The Abandoned Genius

How Did You Learn?

 "So, what happened after that?"

"Meow," Hans began as he thought to himself with his usual head scratches. He seemed to have been busy gathering his thoughts together prior to speaking. "Well, not too meowch happened for the meowst part. I took to readin' from the papers I saw all meowver the place."

"You taught yourself to read?" Adlet asked, though mainly to himself. He smiles as he remains interested in the story. "What was your favourite type of story to read?"

"The police stories, for sure." Hans replied without missing a beat, "I really liked all the current report things relatin' to crime and stuff."

"Is that what made you become an assassin?"

"Nope, these stories were only a reminder for one thing to meow. It didn't help me with anythin' else besides learnin' how to read."

"What, really?" Adlet asked, mildly confused. It took him a moment to sort his thoughts out before nodding to himself. "Right, so there's more to it than just that."

"Yeah, 'course there is." Hans replied before continuing. "When I was a kid, meow, I would take daily walks ameownd the closest town. It was a combineowtion of hearin' everyone 'round plus figurin' out the seownds that letters make when readin' that gave me the idea of talkin."

"So, you're saying you just slowly figured everything out along the way?" Adlet wondered, piecing the story together in his head. Hans nodded his head.

"Yeah, pretty meowch." Adlet grinned cheerfully over at him.

"You're a real genius, Hans!"

"Meow?" Hans questioned, glancing over at Adlet. "I don't kneow about that."

"Well I do!" Adlet confirmed with a proud tone in his voice. "You're saying you learned all of this by yourself, without any help." Hans shrugged his shoulders at that.

"Meow, but that happens with everyone, doesn't it?"

"Well, yeah, it's one of those things that just happens," Adlet reluctantly replied, glancing away. "But most kids all have someone to teach them."

"Really?" Hans gives Adlet a skeptical look. "Didya have someone to teach ya these things?" Adlet sighs softly as he softens his gaze.

"I had my sister," he replied. He smiles softly at the memories, "She taught me how to talk, read, and walk when I was little."

"Meow," Hans stares at Adlet for a moment as the young man looks back on the past. Seeing the content expression on his face, it was obvious he had come to terms with everything despite all that had happened. Hans decides to lighten the mood abruptly, grinning widely. "Meow-heh-heh, I never thought I was anythin' special there!"

Adlet smiles back at Hans, the relaxed atmosphere returning between the two odd friends. "So, how did you get to being an assassin?"

Hans doesn't respond right away, instead staring intently into Adlet's red eyes. His cat-like yellow eyes lose the life inside them, causing the young man to flinch at the immediate intimidation. A challenging grin spreads across Hans's face, his sharp fangs looking ready to bite into its prey.

"Ya sure ya want those details, Adlet? I'll warn ya neow." Adlet gulped before stealing his nerves, knowing Hans is only taunting him.

"Yeah, I do." He stated firmly. Hans nodded his head in confidence to trust the redheaded man before turning his gaze towards the dark night as silent as the dead.

"Well, meowbe I shoulda seen this comin'," Hans began calmly, "I shoulda figured it'd be neow ordinary day at the time."

"Why do you say that?" Adlet asked.

"While I was on my way to town, I feownd a knife on the ground. Meow, nothin' real special, your kinda knife a cook or housewife would use." Hans shrugged his shoulders.

"And you just picked it up?" Hans nodded his head without hesitation.

"'Course I did! I didn't want any cats gettin' ahold of it or somethin'!" Adlet glances away, albeit embarrassed that he didn't think of that.

"Oh, right, I guess that would make sense." He admitted. "Was that the first time you've ever seen a blade?"

"Yeah," Hans replied, nodding his head, "I've seen glass shards, ditched weapons includin' a few guns." He shrugs it off, "But neowver blades of any kind."

That came off as a slight surprise to Adlet. He initially assumed that, like any other used up object, people would throw them away when they were finished or fed up with it. He shrugs it off, choosing not to attempt at figuring out the choices some people make.

"So you took the knife and went into town?"

"Yeah, I feowllowed my usual schedule after that," Hans continued, getting back to his story. 

The little town was as it always was. Things were busy, people walking the streets in every direction you looked along with the many conversations that accompanied them. The amount of people looked far too high for the tiny town to compensate for, the many salesmen hustling endless sales to what seemed like a crowd that went on forever. The young children would charge at full speed, shoving through the crowd of strangers without a care in the world until their parents would call them back before they strayed too far.

A young Hans Humpty was casually walking through the busy streets, minding his own business. He didn't spare a single thought to the many judging glances he passed by nor did the children bumping his shoulder tempt him to give his attention to the world that surrounded him. He knew he looked strange. He knew he looked unkempt. He knew what society expected, but didn't care to meet their standards.

He finished cleaning off the knife he had found shortly beforehand. It only had a thin layer of dirt from being thrown on the ground that was quickly cleaned off from a piece of fabric Hans had ripped off from his rugged clothing.

'This could come in handy,' Hans thought to himself. He gave it one last check before slipping the naked blade to sit alongside his waist, kept secure with the belt he wore. He hadn't had the foggiest idea what he could use it for, though he didn't give it too much thought for the time being.