Story (recap)

A bit of context before I explain my characters’ story:
It all started with Screebip and Mihpares; they were originally characters inspired by the musical albums From Rotting Fantasylands and Locked Into Phantasy, by Lauren Bousfield (A.K.A Nero’s Day At Disneyland). I got super attached to these two and decided that they would be their own thing by creating them lore, that got bigger over the months!
The third main character, Romain, was originally from a cancelled project of mine, a My Singing Monsters AU called "Loodvigg’s Day At Disneyland", an alternative universe also based on Lauren Bousfield’s music. I decided to put the AU's Loodvigg into my story, turning them into an OC! Romain’s original backstory will be later recreated to fit into my own universe.

My characters would be nothing without Lauren Bousfield’s incredible music, so big shoutout to her: y'all should definitely check her stuff out! Here’s the link to her Bancamp: https://laurenbousfieldanyev3r.bandcamp.com

What I’m going to write below is only the way my story unfolds, so it will obviously lack details. Although, I am planning on making more Teeth And Feathers animations or even a comic book one day!

PART ONE

My OC story takes place in two different worlds: one, Sygnalus, is populated with immortal Swans with one eye and the second, Canilon, with odd cartoon Dogs. A mysterious and magical Gate separates the two worlds: we don’t know what would happen to a Dog if they went to enter it, since Dogs never knew about the portal. But if a Swan happened to enter the Gate, they would be turned into a terrifying creature barely resembling a Dog nor a Swan... FOREVER. Said creature fortunately has the ability to shapeshift into a normal-looking Dog, masking their frightening appearance.
The Swans know about the Gate, but the Dogs never acknowledged its existence.

King Guillaz was the first Swan in Sygnalus history to enter the Gate, as a punishment for being a terrible king and almost murdering one of his subjects. Although, no Swan knew the Gate would change him into a horrible creature, since every Swan was too scared to try to go through it in the first place. Guillaz's wife, Queen Felna, was the one sending him through the Gate, her and the guards accompanying her witnessing him slowly losing his feathers and turning into a monster. The Gate was then locked with big chains and no one was ever allowed to enter the Green Mantis forest, where it was located, ever again. Guillaz could never return to Sygnalus, so she disappeared in Canilon and no one ever heard of him since.

Around 400 years later, Queen Felna retired, giving the crown to her son, Touan, and his best friend, Novaal. Two years later, the two rulers decided to go in the Green Mantis forest. They were the rulers after all, nothing could happen to them, right? They eventually came near the Gate. Novaal didn't know why this mysterious area of the forest was locked with chains, Touan having to remember her that they learned the reason in history class. The Swan suspiciously asked his friend how she didn't know that important part of Sygnalus history, Novaal admitting to him that she never paid attention to her history classes and that they were "too long ago"… Which is just an excuse, Swans may be immortal but have an excellent memory. Touan abstained himself to explain to Novaal who was exiled to the other side and what the Gate did to his father Guillaz, instead lying and telling her unknown poor creatures were suffering and desperately needed help in the other world. Novaal believed him fully, wanting to find a solution to help said creatures. A few days later, she decided to enter the Gate, Touan promising to accompany her in her adventure. But once they got to the Gate and removed the chains, Touan suddenly pushed her through it, Novaal turning into a monster like Guillaz before her. The traitor then locked the chains of the portal once again, leaving his "friend" stuck to the other side. After leaving the forest, he then made up a lie for his subjects to believe about Queen Novaal dying, even organizing a fake funeral for her. He then ruled Sygnalus by himself, all of his subjects slowly becoming as selfish and mean as he is, as years passed. All but one: her name was Mihpares.

Around a century after Novaal's funeral, every Swan became absolutely horrible with each other, Touan still being on the throne by himself. Mihpares was being mistreated by all for being nice, having to isolate herself in a house she built by herself, alone from everyone, confused about what happened to every bird’s behavior over time. Swans even started to get murdered out of nowhere, a few rumors circulating about someone seeing a monstrous beast entering the Green Mantis forest, which the majority didn't believe. Mihpares wasn't surprised, she thought Swans became so horrible with each other that they started to murder one another, blaming an imaginary monster to hide their crimes. She was glad she isolated herself from every bird, but still received a journal from time to time to keep herself in touch with what was happening. One day, she saw by her window a brown creature she had never seen before, seemingly freezing in the cold. Mihpares left her house and carefully spoke to the creature, politely introducing herself. The animal seemed pretty surprised by Mihpares' behavior but introduced herself as well. Her name was Screebip and she was a coyote, or a Dog, for short. She told the bird that she accidentally entered a mysterious Gate that lead her to this world, but it seemed that she lost her memory while entering the portal. Mihpares invited the Dog to her house, Screebip being allowed to stay as long as she wished, to help her get her memory back. Which was a lie: the coyote never lost her memory, it was just an excuse to try to murder Mihpares. And she tried, countless times, each attempt failing. The Swan never noticed and kept being nice to her guest...

