This first chapter's a rewrite. I like it much better, and I hope you will too. Enjoy my pride and joy, 'Where I Belong: A Tale of Legendary Birds'!

Chapter 1: Suddenly Silver

"Heh heh," I couldn't help but chuckle as I heard a loud 'AAAAUUUUGGGGH' from the hallway outside my bedroom. I loved it when my stepdad got drunk. It made for some amusing times. Maybe I'm starting on a bad note. My name's Zack and I love my life. Didn't always though. And this is how everything changed. In more ways than one.

It was always the same thing back then. Head off to a school I hated for a while, skip my drama class, and then head home and prop open a book. A few hours later, my stepdad would barge in, hardly pay me any heed, grab a few beers and... well... the rest is self-explanatory. Eventually, he had such a problem that he was lashing out at anything that moved. As well as a few things that didn't. As long as I kept my door shut, I was all good. He kept hurting himself in his drunken stupor, but it was hilarious. That may seem sadistic, but believe me, he'd do the same. I would hate that man until the day I died.

I took a glance at the picture of my mother, and shut my eyes for the night.

Or at least, I thought I did. Because about five seconds later, my bedroom door burst open and I got up quick. My stepdad barged in and I was quite surprised. He rarely, if at all, ever came in. But in a few seconds, I saw just why he was intruding.

"What's this?" He said as he thrust my mom's old bank card in my face. I didn't answer him. And that might have been my first mistake. "WHAT IS THIS KID?"

"I think that's obvious," I retorted. And almost immediately, I regretted it. Because in two seconds, I was on the floor, groaning in pain from a punch to the stomach.

"Since when was this here? How much money does she have? HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN IN THE TOILET FOR NO REASON?"

"It's not...yours..."

"Oh? Then whose is it?" I cringed for what came next. I hated it when he got this way. Or any way really. It usually involved him telling me how worthless I was. Not that I believed him. I'd heard them all. There's nothing he could say that I hadn't already knew to be a complete load. "Certainly not yours! So give me the pin number kid!" I said nothing. So as a result I was given another swift punch to the ribs. "TELL ME!"

"GO TO HELL!" I yelled just before receiving a kick to the face. That was gonna leave a mark. But it was worth it. There was no way I'd let him get a cent of my mother's money.

"You're pathetic!" Oh here it came. At least he'd be insulting me instead of giving me more incentive. It was satisfying to know he wasn't getting what he wanted, but satisfaction sure does hurt. "You and your mother! The both of you!" I froze. This was a new one. He never brought up my mother. Ever. "I never should've married her if I knew I'd be landed with you! She was just a filthy-!"

I don't remember specifics of what happened next. All I remember is the anger inside growing and growing to a feverous level. There was a volcano in my stomach that wouldn't stop erupting. I remember wailing on my stepfather multiple times. And flames. I remember flames. All I recall after that is feeling that anger disappear. I remember the feeling so vividly. I felt all that anger at one point then a few seconds later, something calmed me down. I mean immediately, like I wasn't the one doing it. Something made me relax. Anything besides that is a complete blank.

Can dreams be real? I ask that question because this is what happened next. Pay attention because this gets strange. After I blacked out, there was something I felt. Peaceful? No, that's not it. Comfortable? Definitely not. Safe? Yeah, that would do. I could live with safe. I felt something else as well. Or rather, I didn't feel something. I didn't feel like myself at all. Almost like my body was gone and I was just a spirit, adrift in the void. I opened my eyes and I was in darkness. Not complete darkness, though. There was a blue circle of light in front of me. But this is the strange thing. I was floating. I was floating in this semi-darkness. That's when I saw a shadow. A shadow in darkness? I was confused for a second, but looking up at the blue circle of light, I understood. There was another presence here. It looked like a bird, but it was HUGE. I'm serious, it was in the shape of a bird, but it was as big as a whale. It looked fifteen feet tall, give or take a couple feet. It had a long neck with a head that had a pointed top. It had a very long tail, as well as what looked like spikes coming out of its back. I couldn't make out specifics like colour or features. It was completely shrouded in shadow. My mind was still pretty woozy, but I think- No, I know it was talking. It was calling out to me.

