a nice blue. I'm guessing the feathers changed and, after I passed a certain age, the change became permanent."

"And that's because you have a mutation quirk?" 

"Yep, I'm the only person in Aurea with a quirk like this. It's very...strange." Penna smiled because he was finally able to talk to someone about his problems.

"Hey birdbrain!" A hulking bear of a man snickered with his friends.

"Which one?" Hawks remarked immediately, but the bully made no notice. A small crowd followed him wherever he went.

"What do you want?" 

"Fight me, here and now, to prove how strong you are." The crowd formed a circle, Penna, Hawks and the hulking man in the center.

"Why should I? Both of us know what the outcome will be." Penna's attitude from before, talking with Hawks, shifted back into his slightly arrogant self. 

"You afraid, pigeon head?" He threw a punch, but Hawks caught it seconds before impact.

"Are you sure you want to start a fight like that? It's not very manly." 

"It's fine, we'll fight."  By that time, Alex noticed the commotion and was in the middle of a mass of children.

Hawks shrugged, his wings carrying him into the air. The circle grew bigger. The bully threw another punch but Penna avoided it with incredible reflexes. One of his talons caught the human skin and hooked it, pulling the flesh away from bone. This was accidental but everyone thought it was super cool.

"Whoo!! Yeah!" 

"You showed him!" 

"That was amazing big bro!" Alex ran up to his brother, who he hugged, and Hawks, who looked on from the sidelines.

"Thanks. Can we go? I still need to go hunting." 

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Penna and Hawks were sitting on the cliffside, a winter wonderland all around them. Penna had already finished his deliveries, and night fell. Stars danced in vast open sky, the moon illuminating their dancefloor. The smallest hint of blue shone through Penna's feathers.

"Some people are just so...annoying." Penna sighed as he looked up at the night sky. 

"I haven't had some peace and quiet like this in a long time." Hawks murmured to himself.

"What's it like in Japan?" 

"I was gonna say peaceful but crime's increasing which isn't good, but other than that it's not too bad."

"Is it busy?" 

"Oh for sure, there are millions and millions of people in Japan! Heck, there's more people in Tokyo than there are in Aurea, and Tokyo's just a city!" Hawks explained excitedly.

"I see."

"Question! Do you remember what your brother was like? I've never had one so I don't know what it's like to have a sibling."

"He was protective, kind, daring, sometimes arrogant and annoying but he never hurt me. I still don't know why he disappeared but... I'm going to find out why. After the princess' prophecy passes." Hawks smiled, recollecting the times he shared with his own family.

"What kind of prophecy?"

"She saw Aurea burning, everything covered in dark flames. Everyone around her dying. That's what we're trying to prevent." Penna's face became glum and depressing.

"What's gonna start it off?"

"The ground shakes with a large cra-"

CRASH!!!

The ground shook violently, flinging dirt into the air. Earth cracked like lightning and red flames erupted from the entrances. The ravine continued growing, stretching from one point in Aurea to another."

"Already? What the hell?" Penna and Hawks got up immediately and flew towards the village to make sure everyone was okay.

"Where's Alex?!" Hawks shouted in an attempt to speak through the earthquakes.

"In the village!"

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Thanks for reading this chapter of Butterfly Kisses. Fun times, Penna backstory (but simplified). And now the princess' prophecy has come true.

See ya!!!