The Girl From the Other Side of the World

A new world awaits, filled with wonder, danger, and a castle in which a caged bird dreams of singing.

Pt 1.

It was a very dark day, pitch black without night and Lutho would relive this moment for his entire existence. This was the day he became evil and his soul was lost.

Heavy breathing could be heard. His arms flailed as quickly as he could. He thought if he pumped his arms more, they would stop chasing him. Liquid was falling from his eyes and his head couldn’t hear past his heart attacking his body. His very will commanding the thunderclaps that on any other time, would have scared him.

Now they taunt him. The insides of his mouth were hurting, he couldn’t suck any more air in. His body was rejecting it. And so the steps stopped, the mud curled up to his feet and he picked this place, by these trees to be his last stand.

“Please, I’m sorry I was born to be Chief! I bow to you. I bow to you!”

He whispered under his breath that this might make them stop. They had stopped running. Their gates became that of a walk and in hunting formation. He wasn’t pretending this time to show weakness to please them. He never had been so scared.

The muscles on the leaders arms, they were too big. It finally dawned on him that diplomacy had failed. The politics that his father taught him had no place here. This wasn’t about a time to fight, this was War. The lead kid walked forward.

War, such a strange term to Lutho and now he understood its meaning. He had one advantage, and of this he knew, they were confident that he was fallen prey. His mind worked into theory that he had never practiced before. No honor in war.

With this truth, Lutho sucker punched the one who wasn’t paying attention. Before that kid fell, he already slammed his hand into the leader’s face. He felt a stabbing pain, and a sickening darkness in his body, it made him want to puke.

He was never supposed to defy his betters, Lutho realized as the leader’s eyes became rabid at his audacity. He felt a giant force sweep him into the air, and he fell on the mud. Anger came over the young chief’s son, and he decided that this would carry on no more. He would tell them that his father would not let this incident pass. These kids who decided to beat him up because of his birth, they would not be allowed to continue.

The brave one pushed himself halfway up when a solid mass hit his face, and he just remember a shock to his system, and a bright light followed by black. When his eyes came to, there was a rock on the floor heading right to his face!

In pain, he howled and retreated deeper into the forrest like a wounded animal. The now scarred child was crawling on his hands and knees and what made him move, never to stop, was the laughs behind him. Anger was raging, the blackness inside that made him sick was giving him strength at the cost of logical thought.

Then his hand touched something that didn’t feel like mud or a rock, and he knew that his death had come if he moved further. A growl followed that was neither the boy’s nor his bullies. He looked up to see sharp teeth and hot breath ending with piercing eyes. Lutho found himself in front of a hungry wolf.

Instantly he felt his neck want to cave in with sharp pain, but the wolf hadn’t done that just yet. He lowered his gaze immediately so not to threaten the creature. He then tried to move slowly knowing all to well the ancient phrase that only prey runs.

Footsteps, human, and young were behind him. They had come for him. But they stopped. So, they too had seen the wolf. One of them let out a brief squeal. Fear. The boy knew he was still alive, that was good. It would have pounced on him by now if it willed. The mean kids though, they may have provided a good distraction.

A sick smile came to Lutho’s face. Prey runs. He looked and saw they were too scared to move. They just needed encouragement. “Run” he told them. “Run and escape.”

“Wake up Lutho! Lutho-Lutho!” The voice was singing in a catchy playful tune, “I’ve been waiting for you Lutho-Lutho!”

All he could see was black, but the voice was sure real. Kind of annoying too! The playful music was almost like an insult.

“Lalalala-Lutho!”

His scar was itching. His thoughts were vague and a voice was singing for him to wake up, and he might be willing to if he wanted to wake up but he couldn’t find an apt enough reason why. Then he felt the breath upon his ear, “Lutho spelled backwards is Oh-thool! And I can keep coming up with names until you open them eyes! I know you can hear me, I see your fist clenching.”

He didn’t even know he had clenched his fist but considering the alternative of listening to random perversions of his name, he very well might be tempted to slug something. He blinked once, a slight surrender.

The world came to him and for a moment he realized he didn’t know where he was, or what kind of architecture he was enduring. Oh well, his eyes closed and he accepted another chance to go back into the dream world. But no, his back wasn’t resting on a bed he was familiar with. A scary realization dawned on him after his mind started to drift.