Ventus... Ventus...

Its voice echoed in my brain. I don't know whether it was my mind still being a bit rocky, or the bird itself, but its voice- No, his voice seemed to calm me down. The worried feelings I had about this place seemed to melt away as he spoke. As for what he was saying, I was pretty sure that Ventus was a name.

Ventus... Ventus... come...

"Huh? Who… who is Ventus?"

Ventus... come... come...

I thought it couldn't hear me. I kept wondering what I was doing here. And who this Ventus was, as well as the mystery behind this thing, whatever he was. But what the bird said next confused me even more.

Ventus...come...come home...

That's when I woke up.

Don't get me wrong. It's not like I wanted to leave that dream. Like I said, I felt safe in there. But I can't help it if someone slams the door to my hospital room, I mean- Wait, hospital room? Yeah, I woke up in a hospital bed. Well, maybe 'wake up' isn't the right term to use. I only opened my eyes for a second before closing them again, annoyed that someone woke me up. I tried to get back to sleep, but no luck. I was tired, really tired, but no sleep for me. Instead, I listened to those doctors just outside my door. Hey, had to do something right?

"What's his prognosis doctor?" An obvious nurse asked outside.

"From the fire, he's perfectly fine," the reply came from what sounded like your typical doctor. He sounded old and experienced. But I didn't care about that at the moment. The fire he spoke of was what worried me the most. But if he said I was fine from it, I guess there was nothing to worry about. "But there's something else I noticed."

"What is it?"

"He has many cuts and bruises. All of which he can't receive for just being in a burning building. It's obvious that he's been in a fight or six. Did you speak with his neighbors? Might they know something about this?"

"They said that he doesn't leave the house much. They told me that he doesn't really go out with any friends or anything like that. Apparently his stepfather keeps him at home."

"Hmm, did his neighbors see how he got out of the house? The fire department apparently found him outside the place, as well as his stepfather."

"Well, normally I'd consider this crazy and keep it to myself, but they all said the same thing. The house was burning and all the neighbors were looking at it, hoping the two of them got out. Apparently the kid kicked down the BURNING DOOR and dragged his stepfather out of there like a rag doll. Apparently the stepfather was unconscious. After that he, well, apparently he kicked his stepfather a few times straight in the torso, which could explain the cracked ribs he has. After that, the kid fell unconscious too. Landed flat on his back."

The woman was speaking hysterically. She had a right to be because I didn't remember any of that. I was starting to panic as well. That was all I needed to hear, in any case. I immediately assumed that I caused the fire.

I opened my eyes and tore the covers of the hospital bed off me and quietly got up, making my way to the wardrobe by the bed. The room wasn't that big, it just had a bed, the wardrobe and a box that I assumed had my personal belongings that I had on me in it on a table at the foot of the bed. I yanked the doors of the wardrobe open and found my clothes inside. I got out of that hospital robe and changed into my usual attire. It wasn't anything too flashy, it's not worth mentioning. I then moved on to the box at the end of the bed and only took out the things that would be of the most help. I grabbed my wallet of course. I'd need that. I left the cell phone inside, as I didn't think I'd be calling anyone. What I took out of there next was my pocket knife and my wristwatch. That was all I thought I needed, but a few seconds later I knew I was wrong.

I was about to head out the window. Yeah, I was running away. Running away from this stupid life, anyway. At least I thought I was leaving, but then I saw something in the box that I didn't recognize. At first I wasn't sure what to do with it. It looked like a feather, but it seemed to be made of metal or something. Upon picking it up I realized that it wasn't metal, it was just silver. A silver feather. What's stranger is that it was in the exact same shade of silver as, well, my hair. I was just going to ditch it, but I held on. Something was telling me to keep it. I decided not to argue with myself and put the feather in my jacket pocket.

That's when I heard some footsteps coming to my door. I didn't know it, but that was my stepdad, out to punish me. But by that time, I was out the window, climbing down the tree that was planted just outside my window. As soon as I was down, I ran. I ran until I was far downtown. A few people stared at me when I came bolting down the sidewalk for no apparent reason, but I ignored them. When I stopped running, it was only when I had found what I was looking for. A bank. Before she died, my mom apparently knew all about my stepdad, because she gave me her bank account numbers. She told me to use it in case I ever needed to get out of that house.

