Ah, Bulbories. A species many don't care about. To sylestians, and even sylesties, they're just, well, there. They've never been considered best in anything, and like a few other species, they just seem to disappear. But, one Bulbori changed that, and created something beautiful.
Tell me, have you ever heard of the Bulbori Army, young one? Have you ever heard of it's glory and power before?
Have you ever heard of the noble rulers that lead it, and united every species of Sylestia? It was considered an empire, the one that once made sylestia what it was.
But first, if I'm to tell the tale properly, it has to start from the beginning. It all started with one Bulbori, one Bulbori named....
Arabia.
"It's hatching!" A female Bulbori exclaimed, peering at her own tiny egg. "Desert, come quick!"
Both Bulbories watched the egg hatch, shaking and making noises, something was clearly living inside.
Soon a hatchling peered out. He looked like both his parents.
"Oh, he's beautiful, Desert."
"I know we do not have much, Tatiana, but we will raise him to do great things." He promised, as the hatchling peered at him curiously with pale, purple-tinted honey colored eyes.
"You can sense it too, it seems like fate has woven an interesting destiny for him."
"For now, though, he is our precious son. Arabia."
"A lovely name for a lovely child. I wonder what he shall grow up to be."
"Only time will tell." Desert smiled wistfully, looking at his son with love. |
Before continuing, there might be something else I should say. At the time, Sylestia was ruled by Puffadores. The way they ruled, it kept every species in a place on a scale of most important to least. Bulbories were among the least. As I mentioned before, they faded into the background.
This scale was developed even more, until it also ranked riches and other things. Discrimination was made so far that Sylesties began to keep to themselves. At this point, Sylesties lived in their own villages on their own. The only time they ever mingled were for two things: one of them was work, jobs that paid well were allowed by all species to be taken up, even though still some jobs refused to take certain species or even all but one. The other time it was allowed for species to mingle was the annual Festival.
The Festival was something every Sylesti looked forward to. Held by the Puffadores, it was lavish. Filled with games, performances, and many other things that could only be described by seeing them. There was one grove, big and set aside, where it would be held, the beauty surrounded by falling cherry blossom petals from the trees. The Festival began the first day the trees would shed their petals, and ended the day the trees were bare and the ground was littered with pastel pink.
That being said, every Sylesti was invited to The Festival. It was a time of happiness for all Sylesties, and nothing ruined it.
And now, it was Arabia's first Festival.
"Don't go too far!" Tatiana warned Arabia, who was with his friend, Clover.
"Don't worry, we won't!" Clover called back, rushing of with Arabia, giggling happily.
The two were so busy giggling, playing tag, that Clover almost bumped into a Puffadore hatchling.
"Watch it!" The Puffadore growled, glaring at the two Bulbories.
"S-Sorry!" Clover said, regarding the new sylesti with interest.
"Hmph." He growled, and was about to stalk away, but couldn't manage to when Clover stopped him. "What are you doing?" He demanded angrily.
"You're a Puffadore, aren't you?"
"Of course I am, Bulbori." He spat the word out like it was some sort of horrible thing.
"So you get to live in this beautiful home?" She asked, her words filled with wonderment.
"Beautiful? More like miserable." He said, and for a moment, Arabia could detect a hint of sadness in his voice, even though it was so quick, it could've been his imagination.
"Why?" Clover asked, now concerned. Clover was a very chatty sylesti, but she was also kind and caring. It seemed sometimes that she couldn't detect hostility, because she always radiated friendliness, no matter what.
"Puffadores, though seemingly lustrous, are often cruel creatures." A third voice spoke, and a Ryori hatchling melted from the shadows.
"It's true." The puffadore sniffed. "And that includes to our own species. It's custom to not show any 'sensitive' emotions."
"Basically everything but anger and disgust." The Ryori summarized.
"That must get so depressing." Clover commented.
"Yeah." Arabia added. "In our village, we have fun together. Everybody's happy, even though we're somewhat broke."
"Lucky you." He sighed.
"Come on. Let's go have some real fun!" Arabia suggested. "You're it!"
"Hey, wait!" The two Bulbories and the Ryori ran off.
"Come on! You know what tag is, don't you?" Arabia asked, rushing off.
"Yes, but I've never-"
"You have now!" Clover exclaimed.
~~~~
The four spent the whole day playing tag, until it was sunset.
"Wanna do this again tomorrow?" The puffadore suggested.
"Sure, but first, My name's Clover, and this is Arabia."
"I'm Frost." The puffadore replied.
"I'm Vasilisa!" The Ryori giggled. "See you guys tomorrow!" |