Screebip is Novaal. After entering the Gate a decade ago, she turned into a monster, but quickly learned she had shapeshifting abilities. After walking for days under the appearence of a coyote, she found a village populated by Dogs and discreetly spied on them to learn their behavior: she was one of them now and had to adapt to their lives. Every Dog village seemed to be pretty tense and wars occurred sometimes, but apparently no one even knew what they were fighting about… Novaal found herself a new identity as a Dog named Screebip, and tried to help the villagers of each town she went to by bringing smiles and cheering them up. Touan wasn't so wrong when he said creatures needed her help, after all… She had to change places constantly after time, no one should ever know she never aged and still had her Swan abilitiy, immortality. And so, village after village, years after years, she ended up in her current town, Rascin, having a job as a babysitter, hired by two farmers named Terencia and Caro, and their three kids. Although, one day, when Screebip wasn’t working at the farm, she found a way to break the old chains of the Gate and finally stepped to the other side after all these years. Screebip wasn't able to turn back into a Swan anymore, so she had to be careful not to be seen by the Sygnalus inhabitants. Over time, she realized everyone became horrible people because of their current king and, thinking there's nothing she could do about it, constantly murdered Swans in hope that one day she'll get to Touan, the one that ruined everything.

Screebip finally found hope when meeting Mihpares, but she was the only Swan she could trust. She stayed at Mihpares' house for a while, deciding she wouldn't kill her even though she was still secretly murdering other Swans and trying to get to Touan nonetheless. The murders were increasing... MASSIVELY!!

One day, every Swan was ordered to come in Touan's palace, each receiving a letter, including Mihpares. She didn't want to go, remembering how everyone treated her in the past, but you better not decline an order of the king… Screebip having to stay home, Mihpares flew alone to the palace. Every Swan was pretty surprised to see her reappear again but kept on being their mean selves, as usual. Nothing had changed. Touan gave a speech in the throne room, finally speaking up about the murders and that if anyone had any information, to report to the authorities immediately. Mihpares was one of the firsts to exit after the meeting, but was later stopped by three Swans, insulting her and soon getting violent, in front of Touan, who did nothing to stop them and left as if nothing was happening. She escaped their claws, flying away as quickly as her wings could, beaten up and feeling horrible. She returned home, Screebip noticing her friend looking messy and upset. Mihpares assured her she was fine, but later broke down in the coyote's arms, telling her everything that happened, including the names of the Swans that beat her up. And the Dog, who was a Swan in the past, knew exactly which Swans Mihpares was talking about. Furious, she silently promised her friend she would avenge her. And the night after the incident, she did, and the three Swans were murdered.

That was the event that made Touan realize something was going on with Mihpares. The exact Swans bullying her being killed hours after? Weird much... But what about the old rumor about someone seeing a monstrous beast entering the Green Mantis forest? He did see his old friend Novaal turning into a beast in this forest, years ago. He had to check on the Gate. He went into the forest: the chains of the Gate were broken...

The day after the last murders, Mihpares received a second letter from Touan: she had to come immediately to his palace. She was so scared: did the king have suspicions and think she was behind the murders? Screebip promised once again to stay home, but soon followed her friend discreetly, to keep an eye on her. Mihpares entered the throne room, guards from every side. There were more than usual… Touan was watching her from the other side of the room. He stared at her and soon spoke. But not to Mihpares. "I know you're hiding. Show yourself, Novaal!" It's with Mihpares and every guard's surprise that Screebip, hiding in the castle, slowly appeared. But why in the world would their king call an unknown creature by the name of their deceased queen?
Out of nowhere, glad she finally got to the one she wanted dead for so long, Screebip revealed her true appearance, horrible creature with a dislocated long neck, sharp claws and a constant disfiguring grin. Novaal then jumped in Touan's direction, every guard trying to stop her attempt, even though they were all equally confused by what just happened. So was Mihpares, who didn't move a feather and was helplessly staring at the scene taking place in front of her eye. Touan ordered her to join the guards, so she did. She took a heavy wooden debris from a trolley broken in the battle, and without even thinking, slammed it in the head of a few Swans attacking Novaal. And she did it again. And again. It was a real carnage, blood everywhere, lifeless bird bodies laying on the floor. A second flock of Swans soon came for reinforcements, and them being too many, Novaal and Mihpares had to escape the palace. They ran, far away from the guards chasing them, to the Green Mantis forest. In the middle of running, Novaal remembered Mihpares about what would happen if she entered the Gate, but the bird didn’t care, running heads first into the portal, followed by Novaal. The Swan started to lose her feathers, each replaced by short black fur instead. Her neck dislocated itself, her wings became claws. She looked scary but she never felt happier in her life, hugging Novaal as tight as she could. They both ran away in their new world, Canilon, under Touan and the guards' beaks, all still shocked by the two monsters that just escaped in front of their eye.