The bank tellers seemed to find it strange that I would be taking every cent in the account with me on the streets, but I knew the police would be looking for me when I disappeared. I couldn't make another transaction for fear of being traced. I stashed all the cash I could in my pockets without making it look obvious that I had a whole lot of cash on me. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy, but I managed. The truth is, I was planning on running away weeks before. I even had a schedule for the ferry memorized. I just had to take a quick bus trip to the terminal and I'd be there in no time. Little did I know that what was waiting for me at that ferry terminal.

The bus ride to the Horseshoe Bay terminal was pretty uneventful, but it gave me time to think. Unfortunately, when I think, it's deadly for me.

Ventus. That name kept popping into my head. It's not like it felt familiar or anything, or did it? I wasn't sure. But one thing was for certain. When I said the name out loud to myself, I felt warm nostalgia. The words Deja Vu definitely came to mind. After hours of getting nowhere with these thoughts, I realized that the bus had arrived at the ferry terminal.

As soon as I got off the bus, everything went to hell. I mean RIGHT AWAY. The very moment I stepped off that bus, it happened. The sky went dark. I don't mean clouds slowly went across it, I mean it dramatically turned from blue to a dank purple. I didn't believe what I was seeing, but it was happening. As if that wasn't hard enough to believe, the sky was beginning to ripple. As if it were an over-sized pond, and somebody threw in a whole load of rocks in it. And from those ripples, certain forms began to take shape. Monstrous bird-like beings began to take shape and form out of thin air in the sky. These creatures were rather large in size, having a wingspan of seven feet. They looked to be made of what could only be described as slime. It looked like they were made up of this purple slime that matched the colour of the sky at that moment.

At first I just thought I was seeing things, that I was hallucinating, or that I was the only one experiencing this. But I kept forgetting that today just wasn't my day. Almost every bystander around me screamed in terror. I myself could hardly believe what I was seeing. Hundreds of these bird-like creatures flew down from the sky, creating a virtual fence around the terminal, keeping everyone in. Then, one creature in particular that seemed to be larger than the rest hovered directly above the terminal. And I really just couldn't fathom what happened next.

"We know that you are among these humans," it said. It actually said that, with an eerie voice for a complete package of villainy. "Humans! No harm will befall you. IF you hand him over. Relinquish Ventus to us or be annihilated."

There was that name again. Ventus. If he was here and these dark creatures were looking for him, then that could only mean that they were somehow related to the creature I saw in my dream. And if that were true, then, well, I had no idea of what to make of it. I swallowed hard as sweat bled onto my brow.

"You have one hour Ventus," the dark bird leader was hovering higher and higher. "If you do not come forward, everyone here dies!"

I remember thinking that that Ventus guy really should've stood up and let himself be seen. That he should have done it soon. But that wasn't to be the case.

"You, buddy, get over here!" I heard a raspy voice call out to me. I turned to look. Something small was gesturing me to come into a dark alleyway between two of the small structures in the terminal. When I say small, I mean small. I couldn't see the thing that was gesturing me to come forward. All I could tell was that it was about a foot tall. I looked at the figure, then at the dark birds, then back at the figure and followed it into the alley, without hesitation.

"It's great that I finally found you," said the small figure as I looked down upon it. "You got it right? The Silver Wing?"

"The wha-? What are you talking about?" I asked in response.

"What? Are you telling me you don't know a thing? Geez, I thought you'd be a little smarter than this Ventus."

"Ventus? You've got the wrong guy. Name's Zack."

"No, that's your human name. I'm talking about your real name."

I rolled my eyes. This guy sounded delusional to me.

"Look just follow me," he said as he went for a nearby ladder. He climbed it surprisingly fast and zipped over the side of the building. (If you've ever been to a Ferry terminal you know these buildings are about five meters tall) I followed suit, figuring it couldn't get much weirder. Sometimes I get really tired of being wrong.

