Chapter 1 "Lost Grey Eyes"

Large globs of rain rolled down the pale face, pelting against the fresh bruises. His small, thin frame shook with the cold of the storm that had clenched the lands within its claws. A mixture of fear and pain filled the child as he curled up in to his shaking body, his arms hugging his boney knees as he huddled against the large tree that had fallen down by the great winds of the storm. It wasn't much, but it would have to due for now. He could go no longer without fading into the darkness, which he wouldn't allow to happen. He was too scared, horrified to wake up to evil laughter echoing in the air.

His body ached with a sharp pain at every deep breath that had escaped past his blue chapped lips, the salty tears running down his face in small rivers. He tried to stop crying, hiccuping a few times between inhaling a deep breath of the fog that surrounded him like a blanket. It was almost comforting, he decided as he wiped away his tears from his grey eyes, smudging dirt all over thin face.

Thump, thump...Thump, thump...Thump, thump.

His heart began to settle slowly as he began to listen to the sounds of the forest around him. His arms tensed as he listened to a mysterious howl far away, letting the echo travel to his ears as he curled deeper into his torso and tried to stop his dirty teeth from chattering. He tried to think of something to soothe his mind, something that wouldn't allow his young mind to go insane. He was getting paranoid, his childish features confused as he closed his eyes to let in the darkness, smiling as he thought he felt the warm presence of someone very familiar. 

He remembered her voice, soft and mysterious. He remembered her soft, warm hands as she hugged him every night in their wooden bunks, which creaked with every twitch or sneeze that came from their occupants. She would always sing to him, softly as she brushed her slender fingers through his raven brown hair, smiling as if everything was, or would be, okay. He missed her, her missed everything about her. His mother...Why did she deserve to be in such a horrible situation? To never see her husband again, or to be a whole family. He had woken up many times before to the crying woman beside him, whispering his fathers name over and over again.

But they were together, and would someday be away from such a horrid place they served.

Usually, the boy would have horrible nightmares when he closed his eyes, and sometimes he'd be lucky to get a good nights rest in without the mysterious black figures invading his imagination. Those nightmares clung to him like a deathly disease, craving for his tears to fall so they would be satisfied for the remainder of his life. But tonight was different, and after closing his eyes long ago, he began to drift off into a darkness as he listened to the rain around him.

His mother... She wore a clean dress, her black hair hung down below her shoulder, softly curled and even clean of the horrid filth that used to be there. There was no scar on her face, no bruises covered her arms and her eyes were replaced with a happy gleam of emerald green, they were not the foggy eyes he had once seen too many times before. She was healthy, too. Well fed, well rested. He couldn't help but let a small giggle of joy escape his lips as the woman embraced her son with her slender arms and took him to sit under a glowing tree, resting in the shade as she sang him to sleep. They talked for a little, laughing as if they were never abused in their lives.

He didn't know that outside of his dream, his chapped lips curved up into a smile and he stopped shaking as all the tension was released from his frail body.

He felt happy once more. He didn't want that to change, but he knew it would once he opened his squalid eyes to face the harsh reality.

-LINE BREAK- -LINE BREAK- -LINE BREAK-

Adam winced when he woke up, the light from the sun caught him off guard. He got up, rubbing his aching shoulders as he looked around the pathetic camp site, finally hearing the voice of his young nephew, Anthony. Anton, for short. He seemed to prefer Anton, though.

He looked at the young man - boy - as blue meant brown eyes. Anthony let out his childish grin as he continued to search through the wagon when his Uncle got up from under the wool blankets. Anthony was actually a legal adult know to the laws of Overland and Smoth both, but even so, he still had a lot to learn with Adams 'business', so in Adam's eyes he saw him as a mere boy. Sometimes annoying him along their travels, pulling stupid pranks on his Uncle as they stopped for rest and sometimes when they spotted a mouse off in the distance.

