"Queen is dead!Mother is dead! Let's devour them all! Devour! Devour to their very bones!" Unknown voices resonated deep within the kingdom from the forest of the witches,merry for their Queen and mother were now but just corpses.
Far away from the kingdoms capital, a boy lying almost lifeless on a bed slept the deep sleep. Only sleeping seemed to ease his dampening pain.
Dressed in white bandages to conceal his wounds, the boy had sleeping for the last two days and nights.Alekk was still breathing, luckily for him, to have survived such a fall. Master of the institution stood beside his bed, pondering deeply to what really could've happened for him to get such serious injuries.
As the darkness of the night begun to vanish away from the scathing dawn,warmth of the morning light gracefully fell on the body of the boy, warming his pale cold skin. Yet it's cold hatred for them still languished deep within his beating heart. He was hurting, deeply hurting. But his frail heart still throbbed faster.For something?Or someone? Even he didn't truly understand but he still slept biding his time, for the world to know the taste of his rage.To know the rythem of his raging heartbeat.
The cottage was an orphanage. It housed the unfortunate runts whose lives didn't a mean dime to their king or lords.Here they were nothing but mere orphans,driven from there home's,and the slaying of their parents not helping arrest the matter,and with no one willing to take them in, whose glaring sight was seen as a burden. Albeit not all saw the same way as he, the master of the orphanage, welcomed them with warm-hearted open arms. Here they lacked no food or bed to lay there weary head's down. After all it takes a village to raise a child but poverty merely brings out the monsters even to the purest of hearts.
The orphanage laid deep in the southern part of the kingdom. A large forest surrounded it. Old and falling apart, along with the poor taste of food, they still thought of it as home,with some of the windows loosely dangling about. And another thing about this orphanage was the fact that on the opposite side of the river,on that other side, laid the creepy forest of the witches.
Outside the orphanage, children were cheerfully frolicking around to their hearts content. They came to cherish this precious moments, fearful of what the next day may bring. After all, what hadn't they seen and been done to them not to warrant such fears? Hadn't the royal soldier's, those intended to protect them, brought ruin to their homes and villages? Some, though brought up in the orphanage as little babies, couldn't help but feel different from the others. They felt a strong resentment towards them for being different from the rest. Outside the orphanage small field, a small boy sat,huddled to himself,away from the rest of his fellow orphans.
He was different from the rest, with his black skin,his tough hair and his scrawny looking physic.His name was also different to that of his peers. He was known as Zulu. The boy was one of his kind in the institution. No one dared talk to him, fearful that he was of the same kind like those tree jumping monkeys; a man eating monkey. For as long as he could remember, he always sat and ate by himself ,since coming of age.
Even his chambermate dreaded him like a plague. His loneliness was slowly eating him up from within. As years passed without warning, and new orphan's joining in,he still felt the cold shoulder of resentment being glared straight at him . He was seen as the embodiment of a savage being, something that was to be dreaded by all.
As he sat all by himself, a peculiar boy strode his way. He had the look of a man who's mind was already made up. He was a handsome boy. His eyes were as red as a crimson moon and his hair black. He trod unflinched by their gazing eyes that followed his every step. He didn't give a crap of their scathing gleeful eye's. It had gone to far, he told himself. He was fed up by their hypocrisy. They all had no place to call home or a family to call their own but here they had each other,playing with one another except for him. No! It was unacceptable. He had seen enough to warrant his decision. What was so frigging frightening about the color of his skin? Or his shrubby tough hair? He was unique in his own ways and he had no obligation to justify his existence to them, of all people. He questioned their moral standing. As for himself,he came to an final standing. That he couldn't give a frigging darn about their sentimental reasons. He was his own person, to decide whether he was a bad person or not for himself. And the name given to him was Saber.
" Why do you wallow by yourself?" Saber asked,a light tanned boy. Zulu, taken by surprise his appearance, stood up in a flash afraid that one of the bullies had come to pick a fight with him. He dared not even look straight into his eyes, fixing his view to the ground.
" Why do you fear me? Am i that terrifying to be feared?" Saber asked again. Donning a patched up pair of trousers and a dirty ragged shirt, he didn't see himself as a person to be revered let alone be feared.
"It's just that, this is quite unexpected to me," Zulu replied back fidgeting his fingers. Saber looked at him and pitied him.
"I came to make acquaintance with you," Saber replied. " But don't you fear me?" Zulu asked.
" Fear you?!What's so frightening about you, aren't you a boy just like me?" Saber answered adamantly. Zulu upon hearing those words, something in him broke. His whole illusion of a world with no light shattered. And he, Saber a boy just like him was the sole reason.Or was he a puppeteer? Pulling the strings with him being a marionette. His world was dark enough for him to fall a step deeper than he already was. He had once fallen for such a good to be true glimmer of hope hand of friendship. It was almost five years ago, before he came to known what a friend meant and all.
