Chapter One: The Hobo
A/N - POV Change
Walking home after a long journey through the city I finally get to sit down and rest...okay enough resting time to train. Leaving the stolen goods on the table, I go outside to my makeshift training area. Surrounded by forest on all sides it was the perfect place for ten year old Daniel to exercise and practice his moves.
Laying flat on the ground back in the air I started doing pushups. I had no set number of pushups I had to do I just kept on going until my arms gave in. When I was done with those I did suicides till I dropped, and when I was done with those I did sit ups. I did all the basic things I learned throughout the past four years I spent alone. All the things I learned to survive after running away.
I had decided to run away that day at the principal’s office, not because I wanted, but because I felt I had too. I felt that every second I was in that school was only one more second to add to myself and my acquaintances pain. I felt since I’m already so forgettable it would not be difficult to just to disappear. And so I did, disappearing out of nowhere I started travelling and living like a nomad. Moving from place to place, city to city, living off the junk food I stole from convenience stores. Often going on long periods of starvation causing me to steal a lot...it was not so much that I wanted to steal it was just I had to in order to survive. I needed the clothes, the food, the shoes, and everything else. In short, I needed a lot.
Honestly speaking to myself, now that I am living like a nomad for the first time in my life I have been recognized...just not in a good way. I am currently one of the most wanted thieves in the entirety of the city-state Hellen, the city Urr, and the town of Slomber. I’m actually pretty famous if I do say so myself, my photo is plastered on almost every street corner light post. You wouldn’t believe how long it took for the police to figure out it was I who was stealing all the merchandise. The only reason they actually discovered me was because they use a fingerprint scan instead of normal cameras. I most definitely would have been arrested already if not for the fact no one pays too much attention to anything with my face on it.
Finally finishing my daily routine of working out till I drop and could not handle anymore, I pick up an over-priced stolen towel and rub my face wiping off some of the sweat on my face. Luckily I’m ten, so there wasn’t much sweat to get rid of in the first place. I here when you get older shit really hits the fan. Shivering at the thought, I start going towards my favorite view in the forest. Climbing through the shrubbery and bracken I make my way through while hitting away the thorns with a walking stick. I never needed bug-spray, mostly because the bugs all seemed to ignore me. Finally seeing a clearing behind the massive trees and bushes I rush forward grinning like a buffoon. When I finally get through I feel a gust of wind that blows my hair back immediately refreshing me. Opening my eyes my smile only got wider and I rushed forward. Climbing to the top of a huge boulder I look out across the forest. It was truly an awe inspiring view, decorated with the Starry River which spanned hundreds of miles it was amazing. Even the huge trees and occasional forest clearing made it look all the more amazing.
Here even the greatest curse seemed to become a gift bestowed from the heavens. Here Daniel would not mind staying forever. Daniel slowly thought about the past years and how hard he had been training. How much effort he put into getting stronger even though he was only a six year old. How he had often collapsed on the streets only to be walked over and kicked. Smiling wryly Dan thought as to why he began to train oh so long ago, but he kept on forgetting as to why.
‘Well it doesn’t really matter now does it Dan. Yes, yes I agree Daniel very true.’ he thought holding a miniature conversation in his head. ‘Dear god I am going crazy, I hope I don’t look weird to anyone...haha’ he thought slightly worried as he drifted into a deep undisturbed sleep.
///Morning///
“Daniel come back to us. You belong at home with us your parents.”
“NO! Never! Just stay away!” A figure said with tears streaming down his eyes
“Come to us Daniel.”
“COME...TO...US!”
“ARHH!” A cold sweat running down the side of my forehead, I shook with my hands clutching both sides of my head. ‘It’s always that dream...those couldn’t be...no...they are not my parents. Not those beasts.’ Wiping tears from my wet cheek I stood up and sighed. Looking out to the forest I slapped my cheeks and yelled “Goooood Mooorning Forest!” at the top of my lungs.
Placing both hands on my hips I smiled even though I didn’t want to. I smiled because I knew somewhere out there someone was having a worse day than I was...Probably. I hate Mondays.
Unzipping my pants I started pissing over the boulder cliff with a long sigh of relief. Yawning really loud I closed my eyes and they started watering. Zipping up my pants I rubbed my eyes with my arm and I turned around facing my only exit. *Zhoooo* Suddenly and object suddenly flew across my head at high velocity. Standing rigid my body was frozen in place. *Zhooo Zhooo Zhooo* All of the sudden more arrows started heading for my head. With no time to think I ducked as fast as I could. Looking back at the forest I saw a bunch of...is that a skeleton. ‘Dear God, What the F*ck!’
