Escaped

~

After a few hours passed, the carriage came to a complete stop again.

Hearing the marching of a bunch of men coming from outside, curious of the noise, Zac peeks through a crack, and as he does, he watches as a bunch of prisoners and knights walk through a gate, leaving his sight.

Someone opened the entrance to the back door, and in a sudden attempt, Zac fled, but with no effort, he got caught.

Panicking and screaming, the Knight holding Zac would raise his elbow, hitting him in the back of the head, knocking him out.

[Jail Cell]

Waking up, Zac would wake up to a headache and a sore back.

Getting up on his feet, he would notice bars caging him inside a small squared room, leaving his heart racing when realizing he was in prison.

Giving himself no rest, he would pace back and forth in the small room, worried about what to do next and how he would speak to the Lord.

As Zac sits around contemplating how to get out, he's stuck with ideas that won't work.

It could be an impossible feat; nonetheless, he is determined to see the Lord of the land and ask him to punish those who've wronged him.

He sits there, crouching in silence, staring at the floor with nothing to do but think.

*ting*

Zac's ears twitch at the sound but still haven't noticed as someone throws pebbles at the bars that keep Zac caged.

*ting*

The sound then goes on until Zac finally notices; he raises his head and gets hit by one of the flying pebbles thrown by the prisoner across from him. Confused and annoyed, Zac would stand up with a peeved expression.

"What's your deal? Stop throwing shit at me, you bastard!" Zac would say with a loud and bothered tone.

"Shhhh... You're going to attract the guard's attention." The man would whisper as he put his index finger up to his mouth.

"Why would I care? Stop bothering me, or I'll call for the guards myself." Zac would lower his voice, not enough to be whispering but not enough to be considered loud.

"Alright, kid, I understand; I just wanted to get your attention to ask you a question."

"What do you want?" Zac would respond in frustration.

"Nothing much; I was just curious as to why you're here. You look young to be getting into trouble. Where're your parents?"

*silence*

Zac's eyes widened as he looked away with a saddened face, hiding his expression from the man.

"Hey, kid! How would you like to get out of here?" After breaking the silence, the man would grin as he asked the question.

"What do you mean?" Looking back at the stranger, he put on a confused look.

With great confusion on Zac's face and in complete shock, he watched as the man bent the bars, spreading them, creating a vast gap, and leaving a custom-made doorway out, and he did it with great ease.

The man suddenly started to walk towards Zac; still in shock, Zac backed up, throwing himself to the ground, as he kept his eyes on the man the whole time. The stranger would end up doing the same thing to Zac's bars as he did to his own.

Leaving Zac trembling, the man holds out his hand, implying for Zac to take it. Calming down, Zac hesitates as he finally decides to take his hand, and then what seemed to be a second, they both suddenly appeared far from the Kingdom, leaving nothing but mountains and forest terrains in their sight.

"What just happened?" Bewildered at what just happened, Zac would try and take in all that had happened in a day.

"It's called teleportation." The man would turn to Zac and smirk.

Filled with curiosity. "What's teleportation?" Zac would ask bluntly

Hesitating at the question for a moment, he proceeds to answer. "There are powers out there that go beyond human capabilities. Teleportation is like walking through a door and entering the place you want to go, same door, different location. Ever heard of the Heroes?"

Trying to understand bits and pieces of what the man is saying, he would smile at the sound of "Heroes" as Zac still wanted to become one. "Yes, I've heard many stories, but I was born 1-year later after the heroes died, so all I ever heard were stories and rumors."

He puts his hand on Zac's shoulder. "Let me tell you, kid, being a hero is not as cool as you may think it is. The people will push all that responsibility onto you, and many heroes have drowned in people's expectations, hindering their work and personal lives, making them want to throw it all away."

After a brief silence, the warm breeze brushes up against them both.

They just looked at the clear view of grassland, deer eating, rabbits hopping, wild animals feeding, and flowers coloring the fields.

"I never got to ask, but what's your name?" Not looking at each other and keeping the favorable view in their sights, Zac would start to question.

"If we ever meet again, kid, I'll tell you." He would say as he looked down at Zac.

"You're leaving?" Zac would ask in a troubled tone.

"Yes, I have many enemies looking for me, and I want to believe in the next time we meet." He would kneel to Zac's height as he started to say his goodbyes.

"But I haven't gotten to thank you yet." Zac starts to tear up.

"You just did." Showing the brightest smile to Zac, he vanishes, leaving a big gust of wind hitting Zac.

Emotions were hurtling through him; Zac finally decides to leave and find a way to get to Glaryplains and make the Knights face justice.

Through the forest, Zac sets off on his own. He has been given little direction from the man he now calls Savior, and so his steps are guided only by instinct.

He travels for hours with only his destination in mind. He keeps to the trees and crosses rivers whenever he comes to them. At one point, he finds himself atop a tall hill where the wind whistles through the treetops and the clouds float in a clear blue sky. At the top of this hill, Zac is given time to think, "WHY THE F*CK DID HE DROP ME OFF HERE!?" Baffled at the reality of where he is and how long it would take him to reach Glaryplains, he gets down on his knees in embarrassment that he was so blinded by being saved he didn't even think to make reason of why he couldn't be dropped off anywhere closer to Glaryplains.

