103 The Lonely Boy
—–
(Zack POV)
I don’t have any memory of my parents, but Auntie Nepheline usually told me they were strong hunters and warriors. She told me they had died protecting the village from a monster tide that threatened the entire jungle.
It was a big tide that even that took the lives of many warriors… I could still remember when she revealed the truth to me around two years ago. I was still too immature to understand what exactly she meant by that, and ended up crying like a baby while she hugged me.
I even ended up blaming her for not having protected my parents with her strength as a heroine, even though I knew it was because she was holding back the strongest monsters in the frontlines while the smaller ones ended up sneaking inside the village and well… my parents died defending my life and that of many others.
The life of us Amazon People is not an easy one, always living in nature, with death always at our doorsteps… however, since that time when the monster tide happened, Nepheline and Shade, the two heroes that protected us, decided to ask for help from a magician they knew… a mysterious woman called the Witch of the Blue Mountain.
With her help, a powerful magic barrier was erected here, which was fueled with expensive magical artifacts the heroes got from somewhere else.
Since then, our tribe had been able to enjoy a more peaceful life, although we still risked our days daily to hunt for food, gather fruits and grains, all to survive in this wilderness.
I’ve heard tales of some travelers that had once come here, about the societies farther away from the jungles, where people could live in houses that protect them from nature, and walk using boots instead of barefoot. In such places, people were ruled by kings and lived comfortably, with food right next to them always available for purchasing. They also work and earn their daily bread without having to risk their lives every day…
…..
I don’t know what to think about those people, but I wasn’t interested in them. I had considered going there one day. In fact, Nepheline had even offered me. But I decided to stay in this tribe and live like all my brethren. Even without parents, I simply slowly adapted to nature and hunted on my own. With the help of Nepheline and Shade, who became my mentors from time to time, I’ve managed to survive until I reached five years of age, soon becoming six.
I wanted to become strong warriors and hunters like my mother and my father, although they only left a tent with some clothes for me after dying. With that, I’ve been living in here on my own, filling up my stomach on my own.
Although I’ve been surviving, I quickly realized how bad I was at communication, perhaps because I spent two years lost in the jungle after I obtained the news of my parents dying…
During those times, I experienced many things. But when I came back, I ended up realizing I was rather bad at talking. Well, I even tried to become friends with the daughter of the heroes, but I always ended up acting badly, mostly because the antics of a brute still remained within my mind.
Even at five years of age and with such eloquence inside my mind, I’m still a stupid kid outside and I commit many mistakes, but I always try to redeem myself when I realize them… well, I hope to do so…
I’ve always felt alone, despite the welcoming and help of auntie Nepheline and uncle Shade. I guess living in the wilderness and surviving on my own ended up making me become self-sufficient, but in the end, I still felt like something was lacking… perhaps the love of my parents.
I always envied other kids when I sat down by the road and looked at them play with their parents. I even envied Aquarina for having such amazing heroes as her parents… I wish I could be like her or these other kids. I wish… I wish I could have my parents back.
I already got past the time when I felt sorrowful and broken inside. But even then, when I would remember that the people I’m talking with all had their own parents, I could not help but feel a bit sad.
I couldn’t properly socialize with other kids, so I ended up becoming a loner… until I learned Aquarina has been visiting a girl, a friend of hers this whole time.
I couldn’t make Aquarina a friend of mine, even though Nepheline was helping me. She was way too shy. In the end, when that girl came, things kind of changed.
I foolishly began to follow them around like a creep because I was too shy to talk with them. At the end, I almost got burned by her.
She was not like us, who had brown skin. Her skin was as bright as the silk that the silkworms produce, as white as the eggs we sometimes gathered around the treetops.
Her eyes were bright emerald, and her hair, as red as blood.
She looked surreal. I had only seen another person with such a skin tone, Shade, Aquarina’s father. But even he most of the time barely showed his body as he covered himself in many robes.
But she was… so dazzling, it left me startled.
Although she almost burned me back then…
Her bright emerald eyes were like two beautiful jewels, plus her personality was as explosive and strong as the fire she wielded.
Her name was Sylph, and she was also the daughter of two heroes, friends of auntie Nepheline and uncle Shade.
Since then, I’ve been trying to become her friend. Well, she seemed friendly enough.
But Aquarina always got in the way for some reason, even becoming very annoying. It was as if she only wanted Sylph for herself, even though she was so amazing.
I kind of wanted to be by her side but Aquarina always got in the way…
Sure, we got into many discussions in the end. But because I was a stubborn fool, our relationship could have ended up very badly because both of them went through something that almost killed them.
This time… I will try to be nicer.
I really… I really want friends…
—–