Looking forward I saw a bunch of skeletal figures holding bows slowly making there way forward when a skeleton who looked like the boss suddenly stopped and said in a loud booming voice
“Human heed our warning, we are the ‘Skeletonic Archery Brigade’ and we were sent here to kill any, and all humans that enter this forest! Please stand still as we do our best to kill you! Do not make things difficult! Otherwise it will be hard for me!” Feeling another cold sweat make its way down my back I turned so rigid that my body was robot like and it had to operate on commands. ‘Mouth! Move!’
“Umm yes, Mister S-Skeleton, is there p-perhaps a way in which I could not die.” I said in the politest, most straight forward manner I could muster up at the time.
“Absolutely not! If you do not die! How do you expect to join my Skeletonic Archery Brigade!” Said the Boss Skeleton in a deep military general like voice.
“Hey boss, why don’t we just kill him now instead of talking to him. Yeah. I agree. Same” Said all the skeletons in unison. They always enjoyed killing humans as their eyes were screaming full of terror. Chuckling the boss answered
“Boys, boys don’t you understand? This is all part of my plan! I’ll get him to agree to join our amazing Skeletonic Archery Brigade, and then kill him! That way when he turns full skeleton he won’t just kill himself like all the other humans we killed!” Said the boss in satisfactory tone.
“Oh Boss amazing plan. Couldn’t done better myself! That’s why you’re our boss.” The Skeleton Boss suddenly turned bashful and was some how now blushing.
“Oh you guys! This is why our crew is better than those damn Hobgoblin trash!” The Boss Yelled out while he thought about how amazing his brigade was.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Yeah! God damn right ‘bout that boss.”
“Ah...guys we let him get away.”
“Huh?”
///A few minutes ago///
While all these skeletons were talking amongst themselves I decided to make my great escape. Looking around everywhere I could only find one way that I could possibly escape through. Unfortunately that was the cliff I was currently standing on. Looking back over the ledge and I saw a pond that streamed off from the Starry River tapering off like a snake until it filled a huge reservoir. Biting my lip I swore, and cursed my luck. Of course it was I who had to meet the walking and talking skeletons. Couldn’t some amazing hero meet them in my stead? Like seriously! Looking at the skeletons I knew in my heart, at least I had a chance this way. A very slim one at that. Laughing to myself I realized just how ironic the situation was, most people who decide to jump off two hundred foot cliffs are usually looking to kill themselves. I’m looking to survive. Sighing one last time I looked over the ledge.
“Fuck this shit! LEGS JUMP!” I commanded my legs which propelled me into the air as they launched me over the edge. Fortunately no one had noticed until the last second. Screaming I fell at full speed with mouth open and skin rippling. Flipping multiple times trying to get into position I saw the pond getting closer and closer, I did my best to make a pencil out of my legs and my arms.
‘Three! Two! One!’ *BOOM!*
Suddenly there was a large explosion of water in the middle of the pond and then silence and stillness was all that some one could see. A cold breeze came through and if one looked up they could see a fuming skeleton looking over the edge. Having seen the whole thing, he was very mad. They needed the boy dead, but they also needed his body to do the Skeletonification Ceremony. Their boss would be extremely mad if he did not retrieve the boy for their purposes. Suddenly one could see ripples and then a boy emerge from the water gasping for air. Seemingly coming out of nowhere the boy swam for shore.
‘Holy shit biscuits I survived the fall! I fucking lived!’ Laughing to myself I swam to shore as fast as I could. Even through all the pain I felt I still knew I was being chased and needed to escape. Finally making it to shore I stood up and ran. Thank God for daily exercise because I am not sure I would have been able to move after such an event if not for it. Feeling grateful I ran at full speed only to trip. *Zhooo* An arrow landed right at the spot I was about to run to and I looked back only to see the Skeletonic Archery Brigade lined up in position on the cliff with their bows held steady. I also had found a very mad boss that somehow managed to fundamentally change his skulls bone structure to look like an angry face. You could practically feel the anger radiating off of him. Looking down at me with the signature angry face he stared for a good ten seconds until he said
“You’re boned you little shit!”
“Bahahaha!” Quickly covering my mouth I laughed. I always had knack for liking terrible puns and I have no idea why. Running again at full speed this time I ran to the woods for cover. Hearing arrows land behind me boosted me forward at speeds I didn’t know I could accomplish. Now only ten meters away from the forest I heard an arrow coming for my head and everything turned slow. Turning around I saw the arrow coming for my head in slow motion. I moved to turn my body, but unfortunately my body was also stuck in slow motion and I only had time to move my head. Slowly turning my head into a safe position time sped up and the arrow zoomed past me at full speed grazing the skin on my right cheek.
