"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author Notes-

Chapter 11: Changes

He found himself surrounded by a large group of people.

Something was very different this time. Normally, he was unable to recognize it until he awoke, but now he was very much aware this was a dream.

“Outsider!”

“Get out of here!”

The crowd of angry people were yelling at him. They were all young, perhaps around fifteen or sixteen, and wore the same robes.

‘Who are these people? And why are they so angry at me? No… wait, this is not me.’ It was confusing because he was seeing everything from this person's eyes.

He also had never seen the face of the individual his dreams were all about.

Seeing things always from his perspective almost felt like he was reliving someone else's memories.

“[&*^#^$^#]”

Someone walked in front of the group and yelled a name he could not understand.

“You think you can walk in here and take my spot? I will become the next inner disciple!” The boy who spoke appeared to be the leader of this angry crowd.

From what Zephyr could make of the situation, they were all angry with him because he got into a fight with this young leader over an apprentice position or something like that.

‘The attitude of that boy reminds me a bit of Thomas…’ Both boys made the same kind of arrogant and cruel expressions.

“What is going on here?!” A female adult wearing some elegant white robes entered the scene with a very displeased face.

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Everyone's attitude immediately changed. Their aggressiveness was replaced by fear.

“Teacher?!” They all bowed to her with utmost respect.

Everyone but the young leader of the group.

The crowd dispersed quickly, leaving the female teacher alone with him.

Her expression softened while she leaned closer and glanced at him directly.

“Why do you have to provoke him? You know he is the youngest son of Elder Fang. Even I cannot do much to him without encouraging the wrath of several important people of the sect.”

“I am not afraid of him or the Elder!” He spat. “One day, I will surpass everyone in this sect, venture into the world, and make a name for myself.”

She sighed. It seemed like her words were not getting to him. “[&*^#^$^#]... you are still very young and naive. You should not be in a hurry to leave this place. The outside world is very dangerous. The demon army seems to grow in power every day and the future of humanity is uncertain.”

“I am not as naive as you think, Professor. Mark my words, I, [&*^#^$^#], will become the strongest!, and then...I will avenge my village!”

‘Why can't I hear the name of this person? What could be the r-’

Before he heard anything else… his vision started to go dark and the sounds faded.

He knew what this meant… he was waking up.

The moment he opened his eyes, he was welcomed by a ray of sunlight hitting his face.

As his vision cleared up, he hurried to scan his surroundings. He was right next to the old tree from last night. He vaguely recalled choosing this spot last night. He was so tired…

There were no signs of anyone in the area and he could hear nothing but the whistles of the wind as it passed by the rocky mounts and between the trees.

He felt a slight relief but quickly reminded himself that his situation was still dire.

His worries were interrupted by the sound of his belly grumbling.

“Right… I haven't eaten anything since yesterday morning.” He pulled out some cheese and bread and started munching while helping himself to some water from his leather pouch.

“Mmm… I have almost no water left.”

The day before he had drunk a lot after all that running. But lack of water did not worry him.

There was a river that ran very close to the main road and this rocky area should have a small lake.

“I better get water from the lake while I can. The less I have to visit the river, the better.

To access the river, he would have to cross the main road and this meant taking the risk of being seen by some traveler or merchant.

Zephyr climbed on top of one of the rocky mounts and looked around, getting a feel of his surroundings. “There it is!” He smiled as the lake came into view.

He has been told this lake is home to a very delicious type of fish with colorful scales called “Tirai”. Unfortunately, he didn't bring any fishing supplies.

“I don't have time to fish anyways… ha?...”

A strong gust of wind hit him and as it did, several strands of hair got loose from his leather string and got in front of his face.

It was then that he noticed that something was off with him.

“What is this?...” He untied the string, letting his long hair loose. He got a handful of it on his palm and moved it before him.

“This… what happened to my hair?” He was completely confused.

His hair had become completely white.

“Did I become old?” He knew that the hair of some humans would start to become grey as they got old. But he has never seen anyone with a full head of grey hair.

And upon close inspection, he noticed that his hair was very different from those old fellows. It wasn't a dull grey color but more like shining silver.

“What is going on?” His eyes moved to the lake for a moment.

“That's right!, I can look at my reflection in the water.”

He got off the mount and ran to the shore of the lake.

Zephyr got in front of the water and looked down.

The waters showed him a perfect reflection of his face as he expected. But he found it hard to believe what he was seeing.