Information

Oscine
Legacy Name: Oscine

The Nightmare Lain
Owner: Jolly

Age: 12 years, 10 months, 1 week

Born: June 15th, 2011

Adopted: 12 years, 10 months, 1 week ago

Adopted: June 15th, 2011

Pet Spotlight Winner
March 14th, 2013

Statistics

• Level: 8
   
• Strength: 19
   
• Defense: 15
   
• Speed: 17
   
• Health: 15
   
• HP: 15/15
   
• Intelligence: 0
   
• Books Read: 0
• Food Eaten: 0
• Job: Stock Worker

os·cine

/ˈäsin,ˈäˌsīn/

adjective

1. relating to or denoting passerine birds of a large division that includes the songbirds.

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When she was small, Rebecca Irene Cossette loved birds. She loved their tiny beady eyes, and their delicate feet; their soft feathers and their enviable powers of flight. She wanted to grow up to be a bird, in fact, and she wanted it so badly that one year she told her parents she'd like a bird for her birthday. Unfortunately, her parents absolutely despised birds with every fiber of their being - other than the fibers reserved for loving television. "Rebs," they said, "wouldn't you like a puppy, or a kitten?" "No," she'd tell them firmly, eyes slightly glossy at the slightest idea of being without her precious feathered friend. "I would like a bird, papa, mamma. And I would like him for my birthday." Of course, they didn't get her a bird for her birthday, as they clearly hated her, she resolved. They hated birds, and they hated her, because she loved birds. Why couldn't they love them too?

When her bird fever didn't ebb by the age of twelve, her parents sent her away from Tennessee to a summer camp for children with absolutely nothing better to do. Or at least, that's what she believed it to be. After all, who would want to sleep in a smelly old cabin with a bunch of sports-obsessed thirteen-year-olds - who were both taller and older than her, she observed unhappily - and eat three meals a day that tasted exactly the same? No one who had anything better to do, of course! So she sat through the pep rallies, and the scrabble games they all apparently had to watch, and the very, very tedious soccer matches. She couldn't count on three hands how many times the ball had hit some part of her. And when she returned to her hopeful parents, they were met by an unchanged, if a bit ruffled little Rebecca, still holding out for her very late birthday present.

When she went to college, she made up her mind: she would become an ornithologist. By this point, her parents had finally caved in, and gotten her at least part of what she wanted: company, in one form or another. And even though Todi wasn't a bird, he was the most agreeable kitten she'd ever come across. So Rebecca took her kitten, and all her belongings, and became a scientist of what her parents most hated: birds. Flamingos, hawks, ravens, crows, finches, even the occasional kiwi were swirling around her brain, making her more and more - well, obsessed is a bit of a strong word. Either way, they stayed there, day in and day out, calling to her in their musical language of caws and clicks.

Honestly, it was a bit annoying, but it also made her feel as if she was on the right track. Like she was meant to study ornithology, as if there was something big out there just waiting for her to discover it. And so, the birds urging her on, Rebs graduated college - and a mere week afterwards, received a letter from a company by the odd name of Golden Albatross Incorporated. It was a strange thing, being as she hadn't graduated at the top of her class or made any brilliant breaks in scientific history while studying. No, she was just an average student who had managed to pass with sleepless nights and coffee-fueled days. So why would a world-renowned, family-owned business financially supporting practically half of the nation's sciences be contacting her? It was simply odd, like a bird who'd broken his wing and yet still wanted to hop out the window and try again. But the world was a bit odd all around, Rebecca had come to realize over her twenty-one years, and it was best to simply roll with the punches, as her father would put it.

The moment Rebecca stepped through the glass and platinum doors of the Golden Albatross' headquarters, she knew something was wrong. The birds in her head were tweeting and chirping wildly, for one, and for another Todi was trying desperately to escape from his comfortable perch on her shoulders. It was as if all her instincts had suddenly started screeching in alarm, telling her to get out before you get hurt! But, like the unfortunately bird-like person she was, Rebs took one step inside, and another, and by then her fate was already sealed, as security cameras taped her every move.

When she finally reached the elevator (after wandering around for at least an hour, by the rate Todi had chewed on her hair and clawed at her rather stuffy business suit), she was overcome with dread, as the doors slid open to reveal an imposing man with unhealthily pale skin and a bodyguard's build. His cheeks were sallow, his teeth yellow and chipped, but his eyes were the worst: they were silver. Pure, titanium silver. Rebecca barely managed to cover up a shiver as Todi hissed at the man, who snorted and roughly pushed his way past her. He towered at least two feet over her own five foot three inches, and smelled of raw meat. When he finally disappeared down a long corridor, she let out a slow, shaky breath, petting Todi's head with trembling fingers. Stepping into the elevator, she turned to the closing doors, ready to face her destiny. After all - what did she have to lose now?

The bosses' office was on the top floor, which was pretty ridiculously high for a man so often visited. In her opinion, at least. But when the doors to her elevator opened, Rebs' mind blanked. In front of her, instead of a nice office with a friendly-looking old man sitting behind his pricey desk, was a gigantic, scarred jaguar. It had been facing away from her, but it turned the instant she let out a small squeak of terror, at the same time Todi decided his patience had run out and leapt off her shoulders, scampering into her purse and burrowing himself deep in its contents.

The aforementioned jaguar growled, low and gruff, its muzzle lined with grey and its eyes the same unnerving silver as the man downstairs. It had battle scars mapping almost every inch of its hulking body, and its tail was lashing to and fro with annoyance. Rebecca had only a moment to move - and move she did, letting out a shrill scream as she just barely dodged the powerful blow the jaguar had aimed at her. Its claws sliced through the air, landing heavily on the ground and turning in a mere instant. Everything in nature tells that in the face of certain death, humans either a) cry in terror or b) welcome it, for one reason or another. However, Rebecca did neither of these things. She did not feel ready to die, not by the hands of some overgrown cat, and she certainly did not need to wail and sob over her misfortune. No, Rebs did not feel these things. All she felt... was the need to fly.

Rebecca Irene Cossette loved birds,

so,

she became one.

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profile by User not found: mercy - edits & story by Jolly
won spotlight under name flock

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