He stays there until nightfall when the sounds of crickets and cicadas fill the air. It's then that he decides to find shelter for the night. He descends from the hillside and walks across an open field until he finds a giant tree whose roots have grown over into the ground. The trunk has withered and lost its strength, but a few branches remain, providing enough cover to protect him for the night. He lays himself down beneath them and falls asleep immediately. When he wakes up the following day, he notices how warm it feels under the tree. He takes a deep breath of air for him to speak his mind out loud. "I wish you were here with me, mom." Raising his hand to block the light out of his eyes.

Zac looks around to see if he can spot any signs of people nearby, hitchhikers, or anybody at all. He hears no voices or footsteps. It almost seems as if he's alone in the world. It makes him feel safer than before. After a while, he hears a faint noise coming from behind the tree. His curiosity piques, and he slowly turns around to see what it is. He sees nothing. Then, he hears something again. Curiosity clouds his judgment when it could be a wild animal. He moves forward to investigate the noise once more.

"Hello?" He says aloud, not wanting to scare whatever it is away. "Is someone there? Hello!" There's still silence. Zac, now afraid, begins to back away from the tree. The small noises grow louder and closer. Zac looks around to see if anything is approaching him. Nothing. Still, the sounds get closer. Ready to run for his life, a little white ball of fluff, also known as a bunny, hops out of the bushes. Its ears perk up, and its head swivels side to side, curiously looking at the boy who just woke it from its slumber.

The rabbit stands on two legs and has sharp black eyes. As it approaches, the smell of flowers wafts from it. A smile spreads across Zac's face. This creature must mean good luck! Zac attempts to capture the rabbit using the same technique he used to catch frogs, but the bunny easily dodges his hands. The bunny runs off into the woods without giving Zac another glance. Zac sighs, disappointed. He watches the rabbit disappear into the bush and thinks about how he had just missed another meal tonight. With his stomach rumbling and energy gone, he has to think of a quick way to get something to eat.

It takes little thought for him to come up with a plan. He remembers how the rabbits live underground.

...

Heading in the direction the rabbit had run off to; Zac searches for its burrow. Having looked tiredly, he finally sees it in sight. To not disturb the rabbit, he waits for it to come out to look for food.

A couple of minutes later, the bunny emerges from the earth, hopping along the dirt path. At first, he planned to capture it but thought that one bunny would not keep him fed for a long time, so another plan arose. He would learn where the rabbit would search for food and water, saving him the trouble of accidentally picking berries from bushes that may be poisonous.

Zac follows the rabbit, watching closely as it goes about its business. It stops at every bush, sniffing the air and snatching leaves and twigs to nibble on. Zac does the same, learning which plants are safe to pick. He picks a few, but they're not enough to satisfy his hunger. He continues following the rabbit until he reaches a stream. He drinks deeply from it, filling his belly. After drinking, he takes some water to wash his face and hands.

When he returns to the bushes, he spots the bunny eating berries. Zac smiles and quickly grabs a handful of them. He eats as many as he can before the rabbit notices him. The rabbit leaps into the air, startled by the sound of his footsteps. Running away, Zac tries to catch it but to no avail; it's gone. Not remembering where he came from, planning from the beginning just to keep following the rabbit until it led him back failed.

***

Zac wandered through the woods, hoping to find his way back to find the burrow. He is exhausted from searching. He sits down to rest for a moment. Looking around, he notices a pile of sticks near a fallen tree. He picks up a stick and begins to make himself a fire before night falls. Once he has a small flame, he adds a bit of sticks he found on the ground. He places the bundle of leaves he picked earlier onto the fire and watches as they begin to burn.

As he stares at the flames, he starts to wonder how he got to where he is now. Why did the man leave him in such an unfamiliar place? It angered Zac but is easily calmed because he could not stay mad at his savior. He will always be grateful for rescuing him, but leaving him to fend for himself was something he didn't know how to do. He knew nothing of survival skills and had never done anything like this. He could have died out in the forest if not for his goal of keeping himself alive. Zac huddled to the fire, as near as he could safely be. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

***

Later the next day, Zac attempts to catch Fish with his own hands in the same river he found by following the rabbit. With the loud sounds of the river running, Zac didn't notice that a man stood across from him until he looked up to rest his strained neck.

"Ah, hello," the man said. "You don't happen to need help finding your way home, do you?" Tears ran down Zac's eyes when he saw the man. He hadn't seen anyone since his rescue. He was glad to see somebody else.

"Yes, I'm trying to find my way to Glaryplains."

"Well, you've certainly made a lot of progress."

Zac smiled and followed the elderly man, for his journey through the forest will be more accessible from here on out. Chatting with the elder, he learned much about him. He lived out in the forest, away from populated areas, due to his old age and how cranky he is.

They continued walking until they reached the elderly man's hut, which looked to be built from a large tree.

"This is where I live," he said. "Come inside, and we'll talk for a while. You can tell me all about yourself."

Zac entered the house and sat down on a chair. They chatted all day long, Zac told his story, and the elder just sat and listened.