Kestrel Featherwood's Story

There was a shrill screech as a large hyacinth macaw flapped it's way into the lounge. It landed on the fireplace mantle and looked at Opal. The shrieked again, and again, and again, like any macaw.... the noise it made was simply... ear-piercing. If someone wasn't already crazy they sure would be after hearing such a noise. After a moment of sitting there it made a noise that sounded like hello, but it was hard for most people with untrained ears to decipher.

"Mr. Finklehopper!" A voice called from down the hall. Kestrel came through the door to the lounge and gazed around a moment before spotting the bird. He shook his head and walked over to it, then held his arm up for it to step on, "Step up," he told the bird, and it did. Mr.Finklehpper gently touched Kestrel's arm with his beak as he climbed onto the boy's forearm.

Kestrel looked at Opal, "My apologies... he likes to roam throughout the mansions sometimes..."

A young girl dropped her head on the table and groaned loudly in frustration, only to receive a rebuke from the librarian in the form of a sibilant "Shhhh" . She looked up quickly and gave an apologetic look to the librarian who looked equally, if not more, frustrated at the offending noise - the night-shift would do that to you. She couldn't help it though; Butler Featherwood absolutely /HATED/ writing book reports - especially on a book as.. antique.. as "Pride and Prejudice" - couldn't they have even swung for "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" ? She wouldn't have minded that one so much, just having to excuse the fact that it stereotyped zombies as heartless, mindless creatures. Butler, personally, had some friends who were zombies. Or she did until they.. well, fell apart.

Barring the scent, they weren't so bad.

"Okay. Once more." She said to herself; a little too loudly though as the librarian chided her again with another long "Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh". Butler glared down at the book, intending it for the librarian, Ms.Patsburg. "Whose idea was it anyway to put a lady with super enhanced hearing as librarian anyway ?"

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

"I wasn't even talking lou-"

"Shhhhhhh."

The poor girl sighed and looked upwards as though seeking mercy from whatever deity would offer it to her. Instead of mercy, she found the piercing eyes of her father staring back at her - the eyes of a portrait, of course.

'Right. That's who hired you.' She thought. 'Ever-loving Father.'

She opened her book to attempt picking back up but decided she'd check in with her brother first. Telepathically, of course.

'Hey Kestie, what're you up to? Whatever it is, I'm sure it couldn't be worse than having PatBurger down your throat.'

Mr. Finklehopper flew off of Kestrel's arm and landed on the back of one of the chairs. He then bowed his head up and down at Naomi.

"He likes you..." Kestrel informed the girl. he then looked over at Opal, "I was three when I got him... thus the child-like name... and he likes to hop around on the floor."

Kestrel was not all that impressed with Opal's attitude. he didn't like rude people, and well, Opal was certainly not making a good first impression. Though Kestrel highly doubted that he really cared all that much.

Kestrel was currently still in the lounge, but he heard his sister calling his name.

"Im in the common room with Mr. Finklehopper... there are two others here... but I don't think they are too impressed... Mr.F is being pretty loud, per usual... what are you up to right now?"

Kestrel very much enjoyed his ability to communicate with Butler telepathically. It was nice to be able to talk to someone who wasn't even in the same room, and it was also a much more efficient way to carry out a private conversation. No one could eves drop on them.


Kojo made his way through the library. The boy's sandy colored hair was a mess and he was shirtless, as always.

The boy never wore a shirt. It was school policy to wear one, but he got away with it more often than not, because of what he was. Which... he wasn't even sure what he was. There were many like him in another part of the world, but they had no label. When he wanted to he could sprout a short, striped tail and a pair of fluffy ears.... or even turn completely into a hyena... but there was no explanation. Many people referred to his kind as a race of demon, but he was not vicious!

He was carrying a book, "Treasure Island," a classic book for his English class. Of course, he had just finished reading the book, and he now needed to start on his report, which was due sooner than it seemed.

Kojo spotted Butler and smiled, "Hello."

He had never met Butler before... and now was his chance to make a new friend! Or so he had hoped...

Kestrel let out a sigh and picked up Mr. F. "My Father is the owner of Featherwood Halls. I also have an older sister named butler... shes in the library trying to finish up her book report... I hope both of you have made yourselves at home and are comfortable... once again, I am sorry about the screeching, but that's a natural part of a macaw's life... Mr. F does it to communicate with everyone..."

