To Raise a Human
Chapter 1: Hotondo No Hito
Disclaimer: Do I look like I own this? (9 world and characters belong to Shane Acker. Ten and the other Little People belong to me!)
"Ten. Ten! Tenth Son of the Takashi Family!" the leader of a small group snapped.
Several yards ahead, a young man looked back and grinned sheepishly beneath his mask. Scratching the back of his head through the fabric, he called back, "Yes, Fifth Wright?"
Fifth Wright glared at Ten as he lead the group through the tunnel. "Tenth Takashi," he scolded once he had caught up with the other, "I should have your head for this! You can't keep running ahead like that. It's dangerous! Maybe taking off your mask for a few minutes would teach you a lesson?"
Beneath his mask, Ten paled. "B-but I can't-" he stammered, stopping suddenly when Fifth placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"I know, but you don't seem to learn no matter what I do. If you keep on ignoring me, then I'll have to do something drastic. That's the only thing I can think of that would force my lessons through your thick skull." He tapped the man on the head before motioning the group forward. "C'mon, let's go. I want to be home before lock-down tonight. I'm tired of sleeping on dirt." He glanced at Ten who was walking beside him and gently nudged the man ahead. "Go on, scout, do your job. Just don't get too far ahead." Nodding, Ten bounded forward so that he was ahead of the group once more. Looking around, he marveled at the artificial sights around him.
The truth was, his mask prevented him from actually seeing the physical tunnel. Neither he nor any of the other Hontondo No Hito* had ever seen the dirt that surrounded them. There was no such thing as light in the tunnels where they lived and it was far too dark to see anything. Not to mention, the air surrounding them was filled with toxins that could kill even the healthiest, most resistant individuals in mere hours.
The masks that each person wore did two things; the first was to allow them to 'see'. Because there was no light, no one could see anything in their underground world. However, one of their scientists had created a visor that allowed the wearer to see heat. All living things made heat, allowing the Little People to see each other and the plants, the tunnel walls had a greenish glow for reasons no one could understand, and water was dark blue.
The second purpose of the masks was to filter the air so that the people could breath. Each breathing mask was unique to that individual. The basic design might have been the same as many others, but there was always something extra that made it unique to that person. Whether it was the shape, size, or the way it connected to the rest of the protective suite, there was always something that allowed each person to tell each other apart by touch. This naturally meant everyone was touching everyone else's masks to determine who they were talking to.
"Tenth Takashi, what did I just say?" Ten stopped and blushed from embarrassment, refusing to look at the group leader. "Didn't I tell you not to get too far ahead?"
Ten turned around, folded his arms behind his back and nodded sheepishly. "Sorry," he said, hanging his head. "I won't do it again."
"Damn straight, you won't!" Fifth Wright marched up to Ten and grabbed the front of the younger man's suit. "I've had it with you disobeying me, ignoring me, and putting the group in danger!" he yelled, striking the side of Ten's mask, causing the metal to dig into the man's skin and leave a red bruise.
Ten stumbled back from the blow and stared in shock at the group leader. He opened and closed his mouth several times before stammering, "Wha-what? You-!" He left the sentence unfinished, lunging forward to return the attack. He never got the chance to finish his attack as the ceiling of the tunnel suddenly began to collapse. Everyone looked up, searching for the source of the falling dirt, and someone screamed.
A large hole had been torn open above the explorers, but that wasn't what startled them. What had caught their attention was the looming head of a rogue Beast. Because of their masks, the group saw was a blue monstrosity with red joints*, but that did nothing to calm them. Instead, it only frightened them more.
The Beast twisted to get a better look at the member that screamed before opening its mouth to let out a scream-like cry. A clawed 'hand' reached through the hole, attempting to grab at the little people in the tunnels.
"Fifth Wright," a woman screamed, "what do we do?"
