I take brief looks about me and notice that the shops have all been closed down; protocol states that all fae's must be reported in their houses by 9 a.m. if they are discovered outside of their homes, they are transferred to the black colony. and we all knew what they did there. It did explain why the streets were mainly deserted; I wandered for a few blocks before coming to a halt.
There they were, gathered together, chatting to one other in front of a small fire.
it was the same teens I watched from my balcony, I'd been watching them since I was ten years old. When I first spotted them, they were playing witchball, a game we devised after seeing humans play soccer.
It was named by humans because we used our powers to play, and people thought we were abominations, calling us monsters and witches. The name for the game remained, and we embraced it as well.
The way they pounded the ball with their hands and flew about pursuing it always made me wish I could play. Every day, I'd watch from the balcony as they'd hit it, and some fae's didn't even have to hit it, they simply just stared at it and it flew away, and a few black fae's were spotted playing it.
I hoped for the day I could run outdoors and join them, longed for the day I could make new friends, wanted for independence, and it had finally arrived. I was here, in front of them just a few steps out of reach.
I had the opportunity to make new friends, and as much as I knew I should have taken it, I also knew it wouldn't be long before my father found out I was missing. I had lied to Taron saying my parents wouldn't find out, and my mother comes every morning to check on me, followed by Karla, who comes to give me the daily training list.
My parents thought I was old enough to get a training list. It was like my daily task list, including everything I needed to learn, from finance lessons to physical education lessons.
My father would always say, "If you want to be a king, you will have to learn all of these things someday."
However, I felt a little guilty about having to place Talon in such a position. He is going to kill me when I come back ...
if I come back …
As I continued walking, I took a low-visibility path to avoid being seen on video, pulled up the hoodie, and this time pushed in the blue strands to see nothing visible.
I decided to stop under the bridge because there were a few more fae's there resting and some even managed to start small fires to warm themselves up, but they were all blue fae's, which surprised me because my father provided homes for all fae's and told me that no one slept hungry or was homeless.
This perplexed me because the deeper I went into the tunnel, the more homeless people I saw, some sick, others skinny as if they hadn't eaten in days, and some on the verge of death.
I clenched my bag tighter around this area because of the sad views of these fae's having to live like this, where they live like this every day. I knew if I let down my guard, someone would attack me or try to steal my belongings; they all seemed desperate for any type of comfort.
"Hey, are you all right?" I decided to summon my courage and, clutching my bag, I approached an old fae who was sitting across from the fire.
"How does it appear, son?" he said then immediately began to cough repeatedly. I couldn't stand the sight of all these fae's in pain, I quickly grabbed my bag and began to pull out a big bag of food I had packed for my full four weeks of staying. I did keep my pouch of gold coins hidden and began giving the old fae some water while handing out food to the rest of the fea's.
"Thank you, son," he said as he drank the water, "are you going to spend the night here?" he questioned.
I hesitated before responding because I wasn't sure I could trust him. "I'm actually on my way to the project." I said, holding my breath and clutching my bag tightly. I believe the old fae sensed my nervousness because he began to tell me about his years on the project.
"Oh, you're in for a huge surprise, kid, this project isn't a joke," he huffed. "I recall my travel for the project being challenging."
"Take my advice, son. Whatever you do, don't trust anyone outside of the blue colony." They will take advantage of you, and some may even loot you behind your back." Nobody can be trusted!"
I slid down my hood, I didn't have anything to conceal anymore, they were all blue fae's, I was completely able to fit in.
I sat next to the old fae, still making sure that my belongings were neatly packed and connected to my waist like they were a part of me.
With everything planned for tonight, I was delighted I got off to a good start. I sat silently admiring the fae as he was delighted in telling his story.
Tomorrow, I thought looking at him… tomorrow I shall make for the gates to the purple colony.