Sky Ocean Chapter 2
#2 of Sky Ocean
Chapter 2
Morning found Harvy in a less than enthusiastic state, awakening in a barren room surrounded by cardboard boxes. Stretching open her canine muzzle in an exaggerated yawn she sleepily crawled out of bed and examined herself in the mirror. At average height for a female timber wolf her age, she stood at about five foot ten inches tall, with medium length silky midnight black fur and glowing amber eyes. Her spiky short black head fur was a mess and the rest of her fur was similarly disheveled. She yawned again and stretched exposing her naval from beneath her night shirt, the silver piercing there glinting in the morning light. Groggily making her way to the bathroom she turned on the water, stripped and stepped completely into the shower before remembering the toiletries were still packed... Cursing loudly she hopped out and raced to her room to get some shampoo and conditioner. Yeah...this was the start of a good day all right...she could just FEEL it... Emerging nice and clean she finished toweling herself off and ripped open a cardboard box in her room. From within she pulled out some underwear, a pair of skinny blue jeans, and a red skintight t-shirt that exposed her naval. To that she added her toeless black foot socks (owing to her unique anatomy, complete with digitigrade feet) and her many assorted black leather bracelets she habitually wore. Deciding she looked decent enough, she threw her plain black book bag on over her shoulder kissed her mom goodbye and headed out the door, far too nervous to eat any breakfast. The school was no more than a ten minute walk away and far too soon she found herself staring the intimidating stone building down. "This is it..." she thought as she gulped nervously and walked toward her fate...
Timid as ever in such situations, Harvy made her way to the front office where she was greeted by a very cheery and well mannered jack rabbit who reminded her of a kind old grandmother and made her relax a bit. She quickly read off the first class she had and saw that it was one of her favorites, English. She hurried on her way only to get turned around. Luckily a very kind though nerdy coyote boy with a scrappy unkempt appearance showed her the right way. Harvy thanked him as she remembered her mother's words from the previous day and snickered at the thought. She quickly made her way to her assigned home room and made it through the door just as the first warning bell rang. In walked a tired yet somehow jolly looking weasel who introduced himself as Mr. Bright. Handing him her schedule he beamed in delight and spoke to the class. "Attention guys! This is our new exchange student Harvest Sellow newly arrived from Nebraska. Please be kind and courteous to her and of course make her feel welcome!" With that Mr. Bright gave her a reassuring wink and Harvy decided she liked this particular teacher.
Glancing over his seating chart Mr. Bright gave her a seat number. As the final bell rang the students took their seats and Mr. Bright started attendance. The names were read off smoothly until he came to one name with no response. "Edgar With?" He paused momentarily before repeating it once more with more volume. "EDGAR WITH?" The class was already mumbling in irritation. The only words Harvy could make out were "Not again..." and "What the hell's UP with that freak anyway?" Finally after the third call a light, husky voice spoke up. "Present in form though not in mind..." The class whispered harshly at the response. Mr. Bright chuckled in bemusement. "Hahaha...as eloquent as ever Mr. With..." He gave a truthful and kind smile before carrying on with the roll call. Harvy turned toward the direction of the voice, barely making out a white feathered head and two PIERCING blue eyes therein which locked with hers for the briefest of moments before looking away...yet those eyes held such power she felt herself entranced by their mysterious owner... Class came and went but Harvy could not get that voice or those eyes out of her head...who was this Edgar With? She hoped she'd find out soon...
Harvy yawned in exhaustion as the day closed. She looked around briefly wondering if she might catch sight of the unusual avian known as Edgar With, but she decided she was being silly and chose to just head home and finish unpacking.
Gar turned the corner outside the school, stopping when he heard heavy breathing over him. Looking up expectantly he saw before him a rather large cougar with a wiry rabbit and a slim bearded dragon behind him. Gar grinned humorlessly. "Gentlemen...I briefly wondered if you would pass up your weekly ritual..." Just then the cougar's bawled up paw connected with Gar's ribs in a sickening crack and he hit the ground hard.The cougar's friends joined in and soon Gar was a bloody, heaving mess. "Had enough? Huh Freak!?" Gar looked up at the cougar and erupted in crazed laughter. "...HahaHAhAhaHahaha...mortal blows twixt mortal throws, save not the pain with this vile stain!" as he finished his poetic prose he gestured to his own blood which pooled around him. Looking angry, confused and slightly fearful, the cougar kicked him in the stomach once more. "Just die already! You wierd piece of shit!" With that they sauntered off, giving high fives and chuckling with satisfaction. Gar chuckled to himself, slowly rising on unsteady talons. "Script to the blind and speech to the deaf...pitiful...so pitiful..." With that he slowly limped home, his black leather bound journal tightly clenched in his talons...
Gar shuffled up the dirt path to the trailer park. Arriving at his rusted out dilapidated "home" he climbed in to his bedroom through his window as he was used to doing every week, lest he worry his father over his injuries. They would heal quickly...they always did. Sighing more in exasperation than in pain he slumped on his bed and opened his journal. He quickly found the last page he'd been working on and continued to write, the crystal clear blue of the peaceful desert sky as his muse...