When I climbed that ladder and got onto the roof of the building, the figure was finally in the light. I could see who it really was. Hey, if you've believed me so far, then this shouldn't come as a shock. What was looking back at me, was a yellow mouse. A foot-tall yellow mouse. It was standing on two legs, and the tips of its pointy ears had a black colour. It had a tail shaped like a lightning bolt, and half of said tail had a tinge of brown. And to top it all off, its cheeks were red.

"What the-? What are you?" I asked, doing nothing short of spluttering the question.

"A Pokémon. A Pikachu to be precise," he replied.

"What's a Pokémon?" I asked. Hey, you would've asked a lot of questions too if this was happening to you.

"There's no time to explain," he retorted, "do you have the Silver Wing or not?"

"Listen, I don't know what you're talking abou-" well at least at first I didn't. But then I remembered. I reached into my jacket pocket and found what I was looking for. The silver feather I had found at the hospital. I took it out and showed it to the 'Pikachu', who literally jumped for joy.

"Yeah that's it! Okay, go ahead and use it!"

"USE IT?" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "HOW AND WHY WOULD I USE A FEATHER TO DO ANYTHING?"

The Pikachu smacked his forehead. He was apparently getting impatient.

"Okay look," he said with a great amount of restraint, "just look at the Silver Wing for a few seconds. I'm sure it'll come to you."

I sighed, this was going nowhere fast. But I stared at the feather anyway. I didn't feel anything for a few seconds, but then something sparked. I wasn't sure if it was the feather or me, but something was happening. My heart started beating faster, and I was taking quicker breaths. I didn't know what happened that day, but at that moment, it was as if I stepped back and let someone else take over.

Apparently I was attracting a lot of attention, because at that time, every one of those dark birds within a ten meter radius started to fly right at me. I had no idea why they were doing it, but they seemed to be only after me. They even let a few people get away, in order to swoop in on me. They didn't really need hostages anymore, because even though I didn't know it then, they had found who they were looking for. They however, failed in this attempt to kill that person. Because...well why don't I tell you?

As the birds came at me, I knew what I had to do.

"Silver," I held the Silver Wing up, taking a breath before the real party started. "Soul!"

Okay, first of all, you have to realize that I had no idea what I was doing. I was winging it. And man, if I only knew how literal that statement was about to get. First of all, when I said "Silver Soul" there was a light emanating from the feather. When those birds entered into said light, they looked to be in dire pain. Then the light focused around me specifically. The light became so intense, if I was outside of it, I would've seen myself being wrapped in an orb of light. No one could see me from outside that light. Even I didn't quite know what was going on.

At first I thought I was feeling pain. My body felt like it was being pulled apart by ropes coming from all different directions. I felt like my bones would be ripped apart. But suddenly I realized that I wasn't in any pain at all. In fact I felt as if a great weight was lifting off me. It felt good, it felt...right. All I could see was the bright white light. But I could definitely feel my body changing. I could feel my arms morphing, growing. I could feel my fingers grow thin and flat, and yet I still felt each of the digits. Next up were my legs. They grew as well, but what surprised me is what happened after my feet grew to their full potential. I only felt three toes. But I soon forgot about that as I could feel I was gaining some girth. I could tell that I was getting heavier and pretty massive overall. Finally, my neck. Yeah, my neck was getting longer also. And with the neck, my face changed shape as well, though that feeling didn't last long. And did I feel a tail?

When the light faded and my eyes adjusted, I saw that I had grown taller, by at least five feet. And since I was around five feet tall before, well, you do the math. That's when I heard the most horrifying shrieking I'd ever heard. Seriously, this sounded like twenty sets of nails scratching a chalkboard. I looked up and blinked. I saw that the dark birds that had been gravely affected by the light were now dissolving into thin air. Their grimy figures dripped upwards, right back into the dark sky. On closer inspection, I realized that the light hadn't actually faded. But I couldn't tell where the source was. I didn't seem to have that silver feather on me anymore. I got my answer when I looked down.