Butler quietly flicked through the pages of the library book but wasn't paying too much attention to any of the words - she was more waiting on a response from her brother since the book had long since lost her attention.
She loved her brother, even if he was a dork with that bird of his sometimes - but even with Mr.Finklehopper, he was still better than Father. She actually couldn't fathom being an only child - maybe, he felt the same way?

'Are you making new friends, Kestie? And I've told you, that bird and people don't mix. Me? I'm at the library right now, can't focus on thi-'

Concentrated on sending her message, she didn't notice the shirtless Kojo until he spoke which gave her a small start,"H-huh ?"
Blinking, she turned a bit, staring directly at his abdomen which.. wasn't all fat, she had to say.

Wait, why wasn't he wearing a shirt ?

She looked up to his face then, "Hi. Is there something I can help you with? Some clothes, maybe ?" There was no hint of malice in her voice - actually, she sounded entirely genuine with her offer. And, there was muscle on him, yes, but she wasn't going to allow herself to get ditzy over it - maybe Butler from a few years back would have, but not her. She'd learnt her lesson with that.

"I don't think so... they don't seem to like me all that much... Butler? Butler? Helllloooo? Are you okay?" Kestrel was very concerned as to why his sister had cut off like that...

Kojo's face turned red with embarrassment. "Er... I was just going to ask you if you are working on the book report for the English class... and... where I come from no one wears shirts... or even pants at times... it restricts the freedom of movement... but I assumed upon applying to this school that going nude is frowned upon," he snickered. "I would wear a shirt if they asked me to... but no one has told me to put one on yet," Kojo explained with a shrug. "Im a shape-shifter... of sorts."

kestrel decided to slip out of the room. it's not like either of them would notice anyway. He had seen the boy outside and figured he should probably go and greet him. Maybe he would like to be friends with kestrel, or so he hoped... though Zeron didn't exactly look like the kind of person that Kestrel would hang out with... not that Kestrel had ever really hung out with anyone besides his sister anyway.

So with that, he was out the door!

Once outside he walked over quietly, unsure of what to say. He stood in front of Zeron and scratched his head, then decided to just say hello. Kestrel held his hand down to Zeron, 'Er, hello, my name is Kestrel Featherwood... welcome to Featherwood halls..."

Mr. Finklehopper squawked a shrill "hello!"

-- Zeron

Kestrel lowered his hand and tilted his head. Mr. F seemed to be the most excited about the introductions. He hopped down from Kestrel's shoulder and wandered on over to Zeron. The bird tilted it's head and stared up at Zeron. "Hello!" It squawked. He ruffled his soft blue feathers and waddled around.

Kestrel shook his head and snickered, "It's nice to meet you too. if you need any help find a classroom or such, just ask. has your stay been a good one thus far?" He was not very good at introductions. But, he really wanted to make some friends and saying hello was a good way to do so, right? Or at least, that's what he had been made to believe.

-- Zeron

"Ah, alright, well, I hope everything goes well for you." Kestrel wasn't all too sure about Zeron. He wasn't sure if he was interested in being friends. he figured he should probably leave. After all, he was pretty sure that he was annoying him... Kestrel was good at getting people to avoid him... everyone thought he was awkward and weird.

He held up his arm, "Come on Mr. F, step up!" He told the bird. And with that the large blue macaw flapped it's wings and flew over to Kestrel, landing on his forearm. Mr. F let out an ear piercing screech before settling comfortably. "I hope Mr. F's noises are not too much for you... everyone else seems to be quite annoyed by him..."

Kestrel did not find Zeron strange. But he assumed he was being annoying. "Im sorry... im not very used to socializing with people so... I come off as awkward to most... ad im kinda shy." That took a lot to admit. He scratched his head and looked at the ground, "Honestly, my bird is my only friend."

"I just dont know what to say, really... I am sorry."

Kestrel had always been terrible at holding a conversation. His father had always critisized him for it, thus making him all the more shy and withdrawn because of it. The only person who had ever bothered to help him out was his sister.

