Chapter 1
Human or Monster?
He felt like garbage, he woke up to find nothing but grass and green trees so there was nothing. Just the sunlight beaming down, there was nothing, not a single person out and about as the youth tried to put together the events that had happened. But nothing appeared, red paint was sprinkled on the ground as the youth grumbled.
There was also something like spaghetti, though it was thick and rope like, something that belonged to a body of an intelligent creature. Perhaps a human, or an elf, even a Half-elf was a high chance, since the bodies were scattered about that was the only thing that made any sense.
"Hoy, you killed them all!" There was a voice, the youth could understand them, but they clearly didn't belong to an intelligent creature at all, despite the youth thinking himself as human, he understood those words as if they were normal. Despite not being normal at all.
Something came out of the brush, a creature that was a small child like plant, it was obvious that it belonged to the species known as the Mandrake as the youth froze for a moment. After all monsters were dangerous no matter the size, and the youth didn't have any weapons on him. Not like such a fact would matter.
"I'm amazed, those masked guys were doing all sort of odd things, first they build a giant metal building and now they patrol the forest. It's impossible to find any peace here, I'm so happy you took them apart, but knowing them they'll just be back later," That was weird, the youth scratched his head as he looked at the small creature. He didn't know what was odder, the fact he could understand the monster. Or the fact that the monster wasn't even attacking him at all.
"Though it's pretty rare to find a person looking monster, so Hoy? Do you have a name?" The monster asked the youth such a question as the youth paused for a moment, he didn't remember that, he didn't remember something so simple at all. Which was both hilarious and sad at the same time, so he didn't know how to reply.
"I don't have one...I think..." The youth replied as the tiny monster simply tilted its head, confused at the statement. It wasn't confused about what the youth said, but rather how he said it.
"Hmm, Hoy, what's wrong? You smell like us, but you use the voice of people, I can't understand you at all Hoy, can't you speak my voice?" The youth assumed voice meant language as he scratched his head. He would have to give it a shot, though he doubted it would work.
"Ah...this is fine right?" The youth replied to the monster who simply nodded, at this point the youth was wondering if the monster was male or female. It had soft features, but it's gender was simply unknown, but it was also a plant so it probably didn't have a gender at all.
"Yes, yes Hoy, why didn't you speak like that in the first place, now Hoy! Do you have a name?" The youth frowned at the monster,
"Ah...actually I don't have one of those, well...I actually don't remember my name so I guess that means I don't have one," It was very basic logic. Logic that required someone not to think too hard about it as the small creature rubbed its head.
"No worries, I don't have a name either, us monsters don't need a name. I'll call you Hoy for now, you can call me what you want," The youth tapped his lip as he wondered what he should call the creature. Calling it Mandrake would be rather cheap, but the youth didn't really know what to call it...perhaps something gender neutral.
"Do you mind if I call you Anlage?" It was a name that Hoy came up with seemed to be acceptable, as the small plant like creature clapped its roots. Such an odd creature as Anlage spoke once again.
"Oh, Hoy, do you know where you're from or where you're going? It's weird, usually we don't see a lot of person looking monsters. You usually see them in places near the beach or desert, that place isn't too far, did you get lost?" Hoy finally sat up, as he looked down upon, his clothing was ragged. They were closer too rags than anything else as he looked around. His surroundings looked familiar before he replied.
"Sorry...I don't think I have a past, and I don't know where I'm going, actually," Hoy looked at the carnage that was on display before him as he couldn't help, but wonder how he did something like that. After all, Hoy couldn't really remember anything, so him taking someone apart was odd, and from the looks of it, it seemed he took apart more than a single person. "Did I do this?" Hoy asked Anlage who simply nodded.
"Of course, I saw it with my eyes...to say the least, you were amazing Hoy! I first thought you were a human, but when I look closer you have red eyes and pale skin. At first I thought you were a zombie, but that's wrong as well...you're a weird one," Anlage spoke as Hoy frowned, the small creature had no reason to lie to him so it was obvious that he killed those men. The scary part however, is how little he cared about it.
