Struggle

"Haaa Haaa Haaaa"

THUMP

CRASSHHH

THUMP

CRASSSHHHH

I ran as the sounds of destruction chased after me. 

There was no need to look back. The creature had only one goal and it had always been me. That much was true. 

The earth below me shuddered with every step it took after me, I ran past debris of falling structures destroyed in this creature's rampage.

At one point I couldn't run anymore and I slowed down and just like all the times before, I got launched into the sky by the creature and as I fell back down its massive jaws came crushing down on top of me.

I jolted awake from my sleep.

My nightmares constantly plaguing me every night. Honestly, I did not even want to wake up, I wanted to sleep my problems away. This particular one had been recurring every few days for the past few years now, ever since that day.

My training was going fine but with the circumstances around my Waking put me in a bad situation among my family. But I still had high hopes for my Waking's eventual reacceptance.

It had been a few years since I had come here. And things didn't really go well for me from there. I missed the orphanage a lot. I missed them so much.

I gave up everything for this.

And what was worse was my treatment here. I was considered a dunce, a failure. None of these guys took me seriously.

My life was a literally hell.

"Ughh." I grabbed my head. 

Pouring myself a cup of water, I sat up rubbing parts of my body that were still in pain from the previous day's training. Its not like my body was weak either, just the extensive training was getting to me.

My training was quite excessive as well. I knew that this was due to the fact that I was hated, but I really couldn't do much in my situation.

I got prepared for another day of harassment. I chose to endure this. I had to.

I grabbed and put on fresh clothes, it was a bad fit however, I had grown taller and leaner and these hung over me but didn't quite reach all the way down properly. My muscles were compact and I was quite strong now. My diet wasn't great either. Eating whatever was given to me was how I got through most days.

I opened the door and walked out, mentally prepared for everything that came my way.

Walking onto the open training ground, I started warming up. Gritting my teeth to distract myself from the pain.

"Look who it is...." A voice came from behind me. I didn't pay it any mind. This was quite a common occurrence.

The voice continued again, "Weakling Gen back at it again. The shame of the Hunter family."

I ignored the words, that didn't mean that they did not hurt. They hurt. A lot. But I had to prove myself so I could finally be recognized by my Waking and gain full control over it.

Gen Hunter.

I would renounce that name in a heartbeat. The last name brought me so much pain and suffering. Oh what I would do to be back at the orphanage surrounded by people who actually loved me.

The voice seemed to give up after not managing to elicit a reaction out of me.

More and more people started making their way onto the grounds now. The bullying was just starting and it wouldn't be ending anytime soon either.

This training ground was the outer training grounds, people with the surname Hunter never came here. The sole exception to this rule being me.

Over the years me and Jeana drifted apart. And I didn't mind that. She got the love and affection from Amelia Hunter, wife to Aron Hunter, the man who brought us here. Lady Amelia wanted a daughter and she had received one and treated her well. 

I just hoped J didn't get the treatment I get on a daily basis. My pain and suffering was temporary after all.

I was seventeen now and I often looked back at my twelve year old self in envy due to how simple and nice the life I had been living was.

I started running around the grounds and slipped into my memories. Memories of my 'adoption' from 5 years ago.

I watched the orphanage disappear from my view as we drove away. J didn't turn back however, she looked straight ahead, toward our future, whereas I was reluctant to leave behind my past. Funny. That was probably all it took for her to move on.

We then got into an aircraft. A Millican one. It had large propellers on each one of its massive wings. I looked out of the window and watched as the propellers shifted sideways pushing us forward. And I felt an unnatural fear. Among the three oldest in the orphanage, I was definitely not the bravest. That would be Stryke. I was easy to scare and I was almost afraid of everything. And the unnatural fear just felt worse as I watched my home fade away into the distance, as I watched the Melting Lands fade away into the distance.

I felt a part of me want to stay back with them really badly but I pushed that feeling back.

A new beginning. One that would ensure that I would get rich and famous and when I had enough money, I would go back to my old home and support them. That was my dream.

