The Vision and the Circumvention: Chapter One

Chapter 1:
Dysphoria Leads to Trouble

He held the pencil with a vise-like grip as it hovered over the blank sheet of clean, white paper. He’d been sitting like this for an uncertain amount of time, hunched over his desk and staring down at the sterile whiteness with an intense air. His entire body was rigid, almost as if he was expecting something. All about him were crumpled papers, lying scattered about like white leaves. The only light in the room was a small lamp on his desk accompanied by the faint, blue moonlight filtering in through his balcony doors’ windows. There wasn’t a sound to be heard, especially the scratching of pencil on paper.
Halian Stratton released a frustrated jumble of grunts and curses, tossing his pencil across the room and running his pale fingers through his fiery mane in quick, agitated circles. Nothing would come to him! No matter how he stared, no matter how he thought, the image just wouldn’t appear!
He huffed and stood, going to his bed in the corner and flopping back on it carelessly, his legs hanging over the side. He’d been going to this school for just over a year now, and yet it felt as if a lifetime had passed since the time he first stepped foot inside. He recalled the day as if it had happened the week before. He had been so happy, so full of energy and ready to learn. He’d come to this academy to better his artistic skills. He’d always wanted to be an artist; to create things that no one had ever seen before, things that did not exist. However, it felt the longer he was here the less energetic and artistic he became. Every time he lifted a pencil his instructors’ words flew through his head: too sketchy, to bland, too light, too dark, more chroma, less chroma, be more realistic, be more creative! He could no longer just sit and enjoy the raw energy of creating without cause and without thought. Why, it had been months since he’d been able to draw something for his own enjoyment. Everything he produced seemed bland and dull to his own eyes. He didn’t even want to call it his own.
Halian was beginning to drift to sleep when a rattling sound reached his ears. He fought it at first, thinking it was coming from the room next door. His neighbor tended to have overnight company quite frequently, and the sounds of their wailing and tussling could be so overbearing that it was as if they were romping about on his very own floor. Halian grumbled in annoyance and tried to block out the unwanted sounds with the sheets of his bed. However, the sudden jiggling of a handle caught him off guard and he stopped pressing the thick cloth into his ear canals. Was that the balcony door he heard? He blinked a moment with a befuddled expression before he sat up and looked towards it. Just at that moment, as his attention was wholly centered on the large panes of glass, something bashed into them, knocking them open with a crash loud enough to rival his neighbor’s common lustful endeavors. Halian screeched and fumbled with the comforter, throwing it over himself like a child during a thunderstorm.
The something that had smacked into the doors picked itself up clumsily, rubbing its rounded, orangish head with a groan. It was large, larger than Halian anyway, and it had a long scaly body and short, stubby limbs which didn’t seem to help it balance any. There were two wings on its back, which looked more like bird wings than the usual leathery-looking wings one would normally associate with such creatures. Its eyes were big and dumb, but cute. Even though it was such an enormous creature it didn’t exude feelings of danger or ill-will, or at least not at the moment. It looked down towards the floor, tiny pointed ears perking and twitching.
“Are you alright, Asio? I hope I didn’t crush you too badly…” It murmured shyly, craning its neck a little further forward to get a better look at whatever was below.
A much smaller figure uncurled itself and rose from the floorboards with an agitated air, it’s bright, yellow eyes focused intensely on the gentle giant. This second creature somewhat resembled the shape of a small boy, but it was covered in owl feathers from nearly head to toe. It wore what seemed to be some type of bird skull on its head, the sharp beak nearly gleaming in the faint candlelight. It flapped its arms, which were also wings, in a frustrated manner before kicking the large beast in its rounded belly, causing it to topple like a deck of cards before curling in on itself with a groan.
“Next time warn me before you go flying into doors, you idiot!” He hissed, shaking his fists at the downed monster. The angry creature then turned his attention to the bed, where Halian was still cowering under the sheets. He marched right up and grabbed hold of the unwilling host’s soft shield, yanking it off and tossing it across the room. His yellow eyes fixed on the horrified human, piercing him.
Halian let out a shriek and grabbed the nearest object, a pillow, and bashed the tiny, feathered boy across his owlish face.
“Who the hell are you?! What are you doing in my room?!” He shouted, swinging again and again as he nearly beat the owl figure into the floor boards. The creature let out a hiss of annoyance and, while Halian was in mid-swing, struck his hand out and grabbed hold of the young man’s wrist with clawed fingers, holding it back as he dug his sharp nails into the artist’s skin. Halian cringed and tried to yank his arm free, but the other only dug in deeper.
“You would do well not to strike me again.” Asio growled, showing his sharp teeth under the beak of his mask. He then released Halian, who drew his arm to his chest and rubbed his scratched-up wrist with a disgruntled and degraded look.
