FSE

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This chapter is partly finished, but I wanted to see the reception.

Open to criticism, corrections, and compliments. No cuddles allowed :)

The Blue Winter

Chapter 1: Ikari

"One last thing. Make sure he gets this on his 18th year. Shove him out the door and hand him this."

A pile of coins fell into the hands of Dusk, the orphanarium owner. The cries from the blanket grow louder as the slow walking hyena mother steps into the rain. The rainfall matched the feeling in the air. A damp mood spreading into his soul as Dusk looks at the seemingly blank journal. Not much was really said to Dusk as he was thrust a swaddled furry bundle, along with the bag of coins.

"You will be kept safe, along with the child. I'm sorry, I've no more time"; she stated somberly, bowing her head as she departed.

Dusk followed through with the bizarre request. He raised the baby until he was a young cub, and within time he was a cub no longer. Time had flew by faster than Dusk had anticipated. It seemed only yesterday that he had agonized over morning coffee about this sudden responsibility. The stupid woman never bothered to give him a name for the child. He scratched his ears and looked up at the sky. It was a suprisingly dark blue; but the painted canvas matched the weather. The name for the child had come just as easy the word left his lips...Blue.

Blue was the oldest orphan in the house. Everyone was far younger than him, at least by 8 years. Blue groggily rubbed his eyes and stretched his body, his tail straightening for a moment before curling slightly once again. He changed into his day clothes as he shook off the feeling of having overslept once again. He admired himself in the mirror for a small period of time. He had thick, jet black neck fur that collided with his jagged hair. Large brown ears with black tips, and a sharp fang hanging out of one corner of his mouth. His eyes looked distant, and pained to others as he has been told. He just seems them as focused and attentive. A knock interrupted this brief distratction from the morning routine. Dusk walked into the room and sat down on Blue's plaid bedspread. Hs voice sounded broken, and dismal.

"We need to talk..it's about something you might want to hear. A topic we have avoided for a while."

Blue sounded disinterested, and unsatisfied with the interruption. Dusk has recalled that for as long as he has raised Blue, he never seemed happy for extended periods of time.

"Oh, this should be great" Blue muttered sarcastically. He sat down in his computer chair. Dusk was alway so serious about everything, he never expected to hear anything good come out of his mouth. It was always either an errand that needed done, or the usual "set the example for the younger kids" talk.

"It's about your mother.. I know you have never heard a single thing about her before, but"--Blue's voice rose harshly--"And why should I know ANYTHING about her? She never cared for me, she never did anything for me at all but leave me here behind. I was just discarded trash. That's all I was to her."'

Dusk was taken aback at the sudden outburst from Blue. He wasn't sure of how to tell him that it was time for Blue to leave. No one can say that it is easy seeing your child go, even voluntarily. It may not have been his child, but Dusk raised Blue from the day he was dropped off to him as if Blue was his own child. He knew everything about him; the polar opposite of his mother. He silently kicked the idea around in his head of just letting this go and having Blue stay with him. His heart was in turmoil over this decision, it wasn't exactly easy. In the end he decided that the best thing to do is to follow his mother's wishes and say goodbye.

Dusk was silent for a moment, let out a sigh and finally responded.

"Your mother showed up on a rainy morning, and gave you to me. She gave me specific instructions, handed me some coin along with a journal and left. It's time for you to go. I'm sorry, but you just have to leave. It's what your mother wanted, and I'm following her words. I don't know where you should go, or what you should do but my only suggestion is to make some friends and take care of yourself."

"You said that my mother gave you a journal. Where is it? Why have you never shown me it sooner? I'm not sure what to do. I have nowhere else to go, no friends and no family. I--"Blue appeared bewildered and started choking on his words. The thought of him leaving the orphanarium never crossed his mind at all.

"Calm down Blue. It's going to be fine. You are no longer a cub. Start acting like it.Are you sure you want the journal? It's completely blank, that is the only reason I never gave it to you in the first place." Blue eyed Dusk suspiciously as if he didn't believe what he was hearing.

"I just want to have it. It might come in handy one day, and my mother meant for me to have it in the first place. Why else would she have given it to you to begin with? I'm sure she didn't want you to have it.

Dusk produced a journal wrapped with twine around it.

"Very well, here is the journal. It's time for you to go now. We can't sit here forever and you know I can't let you stay. I will miss having you around, but I have to follow through with my word."

"You're not joking? You're actually serious...so you don't want me here after all? If you really cared then you wouldn't make me leave regardless of what my mother told you" Blue's voice rose even more than before. "I haven't heard a single thing about my mother besides what you've told me. She didn't care when she left me here, just like you don't care telling me to leave here."

Blue grabbed his jacket and the journal angrily, slamming the old wooden door as he left for good.

