Throughout the woods of Arani, the unusual sound of footsteps neared a young man sparring underneath the canopy against one of the larger trees. His hair was scruffy and clothes were tattered, wearing a sleeveless hooded jacket with a pair of baggy shorts. His dark, blue eyes contrasted his dirty brown hair and despite his rough appearance, his body was well toned, as if he were to be found doing this practice often, too often as to have no social life around him, which of course was true.
He was in the midst of one of these combinations when his ears picked up the panicked footsteps of something charging towards him with great pace. Not wanting to end up inside one of the stomachs of the many beast’s that lived in the woods, he retreated to behind the oddly large tree and kept his eye on the path on which the footsteps seemed to follow. Much to his surprise it wasn't a beast, nor an animal on the path, in was his younger brother, Koru. The young man couldn’t help but think to himself what he would be doing out there, but the answer soon presented itself as a large rabble of men chased down the young boy. A look of anger etched itself into the hiding man’s face, was he and his brother really hated so much?
Growing up in that village, most kids around the age of five had their first contact with their spirit, by fifteen had tamed their spirit’s. A spirit is a being that becomes part of a person’s soul, when both the spirit and the soul become one, you gain certain powers attributed to the spirit, your spirit animal. Depending on your spirit animal decided what elements and abilities you would have as a Spirit Caster, a being who had control over the spirit’s that lived within them. This was normal, it was almost a rite of passage for most kids, everyone had access to a spirit of some kind. What was unusual was, if by the time you were fifteen, and even more so if you reached your 18th birthday without any sign of a spirit within you, you’d be considered a soulless person, and from that point onwards your life would become a living hell.
This was the life of Maddox, soon to be nineteen and still without an ounce of spirit energy within him, even as a child he had never once been able to contact his own spirit, he was classed as soulless by the other kids at a young age. The elders of the village did nothing to help, if anything they were the cause of the constant bullying, deeming him lazy in class, to the point he was banned from attending lessons.
This was to be the fate of his younger brother too it seemed, truthfully they weren't related, however they both grew up together, under the same roof by a kindly woman named Sheila.
Koru was twelve and, like Maddox, had never shown any potential as a Spirit Caster. Maddox knew this route too well and like Koru was shunned by almost all in the village. They had always come under terms like ‘Lazy’ and ‘Disruptive’, but this far from the truth, both of them only dreamed of being accepted. Maddox would often come to the woodlands and practice his combat skills, in hope of awakening some kind of power within him. Likewise, Koru’s nose would never leave the book’s at home, he’d study his life away trying to find a way to unlock the key to his powers, both the outcome always remained the same for them and they were always left as outcasts.
Maddox watched as several much larger boys followed Koru deeper into the woods and tailed them from a distance as to not gain their attention. Finally, Koru had ran out of energy, at the end of the day he was only a small kid, he spent most his time in books, his body was weak and frail, the fact he made it so far into the woods surprised Maddox.
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Koru, tears flowing from his eyes, poured his heart out to his assailants. He knew that they wouldn't listen, but what choice did he have "Don’t you realise all I want to be like is you!' He screamed 'As each day goes by, I see you all, getting on with your lives, your normal lives, that’s all I ever wanted is a normal life, I didn't ask to have no powers, I was cursed with this! Yet you all single me out just the same, why can't we be friends, why can you not put our differences aside, our difference that we have no control over, please, all I want is to be left in peace, just leave me be!" His words resonated with Maddox, but the same feeling was not met by the group.
Their leader stepped forward, it was a face Maddox knew well. Gin, the village chiefs only son, he was around the same age as Maddox but twice his size, standing like a giant amongst men, his shadow devouring the terrified kid in front of him. His slicked back Silver hair and unhuman size and strength were a sign of his heritage, for many generations the village chiefs Spirit Animal had been that of the Silverback Gorilla. Gin, with his chest puffed up with pride proclaimed "The weakest shall always be pushed aside by the strong, your pathetic existence does nothing but bring shame on my village, it would be better if you and that other freak would just disappear so we can get on with our lives without looking at your disgusting faces".
As the gang surrounded their trophy, Maddox had had enough, enough of keeping his mouth shut, constantly being belittled and pushed aside by everyone, regardless the punishment that he knew would undoubtedly come his way, he knew he had to protect his friend. As Gin prepared to swing his left boot through Koru's face, a wild yell came from the background taking everyone by surprise. There was no time to lose as Maddox made his presence known, sprinting towards Koru’s aid and in the confusion a small gap opened which he slammed through, separating the hunters from their prey yet again.
With his arms stretched wide in defiance, Maddox stood with his head facing down before slowly raising it with a brazen grin "You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?"
A fire could be seen building in Gin’s face as the rage overflowed from him "obnoxious bastard!" His form slowly began to deform as his rage built more and more, contorting his muscles, growing at an imposing rate.
"Hey Gin, if you go all out, you’ll kill them, I’m not sure this is a good idea" one of his lackies suggested in his ear to his displeasure.
"I know that idiot! I just want them to know who has real power here that’s all!" He grinned with a menacing intent in his eyes as his body slowly returned to a more human form. More human but around his arm’s it was clear he was maintaining his Spirt Power, as they remained doubled their original size.
With one swing of his ape’s paw connecting to Maddox’s stomach, a splatter of blood left his lips as he crumpled to the floor, clutching Koru underneath him. Mercilessly the gang members circled the two now laying on the floor and repeatedly sent their boot flying into them, Maddox taking the brunt of it while trying to shield Kuro.
Once the gang had had their fill of violence, they left the boys bodies lifeless on the ground, mocking them as they went about their way home. So, this was the way of the world Maddox thought to himself, I truly give up on it, he turned his eyes to the beaten figure of his brother wrapped in his arms "I can’t be done quite yet though, or else who is gonna look out for you ay?" a wry smile slipped from his blood face as the world turned black, and his face hit the ground once more.