False Confidence // Jacqueline JacQuay's L O R E

Rationale

CW: Mention of Blood, burns. Fire.

She didn't know anymore how long ago this happened, but the memory was still fresh in her mind.

Little JacQuay was flying around the rice fields with Kirsten, her best friend. They were halfway through playing a game of tag.

"I'm gonna get you!" JacQuay giggled, quickly flying over to Kirsten. "You're so easy to spot!" JacQuay called out as soon as Kirsten started to flee.

"If you were a chicken, I would eat you right now," Kirsten called back while running, trampling the crops and splashing water everywhere. The fox hybrid was not pleased that she kept on being spotted by the avian. 

JacQuay simply giggled again before swooping down and touching her. "Tag! You're it!"

Kirsten whirled around, only to see her friend flying away high into the sky. "JACK!" Kirsten screamed. "No flying high when I'm it! That's the rule!"

"Aww, but it's so much more fun this way," Jack laughed, but came down onto the ground with a splash. "Mom's not gonna be happy we ruined the rice though."

Kirsten said nothing in response but began sprinting towards the avian. Jack screamed and tried to fly away again, but slipped on the water that surrounded the crops. 

Kirsten laughed, ran towards her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Tag."

"No fair! I slipped!" Jack protested.

Kirsten stuck out her tongue. "That's what you get for flying too high."

Jack stood up from the water and tried to tag Kirsten back, but the fox was too swift, causing Jack to once again, fall into the water, flattening a few more crops in the process. "Aww, I'm all wet now!"

Kirsten was silent for a few seconds, her head searching the surroundings for...something. She finally turned to Jack. "Do you smell that?"

"I told you this before! Hummingbrids don't have a sense of smell!" Jack said, frustrated. "What smell?"

"The smell of smoke," Kirsten replied, still looking around the giant fields of rice that surrounded them.

Jack looked at Kirsten. "What's happening?" Jack tried to fly, but her wings were soaking wet, so she could barely take off. "Oh! Oh! I see smoke!" she cried. "Back at the house-"

"Do you think your parents are burning the dry leaves again?" Kirsten asked, but she sniffed the air. "No, that doesn't smell like leaves."

"What is it?" Jack asked, worried, stumbling over to the fox.

Kirsten began to walk towards the smoke. "Let's go check it out."

Jack cleared her throat and stared at her friend.

Kirsten was a bit frustrated. "So run! Or walk-"

"Shouldn't we go away from the smoke?"

"But what if- what if it's someone signaling for help?" Kirsten suggested.

Jack stopped for a moment and thought about this. Hopefully the fire wasn't that intense, or perhaps it was their neighbors burning wood. "OK. Let's go."

But the closer they got to the smoke, the more worried they both got. It wasn't deliberate burning. When they got back to the farmhouse, what they saw was a shock. 

The houses of their village were being burned down, left and right. People were running around and screaming in terror. And there were these...these strange but scary beings. They were killing people and  either leaving them for dead or eating them alive. But Jack was too young to even comprehend that.

"What's happening?" Little JacQuay was in a lot of confusion. She was still only eight-and-a-half years old, and didn't understand many things. What she did notice was that Kirsten was no longer by her side. In a panic, Jack frantically began searching the masses of people who were running and screaming all around her. But then she noticed the farmhouse. 

It was burning down.

Jack screamed and immediately went over and burst inside. She breathed in smoke immediately began coughing. But that didn't stop her from searching the house. Curtains were on fire, wooden doors being burned, only the frames remaining. The inside also felt hot. She searched the rooms, but the rooms were either burned or were simply hollow on the inside. She turned to the last door she hadn't opened, and the last door that hadn't burned down. Trembling she opened it. She saw her mom, laying down on a bed, badly burnt and slightly bleeding. Her feathers were torn and ripped and blood was dripping down them. Jack was shocked and ran towards her. Jack looked around. Where was the rest of her family? 

"Jacqueline,"  her mom said, evidently in pain from her burns.

"M-m-mom," Jack could barely formulate words.

"Look under the bed."

"Mom, we have to get you out of here-"

Her mom did a little cough. "Jacqueline Avialan."  

Hearing her full name made Jack freeze. Her mother wasn't worried about herself. Her mother was worried about Jack. Feeling her mom's slight pain, Jack turned to face her.

"Look under the bed."

Despite her fear and doubt, Jack looked under the bed. There was a bright red cape. "What's this?"

"It will protect you."

"Mom- what about you?"

"Jack." Her mother looked at her with her bright yellow eyes. "Get out of here before-"  her mother coughed, evidently taking in the smoke, and winced in pain. "- before they get you."

"Who's gonna get me? I don't understand-"

"You will understand one day. Get out now."

"Where are Dad and Gia-"

"Jack get out of here before you end up like them. And before they get you, too."

"Mom- I can't just leave you here!"

"I love you, Jacqueline." Her mother coughed, and more blood came out.

"Mom-" Jack held back tears. There was nothing she could do. Her mother was dying. She had to flee before the fire took her as well. "I love you, too."

Clutching onto the cape, Jack fled from the burning farmhouse, picked up the pace and flew away. The heat from the fire had dried up her once-wet feathers. But she had no time to think about that. She just had to fly, far away. Far from her burnt village. Far from this place. 

And far from...whatever her mother said was going to get her...

She woke up in horror. 

There was just too much trauma, more than what could be put into words. But she wrote them down anyway. These memories were important. 

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FINALLY 1012 WORDS LETS GOOOOOO