Broken

Summary: I know that this is shorter than my others, but I left this for so long that I wasn't really sure of where I was going to go with it, so I simply found inspiration from my past. This was what inspired me anyways; the events of my life. I felt like I wanted to create a relatable character in this chimera world of mine.

Mira didn’t know why she was different. She did, but she never knew why that mattered. She didn’t have the beautiful feathers that everyone else had. Instead, she had that ugly, stupid, human hair. To fit in, Mira braided some feathers into her hair just to feel like one of them. Except, it did nothing to stop all of the people from staring at her. She never understood why she didn’t have more bird than human. She didn’t even have a bird-like torso; she had a torso of a gazelle.

            She didn’t even look like her parents. Except they always told her that they loved her even though she was different. Mira couldn’t even ask them if their friends criticized them for even adopting her. She didn’t have the guts to do that, she didn’t want to break their hearts or worse, hurt their family relationship. So, she tried her best to make her family not worry about the bullying that was going on. It wasn’t her parents’ problem; it was Mira’s alone. At least that’s what she drilled into her head.

            School was always rough for Mira ever since she was little. She did have friends, the ones she had seemed to gravitate to her simply because she was different and they thought that she was cool. She didn’t understand their way of thinking, except, she was happy that she had friends.

***

            These friends didn’t last long. Mira didn’t know why, but these friends of hers began to act strangely. They didn’t like how she began to put feathers in her hair, and simply told her that they weren’t going to be her friends anymore. Mira was only nine when they told her that, but all of those words cut deep into her like knives.

            A few months later, they came crawling back to her when they noticed that Mira had found better friends. Friends that actually cared about her, and stupidly, Mira accepted her friends’ apologies not knowing the consequences. She had seen what they had done to others that didn’t exactly look like themselves, some that didn’t even know their tribal language well. Except, Mira was young, she was simply happy to have her friends back.

***

            Again, these friends decided to stop being friends with her again after two years. Mira was sick of them. They couldn’t keep a sound mind, they couldn’t figure out if they wanted to be her friend or not. At first, Mira didn’t know how to deal with this again. For a while, she didn’t have friends. She didn’t hang out with anyone. Once school was over, she simply headed home to work on homework and to simply be alone.

***

            As Mira’s body began to change with puberty, she became wiser and knew that she had to protect herself, her heart, and her spirit from those girls. Whenever they tried to befriend her again, Mira simply kept her distance from them, and found friends who actually cared about her. Sometimes, she wondered if these friends were going to become like the ones in the past, but as the years went by, they were still there. Even through the paranoia that Mira felt, she always was able to confront them, to ask them if they had fun with her. They would always look at her strangely, wondering where it came from; she never had the guts to really say that she didn’t want them to end up like the girls in her past.

            Even though she was different, she was able to feel like these friends were going to be with her throughout the years, even if life takes them down different paths. She knew that they were always going to be there for her.

***

            One day, Mira decided that she was sick of the stares and told her parents and her friends that she was going to leave. She was going to find another place, a place where they perhaps won’t stare at her as much as those here. Both parties understood her well, and wished her luck, and the most important part was that she wasn’t allowed to forget them.

            She left the village that she once called home, wondering where her travels were going to take her. Mira wondered where she was going to end up, or if she would simply die trying. Either way, she wasn’t going to give up. When she knew she was far enough from the village, she tried to spread her white wings; she touched them gently, wishing that she could fly with her broken wings.

Marked

Summary: Zuid was young, he started to care about his enemies. He wanted them to live, he wanted them to be able to continue living. Little did he realize that a much younger warrior, Uoldo, would betray him to his own father. Zuid knows that what he's done has dire consequences, but he wasn't ready for the hot iron that was forced onto his back. His life started to change right before him.

***

            The forest surrounded young Zuid, his dagger and sword clenched in his hands that were dripping with wet, sticky, blood. Yet, wherever the young chimera went, no bodies ever trailed behind him. That’s because he didn’t leave any, Zuid didn’t want to kill anyone. He was tired of how his people always told him to “leave no survivors,” or, “they were the enemy,” he didn’t understand any of it. Those that he fought in battle must have had living parents, a family . . . children waiting for them to come home and tell tales of what they had seen in battle.

            Did Zuid pity his opponents? He couldn’t say, Zuid wasn’t taught to feel anything for the enemy. Except when a couple of days ago one pleaded for their life, telling him of the family that they had, that his little girl was waiting for him back home. That was what stayed the blades of young Zuid. This opponent had a family. It seemed rather silly that he had never thought of it before. Of course his opponents would have family, how else did they appear on this world?

