-Break-
The next day
Location: Scortha fields
With my feet freezing from the cold, I say, “How is this worse!”
“During the summer months, these fields were ridiculously hot, and now during winter it is stupidly cold.”
But still, despite my complaining, I continue to do the work given to me. Today we are being forced to poor these sacks of white materials through the fields in which we planted seeds in.”
Beside me, Charles continues to do the world as well at the same speed at me. I would be happy that I am keeping up with him, but it is not like this work requires any form of ability, it is just pouring this stuff into the fields.
As the white powder-like substance continues to pour out of my bag, I look to my left and see that Charles has stopped while holding something in his hands.
Instantly panic takes over my body, and I look around, but luckily none of the guards are around us, so I quickly say, “What are you doing!”
“This fell out of my sack.”
Within the hand of the boy named Charles, is a clam, and upon seeing this Nero says, “You can look at it later, right now we need to get to work or they will start attacking us.”
“Ok.”
-Break-
The next day
Location: Campsite
Standing in front of the gate getting ready to be let out to go start, I slump my head down as I try to stop myself from getting sick.
Looking towards me, Charles asks, “Are you ok?”
Stick up, my thumb, I say, “Yeah I am good.” I can’t tell him the reason I feel like this is because I had a rather horrible dream last night. But I should be proud at least I didn’t spill my guts, well at at least not yet.
Beside me I hear Charles sneeze, then I say, “Are you sick?”
“What does that mean.”
“It means you're starting to feel strange and lose to ability to work.”
“Then I am not sick. Sometimes during the year, I start to sneeze and cough, but then it goes away fast enough.”
“I am pretty sure that is what being sick is.” Well whatever he is some sort of superhuman, so I am sure he will be fine no matter what.
Upon opening the gate for all of us to be let out, I see that the other side of the gate has a bunch of materials, ones that look very similar to the one each of our huts are made out of, and what the wall around our campsite is made out of.
Walking a beastkin says, “We will be beginning expansion earlier this year. Each one of you are to expand your hut’s sizes while also doing your part in helping the walls expand as well. You will be given instructions follow them precisely and remember that these materials are more important than your life.”
Throughout the area, as they all listen to his instructions, most of them stare in confusion, while others are scared with fright at their lack of understanding, but one of them Nero, is just trying to hold back his laughter.
What the hell kind of accent is that!!!!!? Not only that his pronunciation was all over the place, I swear some babies back in the clan spoke better than him. Don’t laugh, don’t laugh, don’t laugh.
With the same horrible voice, he says, “What is the matter humans, have I not given you your instructions!”
One of the other people in the crowd says with a polite smile, “Sorry could you please repeat that most of us couldn’t decipher what you said.”
Looking down towards the crowd, the beastkin notices some faces are smiling while others at genuinely confused, and turning to look at his fellow beastkin he sees that some of them are mocking him behind his back.
Unable to hold back his embarrassment, the beastkin jumps down right up to the man who said this and asks, “You must think you're funny, asking me such a question as if it is my fault that your pathetic human ears couldn’t understand me.”
As the beastkin walks towards the human, he backs up and says, “No master, I meant no such thing.”
“SILENCE!” Stopping and looking all around us, he says, “You humans still keep forgetting your place, you don’t get to think unless we want you to, you don’t get to speak unless we want you to, you don’t get to eat unless we want you to, and you don’t get to live unless we want you to. But it seems like you don’t know this, YOU’RE ALL SLAVES.”
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Walking over to me, he says, “And to those of you who think it’s ok to smile and laugh, at my words.” He hits me in my left check sending me to the ground.
“Then you don’t need mouths.”
On the ground, I spit up blood, from my mouth while trying to regain my senses.
Walking over to another man, he says, “And to those of you who can’t understand what leaves my beautiful mouth.”
With his finger, he pokes a hole in that man's right ear, and says, “You don’t need your ears.”
Walking to the middle of the crowd he says, “You all have gotten too cocky simply because the Marquis won’t let us end your lives, but I promise from the bottom of my soul that I can make you all wish you were dead. Now get to work, and all those who fail at their tasks will be punished.”
As everyone walks away Charles runs up to me, while I am on my hands and knees, then asks, “Are you ok?”
I wonder if Mom, Aurelius, Lillian, and everybody else are experiencing pain this bad right now? If so I would want with all my heart to take it away, but I can’t, I can’t reach them I am simply too weak, and I don’t think I ever will.
But the thing someone like me can do at least, is make sure Charles doesn’t have to experience this, and for whatever lies for him in the future that he can at least have happy memories.
So I put on my best smile, and say, “Yep, I am good.”
