Rainbow Hunt

And true to my expectations, Rob set out on a Rainbow hunt the next day early morning. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to laugh at the situation or cry.

He even managed to get Lea on board and they set out together, eyes lit up with the hope of finding gold... Greed seems to have been passed from parent to child.

'Thank god I am safe...' I thought and noticed Lily seemed to think the same as she looked at me, "You are the hope of this family..." She then hugged me.

It was warm and comforting so... Yeah, I really liked Lily. In any case, the rest of the week passed without much happening. Every day the duo would go searching for rainbows...

Rob was blinded by greed and had actually believed the story I had made up to be true... I found it amusing. Especially Lea's frustration since no rain of any sort had come and that meant no rainbow.

But then one day, it began raining very heavily and by the looks of it, the rain was not going to stop soon. It was so heavy that the chief ordered people to keep watch on the nearby river in case it showed signs of its water rising. A flood was the last thing people wanted.

Meanwhile, Rob silently entered Lily's room early morning, due to the rain it was dark as night; He woke her up and whispered cautiously, "It is finally raining, come let's seak out and find some gold!"

Lea was up and ready in an instant with eyes shining, she thought, 'Finally, I can get Age all the apples in the village. He will play with me lots and lots then...'

Rob who was a genius in his own opinion, secretly took Lea and snuck out treasure hunting. His thirst for riches and adventures had overcome his common sense by this point.

I had seen him lick coins before but taking Lea was on a whole new level of greed. I liked him since he was actually a good man, albeit with some major flaws.

Lily woke me up in urgency, "That damn oaf and Lea are gone! They must have gone on another stupid hunt in the middle of this heavy rain! We need to find them!"

I was up in an instant, a second later I was fully clothed and ready to head out, "When did they leave?" I asked whilst panicking a little.

"I don't know! Go alarm the chief so that they send a search party... If a flood starts... Go QUICK!" She was really worried.

Just as I opened the door, I saw Lea. She was drenched and shivering, her eyes were red and she was crying. I quickly hugged her and brought her in, my heart almost skipping a beat.

"What's wrong?! Are you okay?!" I quickly asked. Lily instantly brought some blankets and brought her near the fireplace.

She kept crying as she said between sobs, "We found something but then some men in black cloaks attacked us... Dad fought them and I escaped... I saw one of them stab him with a knife... I was so terrified... I ran... Forgive me, mama..." She cried even more.

I was frozen, 'Guys in black cloaks??? What?!!' I was shocked.

Lily shouted, "What are you waiting for?! Go call the chief!" I was broken out of my shocked state and nodded while heading out.

The last thing I heard inside was Lily asking Lea to be brave and guide the villagers to Rob's location.

I ran as fast as I could, in a mere minute I reached the chief's house.

I knocked as hard as I could, "Help! HELP!"

The door opened and a wrinkly old man stepped out, "What is it you stupid brat?! Did the water rise?!!"

I shook my head and said as quick as I could, "No! Rob was attacked by unknown men outside the village! We need to go help him!!"

He quickly reacted, "Which Rob?! Crab-handed Rob or Greedy Rob?!"

Crab-handed Rob was a unique man that had hands shaped like crabs... He was a phenomenon of sorts. He had 19 dogs and shot everyone that passed by his house with a bow. His house and its surroundings were a forbidden territory that only he and his dogs roamed.

"Greedy Rob. We need to hurry!" I replied urgently.

He nodded, "Alright brat, leave it to me." He went in and returned with a giant-ass sword in his hand. I gawked.

He roared loudly, "Greedy Rob was attacked! Everyone we go out NOW!"

I watched in silence as in mere minutes, dozens of people all armed gathered. I didn't have time to ponder the military-like speed of the villagers, "Lead the way, BRAT!" Yelled the chief.

I nodded and ran back toward my house and they followed me like infantry...

I reached there and saw Lea standing in front of the door with a determined look, "I will lead you, come!" and she ran off.

I was taken aback by her sudden change but it was not the time so I just followed. I made sure to stay close in case something happened to her.

We ran for a while, it was hard to keep track of the time. It was morning but it was dark due to the black clouds, heavy rain also made everything much worse. I was dirty and drenched in water but at the time I didn't notice it.

Lea had always been a great runner so she managed to run all the way to Rob's location without a problem. That's probably why she had managed to escape.

When we reached there, I saw Rob's body lying down between the trees of the northern forest in a pool of blood that was being washed off by the rain. It was the 1st time I was seeing such a sight, despite the fact that I had experienced death, it was still a shock seeing someone close to you in such a situation.

I felt my heart clench, this man was the one who provided me since I was a baby. He was the one that made funny faces to make me laugh only to see my deadpan look and walk away in shame. He was the one that tried to teach me how to walk only for me to learn it by myself and make him cry in frustration. He tried to potty train me but I was already in control since I was 6 months old... He tried his best despite his flaws. He was a great man...

The chief frowned as he kneeled beside him and checked his pulse only to shake his head and sigh, he turned to look at us with pity, "I am sorry... He is dead."

The rain was falling like crazy as lightning flashed in the sky...

Dead?

I heard Lea begin crying...

I felt a strange sensation in my body, like a flicker of flame burning and slowly growing larger to become a blazing storm. I had anger issues already and this added to that... I was furious!

The rumbling sound of thunder echoed in the dark Forest.

The villagers raged behind us, "Who dared attack one of us?"

"I don't know, but we have to find out!"

"Little girl, did you see their faces?!"

Lea shook her head. I hugged her and took her away, it wasn't okay for her to see her dead father like that.

The villagers began arguing but I Ignored them, I was trying really hard to calm myself since I knew anger was not going to be of any use.

Lea shook my head and I looked at her, "Age, don't growl like that, You are scaring me..."

'I was growling?' I wondered. I took a deep breath and managed to calm myself a little. I hugged her and comforted her, "Don't worry, I will protect you."

"Hmm," she muttered and suddenly fainted. I caught her and lifted her in a princess carry, I was very strong physically based on the past and she was very light so I barely felt anything.

It was a very bad day... The villagers took Rob's corpse and returned to the village.

Lily cried till late at night while Lea slept due to the shock and exhaustion. Meanwhile, I wondered who they might have been, my anger was getting out of control... I needed to punch someone. But I had to stay with Lily and Lea since they needed me.

The next day, the rain stopped and we buried Rob. Greedy Rob was no more, murdered by unknown men. I was the man of the house...

2 months passed and my 12th birthday approached, I worked hard on our farm despite its small size and labored for others to earn a living for Lily and Lea.

I only did hard labor and felt nothing, the villagers began calling me Freaky Age due to my freakish strength that seemed to have no end to it. But the reason I did such difficult labor was to calm my anger, it was still going strong and physical exercise helped calm me.

Things began calming down a little, Rob was gone and yet the world moved on, villagers began forgetting him, only his family remembered his memory. It was sad. But time heals all...

The fateful day came... The day of my 12th birthday...