FicWad

Here is the next installment of Truth of Griever. And to the person who rated this story as boring; if you decide to rate something poorly, the least you can do is to leave a review telling me why you feel that way. It's just an observation on my part, and I know that people are welcome to their own opinions, but I can't learn from my mistakes if no one explains why the story sucks.

...

He was alone.

If someone could describe in terms that would be easily understood by someone who had never been exposed to such a situation with such finality, they would most likely use the word empty. It felt barren and isolated from the outside world; knowing that there were people around you and within arms reach, but also knowing that no matter how hard you wanted to, you just couldn't , wouldn’t entrust your very life within the hands of a stranger.  The feeling of being utterly alone in life is a painful feat, one that is extremely difficult to describe let alone live throughout, especially for that of a child.
 
It had been just like every other day when he had awoken in the morning on the fateful day of his sister’s disappearance.  He had climbed out of bed early enough that the other children who co-resided within the room were still sound asleep, and quietly headed towards the opposite end of the second floor in search of his sister’s room.  The elder children were grouped together in a separate room, so that when they went to bed they didn’t disturb the younger children while they slumbered on.   Having crept into the elder girl’s room, he had been disappointed when he noticed that her bed had been made and that she was not sleeping in it.
 
The tell tail signs of frown began to crease on the little boy’s features as he wondered about the reason she would abruptly change the daily routine, which had not been broken for as long as he could remember.   Early in the mornings, he would awaken and after, rousing his older sister from her own sleep, they would spend the solitude with each other; whether it was reading or just simply watching the television.  Because the other children in the house adored her just as much as he did, this was the only time they had between the two of them. 
 
As far as the boy knew, his sister had never broken their tradition for any reason in the past, and he wondered what was so different about this day that would cause her to start.
 
Carefully climbing down the stairs, he had made his way over towards the sitting room, where the pair normally ended up.  Because of this fact, he had assumed that she would be there before him, having trouble sleeping the night before and just watching the television alone before he appeared.  However, he had been sorely disappointed when all he had been greeted with was an unoccupied sofa and a television not in use. 
 
Beginning to feel the first remnants of panic taking form, he had immediately begun searching the rest of the house; the kitchen, the playroom, the bathroom, even the attic and crawlspace, only to come up empty.  By this time, the other children were beginning to arise and soon enough everyone had discovered the disappearance of the girl.  By the time one of the elder children had run off in search of Matron to tell her the news, the whole orphanage had been in an uproar, desperately searching for the missing girl. 
 
As soon as Matron had appeared before the large group of children, she had calmed everyone down by explaining that Ellone had been forced to leave the orphanage.  He hadn’t heard the rest of the explanation; so much in shock he had been.  Out of the entire information he had received, he understood only one thing; that she had gone away. 
 
Instantly afterwards, Squall had run outside to search for his older sister within the flower garden, knowing how much she loved to spend her time there.  Besides, she couldn’t have gotten that far away, and he hoped that he would be able to catch up to her.  But he had given up his search shortly after beginning it, and had returned to Matron absolutely devastated.  He hadn’t immediately noticed the strange person who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere and whom was currently speaking to Matron and watching him in shocked awe, and when he had asked who he was, Matron had answered him in a way he was positive only an adult would have understood, because he certainly hadn’t.
 
For the majority of the day, he had sat underneath an oak tree that had been growing in the flower garden, staring at his hands in numb shock as the other children around him carried on with their regular routines; laughing and playing with one another.  The boy couldn’t comprehend how the others could act so normally if they cared about her as much as he had, and he didn’t know if he really wanted to.  To him, they were just showing how much Ellone really meant to them by acting as if they had never known her, and it disgusted him to keep watching them.  Eventually, he had gone inside and away from the sounds of laughter, which was where Matron had asked him if he wanted help her out in the kitchen.
 
It was later in the day that he began to wonder what would have driven the elder girl away from the orphanage.  He knew she enjoyed staying there, and that if she left she would miss all the other kids there.  This made him believe that his sister must have been taken by force.  He recalled all of the times she had told him about the mean people who had kidnapped her from where she used to live and how her uncle had saved her.  Maybe they came back to kidnap her again, and succeeded this time.  Matron and Cid normally checked on everyone throughout the night, so the men had to be extra sneaky and quiet so that they didn’t get caught.
 