“Your name is Halian Stratton, correct?” The owl asked, yellow eyes narrowed with impatience. Halian paused in doting on his throbbing wrist and looked at the stranger in confusion. How did he know his name? Should he even answer him? He thought about it for a moment but decided it would probably be best to comply for the time being.
“Yes, and who might you be? You look…….different.” He muttered at the end, letting his eyes wonder over the other’s tiny form. For such a small thing it sure was strong. The other stared back a moment before sighing.
“I figured you wouldn’t remember.” The small owl creature said before straightening a little.
“My name is Asio Featherhyde, and the brainless sack of meat back there is Tupin.” He said, jabbing his finger back at the large beast that had recently picked himself back up. It shuffled over on its short little legs until it was standing near Asio, but not too close. It obviously knew better than to infringe on the other’s personal space. Halian stared at it. This thing was even stranger than the other one! What in the world was going on? This had to be a dream!
“You’re no doubt confused.” Asio murmured as if to himself, crossing his feathery arms over his chest. He seemed to ponder something a moment, his yellow eyes boring into Halian’s skull. He then shrugged and motioned towards Tupin.
“I would have thought you’d remember him, at least. Seems I was mistaken.” He huffed. Halian raised his eyebrows.
“And why would I remember either of you? I’ve never seen the both of you in my life!” He insisted, a bit of frustration beginning to rise in his tone.
“Oh, but you have!” Asio shot back, his beady eyes intense.
“You’ve just forgotten! It’s probably their doing…” He muttered bitterly. Tupin shuffled just a bit closer to the bed, craning his long neck to get a better look at the red head.
“He certainly looks older, don’t you think?” He asked as he shifted his silvery gaze towards Asio, ears perked. The owl shot Tupin a look before returning his gaze to Halian.
“I suppose so…”
Halian looked between the two of them. He was beginning to feel quite uneasy. They were talking about him like old friends! Surely he would recall meeting two characters as odd as them. He glanced towards the door, the one that would lead out into the hallway. If he could just get over there then maybe he could get away from these two! Without a word he jumped up and made a run for it, his heart quaking in his chest.
“Damn it!” Asio hissed before leaping and diving right into the human, knocking them both over onto the floor.
“Help! Someone help!” Halian shouted, flailing about frantically under Asio. The bird-boy clamped his clawed hands over Halian’s mouth and dug his knee painfully into his back.
“You’ll stop that right now, if you know what’s good for ya!” He snarled. Tupin wobbled nervously back and forth behind them, his eyes wide.
“Asio….aren’t we being too hard on him?” He asked anxiously.
“Too hard?! He forgets us, forgets his own creations, and you say I’m being too hard?! I say I’m not being nearly hard enough!”
Halian paused in his frantic movements when he heard Asio. What was that? His creations?
Halian began to shake a little, then laugh. He was laughing so hard, in fact, that Asio was forced to remove his hands from his mouth in fear of suffocating him. The young man’s laughter was almost manic in nature; both disturbing and disturbed. After a minute or two he began to calm enough that he could speak.
“Creations you say? That’s a riot! There’s no way this is real! I must be dreaming!” He cried, laughing and shaking. Asio’s eye twitched as every feather on his body ruffled and he let out a screech of anger before flipping Halian over and punching him square in the face, earning an eek from Tupin and a pained wail from Halian.
“Think you’re dreaming now?!” He shouted, giving him another, then another. Tupin’s long lizard-like tail wrapped about Asio’s middle and yanked him off, keeping him from hitting the boy a fourth time.
“That’s enough, Asio!” He cried, his big eyes looking misty. The owl panted a moment and then growled, swatting Tupin’s tail off himself before standing.
“Pick him up. We’re leaving.” He grumbled, marching stiffly towards the balcony. Tupin watched him a moment before looking again at Halian. The young man’s face was already swelling in some places, and there was some blood smeared on his lips and across his cheek too. He wasn’t laughing now.
Tupin sighed drearily and wobbled his way to the artist’s side, using his strong tail to pick him up and place him right between his wings.
“I’m sorry.” He murmured shyly before shuffling after Asio to the balcony. The owl took off first, leaping off the side of the steel railing and catching the wind in his feathers. Tupin beat his large wings to lift off the ground, then pushed with his tiny limbs against the railing for momentum. He struggled for a moment before catching himself and flying after Asio.
Halian lay limply against the silky-smooth scales of Tupin’s back. He could feel the cool, salty air in his face, could hear the crashing of the waves below. His eyes were heavy, his face swollen from Asio’s abuse. He had no idea where they were taking him or why. All he knew for sure was that this was not a dream. As he felt himself slip into the darkness of his own mind he wondered vaguely if this would be the end of him.