The Gryphon, The Piano and The Love - Part Two.

The months passed in a blur, it seemed. September, along with its icy winds finally settled upon San Francisco, but deep within the confides of the iDen Biotech Research Facility, the weather did little to affect the progress science was making. Valentine was nearing adulthood, according to Rachel and Cordell. Long gone were the days of simple door-unlocking tests and picture puzzles. Nadia watched from observation deck seven of the enormous chamber twenty-six where Valentine was making his way through an aerial obstacle course designed for the testing of ZHAR fighters and other flight-enabled machinery.

He swooped, dived, banked and did a little barrel-roll with ease as he dodged moving walls and went through hoops. Truly, he lion DNA along with its cat-like reflexes had given him an edge over being pure eagle, as Noah had wanted in the beginning. Today, he wore only a pair of sweatpants for aerodynamics, leaving his upper body bare. From the monitor on the wall to her right, Nadia could make out every slight change in his expression and every ripple of muscle beneath his golden fur. He's stronger now, she thought. He was smiling now, and Nadia couldn't help but think that he belonged in the sky. He just seemed happier in the air. It must be an exhilarating experience, flying. Valentine had a head-mounted camera for a first-person view but Nadia didn't dare look in the direction of that monitor for fear of dizziness.

Valentine was near completing of the course. All that was left to do now was to grab the red football on the highest podium in the center of the room. Like the climax of every action movie, the hero had to defeat some sort of villain before the happy ending could come, and this villain just happened to be a ZHAR fighter.

Nadia gasped. This wasn't part of the test! She almost ripped the phone off the wall in her haste to contact Costanzo. She mashed the number three, the observation deck he was in. He picked up in a heartbeat.

'WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON?!' Nadia screamed into the mouthpiece, just as the gunfire began.

It took Brock a few seconds to answer; likely afraid that Nadia would scream into the phone again.

'What are you talking about?'

'The fighter! Why is it there!? Get it to stop!' she pleaded. She was afraid to look, but in her peripheral vision, she could make out two very large shapes rocketing all over the room.

'It's a test element, you-'

'STOP IT NOW!'

'I can't. Look, just watch-' Nadia slammed the phone down and prayed as she went to within an inch of the glass. She gaped at the sight before her: Valentine was all over the place, his wings working the hardest than they've ever worked before to survive. The boomerang-shaped fighter was hot on his toes, its advanced on-board computer locked-on and poised for the kill as it expelled round after round at him.

She'd seen one of these things in action before; designed exclusively to hunt down and likely kill, they have never once failed at their jobs. Valentine was doing a sort of zig-zag to throw if off but that only lessened the gap between predator and prey. She gasped as one of the rounds his his wing and he cried out in pain. It looked like he was done for but it all happened in the blink of an eye - slowing down, then doing a sort of backward somersault before latching himself onto the body of the craft. The whole thing then started to buck and careen wildly, trying to throw him off.

Valentine was digging at something at the top of its triangular body. Then, he let go and stomped down on the whole thing hard, so that it crashed nose-first into the floor and exploded. Bits of the high-tech craft flew in all directions and several even struck the window Nadia was looking out of.

Nadia stared at the blackened spot in the white flooring. The impact created a small crater in the floor and bits of broken tiles were everywhere. Crumpled beyond recognition, several employees were trying to extinguish the remains of the high-tech killing machine which was now on fire. Realization hitting her, she scanned the room for Valentine and found him perched on the high podium with the red ball in hand. He was positively exhausted: doubling over and coughing, and clutching at his side which was running red.

Nadia dashed out of the observation deck and into the corridor, where she was met with the sight of Dr. Brock Costanzo, who was talking with several other employees.

'Yeah, get the report to Cordell and Noah ASAP, they'll - Ah, Nadia, you see? He made it. You-' she didn't get to hear what else he had to say for she had struck him across the face with her hand.

'YOU FUCKING JERK, BROCK! You had no right to put him in danger like that! You-you...' she swore and several of the guys he was with looked at each other uneasily. She hated this: getting so angry that words simply failed. Even worse was the fact that she was crying. Luckily, Brock didn't have any witty retorts that would make her even more mad. She turned her back to him and headed towards the chamber entrance, where she pushed the doors open and jogged over to Valentine who had landed and was lying on his back. A medic was kneeling over him.

'Nadia!' It surprised her almost all the time at how adult-like he sounded. And he had a slight British accent now after the many hundreds of hours spent in Nadia's company.

'Shh, don't talk.' Nadia knelt down to check on the wound.

'He'll be fine, ma'am. The round just grazed him.' said the medic through her face mask. 'Is everything alright, ma'am?'

