Dalnim walked absentmindedly, letting her feet following their own will as they tickled the hard, gravelly ground. Different vernal birdsongs invaded her ears while her eyes appeared hazy. She gave free rein to her swirling thoughts, completely unaware of where her legs brought her until she came to an instinctive, abrupt stop.  As she came back to reality, she then realized she stood in front of the cafeteria. Her stomach let out a sudden sound of protest. An amused smile instantly graced her face. Maybe her legs didn’t bring her here. Maybe her stomach also had its own free will after all…

Unwilling to waste her time on this possibility any longer, she moved forwards once again, aiming for the door of the building. After ordering and paying for her lunch, she sat down at her usual spot, at the very end of the room, near the window. She remembered her coward motive to sit here in the first place, how it once had been all just a way to escape people’s stares. She would just sit and pretend not to see their contemptuous, unfriendly gazes by looking at this very window. It had become her second best ally, after Mark of course. Eventually, she became used to the glances and whisperings; it wasn’t really a problem anymore to her. She would even appreciate her school life if it wasn’t for the unceasing thoughts which often came drowning in her brain.

She somehow grew attached to this seat she once hated so much. The building literally looked like it was made of glass. The window-like walls allowed the sunrays to light up the whole place. It was surrounded by a humongous, green area composed of splendid, numerous, cherry blossom trees. It was such a waste the students were imprisoned within blank walls. That’s maybe why she appreciated here so much. Because it was one of the rare parts of the University where she could still admire their ephemeral beauty.

All of a sudden, the peaceful, buzzing sound of mixed up conversations was interrupted by several loud shouting. Dalnim, alerted by the ruckus, instinctively averted her head towards the sounds and hardly retained her laugh at the scene playing in front of her amused eyes. Apparently, a bird had abandoned its natural habitat to pay five students a visit, interrupting their meal, much to their displeasure. Pleased to see that some of those intolerant people were given a lesson by an innocuous little creature, she watched the ridiculous yet hilarious scene with much curiosity. Though, her smile instantly left her face when she saw one of the boy aiming at the poor thing with one of his books. Her eyes widened at such a barbaric sight. As he raised his makeshift weapon, she couldn’t help her next action.

Springing to her feet, she closed the distance between them at a rapid pace. She arrived in the nick of time. Taking a hold of the book by its corner, she stopped the hand of the male in mid air. He turned his head to her and eyed her up and down, casting her a quizzical look.

*What does that chick think she is doing?*  

“Don’t blame me for trying to put an end to your own stupidity.” She answered, not even caring she was possibly giving herself away. “Now, drop that thing, because I swear if you don’t, I’ll end the remnants of your pride with it.” She ended, her voice subtly tinged with threat as neither of them let go of his book, still hanging in the air, as if waiting for its fate to be sealed by its owner’s final decision.

It was very unusual for her to mingle with the others, or even talk to them. That’s why this student seemed that taken aback by her unexpected reaction. She could tell he didn’t like it. Contemplating his remaining options, he glanced at the other students crowded in the large room around him. He soon became aware that every eyes were on him. He came back to Dalnim’s patiently waiting face, and a few long seconds later, he finally let his arm fall to his side. Wordlessly, she let go of his book and carefully made her way to the strangely motionless creature on the table. Dalnim had never seen such a bird in her whole life. It was so colourful that, for a short moment, she wondered if it wasn’t coming from another world. Its head was a flaming red surrounded by a thick, black strip which drawn the outline of its wings in a beautiful and delicate manner. The deep and striking turquoise of its neck faded to give birth to a progressive opaline green all over its back. The more Dalnim’s eyes travelled back to its tail feathers, the more that very color darkened to reach a mesmerizing purple, the same as the tips of its wings. That was it. To Dalnim, the bird was nothing but mesmerizing and she could hardly take her eyes off of its magnificence. She could not quite understand how someone mentally sane could be willing to harm such a pretty being.

Extending her open palm towards the animal, she silently invited it to trust her despite the heartless people who just deliberately attempted to endanger its life. She didn’t even know why she did it, she just did. No matter how ridiculous the gesture appeared to her. What was she thinking exactly? That the bird would actually nod with a thankful smile and hop onto her hand? No wonder people thought she was weird… She definitely was.

However, the bird oddly seemed to ponder over it as it scrutinized her face, dangling its fragile head from side to side as to punctuate the rhythm of a melody only it could hear. She didn’t know why but the view made her smile and forget her apparent madness. This bird certainly didn’t have the behaviour of an ordinary one. The fact that it let