Re: The Onyx Star Trilogy:Book 1
From Jason H, Email at 3:00 AM, Friday, September 15th:
Here it is man, Chapter 2 of my fan fiction, which i'm really lazy about doing. My internet is turning off and on right now, so I can't exactly type something big, I was just wondering if you couldpost this attachment on the forums.
Thanks,
J
Well, here it is.
Chapter 2:The Day Of Birth
A day passed, and Kalec stood on the doorstep with his father in the brink of sunrise, struggling to keep his supplies on his spine. Rupert put his hands on Kalec's shoulders, happy that his son had found a job, "Are you sure this is what you want?" The father asked, looking at his nervous son, prepared, but still nervous.
"We've been over this all of yesterday," Kalec piled up all of his items, picking up a sheathed knife that fell, reaching forward to realize he was still facing his father, and smiled "I'm positive...dad"
Rupert patted his son on the back, signaling him to start, "Right...well, go on then!" Smiling, and waving as his son left. Kalec made one last wave before he dissapeared, darting down the hillside into Oakvale. Rupert released his right hand, which at the time was on top of his forehead to try and see his youngest son, and sighed, "They grow up so quickly..." Lowering his smile, the caring father tapped his foot on the ground, "And, for some reason...I fear it" And when he could not see Kalec anymore, he left his porch uninhabited by entering his awaited home.
Arriving at the site, Kalec awaited the leader of the group. The area was a large field of dirt, piled with shacks and rakes alone on the ground, awaiting their owners. The sun shined on the sweating floor, outlining the gaping holes piled alongside eachother within the manefest of mud. Though not awestruck, Kalec was unsure about the job he chose. For it had been the last on his list of jobs, slowly narrowing each down to the ones he would most be interested in. But he found none, and clumsingly randomized his choice by waving his finger around and choosing the one his nail guided on. Now that he thought about it, for no more than a few seconds, he found that he didn't even know what job he was doing.
But this was no time to day dream. A gate creaked, sounding as if it was sneaking up on the young boy. He tuned out the sound by stepping slightly back, whistling a humble song that was played by his father on christmas holiday. But there was no escaping the fear, for he felt a solid rock hitting his spine. Fearing that he had hurt himself, he rubbed his back, turning around to see where he had hit. But it wasn't a rock. Let alone a solid object. For it was a man, a dirty looking one at that, with a short beard so long Kalec felt the man tried to grow it...or just didn't care. Dirt stained his fresh patched shirt, rips spotted along his pants. And h wore a coat, a signature coat, one that would seem to be worn for a special event. But it was too covered in dirt, and the more the boy looked, the more he thought that maybe this man was trying to hard to impress people. And when the giant man opened his mouth, Kalec felt as if he was going to be cursed.
"Yur goin' to wake up the critters"
Still surprised, Kalec now took a step back the opposite way, "What...what critt---"
"Look, do you want to stare at the dirt all day? What the blazes do you want..huh?"
"I'm...i'm"
Building up confidence, Kalec took in a deep breath, "...I'm here for a job."
Thinking that the man would laugh, that a boy such as young as him could possibly do a real job. Or even worse, the man would kick him out, and this possibility was stronger. It seemed this man had been in one too many fights, or even worse. And this all filled his mind, after he took a last breath before the giant could steal it.
The stranger looked surprised for one second, hinted by his raised eyebrows. But there was something about this giant that made him look gentle, vulnerable.
"Well...follow me lad!" Humble, he opened the gate with his large hand that was almost completely covered by the coat, "and don't get lost---"
Allowing the man to start moving, Kalec stood a foot from the gate the stranger had opened, "Why would I get lost?"
" 'Fraid I can't tell ya," Chuckled the giant, "If I did, you might not want a job here anymore...and tha wouldn't be good for my almost empty pockets, eh?"
Arriving on the wasteland of dirt and shacks, the giant picked up a rusted shovel, and weilded it from its earth-mounted prison, "By the way, the names Puffin Dandylan, with two f's but i'm not the man for spellin errors...you can call be Rob"
Kalec still did not know why he was here, or what he had to do, so he began to kick the dirt as he walked, "That's great...Noreg," the giant nodded at his reply, but let the boy continue, "...but what is this place?"
With a humble laugh, Knorg began to open his swallowed mouth beneath his beard, "Well, glad that yer asked, this is ther Grounds!" Watching Kalec kick the dirt, Noreg grunted, acting as if he had just swallowed a bad meal, "And your kickin it!"
Rob explained the situation as clear as he could, but words couldn't medicate what was flowing across the mind of the boy.
Pointing his shovel on the ground, the gentle giant began to tap on the gaping hole beneath. Dirt sparked from the soil, and a bubble-like vulnerability aroused from the ground. Then, with a distant cry, a small little creature popped out. It was the most disturbing, and disgusting, the boy had ever seen. Little, stained with dirt, the infant of the sort squieled with pain from its birth.
Kalec took several steps back, but soon found the creature looking at him. Puzzled, he began to move closer. Noreg smiled, and mused,"Well, that's unusual...the little critter likes you!"
Still confused, but mesmorized by the unknown being, Kalec looked back at the outdoorsman, "..what is this?"
With a powerful blow, Rob slammed the creaure with his shovel, and released a massive amount of snot from his mouth, "It's a hobbe...a newborn one at that!"
Passing the shovel to the boy, the giant continued, "Bowerstone says that we can't let these things out there, or anywhere else matter a fact!" Seeing that the boy was awestruck, he explained, "We can't let these things out in the wild, so...we,"
"Kill them?" Kalec responded, scarcely feeling a pulse on the young hobbe, "I would expect a bit more gratitude from a person like you!"