-Break-
As the cold of the night enters my body, I walk back to my hut. While I was helping others with the gate today, Charles was at the hut making it bigger, it seems they just split up the work between huts.
So just like always it sucks that it is just the two of us, but I wonder if I wasn’t here would they have made Charles do both sets of work. The thought of that makes all of my aching bones hurt even more.
Walking up to my hut, I see the men who used to bother us kicking Charles as he lays down curled up in a ball. What the hell is he doing, he isn’t even protecting his head.
Running with all the might I can muster, I jump and dropkick one of the men out of the way. Getting up from the attack, I say, “You guys need to go do something with your pathetic lives.”
Getting up the man says, “Shut up you dumb brat.”
“looks like someone has an attitude, maybe I need to break your ax-, oh no.”
“We no longer have to do any work involving axes, so from this point on we can return things to how they used to be.”
Putting my fists up preparing to fight, I say, “Then I guess I need to teach you a lesson with my fist.” Immediately I run forward.”
One beating later
Laying on the floor with my feet over my head, I say, “You better run.” Then instantly I feel pain throughout my mouth from their punches.
Well, at least my body was in actual good shape because if it was like before, I think that beating might have killed me.
Getting up from the floor, I see Charles holding something and in that moment his actions make sense to me. So I move over to Charles and ask, “What are you protecting?”
In his hands, he shows me a clam.
“Is that the one from yesterday?”
Looking at it he says, “Yes.”
Sitting down beside him with my legs crossed, I ask, “Now why would you do that? You do realize that you could have died protecting that thing?”
“I know, but it is pretty.”
“It is just a clam you can find those all the time near the ocean.”
“The ocean?”
Something hits me and I say, “You don’t know what the ocean is do you?”
He shakes his head from left to right.
With a smile, I say, “Well it is a river but really, really big. Lots of other sparkly things, like rocks and pearls can be found near it, there are also animals and wonderbeasts that flow throughout the ocean.
One time when I was playing with Aurelius near the ocean we saw a giant dolphin, and we even got to pet its head.”
Charles asks, “Who is Aurelius?”
Rubbing the back of my head, I say, “He was just a friend, who was like a brother to me, back in my clan.”
Charles asks, “You don’t really talk about members of your clan.”
“Well, the stories are kind of stupid and boring, not something anyone would care to listen to.”
“I want to hear them,” Charles says the moment I finish speaking.
Charles's face is expressionless, but I can feel it, the excitement and drive that he feels is tangible. Then with that same expressionless face and tasteless tone, he asks, “I really want to hear about it.
“Ok then but we can’t do it out here, so let’s head inside the tent.”
That night I talked and talked about the ocean, the other places my clan has been to, the animals the members of my clan, and all the fun we got up to.
By the time we had finished the bell was wrung for us to start work today, and when I heard it I shouted, “I FORGOT TO SLEEP.”
-Break-
A week and a half later
Location: Far east of the River Lúide
Holding a brick in my hand, I say to Charles beside me, “Isn’t everyone being way too lax? They aren’t working and just sitting around.”
“That’s normal for this time of the year.”
“Huh, way?”
“The beastkin have four celebrations year-round Samhain was one of them, and another one is at the start of the second month of the year. During this time many of the beastkin vanish I believe to celebrate, so there aren’t many people around. Some even sneak off during this time.”
“I see well then I guess we can be a little more lax on our quotas.”
“Yeah your right,” Charles says while walking very wobbly.
Looking at Charles I say, “Is something wrong?”
Turning to look at me with the same expression he always has, he says, “No.” Then he walks forward and falls to his side.
Running over to him, I touch his forehead and notice that even in this cold weather he is hot. “Charles you're burning up, that definitely isn’t normal.”
“But it is since I have been feeling like that since I sneezed.”
“You mean since almost two weeks ago! THAT MEAN YOU’RE ARE SICK.”
With an expressionless face, he says, “I see.”
Over his body, I start to panic. This isn’t good, this isn’t good, if he gets sick I doubt they would stop him from working, which could lead to death. But they aren’t allowed to kill us so maybe asking for some medicine could work. But not killing us and actively giving us some form of care are probably not the same thing.
Wait, I have another option. No is being watched, so I could simply take care somewhere else, so he doesn’t have to do work. Hiding him and myself in the forest until we all walk home could work.
But if we are found, I am sure that even this would be grounds for death. I could die.
Suddenly flashes of Lillian and my father appear in my head causing me to shake. Then from the ground, Charles grabs my hand and says, “Good job,” With the best smile he can muster.
No Nero, you pick the best option for his survival, you promised yourself so now get on with it.
Picking Charles up and putting him on my back, I make my way towards where the other men were using to slack off.