Chapter One: Between Villages

Chapter One

Between Villages

 

                “Boy, you will listen to your father!” A man with red tribal marks across his arms and bare chest backhanded the young boy with darker dress, hair, and eyes that stood before him in the face.

                The boy just took it, closing his eyes with an emotionless expression as he let the force of the hit turn his face.  “You are not my father,” he responded opening his eyes, “and don’t you dare compare yourself to him or someone of his stature ever again.”

                The man backed away a step in discomfort, yet still held his confident face.  He definitely looked to be the stronger, wiser, and elder of the two, so it was only natural not to fear the child.  “It doesn’t change the facts.  In this village I have more power than you, and you will listen to me when I say something.  If you won’t respect us here, however, then why don’t you just go back to Alkrod?  Just go, Noclac!”

                Noclac glared at the man.  “You?” He chuckled sarcastically, making his glare all the stronger.  He crossed his arms and began to speak to the man as if he were completely in control of the situation, “You know as well as anyone else in this village that if I were to ‘just go’ this place would fall apart, yet you still believe you hold more power?” Noclac shook his head then looked up again.  He raised his voice a bit, “It’s because of me that this village isn’t in devastation.  Show some respect!”

                The man turned away and sighed, then looked back at Noclac with his stern stare staying.  It grew softer, however, and he gave in.  “Fine.  I give you permission under one condition…” The man was silent a moment as Noclac nodded once, “Keep your brothers out of trouble.”

                Noclac gave the man a thumbs-up and smirked, giving himself a much more juvenile look.  The man rolled his eyes at the gesture, and then retreated to his large hut about 5 feet behind him.

                Noclac, immediately removing his smirk, turned around himself and walked across the broad, stiff leaves below his feet.  These leaves were the leaves of a tree that resembled a palm tree, but was absolutely gigantic.  Think of a young whale…now imagine that times 50 all stacked one on top of the other from fluke to nose.  That’s about as tall as this tree was…or at least as tall as it seemed when you looked up at it.  On top of that it was stuck inside a large cliffside, which was nearly as tall as the tree itself.  Despite this, Noclac put his hands in his pockets and looked to the nearest ground, another cliff about half as tall as this tree with a small village carved into the rock, and began walking along one of the sloped leaves.  He opened his eyes and they suddenly began to glow a bright crimson despite their original midnight blue color.  Wings pixilated on his back and spread, stretched as a bird would do after awakening.  As if they were tears, black and grey marks bled onto his face from underneath his lower eyelids.  The whole time he kept walking until he walked straight off the tree and quickly began to fall.  He looked down upon the cliff where the village resided as he fell, forcing him to fall head first.  He let himself fall until he was about 20 feet above one of the many small rock-formed houses, where he spread his wings, allowing him to begin flying when he was about 5 feet above these buildings and back up until he again was around 20 feet above the village.  From there he began to fly forward toward the edge of the cliff, in the direction of the palisade.        

                As he flew overhead many people looked up at him with smiles and awe.  A few children pointed up and tugged on their parents’ clothes excitedly.  A group of the village women giggled and waved.  Noclac gave a couple large waves back as he flew by.  As he reached the edge of the village, he flew straight over the palisade where two hawk-winged men stood watch at the gates.  The guards watched him go, one giving him a nod and the other saluting with a wide grin.

                Noclac stretched his arms and glided on the wind for a while, just slowly getting closer to the lake water until he was hardly a half-foot above it.  He looked in the forest to see a pack of giant wolves with strange cat-like fur, like tiger stripes across grey wolf fur or yellow-orange leopard spots on black wolf fur; all of them running the same direction Noclac flew.  A few of them were human-like despite their extreme speed and wolf attributes such as multiple wolf tails or ears.

                Flying upward just before hitting trees and hovering over the forest now, Noclac looked down at the tribal village (similar to that of a Native American tribe) of the wolf-cat creatures, presumably where the small pack was headed towards.  Ahead of him was a large mountain range, a huge plateau being in the middle of it.

