Chereads / Between Light and Darkness / Chapter 2 - Sneaking into the woods

Chapter 2 - Sneaking into the woods

With the incessant sound of the swarm above him, Sain stood perfectly motionless as yet another worker bee examined his shoulder length white hair. Aside from their initial probe, they left the scrawny youth alone and continued to filter around the dark forested area. Sain had travelled this path before many times and he held perfectly still, breathing as softly as he could. An idle thought crossed his mind as he continued to await the verdict of this probe sent from the swarm. He remembered the time a few years before when another of the colorless had mistaken a drone for a mosquito on his neck. He had panicked at the initial pain of it stinging him and swatted it. The poor fellows friends buried what was left of the body half an hour later. Certainly this single drone was not a problem. It would sting him and then die, however that was not the danger that stood from the swarm. No one in Garden would be foolish enough to misjudge their ability to kill.

"Stay calm and breathe slowly," Sain thought to himself. "Brace for the pain."

Pain blossomed in his neck and he sucked in his breath. He waited, as he felt a small lump begin to expand in his neck. After a small buzz the drone flew to its comrades who seemed to part for it in procession. The weakened drone landed on a nearby leaf, while the swarm circled their weakened comrade before they dispersed into the foliage looking for food and Sain let out a sigh of relief. He knew he was safe from the swarm until the venom wore off.

"Which should give me a few hours before I need to do this again." thought Sain, making a note of the position of the sun through the dense foliage."With luck I'll be back before Gera can miss me."

Gera was the woman who had taken him in as a small orphan. He had been given to her by a man claiming to be his guardian, and she was tasked to raise him as a colourless. It was to be his role in society to serve and do as he was commanded. Gera could hardly refuse the man, as she was a colourless herself. Nonetheless, Sain thought fondly of Gera, who had raised him like her own son. He also knew if he was late getting back, or if Gera found out what he was doing out in the Rose Woods by himself, she would have his hide. He groaned, thinking of the plates he would have to scrub if he was caught. Shaking himself from his daze, he began to continue down the path he had paused on.

"Come on Sain, what are you doing?" he sighed to himself, "You are one of the colorless, you can't use magic, you stand out like a sore thumb. Why did you come out here alone again?"

"Still...," Sain thought to himself, "I can hardly let her starve."

Sain continued to walk down the winding path, doing his best to keep from hurting himself amidst the dense undergrowth. He shifted the satchel of food on his waist to avoid it being caught in the nearby thistles. He brought in enough food to keep his guest alive for the next few days and the bag was quite heavy. Once again cursing his ill fortune under his breath, he proceeded to march his way into the clearing. At first glance it seemed empty, just as it had the day his guest had arrived. As Sain entered the center of the clearing from the far side, there was the sound of rustling brush as a large beak pointed its way out of the undergrowth with a soft rumbling from its deep throat. Not far from the clearing, a massive hawk sat amidst a makeshift nest, one wing hanging limply at her side.

"Morning, Mera!" Sain said cheerfully as he reached out and rubbed the green beak that quickly began to sniff his satchel at his waist, smelling the fresh bread.

Sain couldn't help but marvel at the difference between his reception today and when he had stumbled across her nearly three months ago. Mera was such an odd creature. Outwardly (and inwardly, in Sain's opinion) she looked like a giant hawk with a wing span of fifteen feet, however what truly set her apart from a regular beast was that her body seemed to be an amalgamation of nature. Her feathers were made up of deep green leaves. Her skin seemed to be a similar consistency to that of the stems of thick plants, and her beak and talons were similar to wood covered in bark. For all this Sain could remember his trepidation as he approached her as she thrashed amidst the underbrush, however what caught him most was her eyes. Eyes not made of wood, but of flesh and blood, deep green orbs showing pain, confusion and loss. It had taken a while to earn her trust enough for him to get close to her without her snapping at him with that sharp beak of hers, and even longer before he could get close enough to put a splint on her wing. Mera cocked back her head as she began to swallow one of the loaves of bread Sain had brought, moving to the side enough to let Sain into her nest. As Sain walked in, he saw a single round egg nestled in the nest. It had a similar sheen of green as the feathers of its mother. After finishing her meal, Mera walked over to her egg and after rustling her feathers she spread one protective wing over top of them. Sain walked over to her extended wing with a splint and began checking the bindings that held it in place. Mira for her part was doing very well. Sain reached into his pack and pulled out several pounds of fresh cotton as he adjusted the bindings that kept Mira's wings straight.

As Sain finished adjusting the bindings and making sure that she was fed, he couldn't help but sigh. "I wish I was as free as you, Mira." Sain said with resignation. "In a few weeks you'll be able to fly away from here, while I'll be stuck here with Gera."

Sain reached up and stroked the green feathers of Mira's neck as she nudged her beak against his head.