            As he let his opponents go, they gave him blessings. Telling him that maybe his tribe wasn’t as bad as it seemed since Zuid was from it. How wrong they were. Zuid’s tribe is all about upholding the traditions and culture. Every race holds it dear and hopes that it doesn’t fade with each generation.

            However, Zuid’s family never really seemed to care for any traditions other than the ones that dealt with what the warriors did. It was all because every single male in the family have always been a warrior, fought and died for the tribe. Zuid’s own father was the lead warrior, the general of the warriors. Every single general before his father was always from his family.

            “Why haven’t you killed anyone Zuid?” asked a small voice. Zuid turned around to see who it was. The boy had just become of age to be a warrior. Naturally Zuid’s father made Zuid take the boy under his wing. Staring intently at the boy, he remembered that he told the boy to stay put and to not follow him.

            “You were supposed to stay at camp, Uoldo.” Zuid murmured. The look on the boy’s face said it all. Of course he was young and wanted to see adventure. It just meant that Zuid would have to be extra careful . . . or maybe he should just kill the boy right now—except if he did kill the boy and no one else, that would show badly. He would become a traitor and he would never be able to start a family or even be able to live with his own tribe.

            Patting young Uoldo on the head Zuid whispered, “This is going to be our little secret okay?” with a wink Zuid continued to walk on.

***

            It has been days since he returned from his duty. It was nice to be able to smell the food that his mother cooked, the warmth of his home along with the warmth of his bed. Zuid still hasn’t regretted leaving his opponents alive. It didn’t matter. They would be able to live another day to be with their families.

            As young Zuid walked into the kitchen the only face he saw was that of his mother’s. It was rather confusing; normally his father would be here as well to eat with the family. Looking at his mother, Zuid took notice that she wouldn’t even meet his eyes, or even look in his direction, she only spoke, “Zuid, your father wants you at town square. Now.”

            Heart beginning to race, Zuid knew what his father wanted. Uoldo had told the general of what happened. Clenching his fist, Zuid walked out of the door, knowing that he would never walk into this house again or even see his mother again. As he walked, he heard the clicks and the clacks that sounded beneath him as his hooves hit the cobblestone. It was a familiar sound, but the sound didn’t show any sympathy or even comfort to Zuid.

            As he saw his father, Zuid couldn’t meet the man’s eyes. He could already tell that he was disgusted in his own son. His father grabbed him by the arm and dragged him up onto the stage. Zuid knew he wouldn’t be able to break his father’s grip.

            Once Zuid was on stage, he noticed how many people had shown up. There were so many. How was he going to show his face ever again? He had to choke down his feelings, what he did was right. There wasn’t a need to kill all of their enemies. They had a family, people who loved them too. They were like them, just a different race.

            Zuid couldn’t even pay attention to his father’s words. They were all just noises to him. Everything became blurry from the tears that he was fighting back. He could feel the heat from the fire that was near him. How long had that been there?

            Suddenly, he heard the iron that was removed from the fire. Zuid knew what was going to happen to him. He was going to be branded. Fear rose up into his throat as vomit, he had never felt such a pain before.

            There was no warning as to when his father was going to burn Zuid’s flesh. The young warrior had no time to prepare for the pain. As the white-hot iron touched his back, he screamed, tried to get away from the iron. Except, his father had him pinned. There was no escape. Zuid had no sense of time; it felt like years, no, it felt like a decade. The metal still wouldn’t leave his flesh; he could feel it going in deeper than just his skin. He knew that his father wanted this. Wanted this to be his punishment, this way Zuid would remember what he did every single day for the rest of his life.

            Zuid wanted to black out, except every time he was close to losing consciousness, Uoldo was there to splash freezing cold water on his face. Eventually, he felt the iron leave the hole it made on his body. “It lost its heat. Give me the other one,” his father stated.

            Zuid’s eyes widened in horror, “No! No more Father! I beg of you to stop this, please!” he cried out. Fearing that this one would last longer than the first.

            His father only laughed and grabbed Zuid by his jaw, “Is that what our enemies asked you? Did they beg to live?” before he was even able to answer, Zuid was back to being pinned on the ground and continued to scream as the other white-hot iron went back into the hole the first one made. He screamed more, and eventually threw up from shock. There was a quick release from the metal, and young Zuid was left on the ground in his own vomit. He didn’t even try to move, his body shook from the pain and the shock. It wasn’t long after when his father walked toward him, and said, “You are no longer my son. Never speak to us again.”

            Tears were running down the young warrior’s face. His whole life just disappeared underneath his hooves in a second. No one would want to date him, much less marry him and have children. It hurt knowing that he would never have a family of his own now. The tears continued until he lost consciousness.