I had certainly grown. In more ways than one, as I had grown to at least ten feet, not to mention that I was now a bird. My heart was beating fast again, but this time I was just plain scared. I saw that my plumage mostly ranged in a silvery to white range of colour, but most of my chest had a clearly blue texture. I looked at what used to be my hands and saw two magnificent wings there instead. I admit it. They looked pretty cool, but I was frantic. My neck was so long that I could get a good look at my back. I appeared to have ten square plates that were the same colour as my blue feathers. And yes, I even had a tail... with two spikes at the end of it.

I tried to yell. To express how scared I was, but all that came out of my mouth was a melodious terrified wail.

What's going on? I thought in my panicked state. What happened to me?

Nothin' happened to you. I heard a voice echo in my brain. There was no sound, but it was like someone was inputting thoughts into my mind. You're just well, waking up in a way. I looked around for the origin of these thoughts and found... who else? The Pikachu was looking up at me with a dumb little smirk on his face. Nice new body, not as big as your dad, but you'll grow. Listen Ven. Can I call you Ven? Or do you like Ventus better?

I knew I couldn't speak, but the Pikachu had apparently heard my thoughts before so why not now right? You can call me Zack! And you've got about three seconds to explain what's going on! How come I'm like this? Why were you talking before and not now? And why are we only talking through thought huh? You some kind of… telepath?

No but you are. Did you really not notice that I wasn't even opening my mouth before? You were hearing my thoughts, and your human brain made you think I was talking. If I really talked it would come out like this. The Pikachu stopped transmitting thoughts for a second and tried to talk. And when I say 'tried' I meant it. The words "Pika-pika, pikachu," were the only things I heard. See what I mean?

Okay, but what am I? What did you do to me? I got a little angry at that point. Wouldn't you if you were confused and terrified for your life?

Whoa, whoa, calm down buddy. I wouldn't be complaining if I were you.

I'VE JUST BEEN TRANSFORMED INTO A GIANT BIRD! I THINK I DESERVE AN EXPLANATION!

You're right. But just note that you won't believe me.

From what I've seen so far, you can bet I'll have an open mind about anything.

I know. But this is REALLY far-fetched.

Just tell me!

Alright, alright just- whoa! Pikachu's thoughts were interrupted by an onslaught of the dark birds. They came flying at us, forcing the Pikachu to get out of the way, and stop with the explanation. The light had stopped emanating from me and now we had nothing to keep them at bay. It was time to see if I could use these wings. It wasn't long before I realized that I was a natural. The moment I flapped my wings, my mind told me what to do and how to do it. I rose high above the dark birds, letting them follow me up. When the time was right, I arced backwards, making a loop and slamming into the birds with my wings. And just as before, the birds dissolved back into the sky. However, more of these birds came straight at me, all of them shrieking and desperately clawing at me. I was about to defend myself, but that voice that was telling me what to do told me to calm down. I knew what to do. I glared at the birds and felt my eyes do something. The many birds coming at me seemed to stop mid-flight. Even though their eyes seemed to be non-existent, they seemed to be staring right at my own eyes. Just as I thought, my eyes seemed to have some kind of power over them. The birds then turned around and started fighting amongst themselves. They were easy pickings after that. I swooped in and tore into them with a slam from my tail.

I would've continued as I'd done so far, but once again I felt as though I had to do something different. I felt an energy radiating in me, originating from my heart. It worked its way up my neck and started gathering together when a ball of gold energy sparked at my mouth. I let it build until I couldn't anymore. I aimed the energy in the form of a beam perfectly at a mass congregation of the birds. They dispersed instantly, but I didn't stop there. I kept the beam of energy flowing and destroying birds until they had all been completely disposed of. The amazing thing was that no innocent bystander was hit in the process. I started to descend softly, letting my wings catch the air so that I'd have a light descent.

But I wasn't done yet.

"Ventus!" It didn't take me long to realize that that name seemed to be what these things liked to call me and I turned upwards to see who was making the racket. I saw that it was the leader that had originally gone out for Ventus' blood. He was now trying to get me to stick around for one last brawl. "Are you a coward?"