"I'm a colourless, you know," Sain said, a smile slowly spreading across his face "a person born into society to serve literally everyone above them. Personally, I don't see the difference much from being a slave other than that there are laws that even acknowledging us is something one wouldn't lower himself to do."

Mira cocked her head to the side as she listened to the youth's complaints.

"Not that you understand me, I suppose," Sain said as he continued to work on the bindings, "Your life gets to be so perfectly simple. Eat food, make babies, and try not to die. In that sense I suppose the colourless and yourself are not so different."

Sain finished tying the knots that held the splint in place on the wing, and seeing him finish, Mira once again brought her splinted wing as close to her chest as she could. Sain sidled up close to Mira's feathers. Reaching into his bag he pulled out an ocarina, and began to play a cheerful and bouncing melody. This ocarina was one of his only possessions that he could truly claim as his. When he had been left with Gera by his supposed Guardian, the man had apparently only told her his name and left two possessions for him. The ocarina, and a strange ring made of some sort of black wood that had been polished to become reflective. At first Sain believed that perhaps these items might hold the key to finding out where he came from, but as he grew older he discovered the rather common nature of these objects. Still, he learned to play the ocarina quite well, and would often do so for Gera in an attempt to help her and the other colourless to rest at the end of the day. Ever since he began to play the ocarina, it had felt as if it were second nature to him. As for the wood grain ring, it hung around Sain's neck on a cord.

Mira slowly lowered herself onto her egg, and began to preen her feathers. As Sain continued to play the ocarina, he slowly changed the tempo. The music began to take on a soothing nature reflecting the peaceful feeling of the glade. Mira's eyes began to droop, and her breathing became rhythmic.

As the sun drew closer to mid day, Sain put away his ocarina, gathered his things, and prepared to head back. Mira was looking down her beak lazily as Sain picked himself up and after a brief pause, nuzzled him with her beak gently.

"Well, stay safe Mira," Sain said as he rubbed her beak. "I'll do my best to sneak out some more food for you as soon as I can."

And with that, Sain put his satchel over his shoulder and began the journey back to the city. Mira watched as he crossed the glade and exited the far side. After leaving Mira's glade, Sain once again picked up his vigilance as he began his journey through the Rosewood. The bump on his neck where the bee had stung him was already beginning to appear less and less agitated. Making his way as quickly as he could past the swarm, Sain was surprised to hear the sound of an angry buzzing from up ahead as well as the sound of several people cursing. Keeping as low to the ground as possible and being as quiet as he could, Sain slowly approached the source of the noise.

"Cursed insects!" A loud voice echoed in the underbrush. "That bird better be in the area, Gile, or so help me I'll charge you double!"

"With its broken wing it can't have made it much further, Sir!" A rather young voice responded, a slight twinge of fear evident in his voice.

"Relax, Cain," a new voice interjected, "You'll get your briar hawk familiar, but first let's find their queen bee so I can bind it myself. After it's bound we should have no trouble searching the area and I will have completed my assignment ahead of the both of you!"

Peeking through the ferns and underbrush, Sain saw a group of three youths and couldn't help but gulp. There were two young men and a young woman dressed in brown silk robes, a black wooden breastplate overtop of their fine attire. Bees swarmed around the trio, but whenever one drew too close a low hanging branch or fern from down below would whip out and strike the bees nearly silently. The trio looked completely unfazed by the supernatural occurrence and this forced Sain to acknowledge the identity of the trio.

"Gardeners!" Sain thought to himself as a sense of dread began to creep up his spine.

Gardeners were the undisputed overlords of chalice. They were the lawmakers and law keepers, and whether it be through their mysterious ability to manipulate nature around them, their control over magical beasts, or their political station, they were people that Sain could not afford to offend. Gardeners seldom involved themselves in the affairs of chalice, save for the occasion that a law had been violated, or there was an event of arcane nature. As a colourless, Sain had mainly only heard stories of this powerful group, and of those stories he had dismissed the majority of them as fairytale. Now standing in front of him thirty feet away, one of the trio raised a staff with an odd crystal in the shape of a lily at its peak before bringing it down to the earth. As he did so an invisible wave swept out from the trio at the epicenter, like a ripple in a pond, and the buzzing swarm that had been so eagerly assaulting them were blown back in a dazed state as if by a sudden gust of wind.

"Come on boys," the woman said, "We don't have all day. Let's get this over with and get back to the tower."

As the trio began to wind their way through the woods, Gile asked the other youth quietly, "Sir, what will you do if the hawk refuses your binding?"

"Refuses my binding?" the boy replied with a sneer. "If it's no use to me, why should I leave the benefit for anyone else?"

Sain felt his blood run cold at the boy's final remarks. "Might as well kill it if it can't be mine." he answered as if talking about the weather.

"I have to get Mira to move!" Sain thought as he once more slunk into the bushes as quietly as he could.