“I---, I--, I-, I."
"---."
"I really must have been unwell---------. At least---, I did not puke on the mattress.”
"---."
Hours before Captain Rowen made his return to his tent, and just as the beginning of the gathering outside the camp was happening, in the north part of the encampment, where little Levis’s tent was, the very person in question was beginning to reawake from his sudden loss of consciousness.
But while in a state of dizziness and with a headache akin to a strange ringing in his ear, he began to glance around the tent. And as he took a glance at his surroundings and at himself, he came to rediscover that at this moment, he was without an upper garment, while vomit was on the ground of the tent.
"---."
“M---, Mas--, Ma-, Master?! I can begin cultivation---, to cultivate!? I---, I ca---, can become your disciple---!?”
However, as Levis continued to look at the ground, he could see his tunic, full of holes and cuts, which prompted him to make a strange face of incredulity and suspicion, that ended with him uttering some fearful words which made no sense at all, for in this moment he was all alone.
Although his eyes that were darting left and right, as well as up and down, were clearly awaiting for something unseen, which he could not perceive even with his own sight.
"---."
"-------."
"---------."
“Sigh---------! So it was just a dream. I---, I must have been too tired to realize I was hal---, halluaci--, hallu-, hallucinating. Sigh---!”
And to his nervous and fearful state, no replies came to his words, as no voice or voices spoke in his head, allowing him to relax while sighing his nervousness and jittery away. Yet, in spite of his actions, his shifty eyes betrayed the relaxed attitude that he was trying to sell to his own self.
“Well---, I guess it is time to eat, I will find the auntie first, and then I will talk with the Village Chief.”
----------------------------------------
After exiting the tent and beginning to walk through the numerous tents, little Levis began to observe the villagers of his village, but most of the men appeared to be missing. And as he walked for some time, he came to encounter a gathering of middle-aged ladies cooking outdoors, standing near a giant cauldron, however, the many women of different years appeared to be assisting one who looked to be the high authority among them.
“You stupid little boy! Where have you been when we had to leave the village? My husband had searched for you all morning and had found nothing. And now---, you arrive out of nowhere with the guards as though nothing had happened? Where have you run off to? What if the bandits would have captured you? What if you would have gotten yourself lost in the forest?”
But as little Levis was approaching the large group, the middle-aged woman in charge of the other women took notice of him, as a frown appeared on her face, after which a torrent of berating and questioning words fell over his head.
“I---, I did not know, that we were supposed to go anywhere, aunty Village Chief.”
“What “aunty village chief”! You unruly child!"
"---."
"Sigh! If you want to eat, go change and take a bath. you look and smell as though you are some beggar's child.”
"Kek---, kek--, kek-, kek!"
"Aha---, aha--, ha-, aha---------!?"
"Hmmm?!"
But while the Village Chief's wife was berating little Levis, the other women began to snicker and giggle at the duo, who from their perspective appeared akin to a mother scolding her child.
"And you all! Stop chuckling right now and turn the spoon, do not let the food be burned and continue to prepare the rest of the ingredients. The men should return by the time the sun goes down. Now you little fool, follow me!”
However, the woman had cat-like hearing and reflexes, for even as the rest of the women were trying to muffle their laughter and chuckling, she was capable of turning her head to glare and berate them the same way a lioness would glare and roar at her own pride.
Yet after her tirade, the Village Chief's wife made little Levis follow her in between the raised tents, until they arrived at a half-raised tent with an open ceiling.
“Go on. There should be some warm water in the buckets inside. Clean yourself! I will bring an unsoiled and fresh attire for you to wear.”
Without commenting back, little Levis entered the clear-opened tent while taking his dirty tunic and trousers off. And with a sponge in his gripping hand, as well as a small cup, he began to take and pour water on himself, while with the sponge he began to scrub what appeared to be dirt and some faint blood stains on himself.
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"Ahhh---!"
“How are you going to impress girls when you are so small.”
Yet, after what was no more than a hundred or so breaths of time, just as he was almost done cleaning and in the action of turning his head, little Levis came to jump in fright, as the Village Chief's wife stood gazing at him with a grin on her face.
“I am not small. I will grow bigger later-, bigger than anybody--, like a bear---! Grandpa has said so.”
But when the word "small" came out of her mouth, even as little Levis was unsure of whatever she was referring to, a tinge of anger and frustration nevertheless appeared on his face, as he rebuked her words in a blunt and snappy manner, until the tone of his words came down, for even he became unsure of himself at the end of his phrases.
"---."
“Yes---, yes--, yes-, you big bear. Finish your bath and change into these clothes. I will be waiting for you at the dinner table. We will all eat together, so you must come, understood!?”
“T---, together? Alright.”
But while looking at him, the woman, gave him a deep look before she put the clothes down and allowed him the space to change alone as he moved away from the location.
Nevertheless, as he left, little Levis was hit with a tinge of uneasiness that manifested on his face, for if there was one matter in particular, to say that he was not good at dealing with, was that of being in the presence of a big group of people, for even within his own village his anxiety of large crowds was coming out every now and then, as this was the biggest reason that most of the time, he would eat along with his grandfather and grandmother, not participating in any large or celebratory events.
And as he was done bathing, he quickly changed into the garments prepared for him, which were nothing more than the same rough and coarse clothes as the old ones, albeit, without the holes and cuts of the latter.