Mihpares later found a new identity as Scotch, a white fluffy dog. Screebip and Scotch returned to Terencia and Caro's farm, helping the farmers as much as they could in everyday tasks and babysitting.

But what happened to Guillaz? I'll go in detail later… but he's still alive.

PART TWO

Guillaz is a young Swan, a pretty rebellious man whose parents were at the head of Sygnalus at the time. She met his partner, later wife Felna at a rave, and both ruled their world together for about fifteen years. They ended up having a son, Touan.

Although, for an unknown reason, king Guillaz's behavior with his subjects slowly started to get tense, as years passed. She was being rude and mean to every Swan he encountered, thinking they all wanted to hurt him and his family. Her paranoid behavior leads to her taking awful decisions for his people, and later almost murdering his best friend, publicly, in front of his other subjects and his own wife.
The king immediately feels guilt, regretting his action.
As incredible as this sounds, almost no violence had ever occurred in Sygnalus history before, all birds being very peaceful. So naturally, every Swan was terrified by this event, and no one knew what to do. Queen Felna being too stunned to even speak or take action, guards took care of Guillaz, leading her to a locked room in his own palace.
Guillaz being too dangerous and unstable to stay in Sygnalus, every Swan agreed to exile him to an other world, to Felna's misfortune. A world no Swan ever went to, separated from Sygnalus by a breach in the air that mysteriously appeared in the Green Mantis forest: the Gate, portal no Swan was ever brave enough to step into.
Felna accompanied her husband, a whole flock of guards being at their side, keeping an eye on their king. Guillaz was forcefully pushed into the Gate by his own guards.
Queen Felna was hoping to say her final goodbyes to her husband when he entered the Gate, but it's with the most frightening surprise that in front of her eye, he began to lose her feathers and turn into a horrible creature: a huge beast with a long dislocated neck, sharp claws and enormous canines. Guillaz had no idea about what just happened to him, tried to call Felna for help, but, absolutely horrified, the queen and the guards closed the Gate with chains as fast as they could and Felna strictly forbade anyone to ever go in the Green Mantis forest where the portal was located, ever again.

The tragic story of Guillaz was told from generation to generation, becoming one of the most important event that had ever occurred in Sygnalus. Felna and Guillaz's son, Touan, was only two years old when his dad suddenly went missing. Touan had the hope his dad would come back, until he learned what had actually happened to her, years later.

It was a rainy day, in the other world. After being forcefully sent to Canilon, Guillaz tried to break the chains of the Gate and return to Sygnalus, but gave up after hurting his claws on the solid objects many times. His claws... he cannot be looking that terrifying for every Swan to leave her behind so suddenly, could he?
She wasn't really used to walk on four legs either, and it's with the weirdest walk that she approached the closest water puddle she could find. And he finally saw his own reflection. The animal was incapable of any movement, even fainting for a few minutes.
It was still raining when she woke up, Guillaz choosing to leave the thought of her Swan beauty reduced to ashes behind to find shelter somewhere. Her new world was a real desert, the luxuriant Sygnalus forests replaced by stones everywhere, but he eventually found shelter under a massive rock.
The rain had stopped next morning. Guillaz walked for nearly three days without finding anything to eat. They were so close to give up, but she finally found miles later what seemed to be a village! A sign near the village showed that the town was called Rascin. He approached the houses, five mysterious creatures near seemingly busy cutting corn. Guillaz realized too late that he should've think before immediately approaching them: she did not look like the other creatures at all, them definitely not being as scary-looking as he was. And she was right: one of them looked at her, the look on his face going from curiosity to pure terror. He screamed, followed by their companions. One of them took a scythe from one of their friends and, without even thinking, slashed it at her face. Guillaz tried to defend himself but all five creatures were now attacking him.