Just thinking about how scared Elle must be at that moment was enough reason for the child to figure out how to rescue her.  He didn’t want to tell the other children, mainly because he didn’t think they really cared about her since they were just playing around.  Cid and Matron would just think he was getting an over-active imagination too, so that just left him going out to find her alone.  Squall didn’t exactly revel in the notion of going out onto the plains by himself, since he had been warned that monsters liked the roam the grounds, but he also knew that he had to do something other than mope around and feel sorry for her.

Which was exactly why he had awoken as early as he had that morning.
 
Quickly getting dressed in the clothes he had worn the previous day (since of course he couldn’t reach the drawers that held the clean ones), he quickly crept down the stairs so as not to draw attention towards himself from Matron and Cid (who would be upset at how early he was awake and dressed at).  Sneaking into the kitchen, he grabbed a hold of a little red wagon with the black handle that was sitting beside the counter and began the task ahead of him by opening the refrigerator door.  He began to pile peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on top of the wagon, knowing that he was going to need them if he was going to search.  He remembered Ellone having told him about the one time she had persuaded her uncle to take her camping with him just outside of her house, and how much they had had to pack.   Keeping that in mind, he managed to fill the wagon with fifteen sandwiches, four big bottles of juice, and a big bottle of water before shutting the refrigerator door and exiting the kitchen.
 
Heading towards the front door, he grabbed a yellow raincoat, just in case it rained, a small bag that he could use to carry some of the sandwiches when they started disappearing, and a red and black baseball cap.  Putting the raincoat on top of the pile of items he had collected, he pulled the cap over his head before putting on his shoes and opening the front door.
 
It was still dark outside; very dark in fact, and the only lights that the child could see were the small white dots that blanketed the sky.  Looking back into the dark house that had yet to awaken, the small child took in a deep breath, released it and closed the door behind him as he trekked outside.
 
That had all taken place a long while ago and, since the child couldn’t really tell time all too well; he had absolutely no idea as to how long he had been walking.  He knew that it had been a long while, since his legs and feet were beginning to hurt and the sun was high up in the sky; as high up as Squall could have imagined at least.  Looking back, he realized that he could only barely see the Orphanage now, but he also knew that it was too late to turn back.  Everyone would have noticed his disappearance by then and if he did go back, he would not only get in trouble as well as return empty handed.  If he was going to get into trouble and have to stand in the corner or sit alone in his room, he was prepared for it.  It wasn’t like this was going to be the first time he ever got punished for being bad.  Since he and Seifer always fought, they always ended up being punished. 
 
He didn’t care what the consequences for his actions were at the moment anyways.  The only thing that really mattered was finding his sister and bringing her back to the orphanage with him.   This thought was enough to keep him walking for a little longer.
 
Periodically, he would stop and take a gulp of juice or water, but he had not stopped once to eat.  This was the reason for his stomach growling once the sun had begun descending from the sky above and Squall decided that since he couldn’t see the Orphanage anymore anyways, that this was as good a time as any to sit down and grab a bite to eat.  He hadn’t actually realized how hungry he was until having finished his first sandwich and immediately reaching for his second, but shrugged it off.  He hadn’t eaten since before he went to bed later in the night, so it was expectable that he was hungry.  After finishing his second sandwich, he was contemplating eating a third when he heard something from nearby. 
 
Turning his head in the direction he had heard the sound, he realized that they were nothing but birds.  He had been apprehensive about running into any monsters, and sighed in relief that he wouldn’t have to.  Realizing that the birds were eyeing his food, Squall grabbed one of the crumbs he had let escape and threw it at the nearest bird.   The bird looked at the offering before looking back at the boy and staring at him for a moment.  Finally, the bird decided to eat the crumbs, and before long, more birds had decided to appear, begging for more food. 
 
After a few minutes of watching the birds eat one of his sandwiches, he heard a sound that definitely did not sound like the winged creatures.  It was long and rough and caused him to jump in surprise.  The birds heard it too, because they grabbed whatever crumbs they could find and immediately took off into the air, leaving him alone with whatever it was.
Packing up quickly, he decided to leave before whatever it was caught up to him.  When he had packed up, he had put as many of the sandwiches as he could inside, as well as a bottle of water.  The only reason he had gone for the wagon was that it held the other bottles. 
 
However, just as he was about to run for it, he felt the ground shake under him.  Since he hadn’t expected it, he suddenly fell forward, losing the grip he had on the wagon.   He felt himself scrape his knee slightly and resisted the urge to cry over it as he tentatively looked behind him. 
 
A huge monster was stalking towards him; it’s stomping causing the shaking that had forced him off his feet.  It had a long tail and huge spider-like feet, but the most intimidating feature of this creature was that its mouth was on sideways, the teeth coming from both left and right instead of up and down like they were supposed to.  The monster drooled when he saw him and moved closer to him.
 
