Chapter 9
Yun walked around the scattered buildings. People walked past him, not noticing him. Yun didn't really care anymore. It had been like that for 14 years, people didn't notice him. He was just... invisible. But that didn't bother him, he was just happy to be near people and not alone. Slowly he walked around the houses. He never went into the town. He was just too different. His clothes weren't the same and his skin color wasn't either. They all wore dresses of odd clothes and the had pale skin. He had tanner skin than them, his clothes were just a shirt pants and a hooded cape thing, but the only thing that was the same was his hair color. A lot of the people in the town had blond hair, Yun had blond hair. It was really, really blond. Another thing was how strong he was, no one else was as strong as him. He knew this.
Yun squatted and picked up some flowers. He didn't have a home or what the kids in the town had... what was that called? A family? That had to be it. He didn't have anything. Just the clothes he had on and the small bouquet of flowers he had just picked. Then he heard the thud of feet on the ground. He turned slightly to see a stampede of boys coming his way. He fell onto his butt as they raced by. All of them were gone within a couple seconds, all except one. He was tall and had dark brown hair. He was pale like all the others, and wore the wierd clothes the men and boys usually did. Yun was still disoriented from the fact that he had almost gotten ran over by a bunch of boys.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" the boy asked and took a step towards him. Yun just looked up at him with big, blue-purple eyes. He was scarred. No one had ever noticed before, and now he was afraid. "Are you okay?" he asked again and squatted in front of him. Yun just stared at him. His eyes were dark, the boy only stared back. Slowly the boy lifted his hand and reached out to Yun, who clamped his eyes shut. What was he going to do? The boy was going to hurt him! What happened next surprised him quite a bit. The boy rested his hand onto Yun's head and ruffled it up a bit. "You don't have to be scarred. I wont hurt you, I promise," he smiled when Yun opened his eyes and looked at him again.
"Y-you c-can s-see me?" he stuttered. The boy blinked at him and nodded.
"Why wouldn't I? We always see you but we never had enough guts to talk to you, well except for me," he laughed, Yun just gave him a strange look. They all saw him...
"Why did you want to talk to me?" he asked and the boy looked at him as he stood up.
"Because, you're always walking around the outside of the town alone. You never come into the town and you never talk to anyone. I wanted to find out why you're always alone," the boy smiled and held out his hand to Yun. he grabbed it and the boy pulled him to his feet. "Whats your name?" he asked as Yun brushed himself off.
"Y-Yun. Whats yours?" he asked the boy and pulled the flowers he had picked closer to him. The boy noticed them and smiled.
"My names Jason. Are the flowers for your mom and dad?" he asked. Yun shook his head, he felt tears well up in the corner of his eyes. Yun quickly looked down to try and hide them.
"N-no, I-I don't h-have a m-mom or d-dad," Yun whispered, the tears rolled down his cheeks and dripped onto the ground. Jason panicked and grabbed Yun's shoulders gently.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry. I'm sorry," Jason apologized. Yun looked up and gave him a weak smile.
"I-it's okay," was all he said.
"If you don't have a mom or dad... where do you live?" Jason asked and reliced the shorter boys shoulder. .
"In trees or on the prairie. Its fun, but I get lonely sometimes," he answered.
"Oh... you should-!" Jason was cut short by a shrill cry of happiness.
"JASON!" a little girl squealed and hugged Jason from behind. He let out a little yelp at the sudden contact.
"A-Amy! Don't do that!" he sighed. The girl let him go and looked at Yun with curiosity.
"Who are you? Are you a friend of Jason's?" she asked and smiled at him.
"Amy this is Yun, Yun this is my little sister Amy," Jason explained. Amy held out her hand. Yun just looked at it, confused.
"Whats wrong? Its a handshake. You shake my hand!" Amy laughed. Yun did what she asked. Once their hands were touching she started to shake his hand frantically.
"Okay Amy, I think thats enough. Come on, I'll introduce you to mom!" Jason said and grabbed Yun's free hand.
"How old are you?" Amy asked and pulled Yun's other hand, like he brother was. She was shorter than Yun and had dark blond hair.