Hoy didn't care the people in front of him was torn apart, they simply felt like decorations of the area. They didn't matter, mostly due to the fact that their faces were torn so badly that they just were pieces of flesh. Though the pieces of helmet and red clothes no doubt reveled their legion, but that didn't mean much to Hoy since he was confused about the entire thing.
"No worries Hoy, us monsters don't need something as worthless as a past, as long as we have a future something like that can be tossed away. With that said, this is a really small forest, and there isn't really that many places for you to hide looking like that. There are person places south and east of here, but I don't think they would be too keen about letting you in. They don't even like each other, let alone a scary looking monster like you,"
"Person places? Does he mean a town and that weird metal area he was talking about earlier? I don't really understand at all, Hoy spoke in the odd voice once again.
"Well, do you know who these persons are?" Anlage simply twirled as it jumped onto Hoy's shoulder, for some reason, Hoy got a sickening feeling that the small Mandrake was going to be with him for awhile.
"They are called three, things. Human, Elf, and Half-Elf, though they all look the same to me, they don't like each other however. They always fight and kill each other, plus they're nothing but trouble for us monsters. Oh, with that said, they aren't worth talking to, you might be able to understand them, but I doubt they have anything interesting to say. Just kill them if you see them, they kill each other so there is no harm in killing them for no reason," It was the simple kind of logic, the logic that Hoy enjoyed as the small plant creature placed its roots on Hoy's head as if it was relaxing. Soaking in the small amount of sun that was in the area.
"So, Hoy, where are you going?" That was a good question, after all talking to such things would be a bother, plus the humans, elves and Half-elves didn't really sound that appealing. Then again, that was most likely simply due to Hoy encountering a monster before anything else. It was only natural that he would be drawn towards it.
"Well...I guess I'll head towards the desert, if there is nothing for me here than I might as well leave now," Hoy still didn't know the name of the area, or where he was going or why as the plant monster took a deep breath. Which is odd considering it was a plant.
"Good, Hoy, I guess I can go with you Hoy, I've always wanted to see the world. And now that I have such a strong monster with me, I can do it. Don't worry about me not pulling my own weight, I may not be the best fighter, but I can treat your wounds and cure you if you get poisoned or sick."
Hoy wanted to say that he didn't really mind either way, though it would be nice to have a travel companion, even if said companion was just a small plant monster that probably would get torn apart by an angry cat. "I'll lead the way Hoy, I'll simply tilt your head in the right direction!" Hoy grumbled, it was just an excuse for Anlage to not walk as the teen sighed as he ran his hand through his black hair.
"A desert, huh, I've heard about places like that, but I've never been. I'm not really fond of hot areas though, I should at least experience once," Hoy let his hand fall to his sides as he let the small plant creature control his direction and where he was going. He really didn't mind, after all he knew nothing about the area he was in, with that being said there was one more question.
"Hey Anlage, do you know the name of this place, and not this place any of the places around it?" It was a simple question as the plant creature simply shrugged.
"Nope, us monsters don't need useless stuff like that, don't worry though, I know how to reach that hot place. Though after that I have no idea where to go or how to get there, though I think that's a problem we both share," Well getting names would be impossible, they probably would simply have to call place, (Hot place,) or (Grassy place,) rather than knowing areas by their actual name.
It's probably for the best however, for some reason, Hoy had a feeling in his chest, not a heavy feeling, but a light feeling. A liberated feeling that Hoy never felt before, like he was free, free to make a choice he wanted, and free to shape his world as he saw fit. Not being held down by useless things known as common ideas.
Though it was odd, Hoy didn't know why he was feeling that, after all he had no memories good or bad, only basic knowledge of what a monster is. He barely knew what a human, elf or half-elf was though it was odd he knew about monsters before such other basic things.
However, none of that mattered, what mattered was finding out more about himself, of course while avoiding things such as humans. Both Hoy and Anlage was nearing the end of the forest, the plant like creature pointed out they would have to take extra care to avoid the village that had humans in the area. Though a certain smell of burnt wood filled Hoy's nose, like something was burnt down recently however it was no longer ablaze. He wondered if he should question Anlage about it, but he doubted the small creature would care about such a thing.
