Chapter One
When I finally stopped looking over my shoulder once I was certain I was so deep into the forest that no one except a bloodhound would be able to find me. My heart stopped jumping every time I heard a twig break or the sound of leaves moving in the wind.
I wasn't a detective, but I was pretty certain that Eric wasn't going to find me anytime soon.
Four days ago, I had waited until I knew without a doubt that he wasn't anywhere around my cage, I had swiped the key and I undid my lock and snuck out, swiping some gold coins, taking every little bit he had left behind and helping myself to some of his clothes which would offer me more protection against the harsh weather outside. Once outside of his house my grand escape plan could be summed up in a total of three words: Get outta here. I knew it wasn't a specific plan, but it was the most important part at the moment.
Now, I stood on the crest of a hill that overlooked a large open valley, now I was on the beginning of stage two, which was again summed up in a total of three words: Find other Anima.
I let the backpack slip off of my shoulders and fall to the ground with a heavy thud, I sank down to my knees, feeling the stiff and dry brown grass against my skin, but at least it was softer then my cage bottom. My nerves were slowly beginning to calm down, and I forced myself not to think of the reception I would get from the village. Anima were not widely accepted by other people, they never understood us and saw us as monsters and treated us like dirt. If you weren't a slave, you lived at such a poverty level that you would certainly die from starvation if you didn't resort to stealing your meals and sleeping in cardboard boxes.
I listened to the gentle chirping of a grasshopper and I closed my eyes, every night I would go to sleep listening to them, making the silence a lot less scary. I took a deep breath, pulling it deep into my chest and releasing it slowly, just trying to find my inner calm place.
I pulled in another deep breath, running my fingers through the grass slowly as I forced myself too completely to relax.
Just relax. You're save now.
I forced myself to reach deep into my inner most thoughts, trying to find the happiest memory I had.
It's sad that I don't have one.
The screech of a bird distracted me. Above, in the endless, cloudless sky, a hawk circled lazily before tucking its wings in and diving down to catch some helpless mouse for its dinner. And true to life, after a few heavy beats of its wings, I watched it lift into the sky, a mouse in its talons.
I didn't want to go looking for inner peace anymore; I didn't have much of it to begin with. I and my friend Amy, who had refused to try and escape with me, often, would make up wonderful stories of our possible lives if everything was perfect, and if we weren't Anima.
But I loved being different some days.
I dug into the backpack, pulling out some "clean" clothes; I had snatched these off of the floor of Eric's bedroom. It had taken me very little time to convince myself I no longer had to call him Master, and that no people had a right to own any other person. He had only allowed me to wear clothes that barely covered my developing body, black and leather was what he thought would be the best clothes for me, I thought they would be better suited burning in a fire place.
I sighed as I stroked my white tail slowly. It was the thing that let people know I was an Anima, and the first thing that had Eric buying me from my own parents, who never had wanted a child to begin with, let alone a child with Anima powers, they would be shunned by the village. Then again, I didn't know my parents and only had someone else's word to go on.
I took the worn off cloth shoes off of my feet and rubbed them slowly, they were sore from all the walking.
Beyond the bend and below me was a small town, I would have to ask the people of the town what it was called. It was secure in the bowl of mountains surrounding the town. For the past three days, I have been catching rides on traveling merchant carts, not caring where they were heading, only wanting them to head away from where I was, and this town---which for the past two hours had been hidden by the majestic mountains that were so high I could see the snow capped peaks and I thought about how people would hide there---been haunting me in a dream.
I lifted my hair off of my neck; it was too warm for a winter day. Though spring was coming, I could see it in the flowers and the animals that were roaming the forest around me.
I just wish that my head didn't feel has hot as it was, maybe I had pushed myself too far?
I didn't know what I was going to do once I had gotten down to the town, I had never planned on escaping myself, but I've been having this demanding dream lately that wouldn't leave me alone and I knew I was going to have to follow it if I ever had any hope of finding out what it meant. Dan, who had been my caretaker when Eric was too busy to bother with me, had been the one to tell me that I should see what this dream meant and where it would lead me, he had surprised me but he had been a kind man who just wanted to help.
A few times I had wondered if he hadn't made it too easy for me, he left the key near my cage, he had basically told me the guard schedule to know when Eric or his goons wouldn't be around, he had basically handed me my freedom and I was grateful to him, maybe one day I would return and show Eric who was boss and set everyone free from him.
I wanted this dream to mean something good, but part of me was determined to tell me that it was just a dream, nothing important would come from this town and my life was nothing more then just survival.
You need to stop these negative thoughts.
I should have known that the lifetime of training wasn't going to change overnight.
I found myself going through all the training I had in my life, how it was trying to push out my new thoughts of freedom.