At that moment, Zulu remembered of a distasteful past. A past that was to cruel, to hard for him to easily forget about it. An incidence that aroused his doubts,that was burning deeper within his frailty heart,of the friendship that Saber was offering. And his reasons for growing suspicious of him...
Because of a past that was all too fresh for him to erase from his mind, despite it being five years behind him. He remembered vividly of how more often than not he would sit all by himself during the course of eating or at any other places. No one bothered to ask him whether he would care to join them at their table or play with them.Yet he hoped,that one day someone would come over to him and ask him that. As he waited for such a person to come, time flew by unnoticed,,nothing of his long held dream was seemingly coming to pass as days went by in a huff.
With no one to talk too,play with or share dreams and fears with, Zulu slowly begun to break within his lonesome self. His heart was breaking. It was getting shattered into small fragments of itself,on seeing his fellow orphans play around with their fellow friends without a care in the world, while he drowned into an oblivion of loneliness.
At night, under the cover of darkness and sheets,he would cry himself to sleep. Or while seated at a distance,away from the frolicking children, there he would wallow in absolute loneliness.
With seven years riding on him,and at an age where fooling around was as priceless as a goodnight sleep,his very own childhood was vanishing before his very own eyes.
To live like a hermit was way worse than death. But one thing he at least knew of, was the reason behind the other children stayed at an arms length away from him like he were a plague, was nothing more than the colour of his skin. His dark skin scared them off to be near him or, god forbid,touch him . He could see that his was different.Their's wasn't dark unlike his. With his alienation,he came to hate his very own.
The rainy season were closing in, and with the last of the scorching sun that they would come to see for a very long time,the children swarmed the ever rocking field to play while goofing around with their fellow friends.
Zulu, like usual,sat all by himself,at a safe distance, away from the cheerful children. There, with no one to talk too,he watched the children wear dazzling smiles, awhile he was left with nothing to smile about but to wear a glumly look on his face.
It was in the early morning, with the air not so hot, everyone was happily having the best time of their lives. His legs were tightly huddled against each other, as drops of tears soon begun to swell at the corners of his eyes. He was trying with every fiber in his body to hold them back,but the never ending shunning by his fellow orphans was eating him up. His eyes were all soaked wet. Everything infront of him was growing blurry. All to himself,he sunk into a state of self loathing and fear.While still seated,a figure approached him unannounced. Startled, Zulu hastily hopped up to his feet,and there before him,a boy stood infront of him.
His shadow cloaked itself over Zulu, masking the scorching sun that seconds earlier was warming his shriveling skin.Zulu, darted a light speed glance at him,and he was none other than Erykk,the leader of the bullies in the orphanage and his sight was feared by all and sundry. Zulu knew who he was,at least he thought so. He was a slender boy with a handsome face to go with his brown eyes.
"You there!" Erykk called. Zulu for a while, kept his mouth sealed. He couldn't utter a word to him. This boy, Infront of him,made even the big older boys shriek in fear of him.
Zulu didn't have it in him,the courage, to even look at him for more than a second without quivering. A flood gate of thought drowned his head. Why such a reputable boy of his caliber was greeting him of all people. He was not someone worthy of being spoken too. Zulu deemed himself like a flea in his presence.
" Don't be afraid of me, I'm not here to fight you or anything. I just want to know your name,and maybe we could become friends," Erykk insisted. Zulu had always been a shy boy. Everyone he saw,he deemed them like predators stalking under the cover of his frail appearance to pounce on him. Other children, while frolicking to their hearts content, would occasionally dart their eyes at them.
"My name is Z-u-l-u," Zulu stammered
"Zulu is it?!" Erykk inquired.
"Zulu- that's right. My name is Zulu."
" That's quite a mouthful of a name,"Erykk remarked." My name is Erykk. Great to make your acquittance." Zulu kept quiet. He wasn't a talker either. As few days passed by, Erykk and Zulu had grown fond of each other. During meals time, they would share the same table. Not that everything was as rosy as it seemed, for the rest of the children, especially Erykk past victims,were growing filled with resentment aganist both of them. Zulu came to see him more as brother than just a friend. Life became bearable,and the the heavy cloud that had for years cloaked his life in misery and loneliness suddenly vanished away without a trace..
As the cloud of desolation withered out from his glaring sight, basking in the warmth embrace of a blossoming friendship,so was his face beginning to glow with life and his smile broadening too. Everything as of that time was tranquil. That's not until everything he held dear began to crumble down on him,fast and hard,on one sunny day.