My only consolation was the weekly call I could make to them informing them about my current state of being, as it was required by the adoption laws.

A few hours later I could make out the massive skyscrapers of Millica. We flew past them and landed in a compound larger than the entirety of our little town. As, we got out J let out a gasp and multiple wows. I was stunned too. This was beyond anything I expected. Mr.Hunter led us toward the giant mansion to meet our new family and we followed happily and without question, almost running to keep up with him.

But little did I know everything would go downhill from there.

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"Hey moron, enough running. You got to do weight training now." One of the instructors called out to me, waking me from my memories.

I stopped running and made my way to the gymnasium. It was an extremely advanced one. Not as good as the ones used by the family members but still state-of-the-art.

As I entered the space, the security guard beckoned me. Wondering why he was calling me, I waled to him.

"Boy, tomorrow is the day for you. I was told to inform you of this by Lord Aron himself." The guard said to me. He had an excited tone, "Good luck boy. I've seen how hard you work, things will go well."

The guard was a nice man. He let me spend extra hours training and sometimes even let me inside before it opened for the day. He was a genuine well-wisher and I appreciated that, I appreciated him.

But Aron hadn't reached out to me himself. That did make me slightly upset. I felt like he owed it to me to at least come and share this information personally. Even if he didn't help to ease my suffering, he could have at the very least acknowledged my existence and my hard work.

I nodded at his words, my mind filling up with both resolution and hope. Resolve and hope to finally achieve what I had set out to do. 

I was there. The last stretch remaining. One day of this grueling training and I could finally be on the path to achieve my dream.

As I started my intense weight training, I slipped into my memories again.

"Mr.Hunter where are we going?" I asked as Mr.Hunter asked me to follow him. It was still my first week here and I hadn't explored most of the places yet. But I was curious and I wanted to know, would I meet new people? I wanted to. Lady Amelia had been very kind to me and Jeana. So I assumed everyone here would be the same. 

A line of thought that had been proven very wrong as the years passed however.

"Gen see... you cannot control your Waking right now due to one of two reasons, either your body isn't strong enough or your Waking is actively rejecting you. And for your sake, lets hope its the first reason." Mr. Hunter replied as we walked toward a smaller building on the other side of the compound.

My waking couldn't hate me, it was my soul. Why would it? It was definitely me not being strong enough.

I didn't think much of it however, since I was still a child. No problem could phase me. Hence, I didn't pay it any mind and just happily followed my newfound father-figure. I still didn't feel comfortable calling him 'dad' or 'father' yet. Jeana had gotten used to that quickly however. I guess her age made it easy for her to completely trust him and our surroundings.

But he had treated me well. I got good food, nice clothes and a room to myself. The room felt a bit weird though, it felt empty, lonely. Barely a week had passed and I felt homesick, but I was slowly getting used to my new home.

We walked into the smaller building. The guards outside immediately pressed a button next to them as they saw Mr. Hunter nod at them as we came by and the doors opened. Its inside was brightly lit and was blindingly white. 

Mr. Hunter looked at me and said," We Hunters have a little ritual. You see, if we ever have Wakings that cannot be controlled, we temporarily remove them from the person. Its similar to how Woken crystals come into being. They are remnants of the soul and the Waking. So, in this process we separate your Waking from you until you are strong enough to get accepted by it again. And on the off chance it doesn't get accepted, then you will be given another Waking and so on until you get accepted by a Waking. Do you understand what I mean?"

I nodded. 

I hated myself for that now.

Why had I nodded?

I hadn't understood what he had meant and I certainly hadn't understood the consequences of what he would do to me. But I nodded anyway, believing my new parents wouldn't do anything to harm me.

"So, instead of slowing down your growth, we will remove your Waking for now and give it back once you are strong enough. We have found significant evidence that you grow faster without a Waking. Are you fine with it?"

I nodded again. Blindly trusting my adoptive parent. 

Stryke wouldn't have fallen for that. James as well. Why hadn't I tried to become as smart as them?

But my tragedy had just begun and I had unwittingly surrendered the only thing I had to myself to my eventual captors and torturers.