• The First Stage: Discovery (part one)


    A small boy, about the age of nine or ten, played outside alone during the school day. He was hunched over, seeming to be working on something quite fervently, joy and excitement in his little eyes. His family had just moved into their new village and he was considered something new and strange to the other students. And some of them took new and strange as an excuse to torment and tease him. A few of the larger boys in the class walked over to him and proceeded to push him over. The small boy huddled over what he was working on so the other kids couldn't see, and buried his head in his arms to keep them from seeing him.
    "Wutcha doin, weirdo?"
    The biggest one said with a sneer. His hair was short and spiky, and he was quite stocky for his age. The small boy didn't move.
    "I said, wut are you doin weirdo?"
    He kicked the kid in the ribs and only received a muffled yelp in return.
    "C'mon you freak, get up!"
    The boy shouted and gave the smaller boy three more hard kicks. This time there was no whimpering or yelping.
    One of the girls in the class ran over and pushed the larger boy in the chest, giving him a fiery glare from steely blue eyes that clashes with her bright red hair.
    "Knock it off, he wasn't doing anthing to you, was he?"
    The boys all laughed and sneered as the larger one stepped up and looked down at her.
    "This is none of yer business, and yer right, he wasn't doin anything: He wouldn't answer my question."
    All the little girl did was glare at him and stand in the way of the two boys. The boy on the ground hadn't even moved this entire time, he just kept still and guarded his unknown treasure. The large boy finally got angry.
    "Thas it, git outta my way, or yer gonna git moved outta my way." She didn't move either, staring him down with defiance that could have possibly swayed the gods.
    The large boy finally got fed up after waiting for another few moments and backhanded her out of the way, the snap of his hand against her face like the snapping of a large limb from a tree.
    The smaller boy picked up his head and looked at the girl laying on the ground, clutching her face but not making a single peep. Then the strangest thing happened. He glared up at the large boy and his bright blue eyes snapped to a blood red. He stood up, keeping something clutched in his right hand as he stared the large boy directly in the eye, despite the small difference in height.
    "Don't you ever hit a girl again."
    He said in short, struggled words, each filled with anger that bordered on rage. The taller boy only laughed and then poked the small boy in the forehead, pushing him back a few inches.
    "Wut you gonna do about it, hmm?"
    He taunted. The boy was consumed with rage as his eyes began shifting colors. The big boy pulled his hand away and yelped, his finger blistering as though from a burn.
    "Wut the?! Wut'd you do?"
    He shouted, nursing his thumb. The small boy didn't answer but only pointed a finger at the big boy's chest and said
    "Move..."

    * * *


    No one knows where the child went after that day. The big boy's posse could only testify that that new kid had simply pointed at the big kid, and after a loud flash of light and heat there was nothing left of the boy save for a few bits and pieces, along with a pool of blood. The little girl was heart broken because she had come to crush on that strange boy over the few days he had been there, but she was also mortified that such a sweet kid had done such a terrible thing just because she had gotten hurt. From that moment on she never let anyone hurt her. The town searched for weeks but he was never found. The majority of his clothes, along with his father's machete and the child's own short bow had disappeared, signaling to him running away..