He had to fight his own sleep to wake up but his body didn’t want to move. He shook himself up. As he got his back up he saw a strange face staring back at him! It wasn’t human! He didn’t know where he was, this house or dwelling wasn’t his! And not a single thing told him he was safe!

“Where am I!?” He yelled, “And who are you? What tribe you come from!?”

“I am Osa, of the Thunder Peak Tribe.” The strange one said, “And unless you want me to keep coming up with names, it’s about time you properly introduced yourself.”

Lutho thought a moment and grew sick at the mention of this new creature coming up with new names for him. He sighed, another surrender, “I am Chief in Training Lutho.”

Osa let a frown come to his face, “There goes my fun. By the way, this is my house, if you were wondering. By the way, can I call you Lala?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Why do you look so funny I mean, were you cursed by some great spirit or something?”

There was a silence, then Lutho noted that Osa, was indeed strange from head to toe. Osa was about three or so cycles younger than Lutho and a good measure shorter. His eyes held in them a strange glistening spark that complimented the bright color yellow. His hair, was extremely long and untamed mixed with perfect shades of blue and perchance grey. He held a smile that almost showed a short attention span.

Correctly guessing this, Lutho saw that Osa was not paying attention anymore but just staring off into space, sitting cross legged with his arms anchoring him forward as if he was leaning into seeing something.

There was also a strange sound.

The boy was sniffling around!  Lutho couldn’t believe it but it made him giggle. Osa titled his head and looked curiously as to why Lutho was

sarcasm and interjected, “yet.”

This statement caused the human to reassess the situation. After a final once over, he detected no alarms that would give him cause to fear for his life, his new playfull companion was clearly just trying to get a rise out of him. Lutho couldn’t help but play along.

“Yet…” Lutho continued, “then it is a pleasure on behalf of The Speaker tribe to meet you.”

“I know all about your people Lutho of the Speakers.” Osa then continued his thoughts on his people by sticking his tongue out. “In fact, I was the one who called you here. I have no idea where you would have been sent if I had not raised my voice. But as you can see from my keep of mine, that this is as best of a place you will find in the entire Bright Season village.”

Osa stuck his shoulders back and stood up. “So tell me human, what do you think of my house?”

 Lutho got up from the bed and waited to see just how the gravity would feel under his legs, expecting something bizzare to happen the moment his foot touched floor. He felt his skin push up against the soul of his footwear and then took a hand and felt the pressure of the real wall that laid beside him. Once again, Osa was just staring almost without thought or rather with a million questions running through his weird mind. Lutho however paid no heed as he was reminiscing about just how real everything felt yet his mind told him this was all fiction.

The strange child was beginning to look impatient waiting for an answer. Lutho could tell because one of his folded legs was starting to twitch, counting the time. So the not so strange child decided to let the atmosphere come in and thoughts of what the rest of the place might look like came into mind. The room itself was very expansive. He knew many whose living spaces were nowhere near this size.

He let his feet make loud sounds against the floor and heard an odd echo, then realized that the ground felt strangely hollow. Lutho almost leaped to the floor and started tapping as loud as he could. “Are we floating?”

Osa just responded with a look of shock. “Floating?”

Lutho had now started jumping, fighting some small logic that he might fall through.

“So you don’t like the floors?” Osa sounded disappointed.

“What’s underneath it?” Lutho demanded.

Once again Osa tilted his head then he smiled, “Oh, you never been inside a two story house before? Ah, silly me, of course. I forget just how backwards your people are.” Osa stood up, “let me show you around!”

Lutho hesitated.

“Unless of course you want to make this room your new home until the end oftime, which in case I doubt you will be waking up any time soon.”

Osa extended his hand. “I offer only journey and excitement. This room has a bed and food to last you as long as you want. I like to think I am the better option.”

“So, this is all a dream?” At which point Lutho poked Osa’s face.

Osa pretended to snap to bite at his finger. He then laughed at the bizzare recoil Lutho pulled. “Real enough?” Lutho nodded. He then continued, “yeah, you don’t strike me as the kind of person that would want to sleep his life away.” Osa instantly grabbed Lutho by the hand. “Destiny awaits.

