Exile...Is The Beginning Of A Journey

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!" A shriek that couldn't be any more lovely for the smirking Ciemnosc who looked with his bottomless dark pools of eyes he had at the last hooligan remaining alive, his mouth damn bloody and his hands covered in a dark shade of red. Right as that shriek was ending from the lack of air in someone's lungs and the feeling of losing consciousness filled up that someone's panicky head, just as he was bending his knees to better yet grab a hold of that rusty machete's handle...

FWIP! ...THUD! Pa, crrreeesshhhhkk crrreeesshhhhkk! Phhshk! Phhshk! Phhshk! Phhshk! Phhshk! Phhshk! Phhshk! Phhshk!...

When Ciemnosc tackled down the last, remaining hooligan left alive, his ‘claws’ began working there on the hooligan’s body once their bodies finished flying backwards in the air and slamming against the table full of proof of cannibalism being exercised. Starting by slapping the shit out of the hooligan, the little boy then made a pair of deep gnashes right below the hooligan’s shoulders, opening up an empty space for Ciemnosc to start slowly mangling his torso from one after another stabbing motion with his hands.

But that wasn’t all, because Ciemnosc wasn’t just full of vengeance, he was also gone feral!!

Bite, bite…bite…bite… BITE, BITE BITE BITE BITE!! BITE!!! BITE!!! BITE!!!!...

Creak~, creak~, creak~, creak~...

While Ciemnosc was undoubtedly making the worst out of that already long-dead body, the villagers all around, in this barely a nightly time, began coming out of their homes, with the man of the houses coming out first alone before being joined by their family members.

All of them, without a fault, chose to remain right in front of their doors, as they saw bodies for the first time from so up close and with all of their awakened eyes being able to recognize the kind of ‘animal attack’ that had occurred at the old hag’s home. Which was very fine even up to this morning. What a terrible thing had occurred to her so out of nowhere!

…step… …

At last, their hearts started thumping, but only after the initial shocking discovery allowed them to recover their natural sense of their bodies, which they then started thumping hard and loudly inside their chests when they saw the weird, cursed, and now even left alone boy of the village walk from the animal attack’s zone…fully bloodied and with some disgusting little pieces of something attached to his body.

It was even worse, however, when they saw him walking just fine, having a few scratches on his cheeks, the back of his hand, and even with just his left knee seemingly in pain as he limped with it, making his way back to his home… With a bloody pair of hands and wrists, along with his entire face having a ‘beak’ reeking of blood!

“Everyone! Get back inside!!” One voice of a manly man, that came from one that had a slightly chubby and slightly bulky build and was tall, woke everyone up for the first time tonight, granting them the reason to run away back into their very own homes.

“...Ciemnosc?” But from one of those houses, a little girl was still standing outside of her house, her parents already having forgotten to take care of her; perhaps. As she called out to Ciemnosc, her crush, he didn’t even look at her, simply passing by in front of her house and continuing to walk on towards his own.

“...” The little girl went silent as she saw his back, which had some actual bruises and blood coming out of his own skin, and remained silent but to which she slowly, unbeknownst to only herself, began to turn fearful and terrified all the same…all the same.

Step, step step…step step… Step…

Finally, Ciemnosc arrived back home. He could see the door left ajar as the hooligans might’ve come running outside of his wonderful home, warm, cozy, and full of perfect, flawless memories - open.

“...” Licking his lower lip at the left side of it, before then nibbling on it slightly while suckling a bit on it, Ciemnosc’s dark, eerie eyes then calmly lowered their aim to look at his feet. He could remember that…whenever Mother wasn’t carrying him around, which was only a few seconds to minutes every day when he was a baby. All he did was to soullessly look at his feet, awaiting, in the hopes she’ll come back…but since that day, she hasn’t come home at all. Instead, she…

“Sniff, puf.” Ciemnosc sniffed in through his nostrils once, his hung neck jolting a little, before finally taking the steps up towards his home’s entrance. Supporting himself on the railing, he slowly walked up, his right hand sliding through them while limping slightly when walking up and in, just like his Mother once did for a little bit of time when she found him.

