|Location: Wasteland, campsite|

-NUK-

Fred continued with his taunts and everything seems to be going as he wanted. Everyone looked in our direction, their eyes seemed to pierce through the bright blazing fire in front of me. As I felt their gaze locked towards me and they didn't bother to hide the fact that they are disgusted with me. Especially now that I'm together with Zero, a short-eared. The perfect pair for them to feast on. I lowered my head by instinct. The fact was it was normal for me to do so, I always do this hoping to let it pass. Even this time, that's what I hope for.

The coagulating whispers around us seem to have come into a halt and despite the eerie silence and darkness that engulf the camp, I find that all comforting. I looked up out of curiosity to know what happened. That's when I heard a slight plea for aid.

That's when I saw Zero, his eyes void of luster and deathly stared at Fred while lifting his body through his neck off the ground.

"H-e-l-p!"

Fred desperately tried to unravel Zero's hand from his neck. Struggling to breath he looked in my direction. His eyes all pleaded for me to take action. I slowly walked towards him. I halted.

For a moment I hesitated, wondering to myself. Why? Is it right to save him? If he's alive, can it benefit me at all? Would everything change if he lives?

Thoughts like those got featured in my head, but the sudden scream instantly brought me back from those degraded ideas.

I immediately reach out to Zero. I was thrown back by the fact that he was cold the moment I touched him and the way he looked at Fred it was as if he would kill anybody that would interfere.

But I also hoped that things won't escalate even more. It took me a lot of courage but I immediately held Zero's hand.

"Zero! Calm down. Let him go." 

I almost fell to my knees the moment I held his hand tightly, as the cold traveled to my spine, I knew I wouldn't be strong enough to forcefully stop Zero but hoping it would reach him I hastily grabbed his shoulders and immediately hugged him as tight as I could.

"It's alright!"

"What?!" Zero immediately let go of Fred. He checked his surroundings and looked at me all confused. Fred fell to the ground gasping for air and frantically crawled back as he coughed against his chest. "I!"

Zero managed to return back to his senses, yet his face perfectly shouts how confused he was at the moment and silently stared towards the dark forest, but Hansel managed to find a moment of relief from all that had happened.  But Dia on the other hand looked more frightened than Hansel, I don't understand why but she acted more frightened than Hansel.

Setting all this aside made me wonder if bringing him back to the camp was really the right choice.  But my choices currently were all planned by my sister, I'll trust her in this for now and see how things turn out. I hope it won't turn into one of her many bad speculations before she.

Even in my thoughts, I can't seem to muster any courage to say that she's gone. The scar I got from this place only got deeper the longer I thought about the fact that I'm alone now.

Something unsightly appeared right in front of me, just his presence was enough to make me set my feelings aside and strengthen my resolve to confront my most detestable fear. It may sound like a positive motivation but it won't for long. I'm planning to end things sooner, even if I decided to destroy everything I have along with 'it'.

"What's going on here?"

His deep voice echoed into my ears, as his green hair and eyes met my eyes. I held myself high as I confronted him. The confident look around his face and the way he walked, carried the whole atmosphere around him.

Aside from my group everyone silently bowed before him, and like a king on a stroll around his lavished garden, he looked at them with indifference.

"Uncle?" Hansel said as he unknowingly stepped back behind me.

Even in his pathetic state Fred still manages to try and defend himself in front of this man. Crawling under his feet he desperately approached this detestable man right in front of me. I can't help but feel sick just looking at it. Eating rodent meat would taste good compared to what I see right now.

"Chief that short-ear attacked me!" He yelled in his protest against us.

Hansel despite his overly cautious personality he stepped out and defended us. "It was you who."

But this man immediately cut him off before he could continue what he was about to say, clearly showing his authority.

"Stop!" He raised his voice.  "Let's have this talk elsewhere."

"Chief!?" Fred tried to reason more but that man only gave him a cold stare telling him to shut up. I guess this is his way of preserving his pride since one of his lackeys did something really pathetic.

King? More like a tyrant, he won't even listen to the pleas of his people.

"Now." He looked at me and Zero.