"14... I think," Yun answered, Amy giggled.
"I'm eight! Your older than me! But you're younger than Jason. He's 17!" she laughed happily. Jason gave him a small smile and led him towards the town he usually avoided.
~ ~ ~ ~2 years later ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Jason! Yun! Where are you?" Amy yelled and skipped into the clearing the two boys were in.
"Hi Amy!" Yun laughed and ran up to the ten year old. She smiled and gave Yun a big hug.
"AW! You blew my cover! Punishment is needed!" Jason teased and ruffled up Yun's hair.
"Hey!" he laughed. Amy grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the house.
"Come on Jason! If you don't hurry up you'll miss L-U-N-C-H!" Amy giggled and pulled Yun as fast as she could. Jason followed close behind, having quite a bit of trouble. Yun and Amy were both relatively short, but Jason was extremely tall. Finally Amy let go of Yun's hand and the whole run turned into a race. Yun won, Jason came in second and Amy was in last.
"YEAH! Wheres the food!" Jason asked as he burst through the door. Amy followed and Yun came in last, shutting the door behind him.
"You're finally here! Thought the big bad wolf ate you!" Jason mom laughed. Amy shifted nervously and Jason laughed awkwardly.
"Thats a little... creepy," Yun whispered to himself, but his mom heard him.
"Well of course its creep! I said it so you would all be too scared and not go into the forest!" she giggled and patted Yun on the head. Jason grunted Amy giggled as Yun blushed. He wasn't used to people touching him, even though he had been in Jason's family for two years. He found out that they were all... touchy. The hugged... a LOT, and patted and just touched. To much patting, hugging, forced piggy back-rides, and a lot of other things made him cringe.
"AWWWW~ he's blushing!" Amy squealed and gave Yun a big tight hug. Jason joined and was followed by his mom. Yun gave a small yelp and squirmed. It went on like that for about a minute and they finally let him out of the hug.
"Come on~! You all need some lunch. I'm gonna have to get you to work. The cows need to be milked," she smiled as they all sat down at the small kitchen table and placed some crackers and three glasses of milk on the table. Amy was the first to finish her milk, Jason was the second.
"Come on Yun! If you drink up, you'll become tall like me!" Jason teased and ruffled up Yun's hair to make hi point clear.
"Yun's not short! He's just fun sized! Unlike you!" his mother joked.
"And thats coming from my mother? You should act your age!" Jason sneered. His mom gave him a warning smile.
"Don't worry, momma! You just have to act the age you look!" Amy countered. Jason stuck his tongue out at her and she did the same. Yun was in the middle of the two, slowly sipping his milk and nibbling on a cracker.
"Oh~ but she looks about... forty?" Jason questioned. His mom slapped him in the back of the head. "HEY!"
"Thats for being mean!" she frowned. "I'm only 39!"
"Really? You look younger," Yun complimented. She giggled and pulled Yun into a hug... again. he squeaked in surprise.
"Haa~! You made this old woman happy~!" she smiled. Despite his discomfort he smiled and hugged her back. This confused her for a little bit but she got used to it. Amy and Jason saw their chance and joined the hug. This is what a family was... it was always happy... right?
~ ~ ~ ~ 40 years later~ ~ ~ ~
Amy clung to Yun's arm and Jason wrapped his arm around both his little sisters and little brothers shoulder. Yun was fighting back tears. His definition about family was ruined. His adopted mother was dead. But... why? Why was someone so sweet taken so young? Yun couldn't hold back his tears any longer. Quickly his cheeks were streaming with salty liquid. he knew he had to be strong, but he couldn't. It was HIS fault she died. If only he had jumpped infront of the bullet sooner. They had called Yun a witch. he never aged and he was altogether... different. He should look like a 56 year old... but he didn't. His little sister, Amy, looked like a 50 year old... well not so much. People guessed 30. His big brother, Jason, looked like a 59 year old... well the people guessed 40. But Yun... he was different. He still looked 15... not anywhere close the age he was supposed to. he also never grew. he was the same size he was when he was 14. The people had called him a witch, they shot at him. The first shot missed. His mom pushed him away. He was about to jump in front of her to shield her from the on coming bullet but... he was to late. The bullet shot her right threw the heart. And within that instant, his mother was gone.