She escaped, and, blinded by her own blood and now missing eye, ran into the village, where similar creatures saw him run furiously. It was a real fiasco, everyone was panicking, all thinking Guillaz was here to hurt them, or worse! The beast has no choice but to return hiding in the desert.
Meanwhile in Rascin, it was only chaos. The people that saw Guillaz this night were all in total panic. The five Dogs that fought Guillaz immediately told the authorities about what they saw, even asking artists to draw the monstrous beast they encountered. Some of the bravest Dogs even organized hunts to try to find the monster, in vain, since Guillaz was doing his best to hide himself... This night's event, same as the drawings, spread all over the nine Canilon villages, creating the Dislocated Dog Legend. Each time the Dislocated Dog Legend was told, the Dogs made it more terrifying, an intense fear now getting to all of them. The incomprehension and terror they all shared started countless wars. The Dislocated Dog legend became a simple myth over time, and decades later, the wars still occurred, but most of the Dogs forgot that this legend was the reason for all of this inimaginable chaos...

A few days after this terrible night, and after taking care of her wounded face, Guillaz learned, well, a little late, that he had the ability to shapeshift into a more normal-looking Dog, taking a new identity as an African wild Dog named Romain.
Now disguised, he returned to Rascin. The Dislocated Dog Legend was in everyone's mouthes, people would even pack up their stuff to leave town. Romain realized the damage he had caused this night by showing herself. He decided to take shelter in one of the houses some Dogs left behind while moving to a new town. But as days passed, she realized that the consequences of his banishment and her actions back in Sygnalus were the reason why Canilon was so chaotic now. Their health was degrading every day, he refused to leave his house from fear of even going outside. The guilt made him start to harm himself physically.

Although one day finally, she decided to go out at a grocery store, since he didn't have no food left at home. While going to the nearest shop, he noticed a small creature following him. She tried to chase him but the animal would not leave his side, even inside of the shop! And every one week or two, when Romain decided to leave home, the critter would still follow her no matter where she'd go. By hearing the few kids still living in town, the animal turned out to be called a "cat". Since Sygnalus only had Swans and insects in its world, Romain couldn't know about that! The Dog eventually got used to having this cat following him everywhere, making everyone seeing this curious duo smile throughout the hard times Canilon was going through.

Romain tried very hard to forget about his past and his family. She eventually felt a taunt better over the year, having adapted a bit to Canilon and Rascin, the town he now lived in. But it's only after eight months being in this new world that he acknowledged the terrible wars the Dislocated Dog legend was making happen in Canilon. The Dog never felt so bad in his entire life: he thought to herself that she already had messed up in one world, and when he had the chance to start over in the second, he made everything worse. Romain convinced himself he was a horrible person, that she didn't deserve to live anymore. And it's with these thoughts that he decided to end it all. Luckily, his attempt failed because of the little cat that kept following her: he bit on the rope, setting Romain's neck free.
After having recovered from his emotions a little, the Dog headed back home, the cat still refusing to leave her side, even in Romain's own house! It was after a short while that Romain decided to name him "Mister Fancy Coat", because of the cat's elegant coat ressembling a white suit. Romain then adopted him, Fancy Coat now constantly watching over his owner. Romain easily found a job in an old library, the previous owner having left her job because the rumors concerning the Dislocated Dog legend were putting too much pressure on her.
Eventually, Dog and cat became inseparable, Romain finally having a friend that brought a smile to her face once again. When Fancy Coat died, after fifteen years, his owner organized a funeral with the cat's lover, an orange kitty named Tulip, their kittens and every felines of the neighborhood. According to every Dog, the librarian would've then adopted every single stray cat in Rascin...

After around 400 years later, Romain still lived in the library, no one ever noticing his Swan immortality since she pretty much lived in the shadows of the town, only talking to the people coming to borrow his books. The wars were still happening in Canilon, although after this much time, almost no one remembered what made them start. It's after a short while that Romain noticed these two Dogs, a lady duo that seemed particularly interested in the wars, even asking questions to Romain's other customers from time to time. After a week though, he finally decided to go and talk to them. The girls admitted they knew the wars started because of an old legend, but they couldn't find any books or archives about it... Romain unearthed for them the only document she had of the legend, a very old parchment with a few informations and a drawing of the Dislocated Dog. The ladies seemed very surprised while looking at the drawing... did they know something? They asked if they could borrow the document for a while, which Romain agreed to.
After a month, the girls came back to the library, a mysterious look on their face. They asked if they could talk to Romain privately, which the librarian found weird, but still lead them to a separate room. They sat at a table and started to ask questions. Horribly detailed and directed questions about the Dislocated Dog legend... Romain was feeling more and more uncomfortable, he even tried to escape while heading to the door, but both girls were blocking her path. "We know who you are, you're Guillaz!", they shouted to the librarian. It was too much for the Dog, that without thinking, turned into his monstrous dislocated form in hope of scaring the two ladies away. And almost instantly, so did the girls... Wait, what? Three dislocated Dogs?
Which only means one thing: those girls...

They were from Sygnalus too!

PART THREE