Zero is still weirdly silent after what happened and didn't react. I noticed before that Zero is a type of person to be easily distracted when things will pick his interest and is weird in itself especially the way he acts, so he normally would dash into the conversation already but for some reason he is not doing that.

And the man before us didn't waste any more time as the crowd slowly surrounded us, even though I find this movement uncomfortable under these hypocrites eyes his suggestions weren't that bad in the slightest. On the contrary I think it would be good for me to.

"And you too Hansel." that man added.

We followed him back to his tent, the largest one in the camp located at the center of our tribe. It was good that Zero followed me and tightly stayed by my side but for some reason I felt uneasy because of it. It is hard to point out what's wrong with him since it's already an understatement in regard to his personality, but he looked like someone or something died in front of him.

But I have no time to take care of him right now. I better focus on the person right in front of me first.

As we entered his tent, I saw chairs well prepared inside, guess he was already planning this from the start. Wouldn't be shocked at that point. Knowing him it wouldn't be far off if he used Fred in his schemes.

He sat at dawn first and struck the tip of his crane on the ground, he looked at me before striking first for a conversation. "Just what in the world was that."

He slowly glides his head in everyone's direction.

"We didn't start it, he was the one who insulted us first." Hansel said in connection with what he was supposed to say moments ago. 

"Zero was just-"

"Zero?"

But he was again cut off before he could finish what he was about to say.

That man turned his attention to Zero, the only Short-ears in the group. He then turned his attention to me.  "And Nuk, how could you let things escalate that far? It ruined the feast."

"The feast?!"

Hearing that from him. I can't believe this man is even worth our time and problems. He didn't even ask about my sister. He was always like, was I even expecting something from this man? 

"That's your concern? Do you even care about my sister?"

As far as I can remember he was always on edge with everything and would be so self-centered that he cared less for his family's remarks and would choose to save his face all the time. Then how is this any different from back then, he will never change.

I still remembered the day when he sided with grandfather. And thinking of it made my resolve even stronger.

"Leila, it wasn't hard to know what happened." He just looked at me straight in the eyes as he said that. Does he really have no conscience? Every time, every single time the three of us back then would visit him. He could only look at us with contempt or indifference.  "Knowing only the two of you came back, setting aside you brought danger to our camp."

I can't believe he said that, are we just a pawn for him to play with? We risked our lives every time. Even if my abilities are mediocre and nothing compared to my sister. I still gave my all, we gave our all every expedition.

Yet he didn't think of that and even had the time to say I brought him 'danger'.

At this point the lid was about to tip over as my blood can't help but boil against this hypocrite of a man.  Especially those eyes of him, looking at us as if we are nothing. Plucking those wouldn't be a bad idea at this point.

But the memories of my sister still manage to chain me, at this point my palm felt like it was burning the deeper my nails dug in it.

"Danger!? Don't make me laugh." I tried to scoff at what he said, yet at the same time I'm starting to slowly lose grip over my emotions.  "The information from your so-called informant cost her life."

The sound of his deep yet calm breathing echoed inside my ears, as if erasing the presence of others around and making me focused only on him.

"We can't always predict what will happen outside." He sighed in my direction. He spoke this time in a solemn way but I could still see his pride piercing through with the way he talked to me. 

"It was beyond my control."

Hearing it from him is really different despite already knowing how he would answer in this kind of situation, but my sister could have been alive if it wasn't for this 'informant' of his. At times like this he should take responsibility and not let it pass as a mere 'beyond my control'.

"Do you hear yourself uncle? Beyond your control!?" hearing that coming from him finally snapped him. I immediately stood up and slammed my hand at the table in front of him. 

"Hansel bring Zero and Dia with you outside."

Seeing how hesitant they both are, I felt relieved by it. Hansel tried to protest but I showed my firm decision towards him as I looked him straight in his eyes. 

"But!"

"Just do as I say." I instantly replied. I looked at how Hansel pulled Zero from 'his' chair and lifelessly walked out with him. Somehow seeing Zero suddenly act that way made me feel unpleasant, I could only hope nothing worse will happen.

"Let's go." Hansel said as he left the tent.