'Sorry, what was that?'

'You're crying.'

'Oh, it's nothing, really,' the nurse continued to stare at her in concern until Nadia asked about whether Valentine would be okay.

'I'm a trained professional, Doctor,' she said cheerily and Nadia was glad she dropped the whole crying thing. She thought she sounded Southern. 'Don't you worry yourself. I'll just patch him up and he'll be up and running in no time - or flying,' she added, nothing his wings.

'Thank you so much.'

'No problem, Doctor. Just doing my job.' she stood up and waved in several people with a stretcher.

'Nadia, I finished,' Valentine said weakly before grunting in pain.

'Oh, Valentine...' Nadia moved closer to his head to look into his eyes. 'I'm so sorry, I didn't know what they were going to do.'

'It's alright,' he said with a lopsided smile. He handed her the red football.

She would've went with Valentine and the doctors to wherever it was they were taking him (various parts of the facility changed functions like a person changed clothes) but Nadia had work to do and as the doctor had said, Valentine would be fine. They'd likely sedate him and let him rest, she thought.

She didn't quite know how she felt at that moment, but it didn't feel very good. There was just this lingering doubt and uncertainty that scared her. Also mixed in were the emotions of happiness at Valentine's accomplishments and also dread at where he was headed. As she headed back up to the research labs and her office, she couldn't help but wonder what he was for. Why invest almost a billion dollars into making a talking gryphon? Noah risked going against the Geneva Convention for this and yet, it didn't seem to have a purpose. iDen invested heavily in the RED project; more than weaponry, transportation and everything else and Professor Noah Benton was no fool.

She pondered over this some more in the elevator after leaving the football in one of the observation rooms. Whatever he was for, his relevance seemed to have lessened recently. Rachel didn't visit him as often anymore. Her visits were courtesy calls at best and had little to do with science. She seemed to enjoy Valentine's company more than the others. Rachel was busy today with "something big" and she even invited Nadia to tag along but she kindly turned her down. Valentine's tests were more important.

The familiar "ding" the elevator made chimed and she made a dash to get out. She needed some time to clear her head. Then, as the doors slid open, she almost collided with the man before her.

'Oh, hey, sorry,' he said with a small smile. He was tall and well-built. She would have thought he was a GUARD except that he lacked the black and red uniform they were always seen in. His T-shirt also had the word "USMC" on it, proving her suspicion.

'Would you mind helping me out? I kind of lost,' he said, scratching at he back of his head. She thought he looked rather charming.

'Well, I'm free now, I guess. What sort of help would you be needing?'

'Directions.'

'New here, are we?' she smiled.

'Yeah, I'm here for the Knight Program.'

'Knight Program?' Did he say that correctly?

He whistled. 'Wow, that under-wraps, huh?'

'Well, iDen does keep secrets from everyone. I didn't even know there was a library here until this morning. So where to, soldier?'

He looked down at his shirt and smiled. 'It's captain, actually.'

'Captain?'

'Captain Jacob Turner,' he smiled, extending a hand which she shook.

'Doctor Nadia Simone. Nice meeting you, Captain Turner. I always thought captains were white-haired drill sergeant-types. You look a little young to be a captain.'

On the contrary, he looked rather handsome: brown hair, amber eyes and a friendly face. Nadia noted that he had nice teeth too.

He smiled. 'I guess so - people tell me that all the time. Would you mind directing me to the briefing rooms? That's near the Alpha Labs, I think. I keep forgetting which floor it's on.'

'Wow, you're really lost then. That's on the other side of the facility.'

'Aw, damn,' he laughed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

'Don't worry, I'll escort you there if you want me to.'

'Really? You'd do that for me?'

'What are friends for?'

'So we're friends now?'

'Well, I imagine you military lot don't really get along in places like this - places where competition is the name of the game, and seeing as you're this lost, it's likely you've consulted nobody on directions because either a) you're fiercely independent, or b) you have no friends here.'

'Wow, that last bit's a little harsh, but yeah, you're almost right. What are you? A psychologist?' he said, climbing into the elevator. Nadia pushed the right floor button for him.

'Correct.'

'Ah,' he nodded. 'British?'

'Correct again.'

'Your accent's really hot,' he teased.

Nadia giggled for the first time that day. 'Oh, you tease... I like your shirt.'

'Yeah, I like it too - highlights my frame well,' he said, and he was right.

The rest of their journey to the briefing rooms near the Alpha Labs were spent with getting to know each other and then finally, exchanging phone numbers. As she bid goodbye to Captain Jacob Turner, she couldn't help but feel yet another emotion that day. It felt good; better than just plain happiness. Dare she call it love? She smiled at the thought as she made her way to Rachel who had conveniently materialized at the end of the corridor.

