12 The Journey Back To The Tribe

[Morgan POV]

To be perfectly honest I don't care about going to an orphanage for safety or finding new parents. I can survive well enough on my own just by relying on my skills. In a city, I just have to worry about humans, and they are so much easier to deal with than animals.

As for parents, I already experienced the love and guidance of a parent. Even if somebody does decide to raise me like their child, it will be hard for them to even reach the place my parents had in my heart. I went through so much with them, good, bad, and even sad. Even if this is my second chance at life, I can't forget those memories so easily.

I want to go to an orphanage because of the ability to interact with the children there. While I may be an adult mentally, I do not want to deal with adults too much early on. With adults, I have to take so many things into consideration like their underlying motives. If I am not careful, I could put myself in a situation I don't have the power to deal with.

Kids are so much easier to read, they can't hide their intentions very well and they have an innocence to them. With children, I can grow up alongside them and form lifelong bonds with them. Bonds like that are precious, I lost some friends as life went on, but the friendships that did last are just as important as familial bonds.

The biggest resource a kid has that is always available to him is time. As you grow up you get more and more responsibilities, and time becomes more precious. As a child, I have to use all the time I have to form bonds, learn more skills, or improve the ones I already have. As much as I hate my current body, there is a lot of potential lying within it, I have to make sure I don't squander it with the decisions I make.

I wonder where Hassar will take me? I am getting excited to see the place where I will start my new life. I have to remember to live by my Dad's advice, to see everything as an opportunity to grow and learn.

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[Hassar Pov]

"Why are you so angry Morgan?"

I can feel the anger coming from him. Out of all the emotions I have seen from him, anger is a new one. I wonder what could have brought that out of him?

"I hate rivers. They made me suffer."

"How?"

"I couldn't get across a river, so I had to chop down a tree and use it as a bridge. It was very painful, but I had to do it. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life with Clara, I needed more friends."

"How did you do that."

"With this."

Where did he get the knife? When I saw him for the first time, all he had were the clothes on his back and his pet Clara. Did he put it somewhere I couldn't see it? To survive so long in the plains alone, he would have needed a weapon of sorts to fight off some animals.

"Where did you get that knife?"

"Maaaaagic."

He put his hands next to each other and then moved them away from each other in an arc. A small rainbow appeared in between his hands. The rainbow was twinkling as well, how is he making the rainbow do that? He told me that he learned magic from his master, but I wasn't expecting anything this useless.

"How are you doing that?"

"I just put my hands next to each other, then I move them away from each other in an arc, and say maaaaagic."

The light is brighter and it is blinding me. Why did he make it brighter? I thought it was useless, but I can think of a couple of scenarios where blinding your target can be useful. Morgan may be a weird magical child, but I shouldn't forget that he was able to survive the dangers of the plain alone.

"Why are you doing that?"

"It's fun. How are you going to cross the river? I do not want to chop down another tree, it takes too long."

I have an idea. I place my hand onto Morgan's shoulder.

"I am going to throw you to the other side. I am strong enough to throw you across, just trust me. I will make sure you get across the river as quickly and as safely as possible."

He slapped his cheeks and looked directly at my eyes. At least I think he did, that doesn't matter, the important thing is that I can sense his determination.

"OK. Do what you must, I am ready! I'm ready to fly! JUST DO IT!"

I was joking when I suggested that, I thought I could cheer him up with a joke. It looks like we have reached the point of no return. Does he hate rivers to the point that he is willing to get thrown to get across them? I am very proud to say that I do not have any experience throwing children, I hope I don't screw this up. How did my life come to this?

I pick him up using both of my hands, he is light, I pray to Father Sky and Mother Earth for what I am about to do. I think I can do this, I need to aim for a location that looks safe enough. Okay, I think I found a good spot to aim for. I should use a lot of my strength to be safe, I don't want the blood of a child on my hands.

I decided to get a running start to be safe and use most of my strength to throw Morgan. I see his tiny body fly across the air, and then I hear a loud thud as the ground caves in slightly. He made it across, but I see his small body twitching in the small crater he created when he landed. (Imagine the Yamcha Pose)

"Are you okay kid? Are you still alive? Morgan? Morgan?"

He doesn't get up, but I hear him shouting from his crater.

"I think my butt cracked! Other than that, I am fine! I think!"

I'm guessing he can't get up because of the pain he is feeling. Wait, isn't it supposed to be split apart?

…Well, if he can still joke around like that, then that means he isn't going to die anytime soon. I underestimated his durability, he looks fine enough. I now have to get across the river, it's easy for me because I just have to get on top of my horse. My horse is large enough to walk across this part of the river. I would have let him on top of my horse or onto the wagon, but I panicked and agreed to throw him across.

For most of this journey he refused to ride the wagon or the horse, he said he wants to use this as a chance to get stronger. As a result, I walked alongside him on our journey back to the tribe. I would feel pretty bad if I let a kid walk while I ride a horse, doesn't feel right.

Now that I think about it, he is smarter and stronger than the kids I know. Most of them would be complaining if they walked more than 20 minutes, or screaming after feeling some pain. Kids cannot hide their secrets or their feelings well, even less can they fool experienced merchants.

I wonder what kind of things he went through? What experiences could have made him this way? What exactly did his master teach him? Only time will tell, and I hope I can learn the answers to those questions.

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[Morgan POV]

We left Bulgar 4 days ago, I wonder where he is taking me. These past few days he has been telling me about the people of his tribe, they are known on the plains as the Lorca. I am guessing that he is taking me to his tribe instead of an orphanage.

I am okay with this because the Sacaeans are known as powerful warriors and hunters. There is a lot I could learn a lot from them, like how to use a bow. I also learned about his family, he was very happy to talk about his wife and daughter.

The reason he was insistent on coming to Bulgar alone was to get his daughter a gift for her birthday. It is also why he is insistent on getting home as quickly as possible, he really loves his family. Well, I'm glad I was able to help him by saving him some money. I remember the sheer joy my parents had whenever they surprised me.

...I really miss them.

"Hassar, what year is it? And what moon is it?"

I never really thought about the year or month till now. I had always assumed I was 5 years old, but I need to be sure. My master told me when I was born in the 959th year, but we never celebrated my birthday because he was too busy preparing me for my mission. Naturally, without a calendar and getting used to things, I lost track of time.

"The year is 964 and it is the Wolf Moon."

That does explain the number of wolf attacks I experienced before I met Hassar. Wow, I barely dodged surviving the winter alone. The Sacaeans use animals to refer to their months or moons, while the other countries use affinities to refer to their moons.

The modern-day equivalent of the Wolf Moon to a modern month is November. I wonder how I would have survived the winter? I'm glad I found someone to take me along with them, my chances of survival increases in a group.

"So, how long will it take for us to reach our destination."

"We are almost there, we will get there before sundown."

So we are close, but he is being vague. I think he wants to surprise me? I am not sure, we have somewhat bonded traveling together, but I am not too sure what he thinks of me. After we crossed the river, we traveled for about 2-3 hours. If the tribe wants to have a source of water nearby, then that means we are minutes away from our destination.

Not going to lie, I am getting pretty excited as we keep getting closer and closer to our destination. I wonder how my life will turn out in a place like this? If things go well, I will be living a life in a culture completely different from the one I knew.