Journey

Leon walked on the only road in front of him with no supplies on him. Just his simple self walking wherever the road let him go. Within the capital city he was already infamous as a treasonous half breed who had miraculously been pardoned, but beyond the city limits, few knew about him. His white hair, blue eyes and the terrifying dark and hollow circles around his eyes like large splotches caused people to avoid him.

Despite no longer actually suffering through torture, the method had been so miserably heinous that Leon was still having ghost reflections of pain. He would suddenly crouch onto his knees and enter a fetal position on the road, clenching his fist and gritting his teeth to bear with a pain that wasn't really present, but a psychological trauma.

The first day, Leon walked twelve miles to a manual water pump for domesticated farm animals. That night, Leon slept in the open, hungry, but not thirsty. Homeless and without a family to call his own. His emotions were complicated, there was pain in his eyes and also rage and disgust.

He couldn't sleep, for he constantly felt the urge to scream due to the pain from the ghostly remnants of the torture that continued to traumatize his psyche. To divert his mind he counted the stars, but soon his mind couldn't keep up. Without realizing, he reflected on his identity, his past and his future.

To his father he was simply a botched experiment, perhaps for one of his projections. To his mother he was a mistake. To others he was an incompetent fool who also turned out to be a blood traitor. To others yet, he was the singular cause of destruction, simply for following the family that birthed an abomination such as himself. To the emperor, Leon guessed he was simply a tool, nothing more. The emperor could kill him with a mere thought, but decided to spare him and also had the memory of his father embedded within his mind. To Leon, the Emperor's plan was clear as day.

Leon had a singular determination left within his identity. Revenge. He wanted to take revenge upon the whole world, yet he was absolutely weak and talentless. In the eyes of others he was simply a fool rushing on a fool's errand.

When the sun rose, Leon dragged himself up and began walking down the road again. His clothes were disheveled and his eyes had glazed over. He did not have the stamina to carry on anymore and simply sat down after having traveled five miles during the day. Hunger was starting to hit him like a thousand bricks, but he ignored it. As a noble he had never had to procure food and always had whatever he wanted delivered to him. Now he didn't have the first clue how to find fruits. He didn't have the strength to hunt for beasts, and he didn't know which fruits, berries and shrubs growing near the road were edible and which were poisonous. Dispirited, he simply found a large tree and hid from the afternoon sun under the tree's shade.

Before realizing it, he had already dozed off. In his dream he felt himself being poked by a stick. Troubled, he opened his eyes to find a small child about ten years old was poking him with the stick. The kid saw this peculiar looking youth with bizarre hair wake up and got frightened and was about to run away, when he heard a loud growling sound from Leon's stomach. The two looked at each other for a good minute in silence - young white haired man and small red haired child. After a brief lapse of surprise, the child began guffawing loudly.

From not too far away, an old demon pulling a cart slowly appeared. "Little Red, don't make mischief for the traveler!" He yelled without paying much attention.

"Grandpa! Grandpa! That boy with white hair is hungry!" Little Red spoke excitedly while bobbing his head up and down. The old demon looked towards Leon again and found that he looked terribly tired and weak. It reminded the old man of his time returning from the battlefield. Pitying the young Leon, the old demon walked up to him and handed him a large sandwich stuffed with roasted meat from a beast he caught in the wild a day earlier.

Leon looked at the old demon with a complicated look. The old demon smiled and thrust the sandwich towards Leon. "Eat it lad. You need to survive before you can think about completing your journey."

"Survive before completing my journey..." Leon repeated in an absent minded fashion. This single sentence would go on to become on of his biggest personal rules in the days that followed, but for now Leon nodded and gladly accepted the sandwich.

The old demon patiently waited as Leon slowly ate the sandwich. Leon had not eaten in a day and eating food rapidly would only cause him to retch, which is why he swallowed the meat and bread in small bite sized chunks. After he completed the meal, the old demon looked at Leon and then nodded.

"My name is Grandpa Red. Are you travelling alone?" The old demon asked, trying to make small talk. Little Red was running around in circles around the cart which had all kinds of meats and plants stuffed to the brim.

"Leon..." The white haired youth said, and simply nodded to the second question. With some effort, he began to get up. "Thank you for your food, Grandpa Red." He said after getting up and patting his pants.

Grandpa Red smiled and said with some consideration as he looked at Leon. "You don't look like you have a destination in mind. Come at stay at our place for a night." When he saw Leon about to reject, the grandpa turned a little more forceful. "Oh, you won't be imposing us. Come join us. Little Red would also like some company." The old demon said as if the matter had been decided with some finality. Leon nodded in resignation and followed behind the duo and the cart.