Dusk thought to himself in silence, walking to the kitchen. "Damn boy..He just doesn't understand what a promise means". He sat down and looked out the window as he saw the young man he raised from a child walk down the street. He opened the window and smelled the air..it was raining.

Feeling the bricks under his paws on the old style road, Blue walked down the street as he did every day. The only difference this time was that he had no home to return to. He had no friends, no real acquaintances and the fact that he was truly alone made his heart feel heavier than it has his whole life. His thoughts bit at him as they swam around his head angrily. He stopped at the nearest inn and sat under and awning. At least an hour had passed since he left and the rainfall was steady but slowing in comparison to earlier. The bench was old and had small spaces. His tail was scrunched uncomfortably, unable to hang between the bars. Still fuming from earlier, he clutched the journal Dusk had handed him.

With nothing else better to do, he untied the twine. The journal was old and tattered, but still felt strong and sturdy. He balled the twine up and tried to throw it in the nearest bin--it missed, and he watched as it hung limply over a patch of dark green ivy. Blue opened the journal, and discovered that Dusk had lied to him. The journal was not blank at all, every word had pages and it was full of hastily scrawled words. He could barely read some of the letters. "There's no sense in skipping ahead here", he thought as he returned to the first page.

At the top of the first page in a blood red ink was written only one word which angered and intrigued Blue at the same time: Son .

He ran his fingers over the word. Was this really from his mom? He continued to read, putting his head against his left paw.

You're probably wondering why Dusk said this was blank. I'm not a mindreader, I just took a guess at what he would be thinking. This journal is in fact blank to anyone that does not have your blood. Only you alone can read this journal; excluding your father and I. It is enchanted to never fade nor tear. I had an old friend make it for me before I left you with Dusk. He sealed it with an ancient script that renders it invisible unless our family's blood flows through them.

You should know a few things about me. I'm a thief; I'm on the run, and you might not see me in a while, if ever. What exactly did I steal..That's not important right now. It would be best if you don't know anything at all to be honest. My name is Ikari, and your father's name is Snow. We are both alive and well, I assure you. Although 18 years have passed; (assuming Dusk kept his promise..), we take good care of ourselves. Our kind do not age, and we have a few perks as well. Do not fear, you are not from another world. Our family is just..special. That's the best way to put things.

I've said too much for the moment. The first thing you need to do is head to the address at the bottom of this page. There is someone there that will take care of you and keep you safe. You can get there by following the bright yellow flowers on the old dirt trail leaving town. Get there as soon as possible, the sooner the better. I have had people watching over you, from the moment you were young until now. You are on your own for the first time truly. Be safe, and don't mention my name to anyone.

Dusk sat back and recalled all the times that people would suddenly rush to his side from the street. It was always the same two people; a dark black fox that appeared to be a male, and a female cat that was a copper color from her head all the way to her tail. It didn't seem strange that people would help him, but it was always those two that were there at any given time when he left the house. They never told him their names, no matter how many times he asked. Without failure, he realized that he was always under constant care. This angered Blue, he brooded over the thought of his mother thinking him incapable of handling himself.

Dusk continued reading the journal.

You have to understand, I had to leave you behind. Me and your father are always on the run, it's not the right way to raise a child and we didn't want that kind of life for you..at least not yet. You mean more than just a son to me. A burden rests on your shoulders that only you can bear, and we are all counting on you. Not just your family..but your kind as well. You should take what time you have to rest. At the back of this journal there is some money that will help you along your way until we meet again.

-With love,

Your mom Ikari

Blue sat back for a moment, taking the time to gather his thoughts. He turned to the end of the journal, and hidden under the wide flap was more money than Blue had ever seen in his life. It must have taken his mom years to collect this much. He went inside and talked to the lion inkeeper about getting a room for the night. He paid the lion, and went up to his room for the night after getting some food downstairs.

Blue could not bring himself to fall asleep easy. His mind was alive with all that came to him so suddenly. What WAS he? Why were his parent's both thieves? How long have they been on the run for? Blue had plenty of thoughts in his mind, and precisely zero answers. It felt as if his whole world had been shattered. From being kicked out in the morning to being force-fed all the information about his parents, blue could not bring himself to fall asleep voluntarily. He lied awake in the bed listening to the sounds of the night, and watching the stars until he could stay awake no longer.

End

That's all I have for now. Does this even count as a chapter? Probably not. I need about 28 more pages before I can count it as a chapter.

I want to extend this to a 500 page book, but I would only do so if I knew people would read it. I might do it if it's well recieved on sofurry though, before publishing. I have a few things I need to learn before I can count this as publisher-ready.

I hope you enjoyed reading! I have nothing else written, but brainstorming can happen ;)