                It was far, far ahead and hard to see, but you could tell that there was another village formed in the rock.  It was just as the previous village was, the village literally carved out of the rock; each house literally a part of the plateau itself, but it had much higher defenses.  It was already too high up on the plateau to reach by foot, or even climbing, but on top of that there was a huge ditch around the village nonetheless.  So even if someone did climb to the top, they would only be stuck in between cliffs.  Then there was, again, a palisade, but this time it wasn’t made of simple wood with spiked tops, but rock with metal coating on the spiked tips.  This village took its militia very seriously.  It was the village of Alkrod.

 

NOTE: You should add the speed he flies at [so __ mph or whatever] and therefore how long of a fly it was for him.  Make him go freakin’ fast! X3

 

                Noclac scowled at the mere sight of Alkrod as he neared.  He flew upward as not to hit the plateau, and even higher still so he wouldn’t hit the sharp, metal points of the surrounding wall.  He began slowing down as he flew over the cliff and palisade, starting to prepare for his land.  He landed atop of tallest rock building in a crouch, his knees bent �" one up, the other closer down, standing on the balls of his feet and using one hand to keep himself steady.  He balanced his other arm on his upward knee, closing his eyes and letting his wings pixilate away and his marks fade, getting soaked up by his skin as if they were water.  He opened his eyes and they were back to their normal dark blue color.  He stood confidently.

                “Brother!” A small boy ran out of the house Noclac had landed on.  “Brother, you’re back!” The small boy smiled and waved.

                Noclac smiled slightly and jumped down from the roof, gracefully landing back in his crouch position to be at the same height as the young boy.  He picked up the child, seeming to be only about 8 or 9 human years of age, and lifted him high in the air, throwing him and catching him a few times.  “Fly away!” he said with a joyous expression.  Nocres laughed each time he was thrown.

                “Noclac, don’t you dare drop him.” A woman walked out of the rock house, pushing the cloth out of the doorway to be seen.

                Noclac set his little brother down as his expression turned to a scowl.  Nocres ran behind his elder brother shyly and hid behind him, clinging to the knee of his pant-leg.  “I wouldn’t drop him.  You know this well, Shaeshiin.” Noclac set his hand atop his younger brother’s head.

                “You will address me as ‘mother.’” The woman scowled back at her son.  “Nocres, come inside.”

                “No!” Nocres shouted.  “I wanna play with brother!”

                The woman practically snapped at the reaction.  “Nocres, you will go inside right--”

                “Enough!” Noclac shouted stopping her.  “I am here for Nocres, anyhow.  Do not scold him for caring.  He’s a mere boy, Shaeshiin.”

                “Mother,” she quickly barked back.

                “I have long abandoned you as my mother.” Noclac replied coolly as Nocres hid slightly more.

                The woman backed away a step and breathed a deep, depressed sigh.  “You cannot just say that I am not your mother, Noclac.  I gave birth to you, named you, raised you.”

                “You did not raise me.  I was barely 4 human years when you forgot me in the forest.  I was raised by a man of the opposing village, far off in Xyten.  He is my father, and his wife is my mother.  You, on the other hand, are not.”  Noclac showed no emotion besides his scowl as he spoke.  It was as if he had no ability to feel pity of remorse for neither Shaeshiin nor himself.

                Hearing these words, the woman began to cry.  She didn’t change her stance or expression; she merely had tears falling from her eyes.  “How can you say that as though it means nothing?”

                Noclac sighed and removed his hand from Nocres’ head.  Nocres let go of his pant-leg and Noclac took a few steps toward Shaeshiin.  He put his hand to her shoulder now and looked down into her icy blue eyes.  “I am sorry.  I spoke carelessly.  Forgive me.”

                Shaeshiin nodded once and began to wipe her eyes when a man walked out of the rock building she was once in.  He too pushed the cloth out of the way and stepped out.  “N-Noclac?  It’s been quite the time, my son.”

                Shaeshiin cringed slightly at the ending words and Noclac merely closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again as he removed his hand from her shoulder.

                “Oh, did I say something wrong?  I apologize.  Please, come in, come in.”  The man went inside again and held the cover open for the three of them.