I pulled a hairbrush from the bag, I made sure to steal anything I thought would become useful. I maybe showing up in town homeless, but I wasn't going in there looking like a bum. I concentrated and pulled my tail in, followed by the ears that sat on my head. That part hurt the most because my body had to form the wolf ears into human ears and they moved down my head. I brushed my long auburn hair, releasing strands of hair onto the wind so that they could be used by the other creatures of the forest; I always thought that one should return things to the land once we no longer had need for them. After finishing trying to manage my hair, I tossed the brush back into the pack and tucked my hair behind my ear.
Securing the backpack tightly I released another sigh before I heard the sound of footsteps crunching over the leaves and twigs behind me. I wondered what these footsteps carried with them.
I twisted to see better and my heart plummeted all the way down to my feet as I saw a large man making his way over the hill, a large machete in his hand as his eyes locked with mine.
Well, he only had one visible eye, the other was hidden behind a black eye-patch, and he looked like he had been born in the wilderness.
Stay calm, he's not after you.
I teetered a bit, wondering if I should start praying. Then again I didn't think praying would do me any good, if he was after me he would have cleared the space between us and sliced me open, and if there was a God he wouldn't do this to His own creations.
In spite of my nerves, I stood my ground and stood up slowly, I mean I was full grown woman now. I could always rely on my primal instinct when I felt threatened, or I could wait for a full moon and really let they guy have it. The problem with that was it was the middle of the day. Maybe he didn't see me transform, maybe he didn't know I was an Anima.
The tall brown gray haired man glanced down behind him when a black haired boy emerged from beside him. He was wearing a yellow, high collared shirt and a sleeveless red undershirt, his arms were bare and he had a large black belt hanging around his waist.
I felt relief rush through my body.
It's just a kid, I told myself. He wasn't going to kill me in front of a kid, not a decent man anyway. Not everyone is going to be after you.
Besides, I thought, glancing over at the tall man again and then at the small boy once more, he doesn't look that scary.
"HELLO!" the black haired boy said with a big smile, waving his hands and shouting as if there was a chance that I wouldn't be able to hear him from this distance. "Are you lost too?"
I lifted my eyebrow slowly. That made me want to laugh---a guy like the one beside him looked like he wouldn't get lost in any forest and was probably just following this guy, he was a "Man born of the wild"
"I'm not lost." It wasn't a complete lie, I knew that I wanted to be here, but they didn't need to know about me and what I was doing here and if I played my cards right I might be able to get into the town with a lot more ease, groups of people tended to fair better together.
"Have you seen two other people around here?" He asked as they both began making there way towards me, the younger boy had such a relaxed and friendly air about him, it was hard not to trust him and it made you feel like you could be yourself, even though we just met.
"No, I haven't seen anyone, but I just deviated from the main road about two hours ago, they maybe back there."
He frowned and crossed his arms, as if he was thinking deeply about what I said. Two kids shouldn't be running around the forest by themselves.
He opened his mouth to say something more when his larger grey haired friend came to stand by his side. Again this guy fit another category; the "strong and silent type" fit him.
"We were journeying to the town of Habon when we got separated by being chased by a large bear." He said, going through the motions of a monster bear by raising his arms above his head and roaring, stomping towards me as if that would get his point across.
"Is that the town over there?"
"Yep."
"Maybe their there?" I offered, gesturing for the town behind me, it was the only option I could think of.
"You look a lot like this girl I've been seeing a lot lately, I've been having dreams recently."
"I'm sure I'm not the same girl." I wasn't sure what he might be dreaming about, but I was certain it wasn't me.
My eyes moved towards the taller man next to the boy, he was just standing there silently looking around; he was probably keeping an eye and ear out for any signs of their missing friends. Now that I thought about it, they were similar to people that had been in my dreams, but I was pretty certain that was just a coincidence, things like dreams didn't come true and they sure didn't predict the future, but didn't I come here chasing a dream?
"I can help you look for them." I offered. "We should find them before it becomes dark."
"I would appreciate it!" the boy smiled.
I nervously fidgeted with my long shirt. "Are you guys from this village, or around here?"
"Nope, we're on a journey!"
I tilted my head to the side, a boy as young as him should be living in his village with his parents, playing outside with his friends and helping his parents in the field when the time came, he shouldn't be journeying across the wilderness, even if it was with someone he knew. "A journey---sounds similar---I'm on one too."
The black haired boy smiled. "You want to come with us?"
I found myself surprised that he had asked me so soon, I mean yeah I had entertained the thought not too long ago about maybe joining the two of them, but most people wouldn't offer that fast, at least not be expecting something in the end and personally I had nothing to give them.
"You just met me, aren't you concerned?"
"You don't look like a bad person, and you're on a journey too. But there is a condition to travel with us," he held up one finger. "You need to me an Anima; we're journeying to find other Anima. I'm Cooro and this is Senri."
