Positive

Chapter 1

Valiente knew at once that it was just another ordinary day -- ordinary yet horrible. It was like that for Valiente everyday.

Valiente was an orphan, whose parents (as he was told every time he mentioned them) had left him on the doorstep of the Orphanage, then had irresponsibly ran away. Right after that response, Valiente would ask them what his parents looked like, but he would always get the same answer: He looked nothing like his parents. He had messy, jet-black hair, blue eyes, and quite dark skin (which was awfully rare in the area). He was rather skinny and bony, and his classmates would describe him as 'needle-man'.

On the other hand, he knew that, from everybody's descriptions, his parents had far from black hair. His mother had red hair -- ginger, to be specific. Despite her being a ginger, most people do reckon that she was quite attractive, with extremely pale skin, triple ear-piercings on each ear, nose and lip rings, and heavy make-up.

His father was also a ginger. Green eyes, a crooked nose, and, similar to the mother, the palest skin. Additionally, the father also had a hawk tattooed onto his right bare arm.

With the existence of those contributing factors, Valiente could not help but wonder if they were his parents at all. There must be a reason on how he had inherited black hair from two gingers, sapphire eyes from two emerald, and dark skin from the palest.

Furthermore, Valiente was strongly against his parents' fashion style. He had grown up to hating piercings and tattoos, while ironically his parents had gotten plenty.

The mother and father looked as if they were only sixteen, judging by the speculations. That truth was hardly a lie. It was possible that his parents were just teenagers. That was probably the reason why they were so irresponsible, as to leaving him that like that. But there were other possibilities, one of how he didn't feel like their son.

What people would stress on about Valiente's parents, though, was the naming of Valiente. The name was, if not weird, peculiar. Queer, strange, unique. It was much like the name 'Hermione' in all the Harry Potter books by J.K.Rowling. Valiente knew of those books, for they were the key of discussion at the Orphanage lately. Oh, how much had he longed for being normal! For reasons that no one could ever explain, as Valiente walked down the corridor to the classroom, all chatters stop, all giggles cease, and all heads turned. Towards Valiente.

It was, among and to them, an understatement to say that the name 'Valiente' was bad news. To them, 'Tom' or 'Daniel' or 'John' would have done the job remarkably well, but Valiente? It was commonly agreed that Valiente was unworthy of such a rare and special name. As if it had any meaning!

But, it has. Alas, no one knew. They were all humans. Well, most of them.

Valiente's classmates were unsatisfactory about his specialness. To make themselves feel better, they had nicknamed Valiente 'Ien', or if Valiente ever smiles the children would shout out 'Ien the Needle Man' at the top of their lungs, and Valiente's smile would disappear. Having spent 12 years with those children, Valiente had gotten used to being referred to as Ien and even introduces himself as Ien every time.