I was a lot of things right then. Scared and confused, but cowardly wasn't on that list. I didn't know why I flew straight up to that thing's level of altitude, why I chose to fight it. All I knew is that this thing was going to hurt people. And a big part of me knew that it was me who would have to protect them. I felt that same energy pulsating inside me again. In seconds I had that golden ball of energy at my disposal again. Unfortunately, this thing was a little quicker than the others. It flew out of the way just in time for every shot I took at it. It was certainly used to this whole fighting while flying thing. After making dodges aplenty, it arced around me and before I could catch up with it, it was already on the offensive.

A hole, yes I'm serious, a hole opened up in its chest, revealing a giant orb of purple light within. This orb worked like my beam of energy did, except this beam was coming after me. I tried to get out of the way, I even did... once. But after that one strong upstroke to dodge, it all went downhill. The thing hit me with multiple bursts of that dark energy and I had no idea what to do. You got to understand, this stuff was painful. It felt as if every time I was hit by the stuff, a dozen knives were puncturing my lungs. Mostly because this attack was only hitting the broad part of my chest. I cried out in pain, that musically in-tone wail the only thing sounding from my beak. I couldn't think I couldn't move and I'm not embarrassed to say that I was scared. I couldn't take this pain any longer.

Don't give in.

Those three words seemed to hold the world still. That voice was in my head, just like that Pikachu's was.

You are strong, never forget that. Now you must realize that strength. Use the Surge of Soul.

Surge of Soul? What is that? I thought back in response. Y'know, the more I think about this, the weirder it sounds.

There is no time to explain. I cannot speak with you for long. Trust your heart, and you will find the answers you need.

That was it. The voice was gone, but it told me what to do. I thought long and hard, searching for the power to do this 'Surge of Soul', and only seconds later I found what I was looking for. A spark of power made my heart beat like a drum. I felt power coursing throughout my body. Every inch felt totally invoked with strength. That's when I realized I wasn't feeling anymore pain. I looked to see that the blasts were being deflected by a strange blue aura flowing around me. And I knew just what to do with it. In my mind, I screamed SURGE OF SOUL! And like magic, the aura flew, yes flew off me. It was like there was a second me. It looked like my new body except it had no features. It was just a blue blob of aura. This thing flew itself straight towards the dark bird, who still had a giant hole in its chest that showcased the purple sphere of light. It collided with it head on, and then the bird... exploded. I'm dead serious. It shattered and what was left of it dissolved into the dark sky. And then, the sky rippled again and slowly but surely turned back to its original colour. I breathed a sigh of relief. This nightmare was over. But there was still one left. Can't remember what it was? Well I seemed to still have a dire case of WINGS AND FEATHERS, and I wasn't the only one worried about my appearance.

From down below I heard screams. Yeah. Even though I had just saved all their lives, the people below were terrified of me. Most just screamed and ran, but some of the security guards took a different approach. They shot at me. How's that for a thank you? I flew high enough so that they were out of range, but I still had to deal with another problem. Me. I was terrified at the fact that these people were terrified of me. I felt like a monster. I looked for a way out of this and my instincts drove me to the ocean. I didn't fight the urge and flew straight out to sea. If I had been paying attention to anyone else's thoughts, I would've heard the Pikachu, screaming out: HEY! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO TAKE ME WITH YOU, 'YA MORON!

When I was sure that I was far enough out in the water to know that I wasn't going to be under fire, I looked to the waves, at my reflection. I really did look intimidating. I didn't think I looked like anything to be scared of though. In fact, I thought I looked pretty cool. This was the first time I was able to take a good look at my face. My head was now V-shaped with a 'mask' growing around my new eyes. I now had two miniature incisors on the inside of my semi-bird beak. My head looked more like that of a dragon than a bird.

But no matter how awesome I thought I looked, that didn't change the fact that I was no longer human. How would I be accepted into any sort of civilized society? I cried. My tears of pain, rage, and frustration slithered from my eyes, dropping into the water. I was alone now. And that didn't have a hope of changing anytime soon.

End of chapter one!

Wow, you would not believe how much the inspiration for this story was bugging the hell out of me. I couldn't even get to sleep with this idea in my head. That's not an exaggeration that's for real.

See y'all later.