Noreg widened his eyes, without words,"Oh no, no, no, we don't do that!" Said the giant, picking up the little creature, "We ship 'em to the western lands, over in the mountains...far from Albion of course, so they can be cared by in the caves...and tha's where they belong, because a matter of fact they came over here, because they had no land left!"
"Their homes were destroyed..." Muttered Kalec, filling up the hole with his dirt-stained palms, "They had no where else to go..."
"Miners from Bowerstone sought some gold over there," Rob smiled, "But they didn' find any...but they did find some fat loot, if you call hobbe vomit tha'!" laughing, he saw Kalec begin to puff his cheeks, seeming as if he was about to vomit himself.
"...it's a shame...the Hobbe's used to be a fine race," Continued the caretaker, "Built some grand woodwork, too...but after the miners came, they began to become a warring race, horribly scarred."
"To be pushed off your land...the land you belonged in," Explained Noreg, "It just aint right..."
'But many, many years have passed...and here they are," He mused, watching the Hobbe open its eyes once again, and smiled with gratitude, "We've found that if a young hobbe could just get smacked with a hard metal in ther' cranium, they lose their fierce anger...and life begins, eh?"
Kalec nodded, and brandished his shovel. Noreg nodded, "Right...so here's where you come in!"
Within days of training, the boy began to learn the ropes of Hobbe-whacking. Day after day, Noreg would point out one thing Kalec had missed, or something he had done terribly wrong. And day after day, Kalec would pull a infant from the ground, nearly blinded by the soil exploding before him. And it was then that the boy felt he had truly understood nature, truly understood how the cycle worked and how he was involved within it. Of course, he didn't become 'one with nature'. But he was close to understanding it, Noreg would mused. The sun would shine on the boy with a gleaming chance of hope, that maybe someday, just one day, his father would appreciate him. And better, the farm would become what it used to be.
And week after week, Kalec came home with pouches of coins, the daily gathering of his earnings. Signed in black ink was Noregs signature, and the amount of coins inside. Though weary of what his son was doing, and unexpected by the job he chose, Rupert was glad that his son had grown up, once and for all.
But the boy began to struggle, the 'bruise' continued to be in pain across his right arm. The local priest suggested he should stop working for awhile, and that it was only a minor virus around the town. Even though Rupert would aggree, Kalec protested that he had to keep going. There was no end to the farms financial crisis, and Kalec had to keep working. Aware yet still cautious, the priest allowed Kalec to do what he wanted to do, and said that 'it is his choice for the destiny of the scar, not his'.
Though it wasn't the end of the matter. Day after day, the bruise was agonizing, feeling as if a thousand knives mutilated his arm. He could feel it when he slept, in his nightmarish dreams of cloaked men surrounding a baby boy. He had always had the bruise, but never recognized it until he encountered the endless dreams of insanity. And they kept getting worse. Desperate, Kalec bandaged his right arm with the most of his sleeve, and tied it together with fabric. The rushing pain began to dissapear, and his punding blood traveling along his veins slowly faded away. Rupert was worried, warning Kalec that mere fabric couldn't heal a birth mark like that, but soon accepted his sons choices. The farm was still low in rescources, Kalec had to continue his duties.
Winter came in the town of Oakvale. Hobbe hunting soon would come to a halt, for the snow heavily piled the soil. Huddled up inside the large woodwork cottage, the dozen hunters gathered around the fire around the end of the great hall, talking and conversing. This was the time where they could depart from their work, play in the snow, drink hot tea or coco to warmth their iced bodies. Laurie, a talented Alchemist, sat on one of the large chairs and slowly freed her animals. One was a strange lion, whose mane spreaded across the floor, and had low aged eyes. It's tail was hidden under the fur, but you could barely see the tip breaking it's way out. Another was a little gerbil, peckering along and fiddling with the cheese it had stolen. Soon, it arrived at the feet of one it shouldn't have.
"Heath Galleon, not a good bloke to fear of! Yea right, i'd blow his personal parts to bits!" Rose protested, polishing her small pistol. Vulnerable, yet skilled with the bow and rifle, she was destined to be a hunter. Rose didn't take crap from anyone, especially since she was the most loved out of the boys. She had short, brown hair and blue eyes that stood out, unless it was next to the sky. Though her dreams are to become a skilled hunter, she was only a baker's assistant at the moment. She hated it, because she believed that not all women accept the lies that men can dominate over them. No, she wasn't going to wear a corset when she was older. She would rather grip the middle of a bow, or click the trigger of the rifle. She was also the same very young age as Kalec, who in fact was sitting right next to her.
"Hmph, he shouldn't be doing that..."Kalec muttered under his breath, closing the ends of his fingers as he re-wrapped his bandage. Heath snatched the gerbil, practically squeezing it with his rough hands. Then, with an utter change of expression, the little creature let out a terrible roar towards the bully. It's gaping fangs shone through, a bits of saliva spread across the shocked face of Heath. Heath, being the brave person he is, weakly flicked the creature off as it burrowed back towards Laurie. And even though he was quite the swordsman, the boy was petrified by the creature.
Children and adults alike uncontrollably laughed, while the staff silently chuckled in the distance. Heath grunted, "Ah, what would you do if he did that?" Kalec sat on his chair, and slightly smiled, rubbing the snow off a small, framed picture.
"Who's that?" Rose questioned, watching Kalec clean off the ice around the edges of the frame.
Knowing that someone has been watching him, Kalec placed the picture bac in his pocket, and hesitated, "No one, Rose"
