-Break-
“A legacy?”
“Yes Orb, a legacy. That’s what is going on with you. The soul of another being is living in your body and granting you their powers.”
“Wait, does that mean someone has been staring at me while I shit and piss,” that also means they have heard me talk to myself all the time since Capti’s death. That’s so embarrassing.
“I wouldn’t know about that, but what I can tell you is that the soul of the other person can be manifested in armaments around your body, and that your body will start passively adopting physical traits the other person had, so I think that must be why you are immune to the cold.”
I guess that makes sense. I thought I was immune to the cold due to some evolutionary difference, but it seems I just lucked out and got a legacy.
“Orb, that means a whole other person is inside you, isn’t that kind of scary” Willow says to me.
“Well, I guess it would be to have a stranger inside my body, but I am pretty sure I have a fair idea of who my legacy is.”
Willow, looking confused, asks Orb, “Who.”
“Well, that’s for me to know. So, you just have to figure it out.”
But as I say this, a group of warriors walk in, the ones whom we were ahead off they tell Sequoia, “Chief, some warriors weren’t able to get all their feathers out in time and are in agonising pain. We were able to get them back here. We don’t know what to do,” the warrior says with a panicked expression as tears fall down his eyes.
Sequoia then looks over at Cole and asks him, “Would you be able to help the others as well? No wait.” Sequoia then bows and says, “Would you please help the other warriors.”
“Please don’t bow, chief. I will help without a doubt, but I will need people to help me get the materials ready.”
“That will be no issue”, Sequoia turns to the crowd of People. “Everyone here follow this man’s instructions; you hear me!”
“YES, SIR!”
Cole then gives an address to everyone, telling them what he needs to make the anaesthetic. We all go off to gather the materials. Then he and Oren, cut out the feathers in everyone’s bodies. It was lots of work, but everyone was left alive by the end of the day.
-Break-
Φ “Orb.”
“What is it, Cole.”
“Would you please tell me where you’re taking me?”
“Nowhere important.”
“Well, if it is nowhere important, why do I have to wear this blindfold?”
“You should stop asking pointless questions and just wait. We are almost there, so keep your blindfold on.”
I know where everything is in this village, so I don’t see why I would have to wear this unless this has all been some elaborate plot to mess with me and kill me.
Orb got close to the villagers extremely quick. Maybe everything that has happened over the last year has been an elaborate plot to get me to trust them, so they can kill me. I have heard murderers get off by killing people they have grown attached to; doesn’t that mean I am in trouble?
“Hey Cole, why is your heart beating so fast,” Orb whispers into my ear.
“How would you know that.”
“My body has changed due to my legacy. My sense of smell and hearing has gotten a lot better. I can smell the most feint smells; like the individual smells of every plant you have walked past today, and hear every beat of your heart; It’s rather impressive.
So, Willow, your heartbeat has been getting faster and faster for a while. Could you tell me why is that,” Orb says with a smile?
I know I can’t see him, but I can feel a sinister smile behind me. Without a doubt, they’re going to kill me should I run. No, they saved my lost life. If they want to claim it, they can. I had already given up on it.”
“Cole, we are here. Are you ready?”
“At least end my life with some class.”
“What are you on about anyway? Take off your blindfold Cole.”
Stolen story; please report.
As I remove my blindfold, I see that we are in front of the large dining hall, then everyone shouts, “WELCOME TO OUR VILLAGE, COLE!”
“What is all this.”
“Well, some of the villagers wanted to thank you for saving Willow’s life a few days ago, and we never had a welcome banquet for you like they did for me, so we have decided to do both in one here today.”
A large group of villagers come up to me and bow, then say, “SORRY.”
“Why are you guys apologising to me.”
“We have all been people who haven’t been fond of you are staying here, but thanks to you were able to save not only some of our lives, but the lives of our families as well. You have only been good to us while we haven’t been to you, and should we ask for your forgiveness.”
“It’s all right. You were right to be suspicious, so it is no big problem.”
“Thank you for your forgiveness.”
“Well, if that is all done with, let us PARTY”, Orb shouts to everyone around, and with his announcement, the party starts and rages on the whole night.
-Break-
This village is beautiful, is what I think to myself while I stare from a cliff down onto it.
“Cole, it seems you’re up early. What are you doing”, Sequoia says as he approaches me.
“Just taking a look at the village.”
“Do you mind if I join you?”
“Not at all, be my guest,” and with those few words, Sequoia sits beside Cole.
“It is strange to see the village so quiet,” Sequoia says.
