He counted the days. He wanted to be a hero so bad, he wanted to have powers and save people. Brine smiled brightly with excitement at the thought of his dreams coming true.
"Look at the weirdo over there." He heard other kids whisper to each other as he was sitting on a rock. Brine bit his lip and clenched his fists. It's fine, he's used to being called names. It shouldn't get to a future superhero like him. "Hey Brine, where are your powers? You're supposed to be a superhero, right? Let's see your powers." The kids smirked at brine as he got surrounded.
"D-Don't tempt me!" Brine stuttered, obviously scared before the kids grabbed him. Brine opened his mouth to scream but a kid covered his mouth with their hand.
"Let's go for a little swim." The kid leader smirked as they dragged Brine to a cliff where water was flowing below it, but it was the water that sucked you down and destroyed ships.
Tears flooded Brine's eyes as he looked over the edge. "Good luck." A Kid mocked before Brine was pushed off the edge.
Brine couldn't scream as he went head first into the water, immediately being sucked under. He couldn't breathe or he would drown. The force of the water nearly knocked him unconscious, but he didn't want to die. Brine frantically tried swimming up, but he wasn't strong enough to fight against the current. He spotted an open area, a cave and he swam for it, hoping it would lead to air.
He felt his chest tightened as his lungs tried making him breathe. He barely made it to the cave before he breathed in some water. Brine covered his mouth as his body shook, he swam up and lucky for him there was an air pocket near the top of the cave. He coughed and gasped for air as his head broke the surface. The side of his head was touching the roof of the cave as he caught his breath and coughed up water.
Fish swam by his feet as he kept kicking his legs to stay afloat. He started sobbing as he shook violently. What did he do to deserve this? He can't be a hero if he's dead. Maybe if he followed the cave it would lead him to the surface.
He took a deep breath before going under the water and swimming down the cavern. His eyes frantically looked side to side as he looked for exits. He felt the familiar tightness in his chest as he was losing air in his lungs. This time he was nowhere near an air pocket, he was too far away to go back. 'I'm going to die.' Brine thought to himself as he dug at the roof of the cave, trying to make his own air pocket but to no avail. Brine breathed in water and his movements slowed till everything went dark.
Brine coughed as he woke up, he was on a beach. How did he get there? He was in a cave before he started drowning. "You're awake." A deep voice said making Brine look around.
"W-Who's there?" He called out as he sat up.
An Evoker moved out from behind the crowded trees of the dark forest. Brine panicked and crawled backward. "Fear not, little one. I will not harm you, you should be thanking me for saving your life." He told him making Brine calm down. He was still scared of the evoker though.
"W-Why did you save me?" Brine asked wiping tears from his eyes.
"I have watched you be thrown off that cliff by those villager children. It didn't seem right to let a child drown even if we are considered, 'enemies'. I have been watching you even before that, I can help you with your dream of power. All I ask is for you to be my apprentice." The evoker said, but Brine only thought about the opportunity to have powers of his own.
"Yes!" Brine said without hesitation, excitement filled his voice.
The evoker's lip twitched upwards into a small smile before he turned around. "Follow me, Brine." He said as he started walking into the woods, Brine following after him.
Brine smiled at the thought of what his training would be like, he imagined the training sequences in movies, but he realized he didn't even know his teacher's name. "Um, Mr. Evoker, if I am to be your apprentice should I know your name? You already know mine." Brine asked looking up at the evoker waiting for an answer.
"We do not have names, but if you must call me something, people call me, 'M'." The evoker replied, not once glancing down at the child next to him. Brine looked forward, not saying another word.
After walking for what seemed like hours Brine was at the foot of a woodland mansion. He stared in awe as he only heard of these from stories and tales. "It's bigger on the inside," M said, amused by the excitement that showed through the child's eyes. "Be careful though, there are mobs that will try to hurt you if you are not careful. Stay by me and they will know their place if they go near us." M said putting a hand on the child's back as they entered the mansion.
The mansion was dark, to say the least, the only light came from the windows. Brine clung to M in fear as they walked down the dark shrowded hallways. Brine shook slightly as he spied some zombies and skeletons in other rooms, they watched them with cold, dead eyes. A zombie took it's chance and walked over to them, groaning and holding their arms out. Brine shrieked and buried his face against the evoker's side.
M narrowed his eyes and suddenly he summoned fangs from the ground that attacked the zombie. The zombie died as flesh was its remains. "No one touches this boy, understand! He is one of us now!" M shouted as he looked for anyone the objected.
Brine was too scared to peak out from M's side as they continued walking again, once he got some of his courage back he looked out and saw the zombies and skeletons walk by them, some glancing at them, but making no move to attack them. He calmed down as he found that he was safe for now. "M, can they talk?" He asked in a whisper, curious on if these monsters could actually speak.
"Of course they can, everything can speak, you just need to listen hard enough to hear them," M told him as they entered a tattered room with a hole in the floor that went to the lower floors. "This will be your room, it's not perfect, but you will be safe from anyone that comes here. Look, there's an escape room at your feet when you think there is danger lurking by." M said as he led the boy across the fence path to the other side of the room. "You must be careful not to fall, and not to break the fence bridge over the hole. Unless you want the challenge." M smiled glancing down at the child that held their arms out as they balanced on the fence as the walked across. "Here is your bed, you should get some rest. If you are hungry or need anything, call my name. I will hear it and I will come to your aid." M smiled as he watched the child climb into the bed.
"Thank you." Brine said as he smiled back at the evoker as he hugged him from his bed before laying on his side and closing his eyes. He heard M's footsteps leave him as he laid in darkness, but his smile never left him. This was the first time he felt that someone truly cared for him, who feels like a real family to him. For the first time in a while he felt truly happy and loved.