There was a pull and Lutho found himself in a grand hallway. Beside him was a cliff protected by strange pillars, and below, was another house, but one roof encompassed the whole thing. Then he finally understood, this all belonged to Osa, it made his grand dwelling back with his tribe look small and low class. All the chief in training could say was, “Wow.”

And thus began Lutho’s first adventure into the unknown, this grand place that Osa claimed as his home. The rest of the top floor proved to be even more of a marvel than he first comprehended. The hard floor, the thick walls, and the strange use of colors. Meanwhile works of art were seen here, and others there. Lutho did not let these differences and the shock factor bug him, but he took it with a sense of appreciation.

Osa showed him a strange thing that Lutho could best believe it to be a weapon, he didn’t pay attention to the words that came from the strange ones mouth but seemed to enjoy rather the basic sounds mixed with the beautiful craftmasnship of the weapon. He couldn’t imagine anyone fighting with such a tool but it existed for what it was, art. He did manage to understand that Osa it was an item he inherited from his ancestors and he too had such a fellow appreciation for the thing.

While walking down the stairs, the house failed to cease its amazement. Other creatures of some sort or what were moving about, but they all seemed to look at Osa for a second, then back to whatever labor they were undertaking. Lutho wanted to come up with a poem to the house in which he stayed, but Osa kept talking and all Lutho could find were the sentances, “Place so grand, I do not wish to go home, my life is so small…”

Lutho did manage to ask, “What does the outside look like?”

“Oh, I do not know if you are quite ready for such splendors. I mean, you are impressed, right?”

Lutho nodded his head in a friendly manor. “So do all people of the thunder peak tribe live in these kinds of dwellings?”

“That is one secret I cannot reveal. Forgive me.” The strange one then laughed. Lutho laughed as well. He could not understand why, but he felt as if he knew this strange child and just this mere time of getting to know him, he felt a strange bond. Was this what his fellow tribesmen were going through?

“We shall leave tomorrow, Lala, I mean…Chief in training Lutho. However for this one day, I request that you have to stay inside the house. Think of it as your home.”

Osa made a strange sound and instantly two other strange creatures, of different varieties than Osa, came to his attention. “This human is the master of this house, he is a member of the Speaker Tribe and is on a quest to become chief of his people. I must demand that you attend to his every need. I better not hear of a single complaint this man made.”

Two of them instantly bowed.

“Again, I am sorry to do this to you, unfortunately I have business at the castle, my dad wants me to run some errands but I cannot let you leave for certain reasons.”

Lutho was instantly insulted, “What do you mean some sort of reasons? Am I a prisoner?”

There was a warm playful smile, “Before you become Chief, you have to learn to live like one. Allow my house to be your training grounds. Feel free to practice giving orders and be a general boss to the indentured servants.”

The servants rolled their eyes.

Lutho just eyed them in response. He did not understand what was going on.

Osa put a hand on Lutho’s shoulder, “Enjoy it, its only one night, its noon already and I shall see to it that Shina gives you her sleeping meal. It tastes great and it calms the nerves. Feel free to look at the art, meditate on the silence, and look at the scrolls in my library. There is a lot to do in this house. I would love to attend to it with you, but my business is of clan matters, and I am not allowed to bring in strangers.”

Osa started to walk towards the door leading out.

“Osa!”

He turned around.

“A castle? I have heard of such things, there is one here?”

The creatures eyes went wide with wonder, “You live in a big village, this is…what we call a city. One of the few that exist in our plane. I promise, tomorrow I will tell you everything.”

And the door closed behind Osa leaving Lutho, allegedly, free reign of the mansion.

Lutho spent the rest of the day looking at maps, which he couldn’t understand, and trying to read the scrolls, which told stories of epic proportions but featured key elements he couldn’t understand. The servants seemed to have disappeared into other rooms whenever he walked about the house, and in the silence he felt both alone and free at the same time.

His curiosity often lead to him knowing even less than he would think to learn. He did not understand why Osa seemed so friendly, or why he was looking forward with great excitement for tomorrow to come. Despite logic, his instinct told him that this was as warm a home as his village.

A thought of his two friends came to mind. The fun they could have with this place, the stories they could tell members when they came home. The light outside had turned towards dark and Lutho found himself infront of a meal with a female figure, an old creature, who seemed to be just as friendly as Osa, named Shina.

“This might be your last warm meal in awhile. So better eat up.”