***

            It was a very comfy place to sleep; it felt like he had a blanket on him, a pillow, and warmth. This wasn’t the place where Zuid passed out. Quickly his eyes flew open, and he jolted upward, only to find a woman’s hands on his chest, ushering him to lie back down unless he didn’t want his back to heal. He did what he was told, and went back down.

            The girl blushed, “M-my name is Esthale. I couldn’t just let you stay there. Your wounds needed to be tended to.”

            Zuid studied her; she looked a few years younger than he. She had the cutest deer nose, and when she blushed her ears flicked back and forth. Perhaps trying to calm herself down. He didn’t know. He couldn’t help but smile at her. Maybe his life wasn’t going to end after all.

            “My name’s Zuid,” he said. However, she probably knew his name if she was there for the entire ceremony. Except, it was good manners to introduce oneself after someone else has already done so. Out of curiosity, he looked to see if someone had changed his clothes, when he looked, he noticed that these robes weren’t his. He looked at Esthale and asked, “What happened to my clothes?”

            The girl shook her head, “Your father took your robes. Saying that you were not worthy of their status to wear them anymore.” then, Esthale did the strangest thing, and looked away, “I-I carried you here . . . by myself . . . washed you . . . and dressed you . . .”

            That was when Zuid turned bright red, his ears pricked upwards, so high that it would have hurt him to do so normally. “You saw?” even if their people had the legs of a goat, that didn’t mean that the males were allowed to let their genitalia hang out in the open, it was the same for women. The other thing that really shocked Zuid was the fact that this small woman had carried him back. “You actually carried me?” he said in disbelief.

            Esthale nodded with a straight face, and then busted out laughing, “No of course not! My father was the one who carried you back to our small home. He was the one who bathed you and dressed you as well!”

            In normal circumstances Zuid would have laughed, except the pain that he was afraid to feel restrained him from laughing. The least he could do was smile at her. The two talked for a while, getting to know one another. Esthale didn’t care about what he had done to deserve the brand. She thought that he had virtues that some people in their tribe didn’t have. That he was brave enough to stand up against the laws.

            After he ate dinner, Esthale said something that he wasn’t expecting, “You’re welcome to live here.”

            Zuid didn’t know how to react to this. It was true that he had no home to return to, but to just take a random stranger in like this? None of it made any sense. However, Esthale continued to explain, “I like you a lot! I wouldn’t mind . . . dating you. You see I was worried that you would leave the tribe. You seem like a wonderful man, I want to get to know you,” she put her hand on his, and squeezed it gently.

            His face turned red. He didn’t know what to say to her. It was quite brave of her to say that to someone who had just gotten branded in front of the whole tribe, she saw him beg for mercy, pleading to his own father to make the pain go away. Except that didn’t happen. Whoever was in the heavens was looking out for him. Zuid smiled and said, “I would love to stay here. Thank you for everything that you’ve done for me,” he then lifted her hand to his lips and gently placed a kiss on the back of her hand.

***

            It was a month later, and the two young chimeras were already madly in love with each other. Some were confused why they wouldn’t marry already. However, they wanted to make sure that everything would turn out all right. To make sure that they truly were soul mates, of course they did have arguments, which Esthale left in tears. A minute later, Zuid would always be begging her for forgiveness, and she always did forgive him.

            Naturally, when the two decided to get married, Esthale’s family was all for it. Even her father, who was crying, but he was proud that he had even picked Zuid up long ago. Except, Zuid didn’t have any family to receive blessings from. It had become awkward; it almost felt wrong to get married without telling his family, despite the fact that they had disowned him.

            “I think you should go see your father. . .” Esthale said the following day. Zuid looked at her, knowing that she was right. Sooner or later his father would realize that he actually had a good life.

***

            Zuid stood in front of his old house. It was nerve racking to be back here. He hadn’t even been in this part of town since he had been branded. As he touched the wooden door, he had flashbacks; he could feel the pain of the iron digging into his skin. Biting his lip down, he knocked on the door, loud enough so that he couldn’t be ignored.

            The door opened, his father stood there in front of him. “What are you doing back here you shit?” his father growled.

            Zuid could feel his body freeze as his father spoke. He wanted to walk away, no; he wanted to run away from him. Tell him that it was a mistake to even knock on the door. Except, he knew that would be cowardice of him. He couldn’t let down Esthale; he didn’t want to be a disappointment. So, he cleared out his throat and said, “I want your blessing. I am going to be getting married within the month.”

            He looked his father in the eye, and the man just laughed, “You’re getting married? This soon? Come on in son . . .”