"Come on... we should get going..." Jason began. There was a crack in his voice that he had failed to hide.
"I'm... sorry..." Yun sobbed and tried to wipe his cheeks dry, but every time he got it dry it just got wet again. Amy pulled him into a hug. "I-its a-all my f-fault! I-if o-only I-I had b-been q-q-quicker!" Amy pulled away and looked at her big brother. Jason spun the blond around and with one swift moment, he slapped him hard on his wet cheek. Yun looked side ways as his cheek flared deep red.
"You were not to blame!" Jason roared. Amy slowly stroked the abused cheek adn looked at her brother.
"You didn't have to slap him! He's distraught and depressed!" she yelled tears running down her cheeks. Jason yanked him away from his sister and held him still, forcing him to look his brother in the eyes.
"You did nothing to cause this! You here me! Don't blame yourself for something out of your control! The man was crazed and didn't know what he was doing! You have no right to blame yourself!" he yelled. Yun looked down at the ground. He was being so pathetic. Why... WHY! Why did she have to been taken away! She was perfect! She had never done anything wrong! So why! WHY! WHY! WHY! WHY!
"Yun... it's okay. It wasn't your fault. Jason's right. Calm down and lets go home," Amy cooed softly and patted him on the head. Yun only nodded, clutching her hand and followed as they led him home. When they got there, the house was dark and cold. Jason lighted a few lanterns and Amy led Yun to the couch. He sat down great-fully. Amy sat down next to him and slowly he drifted off to sleep, leaning against his sisters shoulder. Jason patted his little brothers head and walked into his room.
~ ~ ~ 16 years later~ ~ ~ ~
Yun walked up to the houses front door, pack in his hand and rifle strapped to his back. Amy opened the door and stared at him in horror.
"I need to talk to you two," Yun said and Amy watched him when he walked into the house. Yun's boots clacked on the hard, decaying wood. Amy walked to the couch and sat down, motioning for Yun to do the same.
"Yun you're not really... right?" she mumbled, Yun could already see tears in her old eyes. He pulled her into a hug and she hugged him back. Jason walked into the room and stared at Yun with as much horror as Amy had.
"You have to be kidding me," ha exclaimed, and quickly walked up to the couch. Getting a closer look at his little brother. Yun stood up and Jason took the vacant spot. Yun took a deep breath then let it out slowly.
"I'm joining the war. I wish to fight for the South. You may not agree but my mind is already made up," Yun explained. Amy burst out crying and jason looked as angry as ever.
"Don't you dare leave us!" was all he managed. Yun felt tears in the corners of his eyes, he tried to will them to go away, but it failed. They streamed down his cheeks and dripped onto the ground.
"i have to fight for what I believe in. I have to fight for the land that mom is buried in," Yun sobbed. Jason stood up and walked towards his little brother. he raised a hand and slapped him hard against the cheek.
"Don't you ever use her as an excuse!" he roared. Yun just looked down at the ground.
"It wasn't an excuse," was all he could manage. Tears of hurt flowed down his cheeks. He turned around and started towards the door.
"If you walk out know, you will never be aloud back! Do you hear me! Well! Do you!" Jason yelled and Yun stopped at the doorway.
"Yun! Please! Rethink this! Your brother and I are getting too old. Jason is almost 80! I'm almost 70, please! You need to help us till we die! We need you," Amy wailed. And at that moment, Yun made the stupidest decision ever.
"My country needs me more," and with that, he walked out the door and towards the town. He hated his decision, more than anything in his whole life. He had abandoned his family and his home. He had nothing...
"I'd like you all to meet our new recruits!" Matt, a soldier, announced. Slowly all the newly acquired soldiers walked forward and were greeted kindly. Yun stayed near the edge of the crowd, avoiding eye contact with everyone. A hand rested on his shoulder. Yun yelped a bit at the sudden contact. "Woah there! Don't pee yourself!" Matt joked. Yun glanced up at him.
"What?" he whispered and glanced back down at the ground.