                Shaeshiin immediately walked to the left and quietly said “I’ll go make some tea,” and walked off toward the room that was apparently a kitchen, or at least kitchen-like.  The man turned to her and opened his mouth as if he were to speak, but then closed it again with a deep exhale, changing his mind at the last moment when he caught a glimpse of her tears.

                Noclac walked over to a stone table on the floor and sat down on his knees.  He set Nocres on his lap.  The man sat next to them, around the corner of the table, also on his knees.  “Noclac,” he began, “why have you come?  There must be a reason.”

                “I wish to bring Nocres on a trip with myself and two boys from Alkrod.  They are both older, though one acts as though he’s still a young child and would get along well with Nocres.” Noclac smiled at his little brother who seemed to get a little excited at the idea.

                “Oh?” The man seemed surprised.

                “Yes, Rylaan.  The boys are known as Falconder and Galcon.  We would be toward the center of the Forest of Despair for about 8 moons.”  Noclac looked back at the man, his expression back to its common blank stare and his voice still mostly monotonous.

                Shaeshiin walked in the room quietly and set down two sea-glass tea cups in front of the two men and one for her.  She poured some hot chai tea that’d she’d just brewed into each cup as Rylaan responded to Noclac.  “I’m very glad to see you thinking of Nocres, but I’ve never met these children.  I don’t even know how you know them.” Shaeshiin sat down on the side of the table opposing Rylaan, her position mimicking theirs.

                “They are my step-brothers in the village of Xyten.” Noclac replied.

                Rylaan seemed a little startled.  “You’ve been accepted into a different family?  Son, that’s…is that what you and your mother were speaking of outside?” Noclac nodded.

                Rylaan turned to his wife who was solemnly staring at her cup of tea.  Rylaan pinched his upper nose in thought and frustration, eyes closed.  He looked back up at Noclac.  “I suppose it has been a few years of this back and forth business.  It makes sense now that you’d find a different family to call your own, seeing as you aren’t staying with us any longer.”

                Noclac was silent.  Nocres looked up at him with a sad look.  “Big Brother?” he said, lightly tugging on Noclac’s shirt.  Noclac looked down at him.  “Am I not your brother anymore too?”

                Noclac was a bit surprised, as if he didn’t think of this question as a possibility.  This question and reaction had caught Rylaan’s and Shaeshiin’s attentions as well, and the family eagerly awaited his response.  He ruffled Nocres’ hair a little bit.  “Of course not, little one.  You’ll always be my favorite brother,” Noclac said, then looked back up at his former family.  Nocres was pleased with this news and smiled, hugging his brother.

                Noclac hugged his brother back.  Nocres got off his brother’s lap and sat next to him as Noclac switched to a more comfortable cross-legged position.  As the boys did this, Shaeshiin spoke to Rylaan, “He has abandoned us as his parents.  I suggest that you are not to call him ‘son’ any longer.”

                Noclac held up a hand to stop any further commentary.  “You can call me whatever you like.” He crossed his arms. “However, don’t expect me to respond as though I truly am your son.  I have abandoned you; you have obviously not abandoned me,” Noclac spoke up.

                His mother smiled lightly.  “Thank you…my son.”

                “Now that that’s settled,” Rylaan started up again, clearing his throat, “why do you wish to bring Nocres?  And when will you be departing?”

                Now diverting his attention to Nocres as he spoke, Noclac replied, “I have already answered this question.  There are two other boys, one of which Nocres would get along well with.  As far as departing, Galcon and Falconder are preparing for the trek as we speak.  If Nocres gets ready, we could leave as early as tonight or perhaps even tomorrow morning.”

                “That early?” Rylaan exclaimed, eyes widening.  “Do you have any reason for leaving so suddenly?”

                With a nod Noclac continued, “Yes.  My father and I are not getting along, and I fear that he is taking his anger out on my brothers.  I have decided that some simple time apart can help solve our problems, and so I have prepared this trip.  I’ve wanted to introduce Nocres to these two for a while now, and I thought that this would be a good extra opportunity.  You could say no, though Nocres seems quite excited about this as well.  I would hate to have come here merely to have disappointed him.”

                Nocres turned to look at his parents with wide eyes.  “Can I please go with big brother?”

                Rylaan looked at Shaeshiin who just shrugged.  “I suppose it’s alright,” she said.