I must have been kept out of the real world for a very long time, usually people with Anima powers tried their hardest not to let people know about them, this kid seemed proud of being different and he wanted to let everyone else know that he was different. I glanced at the man named Senri, he still didn't say anything and I wondered if maybe he might be mute.
"Are you an Anima too?" Cooro asked after a moment of silence fell between the three of us.
"Yeah." I said to him softly, giving him a gentle smile with my best "I'm not ashamed of it" attitude, even if at times I was.
Cooro looked at Senri and smiled as he reached out and grabbed my hand in his smaller hands. "Let's get going now," he said as he pulled me towards him and Senri's previous direction.
I suppose he was just a friendly guy and would trust anyone that he deemed worthy of it.
"What direction did they run in?" I asked, glancing between the two of them, but I was pretty certain Senri wasn't going to answer. And if Eric came looking for me, at least I had one person who may defend me.
I followed him; they were shouting out their friend's names though I really wasn't listening to their names, I was becoming wrapped up in my own thoughts once more as we walked.
Cooro hadn't asked me my name or what kind of Anima I was, maybe he thought that I would divulge the information when I felt it would be the best time, and I wasn't sure when that would be.
I glanced over my shoulder, everything was quiet behind me, and I didn't think any single person would be sneaking up behind us. I shifted my backpack onto my other shoulder and kept walking.
After about ten minutes we heard other voices.
Another young boy and a young girl emerged from the shadows of the forest, the young girl was clinging tightly to the boy, and even from here I could see her trembling with fear.
"Who's that?" the young girl asked, making her way towards me, her green eyes were sparkling brightly and she smiled, she seemed thrilled with the idea there was another girl in the group. She was wearing a light pink dress with white frill; she was a girl that seemed to like being dressed up and enjoyed the pretty things that life had to offer.
I patted the top of her head.
I turned my attention to the boy next to her.
The girl grabbed his arm. "This is Husky, don't worry about him, he doesn't like girls very much. It took him awhile to start liking me. So just give him his space and he'll come around."
I smiled and nodded, again tugging on the bottom of my long shirt, I was wearing all men clothes and I was beginning to feel out of place wearing something that threatened to fall off my form, that's all I needed to do was flash a mute and a couple of kids.
"Joining our group?" her voice was filled with hope, jumping up and down excitedly.
"According to this guy, I am."
"Alright!" She said, clapping her hands together and giving me the biggest and warmest smile. "I was beginning to feel a little worried being the only girl in the group of guys…"
"I'm glad for you." I smiled.
She looked at the silver haired boy. "Aren't you going to say anything?"
"It's alright." I didn't think he would enjoy talking to me, especially since he didn't like girls.
"Where are you from?" Her question kind of threw me off guard and I wasn't sure what kind of answer to give her.
"I'm Terra, I came from the west." That's not a lie. You just don't have an exact location to give.
"I'm Nana," she smiled. She moved closer to me and gripped my hand and pulled me closer to the group. I glanced back over my shoulder and figured it would be best to head back to town. The one named Husky was refusing to make any kind of eye contact with me.
"We should head back to town, what do you say?" I asked them with a jab of my thumb in the direction behind me.
Husky frowned at me. "You're heading there too?"
"Well, your friend Cooro asked me to join your group and your all heading in the direction, and I was too."
Cooro nodded. "She's one of us," he said, then he grabbed Husky's slender arm and yanked him forward. "You can't distrust everyone we first meet, if you're like that you're never going to make any kind of friends and you're going to end up missing out on a lot of people…" He turned to the rest of us. "We never would have met any of our friends."
"You can't meet anyone unless you want too…"
"Who asked you?"
"Well aren't you a friendly little fellow? I was only pointing out what should be obvious."
"Husky, don't be mean!"
"It's alright, he's just being himself. He doesn't want anything to do with me and that's fine."
"Are you sure?"
"You can't force yourself on people Nana."
"I know…but he shouldn't…" She let the sentence fade away as she scuffed her toe with the dirt.
"Its alright, I'm use to it." In one form or another anyway.
"If you say so." She clasped her hands behind her back and I found myself feeling like a mother. "You wouldn't happen to know how to cook, or maybe have some money on you?"
Well she jumped straight to the point.
Their kids and they need to eat. Though I hadn't planned on spending my money on another group of people.
We continued walking down the grass path before us, and I decided that I should keep myself on a base connection with them, don't get attached and nothing bad would happen.
Dreams didn't come true for people like us; they didn't lead us to some grand destiny that would be waiting for us at the end. Dreams didn't deliver messages to people, they were just dreams and they were wishful thinking of the heart that wanted more then it had.
I had been taught that at a young age. And people don't want to deal with your problems either.
Cooro was laughing and talking lightly, he was the loudest person in the entire group.
I kind of found it relieving.
Part of me was beginning to wonder what I had gotten myself into, a traveling group of Anima didn't bring with it any hopes of a dream coming true, then again, maybe this dream was just beginning.
