I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING. Characters belong to Himaruya. This is my first story so I am sorry if it's pathetic.
Madhur: Canada
Alaka: Fem!America
Mother: Native America.
Chapter 1
For the first time in my life, I opened my eyes and saw somebody stare back at me. She was mother. Her brown eyes were light, like the dirt floor in the tent we were in, and her hair was dark. She had tan skin which completed her beautiful look. She stared at me with wide eyes, shocked. I couldn't understand why. Many other people, who had the same features as mother, were also staring at me, but they were also staring at another baby in an elder woman's arms. The boy was my older brother.
I could see why they looked at him strangely. He looked completely different from the rest of the people. Blonde hair and light skin. I looked at my hands and they were also light. I then realized that I too, was different. Mother looked at me still shocked, and pushed back my hair repeatedly. Was there something wrong with my hair? Was it as well a light color?
I shivered and cried the second I began to breath. Mother noticed and held me closely. Then the other people started yelling at her, and she spoke calmly back. They kept pointing at me and my brother. My mother told them some things, and they left, except for the elder who held my brother. Mother looked at me and smiled while playing with my hair.
"Alaka…" She smiled gently and I stopped crying. I fell asleep in her warm arms.
I woke up the next morning and I was bigger. Lying next to me was my brother. He looked bigger than how I last remembered him. He slowly woke up next to me and sat up. He looked at me for a few minutes with his violet eyes and examined me. He smiled.
"Madhur." He pointed to himself. I did the same.
"Alaka." I smiled back. I realized that we were in a tent and that we were lying in a warm bed. I could hear noises outside and I was curious.
I got off the bed, wobbling a little when my feet touched the ground. I fell to the ground, and crawled toward the exit. Madhur followed.
We got out and it was beautiful. The trees were tall and the grass was soft. Everything seemed new and exciting. My eyes began shining as I saw this beautiful world. The sky was blue and the grass was a pleasant shade of green. Many tents, food, and children were all over the place. Madhur and I enjoyed ourselves until one man came to us and scolded us for no reason. He sent us back to our tent, but never touched us. He continuously had a disgusted look on his face and I sought to find the reason why.
Madhur and I were locked into our tent all day. We determined the time by examining the change of light in our room. It wasn't until the sun said it farewells until mother returned, with food for us. Her eyes were wet, as if she were crying.
She handed us the food, and then immediately left without a hello. Madhur and I glanced at each other, confused, before digging our hands into the buffalo we were to eat. It then struck me that I hadn't eaten all day, or that I have never eaten before. It was a nice taste on my tongue.
I thought about mother and her red eyes. I wondered what was wrong with her. Why didn't she speak to us? Her children if anybody. I wondered if the fact that Madhur and I were different had to do with anything. I didn't know if I was different. So what if I had light skin? It doesn't mean my eyes and hair are different as well. Curiously, I pulled a strand of my hair in front of my face. It was a light color like Madhur's. So what! That didn't mean my eyes were different! I couldn't see my eye color, nor could I ask Madhur what color they were. I couldn't speak nor walk. I frowned as I finished my food.
One of the elders, the one that first held my brother, snuck into our tent. I could tell because her eyes kept shifting and she looked extra cautious. She held Madhur by his hands and lifted him up so that he could balance on his feet. He wobbled a bit, and she helped him move forward. She taught him to walk. It was only a half an hour until he could do it all by himself. Then it became my turn.
It was weird standing on the ground, but eventually I could balance on my feet all by myself. I walked towards Madhur and I fell on him. So much for my supposed to be hug. So I wasn't good perfect at walking, but I was only a day and a half old. There was only so much I could do.
She rubbed her temple, and carefully examined us. It was obvious that we were not like other babies. She grinned and lifted me off Madhur. She carried me in one arm and lifted him into the other. We were both surprised on how she didn't look disgusted while carrying us. In fact, her face was calm. Together we left the tent.