"Run like hell!" he answered, pushing two people roughly to get them moving. No one needed to be told twice and soon the group was running away from the maddened Beast. The group ran until they were unable to run anymore and then they jogged and trotted until everyone was about to collapse from exhaustion.
For several minutes, everyone was too busy gasping for breath to bother asking the question but, finally, Fifth looked down the tunnel where they had come from and asked, "What the hell was that?" There was more silence as everyone worked on recovering, physically and mentally. Finally, Fifth Wright began listing names to make sure everyone was okay. "Second Satoshi?"
"Here."
"First Smith?"
"Fine."
"Eighth Klein?"
"A-Okay!" The girl coughed and sat down before giving a quick thumbs-up to show she was fine.
"Alright then. Sixth Watson?"
"Physically fine but I'm gonna be mentally traumatized for life."
"You'll be fine. Tenth Takashi?" Silence greeted Fifth and he looked around worriedly. "Ten? Has anyone seen Ten?" Everyone looked around and a frightened murmur ran through the group. Ten wasn't with them.
Second Satoshi gasped. "He was so far ahead of the group," she squeaked, covering the lower half of her mask with her hands. "You don't think..." She left the question unfinished; there was no sense saying more. The group was silent as the truth of the matter sunk in. They would have heard if he had fallen behind them while running through the tunnels, and he knew the direction they were going like the back of his hand. No one could make a mental map faster or remember it longer, so there was no way he could have gotten lost. But in the chaos of trying to escape, no one would have noticed if one member never made it back to the group until it was too late.
"Poor Ten..." Second whimpered. "Poor, poor Ten. Such a horrible way to go."
Fifth was silent as he stared down the tunnel. Part of him expected Ten to pop up from around a corner and shout, 'found you!' but he knew it wouldn't happen. It couldn't happen. Ten might have had a bad habit of disappearing randomly or exploring too far ahead, but he had been careful and always came back. This was one adventure he simply wouldn't return from.
Finally, Fifth Wright turned to face the group and snapped, "Let's go." Everyone look at him questioningly but he ignored them. "There's nothing we can do here. Ten's gone and this time he's not coming back. Let's go warn the elders." With that said, he assumed the leader's position once more and began walking down the tunnels.
"Don't be too sad, Second," Watson said, patting the girl's shoulder gently. "It was a quick death, I'm sure. Probably didn't even feel any pain." The girl nodded sadly as she started after Fifth. The group traveled in silence, no one daring to say anything.
Author Notes!
* "Little People" in English, "Kleinen Leute" in German, and so on. Basically, the name is Japanese for little people, but it can change depending on which country the 'little people' originated.
* The 'blue monstrosity' would basically be the metal bits of the skeleton while the red joints come from the heat caused by the friction of moving. Because the metal is cold, it can't give off enough heat to really register on the visors. However, because the joints are constantly rubbing and creating heat, there's enough to create a red glow giving the Beasts an even stranger and more terrifying appearance.
You'll learn more about the Hotondo No Hito as the story progresses. However, I will tell you that they are human. Modified to the point where they almost can't be called human anymore, but they are human. There are little colonies of them all over the place, but all the colonies above ground were destroyed during the war. Many that were underground died out, as well, but some managed to survive just long enough to make breathing masks which then allowed them to continue to thrive. They've been underground for so long that they don't even know there's a world above them. Light, sky, plants, and many other words are unknown and never used simply because they've never seen such things.
Thanks for showing interest in my stories, everyone! I know my thoughts are all over the place and my writing isn't the greatest, but I'll keep on doing my best! :D I was about to abandon this, but then I got lots of people showing interest and I was like, 'Okay, I'll write another chapter and see what happens'. Here's a hint, if I get a whole bunch of people adding comments or adding this story to their favorite/alert list, it shows that people are interested and actually reading this. Thus, more motivation for me to keep writing. Some chapters will be longer than others, and some will be surprisingly short (like this one) but I try to end each story where I feel it's best to do so; no sooner and no later.
THANKS FOR READING! :D