Squall didn’t like the sound that whatever it was was making and decided that now was as good a time as any to get out of there.  Unfortunately, when the monster got close enough, Squall stumbled once again, only this time, he was able to keep his footing. 
 
Turning to look behind him, Squall realized that the monsters teeth were just getting ready to bite him.  He grabbed the nearest thing he could find, which just happened to be one of the bottles of juice he had scrounged up and, with both hands, threw it at the monster as it opened its mouth.  The monster’s teeth caught the bottle and broke it apart, juice splashing everywhere. 
 
Just before the monster could attack him, however, something loud sounded nearby, and the creature screeched, the loud sound hurting the four-year-olds ears.  Looking over to where the sound had come from, the child noticed a car that looked similar to the one Matron and Cid drove.  It was a dark green in colour, with thick looking tires and no roof over the top. 
 
Three adults jumped out of the vehicle, holding weapons like the heroes on TV, and start shooting at the monster.  Squall quickly crawled of the way just before one of the curved feet could hit him, keeping under the monster.  The men started shouting, but they were talking too quickly for him to decipher.  Instead, he saw the back of the car open and ran over towards it, despite the bulk of the bag.  He tripped and fell suddenly, and as he pulled himself up onto his feet, he realized that one of his shoes was missing.  Looking back towards the monster, he saw the shoe underneath it.  He knew that his sock was going to get dirty, but he really didn’t want to go back to where the monster was.
 
He was just barely tall enough to reach the bottom of the compartment and, with all the strength he could muster, he pulled himself up and into it, landing in some seedy stuff that he couldn’t identify. He pulled the hatch over top and left a small gap between the lid and the bottom to see what was going on.  He had done this many times when he and his sister played hide-and-seek; his favourite hiding place was the laundry bin.
 
Just as he turned his attention towards what the strangers were doing, he realized that the monster wasn’t moving and the three men were laughing and cheering.  He didn’t know how they could be happy at a time like this, when the monster had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and tried to turn them into its dinner, but he was happy that it wasn’t attacking them anymore.

“Hey…” one of the strangers said.  He had blonde hair and was wearing dark colours.  “Someone drop a shoe?”
 
Squall noticed that the blonde man was holding up his running shoe, but he didn’t want to come out of his hiding spot just yet.  First, he wanted to make sure that the monster was definitely not going to move again.

“Little small to be mine,” another one said, this one had dark hair.  “Maybe there was a kid here or something.”

“What’s a kid doing in the middle of nowhere?”  The last one, with red hair, asked.  “And where’s their parents?”

“Well there is an orphanage around here.” The first man said.  “Maybe the kid wondered off.”  Looking back at the shoe, he frowned.  “I hope the little guy’s okay.”

“If we only found his shoe, and the monster was around here…” the dark haired man trailed off.  “You don’t think that it…”
 
There was silence for a while that no one broke and Squall was wondering what it was they were talking about.  He must have been a great hider if they couldn’t see where he was.
 
The red haired man noticed the wagon and frowned.  “Yeah, there was definitely someone here.  I guess we came too late to save him… or her…”

“After we’ve finished delivering our goods, we’ll head over to the orphanage and ask ‘em if they’re missing a kid.” The blonde one said.
 
The strangers walked towards the car and out of Squall’s line of view.  Then, the car started to vibrate and they were moving, the child watching everything through the gap at the back of the car.
 
...
 
During the car ride, the sun had set, illuminating the sky with stars.  Squall didn’t know exactly how long they had been moving but just as his eyes were about to droop shut, they slowed down, shaking the child and waking him up.  Looking out of the gap, he noticed they were still moving, but not nearly as quickly.  They looked as though they were moving in a circle until they suddenly stopped.  When Squall had righted himself, he saw that he was facing the ocean and hoped that they hadn’t turned around back towards the orphanage.
 
He heard something slam shut and, looking for something to hide, he crawled into one of the boxes that had tipped over, landing inside of more seed-like stuff.  He ducked down inside of it, hoping that he wouldn’t be spotted.
 
The sound of the lid to the back of the car caught his attention and he held his breath, looking through a small hole in the box.  He saw the blonde haired man who took notice of the tipped over box and frowned.  “Dammit…” he put the box back right-side up and placed the lid over it, telling the young child that he had avoided detection.
 
