Chains jingled as Jae-ha stirred in his sleep. The noise would have awoken most people, but not him, he was used to it. He was a prisoner, that would never change, the villagers said, but Jae-ha believed differently. He'd promised himself that he would one day leave this dungeon behind. It would no longer exist, the chains on his ankles and wrists would disappear as if they were never there, and this 'cursed leg' would be something that freed him.
He was 11 years old. His spirit was free, unlike his body. His physical body was held captive in a dank windowless room that often reeked of mildew and degrading metal. Given the chance he could have been perfectly independent, but that opportunity never displayed itself. He'd been imprisoned in a stupid tiny room for his whole life.
At the age of 9, it was very hard for him to process why he was confined to such a small place. Now, two years later, he understood that one day a king would come and take him for his power. He'd never met this legendary king and frankly, he doubted that he ever would. The previous generation Green Dragon never met this king, nor had the one before him. He wasn't even sure if this king existed, if the king did exist, Jae-ha hated him. He was the reason the Green Dragon was on the ground, and not in the sky like the previous Green Dragon told stories about. His village kept him there, waiting for that king, and if the king never showed up, it didn't matter to them. Jae-ha would rot in the dark alone and they wouldn't care. A new Green Dragon would be born and the cycle would continue.
A banging on the wooden door, the only way in or out of his cell awoke him. His breakfast was here. A bowl of some kind of lukewarm mush was shoved through an opening at the bottom of the door. The boy rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He never liked what he was fed or how they gave him his food. It was always by means that avoided contact, through a tiny opening. He wanted to keep his pride and turn away from the food, but he was hungry. He sighed to himself and crawled his way to the food, no easy feat. There had been a few times where his chains kept him from reaching the food and he went a while without eating. It'd gone on for three days once. A torturous time, he'd laid there, starving, his food, literally, just out of reach.
This time he managed to get to his bowl of mush. He greedily shoveled it into his mouth with the spoon that was provided. He pretended to be okay with the tasteless grains in his mouth. When he was done, he just sat and thought. Not a very common thing for a boy of his age to do, but there was little else he could do. He could try to get off the ground again, he'd done that a few times, but each time, he got knocked out and stronger chains replaced his broken ones. This time, he thought of what he would say if this king ever came. 'I'm sorry, but I have no interest in becoming your slave.' 'Forget it, you'll never catch me!' or he'd just jump towards the heavens, leave this place, and never look back...
Jae-ha wondered if he really could take flight like how they said. He never knew, for he'd always been bound to earth. He looked at his leg, despite his ankles being linked to a stone wall, something told him that one day he would soar.
I hope this didn't turn out to look like code. I'm not sure what it was doing. Anyway, Please Review!