            The young warrior was nervous, except he followed his father into the room where the hearth was. It was a sudden strike. A cheap shot, blood spattered the floor, and maybe part of the wall. Zuid, clenched his right eye, his own father tried to slash out his son’s eye. He stood there in a stupor, not believing that his father would do this. Except, again, his father came at him, and stabbed him in the torso and twisted the blade that was inside of him.

            Falling to his knees, Zuid coughed up blood. He looked up at his father asking, “Why?”

            His father laughed at him, “You showed your face to me. I told you—no, I ordered you to never even speak to me again. Now you show up on my door? How ignorant are you?” Then, his father grabbed Zuid’s hair and tossed him outside, “Now try to get back before you bleed out.”

            Before his father closed the door on him. He grabbed the knife inside of Zuid and pulled it out. Zuid thought fast, and moved as little as possible. He knew that Esthale would be coming here soon. Hoping that everything went well. How naïve he was, to even think his father would actually give them his blessing. Well, they got it . . . in a way that none of them even expected. It wasn’t long until he heard her worried voice, trying not to scream. Quickly she wrapped out the wounds, making him talk to her, making sure that he wouldn’t bleed to death.

            Once she wrapped the wounds in the lower part of her robe, she became his crutch to get back to their house. Once again, she saved him. This woman had given him another chance at life, another chance even though their society would hate him. It didn’t matter; the only thing that really mattered was that he had Esthale.

            As she helped Zuid into bed, Zuid said, “Screw the wedding, and let’s just elope. Exchange rings, say our vows, kiss, and be over with it. I won’t heal in time for the wedding. Let’s just do it now.”

            The look on Esthale’s face said that she would be all right with that. She ran to go get her parents. They already had the rings; the two exchanged vows, and kissed each other, despite the fact that one of them was bedridden.

***

            It wasn’t long after the wedding Esthale became pregnant. Zuid was worried that his father would target their child once it was born. There was no way Zuid was going to let that happen.

***

            Little Sair was a handful when he was little, he liked to run around and hop beside Esthale. The little one was full of smiles, it brought joy to Zuid, he was happy that he was able to give his son this kind of life. A life where there weren’t many expectations, just simply be himself and live life to the fullest.

            There were some points in little Sair’s life when his father would hide him from sight. As if there were someone glaring at them. Of course, little Sair would cling to his father’s tunic, and whimper, always wondering why he was being hidden. Zuid simply did it to protect his son from his own grandfather. Zuid wasn’t going to let the man hurt the things he cared about—not anymore.

This Was Meant to Be - P3P

This Was Meant to Be

P3P

Summary: It didn't take long for Minako to fall in love with Shinjiro. Little does she know that he's prepared to die because he's been taking the same drugs as Strega. Little does she know that finding a simple pocket watch could save his life. Little does Shinjiro know that Minako doesn't have much time left to confess her feelings . . .

***

October 4^th, 2009. That’s the day that the moon would be full. Everyone was ready to fight another shadow. Minako had even met someone who obviously hid his softer side. She found it cute, even his smile. When Shinjiro had mentioned the fact that he had lost his pocket watch, she knew she had to find it. It was obvious that it was something important to him.

October 3^rd, 2009. Minako wandered around the mall and entered the police shop. “Have you found a pocket watch?” it was a poor description, but it was the best that she could give. Mr. Kurosawa had luckily found it. For the Wild Card didn’t know that this would be the one thing that would save someone’s life.

As she walked back to the dorm, she saw Shinjiro waiting for her. She smiled at him, “Hey, want to go out for a walk?”

Her senpai smiled at her and said, “Sure. I have nothing better to do.”

On the walk Minako couldn’t help but smile, even though she knew that tomorrow was a full moon. Maybe she should have been stressed, but she couldn’t find it in her heart to be stressed about something like that at this current moment.

As they got to the shrine, the Wild Card climbed on the children’s bars that were there and found a comfortable spot to sit on them. Sticking her hand in her blazer pocket, Minako said, “Here, I found this for you.”

She watched Shinjiro take it from her hand. His hand felt warm, that’s when he coughed. A worried look came across her face, her senpai noticed that she was worried and shrugged her emotions off, “It’s nothing to worry about . . .” he then looked up at the moon, “. . . it’s how its supposed to be.”

Minako didn’t understand what he meant. She tilted her head and questioned him, “What’s meant to be? I don’t get what you’re trying to say . . .”

Shinjiro turned and looked at her and looked her in the eyes, “Keep smiling, don’t every cry. No one should ever see you cry. Ever. Just keep on smiling.”

Now she was really confused, except she didn’t say anything in response. She simply nodded her head, then they walked back to the dorm together.

