Ever since I was thrown into this disgusting piece of mud that some call home, I slowly began to be aware of many things. The saddest truth of this world is that humans will never cease to destroy everything that they do not understand; no matter how much time passes, no matter how many blue-bloods rise and crumble to pieces.
My first conscious emotion was fear. As my kin was brutally driven away from its settlements. My first memory was of me on my mother's back. She was running desperately from a group of knights who were trying to catch us. I was shaking like a leaf in the midst of gale. I tried to open my mouth, but no sound came out. When they lost our track, we found ourselves in front of an immense cave, which from then on we called our home. A handful of frightened creatures, separated by hate. As we entered the cave, my mother collapsed.
I thought she was exhausted. No, I hoped she was exhausted! I tried and tried to wake her up, screaming, crying... The hum of the winter wind was the only thing that cut through the deep silence that night.
The following days were bleak. We managed to gather some wood to make an insignificant fire; but it was better than nothing. At least we had a way to cook. We ate fish from a nearby lake. I still can't stand the smell of fish, even after hundreds of years. We slept directly on the frozen ground, packed like circus animals, holding each other so tightly as if we tried to keep the souls from escaping our bodies.
One day I woke up in the snow, trembling. I ran back in the cave, confused and scared. I stood there paralyzed…no one was there anymore. I fell down on my knees, yet again hoping, hoping that it was only just a nightmare. But no nightmare could have been as cold, as piercing as the reality around me. I was alone again, probably the last one of my kind. I cried myself to sleep.
When I opened my eyes, I realized that I was no longer outside. I panicked. I didn't know what happened to me. I wondered if I was dead. Then he appeared, an old man with a funny hat. "Shh, little one, you are safe now" he said delicately, as he gave me a cup of warm milk and a plate full of steaming food. I was young and unmannered, but he looked happy seeing me eat. Well, I looked like a starving animal devouring his prey, but he didn't seem to mind.
"Better now?" he asked me when I finished eating
I didn't know how to properly articulate any word so I just said "mhm".
"Good. I see that you calmed down. My name is Waleis. I found you yesterday in a cave. You are a Septarsian, aren't you?"
After some quiet minutes he realized that I wasn't taught how to speak, I didn't know words and the meaning behind them.
"Heh, I guess we have a long way to go"
The following years he taught me to speak, read and write. He taught me how to defend myself and how to survive in the harshest conditions. He taught me the importance of knowledge and how it makes a difference in most situations. He made me curious. I read almost every book that he had. I was amazed by the vastness of the universe. He educated me until the day he died.
On his deathbed he told me he forgot the most important thing. "I totally forgot to name you. Stupid old man". He named me Toffee. I asked what it meant. "It's a word from an ancient dead language, it means Fearless". As years passed, I realized that he wasn't making fun of me with that name. Fearless is what he ultimately wanted me to be. He gave me a strange blade. "YYou can use this to go to other dimensions. Just wander for some years, when there will be no one to know that you are the one that managed to escape. From now on…it is your duty to explore, to expand your mind. I know you will become a great individual, Toffee of Septarsis". I held his hand until he peacefully passed away.