Zig zagging this time I finally made it into the forest but I did not stop and continued running. Hoping the skeletons had something better to do then chase a ten year old I ran as fast as I could for a good thirty minutes. However, the skeletons really didn’t have anything better to do than chase young Daniel and just as he started to rest he heard their marching. ‘Fuck, these guys are persistent.’ Thought Daniel aghastly because he knew he had to run more or find a hiding spot quick. Daniel creeped away as silent as he possibly could and then ran in opposite direction of the Brigade. Running for another good hour this time Daniel finally found a cave. Dead tired Daniel entered the cave, but the entrance had accumulated a lot of water so he went deeper in until he finally found a dry spot. Feeling the calming warmth from the earth beneath him. A tired Daniel once again fell into a deep sleep.
///Tomorrow Afternoon///
“Daniel, we want you home.”
“No, Never! Just stay away!”
“COME...TO...US...DANIEL!”
“Hey kid!, wake up!”
I look up to see a skeleton holding a torch accentuating his most scary parts. “Shiiiiiit!” I screamed while moving back only to find my body pressed against the cave wall.
“Hey kid no need to be so rude, I ain’t like those lousy Skeletonic Fartchery Brigade. Not all skeletons’ are evil ya’know.” Said a relaxed skeleton.
“You m-mean there’s more o-of you, s-skeletons that is.” I said while more afraid than I ever have been in my entire lifetime.
“First of all kid, haven’t you heard of monsters? And second of all, there are so many skeletons you’d lose track before you started counting! Boy look at me. Look familiar? Yeah I know I’m all bones. That’s because a large portion of the human species is dead. And because all those dead people leave behind a skeleton it makes a perfect breeding ground for necromancer experiments. When a skeleton necromancer finds a skeleton of a human he resurrects it, often at a very convenient place called a cemetery, but they can reanimate dead bodies on the battlefield. Though less preferable because they leave behind disease and rot.” Said the Skeleton giving me a brief history on skeletons.
“Umm what are monsters?” I said genuinely confused momentarily forgetting I was in the presence of an inanimate object that moved and talked.
“Kid how old are you?” Said the skeleton questionly
“Ten.”
“Hmm, you should know about us monsters. The government makes schools teach every kid in the third grade? And didn’t you noticed all the M.O.B propaganda and sign up sheets.
‘Now that I think about it...oh I thought those M.O.B commercials were just cartoon shorts. I never really paid much attention to the sign up sheets either. I was really busy these past years, and I never even attended second grade much less third. Thinking about this I answered.’
“I haven’t gone to school since first grade sir.” I said shyly. I didn’t like telling people something so personal and embarrassing.
“What?! Why?! Kid do you know what you're missing. Only the fundamentals for the basic living of your life. Can you even do math?!” Said the Skeleton rather vigorously.
“What does it matter to you! You stupid skeleton!” I said now heating up with anger.
“Boy. Right now along with my wife I have my three beloved children living with me in a tribe of skeletons. I watched them die right in front of me. But even after death, I would never let one of my children skip school. Not even a single minute, no, not even a single second. So tell me. Why?!” Said the Skeleton furiously. Clearly he was passionate about school.
“It’s not like anyone will notice I’m gone anyways! I ran away four years ago and my parents couldn’t even remember me enough to call the cops. And even if they had they wouldn’t have a photo or description to give them” I said while tearing up and looking at the ground in hate. My eyes started to turn blurry and I looked up to see a skeleton like figure with a mouth opening and closing. I looked down in shame as I felt another wave of emotion hit me. Burying my crumpled up tear ridden face in my hands I cried.
“...Sorry, I’m kid. I kinda get heated when talking about things I like. And It’s just...well...I used to be a school teacher. I had taught my triplets in an old rural village on the outskirts of the country. We lived peacefully on our little mountain without a care in the world. Living up on those mountains with my family were the best days if my life. Until, those disgusting things came and killed everyone I had loved and cared for. Those impossibly disgusting things were our fellow villagers, our friends, our family. A famous necromancer skeleton had reanimated them after killing them with his Skeleton Brigade. They had brutally killed everyone not leaving a single person spared. Not even the children. The necromancer preferring skeletons over zombies brutally melted our corpses flesh off over a bonfire and turned us into living skeletons. Now we see in heat signatures and hear through vibrations we feel inside our skull.” The skeleton feeling guilty explained himself.
“...I’m sorry too. I’m just tired.”
“Me too kid, me too...hey just saying, but if you don’t have anywhere to go. I always got room for one more in my family household.”
“*sigh*I don’t got anywhere else to go.”
“Than that settles it. Let's go home and eat kid. Your all bones for christ sake!”
“Ha, you’re one to talk, you old fart!”
“Also we can’t go home yet.”
“Huh, why?”
“The Skeletonic Archery Brigade is after me.”
“Well shit. This is a really comfy cave anyways.”
“Yeah.”
Little did I know at the time, but this encounter would change my life forever. For the better or worse I do not know. I did know however, was that I gained my first friend. Even if he is an old fart.