I immediately ran over to help my friend Moka; I had many questions running through my head like “Why the hell is he in that condition? Why does he always wear that mask after all these years? And did I just hear a female voice behind that mask?” However that wasn’t important, Moka was bleeding through the jacket he wore and needed medical assistance. Luckily, I happened to carry a Medkit in my backpack that I always carried with me.
“Hey! What in the name of Jesus Christ happened to you?” I exclaimed. His response was to collapse on the ground unconscious. I paused, staring at him in shock from what just happened. I then rushed over to pick him up and carry him under the bridge. I was glad to have passed up the chance to do Sports to do Boy Scouts, had I not joined a Boy Scout Troop, I probably wouldn’t know how to make a fire. So I started a campfire and began working on treating his bleeding, I first took off his jacket, sweater, mask, and then finally his chestplate…
“Hold on…” I glanced over to catch a glimpse of Moka’s face, I then focused on Moka’s long hair, and innocent looking face “Moka… is a GIRL?!” I panicked, contemplating my thoughts and emotions one at a time.
“All this time I’ve been hanging out with this girl and she’s been acting like boy and concealed her face with a mask. Why in the world would she even want to fool someone into being a boy? To befriend them? To gain their trust? It’s not like I have anything against girls, I don’t even care for their gender for that matter. All I want is people that I can call friends and nothing more. I removed her chestplate and began to apply rubbing alcohol and bandages. It’s not the most effective treatment against bleeding as stitches but it was better than nothing; I was able to fix a meal for her while I waited for her to wake up.
About an hour later, she woke up. At first, she looked around all dazed and confused, and then she realized she was in nothing but her jeans, and tank top. Her eyes widened and before I could say anything to the black/brownish haired girl she let out an ear-piercing scream. Right on schedule!
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
“Quiet, QUIET!” I hissed.
“WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!?!”
“I took care of you after you fainted.”
“NO, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BO…”
I placed a finger on her mouth and hushed the girl before explaining to her what happened
“I took off your jacket, sweater, and chestplate, which were all covered in bloodstains, applied rubbing alcohol to the areas that you were affected in, and wrapped bandages around your body. I then laid your body down near the campfire I made so that your body temperature would return to normal. Seriously, we’ve been friends for 4 years now and you really think I would do ‘that’ to you? I mean, I just figured out that you were a girl!”
She looked at me for a second; her eyes then veered towards the left and a slight blush was visible on her face as she replied with, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’m overreacting… So I’m guessing you want an explanation?
I nodded, “Yes, but do you want anything to eat?”
“What do you have?”
“I’ve made some Rabbit Stew.”
“I’ll take a bowl.”
I served her a bowl and gave her a fork to eat with.
“Thank you.”
“My pleasure. So why did you hide the fact that you were a girl for all these years?” I inquired.
She took a deep breath and paused, she then met me eye to eye and began explaining her past…
“So I was born into a corrupt and abusive family, only desiring me for their own pleasure and nothing good ever came out of them. In fact, I avoided riding to school with them everyday and instead, walked my way to school despite the 5 mile walk. Later on they were caught selling drugs to some of the neighborhood kids and were arrested. And I was sent off to live with another family.”
“Damn” I muttered under my breath.
“I was then forced to live with a woman who was recently divorced, she had always wanted a child and I had always wanted a loving mother so it was a win-win situation at the time. But, I always heard her crying in her room at night, she had missed her husband and soon fell into depression. She thought the only way to ease the pain was to use antidepressants and other types of drugs. It started out as a habit, it then spawned into an addiction. It got to the point to where she took a shot and injected something awful into her system and ended up killing herself slowly and painfully. All the while still attempting to take care of me when in reality, I was the one taking care of her… I wasn’t prepared to live on my own or was I ready but I knew that I would only end up suffering another loss so I ran without a trace without reporting her death to the authorities. To conceal my identity I wore a mask, jacket and a sweater underneath, and then equipped an armored chest plate from a weapons dealer, Ethos wasn’t it?”
This caught me off guard a little bit. First of all, how the hell did she know Ethos? I knew very few people that actually had knowledge about his business, let alone Ethos as a person. Second, I don’t recall him ever selling armor or ever selling any protective gear other than boots and gloves. So how did Moka get her hands on armor from someone like Ethos? Yeah he’s a sarcastic, funny, and kind person on the outside, but it doesn’t mean he’s going to be super lenient when it comes to business; not that it matters but still. “Yeah he’s a good friend of mine.” I replied.