'Evening, Nadia, you seem overly smug about something.'

'What? Oh, it's nothing.' she said, her smile vanishing.

'I heard about Valentine. He's in Beta thirteen - resting now.'

'That's great. Thanks.'

'Listen, Nadia. Sorry to interrupt your break, but I've got a new project for you.'

'A new project?' Nadia's only responsibility these past few months was Valentine. Apart from helping someone do the occasional lab tests, she really didn't have any other function in the clockwork that made up iDen.

'Yes, it's nothing too big and you're welcome to pull out if it's too taxing. Project Knight'

'Project Knight?'

'Yes, I need someone to tend to the mental health of our new test subjects - army guys and such. I'm heading to the briefing room right now, you coming?'

'Oh, uh, sure. Sure thing.'

The room was dark with a powerpoint presentation going on. Nadia found Jacob among the sea of uniforms and serious-looking faces. He smiled at her and she returned a wave.

'I see you've met Captain Turner,' Rachel whispered into her ear.

'Yes, we've gotten acquainted.'

'Did you get his number?' Rachel said quite audibly.

'Rachel!' she said under her breath.

'What? He seems like a nice guy. I'm just recommending that you consider reeling in this fish. He's different.'

'Great, so he's a fish now,' Nadia rolled her eyes and the two of them kept silent throughout the duration of presentation on the history of iDen and the Knight Program. Nadia didn't really pay attention for she was for too busy mulling over Captain Jacob Turner and what the future had in store for the two of them.

The Gryphon, The Piano and The Love.

'He simply doesn't want speak...'

Nadia stared at Cordell. 'What do you mean? He comprehends speech. You just said it yourself, he's exceptionally bright.'

Professor Alexander Cordell didn't immediately reply. His eyes were fixed on the small child-like creature beyond the glass who was proving his exceptional aptitude at piano. Valder Fields was a nice simple song that anyone could learn with enough practice, but playing it all perfectly after just one listen was extraordinary. Even more extraordinary was the fact that RED-1137 had never come across a piano in his life until about half an hour ago. Previous tests yielded the same result: an all-rounder that very effortlessly out-striped a human being. The professor was far away, his mind pondering, no doubt, over the boy and what else he may be capable of.

'1137 is truly something, isn't he...' he said finally, eyes still fixed on the boy.

'Valentine is more than just something. He's a gift.'

'You seem to have a fondness towards the boy...' he stated, looking sideways at her.

'Well, I mean, yes, yes, I do... There's just something about him that...' Nadia let her words trail off into nothingness. Alexander nodded for he understood.

'How would you like to extend you stay here at iDen?'

'What?'

'Full-time employment. You will be charged with the upkeep and welfare of young Valentine here. After all, the test results showed that he responds better to you than anyone else.' He finished the last part with a hint of bitterness.

'Well, maybe if you all would cut down on the needles and screening and maybe treat him more like a person-'

'So what do you say?' he said before she could finish. He didn't sound angry or annoyed, rather more eager for results than an argument.

'I... I don't know,' Nadia said finally, and it was the truth.

'You're a very sensitive person, Nadia-'

'Yes, and you're all as cold as stone!' she burst out.

'No, you misunderstood me, I wasn't accusing you of being weak. You have a heart of gold, Nadia... Not many people are like you. It doesn't take a degree in anthropology to see that. You're just better with these things than others. After all, science can only do so much...' Nadia stared at him. The look in his eyes said it all and more.

'You may ask for anything here. You will have full access to the facility and the pay will be generous. There will-' he stopped talking for Nadia raised a hand.

'I'll do it... I don't want a fancy company car or money.' she turned to look at Valentine who had finished the song and was now cocking his head low on keys and sampling the sound every one made. 'You just make sure your people don't hurt him,' she said with unconcealed anger and determination.

'It will be looked into...' Cordell muttered.

'You better...' she said, before entering the room.

It was a spacious chamber with white panels covering the walls. Near the high ceiling were frosted windows where Rachel or some other scientist was busy with a clipboard. It took quite a while to reach Valentine who had stopped his key-pushing and had turned long ago to fix his eyes on her. On approach, he sinked a little on the high stool and his beak gaped a fraction. It was textbook fear, but again, according to Cordell, he responded better to her than the others. She shuddered at the thought of what the others did to make him comply to blood tests, body screening and everything else they made him do.