It might not have been to his liking but he instantly felt a weight hit his brain. In that instant he had become sleepy. Before he could ask for a bed, he was back in the room, the house quiet, and he, himself alone.

“I can finally compose my poem” a small thought came to his lips. No one was here, no one to judge. The Chief’s son was here to work his mind on the last thing he would think before the day would come.

“Place so grand, I think as I dream. I wonder what tomorrow will bring. My death has brought me here, for reasons I do not know, but for reason I wish not to leave. House, dwelling of paradise, no one can hold me. Here I wish to stay.”

A last thought came to his falling asleep mind. Osa offered Lutho adventure, and Lutho, rather than staying, grabbed his hand, accepting the invitation to explore the secrets outside. He then felt himself taken by the dream world and he let himself drown in it.

The infinite calm and peace was drowned out by a force. Instantly Lutho woke himself up at the thought of feeling the entire place shake. He looked out a near window and Luna, or rather a fading semblance of where Luna should be, was  hanging strong. He got dressed and ran out of bed.

He did not know what had possessed him, but he knew that there was danger in this town and he had to confront it. No guards or servants were around to stop him and he found his steps placing himself foot by foot closer to the door. He rubbed his fingers around the a lever of some sort. It was cold. He pressed on it and felt his blood build up in his hand.

An image fell across his mind.

“Osa…is in danger?”

The lights in the house were beyond dim. He heard a howl of some sort emanating from a grave distance.

It was in a dream. He dreamt that Osa was calling out to him, a voice, commanding him to move on. Now as he was awake, he was doing just that without thought, just purpose. The door opened to it, and the world around him grew infinitely. Lutho realized that he was lost, perhaps the only human in this strange world that had devoured him.

“What manor of a village is this?” Words that never had come to him before had shown him something so complex and perplexing that he felt lost almost immediately. He centered a mental note that the house behind him was central to the universe and a strange dwelling of a more rectangular nature blocked off his first field of vision and yet he could see by the sides of it and there was access points around. Paved paths stood and Lutho was in awe at how the other dwellings each looked different and had different shapes and sizes.

They all were also comprised of different colors and ornaments. All of them definitely had a box like appearance, and what he could make out was branches and other material made for their tops. He could see light coming from some of these homes and Lutho saw non existing light sources throughout making the grand village.

The atmosphere had a very calming effect, there was a noise in the distance, music in a style he had never heard before. As he turned to walk into the direction of it, a strange creature, beautiful in its own nature was walking with a child. Lutho couldn’t help but notice how their eyes glowed, perhaps some of these strange creatures prefer to be alive at night? The little girl following her mother was asking what time breakfast would start.

“There is nothing to fear of these streets.” Lutho said this less to calm his nerves but more in a state of relaxation and realization. The beat was calling him forward and Lutho walked amongst the vale of houses and other buildings of different shapes and sizes, but all placed seemingly perfectly in the art of the village’s nature.

“I walk alone in harmony of nature. Luna guides my feet as the ground cushions their fall.” Lutho again felt the need to recite. His memory would never allow him to forget this moment, and he was sure of how he would tell his clansmen of this wonderful experience.

“I walk alone in warmth in facing the cold. The Cool drowns the heat as night smothers day.”

He stopped talking when he realized three individuals who were sitting down infront of a dwelling were just staring at him. His scar immediately began to itch. “What’s he doing?” One said to the other.

“I think he is talking to himself.”

“Strange humans.”

“Look at his clothes,” said the one.

“Ah, he must be of nobility.”

“No, he is of the Speaker Tribe.”

Lutho stopped and looked at them. “You know of me and my people?”

“What brings you to our city?”

“City?” A term he never heard before.

“I do not think you should be out in the streets at this time my friend,” The one who spoke had small antlers to his face, and brown features, he had wide open eyes but a very calm smile. His posture majestic  and Lutho was reminded of a great creature he once saw as a kid.

“Why shouldn’t I? Are these streets not safe?”

“Not in the least my young human. Or rather not for your kind.” Said one.

Like  a riddle, the other added, “There are other humans about this place. But one is of the White Dog tribe.”

“The White Dog  tribe?”  Lutho knew that name all too well. He for some reason did not believe that he would hear it spoken aloud again in his lifetime. It was a false rumor, surely, he told himself. The White Dog tribe were a nomadic culture that the Speaker tribe had shed their own blood to fight against.