"You should go mingle!" he exclaimed and pushed Yun towards the crowd, but Yun didn't budge.
"I wont make friends. I'll get attached and then they might die," Yun answered and kept his head down. Matt sighed and rubbed his head.
"Okay, if you can answer this correctly, I wont make you go out and mingle," Matt sighed.
"Fine," Yun answered.
"What are three things you need to know about war?" he asked. Yun gave him a curious look.
"Thats and easy one," he said.
"Then answer it," Matt coaxed. Yun nodded.
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles," Yun answered. Matt smiled.
"Yes next one," he patted the blond on the head as a reward.
"If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer defeat," he smiled a bit at the fact that he had remembered this. Matt gave him another pat on the head.
"And the last one?"
"If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succome in every battle," he giggled a bit at his memory. Matt sighed and patted the boy on the back.
"You win, but you still might want to mingle," he thumped him in the head and walked towards the crowd. Yun mentally shrugged and followed after him.
"Hey, um, why do we need to know those three things?" Yun asked when he caught up to Matt.
"Well, it's what we need to know. Thats what I was told. I just think it's a lot of mumbo jumbo," Matt laughed and slung his arm over Yun's shoulder.
"Oh..." Yun whispered. Matt heard this and smirked.
"Hey! Everyone! Lets make these recruits feel at home! Don't forget this one!" Matt yelled and shoved Yun into the crowd. He was greeted nicely. Some people made fun of his height, but Yun only laughed it off. He missed his family, but these people were trying to act like family.
"Everyone!" a voice boomed and everyone fell silent. They all looked up to see a man. He didn't look like much, but there was an air of authority around him. "I am Robert E. Lee! I am your new general! You will call me General Lee and nothing alse!" he yelled and everyone nodded. Yun looked at him. He was tall and he knew now that he DID have authority. "That is all-!"
"Give it up for the GENERAL! WOO HOO!" Matt yelled. Everyone responded, loudly. The general sighed and walked into the crowd.
"Wheres my tent?" Yun asked Matt. He pointed towards the right.
"There!" he smiled and shoved Yun into the direction of the tent.
"Thanks... thats so informative," Yun said sarcastically. As he walked towards the mass of tents, someone gripped his shoulder, making him yelp.
"Sorry, soldier. Didn't mean to scare you," a familiar voice apologized. Yun turned slightly to see General Lee behind him.
"No worries. What do you need sir?" Yun asked and turned fully so he was facing the tall man.
"I need you to come to my tent and answer some questions," he said and walked away. Yun followed close behind. They entered the tent and General Lee sat down in a chair. Yun was amazed. The general lived a good lifestyle.
"What did you need, sir?" Yun asked, not wanting the silence to go on any longer.
"The other generals told me you joined the war at age... 72. Is that true?" he asked and looked at short blond's violet-blue eyes intently.
"Yes sir," Yun answered, knowing where this was going. The general nodded.
"That is all. You are to be in the front of every battle. If you ever get hurt you are to report to me and no one else. Do not tell anybody about this conversation. Every thing spoken between us will stay between us," General Lee ordered. Yun nodded. "That is all, you may go back to your tent," he waved Yun out of the tent. He did as he was told. Once he was outside of the tent doors he heard General Lee talk to himself.
"What the...?" he began.
"We have one on our side. The Union wont have any clue on what hit them," Yun shivered at the tone of his voice. He walked far enough away to try and understand what the general had just said. What did they have that the Union didn't?
"Yun!" matt yelled and wrapped his arm around the shorter boys shoulder. Yun yelped and jumped a bit.
"How do you know my name?" he asked skeptically. Matt laughed and patted him on the back.
"General Lee told me before he took you to his tent. Any way, you and I are in the same tent!" Matt laughed and headed towards a somewhat big tent. Not as big as the generals, but not as small as the other tents. Yun followed close behind. Then a thought struck him. He didn't have a family anymore. Why was he fighting for the Confederate side when he was against people owning and treating other human beings as property? He wasn't doing it for his family anymore,he wanted to but just couldn't. Once they were both in the tent Matt shoved him onto one bed and he got onto a different bed.
