The Rise Of An Anomaly

Bones, a twelve year old orphan, is an unfortunate boy who's life suddenly takes a twist when, in a world where people can wield darkness and light like weapons, he's imprisoned for treason...

"Once, very long ago, the world was a much different place from what it is now. Back then we had several oceans that stretched as far as the eye could see and a sky that was as blue as my azure ring but we doomed ourselves and rid ourselves of the simple pleasures in life. We raged war on each other for centuries, constantly ending the lives of humans, animals, and plants. It wasn't until we'd destroyed nearly everything that we finally realized that the fighting was useless, but by this time the sky had turned a sick orange-red color, oceans had dried up, leaving us only one which turned murky and dark, whole cities were left in ruins, and food had become scarce, but somehow, we rebuilt. Of course we'd lost millions due to war, but the people who were left came together and built one huge beautiful city that we call Wing City."

The old woman leaned back in her rocking chair and smoked her pipe, allowing the kids around her to process what she'd just said. Then she looked to the back of the room and smiled as she saw the small hand of the smallest orphan. It was a boy of twelve years old. He had blue eyes, but they were different. One was a bright blue while one was a dark blue. Just his eyes made him an outcast among the other orphans, but the boy wasn't mean. He was the exact opposite. The rations serves to orphans was measly and no orphan got enough to eat, but the boy always shared his food, not caring about the hunger pains that would follow afterwards. Because of this, the boy was almost bones. His hair was black and short. Another thing that was odd about the boy is that his skin was dark and usually dark skinned people did not have blue eyes.

"What is it Bones?" the old lady asked.

"Figures that Bones would have a question," one of the other orphans said, making the kids laugh. Bones ignored them and waited for them to quiet before he asked his question.

"But the fighting isn't over is it Madam Yu?" he asked.

"Aye," the woman said after exhaling a stream of smoke. "The once peaceful animals of the wild have turned vicious and mutated from the waste from the Great War."

A girl with short red hair and blue eyes stood up. "But they don't attack us ma'am," she said.

"That's because they don't attack during the day," Bones said quietly.

The girl looked at him and opened her mouth to say something, but the woman interrupted her. "That's correct Bones. The animals are smarter than that. They know that their best chance to attack us is in the cover of darkness.

"So they attack us when we sleep?" a boy asked in a small voice.

Madam Yu shook her head. "Not always, but they've tried to before.

"That's scary to know," another child said.

"There's a reason that she's telling us this," Bones said quietly, looking Madam Yu in the eye.

"Oh will you shut up Bones?"Another boy stood up, but this boy was much bigger than many of the orphans. His name was Bull and it suited him perfectly.

"Sit down Bull," Madam Yu said. "I will not have a fight here in the orphanage.

Bull sat down, frowning. "Now, like Bones said, I do have a reason for telling you all this. It's because the time has come for all of you to go into the Metro dome for Sorting."

Bones looked around. He noticed that indeed, all the kids gathered were twelve years of age.

"Sorting?" The girl with red hair asked.

Madam Yu exhaled another stream of smoke. "Yes, it's where they sort you into two groups. What two groups, I cannot tell, but later, a Paladin will come for you all."

"A real Paladin?" a boy asked in awe.

Madam Yu nodded. "They want everyone, even girls." A couple girls gasped and the others cheered.

"But surely they don't want someone like Bones," Bull said from his spot on the floor. Bones' shoulders sagged. He knew he was small and he knew that Bull was probably right. How could anyone want someone as weak and incompetent as him?

"Don't judge a book by it's cover," Madam Yu said, a twinkle in her dark eyes. "He may surprise you yet." Bones smiled a bit at that. "Now go up to your rooms and wait until the time comes for you to leave me. Just know before you go that I love each and every one of you."

A couple girls rushed up and hugged her tightly and she hugged them back. Suddenly, she pulled away and cleared her throat. "Now get out of here." The kids stood up and headed up to their rooms. Bones walked over to the stairs that led to his room. He'd recently come to realize that no other kid had a room like his and now that he did realize it, he thought that it was because he was so small and weak. It was, he concluded, a place where only him and people he allowed in were able to get into.

"So, you're running away to your clubhouse?" someone said from behind him.

"Of course," he responded. "We both know that if I stay on the ground floor, I'll get beat up."

"I want to talk to you."

Bones began climbing the stairs. "Then follow me up." He climbed until he came across the familiar silver door that led to his room. He placed his palm on the right end of the door and slid it left. From inside of the door, they could hear the countless locks turning. The door swung open slowly and Bone's guest let out a breath.

"Wow."

"You get used to it," Bones said, going inside. He finally turned and saw who his guest was.

Author's Note

Like I said before, I'm new at this so suggestions are welcome. Comment please.

Reviews

[patricia]

your writing here in terms of presentation... seems perfect, and it's subject was appealing. enjoyed.