October 4^th 2009. They were getting ready to defeat another large shadow. Looking around, she noticed that Shinjiro nor Ken was there. Maybe they had something to do, she decided to not let it weigh too heavily on her mind when there was an important task at hand. Twirling her javelin in her hand she smiled, “Let’s do well guys!”

Afterwards, they walked back to the dorm. That was when Akihiko had asked specifically where the two were. The look on both of Minako’s senapai meant something. They were both shocked, and then Akihiko went running with Mitsuru running after him. Deep in the Wild Card’s heart, she knew that it had something to do with Shinjiro. She ran after the two, and soon enough the others followed suit.

A gun shot. Someone had shot a gun within the Dark Hour. As soon as Minako heard it, she ran faster and faster. Her body screamed at her to stop running, to take a breath and then keep going. Her mind kept racing; she didn’t want Shinjiro to die. Not tonight, not ever. Was this what he meant last night? That he was going to die tonight? If was up to the Wild Card, she knew that she was going to stop it, no matter at what cost.

As soon as she reached where Akihiko and Mitsuru, another gunshot rang out. This time, tears began to roll down her face. Minako could hear his voice in the back of her head, telling her to keep on smiling, to never cry, to never frown. Except, she couldn’t keep on smiling. Not when something like this was happening.

Ignoring the man from Strega, Minako went to where Shinjiro was. This time, she sobbed uncontrollably. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” she kept saying, she was sorry for not being able to keep on a smile for him when he most needed it. If only she had gotten there faster. She was so angry at herself for something like this happening. She wanted to tell him how much he meant to her, how much she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. She could hear the others behind; she knew that they were upset and angry at the same time.

Suddenly she remembered something, “Someone call an ambulance!” she yelled at anyone who heard, except that’s when she remembered it was still the Dark Hour, nothing that was electric would work. No one would be able to call an ambulance in time. Gripping onto his coat, Minako whispered to Shinjiro, “Hang in there . . . we’re going to get help. Please hang in there Shinjiro . . .” again, she started to sob. There was so much she wanted to tell him, so much she wanted to share with him.

When the Dark Hour ended quickly, they phone an ambulance, which arrived on the scene quickly enough. However, the hardest part for Minako was letting go of Shinjiro’s body, so much so that the others had to pull her off him. She wanted to go with, except Akihiko and Mitsuru went instead. Maybe it was for the best, if Minako went she would just end up in tears. Besides, she was still the “new girl” even though she was the leader; it didn’t mean anything when it came to friendship. She didn’t know Shinjiro enough . . .

When they got back to the dorm, all was quiet. Wiping away her tears, Minako tried to smile, except it hurt too much. She could hear Junpei and Yukari trying to talk to her, except she wouldn’t take up on the talk; she just went straight to her room.

It was a rather hard to sleep, eventually, Minako did end up sleeping, only she cried herself to sleep. She knew she would have to deal with school tomorrow. She knew everything would be fine. Nothing would have changed . . . except for Shinjiro not being at the dorm when she arrived back from whatever she was done doing during the day.

The whispers throughout the school were annoying. Minako couldn’t take it anymore. They didn’t know anything about Shinjiro. None of them knew that he was fighting for a cause; he was fighting to save them. They all thought that he was just in some fight, that he was just some hooligan.

It was lunchtime, and still people were talking about it. As usual, she sat next to Junpei and Yukari. Minako was sick of everyone talking about it. Slamming her fist on the desk she stood up and glared at the girls who were gossiping about Shinjiro. Minako could hear Junpei and Yukari gasp, talking to each other to try to figure out what to do.

How Minako wanted to put these girls in their place. To tell them Shinjiro isn’t the guy they think he is. Except she didn’t, taking a deep breath in Minako shouted, “SHUT UP!”

The girls stood up, seeing this as a challenge. One of them chuckled and said, “What, are you in love with that trouble maker?”

Her heart faltered. Yes, she was in love with Shinjiro. She didn’t have a chance to tell him. Minako feared that she would never be able to tell him her true feelings. Her body moved without thinking. Smack! Minako’s hand stung, but the girl’s face had a red splotch of where Minako’s hand met the girl’s face. With a final glare, the Wild Card simply walked out of the classroom. As soon as the door was shut, the tears began to fall silently. Quickly, she found her way to the rooftop, where she would be able to have time to herself. She thought about skipping the rest of the day. She didn’t want to go back in there to face her teacher and the girl that she had slapped.

Looking at the leather watch, Minako noticed that there was quite some time left for lunch. Quickly, she left school and was on the train. From there, she went to the hospital. Minako knew what room Shinjiro was in. She didn’t even overhear, something deep down inside of her knew where he was.