Crea-thud.

Having entered his home, Ciemnosc looked around, a bit messy. He decided to not care about the quickly drying up blood and as well as to ignore the lack of rain today, and only today. Rolling up his sleeves, he got to work as he began collocating every single little part that formed his home, that of his Mother and then of his Sister at their respective places. All while holding the book covered by his Mother’s apron in his left hand.

Flipping and accommodating tables, picking up some paint that was leftover from the previous repainting and fixing the walls and floor, and cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms. He did it all, and as soon as he finished working on such, he went towards the center of the kitchen, where it happened, and he suffered…for so long.

“...” Ciemnosc looked down at his feet once more. Seeing the past, seemingly, with the sight of his feet standing on where her Mother’s feet stood one last time, he then took a deep breath soundlessly. Bending over, silently as well, ever so silently. Ciemnosc slightly protruded his lips outwardly and caressed the wooden floor, before hooking with his index, middle fingers, and thumb at a certain part and pulling up.

Phahh.

The wooden trapdoor was opened, and within it, a totally darkened sight revealed no monsters or insects, only a large box which Ciemnosc opened, revealing a lot of sets of clothes, those which he wore more than a thousand times through his life. Every single one of them…every single one of them.

‘I always have you with me.’ Ciemnosc picked up the large box, with a bit of effort to balance himself and relying on his back to carry it outside. Meanwhile, shadows of flames seemingly lunged at him as they…soundlessly cracked coming from the stove that was left aflame with a few clothes and oil all around it, connecting to the wood that had become somewhat dusty and dirty as well.

But the flames, instead of getting him set ablaze seemed to lightly tap at his feet as if they were greeting and bidding farewell to Ciemnosc for the first and last time all the same; altogether. They didn’t hurt Ciemnosc, and they were soundless, yet they looked more than ordinary; they were so beautiful, warm…and pitiful.

“...” With tears, Ciemnosc walked up to the door, his right hand numb at the sensation of it being sandwiched between the large box’s corner and the door opening at his pace, at each and every step. His nose wrinkled up. Lots of times and a lot, his eyes blurred and his eyelids felt the need to cover their eyes as they pained to the stinging sensation.

Step… Crackr crack ccrrrack zzzzzzzz~...!

As soon as Ciemnosc stepped outside of his home, the flames right behind him turned fiery, alive, and noisy. The entire house, as if having already been burning for longer and about everywhere unlike what it seemed to show from the outside - became aflame entirely, while Ciemnosc slowly turned his head to look at the beautiful, most perfect place in the entire world burst to ashes little by little.

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‘Burn, burn burn burnburnburn…burn completely.’

Fwweeiup…BRRRRGGHHHOOOUWWH~~! Sizzle! Sizzle! SIZZLE! CRAAAAACK~~!!!!

Listening to his words. Life-like, the flames burned and burned. The fiery, ordinary orange with blazing. Darker shades of orange and red turned a tiny bit darker, and darker. All the way until they gained spots of pure darkness, blackness, and ‘consuming nothingness’ all around them. There was nothing that could stop them now, not even a heavy rain; nor the heaviest of rains!

“...”

PITTER-PATTER PITTER-PATTER PITTER-PATTER PITTER-PATTER PITTER-PATTER PITTER-PATTER PITTER-PATTER PITTER-PATTER PITTER-PATTER PITTER-PATTER…!!!

Ciemnosc’s thoughts were converged into reality, all as if he was the ruler of this realm of reality…

But he was not. He is just a boy whose Mother is long gone and whose Sister had gone away to chase her dreams. Her opportunities and her…heart. Only he was left, but he was leaving as well. So, only he, his Sister, and his Mother…could live in such a perfect place. To burn it to the ground, to lay waste to it all for anyone else, but keeping one’s heart, soul, and being…that’s all it counted for - in the end.

