Syraks are strange creatures. They are also wonderously beautiful. They are a mixture of a tiger and a dog with wings. They love to play, much like a dog, and weigh, at most, 85 kg. Due to their startling appearances, however, it is most likely that they are not native to Earth. It must be reminded, though, that anything is possible.
Ludoviko was an average boy of seventeen years. He listened to punk and heavy metal music. He had a girlfriend for three weeks and thought it was the truest form of love. He wanted his 'space' when he fought with his parents, which happened often. The lattermost of these caused Ludoviko to leave his house in a huff and go vent in the nearby town park. However, sometimes there were merely far too many people in the park for his liking. Thus, he would leave the park and head for the woods, taking solace in the lush greens and browns of nature in her purest form.
Ludoviko had spiked brown hair and brown eyes. His skin was slightly tanned all year round, denoting an ethnic heritage. He was tall, slightly muscled, and slim. He practiced archery daily and ran in the mornings to school. In the summer, he would run at night. He also wrote poetry for little reason at all other than he liked to. Despite his 'average' exterior appearance and nature, he was really quite a softy at heart.
But our story is not only of Ludoviko, oh no. It is also that of a Syrak, hence the previous introduction. It is also of their lives together. It is also of their trials and tribulations and the like. Thus, as Ludoviko leaves his house in a huff and the park in a bigger one and flees to the woods, we truly begin our tale.
"Why don't they just leave me alone?" Ludoviko mumbles to himself as he stalks from the park. "Parents, people, they're all the same." He glowers at the ground as he makes for the woods outside of town. It is nearing dusk in this month of summer. He knows that he should be running by now, as is his habit, and thusly, he begins to jog down the road to the woods.
The road to the woods is usually deserted. Because of this, it makes it a safer road than most to run on. He wears only a white muscle shirt and jean shorts and sneakers as he runs, for it is too hot to wear much else. He waves to a car as it passes him, its form like that of an ancient beast, its headlights like the beast's eyes. He continues to run until the road is flanked by thick trees.
Slowing to a mild jog, Ludoviko glances back and forth. He wonders, for a moment, if the woods are safe at night. There are campsites and other such happenings in the more pleasant areas, but he wants to keep away from people for the time being. Hence, he avoids all the roads that are labeled "Camping" and "Visitor's Lodge, Next Right." Instead, he finds a space with little note of civilization and takes off into the underbrush.
The forest is a relatively young one. The trees are well-spaced and grass and moss covers most of the ground, as well as a good number of pine needles. Many rocks abound, however, and Ludoviko has to slow to a walk in order to be certain that he does not trip and harm himself. Luckily, the moon is bright tonight, even as it is just cresting the horizon. Evening falls quickly here.
The stars sparkle through the canopy of trees as Ludoviko stops for a rest at a rather large boulder. He catches his breath and sighs, sitting himself upon the ground. He scowls and crosses his arms over his chest. It would be quite unwise to go home at this hour. Most of the people that drive this late at night are either in a great hurry or drunken and reckless.
He rises, hoping to find some sort of shelter that has no markings of an animal. Ludoviko scales the boulder, hoping to get a better look at the forest around him. As he does so, the wind picks up momentarily, causing the leaves about him to sway and the moonlight to pierce the tight shield of darkness. Close by, something sparkles in the silvery light. It catches his eye, and he slides off the rock.
Cautiously, Ludoviko makes his way towards the sparkling object. He is uncertain as to whether it is an animal or something else. He hopes it is something else. Nonetheless, he approaches it. The starlight shows its outline well. It is an egg of a rather large variety, much larger than a chicken's egg.
Ludoviko stares at the egg and its swirling patterns of purple and black. He looks around. What sort of creature could have dropped this egg here? Why did it merely leave the egg here? What sort of egg is it? Many questions roll through his mind and he observes the egg. It doesn't do anything. Suddenly, he is compelled to touch the shell.
The shell of the egg is cold and smooth like metal, though it also has a soft feeling to it, something that makes him want to fall asleep with it. He blinks down at it, wondering of its composition. It has pores, like a chicken's egg, but it doesn't feel as if they are there. It is a strange feeling merely touching that egg.
Ludoviko sighs and lifts the egg. There seem to be no creatures about the area to claim it as their own. The egg is light, and lifting the egg he gets a strange feeling that the creature within is a female. The name Vespera whispers through his mind. It is a name meaning "of the evening" in the language of his own name, Esperanto. That language was a strange one created by Ludwig Zemenhof. Ludoviko decides that, if the creature within is a girl, her name will be Vespera.
It is his decision to camp out on the boulder that night. He sleeps with his arms tight around the egg. With luck, the egg does not fall to the ground and shatter that night.
The morning comes and Ludoviko wakes with the dawn. He leaves the egg where he had found it the previous night, and he runs home. His parents are at work, and perhaps they did not worry about him last night? He hopes that is not the case, because no matter what, he loves them both.
"That's a startling revelation," he sighs as he makes a few sandwiches and grabs two water bottles. He stuffs them in a backpack before grabbing a hammer, a few nails, and a piece of wood. On the wood he writes a few words before stuffing it, along with the hammer and nails, in the bag. He grabs a book of magical creatures that he had as a child and stuffs that in as well. He takes a couple of dollars and stuffs those in as well.