She stopped a distance away, not wanting to distress him further. Valentine was a timid little thing, she thought. The tan feathers and fur had all grown out, making him more real than the first time she saw him. He was deadlier now... The combination of two top-notch predators made anyone think twice about coming near him. Nadia could picture literally a hundred ways Valentine could harm her and the number kept growing. Even so, it was he who was scared of everyone else. His amber eyes with blood-red pupils were wide with fear.

'May I come sit with you?' Nadia said softly, not breaking eye-contact.

He nodded and made to get off the stool entirely but Nadia held him down gently with her hand as she approached. 'No, please... Sit and play for me.'

He nodded, and Nadia couldn't help buy stare in awe at their sharpness and their intensity. They looked like they could see through her. He blinked and tilted his head a little as if to say "Is everything all right?" She kneeled down beside the stool.

'Could you play that song again? It was beautiful... I've honestly never heard anyone play it as well as you did.' she said. Valentine stared at her.

'You're special, Valentine... Don't forget that...,' she said. He didn't immediately respond. He made a sound and from his beak, the words came.

'T-Thank you,' he croaked clumsily and she stared at him in disbelief. 'You spoke!'

'Is is alright?' he sounded so small, young and innocent, like a little boy who's just confessed to breaking something.

'It-It's better than alright. I-I understand you better.' She smiled and watched as he mirrored her expression with mild difficulty.

'Haven't smiled before, have you?'

'No' he said, starting the song again, his talon-ended fingers dancing over the ivory and ebony gracefully. The song he generated was just so beautiful...

'Well, I think you'll be smiling a lot more often from now on...'

'I hope so...'

'I know so.' she said, wrapping an around him and noting the curious feeling of the feathers beneath the fabric.

Valentine smiled in response and played a little more enthusiastically. Nadia smiled and scooted a little closer to watch his little digits dance over the keys and she mulled over the future and what other gifts the child possessed; gifts that fate had kept hidden from them all.

What Do You Think?

I've been thinking that since I hardly post anything about my life on here, I should post stuff on my books instead. Really, I have nothing of any significance to post here about my life but I have several book-related things I'd like to post here.

Manuscripts, plots, short stories, etc. You get the picture, right? Alternatively, I was thinking about getting a new blog - something just for writing instead. Well, I don't know.

...

Wow, I really have nothing to blog about... Oh! I'm making button badges! Basically, I'm borrowing the idea from JoEe and making new button badges out of old ones. You draw whatever you want on a piece of paper, color it and cut it out, and then you stick in onto the old bad you want to use and then laminate it with book wrapper or something.

I have several designs in the sketchbook I'm using but I haven't colored any of them yet. Expect to see me finished in forever.

Oh, yeah! I've submitted an article to the Minda magazine! And also a picture. The article's below:

The Legend by Brandon Choo, 4 Budi

1966, Somewhere in Oregon

‘Yeah? Get dad to move back to Arizona then I’ll play ball with you!’ he said before slamming the trailer door behind him.

Malcolm stared at the door from his spot on the hood of the station wagon. Malcolm was your average seven-year old kid. He was skinny with black hair and amber eyes, and a passion for baseball. He wore thick glasses and a set of hand-me-down clothes that were slightly soiled with earth. Sliding off onto the earthy ground, he tossed the ball and the mitt he had been playing with into the back seat and went to walk aimlessly around the campsite. It was a huge clearing lined with humungous pine trees, just outside of the skeleton of a town choked with RVs and mobile trailers. At the moment, it was largely vacant as many of the future residents of Nest Hollow were attending a meeting in town. The town hall had only just been finished a few days ago and the roads would be ready in a week. Malcolm’s dad had mentioned that they’d be able to get a look at their new house in a week’s time.

Malcolm’s dad had instructed his older brother, Reiss to take care of Malcolm while they were out, which Reiss apparently interpreted as leaving him alone and ignoring him, just as he had always done. Malcolm and Reiss were like oil and water; the two just didn’t go together. It seemed impossible for someone to be mad and grumpy all the time but Reiss was apparently an exception. Moving to Nest Hollow had only made him worse and every little thing seemed to bug him: the poor TV reception, the endless amounts of rain, the cold, the wildlife – the list seemed to go on forever.

Sure, it was hard for Malcolm too; leaving his friends behind, but he quickly made new ones here on the campsite. He couldn’t help but wonder – was it so difficult for Reiss to do the same? He was nearing one of the picnic tables, paying attention to nothing but the sounds of the forest and the gravel crunching beneath his shoes when he heard the trailer door open behind him. It was Reiss. He had a smile plastered on his face and Malcolm caught the jacket he threw at him.

‘Come on, we’re going for a walk,’ he said cheerfully.