“Thought so. He talks about you a bit when we were discussing reliable weapons.” She noted. “The mask I ended up getting from some random guy on the road near Ethos’s workhouse; the weapons were to show that I wasn’t afraid to kill anyone on sight if they were a threat and to never mess with me… I just wish I… I…”
She was reaching her breaking point; I didn’t know what to do at this point. I never really talked to girls and their personalities were strangely foreign to me, I mean “Netflix and Chill?” What the hell was that? It seems like something only a slack job with a mountain of homework would ever do. However, the only option I had left was to comfort her. I was about to speak when she finally had the sanity and courage to finish her sentence.
“I just wish I could live a normal life!” She cried.
“I just want to live with a normal, loving family! My sister’s off at college and I have no form of communication or contact whatsoever! I don’t want to take lives to save my own! I want to live a life that doesn’t require me to kill others for that blessing! I just want to feel okay, just once! I thought by stabbing myself would help me end all of the pain I’ve suffered for the past 15 years!”
It all made sense now! No one else but her was involved in the physical pain that forced me to treat her wounds; rather she herself was the reason she almost died. I was at a loss for words… I didn’t know what to do. She was hurting and all I could do now is give her a hug. She didn’t seem to notice as she finished her statement.
“I… I… I just… I just want to feel loved. Just once, I just want someone to at least care about me…” With that she just sat there, tears rolling down her hazelnut eyes and noticeable tear stains on her eyes.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, this wasn’t the Moka I remembered at all! The Moka I knew was fearless and fought with no regrets, and never took any situation light-heartedly. She wasn’t afraid to take another human life if she knew if it meant saving another one. She put the innocent and weak before anyone else. In school she was a quiet one; whenever she saw something suspicious or someone being outright murdered she flipped out and didn’t mind if she nearly killed the person involved in the crime. “No second chances!” was Moka’s moto, “We’ve been told stories about other people’s mistakes and even after they suffer the consequences they still insist on moving on and doing the same thing again. If they don’t learn anything from the thousands of stories they’ve read and heard from others, they might as well learn to not be so deluded!”
To think that she can have such a confident outer shell on the outside. And that she’s willing to be a hero and never worry about what others think about her. In reality, all of it is killing her inside. To be honest, to have dealt with that pain for her entire 15 years of existence is something to behold. In fact, she might as well be one of the strongest people that I know… a true inspiration.
“Moka…” I muttered.
“I don’t know how long it’ll be before I end up killing myself; everything about myself is plagued by the sins of others!”
“Shut up Moka!” I screamed. This took her by complete surprise. “I cannot believe what I’m hearing from you! You’ve seen and witnessed horrific event from one after another and only now are you saying that you can’t take it anymore?! When your mother died, you could’ve given up right then and there! You could’ve killed yourself in that house; you knew you had a purpose, a meaning here in life! To keep on living protecting the weak and innocent! I have never seen anyone that strong before and I can’t even say that I’m that strong! You are the strongest person alive Moka, I’ve seen that not only on the battlefield, but in your heart.” I said, in hopes of shutting down the water works.
Moka tried to avoid eye contact and I could tell she was blushing. “You really think I’m that strong?” She asked.
“Yes, there’s a reason you haven’t died. It was to show others that there is still hope in this cold cruel world.” I assured her.
She smiled and whispered, “Thank you.”
“Listen, I’m tired and I think you need to rest and recover. It’s been a long day.” I said, yawning.
“Okay.” said Moka. “You’ve always been like an older brother to me and I hope it’ll stay that way, I’ll need someone in times like this when I feel like the whole world’s crashing down on me.” Moka said softly.
“Heh, same here.” I replied, “I’ve always loved you like a family member, an occasional burden but in the end, a sibling will always keep you company.”
“Yeah, you’re right about that.” Moka said as she yawned, “Good night... I’m sorry but I’ve forgotten your name. What was it again?” Moka asked.
“Chrono…” I mumbled before resting my head down on my backpack to use as a makeshift pillow.
“Chrono… I like that name…” Moka said before we fell asleep. Tomorrow would be a great day. A fresh start, and I would see the world as a happier and more beautiful place than I had even imagined! Or so I thought…
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