Connected Prologue
Suggested Theme:
Main Theme- Innocent Days by HeroicPlights
He is alone. He should not be disturbed by this. He has been alone before. Like when the adults leave to go hunting or fighting the Light Elves, the elders and children are left behind. Usually, the children play with each other, while the elders share stories. However, he has never been allowed to play with the children. It is a taboo for children to touch the sacrifice.
The elders and adults may touch the sacrifice because they have proven their strength. Children cannot prove their strength until they are twelve. However, the sacrifice is not allowed to prove his strength. It is because he is not expected to live long. He is the weakest one and therefore must die one day.
When the adults are gone, the elders would take him to a tree, far from the children. He would be tied up and left there until the adults would return. This has been going on since he was born. His earliest memory was being inside his baby basket that was tied to a tree. This is not out of cruelty, but simply because it is the way of the Woodland Elves.
He is weak simply because of his coloration. His skin is the color of barely cooked bread. His hair is a brownish-orange like the autumn leaves. His eyes are the color of wet dirt. He is skinnier and shorter than most children are, but that's mostly due to only being allowed to eat the scraps of the Woodland Elves. He is far too light to be a strong Woodland Elf.
Woodland Elves are dark in nature. Their skin is as black as the darkness. Their hair is a dark brown that is often confused with the color black. Their eyes are black rings against the only trace of light on their body. They are tall and muscular enough to reach the branches of mature trees. They are born to have great strength and grace, but, sometimes, there is a weak one born amongst them.
The weak one is also known as the sacrifice, but he has a name. His name is Palladium, which is also a weak metal in this Realm. The parents of the sacrifice are killed in order to prevent any more like him from being created. The sacrifice is only allowed to live because killing a helpless baby is dishonorable, which is why only Nature is allowed to take his life. When he dies, his body will be left at Nature's disposal. It means the wild animals will feast upon his corpse.
Palladium knows that he will die. He knows that he will never become strong. He knows that he is destined to die alone. This is Nature's design. He is not angry. He is not sad. He is just alone. Well, not really. Sometimes, he can hear the Voice of Nature in his head. It's a common gift amongst his people, which has added to their chances of survival for centuries.
He has heard from the elders and adults about the Voice of Nature. It is supposed it guide your survival. It tells you the best place to hunt or to ambush a Light Elf. It guides you through a forest when you've lost your way. It's a feeling, a strong instinct. Almost like a voice inside your head, but without words. The Voice of Nature is like that for all the strong Woodland Elves.
However, Palladium can hear an actual voice from the Voice of Nature. He can hear words. The voice is loud and clear inside his head. Clearer than the voices of the adults, the elders, and the children. The Voice of Nature has kept him from dying.
The Voice of Nature has told him how to suck water from the trees by saying some words and concentrating. Even as an infant, he was able to get nutritious milk by mimicking the sounds of baby animals. The Voice of Nature just provided him what the baby animals would sound like in his head. As long as you were hydrated, you will survive. It was the first lesson he ever learned.
Perhaps, it is because that he is excluded from his people that he can hear the Voice of Nature so perfectly. He has nothing to distract his mind from listening to the Voice of Nature. His mind is free from bonds with other people and the memories of them that would take up space. He has no dreams, or ambitions, or even a future to think about. This why he can hear the Voice of Nature.
"You will live. Someone is coming for you. The light." For once, the Voice of Nature is being very cryptic. Palladium does not understand why the Voice of Nature sounds so….happy. The Voice of Nature has no need to be emotional. He is just the sacrifice. He will die one day. While the rest of his people continue to live, breed, hunt, fight, and play. Why is it being so caring?
"The light."
Author's Comments- This is the replacement for Like Every Child Should and The Exotic Rose stories. I have never been able to do Palladium justice as a character. I have tried, but, ultimately, I failed in execution and in fulfilling my expectations. I am excited to write about his character again. I am hoping that I won't lose interest again. I guess the whole purpose of the story is to explain how Palladium ended up at Alfea. Well, it's more like an underlying purpose because this is more about how Palladium became the person who he was in season one. God, I love season one Palladium so much. I'm just not into his Tolkien evolution. Please comment.