It was during meals time, on one sunny day,with everyone having taken their meals,and as usual, Zulu the last one to be served his portion of food, walked towards where Erykk was seated alongside his friends, eating while they broke into a feast of laughter.
Zulu, nonchalantly, walked to where Erykk was seated,and with a bowl of beans broth and bread in his hands, he laid them on the table,as glaring eyes burst forth attacking his little courage. Erykk wasn't smiling or welcoming of him either. Plainly putting it,he was disgusted by his impudence of inviting himself amongst his friends,as if he was one of them,his inner circle.
"What are you doing sitting here?" asked Erykk. It might have been more than a friendly jest,by the sound of it ,that Zulu took it just as such.
"Of course to eat among friends," he answered. And he started to devour his food,as they continued to cast their glaring eyes at him.
"Amongst friends,you say. Who here is your friend,you monkey?!" Erykk barked. The whole of the eating hall was thrown into a state of silence. Zulu,on hearing him,a friend he thought he was, quickly laid down his wooden spoon down. The jest that he thought was, wasn't funny anymore. "What are you saying, Erykk?" Zulu asked."It's me. Your friend, Zulu,have you forgotten about me already?" All of the children had ceased with devouring their meals, but not for Gantz who was gulping down his portion of beans broth and a loaf of bread without being swayed away from its sight by anything, not even the ensuing commotion. Esia sat next to him. She was listening to the unfolding spectacle away from where she sat. Saber too was watching while continuing to eat his. "What are you trying to say, you fool. How can I be a friend to someone like you. A hairy black monkey like you could never become a friend of mine. Not in this life nor the next!" It was becoming hard for Zulu to believe what he was hearing. His friend, Erykk, was denying him before a crowd of children.
"Erykk,it's me. Your friend, Zulu. Please tell me this is all but a jest that you a playing at me. Tell me Erykk,that what you're saying is nothing truthfully to it?" Zulu begged,in tears." I'm begging you, Erykk. Tell me that all that you have just said wasn't nothing more than a jest." Zulu face was drenched in his own tears. Now a lot of children broke into a hysterically laugh,but Erykk stared at him with a grimacing face.
Zulu now knew clearly all that he had said wasn't merely a friendly jest by just looking at his stern face. He really meant what he said, Zulu thought.
"Get the hell out of my face, monkey!" Roared Erykk. Zulu stood fast onto his feet, with tears dripping down from his face. It was a waterfall of tears bursting forth from his eyes. As he walked away from them, with a floodgate of mocking laughter escorting him out from the eating chamber, Master Konn watched as one of his son's heart shatter before his very own eyes . His heart broke twice on that day as well as Pumpkins.
Outside there, on the field,Zulu contemplated on many things and one of those things was putting an end to his miserable pathetic life. But like a coward that he was,he didn't have the guts to pull through with it.
Just like that time,a different person now sought to have him as a friend. But he knew now better. From opening his heart to just anyone as he had yet to heal from the betrayal of before and so he wished to tread with caution.
"Are you jestering me? If so,it's not funny at all,"Zulu inquired suspiciously.
" And why would i do such a thing. It's below me to pull a jest on you. But I get it, it's not your fault for getting suspicious, after all these years and no person has made genuine effort to know you or became your friend,you are bound to get suspicious."
" So are you?" Zulu asked.
" No, am not like those guys. I just wanted to know you," said Saber," after all I know how lonesome it can be without having a friend to talk too around here."
"Do you sincerely mean it?" asked Zulu curiously. "Huh,mean what?"asked Saber.
"That you want to get to know me? That you want me as friend?"inquired Zulu,now with his eyes glued at Saber's.
" Absolutely. I didn't come to ask for your hand,did I?" answered Saber humoursly. On hearing that,Zulu was almost moved to tears, ran to his new found friend, embracing him to Sabers near embarrassment.
"Thank you. Thank you so much for asking me to be your friend!" said Zulu crying, happy tears. The rest looked in astonishment, as a dark one embraced a light tanned one. They glared,waiting for the savage of an monkey to devour him whole and they stared on, in disgust, waiting.
"Don't mention it. Now to make our acquaintance, my name is Saber,nice to meet you," Saber replied. Zulu ,brimming with tears, also made his acquaintance.
" I'm Zulu. Nice to make your acquaintance too, Saber." With that, a boy had found another boy to call a friend. And he,Saber, hadn't found himself in his belly but a new person to call a friend.
In a distance, a young girl looked in awe. She too feared her very own existence. With her pale skin and auburn hair. She was a beautiful girl, with a scar on her forehead , shaped like a star. Her friend,only friend,was a boy, a fat boy. He loved his food, little as it maybe, as his cravings were insatiable. Her name was Esia. And her story was not any different from that of her fellow orphans.