It was dark out. The sky, the trees and even my skin appeared darker. She carried me and Madhur to a light, surrounded by people. I didn't really care about the people; I was too fascinated with the strange light. It was nothing like the day sun that I only had a glimpse of. It was bigger, than the distant sun that hung high over our heads. It was also contained, and its colors were a verity of red, yellow, orange and even a hint of blue. Madhur also seemed intrigued by the strange light as I could see its reflection in his eyes.
She put us on the ground in front of it, and immediately the other children backed away. Madhur and I just stared at them, confused. They were all terrified and running back to their mothers. I then began to wonder about my mother. I observed everyone's faces, no mother. She simply wasn't here. I frowned as I gazed at the elder.
At first she just sat there, but then she began telling a story. Madhur and I listened although we couldn't understand. Her tone of voice was enough to grab our interest. I then noticed something. The more she spoke, the more the more words I could understand. Unfortunatley the only a few words I understood were really small.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a young boy touch the flames. He cried in pain and immediately pulled his fingers back. I grew curious. Now I wanted to touch it.
When the story finished, everyone left back to their tents. Madhur and I stayed put for we didn't know where our tent was. The elder was not there to guide us, so we sat put. The light was still on. 'Fire' I believed what it was called. It was one of the words the elder taught me through her story. It was beautiful; my urge to touch it grew.
I did touch it, and it hurt my hand. I yelped in pain and Madhur looked at me confused. He wasn't paying any attention to me so he had no idea what was going on. I pointed to the fire and held his hand with my burnt one. He felt the heat and almost immediately yanked it out of my grasp. He scowled at me and shook his head as if he couldn't believe me. I looked back at the fire for it attracted me.
I went to reach for the fire, Madhur yelled some random words he caught from the story at me, but to me, they all sounded gibberish. I ignored him. I put my hand in the fire, and this time, it felt nice. It didn't hurt me. In fact, its flames went around my arm. I felt no pain, and it was odd. The boy's finger tips had turned black from a second in the fire, mine were in fine after a few minutes.
I heard a scream and crash from behind me. I took my hand out of the fire and looked back. A native girl stood there shocked, and at her feet was a crashed pot. Madhur and I stared at her confused. She stared at us and screamed some more. Eventually the whole tribe was there.
They stared at the girl and then at us. She was frantically pointing at us and then at her hand. Was she talking about my hand in the fire? Everybody stared at me and Madhur in horror. The children hid behind their mothers and mothers behind their husbands. Mother was in the crowd and once Madhur and I saw her, we walked towards her and reached for her to lift us. She looked at us with her eyes wide open, terrified. She looked at the elder for help and the elder picked us up. She brought me and Madhur to our tent.
We didn't get any sleep that night. The elder spent the whole night teaching me and Madhur to talk. I was glad that I would finally be able to understand everybody else, but my heart wished that it was mother who was teaching me these things. I paid very close attention to the Native woman's hand movements and voice. I repeated her. When she was done, she carried Madhur and I to our beds and tucked us in goodnight.
Madhur was up before me. He was sitting up and gazing at me as I woke up. Clothes now covered our areas. It then dawned on me that before I was naked, and so was Madhur. I was confused for I didn't remember sleeping with this cloth attached to me. Madhur then explained to me that the elder came to us early that morning and changed us. I nodded as I listened.
Madhur told me that we were forbidden from leaving the tent. I scowled as I felt as if I were in a prison. I didn't want to stay in a dark, enclosed space all the time! I couldn't have cared less if this was my second day alive; I wanted to explore the world I was born into. I went to the back of my tent and lifted the covers slightly. I looked out and saw the forests, calling for me. There were no other tents behind ours, which was perfect for we wouldn't get caught. I looked back at Madhur and asked him to come with me.
He was very hesitant, that boy. He kept saying 'what if.' I told him to quit worrying because we were just going to the woods then back. How typical of the older brother to be responsible. I was pretty much on my knees begging him to come with me, until he finally agreed.
We snuck out, making it our goal to return before dawn for that would be the time we'd get our food for the day. The grass was soft beneath our feet. We carefully trotted, still not used to standing, towards the forest. It was beautiful with its tall trees. Its green was such a fantastic color. It was beautiful, and Madhur agreed. We entered the woods unspotted. It was too easy.