‘Don’t you hate it here?’ Malcolm asked.

‘I think we should go check out that lake near the main road,’ he said, ignoring Malcolm.

‘Dad said we shouldn’t leave the camp grounds.’

‘You want to do something or not?! It’ll be fun! Maybe we’ll see a fox or something.’

Half an hour later, the two of them were leaping over puddles and pushing low-hanging branches out of their faces. It was almost seven and the sky above them was a brilliant orange colour but it wasn’t the time or place to admire a sunset. Night would soon be upon them and the lake was nowhere in sight. The camp grounds were far, far behind them – disturbingly so. Even more disturbing was Reiss’s tuneless whistling mixed in with the sounds of the forest. Even in the low light, Malcolm could see that his smile hadn’t faltered one bit.

‘Do you know where we’re going?’ Malcolm finally said.

‘We’re almost there,’ he said, and something about his tone worried Malcolm.

Malcolm rubbed his hands together and exhaled into them. He made to zip up his jacket for the umpteenth time but the zip was already up. He wished he had thought about bringing along another jacket or at least a pair of gloves. Ahead, Reiss stopped abruptly and Malcolm realized they had emerged in another clearing, but this wasn’t the campgrounds. It was huge; almost the size of two stadiums, but he couldn’t tell exactly how big it was because it was night already.

‘Well, I guess I’ll be seeing you around… or not.’

‘What?’

‘I’m leaving you here,’ Reiss said, looking into Malcolm’s eyes this time. The smile and cheerfulness was gone, replaced instead with a piercing scowl and a crazed look in his eyes.

Malcolm blinked at him. Was he serious? Leaving his own brother in the middle of the forest? It was madness! He couldn’t honestly be serious!

‘Since you love it here so much, I thought it’d be fitting to –‘

He didn’t finish for Malcolm was now attacking him with everything he had.

‘TAKE ME BACK, YOU JERK!’ he yelled. He scratched, clawed, kicked and punched at his brother. Never before had he pushed him this far. Reiss, being more than double his age and size overpowered him easily before he could do any real damage. Malcolm landed on his back, the force of the landing knocking his glasses askew. Reiss’ neck was bleeding.

He opened his mouth to say something but he was cut short by a deep rumbling growl from behind Malcolm. He knew only one animal that made that sound. Malcolm shut his eyes. Heavy footsteps sounded behind him, their force felt in the ground beneath him. When the wolves didn’t immediately began to rip them to shreds, Malcolm opened his eyes a fraction just in time to see the horrified look on Reiss’ face before he turned around and bolted into the darkness. Then, as the wild rustle of leaves and cracking branches died down, only the whisper of the trees and the sound of the animals behind him could be heard. Slowly, he turned to find a pack of seven. The jet black one seemed to be the alpha as he was the biggest and he advanced towards him first.

He didn’t know what to do as the creature slinked around him, scrutinizing him. He could smell him; hear his heavy breathing and he could almost make out the slow rhythmic heart beats from within its chest. He noted his paws: huge with equally huge claws. Malcolm gulped. Suddenly, the creature nudged him onto his back with a forepaw. The beast was on top of him, dwarfing his small frame. The creature was looking into his eyes and Malcolm mirrored him, their noses almost touching. The wolf’s eyes glowed ever so slightly. They were amber, just like his. Then the glow vanished as the creature shut them and did a sort of howl.

It was no ordinary howl. The world around him erupted in a brilliant glow of gold. He could hear what sounded like the wind and music. Shadows and shapes danced around him. Then, from out of the beast’s muzzle came a small orb. It looked like a miniature sun as it inched closer to him and then entered his mouth, sending strange sensations throughout his body. Warmth shot through him, effectively thawing him. Heat seemed to twine itself around his limbs. Surely he would catch fire! The heat was just so intense. Then, the light disappeared and Malcolm blacked out just as the black wolf collapsed dead next to him.

The fawn wolf who had been watching intently just feet away nudged its fallen leader in respect before fetching the boy to take him to the town. Malcolm rested on the back of the creature beneath him as it loped towards the nearest search party of humans, not knowing he was special, not knowing he would be the stuff of legends, not knowing that Reiss would never be found, nor that strange people would start paying his family a visit. He couldn’t know at that moment that Nest Hollow was a town for people who were gifted with his newfound ability and that the mayor was at that precise moment looking through a book for an old fable entitled “The Two Brothers”.

I'd upload the picture but it's in .png format so it'll take quite a while to upload. You can see it on my DeviantArt page here:

http://veneracio.deviantart.com/#/d3q4icc

Thanks for nothing!