The Ropen's Legacy

Two Creatures Collide Peacefully

The dark sky of a mysterious, but not isolated land was illuminated by the millions of stars that showed themselves that night and the Ropen, that permitted that light to enter his land. The majestic creature flew like a firefly though the sky, flapping its huge, black wings as the blue patterns on its skin glew a neon cyan color.

The vision of such a place with clear skies and a said deity sounded great to outsiders, that seeked refuge in that place, but good locations can also have bad people.

A small, dark figure, that looked to be wearing a cape, moved quickly and haphazardly through the city of Meadow Grove. The Ropen got curious with that creature and quickly flied down to the ground. The creature sounded sad and fearful as it dropped what looked like tears from its eyes, leaving a wet path in the streets and alleys. That mysterious being stopped and curled up when it came to the end of a blind alley, followed by light footsteps.

A creature with a long, black beak with many teeth, a huge crest on the back of its head and shiny golden eyes approached the little weeping creature from the fog. That surely was scary for the poor creature. It was the Ropen. What did it want with the little one? Was it going to eat the little one? The sad being only sat there, hoping its end would be quick.

Suddenly, the Ropen went back into the fog, and from there came out a teen, he was very athletic and well-built, his skin was pale and had lots of scars through his arms, his hair was white, it almost shone along with his gold-colored eyes.

"What frightens you, little one?" That strong boy asked. No answer came to the one in the black hood. "Go on, talk to me. Don't be afraid, I mean no harm." A soft expression made the smaller one open up and get less fearful.

"They... They spanked me..." Its voice was that of another teen, not much younger than the white-haired one.

"Calm down, take a deep breath. It's okay now, you're safe." The stronger said softly. "What is your name?" He asked.

"Haru..." The younger boy answered, wiping a tear from his face.

"Nice to meet you, Haru. I'm Hoshi." The older teen told Haru his name. "I'm sorry for frightening you, I didn't mean to do that."

"So... You are the Ropen?"

"Better saying, the Ropen is me. It's just my counterpart." Hoshi smiled as a way to show it was safe being around him.

"I'm so sorry for getting in your way, sir. I understand if you'd like to punish me." Haru said with the hope in his eyes turning into fear again.

"What? Punish you? For what?"

"I-" Hoshi cut the sentence as Haru was trying to say.

"You did nothing wrong. What is the reason for your running again?"

"My... foster home. They hate me there, they spanked me. They hit me with all kinds of furniture around the house." Haru complained about his said family. The poor boy had been adopted by a problematic family. The father was always drunk and would be always yelling, the mother didn't care at all for the wellbeing of her family, the siblings were twins, the boy would always play with a shotgun their father had and the girl sat on a corner, beheading dolls.

"Oh my, that is terrible. Hey, how about I get you a new place to live? It's not as comfortable as a built house, but I'd never let anything bad happen there."

"Really?" The younger's green eyes sparkled with joy and hope.

"I wouldn't be offering if I didn't have it."

"A question, sir." Haru put his hand slightly up.

"Yes?" Hoshi said. "Also, before you ask me anything, stop calling me sir. Call me just Hoshi."

"Okay... Hoshi. Where is this place you offer?"

"In the forest. There are plenty of animals and hybrids like us there."

"I... I'd love to live there!"

"Then what are we waiting for? I'd love to have a newcomer in the forest. Let's go!"

"How do you think I can get there? The forest is at least twenty kilometers from here."

"Don't worry, you're so tiny I can carry you."

Fog came to be around Hoshi as only glowing blue patches and golden eyes were visible through the mist. The Ropen was there again, or as explained by its owner, his counterpart. Without him giving any more time to Haru, Hoshi grabbed the boy by his shoulders with his feet and began flapping his wings up to the air once again, flying so fast that only his bioluminescence was visible between the stars.

Not many minutes after they left the city, Hoshi and Haru had already arrived into the forest, where at its heart there was a bigger tree that stood out from the other ones. Built around that tree was a treehouse, where the Ropen supposedly lived.

They stayed silent, not to wake the other creatures there up. Hoshi and Haru walked up the stairs of that treehouse and right there, in the floor, with a few blankets they fell asleep, tired from a late night of flying and crying.