He had to keep a close eye on this kid as he always got into trouble during his schooling, it wasn't safe to leave for a trip as Adam had to end up solving the problem between Anthony and the teacher of his school, sometimes desperate parents who ended up having a black eyed and bloody nosed son come home after the long day, and of course getting into a stupid fight with his Nephew...

But thank The Gods those times were finally over! Being twenty years old as of last month Anton had, of course, no longer needed to attend the small school that Adam had been able to afford to send him to. It was his mothers wish before her sudden death, to send him to school and get him working right away. Of course Adam knew that his sister, Anton's mother, would not accept of 'this', as in traveling during the war, but he was within age and Anna, his sister, had been dead for over five years. It hurt to think of Anna like that and in a way, deny her wishes, but to Adam he considered his 'business' a job and it would to Anthony good to explore the lands, to get out of the stingy town in Overland.

Adam got up finally, pulling on his brown boots as he stretched his sore muscles and went over to their horses, who pranced in their places along the mud, which had been beaten by their strong hooves.

"I'll take Thunder and Maury to the river and see what we caught in the net! I'll be back soon, get breakfast started, Anthony."

Adam's rough voice filled the deathly silence as he grabbed the reins of the new mustangs, losing their other two after bandits caught them on their trail at night and ran off with them. After giving up on the search for the bloody bastards, they went to a large city and bought two new horses that would last quit awhile on their travels, he guessed it was a good thing since their old horses were getting old anyway, probably dead by now.

It is what it is, Adam thought as he strolled down the small hills, avoiding the branches that seeped up from the ground as he led the two tall mammals towards the large, thin river.

When he first heard the churning water, he sighed in relief to get some of the clean water while also checking if they had the net full of struggling fish, waiting for the freedom to continue their journey. But when he got down to the river side, letting the two stallions stroll their way to the river side by side, seemingly not bothered by the random figure of a boy at the side of the river, trying to open up the angrily knotted net. He froze in place as the figure turned around when he noticed the sound of a branch snapping beneath Adam's heavy body.

"You!" he shouted at the boy with his thundering voice before he found himself attacking the small figure, or rather chasing after the mysterious boy who had just tried to steal from them, he would not allow it!

"Get back here, kiddo!" he yelled more as he chased after the kid, listening to the horse heavy hooves clip onto the ground at the anger in Adam's present voice, luckily they were heading off in the opposite direction and to the camp not far away, he smiled as he got closer up to the boy. Before he knew it, Adam was on the ground struggling to calm the boy as he grabbed onto him, the boy shook and kicked and even screamed as he fought back the stranger.

"Let go of!" a raspy voice filled the air, the boys voice was broken and for a few seconds Adam let off a little as he tried to calm the child down, seeing that he had made a mistake when he noticed the boys appearance.

He knew he had just made things worse as the boy seized in his struggles, or at least stopped kicking him. Adam had his arms pressed against the boys shoulders, hanging over the boy like a bear when he would eat his prey, but Adam was not a bear nor trying to eat the child, of course. He gulped as he looked at the physical appearance of the tearful frame.

He could see his ribs through the dirty white tunic he sported, a little too big for him, and the torn up black trousers on which were covered with mud…or was it blood? Both... He gritted his teeth as he examined the child further, his filthy bangs were in his eyes. His looked ill, his eyes were unseeing as if blind and the eyelids dropped down over the grey eyes, though they didn't remain still as they moved back and forth.

"Calm down, boy." Adam spoke as softly as he could, knowing that something was off when he examined the face of the boy.

An orphan out in the forest so large and mysterious... Why would a parent abandoned their child at such an age, he only looked like he was six years old!

He picked up the boy, who didn't seem to care anymore as he continued with his shrieking cry as his small chest heaved up in down in, his eyes puffy and nose running. What else was there to do but take the child back to his camp and help him? He didn't even have the heart to let the starving and ill boy to run off freely into the distance, he wouldn't even make it far if he was let go. He gripped the boy lightly as he took of towards camp, glad he knew Silver Pine like the back of his hand, or at least most of it anyway.

"Don't worry…" he whispered, rubbing the child's shaking back as he tried to calm down into sleep.