"Brother." Dia looked back one last time before she followed Hansel out, she smiled at me before disappearing from my sight. Which made me feel at ease.

Silence filled the room but not for long. Olde, my uncle spoke first.

"You asked them to leave, that was a good call." His stern eyes widened as he checked our surroundings. As a person who is overly cautious it was nothing new to me. "Now that it's only the two of us, I have something to tell you."

But his voice bothers me. The change of his tone was huge even a fool would notice. There's a hint of fear in it.

The way he was acting right now is so strange that even I can feel something was wrong. "Huh?"

A person like him who acted high and mighty is now frantically checking his corners, even his voice got toned down.

Something tells me that what he might say is indeed important, I even set my anger aside by how convincing he was.

"What I'm about to say is very important"

Crossing my arm, I looked at him. He took a deep breath before continuing what he said. But that doesn't mean I let my guard down one wrong move from him and I'll snap. 

"Don't trust-"

"What? What are you doing?" I didn't let him finish and immediately carved a knife out of the soil, stabbing it on the table in front of us. That's when I realized his intentions.

"Wait, is this the way you will plead for your life? Hahaha, this is crazy"

He was scared. Scared of me. That moment I felt the urge to stab him right away, but when I was about to pull a stunt, I suddenly felt his hand over my shoulders.

"Nuk, you need to calm down." He spoke. Our eyes met and noticed how he was looking at me with a serious face. He held my shoulders tightly. 

"You have to listen to me on this one."

I immediately shove his hand away from me.

"I said shut it. Infighting? Very cliche."

"Do you even care how my sister died? How Leila. Your niece, meet her end?"

"Now's not the time for this Nuk." What he said snapped me back into reality. The reality of where my values lie, and it lies in my family. The family that accepted me and my sister.

But the way he shoved my question away as if they were that unimportant to him, I almost forgot how selfish this person is.

"What? Not the time?" I said, what I'm bottling up inside me finally burst. Tears slowly fell from my eyes. 

"Your niece died! My sister died!"

"We have more matters to talk about."

Yet it only met a cold shoulder from the person in front of me. "Crying won't solve our situation."

"I can't believe you."

How heartless can this person be, does this apostle-like person even have a conscience?

My purpose is to protect the people I care about. And he has more important things to talk about? What are we, his slaves?  "Do we look like pushovers to you? Is that what we are?"

"What of course not." he once again tried to reach out to me but this time i immediately flicked his hands away.  "But we need to-"

"Do you even know what kind of life I endured?" That very moment everything in my mind flooded out from my mouth without restrain. 

"My father was a scavenger for crying out loud. I grew up knowing my mother as a breeding cattle. I didn't even know that she was my mother until we were rescued."

Anger, sadness, guilt, longing, and even happiness all got mixed up that even I could not anymore understand what I'm feeling.

"Rescued? Take that back, my sister, your mother did what she could to survive." For the very first time I saw a different emotion from him, the emotions I least expected coming from this person.

Sadness and anger. But screw him, I have my own problems while all this time he is seated on his makeshift of a throne. I say damn be for this family may the god feast on this blood. All of them are the same, even our own grandfather.

"Yeah, I Know, that's also why grandfather offered her something in return for my sister and me joining the tribe again." He looked at me with rage.

"Nuk stop!" He knows what I was going to say and can't help but wish to stop me. Both of them are alike. Both don't want to tarnish their so-called pride of Sidhe. But screw that.

"She was forced to marry the other tribe. For what territory? Pride? Screw that It won't matter in the end. "

"Stop!"

"And do you know what we got after? Her defiled state and Dia by her arms." There I continuously drilled my finger over his chest, a reminder of the tiny pain I felt in my heart during those times. "And in the end, she died protecting my sister and me! A monster you cowardly escaped from."

His hand suddenly flew across the table, slapping me.

"Nuk I." I saw how he trembled when everything started to sink in for him. Even,tually he tried to reach his hand over my face.

"Forget it, I'm leaving."

I didn't have the courage to end it, I can't believe I let an opportunity like this pass. Alas, I still held back until the end.

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