He was carried a moment later and, from his vintage point, he could see that he was heading towards a boat on the water.  Since he hadn’t seen a sign of Ellone during the car ride, he figured that they might be on their way to the elder girl now.  Squall tried to stay as quiet as he could, but it was difficult whenever the seed stuff was all around him, itching him and trying to fall into his mouth whenever he shifted position.
 
The box he was in was placed on the boat and the three guys climbed in, started the motor and the boat came to life, taking all of its passengers towards the nearest island.
 
...
 
The moon was sitting high into the sky when the boat stopped moving.  Having closed his eyes during the trip, Squall opened them wearily when the box was suddenly picked up once again.  A moment later, the box was on the ground and the three guys moved towards the boat.   Squall couldn’t tell what they were saying, nor did he really care.  He just wanted them to turn around so that he could climb out of the box and continue his search for his sister.
 
Finally, all three guys turned to look at the water and Squall found his opportunity.  He climbed out of the box quickly yet carefully, replacing the lid and running to hide behind a boulder before they turned around.  Sure enough they did, just after he secured his hiding place.   The three strangers went back to what they were talking about, picking up the box full of those irritating seed things and walking past him, towards the mountains. 
When he figured that the coast was clear, Squall quietly crept out from behind the boulder and looked up at the sky, wondering exactly where Ellone could be.  Turning to look behind him, he suddenly noticed a large building nearby and figured that his sister could be there.  His resolve returning, he took in a deep breath and headed towards it.
 
It was huge; far larger than the orphanage was.  It stretched up into the sky and was designed in all kinds of shapes, like triangles and squares.  He followed the dirt path that lead him inside of the place and looked up at the large triangular shaped object at the very top.  He wondered if Ellone was being held captive in there.

“If thou doth not wish to perish, thou will leave at once!”  A voice from nowhere called out. 

Squall looked up and wondered exactly where the voice had come from.  He didn’t see anyone nearby, but he was sure he had heard someone talking to him.  He knew he didn’t have an invisible friend, so he was positive he couldn’t have been talking to someone no one else could see, especially since he couldn’t see them either. 

Maybe that’s the voice of the mean people who kidnapped my sister. He thought to himself.  Maybe they’re hiding her and they don’t want anyone to find her. 
 
His mind made up, he continued down the dirt road, towards the structure towering in front of him.  Soon, the road changed and had bricks covering the dirt, something he had seen Matron do outside once.  The newly made road stopped soon after, and a set of stairs started upwards.  Squall took his time in climbing the stairs, since they were nearly half his frame.
 
Finally, when he had finished climbing, he realized that he was standing on a circular platform, a statue positioned on the right of him.  More stairs were set in on the opposite side he was standing on, but he didn’t see too many people there.
 
As he walked towards the stairs, he did notice someone standing nearby however.  It was a small creature wearing a light coloured cloak.  From what Squall could tell, the back of the stranger’s head was green, but he had always been told by Matron not to judge a book by its cover.  His back was to him, so he couldn’t get a look at his face or the front of him. 

Maybe he can tell me where Sis is… He thought to himself. 
 
Taking in a deep breath, Squall released it as he started shouting at the creature.  “Excuse me!  Can you help me find Sis Elle?”

The stranger turned around and Squall couldn’t help but compare the stranger’s appearance to a frog, or was it a lizard?  Whatever it was, Squall also noticed that the stranger was holding a lantern, making the dark place appear somewhat lighter.  The stranger’s other hand was inside of his cloak-sleeve.  Squall assumed that it was because the stranger was cold.
 
Instead of answering, however, the stranger started walking slowly towards him, the lantern swinging back and forth every time he moved.
 
Frowning slightly, Squall decided to ask his question again.  “I said, ‘Can you help me find Sis Elle?’  She likes blue and she’s taller than me and –”
 
Before the child could finish what he was trying to say, he noticed the stranger removing his hand from inside of his sleeve and he stopped talking all at once.  In the stranger’s hand was a knife, a pretty long one in fact and the strangers eyes glowed yellow for a second before he continued moving forward.
 
Squall immediately took a step backwards, intimidated from the sight.  “Never mind.  Sorry if I made you mad.”  He turned back towards the stairs and walked quickly towards them.
 
As soon as he reached the first step, he realized that he’d have to climb them awkwardly again, so he pulled himself up onto the next step, just like he had when he had pulled himself up into the back of the car.  After he had accomplished this feat three times, he looked back, wondering if the stranger had decided to go back to whatever he was doing.  He knew that when he accidentally interrupted Cid or Matron, and he left them alone, they always went back to whatever they were talking about.
 
Unfortunately, he saw that the stranger was following him, the light shining from his lantern easily recognizable.