Intuitions of War- chapter 1

Intuitions of War

Chapter 1: Humble beginnings

Life wasn't easy, but it was good to even be alive in the first place. At least, it was the case for Harper, a child who lived in the docks of England.

"You leech off us like a mosquito, yet you never help. Quite the parasite you are." one of the fishers passing by said, one that Harper believed was known as Mr. Mason.

"How can I help? I can't lift half the things you sailors can lift with a single hand." Harper retaliated, trying to make himself seem innocent and non-guilty.

"Hmph" Mr. Mason went, and just continued walking. He was carrying a humongous fish on his left shoulder, looking to be at least twenty pounds. Another kid ran up to Mr. Mason, one that actually tried to contribute, unlike Harper.

"Mr. Mason, can I try carrying the fish?" the young kid stated, as giddy as he could be. Mr. Mason simply looked at him and smiled, while continuing to walk.

"If you tried to carry this fish, you'd tumble to the bottom of the sea Wyatt." Mr. Mason said with a chuckle leaving his mouth at the same time. On the other side, Wyatt seemed a bit disappointed that he couldn't do anything entertaining, or at least helpful.

Wyatt turned his attention to Harper, who was still slouching around on the docks. "You know Harper, can you at least try to help the sailors?" came out of his mouth, a disapproving tone leaving his mouth.

Even though Wyatt was younger then Harper, he was always the one who tried to help much more. He even wanted to grow up and become a sailor one day, a man who would explore the world and discover something amazing.

"Even if you don't want to help them, just carrying the fish will help you! Imagine how strong you could become if you were to lug huge fish around every day! The muscles on both our arms will surely expand to a gargantuan size!" Wyatt, trying to convince Harper to help, pulled this sentence out on him.

"We don't live in the primitive age anymore Wyatt, strength isn't everything in this world. With the war going on and whatnot, would your arm strength help you even the least bit?" Harper was getting a bit angry at Wyatt.

Wyatt was one who was always oblivious to what was happening around the world, still trying to live life using the old ways.

"In this world, the strength of a body doesn't matter anymore. These days, we have guns, cannons, grenades, and more. A single bullet from a gun is more than enough to put out even the strongest of men, not to mention the other two I mentioned. You can throw yourself out onto the battlefield as much as you want, but if you don't know how to use at least one of those three, you surely won't come back alive." Harper tried to explain to Wyatt, once again trying to change his primitive ways.

It wasn't that he had something against becoming strong, or Wyatt in general, it was just that he didn't want him to die. He was one of the few other kids who were also living in the docks, homeless as he was.

"Heh, just watch me Harper, I'll rise to places you've never even seen before, using my own strength!" However, Wyatt refused to listen to reason and continued his rant about the strength of the body.

*sigh*

Harper gave up once again, and just began to zone out. After a few more minutes, he fell asleep, while Wyatt was still ranting on. It was something that he had to get used to when it came to Wyatt, as he was just too dedicated.

'All these people living life like this are good, but they need to realize that in the current day and age, muscle on your body just doesn't get you everything you want.' Harper thought, as he fell into a deeper and more silent sleep.

However, things wouldn't stay so simple for much longer.

--- sequence 2 ---

"That's a big fish you've got there!" was the sentence that Harper woke up to. He slowly opened his eyes, taking in the scenery. However, something seemed very different.

Well, not different in the way you'd think different means.

Everything was still the same, everyone was still the same, but it was the fish hanging from one of the boats that was confusing.

For in front of Harpers eyes was a shark hanging from one of the hooks of a boat. It was the boat of one of the most esteemed fishers here, Mr. Mason. Seeing a shark was already a rare sight itself, much less actually catching one.

At least, it was a rare sight for someone who had never went out into the sea.

"Yes it is, which is why I think I deserve a whisky or two!" Mr. Mason said back gleefully while holding his hands out, clearly expecting the whisky to be dropped into his hands.

As expected, he got his whisky from some other fisher, and everyone began celebrating catching the shark.

'Well, they're clearly not that primitive if they didn't try to use their body muscles to catch the shark, but instead used the boat.' Harper was trying to be positive about these primitive people in anyway possible, just because of the fact that these people were the only ones that he actually trusted.

As far back as he can remember, he was always living on these docks. No matter if it was day or night, breakfast or lunch, or anything else, he was always here. He had been here his whole life, and he didn't think that it was changing anytime soon.

"Well, I'm kind of hungry, so I guess I could join in on their feast?" Harper questioned himself, while slowly rising from the crate that he was sleeping on. He hopped down from the crate onto the wooden boards of the dock, and ran towards Mr. Mason and his little party that he had going.

Everyone there seemed to have a bottle of whisky in their hands, dancing around and enjoying themselves. Then, the part that Harper was waiting for finally came.

"Bring out some damn food, this is a great mood to eat in!" one of the fishers dancing around yelled, and two others that were dancing immediately reacted.

"We'll get it for you Mr. Barley!" John said back, while pulling his brother Sidney with him by the hand.

"Give us a quick minute or two to fetch it!" Sidney also commented, and just like that, the twins were dashing off to get the food.

'Quite the cheerful pair they are.' Harper thought, while taking a seat on another crate that happened to be around the fishers.

Harper had no education, but from living here his whole life, he had learned that a minute or two usually meant it was quick, so he would just wait. However, Mr. Mason, as always, didn't like Harper.

"Oh, you're awake you leech? Get outta 'ere, this is a celebration for my catch, and just your presence alone is already ruining the mood." Mr. Mason said in a very direct and relentless tone, clearly stating what he wanted.

Harper, knowing the attitude of Mr. Mason, simply sighed and stood up, while beginning to walk away.

'All these people despising me just because I'm weak can get annoying really quickly.' Harper was already constructing a plan within the walls of his mind as to how to get some food.

In reality, he was almost never allowed to get food. Most of the time, he had to steal it or concoct a plan to convince people to give him food. Thankfully, his brain was already made for such a thing.

'I could blindside Mr. Mason, but it'd be a terrible idea while everyone else is there. The best chance I have is to let them drink enough whisky to lose themselves, then just try to get food at that point. If it still doesn't work, I can just lure Mr. Mason out and blindside him.' Harper was a creative type, always thinking outside the box.

If he couldn't get something through normal means, then he would get it another way. That was the way he had to shape his mind into if he wanted to live.

'For now, let's just wait for them to drink enough whisky.' Harper was currently walking through the streets of Newcastle, a lovely little city that he had grown up to know. As of right now, he was heading towards a pub he knew all too well, as it was one that he visited on a daily basis.

Above the door was the usual sign that hung from the balcony above, which held the name of the pub proudly on its wooden face.

The Turtle Bay