Brothers of the North
Chapter 1
The scream breaks the silence of the winter night, a five year old boy clutching on a backpack run on the snow-covered roads. As he run, his tears trailed down his cheeks and froze before dropping down the snow. Only the lamps on the sides of the road to help him see in the night of the Northern Lands' winter, the boy ran toward the last lamp post leads out of the city, he wanted to get out of here, his mother had been captured by thugs and he wanted to go back and rescue his mother but he knew that his mother would wanted him to continue running. Swallowing the pain into his heart, the boy gripped onto the backpack and continued running, when on the spot up between two lamp posts, he suddenly felt a hand grasps his shoulder and pulled him back. The hand drag him to under the lights of a table in a small alley, the boy's face turned white, he shook violently when six people appeared from the shadows. Suddenly a voice rang from the guys in the dark:
"Hores! You go out and watch for the cops."
"Why me?" Hores asked back."
"Because I said so!" The other guy said.
Hores growled something and then steps out of light pole outside the alley, the five remaining guys laughed and began to walk to the boy. Suddenly they heard gun firing, the lamp where Hores was standing was shot off, followed by the screams of the man, screams gradually became the sound of a man being cut in the throat and then finally shut down permanently. In the alley, the other guys is scared, they clustered together facing the darkness when footsteps resounded. Suddenly the footsteps stopped only a few meters to thugs.
"W-who is it?!" A thug asked in the panicking voice.
"W-we g-got guns!" Another thug said and all together they pulled their guns out.
From the dark, an object flew out along with a trail of liquid, the thugs bent down and scream when they recognized that it was the lower jaw missing cut head of Hores. The thugs screamed in panic as the light was shot off, firing in every direction. The boy cowering in fear, watched the chaos in terrify, suddenly a hand clutched on his arm and then pulled him out of the small alley. The boy does not know who saved him but he feels this person's wet and warm glove, he freaked out and pulled his hand out of the hand of the person when he knew that this was the one who killed Hores and ran to sit under the nearest lamppost. The kid shivered because of cold and fear, he didn't know what this person would do to him. Then he heard footsteps, the boy panic, he screamed with his high-pitched voice:
"D-don't get any closer!"
The footsteps stopped but after few seconds it continued. The boy was frightened, he hid his face in the backpack waiting for something terrible to happen. But nothing happened, more than a minute later, the boy began to peek out with his grey eyes, the first thing he saw was a pair two-color eyes, the right one is amber in color, the other is watery blue looking at him with a confusing look.
The owner of these exotic eyes was a ten-year-old boy, wearing a thick gray coat and a black scarf wrapping around his neck covering his mouth. He looked at the younger boy shiver and pulled the scarf down from his neck to wrap around the kid's. The younger boy pushed the older one away with the idea that he was preparing to strangle him, he remembered the scene while still at his father's and sister's house. The other boy looked at the younger one with a confusing look and then wrapped the scarf around his neck again. Suddenly he heard the screams of the thugs, they flowed out onto the road, only three remain and are looking toward him and the kid. The two-colored eyes boy jerked the backpack from the kid, grasped the younger boy and put him on his back and then ran to the middle of the road where there is no light and started to run out of the city. The kid hang on the back of the one who saved him and amazed as his stamina, although he was carrying a kid half of his size and pulling a backpack as the same time but he's still capable of outrunning the thugs.
Just out of the city, the two-color eyes boy stopped and put his hand over his mouth and whistled. A wolf's howl responded, followed by the footsteps on the snow. The other boy on the back could only see a black shadow with wild golden eyes, suddenly he felt the other boy drop him down onto the creature's back before climbing on to sit behind him. The black shadow carried the two boys ran as fast as a skiing car in the night, leaving behind the cursing thugs. The boy felt his body freezing slowly, he's tired, despite trying not to shut his eyes, his eyelids slowly closed and he succumbed to the slumber.
The young boy opened his eyes, around him was neither the snowy road nor the black brick wall in the basement of his house, it was a small wooden room. He was lying on a couch and wrapped in a blanket made of animal skin near the fireplace. He didn't move, who knows what would happen if it suddenly sit up? He wants to know about the place he's in, he really want to sit up but the fear and the warmth held him from getting up. Suddenly he heard the door open, footsteps, and discussion. He continues to close his eyes but still listen to the conversation.
"So he is the last descendant of the Emperor?"
"I think so, he has the symbolic pendant of the Agar family."
"But he has the smell of human."