"Why are you in the Confederate army?" Yun asked and hugged his knees to his chest. Matt looked at him and smiled.
"Because, my family is all for it. I don't want to leave my family, and i don't want to be hated," Matt sighed and plopped down onto his bed. He blew out the lantern. It was silent till Yun started to hear the other start to snore. He sighed and laid down on his side and curled up into a small ball. He just wanted his mom here. To tell him he was doing the right thing. To have Amy kiss him on the cheek and tell him that she will always love him. To have Jason pat him on the head and joke about how short he was and how it was awkward for him to tell everyone that Yun was the middle child. He just wanted... his family back. His only family. The family he had turned his back on. The family that didn't want him. He wanted it to all go back to the way it had been. He just wanted everything to be normal...
~ ~ ~ July 3, 1863~ ~ ~
"Yun! Front and center!" General Pickett yelled and Yun quickly obeyed. He ran to the front of the large group of soldiers.
"This is third and final attempt to defeat the Union on their own soil! And we WILL win!" General Lee yelled. They were far enough away from the Cemetery Ridge, their charge point, that they didn't need to keep their voices low. General Piickett made the signal and all the soldiers marched towards their destination. Yun led them, his head held high, musket in hand. He had to stay strong, for his fellow soldiers and for the Confederacy. As they reached the edge of the woods, General Pickett made his order.
"CHARGE!" he ordered and every soldier ran forward. Yun ran as fast as he could to stay ahead of the others, it didn't take a lot of effort. If Matt was there, he would be right beside him. But he had changed sides. Yun's only friend had left him. Now all Yun was, was an army dog. A thing controlled by General Pickett and General Lee.
A shot was heard. Followed by one after another, until a rain of bullets came down from the hill. At that second men dropped around Yun. He was unable to stop it, all he did was kept running. A couple of men ran down the hill in attempt to kill him. The tried to shoot him, but Yun dodged all of them. Another round of bullets rained down around him, he was a bit disoriented and failed to dodge them. Bullets pounded into his chest. Yun felt the burn of flesh being torn by hot metal. He collapsed to the ground and blood poured from his wounds. He clamped his eye shut.
"I can't die..." he whispered to himself. Another round of bullets rained down around him, the yells and screams of pain roared around him. He had to do something. Slowly he pushed himself up off the ground, gun in hand. The men that had attacked him were shocked and horrified. he was on his feet and lashed out with the end of his musket, hitting one of the men unconscious. Another one recovered from the shock and fired his musket at Yun, hitting him dead center in the chest. He gasped and stumbled backwards, grasping his chest. Yun used his free hand to grasp his musket and raised it towards the men. In one swift moment he pulled the trigger and the bullet flew. The force the musket gave off was not hard, but in his state, Yun fell backwards onto the ground. His weapon dropped to the ground. His eye sight started to get darker. The thud of bodies sounded around him. He looked up at the top of the hill and spotted something he wished he hadn't. A man with blond hair and blue eyes stared back at him with as much horror. Then his body acted involuntarily, and pushed himself up off the ground. His brain screamed for him to attack the man at the top of the hill. Yun grabbed his musket and charged up the hill, full speed. The man ran down to meet him, weaponless. When he was within reach, Yun swung the end of his musket and it collided with the mans side.
His brain screamed that it was his fault for the war. It was his fault that his friend had left him. That it was his fault for EVERYTHING. With his brain yelling these thing, Yun couldn't think straight. All he could do was clamp his eyes shut and wave the end of his weapon around like a mad man. Then the musket stopped moving. It fell to the ground. Yun opened his eye to see that the man had yanked the weapon out of his hand and thrown it away. Yun raised his leg and kicked as hard as he could. The hit landed a hard blow to the side of mans head. It didn't even faze him.
"Sir!" a familiar voice yelled. Both men looked up. Standing at the top of the hill was... Matt. Yun just stood and stared at him, eyes wide with horror. Matt was holding a musket and it was pointed in his direction. Yun's turned and stared at the blond man in front of him and threw a punch into his gut. He gasped at the sudden action, but quickly recovered and grabbed Yun's wrist. If he hadn't been hurt so bad, he would have been able to rip his wrist away.
