Introduction

Relicum, or Future, in Latin, was born with no tail. Her owner said she was a failed experiment, and threw her out. Every Zolnixi clan she traveled to, she was turn away from due to her lack of a tail and unusual markings. Every town and village, every home she pleaded to stay in, she was turned away, thought of as an aberration, a cursed being....

Chapter 1

Once I had accepted the fact that I would never be loved, I stared into my own reflection. I froze when I saw what the depiction held. It was me, no, it couldn't be. It was too grand and elegant to be me. I stared into the glassy water, observing. I saw myself with a pair of elegant wings, myself with a trio of large, full tails. I shook my head and walked away from the pond. What a silly thought!

Afterwards, I begun to have dreams. They told me, they said that the vision I had was my Relicum, my future. After a while I started to believe them. In my mind, it made perfect sense. Relicum was was name! I had never thought about my name before. Maybe, just maybe it was real. I mean, its okay to dream, right?

When I had finally got sick of being turned away, I fled to the Umbra Forest, a place I knew I could live in peace, or so I thought. Not long after I crossed the tree line, I was attacked! I was surrounded by horrid, rotting mushroom creatures. I panicked, I did not know how to fight. I crouched, bared my teeth, and instinctively rose my tail, well, my stub of a tail. Oh no! Without a tail, I couldn't make myself look larger to protect myself and scare of enemies. The creatures closed in, and everything went black....

Chapter 2

I awoke in a wooden room with an open window. It was relatively small, and I was laying on a pile of blankets in the corner. I tried to get up, but every muscle in my body ached. Creaking footsteps brought me on my guard. I pretended to be asleep, but a soft, feminine voice said
"It's alright, you can get up."
I lifted my head, but that hurt too, so I just whined at the girl.

"Youre gonna be okay. Here--" She lifted me up, and set me on a table.

"My name is Second Star. Unless you don't want to, you can stay with me and Nix.".

"Whos Nix?" I thought to myself. "Oh well, I guess I'll find out."

"Nix is my zolnixi, and no, her name has nothing to do with her... umm... zolnixiness. It means snow."

"Wait, how did Second Star know what I was thinking?"

"Oh, I forgot to mention that I can communicate telepathically. I can't read your thoughts, but I can hear what you would say if you could speak my language."

Just then, I heard a soft pad on the door. I focus my attention on my surroundings. I look out the window and see the tops of trees. Those are small trees. No, wait, those are huge trees. I am high up. I'm in a treehouse. Hmmm.... My thoughts are cut off when Second Star opens the door. A pale blue and white zolnixi with a swirling, twinkling fur pattern enters the room. She spots me, and she spreads out her tail in greeting. No, she spreads out her tails in greeting. She has three full, identical tails that trail behind her like ribbons. Instantly, I am jealous.

Maybe I shouldn't be. I look into her eyes and I see that they are cloudy. She is blind. If she is, she doesn't show it. Before Second Star can stop her, Nix is barreling towards me, ready to engage in a playful wrestle. My muscles still ache, and I flinch, ready for impact, but Nix screeches to a halt. She tilts her head sideways, and stares at me, or, well... my general direction.
She starts to speak. Wait, speak? Duh. If Second Star could understand me, She could probably teach nix to speak. Even if she could speak, I could still understand her. Anyway, Nix opens her mouth and starts to speak.

"You're... different"

"You think?" I say in a harsh tone, harsher than I meant to. If I did hurt her feelings, I can't tell. As I am about to apologize for snapping, she replies.

"No, I mean you're special. In a good way, of course."

Second Star smiles slightly. Nix then says

"You have a gift. You can do things that others can't, things that even the most magical beings in Sylestia can't always do."

Instantly, I have so many questions: What gift is this? Does this explain what I saw in the pond? How did this happen? Things like that don't just happen.