Fan Fiction ❯ Tears of Flame ❯ A Child's hardship ( Chapter 6 )

Aiden was doing well now, but the children shunned him. It had been 6 months now since he had been found.After school everyday Aiden walked silently home, his wooden sword strapped to his back and every day the same children followed…

As he left the courtyard of the school house a group of children followed. They all lived near the same area, so they all took the same well trod road home. They seemed to follow closer and closer behind him until finally he turned and stopped, his eyes darting from one child to the next. All of these children were older than he, most of them 10 or above, where as Aiden was only 7.

He could hear them whispering, every whisper as clear as day. Some were about the beatings that Sema had given, others were about his hair. Aiden's mouth formed into a frown. His eyes were cold with anger, he hated for other children to make fun of him. Even more than that, he hated being different. Simple commands such as "leave me alone." Were often ignored. He stared at them cruelly, his fists clenched at his side.

"I told you…let me be…" his voice was quiet with a calm anger.

"Why should we?" one child demanded, he was shorter than Aiden, and had black hair and green eyes.

"I asked you to…that's why." Said Aiden his voice was always soft, and he spoke rarely. These children treated him like he was a creature and not a child.

"It asked us to!" the other child said to the other children who burst out laughing. Aiden couldn't stand this any longer. With a shout of anger, his fist flew so swiftly no one knew what had happened until after the other child was on the ground.

"I said…leave me alone…" Aiden's voice was now hard, filled with rage but yet it was quiet. The other child was unconscious, and he had a bloody nose due to his arrogance and by Aiden's standards he had earned it. Then a another little boy came up behind Aiden and shoved him forward, down the river bank and into the stream. It was cold and now Aiden was wet. He wasn't happy about it either. The other children were laughing at him, mocking him.

He stood up, one hand bleeding. With the other he grasped his wooden sword. He charged up the hill not caring how filthy he was, and he charged the other boys, chasing them all the way back into the village.

* * *
Then later that evening he was confronted about what had happened, by nightfall the wound on his hand closed over but he said nothing about it. Barthrow was furious to begin with. He glared at Aiden,

"Do you want me to send you to another family Aiden?" asked Barthrow his voice was twinged with annoyance. Aiden said nothing and only sat upon his bed quietly, wondering what that man meant. He had never understood why he wanted to be called "father" or why this man even cared.

"You are lying…you wouldn't do that…" said Aiden, his eyes seeming to pierce the impenetrable gaze that Barthrow laid on him. Barthrow shook his head, of course he would never send the child away, he loved Aiden as his own but he never understood why Aiden gave no love back.

"Alright Aiden, what happened?" Barthrow asked his voice was softer now, perhaps slightly calmer.

"They wouldn't leave me alone…" said Aiden simply.

"Why?" Asked Barthrow, he wanted answers.

"I asked them to leave me alone…and they questioned it…they were mocking me, so I punched one of them and then one pushed me into the river…" said Aiden his eyes glittering brightly with the memory. "they should have listened…" his voice was breaking like he was about to cry. "Why am I so different?" asked Aiden, his eyes welling with tears. He didn't understand, why did everyone treat him like a creature and not a human being, he was human right? Despite Sema had called him feailies he didn't understand.

"You're not Aiden." Said Barthrow throwing his arms around Aiden, giving him a warm hug. Aiden wasn't able to comprehend the gesture Barthrow had just made, was it a friendly one? It must have been, Aiden could sense no anger.

"I'm not?" asked Aiden biting his lip.

"No. You're not." Said Barthrow smiling. "Are you hungry?" he asked although he already knew the answer to this question.

"No." replied Aiden, he was hardly ever hungry, in fact he rarely ate, although he did tend to sleep at night. He blinked for a moment, and he only hoped that Barthrow was telling the truth. Barthrow had gotten himself a bowl of a thick stew that Cathrain had made, she wasn't home at the moment, she was in the town helping another woman with her new child. Barthrow had no need to explain what had happened, gossip spread like wild fire in the village. She was infuriated.

"How can we keep that creature?!" she demanded, her clear blue eyes seething with anger.

"Cathrain he's no creature…he feels like he dosen't belong here." Said Barthrow in reply.

"Well it dosen't! Rest assured that monster will be the death of us both!" she said her voice rising.

"Cathrain…" said Barthrow his voice low in warning. "Let him alone, that's all he wants, why do you think he attacked the other children?" She said nothing pursing her lips thinly.

"Why?" she asked.

"They were mocking him, that's why, they were making fun." Replied Barthrow, "I didn't know this, but apparently they must do it quite often, I think we ought to pull him out of the school."

"Do as you please with it!" She said emphasizing on the last word. "It's no concern of mine!" Barthrow watched as she went back outside into the cold. Aiden had watched the whole argument, no mistaking that he was diffinately unwanted. He felt angry, alone and confused. No one would listen to him, no one but Barthrow.
Aiden walked quietly out the door and into the cool night. Here it was quiet. Here he could embrace the silence. He strode off into the night, quietly picking his way through the forest, listening to the breeze rustle the dry grass. He heard a soft chirrup suddenly. He turned his eyes down to his feet and there lay a small bird. It was only a fledgling falcon. He knelt down by it. It seemed weak, he hated to see it like that, he picked it up. The falcon was fearless, it didn't react to Aiden's touch. He cradled it in his arms and walked swiftly back to his home.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Aiden's eyes dimmed as Barthrow unrolled him from the Military school. The papers had been drawn up, and now he was just another child. But that wasn't the end of his training. Aiden grew in size and strength over the next year, Barthrow taught him but with more mercy than his previous teacher had shown.

The Falcon that Aiden had taken care of, was ready to be let free. He knew it couldn't stay with him, it was a wild animal that had been born with instincts. He let it free but it flew back to his shoulder. Settling easily. He thought for a moment, the animal had remained loyal to him, so then, was it his? No…it was a falcon.

"Trune…yes?" he asked softly. A fit name for the falcon, the falcon let out a screech as if to agree. Aiden smiled for the first time in many days…

So another year passed and it was Aiden's 8th birthday, but then he really didn't have a birthday considering that no one knew when he was born. He had just simply been found, so they used that as his birthday. Aiden didn't understand what it really was but he only guessed the day would pass like any other.

Barthrow came grinning through the door, holding something behind his back, it was large, Aiden could deduce little from the outside for it was wrapped in a white cloth.

"Aiden come here." Said Barthrow as he put it on the table. "This is for you." He said as he carefully pulled the cloth aside. There on the table lay a sword, it had a long hilt that was black and two hand gaurds on the sides. The blade was long, just as tall as Aiden, and near the hilt was a engraving of a falcon. "You've advanced quickly through your training Aiden, I felt you were ready to have this, but it may still be heavy for a few years yet."

Aiden walked over slowly, and looked at the sword. He ran his hand over the falcon engraving for the first time. "may I hold it?" asked Aiden quietly.

"Yes, I suppose so, but be careful, it's very heavy." Said Barthrow, he handed Aiden the sword and held the blunt edge while Aiden grasped the hilt with both hands. Aiden held it steady, "you can let go." Said Aiden quietly. So he handled his sword for the first time. He looked at the blade, this sword was to be the way he lived his life, although he did not know it yet…