"It will wear off in time."
"But who will teach him? He can only stay in the clan if he survives a month and we're not sure if he was well taught. "
"Leave the training to me. I brought him here so I will teach him. "
"Hm... well, if you say so, Zaki. I'll give you a month."
The man said and then walked out of the room, the boy lying on the couch now heard everything, when no more sound was heard, he intended to open his eyes. Suddenly he felt someone sit on the couch next to him.
"You can open your eyes now, there's only me here now." A voice resounded, it was the voice who said that he would train him.
He opened his eyes to look the person named Zaki and surprised that he was the one who saved him in the alley and put him here. Zaki's thick coat has been replaced with a sleeveless shirt made of skin and his black scarf isn't on his neck, apparently this place is much warmer than outside. The two-color eyes boy suddenly asked:
"My name's Zaki, what's your name kid?"
"D-Dara-Darangkai." Said the boy.
"Such a long name, I'll just gonna you Dan. Ok?" Zaki smiled.
"O-ok." Dan said.
"Okay, now go take a bath, you smell like you haven't washed yourself for a month."
"Actually I haven't bathed for a year." Dan said.
"Holy crap!" Zaki yelled.
"Whoa! You guys are allowed to say stuffs like that?" Dan said with a surprising tone.
"Cut the crap! Go take a shower before I throw you into a bear cage! With real bears!" Zaki commanded Dan with an angry voice which makes the boy jumped to the corner of the small room and shivered in fear. Zaki rubbed his head in confusion. He walked to the younger boy and asked: "What's wrong with you now?"
"Y-you scared me." Dan muffled.
"By Gaia, you're just a wet sheep, aren't you?" Zaki shook his head with a smile on his face.
"W-what's a wet sheep?" Dan asked.
"That means someone who cries a lot, like you I suppose." Zaki smirked.
"I'm not a wet sheep!" Dan yelled with his girly voice which made Zaki pause for a second before burst into laughter.
"W-what's wrong with your voice?!" Zaki said as he laughs. "You sound just like a girl!"
"I do NOT sound like a girl!" Dan yelled and cried.
Zaki pulled himself up and stopped laughing, he rubbed the younger boy messy hair. He knew that this boy is scared and confused, he shouldn't have messing with his feeling. Zaki sat down next to Dan and said:
"Ya know what? For a half-blood, you're one heck of a brave kid."
"R-really?" Dan raised his head, looking at Zaki with his grey eyes.
"Well… yeah!" Zaki said. "I mean what kind of five-year-old kid run out of the most advance city in Northern Lands where he could have everything?"
"Not everything." Dan said with a sad voice.
"What do you mean?" Zaki asked.
"I was accidentally born in a rich family." Dan said. "But my father just want my sister, my normal human sister. He treated me and my mother like servant and forced us to serve them! So we ran away from that house and my mom got captured by the thugs and you saved me."
"Whoa. That's one hell of a back story there kid." A voice rose.
Dan looked up in surprise, another ten-year-old boy who looked exactly like Zaki except for his amber eyes was standing at the door.
"*Sigh*What do you want Zaka?" Zaki stand up and asked.
"What? I can't visit my dear sibling?" Zaka said with a smile on his face.
"No, no you can't. Now get out of my room." Zaki said.
"Alright. Alright. Geez, I just want to say hello to our new little pet." Zaka said before walking out of Zaki's room.
"I can't stand that guy." Zaki said and grasped Dan's backpack to a door at the end of the room and called out to Dan: "Hey. Didn't I tell you to take a bath?"
"O-ok." Dan stood up and walked to Zaki.
Zaki opened the wooden door, the room was pitch black until Zaki lit the oil lamp, it was a small bathroom with smooth stone floor and a stone bathtub on the left side of the room. On the right was a mirror with a sink and a toilet made of porcelain. Zaki pushed Dan in:
"Well, I guess I'll just close the door and leave you to do your stuffs now. But hey! If you need anything, don't be shy and call me."
"Zaki-nii, wait!"
"Nii? Did you just call me nii?" Zaki asked.
"Nii-san, I can't do it alone." Dan said with tearing eyes.
"What?" Zaki asked.
"I don't know how to do this on my own." Dan said and began to cry.
"Ok! Ok! I'll go with you! Stop crying already." Zaki said and walked in. When he does, he mumbled to himself: "I guess I could use a bath too."