Speaker Kalli and his father spoke of them once and when he heard the horror tales of what was told to him to be the definition of war, he shuddered at the mere thought of ever meeting with them. He once tried to bring them up as a conversation piece with his friends but he qas quickly silenced. Since then he came to understand the tribe of the White Dog was meant to be unspoken, forever growing in their dark legacy. A rumor that was too ill to be a rumor.

“You speak of this tribe, are you certain they are real?”

Two of them began to laugh.

“Creatures of whatever design, I, son of my villages chief, command that you do not laugh at me!”

He wasn’t sure if his holy name could hold any power of them but he bluffed it so and with enough intensity that they seem to instantly come to a quiete consensus.

“It is a friendly word of warning my Speaker friend, The folk of this city are nice enough but we have lately been sensing a dark aura. You aren’t the first member of your tribe to come here but on those rare occasions they tend to stay safe. We haven’t really ever seen a White Dog though. Perhaps he is just acting fictitious.”

The strange creature then went back to conversing for a moment. They began to get into a discussion and when it was done he turned back to Lutho and finished with, “Go well my friend, we shall hope to the heavens for a safe passage for you.”

Lutho felt his feet wander again and as he realized he had begun traveling on impulse, the corner was turned and the strange folk were out of sight.

---

Part Two:

Osa welcomed the cool breeze among his face. It was a pleasant luxury he always held dear to himself. It made him envision running around carefree among long blades of grass until he could hide. Although he remembered well so more the forrest atmosphere, in his current form, it was his paradise. How he wished to be calm among the creatures of the lower, and smell the wonderful air and flowers that whispered love songs in the wind.

The giant castle had been standing before him. It was a place of the highest etiquette, no time for running or fun in this realm. It reigned above for stories after stories, each with its own past and history to tell. The young one remembered when his father would take him here to do business. The black architecture alone screamed to those nostalgic days. He was happier then.

Two guards blocked the way, they immediately recognized him.

“Osa of the Thunder Peaks…”

He curiously bowed.

“It’s late, her brightness hasn’t reached its peak.” The guard pointed towards the non existing moon, which casted its shadow and halo in this realm just the same.”

“I have business that I need to speak with the King about.”

“Do you think its about the man-killer?” One guard enquired of the other. Osa knew all to well about the fun guessing games they would play to pass the time. Between the shift guards, they had created an entire fictional map of their world as well as the realm of man, down to the crawl of an ant. They were wrong usually, but in this one concern, a man-killer seemed like business that would be worth investigating.

“Man-killer, you say?” Osa asked.

The guard felt like an idiot having let some bad gossip come out.

“Well, you know those Speaker people?”

Osa rolled his eyes, “Yes, I know of them.”

“Well ever since they started showing up. Reports of a human in this town have gone through the roof.”

“A human, in this town?” Osa was gearing up his sarcasm.

“Well, we found her.”

Now that was unexpected. “Her?” A glorious sigh for his companions safety however the twist was still not forseeable.

“Aparently the Speaker people have made enemies with some White Dogs or something…”

The yellow tint in his eyes showed an extra shade of bright with this news. “A White Dog clansman has been spotted here!?”

The guard laughed, “Know of them?”

Osa, despite his small size, height, and even age, grabbed the guard by his collar and put the fear of the afterlife in him with a look and a growl.

The other guard would have reacted but the growl of pure evil from his lips seized the other one in his tracks.

“Tell me all you know, now!”

“There isn’t much to tell, we just found her after chasing a series of rumors. She looks harmless enough.”

“You keep saying she, are you sure she is a White Dog? Speak!” Osa yelled promising death if a word betrayed. Between the three of them, they knew he would be allowed to get away with it too.

Lutho shaked this image from his head as he fell to the floor.

“A white dog is here.” Lutho tried to grip the dirt so he could commence standing up, but nothing was happening, his body wouldn’t budge. This was fear. He looked up and saw a ghost face of the creature Osa pinned against his arm. He wasn’t sure how he saw such a vision but he could feel the boiling anger inside him.

Lutho was still alone, lost and had no explanation for the vision he held in his head. No one had ever told him of having actual visions in his village. Speaker Kalli had on time or another spoken of them but he often attributed them to her getting away with lying to fulfill her agenda. She even would use a level of fake acting to tell the tale. But this vision was dark, more real than any moment he felt. Was Osa doing this to him?