With his fresh attire on himself, there was little to do other than to escape from the place where he was in, for he began to walk out of the enclosed location made for bathing. But as he arrived on the main walkway of the northern part of the encampment, he began to walk toward the Village Chief's wife to request when the dinner would be ready, and if he could take it with him into his tent.
“Little brother Levis!”
But just as he made ten or so steps, right behind him, the sounds of footsteps came to be registered to his ear, nearing closer to his location, and before he could turn around to face the owners of the footsteps, the voice of a little girl called for him in a high pitch tone, which caused him to make an annoyed face, of someone who was extremely vexed for no reason in particular.
“Who is your little brother?! You are my younger sister, I am the older brother here since I am older than you.”
"What did you say?!!"
“No luck there, Levis. You will be stuck as the little brother if you continue to be shorter than her.”
“I am older than you too. So address me as such.”
And as little Levis turned to confront the owner of the voice, a girl came to be face to face with him. She was no older than eight years, with short hair and wide eyes, a grind that sported a sense of superiority as she looked at him as though having won him over.
Following the little girl was a tall lanky boy with a simple yet stupid face, eleven years or so of age, though his height might make someone give him a higher number of years.
“B---, big brother!”
“That is right. I am the big brother. It seems the only one smart here is the young shrimp, who knows far better than the two of you.”
And behind the two of them was a third child as well, one more boy, slower than them, for he was still running to catch them, the youngest of them all, it was hard to say how old he was, but he was probably four to five years old, for his speech ability was yet to be mastered, as his words still had the wobble of a baby to himself. And out of all, he was the only one to be a finger shorter than Levis.
“If he is a shrimp, then what are you? Since you are not that taller than little Bo.”
“Yo---, y--, y-, you! Do you think I will not grow to be the greatest man in the village? I will---!”
“Yes---, yes--, yes-, yes. “The great man”, I have heard it too many times."
"---."
"So---, why have you not come with us? With whom have you come? And when have you arrived?”
“That---.”
And as he was pressured, and submerged by questions, after a small provocation by the little girl, little Levis, came to be awfully reserved about the happening of his absence, for the said morning that they all had left without him.
And so, he began to describe a partial lie, while hiding the nightmare that had befallen the elders of the village, for even he could not bear to remember the event.
But as his story was short, the children began to tell their part, of what they had experienced since the morning of the sudden departure, and their long and tiring journey, as the guards had them move as fast as they could, so as to arrive at the soonest at the camp, for the allocation of the tents.
"---!"
But in the middle of their somewhat lengthy talk of back and forward, the sun continued to move ever so close to the horizon in the west, while their talk came to be stopped halfway through, for they were brought by a woman of the village to the mass dinner that had been prepared earlier in the day.
“Let us go and take a seat.”
“Yes, we should---! Levis?”
"Oh no!"
"Big b---, brother. H---, he ru-. r-, run away."
But just as they arrived, and they were about to take a seat, the older boy, came to realize that at some point, Levis who stood with them not a moment ago was no more, which prompted the little girl to get angry and to look around. But it was the little boy, that came to point in a certain direction, for he was the only one that had seen his fleeing figure.
And just as it had happened, as they had arrived and little Levis had observed the several rows of tables capable of holding fifty or so people, he began to move away, as his legs moved in a different direction from the three children.
But before anything could happen, as the seats were still empty, footsteps reached his ears, as men and women were coming in large numbers in their direction, as such, little Levis separated from the group of the three in a heartbeat, whilst also sneaking to where the food was being cooked, and with a practice like profession, he took a dish full of potato porridge with a piece of meat and a little jug of water, after which he dashed away from the place as fast as he could, before anyone could even take notice of him.
“He ran off again! He will use the same excuse again, of having eaten already, so as to stay away and not come here with us. That---, that--, that-, sigh! That idiot.”
Even so, the three children clearly noticed his absence from their group, as anger and irritation appeared on the face of the little girl.
“Calm down. You can not do anything. Mother had long said that he's afraid of big groups of people, and he feels safe only when old Grandpa Ato and Grandma Hel are around.”
“Hmph! He is not a child anymore. What is there to be afraid of?”
"Why are you questioning me? I do not know."
----------------------------------------
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“Aaaahhhhh---, I am stuffed. I can no longer eat anything else. If Aunty Village Chief comes here, I will say I can not move because I have eaten too much. Good idea---, I will go with that.”
But while the children were conversing about little Levis's slippery departure, the person in question was having his own feast, for he had eaten to his fullest, in the tent that the Village Chief had presented him with.
[Good. If you are all done, then we can resume from where we left off.]
"---."
[No, you should do a more compact version of what we said before.]
"---!"
[Yes, that is a good idea for once, if this kid is as dumb as he looks, he might have forgotten everything by now.]
"---?"
[Kid. Listen well, as I do not enjoy speaking for no reason.]
"No!"
But just as he was lying with his back on the mattress in satisfaction from having eaten to his fullness, the nightmare that were the voices in his head appeared without any notice whatsoever and then proceeded to talk as if nothing had happened from the last time and now, when they had first conversed, as though the madness of his head did not care about him in the slightest, for he was plunged once more into the sea of insanity that were the voices in his mind.
“Nooo---------!!!”