Harvy collapsed on the living room couch after hours of arduous unpacking with her mother, clicking the t.v. on. After a moment of silence her mother spoke up. "So...how was your first day hun?" She looked at her daughter with her typical overly cheery smile. Harvy rolled her eyes as she replied. "Not bad...kinda' dull really. I met a nice friendly coyote boy who showed me the way to class!" She said with mock excitement. "But he was dorkier than Oscar Finch!" The older wolf shuddered at the thought of the unsettlingly thin, obsessive compulsive, and very unattractive young Buck her daughter had gone to school with in Nebraska. She sighed in exasperation. "Okay, so mother doesn't always know best. Did you meet anyone ELSE who was interesting?" Instantly, the ghost white avian came to mind. "...well sorta'..." Before her mother could dig deeper she yawned and jumped up. "I'm beat...think I'll go to bed early." She darted to her room and collapsed on her bed. She had peculiar thoughts about the avian through the rest of the night, and those eyes...she could not get those eyes out of her head...
Waking with a head still dizzy from dreams yet to be recalled the young wolf tumbled out of bed at the irritating buzzing from her alarm clock. With a groan she rectified herself and quickly threw on some gothy looking clothes typical of her usual style. She bounded less than gracefully to the kitchen in her tired state and plunked down at the table where her mother had already prepared breakfast. After absently scarfing down her eggs and toast her mother spoke up. "Well hun have a NICE day!" She said with an OVERLY overly happy smile on her face. Harvy groaned and face-pawed. "...And by that you mean meet a guy right?" Her mother just smiled wider. Before this could continue she leapt up and kissed the older wolf on the cheek before darting out the door. "Later mom!"
As she approached the door to English class, Harvy mentally gasped as she remembered the avian boy. She absently wondered if she'd see more of him today... The warning bell rang, snapping her out of her thoughts and she darted through the door. As the class took their seats and calmed down Mr. Bright took attendance. Once again when he called "Edgar With" there was no answer...but this time after the third call, a less than intelligent looking lizard spoke up. "Frosty 'aint here ta-day teach..." Mr. Bright visibly frowned before crossing Edgar's name off the list. "...hmmm...Mr. With is absent again then?" Just then the door creaked open and in shuffled a very ruffled looking avian. Harvy looked on in awe as she finally got a good look at the solitary bird.
He stood tall at about six feet yet he was thin and lanky. He would look almost fragile if not for some rather decent muscle tone. He stood on large digitigrade taloned feet, solid white, talons and all. His body was completely adorned in pearly white iridescent feathers, but his head plumage stood out. Here his feathers hung in a long mane that hung down in the avian equivalent of "long hair" as most avians tended to clip this particular area short. Several head feathers hung in beaded "braids." His clothing was to the casual observer rather unremarkable and his entire wardrobe seemed to be a homemade affair. His sleeveless black shirt was old and stitched up, his large feathered wings protruding through two slits at the shoulder blades and folded neatly and compactly at his back. There was a large white pattern sewn upon the torso of what appeared to be an avian skull. Around his nimble wrists were multiple braided leather bands and over his hand talons were black fingerless leather gloves. His pants were a puzzle of patchwork fabrics of rough black and brown canvas and looked to be sewn by hand. Owing to his avian anatomy he wore toe-less black 'socks' upon his foot talons. Completing this bizarre look were a pair of rather used looking black flight goggles with blood red lenses which he only now removed from his eyes and hung around his neck. Those eyes...Harvy could scarcely believe they held no power over none but her...
Strangely content even under the nigh permeable distasteful glares from his classmates, Gar produced a single yellow piece of paper which he handed to Mr. Bright. He frowned upon reading it. "Oh Mr. With, out on another flight? Dear boy you must be more cautious...I'd hate to see such a brilliant mind go to waste. Well then you may take your seat my boy." Gar smiled lovingly at Mr. Bright and casually sulked to his seat in the back. Harvy followed him there with her eyes, still left in momentary shock over this mysterious bird who she could now plainly see was a solid white raven. She had no idea such a Totem could even exist...
The rest of the day Harvy scanned around for any sign of Edgar but he was seemingly every bit the ghost his appearance would suggest... She heard gossip throughout the day concerning the object of her intrigue. Many harsh whispers and even blatant insults referring to him as "strange," "weird," or a "freak." He was even called "psychotic." Harvy felt sick hearing such heartless words. What was wrong with these people? How the hell could they so easily judge someone they've obviously never taken the time to know just because he looked different? At lunch she decided she'd look for him, maybe introduce herself and see if they could be friends. It wasn't in Harvy's nature to ignore those in need of help...but even as she thought this she realized she had another motive, her own powerful fascination with him. After a disappointingly inconclusive search she took her lunch outside and sat down to eat beneath what must have been the only tree on school grounds. As she leaned against it's trunk to take a breather she spied a lone silhouette perched upon the roof of the school. She did a double take but there was no mistaking what she saw. With great curiosity and slight fear she slowly approached the building, as if moving too quickly would alarm the unknown figure... As she crept closer she could make out the distinctively avian shape of the figure and then it hit her like a flood of sudden light...the suns rays radiating off magnificent iridescent white feathers. Sitting there, calmly perched upon the roof eating his lunch and scribbling mysteries into his weathered leather bound journal, was Edgar With...