                That made up Rylaan’s mind.  “Alright, he can go, but I expect you to watch your brother warily and no more than nine moons.  Any later, and I’ll have your head.  You hear me?”

                Nocres smiled widely and jumped to his feet.  “I’ll start packing!” He yelled as he ran down a hallway and turned to the right, throwing the cloth door high and out of his way.

                Noclac smiled, then immediately regained his usual expression.  “I understand, Rylaan.  I will be back for him by nightfall.”  Noclac picked up his tea cup and quickly finished it off.  Eyes closed, he rubbed his mouth off with his hand and lightly whispered, “…pleasant.  Thank you.”  He opened his eyes, which were now a brilliant crimson, and then stood and walked out the door, pushing the cloth out of his way.

                As he walked out the door, Rylaan and Shaeshiin could see his wings beginning to pixilate back.  No doubt, his markings were showing up as well.

                Noclac began to run and then jumped in the air, taking flight as the last of his wings pixilated into existence.  He was headed back to Xyten.

                The same scene played by him as he flew over the land, but he couldn’t help but pay more attention to everything he saw.  Each tree in the forest he flew over was unique somehow, and so he stopped to take a look.  Landing in an open grove area, he didn’t bother to let his wings de-pixilate as he landed.  He knew he’d retake flight soon.

                Taking a few steps forward, Noclac reached out his arm until he felt the bark of the tree.  Surprisingly it was soft…it was a bit bumpy and had plenty of ridges in it making it look like real tree bark, but it felt as though it was watered down to breaking point.  This was just how tree-bark felt on planet Zeronium, but Noclac had never actually taken the time to realize this fact before.  He put his entire palm on the tree and closed his eyes.  “Why are you calling to me now?” he whispered out loud, as if the tree would answer him.

A sudden wind passed through, tussling at the leaves in the trees and moving the branches.  Noclac kept his eyes shut and focused on the sound of the breeze.  “Home,” an echoic, woman’s voice seemed to say through the wind.

Noclac immediately opened his eyes and removed his palm from the tree’s trunk.  Everything seemed different, as if a lot more time had passed than just a few moments of keeping his eyes shut.  He looked up at the sky and saw black clouds.  The wind was picking up and light rain drops fell from the sky.  “You were…warning me?”  He looked forward and noticed something…something odd…

Looking closer at the tree, he saw a face in the tree’s bark.  The face in the tree looked saddened, as if it had been a person who died sad and was now frozen in a never ending sorrow.  Noclac turned to look at the surrounding trees and saw that each one depicted a specific expression that gave him chills.  Some looked as if they were crying, some screaming, some sighing, and so on.  Not one tree, however, depicted a positive expression.  Each and every one he saw gave him a feeling of pity or remorse that he held tight in his throat.

“I don’t understand.  You need to be clearer with me.” Noclac said, looking both everywhere and in no direction in particular.

The wind stopped instantly and Noclac could see lightning.  He took a few silent moments to sit and wait, hoping something would help him understand what the forest was trying to say, but after a crackle of thunder and a new gust of wind he decided it was best to get going.  “Nonsense…” He whispered to himself with a tinge of anger, then jumped in the air and took flight.

As he pressed his wings against the air over and over, Noclac realized that something was off.  The higher he got in the air, the clearer the sky became.  Every flap of his wings was easier on him because the wind was calming all the more each time he went up.  Noclac was puzzled.  <What was that about?> He thought to himself.  He then shook his head, shaking any further thoughts on the matter out with it.  <Whatever… We’ll just avoid that part of the forest on our outing and everything will be fine.>

As the sky cleared back to how it was before he landed, Noclac’s mind got more and more chaotic.  His mind was racing so much that he nearly crashed into his own home when he got back to Xyten.

“S**t!” He yelled as he realized how close he was to the rock tower.  He flapped his wings hard and fast as he pushed his feet forward and kicked himself back with the building.  Flying in place he looked down and noticed someone.  This person looked about Noclac’s age �" about 16 or 17 human years �" but was definitely no bird.  “Hey, watch it bird brain!” He yelled at Noclac with his scaly hands on his hips as he flung his sandy blonde hair out of his eyes.  “What’s with you, man?  Flying into buildings isn’t typically your style.” He asked, motioning with his arm for Noclac to fly down.