As she reached the door, Minako noticed the sign. She knew that there wouldn’t be any visitors, but was the hospital really making sure that this sign kept people out? Right now, she didn’t care about the consequences. Quietly, she opened up the door and heard the machine that was helping Shinjiro breath.

Walking up beside the hospital bed, tears silently fell again. She held Shinjiro’s hand, “Why do people see you as a trouble maker? You aren’t! You are a good person senpai . . . I need you senpai. If you can hear me . . . please wake up!”

Nothing.

Not even the slightest twitch.

Minako took a deep breath and left the hospital and headed back to the dorm. Falling onto her bed, she let out her tears. Crying, she gripped the bed sheets, wondering what her life had come to. She never asked for any of this. Except she knew she had to keep on going. She knew that if the others saw her this wrecked, then they were hopeless. They wouldn’t be able to save people from Apathy Syndrome.

It was time to defeat Nyx. For Shinjiro. For everyone. Even if it seemed as though it was impossible, Minako knew that they would be able to do it. They had already defeated Strega. Nothing else was standing in their way.

When they thought they had defeated Nyx, the world went black. It felt as though she was in the sky. Looking around, she didn’t see anyone. Minako was alone. She was the one who had to defeat Nyx.

It was hard; it felt as if she was going to die. Minako kept gritting her teeth, there was no way she was going to give up this easily. Her leather wristwatch started to shine. Looking at the watch, she knew she had found the strength and the way to defeat Nyx. To make sure that no one would be able to something like this again.

Everything was back to normal. Minako could go on with her life as she had intended. A couple of days ago, a girl had come up to her telling her that Shinjiro had come out of the hospital. The girl even told her where he was going to be.

Deep down, she knew that this day was the last day she would have to confess her love to Shinjiro. As she walked up to the roof, she breathed heavily. She was growing so tired and weary. Upon opening up the door, there stood Shinjiro.

“Shinjiro . . .” Minako said, trying to get enough energy to even speak.

As she said her name, he turned around. Minako couldn’t help but run to him. She couldn’t help but embrace him, even if he did wince a little. “Hey, that hurt y’know!” Shinjiro gasped upon impact.

Minako looked up at the face she had missed so much and smiled, “I’m sorry. I’ve missed you so much.”

Both of them looked at each other and decided to sit down. They were both weak from what had happened. As soon as they sat down, Shinjiro embraced her, held her. Tears formed in Minako’s eyes.

Her eyes began to close. She knew that it was coming. She had to do it now. “Shinjiro, I . . . love . . . you . . .”

Except Shinjiro didn’t understand what was happening. Minako simply smiled through her tears, “I remember . . . a day when you told me that . . . this was meant to be . . .” as she said the last words she drifted to sleep. She couldn’t hear Shinjiro, but she felt as though she knew that he was crying. That he was gripping her, holding her close.

The Wild Card felt bad that she had waited until now to confess her love, but she knew that he felt the same way about her. Minako made a promise to herself.

She promised that she would watch over Shinjiro and the rest of SEES. Minako would become their guardian angel.

Disgrace

Disgrace

There was so much blood in the air. Not a single drop of it was his. It was his comrades’ blood that was starting to get on him. Except Sair didn’t even kill them. There were too many enemies to even manage sneaking away, or trying to escape with the lost warriors.

            Somehow, one the fallen comrades stood up, walking towards Sair ever so slightly. That was impossible. The dead couldn’t walk. The other two had gotten up, and they circled around Sair, murmuring something that he couldn’t understand. Although, deep down, the young warrior knew why he was being haunted. It was because he was the only one who survived. The young warrior looked around, trying to find a way out of the circle of dead. There was none. The dead had come closer; Sair realized finally what they were saying. They were saying his name.

***

            Sair hadn’t slept for at least two days. He knew that today was the day that he was going to lose one of his brilliantly curved horns. He stroked them, knowing that he would miss it. Walking out of his room, he could feel the coldness emanating from his father. Sair couldn’t even meet the man’s eyes. Knowing that his father was ashamed of his eldest son. Sair tried to meet his mother’s eyes, yet she avoided her son’s gaze as well.

            A giggle tried to lift the heavy atmosphere, and then the little body that owned the giggle began to pull at Sair’s tail that was sticking out of his tunic. “Big bwotha what’s tha matta?” she said looking up at him with her big golden eyes.

