JCO-AF47

Chapter 9

As the weeks passed, I slowly grew restless being on bed rest. Of course, Aerglo and Deimos stayed with me but that didn't stop the feeling of wanting to do something by myself.

Aerglo and Deimos were sitting in front of me playing some weird game that involved large cubed-shaped pieces, while I sat back on the pillows trying to nap. Until I thought of an idea, that is. "Do we have any paper and writing sticks?"

Deimos looked at me confusingly before Aerglo budded in, "Yes, in the cabinet. Why?"

"Could you bring me some please?"

Confused, Aerglo shrugged and flew over and grabbed what I'd asked for. I thanked him as he gave them to me and started to test them on paper.

After getting my bearings I watched them play their game, taking in their movements and small tiny details of their faces. Not even realizing that I already started drawing them playing their strange game.

Drawing was something my father taught me when I was young. He'd always capture anything he could remember onto paper. The painful and happy memories were always jotted down in a brown book he kept with him. I remember his fingers were always blackened with how much he drew, to the point I thought he had permanently stained fingers. My past owners hated when I stole their paper and writing sticks, but this was because they didn't understand what I was doing. All they thought was that it was just a waste of precious materials.

Unlike humans, they didn't need to use pictures to capture moments in time because their memories never faded and they could transfer them to each other with just a touch to the forehead.

Drawing made me appreciate whatever my primary subject was even more, down to the little tiny details. Like how even though Deimos looked unfazed, as soon as he looked up to Aerglo his eyes got a bit brighter, or how Aerglo had small unnoticeable freckles on his feathers that slightly glittered golden in the light.

It helped the time pass beautifully but also made me blissfully unaware of Saros sitting beside me watching as I capture them in the paper. "Extraordinary."

Startled, I looked wide-eyed up at him, quickly trying to hide it. Scared I didn't look up at him, I was too weak and still in a vulnerable state, it didn't help that I have yet to see how Saros exactly punished. "Let me see it, love."

Slowly I gave it to him with shaky fingers, "You never cease to surprise me. It's so lifelike! Zenith you have to see this!"

His words of appreciation helped me relax, none of my past owners thought my work was good. I looked at my blackened fingers from the writing stick, my skin looked iridescent compared to the charcoal substance. "Ceilo, are you okay?"

Looking up, Saros looked at me with a worried expression, "Are you okay Ceilo?"

Nodding, I saw that Zenith had sat next to him and was studying the drawing. He was quiet for a moment before turning to me, "How did you learn this?"

"I learned it from my father, he was an artist before he came here."

"Interesting," he said while comparing it to the other pets, "What is this called?"

"It's a drawing."

Our talking seemed to gather the interest of the other pets because they soon started making their way towards us. Aerglo blushed when he saw what we were talking about, "Is that me?"

"Yes, at least how I see you in my eyes."

"It's truly intriguing that you said that, it seems that your eyes don't see the same thing as ours," Zenith said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we tend to see things in extreme detail. It comes from our past ancestors when we hunted for food, along with our speed," Saros explained.

"So for instance," Zenith pointed at Deimos's face in the picture, "You saw the emotion in his eyes every time he made a move, but what you didn't see is that he has a small crease on his forehead."

I looked at Deimos for a moment, "I don't see it, maybe because of his scales."

"That is the reason. Since when he does make these expressions, his scales barely move."

It was kind of amazing hearing all this information. I always thought that they saw the same thing as me, but it did make sense that their vision was heightened just like their hearing and athleticism. I wonder how I looked to them.

"I also noticed that you see things in a smaller perspective compared to our wide one," Zenith continued, "It's interesting the way you seem to focus on different details compared to what we would."

Saros, seeing my confusion, elaborated on it, "He means you seem to focus on more predatory features and the surrounding area while we focus on everything at once."

Nodding my head in understanding I replied, "I tend to hyper-focus on certain subjects especially ones that I deem a threat, it makes it easier with determining danger so I don't waste my time on something."

"What would you consider threatening about them?" Zenith gestured to the others.

Looking at Aerglo, although he was sweet and kind he was still more dominant and bigger than me. "Aerglo's talons would be the first thing. I don't know why but it causes my fight or flight instincts to kick in," I looked him over again, "Another one is his eyes, I can tell his kind used to use them for hunting. Other than those two features I can determine he's not a threat by the way he acts around me."

Saros nodded in approval, "I suppose Deimos is pretty obvious because he's naturally intimidating."

I nodded.

"What do you find dangerous about Ceilo?" Saros looked at the other two.

Deimos bluntly stated nothing as he rolled his eyes and went back to the game. Aerglo on the other hand made me interested in what he said, "The secrets and the way you adapt. Now that I know your kind is not from our world, it scares me because I don't know how intelligent you are. This makes you an adaptable creature that is still showing us what you can do and all your tribe's secrets."

I mean he had a point, even when I was small the Sephrimes experimented with me and the cats to see how I'd react. I adapted a lot of the cats' customs and mannerisms because of that.

"Your tribe does keep many secrets, and it seems more than I initially thought," Saros said while rubbing Aerglo's wing lightly.

I said nothing to that.

"Ceilo," Zenith said in a light voice, "Are we a threat to you?"

I didn't answer them.