He was crawling since his arms seemed to be all that moved. How appropriate that the future chief of the village lower himself to that of the snake and use his belly for transportation. The anger in him was subsiding though he didn’t know where it came from, and to what level the fear held within.

Somewhere, at this moment, a person wished him death. He knew this with a sense unknown to him. He looked at the life around him, the archetcutre and the strange layout of the land. Hidden like a lost treasure, was death incarnating itself as a person.

“Let me help you.” A voice called to him. He saw a strange paw and decided to gladly take it its assistance. Maybe this was the hand that would kill him. Perhaps it was just best to let himself be slave t his destiny.

Osa helped him up. Lutho was expecting someone to be eye level when he got to his feet but instead, Lutho actually had to look down to thank his charity.

“By the way, why did you leave my mansion?”

Lutho smiled. “I felt like getting out.”

“They said its dangerous out here for you, I was following a rumor but I think you might be safe for the time being.”

“The White Dog tribe, they have members here?”

“I know of these people. They usually send one into our lands a year, it’s a ritual of theirs, but where as your people tend to focus on…well these people have more murderous intent.”

“My people, we met them generations ago, I cannot recall the number for it was too many to count.”

Osa, perhaps knowing the story, smiled but let him continue, “and what happened?”

There was silence, and then the word, “War.”

“How many died?”

“Our tribe, it was brilliant filled with great hunters and warriors. Then as we expanded, moving with the winter, a great omen showed itself when my ancestor found a dead beast, it had been killed by its brother species. The Speaker said a great calamity would befall.”

“I’m hungry. Want to get something to bite on, there is this great place where they got a band of singers who use beautiful harmony, you wont find anything like that in your world.”

“Sounds fun.”

They started to walk.

Lutho looked to the shorter creature, “Does this mean, I mean, are we friends? Right?”

There was a silence for a good length, Osa pointed to a place, where they sat down, filled with bright lights of unknown origin. It was a wonderful place and sure as they sat, beautiful harmonies from the strangest sounds mixed with coo-ings and ohm’s massaged Lutho’s ears.

“So Lala, any chance of coming up with a poem?”

“Not feeling it at the moment.”

“Oh, I was sure this would be great material. Oh beautiful place of music in which I listen, play for me a song of my youth and um…” Osa was just making it up as he went along.

Lutho was just shaking his head in silly disappointment.

“What? I liked what I had going!”

“The war,” Lutho stated for a second.

“Yes, the war, and the death of the Speakers….”

“It happened over some land. We think they came across the great water, but we weren’t sure. Some say they came from the mountains that touched the sky. But when the White Dog tribe came, everyone started dying.”

“How did it end Lala?”

“It didn’t, not for the first several generations. They seemed to have moved back, but our villages began to raid each other. The Speaker, as the legend told, said that the war had turned our people to the path of evil and that we had lost our honor. It was the only time there was a dissention between the Chief, my fore fathers, and the Speaker himself. The Wisemen chose to ignore the peoples plight.

“When it ended, the warfare was so brutal, that half our people died, and we chased what few were left down the side of a mountain. Our chief swore that it would be the duty of our people to kill them should they ever returned. Or so legend goes.”

“And, is it not their duty to kill you should they meet you?”

Lutho sat silently.

Osa stared again with great curiosity, his ears perked up, then slowly drifted downward. “So that’s the end? No great conclusion? No ‘and they were never found again?’”

The two were in the middle of continuing their conversation when a great scream occurred. Osa’s ears went high with alert. Lutho instantly began to look around, something of ill design was in the wind and the two of them seemed to have the same level of sensory. A table was turned over and Lutho instantly stood up, he wasn’t sure if this was a precursor to a battle or a fight but he knew it was about him. Osa stood by his ally and they gazed upon the beings that came toward the two of them.

Three tough looking creatures, one had a horn growing from his snout, the other two, hard cruel hair running down their back and into their strange outfits. Osa recognized them as the palace security. He sighed realizing just who Lutho had unknowingly made an enemy of. Humans were not known for their wisdom.

“I demand to know what is the cause for this peasant like conduct!” Osa screamed.