As Noclac landed, letting his wings and markings disappear in their usual fashion, he saw his friend in closer view.  “Oh save it, Sandaco.  I just got back from speaking with Nocres’s parents.  I’m a little distracted right now.” Noclac explained bitterly.

Sandaco was a yellow-tan skinned man that [as stated] looked approximately 16 or 17 human years of age.  He had sandy blonde hair which he kept long enough to put in a small pony-tail, but short enough that some of his hair wouldn’t stay and would form side-bangs in front of the left side of his face.  His eyes were narrow, but still large, and crooked so that they pointed toward his nose more than most.  They were completely black except for their dark green irises and white, diamond shaped pupils.  Around his eyes and upper nose were sandy gold colored scales that were only a bit brighter than his dull hair.  These scales were also on the backs of his hands and a bit on his fingers, his shoulders, his chest, his feet, in patches on major joints, and all through his lower back and 6 foot long tail.  Across the top of his tail was a small mane of his sandy yellow hair all the way up until the tip, which had a large tuft of this fur-like hair.  As he spoke, you could clearly see his long fangs and sometimes you could even catch a glimpse of his forked tongue.  His fingers and toes had small claw-like points on the end of his black nails, and finally when he said words with “S” he added a very subtle hiss to them; this was simply a part of his accent.

At the moment, Sandaco was wearing nothing but a pair of black shorts and a couple chains over his right hip.  He put his hands in his pockets and gave a fanged smile to Noclac with a short chuckle.  “You ‘forget’ to mention me or did you say somethin’ and now you’re regrettin’ that choice?”

Noclac gave a thumbs up to his friend with a slight smile back.  “No worries; I’ve got your back.  I said nothing about you coming with us on this trip.”

“Good stuff, man.” Sandaco said as Noclac put his arm down and let his face go back to its regular, emotionless state.  “So can your little bro join us or are we just stuck with the twins?”

“No, Nocres can come.  They almost instantly agreed once we actually got to that topic.” Noclac paused to sigh.  “I had to explain to them that I’ve abandoned them as parents and found a new family whom appreciates what I do, for the most part, before I could even get to my original point.” He grunted in frustration, “Pure idiocy!”

Sandaco laughed.  “Chill out, buddy.  You’re home now so get your a*s inside and slap on a different mood for the twins, alright?”  He patted Noclac’s back and led him inside the house.  As they got inside, Sandaco pushed a large rock slightly larger than the doorway to cover their entrance so that nobody else could get in.  Meanwhile, Noclac got tackled by two blurs of boys who were presumably his twin brothers, Falconder and Galcon.

“Brother!” They both simultaneously yelled as they each took an arm of Noclac’s to hug tight.  “We’re packed!”  They cheerfully said, giggling as if they were much younger than they appeared.

The twins looked virtually the same.  Besides the obvious fact that they looked the same age �" around 11 or 12 human years of age - they were the same height, barred the same hairstyle and natural crisp, blonde hair color, the same eye shape, the same body structure, and even the same laugh.  There were differences between the two, however, that made it nearly impossible to mix the two up.

Starting off with the obvious, physical characteristics, Falconder had golden eyes that sparkled like gold dust blowing through the summer breeze, while Galcon had bright red eyes that glowed like a stray ember on a ruby pendant.  Also, Galcon had red tips on his bangs �" an attempt at getting people to notice the difference between Falconder and him that worked fairly well �" while Falconder kept his natural blonde as it was.  The two weren’t just physically different, however; they had different personalities as well.  Falconder was easy-going but spontaneous and fun too, though he had a quick temper and lost his patience easily.  He could go with the flow of things well, and stereotypically would probably be called a dreamer.  Galcon was quieter, though not shy, and thoughtful, liking to keep to himself.  He too could be fun, however, and was very smart.  He’d be considered a sort of genius if he’d come out of his shell more, but if he were to go under any other stereotype, he’d most likely be considered a loner.

Noclac smiled, and hugged the two of his brothers.