“GET OUT OF HEERE!!” A voice tempted the devilish thoughts inside Ciemnosc as soon as he turned his body around and began walking northwards. He only needed to give an indifferent pair of narrowed side eyes at the bulky, tall man indicating the latter that he already knew who was watching him right now from afar.

“Yeah, piece of shit! You killed many of us! Now that you killed outsiders, since you can fend for yourself really well, why don’t you just leave us alone?!” - “Get out of my home, my village!!” - “You killed them all you monster, abomination! Cannibal!” - “Poor Miss, what did she do to you? Get out of here!!!”

Shrills and screams from female voices, weeping and full of seemingly any kind of emotion, male voices thundering with all of their guttural strength, showing off their manliness at their partners and others as they even stepped up and valiantly pressured the evil monster in their eyes, heads, and hearts.

“Get out you scum, leave us alone! …Let us live!” - “You only kill, little vermin! You have. Only. Darkness. In. Your. Mind! Demon! Evildoer, rapist! Assassin!!” - “Ciemnosc, how could you? You’re disgusting, monster! Monster! Monster~!! MONSTER!!!”

Children weren’t any less cowardly than their parents. It seemed as if they all teamed up with one another and began pretending to take stones into their hands and throw them at him. For one, there was barely any stone nearby in the village. It was all mostly a strong solid desert soil, after all, only being able to cultivate crops with the materials and items from the cities nearby.

Secondly though, they weren’t ballsy enough to send actual stones towards him. Even though he never reacted to any of their mockeries, for as ruthless as they can get and have gotten, Ciemnosc himself had gotten such a scary reputation from even adults, let alone the children who ended up provoking him every now and then, and were scared shitless; not figuratively.

At least they seemed to have become bold enough, and they even used what they’ve learned, they were doing so well…

Step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step…step, step, step…step, step…step… … …

Walking forwards, Ciemnosc could still hear some of the children and most adults shouting at the top of their lungs at him, the little girl who has been having a crush on him venomously spitting fire as well. Not a single one of them could even bring up any side of their humanity to even mentally wish him farewell.

‘Hmm…’ Thinking of the two families that tried to stupidly and ignorantly adopt him, Ciemnosc remembered that one sole mother who had a miscarriage just a few months before he was born. He could remember her warmth, it was so nice, yeah.

But on the 4th day, when he was sleeping on her tummy, she never woke up, and when the husband buried her the next day, the second day with Ciemnosc in his baby, infant’s stages he also woke up dead…

As for the second family, when he was brought in by them, a sickly mother pregnant in the later stages already and holding a 1-year-old and a few months old baby was looking at her husband begrudgingly, thereon asking him why he took so long in doing as he was told!

The mother looked at him lovingly, as if he was her new child, while the husband was sweaty all around in their first ‘family meeting’. Yet…in just a few days, both parents got very sick, while the children seemed to fall unconscious and dormant for the one in her belly.

Then, the morning after the husband took the baby child that wasn’t his outside and abandoned him, received the scare of his life as his wife…suddenly stopped screaming amidst the furious shouts she was berating him with, with even threats of suicide.

At those moments, far away in the distance, in his old back home and as he slept, the baby Ciemnosc had then heard the crushing cracking sound of something breaking…a…a heart; which woke the little baby Ciemnosc back then up, and made him startled for a few minutes before sobbingly, quietly - falling asleep once more.

‘...It’s all…is it my fault, then?’ Ciemnosc stopped walking forward, his eyes threatening to become the most pitiful once more. But only released a few tears, which lingered across his lower eyelids for a good long while.

Whoosh whoosh, drizzle, mizzle, sizzle, whiiiistlee~...

‘No? …O-okay.’

“Sniff,” dragging his feet on, Ciemnosc gave the no longer visible village a last look, but he was already several kilometers away, and the dawn was already threatening to color the darkness with brightness, shining light.