The three drew their weapons and pointed them at the boy. Osa unleashed one tooth from his lips. They got the subtle message but they were unafraid.

“What is this about? I am just here for a walk of leaisure, I have done nothing to upset anyone!”

Lutho saw that Osa had been cut off as he was surrounded. Was death near? In this strange land, he would die? What happens when he dies here? What about the land of his people? No, he decided this was all false. The truth; he was destined to live, perchance this is part of his journey, orchestrated by the Speaker Kalli, or perhaps by those higher than her. The great spirit must have set this up.

“As long as I hold true, I shall not fear you.”

The one with the horn on his nose grasped the hilt of his spear even more. It sounded like the human was claiming he was ready to fight.

“Osa, my friend, are we meant to part from here?”

“No, I am your guide! You can’t take him!”

“We have orders!”

The crowd of folk enjoying their time had all begun to watch this spectacle. Lutho stood there, like a martyr to face the cruelest of the predators. Lutho however had a fool’s calmess. The serenity to accept them taking him away confused and angered Osa. 

“I will bring this up with the lord. You three will not get away with this!” Osa continued his passive aggressive threats.”

“Its okay Osa, of the Thunderpeak tribe.” Lutho then addressed those who came to capture him, “I am Chief-in-training Lutho of the Speakers. I submit myself.”

He felt a sharp pain and his eyes closed against his will. When they opened, he was facing miniscule rocks climbing up his nose and mouth as he breathed, his hands were being bound too tight for his comfort and his face cringed at the thought that this would not be easy.

“Hehe,” one of the guards was laughing, it was the ugly one with the horn in his face, “He said you would put up a fight. I was not expecting a coward. A coward and a liar. I shall hope to see you punished for your insolence!”

He felt a new sharp pain slam against his spine.

 

 

Everyone heard the sharp scream and spontaneous instant silence that followed less than a second after as Lutho was knocked uncounscious, or perhaps killed. Osa was trembling with thoughts of violent anger.

“If he but suffers one more moment, I will use all that is within my power to end all of you.” The young wolf thought of how easily it would be to use his speed to take them out, his ferociousness and cruelty that was bred from his supreme predator nature. “We Thunderpeaks do not make false threats!”

The Rhino guard just snorted back at the wolf. “Go bark at the moon.”

The three of them took off and Osa stood with the rest of the citizens of the usually calm establishment.

A howl whispered to the moon, but it was not Osa who was crying.

At the time, Lutho, thought to be a dangerous prisoner was taken by three of the strongest guards in this city. In the center of the city, was a vast castle, there the lord of the land ruled. The citizens often thought of him as wise but in reality he was nothing more than one who listens to the advice of others and decides. In many cases this would be a good quality to have, except when those who surround you are corrupt and have ulterior motives. It was on this advice that Lutho was sent to be kidnapped, and it was on this advice that one foreigner to these lands and her bird were kept locked up in a dungeon cell, where all she could do is wail at the moon, thinking of when her punishment could end.

Her name was Sy, and she had spent seven days and such of her time here in this unwelcomed land. She took it as her punishment due to her actions and awaited with hope that her suffering would warrant an endnote.

She felt a warm arm around her like a blanket. “One more?” it had said. The voice belonged to a friend of hers she met in this world. Her friend’s arm had a beautiful brilliance as her feathers covered her.

“Fine, one more” Sy said with a smile. She inhailed and tried to make a blowing sound. Sillyness came out instead.

Her companion just whistled for her to try again, then made a note to puff out her chest and let the air out.

“I don’t think I got it in me.”

Loud noises were coming from above and in her window, she could see a cart pulling a person tied up, covered, perhaps an evil intetity was coming. She hoped beyond hope that she wouldn’t have to share a cell with it.

“Something good smells in the air.” Her companion said.

“Liar!” She yelled at her friend.

“You don’t smell what I smell.”

“Do you even smell?”

“Sometimes?” Her friend said with a laugh.

Instantly Sy put her ear to the hollow walls and could hear the clamour above.

“What have you brought us?”

“A killer, the worst kind. Claims he is from the Speaker tribe.”

Another voice came, this one sounding the most menacing of the group. “Clearly he lies. My lord, I recommend you execute him immediately!”

There was a snorting laughter, the brutish looking figure must have laughed at this recommendation.

“Where…am I?” a frail voice spoke.