            A sigh escaped Sair; his younger sister was too young to even understand what was happening today. Picking her up, Sair said while tickling her round nose, “You’ll understand when you’re older, Oinea,”

            The little girl began to squirm in Sair’s grasp, crying, telling him how mean he was. He let her down and then their father spoke, “Get going. Uoldo is expecting you.” Straight to the point, even as Sair’s father opened up his mouth, the young chimera flinched at how cold his father sounded. Walking past his father, Sair encountered his mother, who had gotten up and opened up the door. He looked at his mother, yet she still wouldn’t meet his eyes. He wanted to press his forehead against his mother, pat her on the head, stroke her soft hair, and tell her that everything would be all right. This wasn’t the last time she was going to see him.

            As Sair headed out the door, he grabbed his mother’s hand, squeezing it gently, and continued to walk out the door. He didn’t look back to see if his mother was on the ground sobbing, except his brilliant deer ears had heard it. He could hear his little sister ask, “What’s tha matta Mommy?”

            The young warrior continued to walk, and with each step he took, Sair realized that he was afraid. Afraid if he would be shunned for his entire life, for a year, or for a day. It didn’t matter to him, being shunned was a fate worse than death to his people. The young chimera continued to walk to the town square, hearing his hooves click underneath him on the cobblestone. As a child, he loved this sound. He loved it so much that he would just jump up and down to hear it. Except now, it sounded as though the sounds his hooves made were empty, hollow, as if even his childhood memories didn’t want to be near him.

            Upon reaching what was known as town square, Sair saw the General of what his people called an army, and their men: warriors. “So, the disgrace of a warrior showed up early, eh?” Uoldo laughed. The man was cruel and just, which was why he was the one to who held each chimera of their tribe down if they disgraced the tribe as a whole. How Sair wanted to reply to the giant of a man. Uoldo wasn’t there; he didn’t know how many enemies there were. How Sair wanted to spit at this man and hoped that it would land on his face. There were two people in this world that Sair hated, and Uoldo was one of them.

            Suddenly, Uoldo boomed a greeting, “Zuid! Glad you made it early to for your son’s special day!” The General hopped down and landed gracefully on his deer-like legs and patted Sair’s father on the back. Uoldo continued to talk, “If I were you I would have either killed Sair or kicked him out, show him what it means to be exiled from our people.”

            Except, Sair’s father didn’t talk, he just stared at his own son. The stare started to make Sair feel uncomfortable so much so that he felt like he had become a boy again. He couldn’t meet his father’s stare, so he shyly looked away.

***

            More and more people of the tribe showed up, including Sair’s mother and younger sister. Looking up at the sun, Sair knew that it was time to pay for his disgrace. “It’s time to disgrace this warrior for his crimes against our tradition!” Uoldo began. The crowd began to shout in excitement. Sair looked out in the crowd, wanting to see his mother’s face, except she kept it hidden beneath her bangs.

            “This young warrior given the name Sair at birth has disgraced our tribe. Disgraced our dead! He came back from a mission with no horns of the dead, he was in a group of three, and he was the only one who returned alive. Sair even left their bodies back there to just be burned or disposed of wherever our enemy pleases! With no horns how can their spirits kill their killer in the form of weapons? How?!” Uoldo had excited the crowd and then Sair felt the man’s hoof on his delicate back. With a simple shove Sair expected to fall flat on his face, except, his father caught him . . . by the horns. “Now, as it has been for generations, the father of the warrior will cut the horn!”

            “There are worst things than losing a horn boy,” his father said softly, “It will regrow . . . just give it time.” Sair closed his eyes at his father’s kind words. Never had he heard this before. Sair always hated his father; the man was cruel to him. He never felt any love from that man. Never. Tightly shutting his eyes, Sair fought back the tears as he felt the hand saw cut through his horn.

***

            The next thing Sair remembered was the crowd’s roar as Zuid held up his son’s horn as if it were a trophy. Opening up his eyes, Sair realized that he was sitting on the ground, head slightly tilted from the loss of the usual weight. Wiping his face, he realized that he had cried. “Such a brave warrior you are. Crying while losing something that will grow back,” as he got up, he noticed that his father seemed like to be their for his own son. To comfort him, except Sair rejected the offer coldly and just walked past his father.

            While walking through the crowd he could hear the whispers. Some said that he should have received a harsher punishment, perhaps both of his horns. Sair simply walked past them, trying hard to ignore them. Except it hurt, they didn’t know what had really happened. How his comrades haunted him for the past few days. It had become so terrible that he started to lose sleep over it. The worst part was that he felt like he couldn’t talk to anyone about it, they would all just tell him that he had done the wrong thing. Except, he had a little sister, someone who would want to be able see him every day.

            Sair wanted to walk around, maybe talk to his friends except they probably didn’t want to talk to him anyways. So, he walked home and swiftly went into his room and closed the door behind him. He crawled onto his bed curled up in a tight little ball as his deer fur tickled his nose. “Maybe I’ll just stay right here until my horn grows back,” Sair sulked. Slowly the young warrior started to close his eyes and begin to take a nap.