Butler zoned out Kestrel a bit in order to listen to Kojo but she understood that he was vying for her attention - if there was any sort of emergency, he already knew where she was but she decided to respond to him as to not worry her little brother. 'Oh Kestie, you've got to try.' Well, that didn't entirely make sense because he was trying now, wasn't he ? And according to him, it wasn't going too well, 'Put yourself out there. See if you've got anything in common with the others.'

Then, before the guy thought she'd spaced out on him, she nodded to show she was following, "Book report, yeah.. but they stuck us with boring,old 'Pride and Prejudice' in the Advanced class."

She was about to address the situation of his lack of clothing but Ms.Patsburg had been quietly steaming at her desk for quite a while- so much so that she just appeared before them (not via teleportation), "You, you. Out." She said, pointing to both Butler and Kojo at point-blank, as if it wasn't obvious enough already. "Don't come back until you're ready to respect the rules of the library."

Butler was about to argue the point that they were talking about studies and such, which was acceptable to a point, but with her enhanced sense of hearing, it wouldn't have made a difference - she had already heard every last word about Kojo's preference for nudity.

Kestrel shook his head, "No thank you... I already have asthma..."

He decided not to say anything further on that particular subject.

"We have a really good cafeteria here at Featherwood. They serve the usual three meals a day but if you go and ask for a snak im sure they would give you one. Dinner won't be starting for a while now. The chefs can be pretty friendly, so long as they are not super busy cooking and stuff. I also have a stash of food in my room, if you are interested." kestrel figured that if he offered Zeron some food he would be his friend. Maybe. Is that how it worked? He wasn't sure.

-- Zeron

Kestrel tried his hardest to hold back a smile. He didn't want to freak him out. Besides, smiling over something like that wasn't cool, right? Or at least, that's what the boy thought. He then looked at his watch, "Aw shit... it's actually time for my gym class... do you have gym next as well? I can show you where the class is."

Kestrel hated P.E and was not excited to go at all.Other students teased him at times because he was not very strong and was terrible at sports. When playing volleyball it wasn't all that uncommon for the ball to hit him in the head and topple him over.

Mr. Hayato just nodded his head slowly and chuckled. "So you think you're clever, do you?" He picked up his clipboard. "Alright, listen here kid, I'll give you half credit for today just because it's your first day... you're only allowed to do that when it's winter time... but if you're not wearing that uniform by tomorrow, you will run 2 laps around this whole school. Now imagine how agonizing that would be." He turned to the class. "But if I see any of you guys copy his idea, you will run 3, got that?" The class answered in a "Yes sir." "Good! Now... lets see here..." He looked down at his clipboard. "Ah yes..." He made his voice loud and clear. "Today's activity is for upper-arm strength. This is useful for those of you who have powers to turn into 4-legged animals, mostly for digging. Also for those who have to use their arms to summon certain things." He pointed to the long rope connected to the ceiling and dangling down. "You will have to climb up that rope and ring the bell at the top. After that, you will get a one-hundred for today. Remember class, this is the easiest thing you will do this year. Now... anyone want to go first?"

Tails stared at the rope. It had to be at least 15 feet tall. Having little to none upper body strength, he gulped. 'This is going to be a long period,' he thought. He was definitely not going to go first. He looked around the class. Hoping someone would volunteer.

After seeing no one raising their hands, he decided to look for the ones avoiding it the most. He spotted a girl with a small pony tail and some weird hair lining. He pointed at her. "You! The one with the retarded antennas!"
Naomi looked up shocked. "M-Me?!"
Mr. Hayato nodded. The class laughed at Naomi's new nickname.
Naomi blushed in embarrassment. "Sir, with all do respect, my hair just does that..."
"And I really don't give a crap, get over there, NOW!!"
Naomi stood up and rushed over to the rope. She grabbed onto it and started to pull herself up. She got about 6 feet off the ground and then fell back down, head first.
"You okay, Antennas?"
Naomi moaned in pain and sat up, rubbing the back of her head. "Absolutely perfect..."
Mr. Hayato frowned. "10 laps around the gym for sarcasm."
Naomi let out a shriek "EHH?!?!" But then stood up and started running around the gym.
Mr. Hayato turned around once again. "Now... who's next?!"