A wise voice then spoke, “Perhaps it is best if we were to hold him until a proper time comes when we can try him for these claims against him?”

The menacing voice went on to dispute this, “You have my word, is that not enough? This person is evil! He was born of a tribe of hunters, the cruelest kind.”

“We already have one human you bore witness against. What say you on the subject of her?”

“She is foreign, I do not know of her type however her being here is unnatural. She shouldn’t be in the spirit world. You agreed with me.”

“Yes, but you claimed that she was here on an act of evil. Could it be human, that you fear the unknown?”

“All I know is this human is to be feared. You let him live, and this magical city that your Lordships for fathers have built will be undone by folly!”

Sy looked to her companion, “it appears there are two other humans here.”

“He is the reason we are locked up!” That was what came out of Neva as she began to quake, pretending to brew a fury.

She always found a reason to try to go into a fury, and all the furies she lived were pathetic if they were not so comedic. She shook her body and all of her excess moved left and right and feathers would fly as she puffed herself up only to be outdone by insanity. Like now, she would always get tired and then calm down at the knowledge that she was her own biggest rival and always on the losing side. She panted from her own tiredness of spending all that energy.

Sy just put back her ear on the wall. The crackling of the water and the random cricks brought her hearing to the conversation at hand.

“Fine then!” The human upstairs had relented, “Let the boy rot! But I would have him tried when tomorrows sun hits noon!”

“Then we are agreed.”

“Who speaks against me? I can’t see!”

The sound of strange things, perhaps he was being led out of the room, whoever he was. The lord spoke, “I shall sleep now, do not disturb me.” A door closed. In her imagination, she saw two figures staring off at each other. One was the mind soul who stood up for her in court days ago, the other, was the unkown yet clearly evil human.

“I heard of standing up for you fellow man, I never seen such cruelty from your type.”

“I hold your opinions to yourself.”

“That boy you want to kill… he is your age! Have you no mercy?”

She wanted to hear the answer so badly however a slaming of the door above, the prisoner had come. He was being dragged by the giant beast.

The Rhino had slowly descended the stairs below and he looked at the girl and the bird next to her. Instantly his stone gaze showed a small fire of warmth in his soul. He always did this whenever he came down.

“Is this the time you let us out?”

The Rhino shook his head.

“Who is he?”

The Rhino did not speak. He opened a cage next to hers, a wall of bars separating them. He gently placed the figure with the cloth over his head down, then slammed the door. He stormed off as if trying to shrug off his rare moment of kindness.

Instantly the two females sat down and stared at the figure crawling around. His bounds had been undone and he was trying to feel around, a poor blind fool. He stopped when he felt the coolness of the bars. His fingers followed them. He followed their vertical path until he was standing up. He didn’t know that his feet were still bounded as he fell on his butt and let out an “ouch.”

“Are you alright?” Sy instantly said. She then regretted it, as he immediately perked his faceless head up and sat there with curiousity.

“Is anyone…” He stopped himself.

“Your feet are tied up.”

The boy, “they are!?” she didn’t get an impression that he was very smart, and laughed as he rushed to fondle the ropes on his feet.

“It might help to take your hood off.”

He had stopped again.

“Who are you?” He had stopped focusing on freeing himself, nor took his hood off yet but it seemed to her that she could see him.

“My name is Sy.”

“Are you pretty?”

Instantly Neva started her first phase of the fury mode. “How dare you! Why you… I….” She began to shake.

“Why don’t you take off that hood to see?” Sy had said it playfully but in reality she was filled with caution, she did not know the fellow before her and was scared that horror would unleash in her life when the hood came off.

The boy took his hood off and stared blankly at both of them.

The two humans for some reason could not comprehend seeing another in this world of theirs.

“The answer is no, “Sy said.

“No, what?”

“I am not pretty. But might I have your name none the less?”

“I am Chief-in-training Lutho, Speaker Tribe.”

“I am Sy, no tribe, my people…are dead.”

With nothing left to speak of the moment, the two just stared at each other.  

Author's Note

I use this as a two parter but both are here rather than me have two parts only to introduce said girl in part 2. I try mostly to have each adventure or act be its own chapter. So no worries on it being too long, if you have a problem, just remember where you were and take a break. However on that note, any criticisms are welcome and any compliments are welcome.