"Go this way Hoy, we can avoid all of the persons going this way, plus we'll get on route to get to the hot place,"
Despite not noticing the trees slowly dispersed, it seemed that they were already on the main road. From here on out, it would be a rather weird ordeal, two so called monsters on a random quest that would lead to nowhere. While they traveled down the road, Hoy realized how important the purpose of a goal. A quest with no goal is simply a walk, though considering that is what Hoy and Anlage was doing at the moment it made sense.
"Hoy! There some pretty bad dudes coming up, don't waste time talking to them, they don't have a mind..." Hoy snapped out of his random daze as he narrowed his eyes, in the distance. They were slow moving, really slow moving, so slow in fact that one could probably just walk around them in a quick jog and they could avoid them completely. So it was obvious they were known as the monsters called Zombies, persons that were once living now dead and hold a grudge against the living. No doubt it was because someone didn't pass the salt.
"Ah...Anlage, we can probably just avoid them if we just change our route a little," Hoy really didn't want to fight, mostly because he knew he would be doing most of the fighting in the first place.
"Nonsense, a monster never backs down, now take them apart. Scatter their rotting bones and flesh about and dump their remains into the dirt!" What Anlage was saying would have been rather creepy if its voice didn't sound like a seven year old girl.
"Well, I guess this would be a good chance for me to actually see what I can do, but..." He had no memory of what he did to the persons in the forest. In the end he would probably just wave his fist around like an idiot. Though looking at the damage he caused, he probably didn't need a worthless thing like skill if he had power. Having both would be nice, but one or the other would do nicely.
So, Hoy slowly walked towards the pair of undead creatures. Said creatures were still walking around aimlessly, Hoy honestly felt kind of bad for what he was going to do to the monsters, after all they seemed completely oblivious to what was going to happen next.
As soon as Hoy was close enough, he made a dash towards the monsters, during his run he realized something however. "Am I stupid?! I doing this on an assumption that I can break bones with my bare hands, the same assumption that I learned from a plant monster stuck on my head," Thinking about it, it really was a stupid idea, however his fist was already buried into the zombies face. Though that description was wrong as well. Since the impact was hard enough to knock the creatures head off.
Then there was a pause, the remaining zombie looked at Hoy and Hoy looked at the remaining zombie. Neither moved, the entire situation was pretty hilarious, perhaps zombies weren't as stupid as Hoy first thought. Which was bad considering what happened next.
A purple mist spewed from the creatures mouth before completely covering Hoy and Anlage, they both coughed as Hoy violently swung his fist, breaking the thin zombie in two, however Hoy had a bad feeling that they were poisoned due to such a thing.
"Blegh, can't believe you fell for that, Hoy, I'll take care of it," The small Mandrake twirled its roots as small dust feel onto Hoy. No doubt it was supposed to cure any illness that would have infected, but something was off, Hoy felt a harsh burning sensation in his chest. Not pain, but something burning into his very soul.
Hoy gave a harsh cough, as purple mist escaped his mouth, this surprised Anlage, even if Hoy was poisoned that wasn't supposed to happen. It's as if Hoy inherited the zombies attack, which was odd to say the least.
"Oh, Hoy, are you alright?!" Hoy stopped coughing as he took a deep breath, the mist stopped escaping his mouth, however, for some reason he had a nagging feeling that he would be able to summon the ability anytime at will...no matter how useless it was.
"Yeah, I'm fine, right now we just need to head to the hot place..."
Author note
First, when something is written in bold, that means they are using the monster language. Second, I wanted to make Hoy as blank as possible, someone who can be molded by the people and monsters he meets before making a decision.
Also, can you guess what area, Hoy is in at the moment. Actually I probably won't even give names since monsters knowing names of places doesn't really make a whole lot of sense.
Also, what do you believe is right, Absolute Law, which promises safety, but destroys freedom. Chaos that grants true freedom, but destroys safety. Ah, life so annoying, the longer you live the more and more you realize that the idea of making everyone happy is simply an idea.