“Everyone is still pasted out in the dining hall from the party last night, which makes this as good a time as ever to enjoy the quiet sight of the village.”
“Well, I can understand why you want to do that, especially since everyone was hounding you last night, mister popular.”
“That was the first time many of the villagers have had a chance to talk to me, so I guess they didn’t know how to restrain themselves. People were so tightly packed against me, that I thought I would be smothered to death at one point, but at least everyone was happy.”
“Of course, they would be. If not for you, we would have lost quite a few people, so their gratitude plus all the intrigue they have had towards you made them lose control, but still, I will tell them to hold back. We shouldn’t smother you with our compassion.”
“No, I find it has been a long time since people have thanked me for anything. It made me happy.”
“That’s good to hear then.”
“You know, everyone here is such a good person who cares for all the others around them. They all try hard to reach their goals and are always smiling; simply being here calms my spirit and makes me want to fade into it. I love this place. It’s like a perfect world from a kid’s story.”
With a smile, Sequoia says, “That’s great to hear. I had hoped you would come to feel that way.”
“I understand why you want Maple to stay here forever, and I think you are right. You should keep on the pressure and make her stay here forever.”
“Speaking about that, I talked with Maple today. Not our usual violent discussions, like a real conversation where we both told each other what was bothering us. I never thought such a day would come when Maple and I would talk like that.
She came up to me and apologised for all the horrible things she had said to me, and she told me she didn’t want me to stop loving her. It seems the run-in with the king altered her perspective about some things.”
“That’s great to hear. That means she would be more open to staying in the village with you.”
“No, I wouldn’t say that because even after everything that had to happen, she had still reaffirmed her desire to leave the village despite almost dying. There was no doubt in her eyes when she said that.”
With a worried look, Cole says, "You can’t let that happen, we need to act fast.”
“Cole, Maple has told me time and time again that she wants to leave the village, and I always thought it was because she was dissatisfied with something in this village, so I kept trying to show her how great this village is, but it didn’t work.
I couldn’t understand it, was as if my daughter was telling me all the things I love, that the people of this village, that I her father couldn’t bring her happiness, it made me feel like a failure.
I couldn’t accept that, so I tried to blame it all on youthful curiosity and then used whatever method I could find to crush that, but it never worked because it was never the issue. My daughter didn’t have any such intention. She told me she loved living here. It just isn’t her place.
Like you told me, no one man could have an entirely correct opinion about the way the world is. Even if an idea may prove true to ninety-nine per cent of people, it may not prove suitable for one per cent, and I guess Maple and my Drasil are the one per cent to my conviction.”
“But Sequoia, you can’t compromise on your convictions. Convictions exist to guide us through our most complex decisions, just like this one, so you shouldn’t stop believing in them.”
“I haven’t stopped believing in it from the bottom of my heart. I believe everything I said to you and Orb with all my heart and soul is the truth, but I have recently realised that I am fully prepared to forsake many things regarding myself for my daughter's happiness. She is the most important thing to me, beyond even my convictions, and if she was born in a way that makes it impossible to live her life here, I simply can’t do anything about that. I have been unsure about lots of things in my life, but this is no longer one of them.”
After I say these words, I look down at Cole, who looks desolate. He then starts rubbing his head, slaps his cheeks, and mumbles, “Family over convictions.”
Φ “Cole, are you ok,” I ask him.
As Cole rises from the ground, he says to Sequoia, “Yeah, I just sorted out a few of my feelings. You are right; family is the most important. You’re doing a good job by helping your daughter. I wish you the best of luck,” Cole says as he stretches his hand for a handshake.
Giving Cole a handshake, I say, “Thank you for that, Cole. “
So after we finish are handshake, Cole says “We should probably head back now, I am sure some people have awoken by now and are probably looking for us.”
After Cole says that to me, we both start heading back, but while we walk around, I asks, “Do you have any family, Cole.”
After thinking for a little bit Cole responds, “Well, I have parents?”
“What where they like.”
“Very much like you.”
“In what way?”
“They loved family above everything else in this world.”
“They sound like good people.”
“They were.”
“Sorry about that.”
“You don’t have to be, I lost both of them a while ago, so I have moved past it. The only thing that’s sad is that I don’t get to cook for them anymore. They both loved my cooking.”
“Well, I don’t know if this would make up for it, but we have a big end-of-year banquet coming up, and if you would like to cook some meals for it, I am sure everyone in this village would be pleased about that.”
“I will take you up on that offer.”
“Good to hear”, and so with that, we both returned to the village.