Double Taiwanese Reds

[Paio Ichris Jin]

Pika peered into the window of a pet shop.

A cool breeze blew by, sending her bangs into a a messy array of red hair.

An owl, with brownish-red fur peered back at her with golden eyes.

"What are you lookin' at, eh?" She asked it. The golden-eyed owl blinked at her.

"Trying to play dumb eh?" She smiled wryly at it, "How long have you been in there anyway?"

The bird stared owlishly at a poster above Pika's head. It read:

Rare Taiwanese Red-Owl for sale at 44 galleons. Caught 2 days ago.

Pika's eyes nearly popped out of her sockets. 44 galleons! That owl is worth a lot!

The owl stared at Pika in a lonely way. If it were human it would've looked like it was pouting or frowning.

"Maybe I'll consider getting you...." the red-haired girl eyed the owl from head to toe. The owl did a series of poses, trying to show off the good points in himself.

She laughed at the owl's antics. But something else had caught her attention. During one of the poses, Pika had noticed a small patch of white feathers in the bottom right corner of the owl's back. The pattern looked strangely like an eagle. The pure white pattern stood out against the other reddish-brown feathers.

"Hmmm...wait a sec alright?" Pika said to him, holding up a hand, "I'm gonna check my bag to see if I have enough money."

The owl jumped up blissfully and danced around in circles on his perch. Then, he stared at Pika intensely, hoping that she had enough money.

[Paio Ichris Jin]

Pika counted up all the gold and silver she had in her bag.

"42...43........44! Yes! And still some change to boot! Alright!" She pumped her fist in the air and grinned at the owl before racing into the pet shop.


As she ran into the shop, the red owl spread his wings out, showing off fluffs of beautiful white feathers. He soared over all the other pets who were yelling at him for stealing another customer, but he didn't care. He met someone he liked and she was willing to buy him! He'd be free again!

He perched himself upon the girl's shoulder and settled himself there contently.

Pika smiled at her soon-to-be owl and walked up to the counter, placing the amount down.

"Thanks fer coming. Tha's a good owl you bought there, although he's a mute. Can't say nuthin'. But he's easy to recognize, and I can tell, yer both are Taiwanese. Taiwanese doubles! Ha! He'll be a good friend I tell yer. Support yer until the end." The shopkeeper rambled.

"Thanks." And with that, Pika poked her new Taiwanese Red Owl, who chirped inaudibly, but happily.

[Paio Ichris Jin]

"So...." she asked her reddish-brown friend, "What should I name you? Or have you already got a name?"

The owl jumped off his perch, on Pika's shoulder, and landed on the dirt path with a pomf!

Pika smiled. Aww...he's such a cute owl.

He blinked at his new friend and surveyed her with his golden eyes, then he set about tracing something in the dirt path.

Pika leaned in closer to get a better look at what he was doing.


A....chinese character?!


It meant 'fire' in chinese.

"What?" Pika said to the owl, "Are you telling me everyone calls you 'Fire'?" The owl nodded happily. Pika blinked.

"Oh...well, then, okay...what should we call you? Something with 'Fire' right?" To owl nodded again.

"Umm....well, you like fire and I like the night. So....Firestar? Fireskye? Fire....moon?" The owl shook his head profusely.

"What? Too girly for you?" The owl nodded eagerly. Pika sighed and rubbed her temples. "Alright then....what do you want? Firenight?!" The owl pondered the name a bit and then shook his head again.

"Then what do you want??" Pika sighed exasperately. The owl nodded his head towards something shining in the sky. Pika blinked and glanced up, shading her eyes from the brightness.

"Firesun?" He shook his head.

"Sunfire?" He thought for a moment.

"Fireflare?" He shook his head.

"Sunfire?" He nodded happily, having finally decided what his name was to be.

Pika sighed. Man, that was long....

[Paio Ichris Jin]

The double taiwanese reds stopped short in front of Quality Quidditch Supples. Pika was drooling at the window display and if Sunfire were human, he would certainly be drooling as well.

Pika sighed as she stared at the Firebolt on display, "Man, I've always wished I could fly. But instead I've wasted my money on you."

Sunfire looked offended and turned his body so that his back was facing Pika. He waggled his tail feathers to irritate Pika with his trademark white eagle pattern.

She laughed and poked him in the back, "I was just joking, Sunfire! Geez..." Sunfire peered over his shoulder and Pika smiled reaasuringly.

And then they resumed drooling over the Firebolt and Quidditch Supplies in the window display.

[Paio Ichris Jin]

She skimmed down the list of school supplies.

