#stormwept

"About what?" She inquired. " Is there something wrong?" She continued. For all she knew the castle was safe and far away from any danger and has been for many, many years. To even get in you'd have to have a carrage ride there or at least a invitation.

"Listen, kiddo. It doesn't matter what the other kids say. Like 'oh being in a war is totally cool, I'd get to be a hero and save everybody!' No, no it ain't cool." Black Star would strongly emphasize the second no in her sentence. "Remember, I've been in a war. The very war that kept this planet from being destroyed by The Diamonds. It. Ain't. Fun." Sure the conflict between Homeworld and the Crystal Gems was over. But the trauma from the Gem war and conflicts up until peace was made by Steven still lingered heavily in the back of Black Star's mind.

A heavy sigh sounded from the Diopside, and Black Star would kick at a pebble on the desolate road. A moment of frustration that needed to be let out. But voicing some of her thoughts aloud also helped. Unfortunately however, Drake was the only one around to listen. And typically, Black Star would never vent her issues to a child. It wasn't appropriate. Plus, it wasn't fair to dump adult problems on him. Kind of like how certain members of the Crystal Gems treated Steven in the past, and she did not want to become that way with Drake.

}THIS IS DISCORDANT{

@stormwept asked: “What do you want from me? Bananas are like my favorite vegetable.” (Drake tryna distract Roxy from the fact he doesn't belong in the Plex <.<… also bananas aren't vegetables drake akrdtsjhyfdu)

Well, that last statement gives her pause. Honestly, if he hadn't said that, she might've just passed over him. But her logic core just couldn't ignore the fact that, firstly, bananas are not vegetables. And, secondly, this kid must be lost or something.

Very little to say, but he was a good listener if nothing else. Whether anyone wanted to believe it or not, he did care. Other than the friends he'd made, who he didn't even get to see all that often anymore, the only one who probably cared about his presence was Kaede herself. That was why he chose to continue living in the forest. Away from everyone.

They didn't like him for him. They were complacent. All he did was keep the village safe from demons. Nobody cared about him, just what he could do. Not like he wasn't used to it. If Inuyasha wasn't slaying the demons that threatened to strike, he'd be treated differently.

He wasn't like them. He didn't actually belong here. He wasn't human. He wasn't demon. He had the traits of both. He'd never be normal, and he'd never be accepted. Not by anyone here, anyway. Other than Kaede, and when Kagome had the time to visit.

"Looks can be deceiving, kid. Don't take everything at face value. It will get you killed."

For Drake's sake, he'd keep the sigh to himself. This was a child. A child shouldn't have been burdened with anything like this. Not the way he was when he was a child. He wouldn't sugarcoat things, either. He was going to be straightforward in saying how believing everything you see, and hear could spell your death.

"I've been around for a while. Losin' people is a part of life, so get used to it. It's gonna happen a lot. Can happen real sudden, too."

Especially if you aren't strong enough.

Verse Four- Teen.

Fourteen-year-old Tod was sitting on the couch in the living room one evening, waiting (impatiently) for his friend Drake to arrive for a sleepover.

The adolescent fox didn’t care that he was ‘too old’ to have sleepovers in other boys’ opinions; he wanted to keep having them for as long as he could. They were so much fun!

Then he heard a gentle knock on the front door.

Tod sprang up from the couch, shutting the television off, and opened the door with a big grin. “Drake!” he exclaimed, wrapping the giraffe in a hug. “How are ya? I haven’t seen ya in forever!”

"You can't just say something like that and expect me not to give my two cents, do you? Neither of our voices are going anywhere. You can continue practicing keeping your notes steady in a bit, just hear me out for a moment."

The first statement was true. He didn't have any idea about Drake's past. About all he knew was that the kid had passion for music. Well, that, and he liked cream soda floats. But as someone who had been a kid who was told not to like himself, told not to be himself, he wasn't going to listen to a kid say that without trying to offer some kind of consolence.

Especially because he could hear it in that voice. Danny had internalized a lot of how he was treated when he was young. But one thing he didn't, was being told not to like himself. Maybe he would have, if not for his mother. She reminded her to love. To be kind. To keep singing, to keep dancing. And now, look where he was today! There was a lot of good, that a parental like figure could do for a child.

When they actually loved children unconditionally.

"When someone doesn't like themselves, their passions are stifled. It doesn't mean they can't be stars. Take it from me, there are some pretty big ones that are really insecure about themselves! But when you're self assured, it's... hard to explain."

Danny took a moment. He needed to figure out the right words.

"I guess I should clarify. Liking yourself doesn't mean you don't feel things. This is just between you and me, but even I get really sad sometimes. But disliking yourself can hold back those emotions, because you're afraid of judgment."

Hypocrite. Danny was self assured, that was a truth. But stars knew he held back his own emotions.

"It's... complicated. Maybe there's something I can do to help you like yourself a little bit more."

He turned and looked at Drake. Not expecting him to be behind him. " Eh? Yeah? I can kind of see why you think that, kid. " He noted. " This town does have a welcoming atmosphere to it though, so it's not like it's hard to stay here. " He continued.