May was now alone in the world, with nothing but a wandering fox to keep her company. She was chilled with isolation as she had watched her guardian die in front of her eyes that night. But only the nightmares kept Verenna in her memories now. And since May had no one to go to, she left New York City 'the land of nightmares'. In search for a place with little to no resemblance to it. A place which used to be known as Annona, Texas, and now that she knew her Originator was after her she planned on staying for a few more months and then move to a slightly bigger city. But May was never one for making plans, that had been Verenna's job. Plan out the state and choose the least obvious city and go from there. But since Verenna never had the time to teach her such a thing, she was on her own.
May sat on a half beaten down bench near one of the smallest 'Food Buys' and picked up a stick, poking the dry ground in front of her and kicking her feet. Her hair had grown longer from swaying at her elbows, to now ranging at her waist. Now letting pieces of it fall near her eyes and some dangling in midair and she watched her wandering fox walk towards her.
"Hey Odyssey," she said, petting his head, which was all you could really do, having your only companion being a fox and all, "You would've liked her, ya'know."
Odyssey cocked his head to the side as if to say, 'Who?'
"Verenna," sighing, she went on, " I should probably stop moping over her, since it's been two years. But she's invaded my dreams like she needs to tell me something, something that she never got the chance to."
Circling around, Odyssey jumped and sat, curling up on her lap, yearning to be warm.
"I know I tell you this every day, but you need to learn how to stay awake during the night time. Foxes are meant to be nocturnal, as in sleeping during the day, not the other way 'round." she went on lecturing Odyssey then picked him up, gently resting his head upon her shoulder, walking towards the Food Buy grounds.
Food Buy, also know as ‘Grub on the Cuff’, was pretty much your nightly dinner leftovers. Families never usually eat the amount of food the chef serves them, this had been done purposely. So that people like May and animals like Odyssey would be able to fill their stomachs at the end of the day. Sure they're leftovers, but in May's mind she always wondered who would waste such glorious food. Sure it was wasted on purpose, but why wouldn't you eat it.
The first thing May saw on the sideboard was an assortment of whole apples, oranges, peaches, and pears. Usually they'd cut the food in half to make more, but now they're customers had lessened over the years, most common deaths begging some sort of illness. May was surprised at how much food she had for grabs, though noticing her own greed had astonished her as well.
She picked up a few pieces of fruit, some raw meat, and a few of the desserts that had gone sparse from the number from what she decided to take. But rarely had they made desserts that the families refused to consume with they're own greed. May put the apples and fruit in her bag, covered the meat in cloth, and went back to her bench to pick at the desserts she choose.
She gently shook Odyssey awake and let him eat the remains of the meat and apples, for May had eaten all the pears and oranges. She watched him scarf them down and decided to study the fury little creature. He was rather pale for a fox, his large ears detecting the sounds and dangers around them. His fur coat lined with few scars, and since they were sensitive to the touch, he was a wimp for a fox. She would never learn why Odyssey had always slept at night. And though May figured that they were very different, she couldn't help but notice how much they were alike. Both either having fresh scars or cuts, and by the color of his fur and the marks on her skin, they were both defiantly outcasts in the world. No family. No friends. All Odyssey and her had, was each other. And as cheesy as it sounded, it was true. She saw her wandering fox follow his tail and lay down for sleep, slowly she walked away shrugging on her thin sweater, knowing that Odyssey would soon find her later.
                                                                            ~-~
She passed the Food Buy and several streets, the signs caked with filth that she didn't do so much as to look at it. Her feet bare, they splashed on the cold pavement, sending chills up her spine. The hollow entryway, which had usually been busy at this time of night, had close to no customers. It was good for May, but the eerie feeling of just being there caused her to stop moving and pull up her hood.
"Hey little girl," a hollow voice whispered, " are you here for the meeting?"
She looked to find where the voice had been coming from, and seemed to notice a head poking up out of the ground, holding up what had appeared to be a door to a bunker. It wouldn't hurt to go, she thought, just to see what the people around here are up to.
She hesitated, "Uh, sure."
She walked towards the old man as he waited for her to enter. Climbing down the ladder-like stairs, she watched the old man grab the edge of his cloak and pull it over his face to reveal his true identity. He seemed around the age of twenty but his face told another story. A thick scar whipped around one arm disappearing under his pullover. And a fresh burn rested below his collarbone. His eyes were like a flame with golds, reds, oranges, and yellows flowing together, then stopping at his iris.
May still felt out of place and titled her head down so no one could see her face. Not that anyone would recognize her, but her eyes always seemed to take people off guard. She looked around at the people who were here, at the meeting. There weren't many, maybe around 20 give or take a few.
People gathered around the front of the room, and May was curious, she followed behind someone, with her head tittled slightly upward she saw what was happening. A mear boy, most likely nearing the age of 15, held an insignificant little flame in the palm of his right hand. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, as if he hadn't a clue of what was to happen, and he opened his eyes. With his forefinger and thumb he stretched the tip of the flame and blew it, causing it to fly across the room, forming into the silhouette of a bird.
Flying around the room, people ducking their heads, the bird lit the candles, giving the room light. The fire bird landed on the boys hand and started to grow larger within each minute. He let the bird go and let it fly amongst the crowd, swooping at every angle. The people watching where the bird would go to next just to see the persons reaction. If they would be scared, surprised, or just not react at all.
Diving up and down in the air, the bird finally rushed towards May, who was in fact halfway across the room. She didn't know what was to happen next, until the bird swopping over her head, causing her hood to slide off her head. People were looking at her, grinning, May looked at her shoulder, quaintly the bird sat upright with the most impossible posture and the reflection of the flameing bird had shown in her eyes.
Showing that the show was over, the bird flew back to the boy, perching on his arm and singeing away like a pail of water had just been poured over it. Everyone turned away once the 'show' was over, everyone except May. She noticed the boy winced, most likely in pain, as the bird slowly faded away. Slowly May noticed herself shuffling toward him, pulling her hood over her head and keeping it down.
"Are you alright?" she asked him, her voice sweet and polite.
He looked at her in surprisment, "Yeah, I guess."
"What happened?"
He chuckled, "It takes a lot of energy to muster up flames like that. But to let them die down, it's literally painful."
May's head still down, she says, "What do you mean?"
The boy takes a sip of water, "My fire is like a part of me, like my arm or leg," he says, motioning towards them, "if I cut it, it stings. But with this, it's like cutting off one of my limbs. You have to control it, see." He says, flicking his thumb nail against his palm, igniting a small flame in his hand.
May eyes enlarged, still unable to be seen, she whispered, "That's amazing."
The boy chuckled again, "It's nothing really," he poked my shoulder, "but if this conversation is going to continue, can you at least make eye contact with me?"
May hesitated, but thought her eyes wouldn’t be a big deal from all the happenings around her, his flames practically pouring from his hands. She took off her hood and slowly looked up to face him.
"Your eyes," he started quietly, and squinted, to see if they were real, "they're-"
"Different," May says, cutting him off short, "I know."