Suddenly, he realises that he did not take a shower the last night. Sighing, he runs up to the bathroom and takes care of that problem. He runs to his bedroom and dresses. While he is in there, he tidies the place up, making his bed, putting away his clothes, throwing away half-eated tuna fish sandwiches, as well as looking for a flashlight. If he is to hide the egg well, he must put it in a place that he is certain is devoid of others.
He runs back downstairs to the kitchen, locates a flashlight there, and stuffs that in his bag as well. He grabs his house keys, pockets them, and closes the door, making certain it is locked. He then runs from town with his backpack on his back and returns to the woods.
By the time he is back to where he left the egg, he is sweating heavilly. The egg is still there and the patterns of purple and black still swirl over its surface. Despite its dark coloration, however, the egg is still cool. Ludoviko picks it up and sighs. He knows of very few caves nearby, and anything out in the open would certainly be found. He doesn't want anyone else to find this egg.
He walks for some time, finding a total of three caves. Two of those three show signs of life, however the third shows signs only of bats. The ones within are little brown bats. They are sleeping, though a few are nursing their young. He smiles. He had always like bats, and he had never feared them. They are good creatures that show that the area is clean and the water is drinkable. Their presences are really what allow Ludoviko make up his mind that this is the cave in which he would place the egg.
He sits down in the sunlight with the egg. He pulls out his book and a ham sandwich. He eats the sandwich while leafing through the pages of the book. Suddenly, in the final section, he finds a nearly exact replica of the egg. He reads the caption and it tells him that it is a syrak egg. Syraks, he discovers, are extremely loyal to their bondmates and will do almost anything to protect them. With a smile, he closes the book and pats the egg beside him.
Ludoviko retrieves the piece of wood. He also grabs a nail. He sits down again and etches the following into the plank:
Creature: Syrak
Creature's Name: Vespera
Creature's Age: Egg
Creature's Keeper: Ludoviko
He then places it in the cave near the back. He sets down the egg right beside the plank. That way, whoever would found the egg would know it to be his and wouldn't take it. He spends a little more time in the woods this day before packing up. He bids the egg farewell before heading home.
Ludoviko attends to the Syrak egg almost religiously. Daily he sits and talks to it about his day, the woods, his home, his dreams, and other things. He eats various sandwiches as he sits in the filtered sunlight with the egg. He rents books from the library and reads them aloud to the Syrak egg.
Ludoviko's parents leave on business one week. They won't return until the following week. They leave the car in his care. Since he is an only child, he doesn't need to worry about being spied on. Because his friends are away on family trips, his parents don't worry about him throwing a party and getting into trouble. Thus, he is alone for the week.
He drives his parents to the airport a few mornings after he learns of this. They chat idly and Ludoviko waits to see that his parents' plane gets safely off the ground. He is not nervous; it is a relatively small plane they are taking. Besides this, Ludoviko plans to take the egg to his home that evening. Seeing his parents are as safe as they can be, he drives the half-hour journey with only his music as company. When he reaches his home, he notes it is two hours before sunset.
Knowing he has time, Ludoviko goes into the attic above his room. There, he finds old blankets, cushions, and various other soft objects. He grabs these and takes them down into his room. In his room the ceilings are slanted and riddled with many windows of various sizes. He raises the blinds to these for the evening and notes the approach of sunset.
Ludoviko leaves the house, locks it, and unlocks the car. He clears out the passentger seat and makes certain all the seat belts still function. He buckles himself in and drives to the forest.
He parks the car in the Visitor Center parking lot. He gets out and locks the doors, placing the keys in his pocket afterwards. Next, he runs over to the cave where he had housed the egg. The egg is still there, despite the absence of the bats.
"Beauteous Vespera," Ludoviko sighs, nuzzling the egg as he lifts it. It is still the icy chill of metal. "Ready to go home?" The colors of the egg swirl in response. "Very good. You'll enjoy it at my home."
He smiles, walking from the woods as he does so. The road is empty, and he crosses quickly. Doubly luckily, the Visitor Center is nearly deserted. He smiles with satisfaction.
Holding the egg in one hand and his keys in the other, Ludoviko walks to his car. He buckles the egg in the passenger seat after unlocking the doors. He shuts the door and trots around to the driver's side. He strpas himself in, starts the car, and drives back to town with one more passenger than he had initially.
"That should do it," Ludoviko states, stepping back to admire his handiwork. He sighs. It is getting on towards midnight and, ideally, he should be in bed. However, he was not, nor is not, tired. Thus, he did construct a makeshift bed for the egg from the more comfortable of the cushions and blankets that he had commandeered from the attic.
Finally, after placing the Syrak egg upon the manufactured nest, Ludoviko feels the first pangs of exhaustion. "Comfortable?" he inquires of the egg. The purple floods the black in repsonse. "Good." He smiles and draws the shade to the eastern window. "Sleep well, Vespera," he states before kissing the egg, feelign the coolness linger upon his lips. Ludoviko then climbs, fully clothed, under the sheets of his bed. He reasons that he will shower and change come the morning. If he only knew.
Background by Ender Design
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