"Let me go, you stupid Yankee!" Yun snarled and struggled against the taller man. But the grip held firm. Matt held the musket tight and put his finger on the trigger.
"Sir!" he yelled and the shot rang out. The ma let go of Yun in shock at the sudden shot. The bullet crashed through Yun's chest, hitting his lung. he let out a small yelp and fell to the ground clutching his chest in agony. Matt came running down the hill, only to stop short once he saw who he had shot. "Y-Yun?" his voice trembled a bit. Yun was on his side now, trying not to cry at the pain in his chest. "Oh god... YUN!" Matt gasped and ran over to his dying friends side. The blond man put a hand onto his shoulder.
"Soldier, get back to the others, it's to late for him," the man ordered. Matt hesitated and glanced down at his friend, but winced when he saw the death glare given to him by the violet-blue eyes.
"Yes sir," he nodded and started to run up the hill. The man got up and began to follow, but stopped dead in his tracks.
"Stupid Yankee! I hope you die in a hole, along with the rest of the Confederacy!" Yun hissed and coughed up blood onto the ground. The man glanced back, then continued up the hill. Matt stopped and waited for him, but that was the biggest mistake of his life. General Pickett raised his musket, aimed, and fired.
"Soldier!" the man yelled, but he was too late. The bullet went right through Matt's head. He dropped to the gound with a loud thud. Yun watched in horror. He wanted to scream, but his voice wouldn't allow him to. He tried to get breath, but he just couldn't. The blood in his lung prevented him from breathing, screaming and yelling. His world started to cloud around him. The last thing he saw was the man looking at him with cold blue eyes.
~ ~ ~ three days later~ ~ ~ ~
"Dear god... they didn't even try to bury the bodies. This is just horrible," a man exclaimed. Yun stirred at the sudden noise. He tried to open his eyes, but his body wouldn't allow him to.
"War only brings destruction," a woman's voice responded. "Well, lets search and try to find something useful. Doubt there will be anything, but we can try." The two stommped around the mass of bodies. Yun could only listen as their foot steps got closer and closer after each pause. This terrified him. He couldn't open his eyes to see where he was, he didn't have enough strength to pick his body up off the ground, and he was altogether just terrified by what was happening. Then the foot steps were right next to his ear.
"He's breathing!" the man gasped.
"He can't be! Why would they leave a live person here?" the girl questioned. Yun felt two fingers press against his wrist.
"He has a pulse," the man told the woman. Yun moaned at the touch and he heard the man gasp. Two hand slowly pushed him so that he was facing upward. His body finally aloud him to open his eyes. When his violet-blue eyes adjusted to the light he saw a man and woman staring down at him.
"Hello, little boy. What is your name?" the woman asked kindly, giving him a small smile. Yun only groaned in reply.
"He needs water. hurry, give me the canteen," the man ordered. The woman nodded and handed him the bottle. It was decorated with different colored beads and colored thread. "Drink up, boy," the man held the open bottle to Yun's lips and tipped it slightly, so as the water flowed out smoothly into Yun's parched mouth. After he had judged that Yun had had enough, he pulled the canteen back and handed it back to the woman.
"Whats your name?" she tried again. Yun looked at her.
"Y-Yun..." he coughed. Suddenly all the things that had happened, raced back to him. He shot up and frantically started to pat himself down. There were holes in his clothes where the bullets had broken through, but the was no more wounds. None what-so-ever.
"Whats the matter, Yun?" the woman asked.
"Hm... you seem a bit freaked out. Are you okay?" the man asked and put his hand on Yun's forehead.
"Do you have a family to go back to?" she asked kindly. Yun shook his head. She gave him a sad smile. "How about you come with us?" she asked. Yun looked at them, then nodded. The man chuckled and stood up. The woman held out her hand and Yun took it greatfully.
"My names Harlow," the man said.
"My names Alice," the woman giggled. Once Yun was on his feet the two began to walk towards the forest. Yun followed close behind. He strayed a glance back at the battle field but quickly looked away. He had seen Matt's body. That one dead person almost brought him to tears.