The water was warm and comfortable, Dan closed his eyes and enjoyed the warmth of the water while Zaki washing his head for him. Rubbing the young boy soapy head, Zaki can't help but smile, what the heck is wrong with him? Normally he would kick the crap out of any kid who dares to ask him to come with them for a bath, but Dan had something he couldn't resist. And then he noticed something, Dan is very sleepy now, the little boy scrubbed his eyes and yawned while Zaki walked out of the tub and put his clothes on.
"W-wuh?" Dan asked while scrubbing his sleepy eyes.
"C'mon sleepy head, it's bed time." Zaki smiled at the younger boy sleepy face.
Dan put his clothes on while Zaki was preparing the couch in his room. Suddenly Zaki heard a strange noise from the bathroom, he walked to the door and peek his amber eye in, Dan was searching for something in his backpack while covering his head with a damp towel.
"Where is it? Where is it?"
"Looking for something?" Zaki asked with a vicious smile on his face.
"I can't find my special candies!" Dan said and began to cry again.
"What? You mean this?" Zaki asked, holding a jar in his hand.
"Yes! Give it back!" Dan ran to Zaki and held the bigger boy while Zaki just smile viciously.
"Tell me what this is and I'll give it back." Zaki said.
"None of your business! Just give it back!" Dan cried louder as held onto Zaki, who's dragging himself through the room.
"Tell me!"
"No!"
"Tell me or I'll throw it into the fire." Zaki said, hovering the jar near the fireplace.
"No!" Dan cried louder.
"Then tell me."
"T… then, y-you have t-to keep this a s-s-secret, ok?" Dan said with grey, teary eyes.
"Sure, why not?" Zaki said and give Dan the jar.
Dan put the jar down to the ground and slowly removes the towel, Zaki was slightly surprised as the thing he saw, Dan's hair has turned from black to blonde.
"What the hell is this?" He gasped.
"Mom said I was born this way." Dan said while wiping the tears from his eyes. "She gave me these candies so that my hair would turn black and no one in the clan will know."
"Ok…" Zaki said and give the younger boy the jar. "Here you go."
Dan looked at Zaki with surprise in his eyes and slowly took the jar from the older boy's hand. The blond boy opened the jar, took out a black round so-called special candy and ate it. It was crunchy on the outside and soft in the inside, the taste was as bad as usual but Dan didn't seem to notice it, his eyes were lost inside Zaki's two-color eyes. Dan shivered when he felt his body hurt a bit and his hair began to turns black again. Zaki stood up and said:
"Well, if it's all done then I think we should go to bed, tomorrow I'll introduce you to my friends."
"F-friends?" Dan asked.
"Yeah. Don't worry, they won't try kill you." Zaki smile.
Dan sat down on the couch while Zaki put out the fire in the fireplace and walked to his bed with a jar full of frost fireflies on the table to shine the way, Dan couldn't helped but question how did he saw the way with so little light. Zaki sat on his bed, barely seen by the younger boy due to the weak light, he laid down and closed his eyes.
Dan lies on the couch, covered with a skin blanket, he was sleepy, but he couldn't close his eyes, he is all alone on the couch without his mother, he fears that he would again wake up in the basement of his father's nightmarish house. Dan stared into the darkness of the room, he could hear Zaki breathing, his sense of hearing is sharper than ever. Dan sat up, picked up the frost fireflies jar and began to walk to Zaki's bed. Dan saw Zaki sleeping face, he put the jar onto the drawer next to Zaki's bed and began to call for the older boy's name with a soft voice:
"Zaki-nii, Zaki-nii, are you still awake?"
"Huh? Wuh?" Zaki lifted his sleepy head. He looked at Dan with an annoying look: "What's wrong now?"
"Can I sleep with you on your bed?" Dan asked.
"*Sigh* Get in." Zaki sighed and pulled out his blanket so Dan could get on to his bed and lies next to him. "Anything else?" He asked with a yawn.
"Yes, can you hug me to sleep please?" Dan asked and began to sneak into the older boy's chest like he was a pillow, pushing Zaki against the wall.
Zaki didn't say anything, he wrapped his left arm around the younger kid and held him. He could feel Dan's breaths and messy hair on his chest which annoyed him a bit but he held Dan close to him nonetheless, Zaki hadn't felt this kind of feeling before, he closed his eyes and began to sleep again, hoping that his friends would like Dan. Dan felt Zaki's arm and couldn't helped but smile, it doesn't like his mother hugging him but it was good, he let himself relax and gave in to the sleepiness, knowing that Zaki's warm arms are holding him.