"Esia!" a fat boy called her out. She at least had a friend to talk too, she thought. He was the same age as her,twelve years old. But his bulging belly made him seem out like a dwarf adult. In his hands, he held some wild berries to ease his wild cravings. His chubby cheeks made him a target of bullies to tease and mock. But his only friend wasn't like that.He kept her close to his heart. For she never saw him any less of a friend due to his weight or farts. Never,not even once,did she poke jests on him. Esia, to him, was worth more than a bowl of red beans and bread. After all, food was the only friend he loved second to her.
" Hi, Gantz!" exclaimed Esia.
" Esia!"uttered Gantz.
" Where have you been? I looked everywhere for you,"asked Esia.
"You've been looking for me. Sorry for that. I've been plucking out some wild berries,"Gantz replied,stuffing himself in pure esctasy. " Oh, i see," muttered Esia."So how's that boy we saved by the river bank?"
" Uh huh...him? He seems not to have awoken yet,"Gantz answered sighing.
" Not yet?!"exclaimed Esia. Since that day, Esia had always wondered what could have happened to him. This was due to the fact that on the opposite side of the river, a dreaded forest laid creepy. It was the forest of the witches;in the kingdom of Enfer. Aldian's had been forbidden for centuries from entering into that forest, and for anyone who dared enter,never made it out again or seen again, not a single soul. Esia and Gantz had luckily found him on their side of the orphanage. But that wasn't what bothered her, it was the fact that the river was boiling hot when they found him. So hot that his body nearly scalded Gantz hands as he tried pulling him out of the river. But amazingly it didn't burn her at all.
As Esia was conversing with Gantz,Saber and his new found friend walked past them as they broke into a laugh in cheer ,unbothered , going about their own way.
"They seem happy!" said Esia . Gantz looked into their direction,stuffing his bulging mouth with more wild berries.
"Mmh...you can't hold against them,can you?" asked Gantz, gobbling down.
" I guess not. Yet he is more courageous than I am," muttered Esia.
"Don't put yourself down Esia, you are way braver than you may think,"implored Gantz as he gazed at Esia frowned face.
"Now you're just flattering me," implied Esia still with a grin upsidedown.
" Esia!" Gantz called her," you mayn't believe what I'm telling you but trust me you are not a weak girl that needs saving, but at least don't look down on yourself so much that you forget that being afraid doesn't make you any less of a coward ." Esia, a little moved by his sentiments, couldn't help but smile and chuckle a little. She was lucky to have had him as a friend more than anyone else,she told herself.
"Thank you Gantz," Esia replied with now her frown upsidedown. Esia gazed upon the emptiness of the orphaned children like herself,some who were just faking their own happiness while some just managing the little happiness that was being handed down to them. They couldn't discriminate when bit of it was as scarce as a mother's tenderly love.
But some just bore with the harsh reality that love was nothing more than a fantasy. It was in strength and misery that they truly found there place. Others misery filled their void, the bottomless void. And in him they believed that their emptiness would be filled.
He sat on a branch of the old oak tree, together with his minion's of four,as they observed which prey to hunt, drooling, like an emaciated pack of wolves. He was known as Markus,but many of the children came to call him,behind his back that's,as Markus the heartless bully. No boy or girl dared cross his path or for that matter his minion's, and those who had the guts to stand up to him found life in the orphanage a bit more unbearable. Some had fled from the safety of the orphanage, after days or months of torture by Markus and his gang. And still , there bullying never seemed to fill their void.
"I'm getting bored!" Markus moaned." Isn't their anyone we can play with?! With the field a hive of activities,he was looking for something more meaningful than frolicking like a mere child.
"There isn't a fly to play with, Markus!" Gregg also moaned,a scrawny looking boy with brown hair. The closet of a true friend Markus could see amongst his other minions.
" Tell me about it,I can even swear listening to my heartbeat is more thrilling than watching those good for nothing children play about!"Markus insisted.
" So what should we do, Markus?!"asked Ewin, another of Markus's minions. Bored to death,Markus had resorted to spitting spittle to the blissful children just for the sake of relieving his agonizing boredom. The deep hollowness within him was growing ever larger. And that deep hollowness grew ever larger that it was seemingly incapable of filling it whole.
Yet he still sat eyeing around, with no one having caught his eye. He was hungry for fresh meat , they all did- drooling-for new blood to toy with, and as they gazed across the field, a petrifying scream rammed out of the cottage window filling the field with a bunch of petrified children. It was calling for it's mother, after waking up from its long deep sleep, on realization that the reality that it was desperately trying to escape from was much more painful than in the dreams he was having earlier...