Report One: Study of Myth

Are you afraid of things Hidden in the Dark?
Are you afraid of All Things Lost?
Dragons, Demons, Unicorns and Dreams are all Real,
Just like You and Me.

- Dark, The Book of Memories

Ishtar flopped backwards into the brush. He whimpered as he looked up into the trees that swayed in the light breeze. The fading light trickled through the branches, all life besides him had seemingly vanished. This forest of not so ominous didn't sit well with him. He wanted to go home.

The book beside him stirred. It's black leather bound cover seemed to wrinkle back in anger, and it's single red eye shot back and forward between the boy and the surrounding area. It hissed, "This is your fault!"

The boy whimpered and curled up defensively. He let his blonde and silver hair fall onto his face, which was covered in a fine black fur. His unusual black backed eyes were shut tightly and he whimpered once again as his tail curled defensively around him. He had only been reading this strange book and its rhymes about strange creatures, he hadn't expected it to talk and drag him to some strange place--that was obviously less technically advanced. He could starve to death!

"It's not my fault!" he yelped.

"Fine, it's my fault and we're stuck here."

He wanted to cry. He wanted to scream he wanted to wake up from this dream. It was just like being back there all over again. "This is just a nightmare," he said aloud, "This is just a horrible dream."

"Nightmare? No, hardly. I can show you a real nightmare if you like..." the book seemed to chuckle as it spoke. It obviously found this whole situation amusing. Had it lured others into a crazy wonderland like Ishtar? Or was he simply the special one. He hoped that neither were true, and that he would be able to get home.

His frail and flightless wings twitched as he uncurled himself, a look of absolute pity painted onto his face. He was a broke boy, so far gone there was never real hope to begin with. This was his last chance. "Please tell me we can go home?"

"Alas, pretty boy, I'm afraid that can't be done. Until your sorry mission is completed"

"What mission?" the boy pleaded with the book for an answer.

"I'm not the one who called you here, boy, it was all someone else's doing."

The boy shuddered and fell back into the brush. He would stay here until someone other than the book found him. Hopefully the people where friendly, and didn't try to kill him for his strange looks. That would be nice for a change.

The book and the boy were not a normal couple. Ishtar was a chimera, a human who had been spliced together with several animals and one unknown source, a composite creature of mythical proportions. He was created as a human weapon, an assassin of sorts. The laboratory however had not calculated Ishtar's free will into any equation, and hadn't expected him to disobey. No one had expected a bird, dog human mix to rebel again its creators. They all forgot that Ishtar was a person, not a tool or thing.

He was only thirteen when he escaped.

The demonic book--D for short--was also a similar composite creature. However he was not created for the sake of destruction, but for record keeping. He was a simple book created by the Angel of Wrath to match her sword, Ber. Some people said this was impossible--because angels couldn't exist. People didn't realise that angels don't have to follow the rules like every one else--especially Wrath.

The book was not an ordinary record keeper, it was similar to Wrath's sword. It had a personality, a voice, and a secondary form depending on the holder. Since the young Chimera had just aquired the book he was still without a proper form. There was no bond between the holder and the book, so nothing could take place.

D wasn't just for record keeping... but Ishtar wouldn't find that out until his quest was nearly complete.

He had fallen asleep in the brush. He remembered that. When he woke with a start in the a candle lit room on a down mattress he was shocked. Ishtar's fur stood on end for a moment, before his eyes adjusted to the light. The book was sitting on the counter besides him, along with the light source. Did they have no electricity? He hadn't seen a place that ran on only candles in his life time. How had he gotten here in the first place? Perhaps it was just a horrible dream within a dream. That he had just woke up from. No that wasn't right either. He scanned the room. There was no one else around, he was alone in this small wooden room.

He curled up defensively, clutching his legs and wrapping his tail around them. When had be become so damn helpless? He was fine when Roja with out. Was it because of the book? Was it because of the room? Ishtar simply had too many unanswered questions. It was all just an excuse.

This place reminded him of the lab and his parents. He had few memories of his parents. He remembered his mother saying his name though. She spoke softly and combed her fingers through his hair. It was a small comfort now, knowing what he had gone through, and what horrible experiments and needles. Another human's touch still bothered him.. then again he wasn't human anymore. He had no real name, no real face to those people. He was just a number and a set of letters stringed together.

Monster. That was the word.

The door opened with a soft click, Isthar hastily flopped back down and pretended to be asleep. A dark figure with pale skin slinked into the room. Ishtar could see his bright red eyes shine in the candle light as he squinted. The man's--Ishtar could only assume--heavy boots clunked on the floor as the coat rustled with each movement. The figure leaned over Ishtar, a set of crosses dangling from his neck. He placed a hand on the chimera's forehead and nodded silently before removing it.

The figure turned around and headed to the door swiftly, but didn't exit. He locked the door with a metallic twang. "Get up boy," said the figure in a soft, but masculine voice.

Ishtar still flinched before he slowly sat up. The man's face was revealed in the dim lighting. He was young, with smooth nearly white skin with black short cropped hair. His high collar color gave Ishtar the overwhelming feeling that the man looked like a doll. His jacket had short cropped sleeves, and several patched places in the leather. His gloves reached almost to his elbow. He had bangles around both of his ankles, several belts and crosses on his waist, and probably a weapon or two hidden on his body. He was completely in leather--that was the part that scared Ishtar. He was like some vampire hunter....

The man's eyebrow twitched as Ishtar continued to stare at him, waiting for something to happen. "So, you're not a vampire, you're not a demon, what the hell are you?"

He had no real answer for that. "I'm a chimera."

The man stared blankly.

"I... I was human and bad stuff happened," he felt himself choking on his own words. Damn, he was almost an adult, he shouldn't make a fool of himself in front of a stranger who could easily kill him. He looked up at the man helplessly struggling for words.

The man sighed and reached for the candle.  "Let's talk in the den. My name is Mik, what's yours?" he asked in a dry and uninterested tone. The man obviously didn't want to deal with the stranger.

Ishtar wasn't sure how to react as he watched the man unbolt the door and wait for him in the entryway. Maybe he should take the book? Maybe...

Ishtar took a deep mental breath and stood up, wobbly at first, but he regained his senses in a bit. He slipped the book off of the table, and walked to the man. "My name is Ishtar," he said as clearly as possible.

The man looked surprised, "That's a girl's name!"

"My parents wanted a girl. So after giving me this name, they sold me to an organization that made me look like a hideous monster that no one could love as a human being. You think my name matters? They gave me a codename and number, would you like to call me that?" Ishtar slapped a hand over his mouth as soon as he was done. He snapped. He did that every once in a while. He was much too embarrassed to apologize.

Mik looked taken aback. Without another word he turn around and walked off. Ishtar followed him slowly, with his head down. It was horribly embarrassing. He didn't look up until he felt something placed on his head. "Look, Ishtar, it looks like you've got nowhere to go, so you can stay with me if you like," Mik lifted his hand off of the cowboy like hat that was placed on Ishtar's head.

"Thank you," the boy muttered. It was the only thing that could come out of his mouth for a long while.