Author's Note: Here's the catch. For each chapter, you have to guess which character we're talking about. It should be obvious. Review if you know. Many thanx.
I am a raven. With broken wings. Who am I? I'm someone you never would think I am. On the outside, I'm all about training. Inside, I'm a completely different person. I'm the type of person inside that you would think needs anger management. Inside, if you don't know me well enough, you would think I'm just a bubbling pot of rage and hatred. I don't honestly care about other people's feelings. How do you think I survive? After I lose everything...its not that easy anymore.
Some people think me an emo kid. Really...some people even think that my arm warmers are used to cover imaginary deep cuts in my wrists. Some people say I talk in circles. It's neither. I make my point direct, and I do not slit my wrists, even though some nights I desperately want to. If you were me, you would know why. Some days...life would just become too hard for me. After training I would go home, curl up in my bed, and just cry. But I was younger then...I can't afford to show my weaknesses, otherwise I'll never get stronger.
Many girls want me, many guys wish they were me. I wish I was happy. But I will never be unless I achieve my goal in life. How will I do that? you ask. I will train, and never stop training. I will always keep my eyes on the prize that will some day be mine. And I will not die. Not yet. Not until a certain person is dead. If I die...my dreams..all of them...will be shattered for good...and nobody else will be able to carry them out for me.
Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to live a normal life. To not be a genius, to not have a psycho as a brother, to have a family that would love me. But I will never have that life now. Never. Most people, as they walk by my house, think, "Oh man, it's that prodigy. I'd better please him if I don't want to get hurt." That's why I hate the way I am. If I could change, I certainly would. I mean...I have goals yeah. But doesn't everyone?
On times after missions, I wake up and I'm in the hospital, a nurse standing over me with new bandages. And I wonder, "What's happened?" And then I realize, that I'm here because I've saved someone yet again. Maybe if I didn't save so many people, I wouldn't have this popularity. But I don't want to be the lonely kid either. I just want to be the kid people look at and say, "Hey, there's that really nice kid...its too bad he doesn't have any friends..."
I can't risk the danger of having too many people close to me. If I did...they would all die before HIS hand, and I would be forced to watch. I can't handle that kind of torture. If you torture me physically to get an answer out of me, I'll keep silent until I'm dead. But I just can't stand mental torture. It hurts me too much, and brings bad memories bubbling up to the surface of my mind one by one to stand in a painful line that never ends. I've seen too many people die, seen too many people get hurt. And someday, I know, someone will be standing watching me slowly die, my body convulsing with painful shudders. And that certain somebody will throw their head back and just laugh.
I don't know anything compared to him. He used to be the 'love' of our parents' lives. He was the smart one, was a straight A student, always exceeded in everything. Whatever I did, he could do 10 times better. And it made me jealous. Made me so jealous I was determined not to be what he was. Made me determined to be myself, and not grow up to be the 'little prodigy' of our clan. I was so determined, I was scared when it actually worked. My parents wouldn't talk to me for days when they saw my test results, and he would just laugh. And then...one day...it was over. They were dead. One slash of that blade...and they were dead. And what else could I do...except listen to HIM...and run.
Who am I? I am a bird with broken wings. I cannot fly anymore, until I achieve the goal I truly desire. That goal is what keeps me going no matter what. And until I accomplish that goal...I will never be free.