I explored the land as the curious child I was with Madhur following from behind. I stumbled and tripped a lot because I wasn't used to my new feet. When I saw the glistening, dark blue lake, I longed to splash in it. The first thing I did as a free child was do what I was longing for. I screamed the first time the cold water made contact with my skin. I wished for something warm to surround me. Madhur held me closely and tried to swat all the water off me. I was thankful I had a great older brother like him.
I looked at my reflection in a clear, blue pool. I had short, golden hair that matched the grains of wheat I saw while passing through our home before the man scolded us and blue eyes that matched the distant water. I giggled in amusement when I saw a piece of my hair sticking up. I thought I was pretty, even though I was very different from my beautiful mother.
While exploring the land some more, I saw a bizarre creature. It had long ears and it was small. It was cute and the sight of it made me giggle. For that reason, I named it Giggles. I claimed Giggles as my pet. I decided to pet it because its coat looked so fluffy. Giggles ran away and I chased him. He ran into a hole and without a second thought, I put my small hand through the hole as well. I reached for him, but when I felt pain and a strange liquid run down my poor finger, I pulled it out. I examined the mysterious red substance. It was my first time bleeding. I cried then disowned Giggles.
Madhur heard me cry and came towards me even though that meant he'd have to abandon the berries he was picking. He comforted me and kissed my wound. I immediately stopped crying and I felt much better. He smiled at me and handed me a berry which I cheerfully ate.
Madhur and I enjoyed ourselves. It was very fun playing on the new land. Eventually, it became cold and the sun was going down. Madhur and I frowned and left to head back to the tent.
We got back just in time. It was as if nobody even knew we left, and that hurt us. Soon a young girl came to our handed us our food then immediately left. We never had a chance to thank her. We stayed in our tent until the elder woman came to get us.
We walked behind the elder woman to the campfire and everybody kept their distance from us. Mother was yet again nowhere to be found. I frowned. I glanced at one of the Native girls who I recognized as the one who brought me my food. She was staring at me curiously. I smiled at her and her eyes widened before she looked away. I looked at the fire before me. Madhur and I sat next to each other and he noticed my sad face.
"Are you okay?" He asked me. Stunned, I looked at him. I nodded before returning my gaze to the fire. I hoped for the elder to say the same story as last night, so that I could understand it. I recognized by the tone of her voice, that it wasn't.
This story was about a beautiful Native woman, who found out she was a spirit due to her immortality. At first she didn't know. When she was young, a native tribe found her and raised her as their own. They noticed that she aged very slowly, and they realized that the girl was gifted with the ability of learning fast. After many generations of living, the tribe began to think of her as a spirit. A guardian.
Eventually, a Native man from her tribe fell in love with her and they were wed. She became pregnant, somehow, although she was a virgin. After some nine months, she had twins. These twins were different from the other children, though. The twins were blond, and had strange eye colors. Their skin was so pale that it was believed that they were born into darkness. The natives believed these children to be demons born from their pure, beautiful mother. They were hideous in their eyes.
In a few days, the children grew more than an average baby, having the ability to walk and talk in only days. They could pretty much take care of themselves, and fire could not hurt them. Everybody feared them. Even their mother. Because of this, they were locked into their tents all day.
I found the story entertaining, but I found everybody glaring at me and Madhur. I then realized that the spirit was my mother, and my twin and I were the demons. Madhur seemed to have noticed too. I stared at him with tears in my eyes. This was why everybody was afraid of us. This was why mother distanced herself from her own to children.
Surely we weren't demons, right? We couldn't be! We were children, normal children. I refused to believe otherwise. They were lying. It was all just a story. A myth. They really all loved me and my brother. We were a part of the tribe, weren't we? Of course we were. Unfortunately, despite my words I knew that I was being an ignorant child in denial.
I accepted my fate, without question. As long as I had my brother with me, I would be fine, I thought. I knew that together we would get through this conflict. We would be with each other watching the other's back. My tears then dried up, and I felt warmth in my heart.
Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder. Sorry if it's crap. Oh well, it gets better...hopefully...