"Hmm...says here," Pika said, reading aloud to her feathered friend, "that I need casual robes, a "pointed" hat, note that it says "pointed", not drooping ones or floppy ones," She said, eyeing Sunfire. He rolled his eyes and nipped Pika's shoulder.

"Hey! Alright alright! I'll continue....geez...No using physical abuse!" She stuck her tongue out at the red owl. She returned to the list, "And....we need gloves, a winter cloak, books....lots of books...hmmm," She skipped the list of titles, "Oh! Here we are. And we need a wand, a cauldron, glass or crystal phials, a telescope..." She paused for a while, "Aw man! We can't get broomsticks!"

Sunfire groaned to himself.

"Ah well....maybe another year. So, where do we go first?" Pika rolled up the parchment and eyed her owl. Sunfire pointed a talon at a clothes shop just a little bit from the right.

"Figures...it's the closest." Pika stuffed the list into her bag. "Alright, let's get this show on the road." And the two marched off towards Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.

[Paio Ichris Jin]

The two of them entered Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. In general, Pika never liked shopping for clothes. It was always the same thing: Pick something you like, check the price, fit it on, try something else on, etc. It was exhausting for her and shopping annoyed her, unless if it was for candy, quidditch supplies, new martial arts uniforms, or pets.

She surveyed the store. The robes ranged from dull brownish clothes, with patches in them, to long and flowy, satin robes in shades from the darkest red to the lightest of purples. It was amazing what the shop held.

A squat little witch with brown-grey hair scurried over to Pika. "Going to Hogwarts, dear?"

Pika snapped out of her trance, "Uh, um, no. Magic Horizons..."

The witch smiled warmly. "Of course! Of course. Now, step up to the stool and stand up straight. Keep your arms spread out like this." And she left, searching in rows and rows of fabric for the MH uniforms.

Pika stood on the stool, eyeing Sunfire, who was perched ontop of the counter, taking out the money, from her bag, needed for the robes. Pika smirked.

"Well, aren't you a clever owl?" She said, grinning wryly. Sunfire faced Pika, staring at her, a mischievous glint in his golden eyes. Madam Malkin came back from the rows of fabric and draped a long black robe over Pika. And then, she started pinning the robes to Pika's size.


After a few minutes, Madam Malkin pulled the robe off and said, smiling gently, "Alright, my dear, you're finished. Come pick up your robes in half an hour."

Pika smiled and returned a quick thank you. Sunfire left the payment on the counter and they left the shop.

He looked questioningly at Pika. She smiled at him and nodded her head in the direction of Flourish and Blotts.

[Sylph]

Sylph was wandering aimlessly down Diagon Alley, peering into the various shops as she did so, not looking for anything in particular. Just then she saw a flash of red; red hair, red eyes, red...owl?
"Hey Pika!" she called, waving above the crowds. "Hey, over here!"
Sylph wound her way through the throngs of people towards the girl.
"Hey, nice owl, Pika" she said, grinning. "Did you just get him?"

[Paio Ichris Jin]

Pika turned around at the mention of her name. That voice....sounded...familiar. Sunfire blinked questioningly at her with his golden eyes. Then she saw Sylph in front of her, grinning happily.

"Hey, nice owl, Pika. Did you just get him?"

Pika smiled happily, "Of all the places to meet and I find you in the middle of the streets of Diagon Alley!" She nodded at Sunfire, "You mean him? Nah...he ain't worth it." Sunfire grumbled from her shoulder and nipped her ear.

"Ow! Hey! I was just kiddin' alright? Geez...Taiwanese owls...Anyway, yeah. Got him over there," She pointed to a shop on the edge of Diagon Alley, and grinned sheepishly, "I think it was fate that brought us together. Just when I was peering in, he was looking out.

"So..." She smiled at Sylph, "Where're you going? I was just heading to Flourish and Blotts to get my books."

[Sylph]

Sylph shrugged.
"I didn't have anywhere in particular in mind, but I could do with some more books" she answered happily, before shooting a swift look at Sunfire.
"Taiwanese Red? Huh, just like you, Pika. He looks like an intelligent one too." she added as she made to stroke Sunfire's head. "I've got an osprey myself, he's a lot bigger and meaner than an owl, but that just makes me like him more. He's still good at carrying messages though. His name's Dylan, after the Celtic God of the Sea, y'know? We'll have to introduce him to Sunfire and see what happens." Sylph grinned as the three of them headed towards Flourish and Blotts.