***

            Knock, knock. Sair slowly opened up his eyes and stretched. It was strange that someone was knocking at the door. Normally his family just lets him be. Sair was just going to go back to sleep, except the knocking came again. It sounded louder; as if whomever on the other side of the door was beginning to knock louder and louder. The noise was beginning to become annoying. “What?” Sair said irritated.

            The noise stopped, and silence filled the air until a deep cold voice was heard on the other side of the door, “Sair, can I come in?”

            The boy froze, his father wanted to come in? Whenever Sair locked himself in his room, it was always his mother. He mustered up courage and said, “Y-yeah,”

            The door swung open, and there stood his father, who seemed to have rather compassionate eyes at the moment. It confused Sair why his father was showing emotions that he hadn’t seen. Watching his father carefully sit down, Sair tried to avoid contact with his father. Except his father’s hand reached for the stumped horn and gently rubbed his finger on it. “Your shame will soon be forgotten son . . . your mother and I are proud of you . . .” Zuid began.

            Sair looked up at his father, not believing what he had just heard. Proud? How could his parents be proud of him? He was a disgrace to the tribe because he went against tradition. If only everyone knew that it wasn’t on purpose . . . he didn’t mean to leave his comrade’s bodies behind. He didn’t even know what he should have done in that situation. He was frightened.

            Still, his father continued to talk, “You do know the scar I have on my back . . . wasn’t from a battle right?” Sair stared at his father, and then looked at the scarred back. There was a perfect X, right in the middle of his father’s back. When Sair was younger, he would always ask about it, wondering how he got it. Eventually his father gave up and just never told his own son. So, Sair had come to the conclusion that his father received it in battle.

            Smiling, Zuid continued, “I did something far worse than you, something that made my own family disown me . . . I let my enemies live I didn’t kill them Sair, I told them to leave. That was when Uoldo was in my team, the kid looked up to me. Then, the bastard went and told my father, who was the general at the time about what I’ve been doing.” Sair couldn’t help but look at his father in surprise. Zuid never talked about his family, and now, Sair knew why. However, Sair knew how bad it was to leave their enemies alive, they would be able to lick their wounds and be able to reproduce. The worst part was, was that they could give their leaders information about how the tribe fought.

            “Still, my father had no problem bringing down the hot metal onto my flesh. I cried out, no, I screamed as I felt it hit my skin. My father dug in with that piece of metal so much, that this scar will never heal, it will always be with me, I’m not even allowed to cover it.” Zuid said clenching his fist. Sair had then crawled over to his father’s back and began to trace the scar as he did when he was younger. Back then it was in admiration, thinking that his father was the coolest man in the world. Now, it was in regret. He had no idea what his own father had been through.

            Zuid sighed, and chuckled, “Ironic as it may sound, I met your mother day I got the damn thing. I was left passed out on the stage, and when I awoke, she had wrapped bandages around me. Hell, she even offered me a home. You should know the rest . . .”

            The young warrior felt bad about how he had thought of his father before this conversation. Sair had hated the man as soon as he saw other fathers giving their children love. Sair was left there to wonder why he received nothing like that from his own father. His father wasn’t capable of any more compassion; it was all burned away as he felt that hot iron hit flesh. Gently, the young warrior wrapped his arms around his father and whispered, “I didn’t do it on purpose. There were too many enemies . . . I don’t even know how I survived . . .”

            His father swerved around and returned the hug back, whispering, “It’s not your fault. We were built for agility and dexterity. We are prey to begin with; our deer-half has made it so. It’s only animal instinct that you ran. No one in this family is blaming you for running.”

            The warmth emanating from his father’s body was so warm and comforting. The reason why his father would barely say a word to him was probably because he was remembering the time when he was on that stage for something much worse. Looking up Sair asked, “Why was Uoldo so kind to you? If he ratted on you why would he treat you like that . . .”

            Zuid ruffled his son’s hair and said, “Even I don’t know the answer to that. It’s probably because I used to be his hero. Someone he looked up to. Except now, he has a higher position than me. He’s General and I’m just a retired warrior with a reminder on my back.”

            Suddenly, Sair’s father stood up and walked out of the door. Before closing it, he smiled at his son. Sair returned the smile, finally, he knows his father better. Now, he’ll be able to protect his father if someone speaks ill of him.

            “Come now son, food will be on the table soon. We shouldn’t let it get cold.” Zuid said. Sair simply made the smile turn into a grin and followed his father to the table where they ate and laughed as a family.