New Beginning

"Son! Help out the farmers tend to the fields, would you?"

Agbayani heard a warm voice from a person caressing and fixing his long brown hair. Agbayani tried to open his eyes, but the sunshine covered his sight from seeing her face.

"Mother! How long are you going to spoil him? He has to hunt like a man!"

Says a rough but familiar voice. Agbayani tried to move and speak, but his efforts were in vain as his body seemed to want to rest here, forever. And then, another voice spoke,

"What a musclehead! He has to learn the ways of the village so he can help me in handling an idiot like you!" says a young, feminine voice that is also familiar to Agbayani.

He looked at where the voice came from and saw his... older sister.

He looked at the person that was still caressing his head, and he saw His mother, and the two of them did not have their bruises and faces in terror that Agbayani saw.

And lastly, his older brother, with his head still intact to.... his body. And then, a realization came upon him. He rubs his eyes, not believing the situation at hand. But, there is a much urgent matter at hand, as he realizes and wonders what happened to them and how can they still be alive. The more he thought about it, the more questions came to his brain. So, he talked to his 'family' and asked them.

"N-Nanay, I-Wh-what happened to the foreigners?"

The poor guy couldn't help but stutter as he could still remember the horrors that the world had shown him, the horrors that would haunt him until he gets old.

"..."

The figures grew silent. Their faces looked blurry as the surroundings seemed to distort, and Agbayani hears the voices of the people he's been thinking of as a family earlier, agonizing from the pain and torture they've experienced.

"Come now, my child, and rest in my laps.. forever."

Agbayani got terrified, and he closed his eyes as the figures earlier turned into trees and wild plants. Realizing it was all but a nightmare, Agbayani stands up, and he looks around only to find himself near the corpses at the shore. With the gruesome sight, he vomits and gags, and he also becomes dizzy as he sees the terrified look on the corpses' faces.

As he tries to get out of this place, the eight-year-old child gets grabbed by a man. He squirms and struggles to break free from the arms of the man that got him. He then looks behind and sees a man with blood all over his face, near death. Agbayani recognizes the man as his father's right-hand man, and his name is Adlaw, also known as Ka Adlaw in their village. Agbayani then realizes that there we're two foreigners currently walking around near the place he was scurrying earlier. And had Ka Adlaw not forcefully grabbed him, he would've been caught. Agbayani expresses gratitude to Ka Adlaw and asks him the possible way out of here. Ka Adlaw tells Agbayani that he must follow him to the mountains, and they will be taking refuge there.

"My Prince! Thank the gods you are alive!"

Ka Adlaw exclaims. Although the kid was also joyous meeting a fellow tribesman, Agbayani also feels sad over the death of his family. Ka Adlaw sees his face and feels sorry for the child.

"I'm very sorry for what happened with your father..."

Ka Adlaw sheds tears and continues,

"If only-- had he not saved me from the foreigners, I would be one of the people lying over there!"

Ka Adlaw points to the mountain of corpses and says,

"That is why, I swear to your father, the ancestors, and even the gods! I will raise you, my prince. And, we will be taking the heads of those detestable foreigners! So hush now, my prince, for we will be getting out of this place once and for all!"

Ka Adlaw then assures Agbayani and pats the child's shoulders as an act of sympathy. After talking, they walk past and overhear the two foreigners earlier talking wrongfully about their tribesman.

"¡Jajaja! Fue una buena idea venir aquí, ¿eh, Juan?" - ("Hahaha! It was a good idea to come here, huh, Juan?")

"¡Es cierto! ¡Jugar con las mujeres de esta estúpida tribu fue muy divertido! Jajajajaja" - ("It's true! Playing with the women of this stupid tribe was so much fun! Hahahahaha")

"La más divertida fue cuando llamaron al arma, ¡palo! jajajajaja" - ("The funniest was when they called the gun, stick! hahahahaha")

"Sí, pero, ser sacerdote debe ser bueno ¿no? Solo el Padre José sacó lo mejor de todos nosotros..." - ("Yes, but being a priest must be good, right? Only Father José brought out the best in all of us...")

"¿Eh? no le hagas caso Juan ese puerco solo piensa con la mitad inferior!" - ("Eh? Don't pay attention to him, Juan, that pig only thinks with the lower half!")

The two foreigners were laughing a lot but, since both Ka Adlaw and Agbayani didn't understand them and only wanted to escape from this hell, they kept going on their way.

"Come on! Hurry up my prince and let us leave this place!"

Ka Adlaw told Agbayani urging him to hurry up so as to not get caught by the foreigners.

Right after Agbayani and Ka Adlaw got far away from the foreigners, from their village, and from Agbayani's family, Agbayani gets weakened and sheds tears as the massacre still did not leave his heart and mind. Ka Adlaw sheds a tear and pats Agbayani's back. He feels sorry for the son of his liege and feels pity for him. Meanwhile, Agbayani kept shedding tears and voicing out all the rage that had accumulated in his little heart. He kept crying and crying until he and Ka Adlaw got alerted as they both heard a rustle from the bush behind them. When they picked up a rock, they kept their distance from it. To their surprise, it was one of the foreigners! And the foreigner was holding the stick again! Ka Adlaw realizes this and thinks that the young Agbayani's life will be in danger. He knew he had to do something, or else this would be where they would both breathe their last. And, so, while grabbing Agbayani, he ran and ran. Even if his bloodied legs felt tired, he kept on running.

Ka Adlaw brought Agbayani to the shore while trying to avoid the gunshots and enduring the wounds from the "magic stick" that the foreigner brought. Agbayani now realizes Ka Adlaw's intentions. He then struggles from Ka Adlaw's grasp, but he doesn't let him. And then, Ka Adlaw went to one of the foreigner's boats and put Agbayani in one of the barrels there. He then told Agbayani to not leave the barrel. And, to make sure the child was safe, Ka Adlaw shouted far from the shore.

"Hey!! I'm over here!!"

And took the foreigner's attention to him. Agbayani hears this and cries again. This situation is too similar to what happened in the massacre. He was helpless, and all he can do is, grit his teeth from the frustration. He swears that he will be avenging everyone. And, while Agbayani swears on avenging all the people who died there, he hears gunshots and the screams of Ka Adlaw, which makes him even more frustrated. Now, Agbayani who was once kind is gone. He now swears to pay back the foreigners tenfold-- no, a hundredfold. The built-up frustration and the bloodshed he's seen have turned him into a person-- a monster with only hatred for the world.