[Paio Ichris Jin]

They walked (or flown...) into Flourish and Blotts. It was a cozy shop, almost as big as the library of MH. Books of all sizes and colors sat in the shelves. Some were jumping up and around. Others were just normal spellbooks, lying ontop of each other. Another book was constantly changing colors.

Pika stared at the bookstore in awe. She glanced back at Sylph and Sunfire.

"Well...I'm gonna go buy some of my spell books for classes. So I'll meet you at the cashier around...uh..." Pika checked the clock hanging on the wall, "Around 2:15. And then I'll get my robes and we can get ice cream! I still need a wand though...and maybe a cage for Sunfire" He protested blatantly by thrusting a talon in front of her face. "Alright! Alright! No cage!!" She sighed, "Anyway, see you at 2:15 Sylph!"

Pika smiled at her and then strolled off to find her books for school. Although many of the books were very tempting to buy, like: [glow=red,2,300]The Oracle: Let the book tell your future.[/glow]and [glow=green,2,300]Learn Wandless Magic[/glow] but she moved on because of Sunfire's persistent shoving and snapping.

In the end, she had found all her books and Sunfire had allowed Pika to buy one book she liked: [glow=gold,2,300]Curses and Countercurses: Enough to Jinx and Hex friends or foes into oblivion.[/glow] The shopkeeper had told her that the book might be too hard for her, because she wasn't a high enough level. But the price was low (so even if she couldn't do anything in the book, she could still try it another year), and Pika always loved a challenge, no matter how hard and frustrating it got.

She counted out the money in her palm and handed the gold to the man at the counter, and then stood to the side, waiting to meet up with Sylph.

[Sylph]

While Pika went to get her books, Sylph wandered back out into the street, feeling the sun on her face, trying to ignore all the rushing people as the hurried past, too busy to just enjoy the day. Idly Sylph leaned against the window of the book shop; lucky for her she already had all her school supplies, although she could do with picking up some treats for Dylan, and maybe some for her as well... yeah, that would do. She began to stroll down the road, hands in her back pockets, and hummed a little to herself. Not long went passed though before she got distracted by a gaggle of people crowding in front of one of the shops. She glanced around, nothing was evident, it must be something in the window. Sylph side-stepped a few people and weasled her way to the front of the crowd. It was great to be skinny sometimes, very useful. Then Sylph saw what everybody was gawking at. It was the new upgraded firebolt broomstick, finest flying broom in the world.
Sylph had grown up with a muggle father who loved sport, hence so did Sylph. Overall her favorite muggle sport was rugby union, she loved the rough-and-tumble game with it's high demand for skill and cohesive teamwork, but her mother had always tried to get her into quiddich. From what Sylph had seen of it, it was a very exciting game, but she had never got to play it before. What's more was that she hadn't been at the school long enough to try out for the team yet. Sylph shook her head, shoved her hands deep in her pockets and pushed her way back out of the crowd to go and meet Pika.

"Sorry I'm late" she said as she reached the cashier in Flourish and Blotts where Pika was standing with some considerably heavier bags than before. "There was this big thing outside quiddich supplies, apparently the new Firebolt's out. Do you play?"

[Paio Ichris Jin]

Pika stood up straight as she sensed Sylph coming. It was more out of relex than anything else.

"It's alright. I'm late to my classes half the time anyway. You said the new upgraded Firebolt?" She smiled at the thought of it, "Yeah...ain't it beautiful? Me and Sunfire went to see it when there was less of a crowd. And as for playing Quidditch? Well...I've been to the pitch a few times to watch the players practice, but no, I don't play. I thought first years weren't allowed?" She cocked her head to the side in confusion.

[Sylph]

Sylph sighed in a melencholy manner.
"We're not" she said longingfully. "But I really want to. My mam was always trying to convert me from muggle sports that my dad introduced me to, I think she succeeded." A wry smile crossed her lips. "Much to the disappointment of my dad, he had high hopes for me... I think he was proud of having a girl who understood and enjoyed cricket." She shrugged. "Oh well, where do you wanna head to now?"

[Paio Ichris Jin]

Pika grinned, "Well...now that you've mentioned it, I think I'd like to go get some ICE CREAM!" She threw her head back and laughed crazily, "Bwuahahahaha!"

Sunfire leapt back in mock fear.

Pika laughed at her owl, "And then, I guess I'll go pick up my robes from Madam Malkins. Anyway, to the ice cream shoppe! Well, at least, do you want ice cream?"

[Sylph]

Sylph grinned at Pika's mock-insanity. Or was it mock? Either way, Sylph would join her.
"Ice cream sounds good" she answered. "I could do with some mint-choc-chip right about now..."