The Wind King

Chapter 1

I was busy minding his own business until these humans came out of nowhere, dragged me into an alley, and started beating me up. I don't even know why. I don't think I even cared. In the Underground City, you can practically get away with anything: thievery, murder, bullying. So I was in the middle of being punched and kicked at for some reason. I just waited for them to get bored and leave so I didn't bother trying to resist. I must admit though, I was getting a bit frustrated.

"Huh. He's not even doing anything," Boy No. 1 said.

"Maybe he passed out," Boy No. 2 replied.

I didn't want to say anything, but I made sure to keep my eyes open to let them know that I was still fine and conscious.

"What if we kill him?" Boy No. 3 asked.

"No one would notice," Boy No. 1 answered. "He's a Henstridge after all."

I glanced at them. How'd they know? I don't think I used my powers carelessly yet.

Boy No. 1 looked at me and pulled my hair.

"Are you wondering how we know? We saw you flying around late at night. You're lucky it was us and not the police," he said before punching me in the face again.

So because I was flying around, I'm getting beat up by these weak humans.

I looked around, hoping that my cousin wouldn't be close. If she's not here, then that means I can do whatever I want. I immediately used my power to blow them away. They flew back, lightly bumping into the wall. I was getting ready to run, but before I could do anything, water splashed on us.

Just my luck.

I turned to a girl who was about two years older than me. She had brown hair and blue eyes that "shone like the ocean". That's what Mom said, but I don't know what the ocean looks like. 

She was holding a bucket, still pointing it at us.

"Julia, was that necessary?" I asked.

"You're always getting into meaningless fights!" she said.

She walked towards me, then turned to the boys.

"H-Hey! Don't you know that's a Henstridge you're protecting?" Boy No. 1 said.

"Yeah! He's a monster!" Boy No. 3 said.

We didn't show a reaction to that. In humans' eyes, anything that wasn't human were monsters. The unordinary were feared. It wasn't a surprise anymore. Julia, however, splashed the remaining water on them. Without saying anything, she pulled the water back in the bucket and dragged me out of the alley.

"I could've gotten them," I said.

"Seems like you got yourself beaten up instead," Julia replied.

"You were the one who was like, 'Never harm humans. Even if they discriminate against us, we must only resist with silence,'" I said.

"You still used your power on them," Julia reminded me. "And how'd you get caught?"

I shrugged. "Also, why'd you put the water back in the bucket?"

"We need water," Julia answered. "It'd be a waste if I spent all that time looking for water and pouring it on a bunch of kids."

I looked at myself. My clothes were still wet.

"Couldn't you have avoided me?" I asked.

"Well, I expected them to run off after knowing that someone caught them. They'd be less suspicious of me if I splashed you, too," Julia explained. "But then they called us monsters and you know how that went."