Emptiness

"What would it take for things to be quiet?..."

Chapter 1: Quiet Like the Snow... It was quiet…too quiet. There was little wind, the only sound was that of the snow, falling towards the ground at whatever speed it was going. As the flakes hit the snow on the ground, they ceased to exist, becoming one with the ground. In time they would melt and flow deep into the ground, giving life to the vegetation that it had once smothered during the times of cold. But that time was still far away...

The sounds of wolves scurrying in the distance brought me back from my dreamy state. I couldn't sleep; it was too cold, the hard floor of this cave was uncomfortable, the random noises of the night annoyed me and most of all, we could be attacked at, literally, ANY minute. Beside me my brother stirred, as a cold, soft gust of air rushed towards us and howled it’s soft, cold, haunting howl. He was a good kid, immature for his age. However, he was bright, funny and confident. He lacked self control, always doing things before planning them out. He was shorter than me by a few inches, and much smaller in build, rather scrawny even. If people looked at us at a first glance, they’d hardly believe we were twins.

As for me, I was slightly below average in build. But I was strong, I trained my body regularly and was prepared at a moment’s noticed to take up arms. I blamed out lack of food for our health. It had been three years since we had a decent “proper” meal. Most of the time, we were just scavenging from the towns we visited or begging. At one point, we were invited into a family to live in. The Troia family was their name. They had twin girls, maybe a year or two younger than us, they were kinda cute. But life there was peaceful for only a week or so. THEY had followed us. The beasts of darkness and their minions, the Grimm. The Troia family didn't know what hit them, and in the confusion, we had escaped. We were selfish and left them to die, I will never forget that, but at the same time, I didn't feel guilt. I lived solely to protect my brother, not anyone else's life. I was such a selfish fool...

They had first come after us 3 years ago, I didn't know why. Our father was a Hunter, but he too had fallen during the attack. Since then, we'd been on the run. Our parents had not survived and we did not have any relatives to call upon. Every month or so, they caught up with us, and we were forced to take a stand and fight. We planned all our defenses, the attacks happen between 23-38 days after the previous, so we had ample time to prepare, but life during those 15 days of anxiety were hell. The battles were long, and tedious. Most of the time, we boxed ourselves into a cave, much like the one we were in now, and tried to force them to take us one one at a time.

But this time would be different: I, myself, would take care of them. My brother had fallen ill the last few days, and it had been my job to take care of him. Because, if I didn't, who else would? That meant double duty for me, and seeing how I already did twice as much work as him, it meant that I was not in the mood to be messed with...Or at least, I wanted to think that. I had a soft heart, I cared for the things that were close to me. I was the kind of person to kill whoever or whatever harmed my loved ones and then vomit in disgust at what I had did. I wasn't fit to defend anyone because I always let harm come to myself in the process. If only I was stronger... No...I know I can be stronger, I know I can be better than what I am now. I just have to prove it to myself.

As the pitter-patter of footsteps got closer, I stood up. Shivering from the cold, I took off my jacket and covered my brother with it, he needed it more than I would. I picked up the katana lying down on my left hand side. It was an old piece of junk, I had traded it in for a few good pieces of lumber at the last town we were at. But at least it got the job done. It was a good weight for someone of my size, with a slightly lower than average build. It’s material was light and cheap, not like the heavy “real” swords, so it was easy to swing, quick and agile. And then, I heard the wolves for the third time. They were close. Very close. I took up the katana in my left hand and braced myself for the -40°C outside...

Chapter 2: I Know I Could be Better... EmptinessMusic