“...” Walking a few more hundred meters, Ciemnosc finally felt that it was enough for walking and that it was time. Beginning to cross his legs while lowering his bum down to the ground, Ciemnosc placed his precious large box on top of his crossed thighs. It was damn heavy and so large and tall that it took up almost ¾’s of his from his waist to his torso.

Opening the lid and taking the book from within while leaving his Mother’s apron inside, Ciemnosc then took a good look at it, which, even in the still deep and darkest of blues of nights, was all too clear and readable— ever so perfectly —of its title.

It read, ‘1st Step Manual’, rather simple and coarse but from which its contents his Sister took a few months to read and figure out; understand. Ciemnosc gave the book a few good, long looks and even patted it with the back of his bloody fingers while some sand entered his wound from his back and his left knee as he was seated down.

‘Mm. Okay. Let’s see you, book.’ Finished with that thought and looking at the book that the old man Villosco gave him, kinda like his ‘celebratory birthday gift’, Ciemnosc’s eyes went through its introduction before passing over to its contents at last.

This was the first time that Ciemnosc was reading it, even just the title. As when the old man gave it to him, all he could think of doing was to give it to his Sister who always asked the travelers that were becoming more and more usual and casual if they could give her any stone of sorts, which Ciemnosc still did not understand, at all.

“Kid, this book was made at the moment I knew I had to give you a chance. The world is not in peace as all that exists, and there is has loss a great and most powerful entity in the entirety of it all. Wars are very common, nowadays, and though they may sound terrible, for people with opportune desires, convictions, and ambitions. It is the most glorious time of activity for them.”

“I’m not introducing you to war. All that you’ll do in your life should be based on your own actions and decisions. Nobody can take that from you. Even listening to someone else’s orders or deciding to always be someone’s dog or to lead…it’s all up to you.”

“This book contains only the first three Realms of the First Step. There is a lot to talk about, but there is no need for you to know of them. Not unless you deserve it. Only when you feel that you’ve gotten to where you should be, and in your correct path will you naturally end up finding the way to the knowledge that you will then deserve.”

“Well…it might seem awkward if you end up successful and I…ended up aiding an enemy in these wars, which though they might have gone peaceful the last few years, I might still be condemned to punishment by my side…”

“In any case, kid, what you will be seeing next are the first three Realms of the First Step, known as the Mortal Step. The Mortal Step contains 13 different Realms in it, which one has to go through to keep on progressing, living, getting stronger, collecting knowledge, and…finding your own way and what makes you; you!”

“This little planet is only capable of very little, as such, take it as a challenge, kid, that you will have to find the way to cross over the 4th and subsequent Realms on your own. Either with the help of any organization around or with your own comprehension. Either way is fine. Just beware of being led astray by the stupid, foolish, and conceited. Your mind, body, soul, and spirit are what matters the most. Good luck, special boy.”

‘Hmmm.’ Becoming really damn interested, Ciemnosc nodded and tilted his head all the way to the left and all the way to the right, thinking to himself. ‘Okay.’

Flip, flapple flapple~.

Feeling out the book, it only had about 3 pages in total, with each page having both sides dedicated to one sole subject, possibly a ‘Realm’ that the old man Villosco spoke of. Not giving any thought to the images shown and not reading the text of each page a little bit, like an idiot, Ciemnosc compared this with the books that his Mother left for him, ending up with a 10/10 to 0/10 grading with the latter one being for the old man’s manual.

‘Okay, this first one…mm! The Spiritual Ligament Realm…’

Ciemnosc immersed himself in the reading through the first page, titled the: ‘First Step, Mortal Step. Spiritual Ligament Realm’. His darkest eyes went left and right, eating out the contents of the book in a way to make even the oldest, most experienced, and nerdiest bookworms cry in joy at the identification of the Godchild of bookworms.

…

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Let It Rain's Note: Plead - Joel Ansett, I really loved hearing this song right amidst the chapter writing.