Spectrum Lain
JessicaJoya did not know where she was going, but she knew she had to get away and live where she could live in peace.
She looked around, and realized she was completely in the dark, except that she could see twinkling stars around her. Her rainbow feathers looked awkward against the black sky but Joya kept flying upwards. She was going to a place where no other animal had gone, where animals that looked just like the black sky with stars lived.
Joya was beginning to feel tired. She needed to land somewhere so she could rest. But what was she supposed to land on?
She spotted a gray mist that sparkled, and it seemed solid. Approaching it, she touched the mist with her claws, just to make sure. It was solid. Joya was astonished. She landed on the gray mist and tucked her head under her wing.
Joya was unaware that she was being watched. A bird that looked almost like her, except that he was blue and black with strange designs, was looking at the colorful sleeping bird curiously.
I wonder where she can from, Metair thought.
Joya awoke suddenly, now aware that someone was watching her. She saw Metair and froze. Joya spread out her wings and prepared to fly away when Metair spoke.
"Don't leave, I won't hurt you."
Joya looked back at Metair and folded her wings. Metair slowly approached her. "What are you doing here, all alone, young one? You are a Spectrum, are you not? Why are you here instead of the rainbow?"
Metair spoke in a gentle voice, but Joya was still afraid. Still, she replied, "I can't live in the rainbow anymore. It is too dangerous."
"How come?"
"I don't want to say. It hurts."
Metair nodded. He could tell that whatever happened, it was bad.
"Come with me...?"
"I'm Joya."
"Joya, I am Metair." Metair paused. "Come with me, you can live with me and my friends. Our owner, Jessica, is very kind. She won't mind another pet."
So that was how Joya came in the family. She became fast friends with Soleado, Pelearse, and Thnder_Bird. Joya greatly admired the Galactic pets' image; the beautiful colors and the even more beautiful designs and the stars around them. However, all four of the Galactic pets admired Joya's colorful feathers and marveled at the rainbow trails she made. Pelearse recalled being a Spectrum himself...
Several months later Joya's wounds - caused by whatever event that had happened in her original home - were healed. She was able to tell her friends what had happened without feeling the pain that used to be there.
One month before Joya escaped to the stars....
Joya lived with her parents in a beautiful, colorful village. All seemed well. Joya's parents were deeply proud of Joya; she was kind, smart, and beautiful. However, she was only sixteen, and her parents wanted her to marry. Joya told her parents again and again that she was too young; not only was she too young but Joya had absolutely NO interest in marrying.
Her parents were very disappointed by this. Other young female birds her age got married young - it was supposed to be that way in the village. If a female did not want to be a wife or mother...the elders thought that there was something wrong with them.
Joya hated the way females were treated where she lived. She could see it. Females had trouble getting jobs; a lot were constantly abused by their mates, and there were a lot of discrimination against them. Many thought they were inferior and could not do anything the males could. They were seen as weak.
Joya constantly fought against this unfairness; but no one listened to her because she was a female.
Several days later, her parents did something that angered Joya. They had arranged a marriage - without Joya's knowledge. Now she had to marry someone that she barely knew and probably will not love. If Joya was given the choice, Joya would marry someone she LOVED. But no, she was in an arranged marriage.
That day she was supposed to be wedded to the unknown groom. Joya flew away in her anger and did not return.
Her parents and the groom, Specto, went looking for her but failed.
Joya did not go back to the village. She flew and flew until she was miles away from her home. The pain of her parents betraying her like that remained.
Joya found a new village and she loved it there. It was more modern than her home; females and males were treated equally. She found out a lot of females were more interested in a career than marriage.
Joya thought of her parents, and a flash of pain sliced through her. She could not go back; she would not go back. Not when she would probably be wedded to the stranger the moment she returned.
For a couple weeks, she lived in the village. Then she left, and headed for the stars.