Rebirth of the Loveless Phoenix

Chapter Three: Forbidden Fruit

Impossible. That was the one thing I could agree with right now. I kept screaming but I froze when I actually stopped and listened to the sounds coming from my body.

Instead of screaming bloody murder, I was shrieking without words. No articulation, just a long drawn-out squawk.

I just lay there for a few moments, panting and staring at my reflection, trying to find something other than my eyes that I could link to my human appearance. However, at that moment Fate decides to be a pain in the arse and I saw my eyes turn a light gold streaked with my natural color.

I was horrified. My eyes had been the only thing I could relate to my human appearance and now, it was gone. Stripped away by my new form.

Then I heard a noise behind me. And this time I knew it wasn't my tails. My body froze, adrenaline pumping through my body yet not giving me the willpower to move out of my hunched position on the forest floor.

The noises were coming closer, and I could determine they were footsteps. HUMAN footsteps. I was twitching, trying to get myself to move, even just a few inches under the hawthorn bush a little ways away from me.

I realized then, that I hadn't tried hard enough. And it would cost me.

After I figured out that I would not be able to hide fast enough, I just lay there, my eyes squeezed shut waiting for the person to notice me and kill me because I was a mystical creature now. I guess that my luck decided to return then and the person paused a few feet away from me.

I tensed up, preparing for whoever it was to come over and run a knife through my skull. I was not expecting the person to walk up to me and gently lift me off the ground like they were holding a newborn child. The male (his hands are large and calloused) turned me so that he was cradling me yet I didn't open my eyes.

That is until I heard his voice.

"A Phoenix? I thought your kind was just a legend. Well I guess I should've believed Kiki. She was a true fan of myths and legends." The boy spoke softly.

My eyes snapped open and I saw my prone form reflected in the boy's chocolate brown eyes. His black hair framed his somewhat pale face. I could feel tears pooling in my eyes as I took in every detail of the guy I loved.

"Shiku? Is it really you? Oh my gosh. I-I Im so sorry for leaving you!" I felt the tears hit the feathers on my face and they hissed and evaporated. I peered at my lover and realized that he could no longer understand me.

'I'm cursed to never be able to be with him again. He cant understand me now. Shiku's love is now my forbidden fruit.' I thought, tears hissing and sizzling when they made contact with my feathers.

Suddenly I heard a faint shout in the distance and Shiku turned his head towards the voice. He wrinkled his nose and his eyes clenched shut. His body shook as he tried to prevent himself from crying.

I was the one who made him so sad. I am the one that was reborn and yet he still hurts. I wish he wasn't so sad. It's all my fault, too. All my fault.

I wriggled out of Shiku's hands and landed gracefully on the ground. I looked over my shoulder and imagined myself giving Shiku a sad smile.

"I'm sorry." I whispered/crowed softly. Then I flapped my wings a few times, ran forward for a few seconds then pushed off. I gazed sadly at the horizon and the slowly rising sun.