A Silent Cry

Chapter One: Pit Bull

A/N: It's a bit short, sorry. But hello and welcome to the first chapter. I guess it's more introductory than anything. But let me know what you think, nonetheless.

Cry's brother absolutely loved Cry's voice. Every night he would only allow Cry to read him a bedtime story. Tonight was no exception. Cry was tired, piled up on homework, and Russ wanted him to hop online to play some games, but he still read to his little brother. He grabbed a random book and sat down on Nathan's bed. "Once upon a time," Cry started. Nathan was already hanging on every word. "There was a great owl. His wings were very wide, and he could fly for days. His name was Kou. He ruled over a vast land with many green trees. All the owls loved Kou. They would fly from all over the land when he called to them, but one day, Kou had his voice stolen. A human had taken it!"

"Oh no!" Nathan put his hands on his cheeks to exaggerate.

Cry grinned. "Kou was unable to call on the other owls to help him. He shut himself in his palace for years, until one day, a human arrived. The human thought the palace was abandoned. They entered and were met with a large surprise. Kou attempted to screech, but he had no voice to use. The human wasn't afraid, but rather curious. They asked Kou what was wrong. Kou didn't trust the human and tried to get them to leave. The human stayed. They thought and thought until they finally understood what was wrong. The human vowed to help Kou and return his voice to him even if Kou didn't want their help." Cry stopped. His brother was falling asleep already. He smiled. "G'night, Nate."

~~~

"I fucking hate all of you."

Russ grinned and put his head in his hand. "We know all about your undying love for us."

Cry scowled. He crumpled up the test and threw it at Russ's forehead. It bounced off without phasing him. "I was playing with you guys instead of studying for this stupid test."

"You chose to play with us," Scott pointed out. He wasn't paying much attention to the conversation as he was reading a book, but he sure knew when to make Cry look like an asshole.

"Thank you, Scott." 

"It's what I'm here for, man."

Cry rolled his eyes and rubbed his face with his hands. This was the class Cry was doing the worst in. He failed nearly all the tests and he always forgot to do the homework. Math was just the worst subject in the world. What were numbers used for, anyway? No one needed those.

"Relax, dude," Russ said. "There's still next semester."

Cry made a face to show Russ that that didn't make him feel better. Russ shrugged in response. "I'm just trying to look at the bright side of things."

The annoying school bell cried out, signaling that the end of class had finally come. The group of friends packed up and exited the class with the rest of the students. Cry was still moping while Russ attempted to be optimistic. It came out slightly sarcastic, but at least he was trying. Scott was engrossed in his book and didn't bother to look up. Snake was behind him to make sure he didn't crash into anything. "Trust me," Russ said as he stepped aside for someone. "Everything always turns out okay in the end."

"You don't -- oof!" Cry nearly fell over from the person he ran into. Russ held onto his arm to keep him balanced. The student Cry ran into turned around. He was rather burly and towered over the two. They could tell that he wasn't impressed. Cry couldn't bring himself to say anything, but Russ acted by pulling on his arm. "Sorry," Cry rushed out while he was pulled away. He noticed the student's eyes followed him as he walked with Russ.

"Did you seriously just fucking run into Keith Watts?" Scott hissed. His book was closed for once. He looked impressed and concerned at the same time. "How are you still alive?"

"W-what?" Cry didn't know what he meant. He had no idea who that guy was. "What do you mean? Why would I not be alive? Who is he?"

"You don't know who Keith Watts is?" Scott asked, astonished.

Snake continued for him, "In simple terms, he's an asshole. A pretty notorious one at that." Snake was a simple man and one of few words. He only ever spoke if it was necessary. Sometimes he was referred to as the wise, badass grandpa. Anything he said was pretty much gold.

"Don't worry about it, man," Russ waved his hand dismissively. "He's like a pit bull. All looks and nothing to show for it."

Cry tried to believe that -- he really did. There was just something about that guy that made him uneasy.