10 Chapter 8.5 (Extra)

A short little filler chapter. Tian dreams

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Tian settled in against Axel's shoulder to sleep despite the rocking of the carriage. He dreamed of a different world that night, a different time. He was above ground in a roughly made wooden home. It was situated up in the trees of large oaks that swayed in a warm breeze. Sunlight flooded through the wholes, but it simply warmed his back and made him feel at ease.

A hatch opened from the floor and two muscular arms pulled himself up. The man turned and grabbed the hand of another kid who looked strikingly like him. A young boy with black hair, much like his own father. Two other kids followed, but they seemed to be older then what his mother had told him. One had his father's black hair, and the other had curly dark brown hair. Tian's dirty blonde hair stuck out like a sore thumb, even if they looked similar, he was still much different than his own siblings. The man helped his mother up, she was much younger without so much darkness behind her eyes. Her smile wasn't forced as she hugged Tian's father freely. Her blonde hair was pulled back and well kept. He'd never seen his father's face except for the drawings his mother often did when she thought Tian had gone to sleep.

His father was beautiful and handsome at the same time. His raven colored hair came to his shoulders and was curly. He was tall and muscular with pale snow white skin. His eyes were a permanent bright gold and the black lines curled up his bare skin to fade out at his chin. They were all over his arms and back, more than Tian had ever seen. Even the children had more lines and paler skin. He had a sharp jawline, but his face was hairless. Kukouk didn't grow facial hair after all. Tiantok looked older, though and haunted by a tragedy even his mother could never truly understand.

With a pit in his stomach, Tian realized just how little he knew about his family. He'd lived with his mother for almost 13 years, but she'd still been a stranger to him. He stared at the happy family, a father who loved his three children so well and a mother who loved her family even more. From what Tian had heard, all of Tiantok's first children were prodigies. Tian, despite being named after his father, had been slower. Harder to teach because he was a perfect mix between human and Kukouk. All of his siblings had leaned more to the Kukouk side. Tian stared at a family that should've been his, but he only felt alienated. He didn't belong there, staring in at a happiness he'd never get. A mother who'd raised him out of obligation for having him, a father who died protecting his children. And siblings who died because humans were cruel. They were all pale skinned, whilst Tian was tanner than his mother had ever been. He was the only descendant with blonde hair.

Tiantok held the youngest up high, laughing as the girl laughed. His father looked so happy and he stepped back.

"Tian?" Someone whispered and suddenly he was free falling to the surface. The family was gone, the forest, the home was all gone. He was standing on a dark path. His black lines were glowing against his arms, something they'd never done before. He looked up to see Tiantok standing before him with his shoulders covered by fur.

His father stepped closer to him, and Tian had to crane his neck to meet his own father's eyes. Tiantok had been of the biggest of the Kukouk, standing at 6 foot 9 while Tian barely passed 5 foot 8. He seemed larger than life, even larger than the pictures his mother had drawn. Tiantok's lines glowed just as bright as Tian's, but lines glowed underneath the skin of his face as well. His eyes were glowing gold, too, completely engulfing the whole eye. He was ethereal, completely unlike anything Tian had ever seen in his short life. His father oozed a natural born warrior, and a natural born leader.

"Even if you never joined are family, we are proud of you," Tiantok spoke, his voice inhumanely deep and commanding. It was warm, but at the same time his tone was ice cold and stoic. A perfect balance of both. "You've survived the toughest odds my boy. And you took the only trait your siblings had never been able to achieve. Only the true chief of the Kukouk could light the way for the rest of the Kukouk people. The marks of the Kukouk that you bare have received the blessing to lead. It is you who will take my place amongst the remnants of our people and guide them to the light once more. We belong on the surface amongst the humans."

"Father, you…" Tiantok raised his hand, stopping Tian in his tracks.

"It's ok to be angry at us. Your mother named you after a father that was never there for you. The only way we can meet is through the marks of the Chief, but even then, it will never be enough. It's ok, my boy, to be angry at us for leaving you alone. Marie raised you quite well. Know that your mother, siblings and I will always love you so much," his father smiled at him before starting to fade into the dark. "And even if you never joined our family, you have a place with us when it's time to come home. It is your duty, now, to reunite our people my boy. You must find him Tian, the man who has protected the people throughout the many years they've been gone. The Protector is your destiny."

"Father, I don't know who you're talking about. But… is Marie there? Is she…" Tian couldn't answer, his throat closed around his own words and threatened to rip a sob from deep inside.

"She's here with us, watching over you my boy," Tiantok stated before he was truly gone in a cloud of golden flecks.         

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Even when Tian believes he's alone, his mother who loved him in her owned heartbroken way, his father who was murdered before his time, siblings he'll never get to know, and Marie who loved him like a mother should are always watching over him. Even in death, he is not alone.