Chapter 4: Gon

I begin to awaken, I feel a shadow covering me. Opening my eyes a little, I see spiky hair. Wonder how it feels. Reaching out, the spiky hair backs off. I see the silhouette of a small boy extending his hand towards me. By instinct, I grab onto it. He pulls me up. I am much smaller compared to him. We make eye contact. He smiles.

"Hi, I'm Gon. Who are you?"

I tilt my head in response. Opening and closing my mouth, no word escapes me. Gon keeps staring at me, looking intrigued.

"I've never seen someone with green eyes and dog ears before, are you lost?"

Lost. Lost on many accounts. Lost my reason for living, lost many emotions that day. And lost cause I got no idea where I am. I nod in response. Gon smiles, he points to the village I saw last night.

"Maybe someone at the village can help you?"

He pulls my arm, indicating for me to follow. I stagger forward, his strength is powerful.

"Oh, sorry about that. I'll try to be more slower."

The pace lessens, I take the time to look at the scenery. Wondering how the villagers will react to me. Gon looks back, giving me a wide grin. I stare, trying to mimic his grin. My face doesn't do a good job since I can see Gon looking at me in confusion. I look down, trying to hide my embarrassment. The sound of wheels on dirt and loud chattering of people starts to become clear. I look up and see a small port getting close. Gon points to it.

"That's the village. They have great fish, you should try it sometime!"

I stop in my tracks. Gon looks back at me in confusion.

"Is something wrong?"

I shake my head in response. We continue to move forward, I'm left wondering how to act amongst them. Arriving at the village, I can hear gasps. I shrink back behind Gon. Gon stops, he looks at everyone. Everyone is looking at us.

"What's wrong?"

Someone walks up, he points to me.

"What is that 'thing'?"

"What do you mean 'thing'? You mean him? He's lost, so I'm trying to see if someone can help."

"Gon, you know you can't bring beasts into the village unless assisted or it's dead. We don't know what it will do."

"He's not a beast, he wasn't aggressive when I met him. That's not a nice thing to say to someone, apologize."

They continue talking back and forth until a woman with orange hair approaches.

"Gon, who do you have there?"

Gon looks at the women, he smiles.

"Aunt Mito! This is a friend I met inside the forest. He seemed lost so I'm looking for help."

Friend? That's a first. My eyes widen with shock. A small smile appears on my face, Gon doesn't notice it but Mito does.

"let's see then, come to my house. I think I can help."

Ignoring the many stares we are receiving, Mito tells Gon to take me to the house. She's gonna speak with the villagers for a bit. Gon does just that, he's still holding on my arm. Not once did he let go. Walking up to the house, Gon talks along the way.

"That was Aunt Mito, she takes care of me in the village. The villagers are usually so kind, I wonder why they acted strange today."

Pointing to the house, Gon turns back to me.

I nod, Gon smiles then turns to open the door. I see an old woman sitting on a chair.

"Oh my, how peculiar. Gon, have you made a new friend?"

"Yes great grandmother. This is…um.. what's your name? You never told me."

I shake my head, looking down to the floor.

"My it seems your little friend can't speak."

"Oh so that's why."

Gon let's go of my hand. He runs to his room, possibly to get something for me to write with. I see the great grandmother looking at me, her face softens.

"You've been through a lot, haven't you? Those bruises on your neck, Gon must have mistook it as something you got from the forest. But I know scars when I see them."

I grab my neck without thinking, the great grandmother sighs.

"Gon is a good boy, you've made a great friend. Maybe this friendship can help heal you."

I can hear Gon running back. Turning to look, he's holding chalk and a chalkboard.

"You can use this to write. This will make communicating much easier!"