Blackening Fortitude

Chapter 1 - Companions

For many pullulus who did not have a place to live, days like this one were very hard. The heat of the sun on top of the choking humidity was unbearable. Many pullulus who had no source of shade would either bathe in a river or travel to the upperclass area of the city to fetch some cold fountain water in a bucket. For the young Pullulu, Akong, who was walking in this morbid temperature to carry out his usual afternoon work, the hot, early autumn afternoons were difficult to work in because of his long and heavy feathers. His job for the day was to rip out dead plants, weeds, and other invasive vegetation near abandoned homes or ones in bad condition. This was fairly easy for him since, on most days, he would repair heavy stone fences, collect broken glass and pottery from the streets, or pick up broken fence posts and other large objects that were falling apart from abandoned properties, which were, to him, the hardest of any type of work he was given. Ripping up plants was easier, because it required less strength and the majority of this was done in the shade. He carried with him a bag of old gardening supplies and a lunch to eat halfway through. Akong scanned the area as he walked toward the abandoned buildings in case of any surprise attacks. He looked to one side and saw a group of young Pullulu children playing with some large sticks underneath a tree, and to the other side, he saw an older Pullulu couple sitting on their porch grooming each others' matted feathers. This was quite a rare sight to see such a peaceful setting in this area of town, making Akong feel more comfortable, so he let out a soft exhale in relief. Akong always struggled with the anxiety of going outside, in fear of being the victim of another group attack, or seeing someone with a weapon. Akong's only caretaker died from a stabbing, which made Akong's fear of weapons worsen.
When he finally arrived to the group of abandoned buildings, he scanned the area once more before approaching an abandoned, mud brick house. After setting his bag down, he pulled out of it a small, rusted gardening rake and began to dig up some invasive stiltgrass imbedded near the corners of the building. Akong's paws were beaten from the amount of days he worked in the summer and touching the thin stiltgrass and stickerbush leaves would sting his palms, but he knew very well that he had to do this in order to get food to eat. His paws ached when he had to dig up the deepest roots buried in the rock-hard soil. If he did not do this, the plants would come right back within days. Akong moved down the property to the other side where he saw an abandoned garden, full of dead hollyhocks and azaleas. Akong's heart was broken whenever he had to dig up a beautiful plant or dead groups of flowers. He didn't like to see beautiful gardens die, but he didn't want the property to appear dead or infected with harmful and invasive plants either. He did his best to get every harmful or dead plant out, which meant that he had to rip out the worst. As he was digging, he occassionally caught a sticker plant deep in his paw past his feathers, breaking skin and causing mild bleeding.
He kept up this tiring routine for about two more hours until he decided it was best to take a break. The puddles of sweat in his facial feathers dripped into his eyes so that he could hardly open them. He used the back of his hand to wipe his sore eyes out, which did not help too much since sweat drenched his hands as well. Akong did not have any protection for his hands, which was risky to begin with since he would accidentally get poison ivy in his skin. Akong felt fluids rushing in his head from exhaustion as he walked back around the property to where he kept his bag. He decided to move his stuff toward the porch of the house, which looked as if it would crumble apart any minute, to get some shade. Akong pulled out his lunch in his bag. Inside the bag was some brown rice he prepared at home and mixed nuts and dried berries. Rice was not Akong's favorite meal, but he was willing to eat anything that he could get his hands on during work. Akong rarely had the opportunity to enjoy the usual upperclass delicacies of the Pullulu tribe, like fresh fruits and veggies. He was terribly hungry since the heat had already drained most of his energy. He didn't carry any untensils so he used his fingers to gently pinch a clump of rice and nibble on it hungrily.
As he finished up the last of his rice, which did not take him very long, he reached for a handful of his berries and nuts when he suddenly heard voices coming up from his side. Out of instinct he sat up very quickly and swerved around to see who it was. Akong was a bit relieved to see that it was not a gang. He recognized the Pullulus approaching him as his four closest friends from his old school. Some of them were a bit younger than him, but they were the few who got along with him very well. The first of the four was Bayani. Bayani was a very talkative and extroverted Pullulu and always was the first to initiate a conversation with Akong. He had deep mahogany feathers that were much neater than the majority of the suburban pullulus. His caretakers were saving up for an upperclass home in the Old City so he was the most spoiled, but he never bragged about it and was always very considerate and caring to others. The next of the group was Dakila. Dakila was much taller than Akong, despite being a two years younger than him, along with Bayani. Dakila was a bit quiet and only talked when necessary. However he had a great interest for the study of law and dreamed of staying in school to become a great legal secretary within the Pullulu king's law office. Dakila had short, grey plumage that was matted and hardly taken care of and a light grey diamond pattern on the center of his face. The third of the group was Buhawi. Akong felt very sorry for him, youngest of the group. Buhawi was physically and sexually abused by his upperclass caretakers before being put into foster care. Since then, Buhawi struggled with severe anxiety, was never seen without a trusted friend or guardian, had frequent nightmares and flashbacks, and hardly spoke a word, but he took comfort in Akong and his friends and hardly ever left their side. Buhawi was a very beautiful Pullulu, despite everything he had been through. He had gorgeous blue plumage with two sun patterns on the sides of his face, very similar to Akong's. The last member of the group was Akong's favorite, Datu. Datu was another extroverted Pullulu, with a heart of fire and determination and was always considerate to Akong and his friends. He never hesitated to stand up for his friends if a fight broke out or they encountered a gang attack. Datu was always very simple but had a wild sense of humor. Datu often teased around with Akong or Bayani since they were closest to him. He was very understandable, humble and always kept his promises. A mean joke never came out of his mouth. Akong did not dare to admit it for as long as he lived, but he found Datu to be very attractive, along with his caring and determined personality. He had long aquamarine plumage, noticeably long lashes, and unlike most pullulus, he had fluffy, pointed ears, resembling those of a large cat. Akong swore, as long as he lived, to never confess his feelings to Datu, knowing well that he would not feel the same way.
The first to speak up, of course, was Bayani. He approached Akong with a wide smile and greeted him cheerfully in his usual piping, feminine tone, "Look who's here!" Bayani greeted him happily, "We figured we would find you somewhere around here." Akong looked up at the group and couldn't help but smile at them, even thought their voices startled him at first.
"Aren't you supposed to be in school you guys?" Akong responded quietly, as his voice was rather piping and raspy for his age, which he was very insecure about. He sat up and turned toward them before continuing, "I thought this was a busy week for you." Bayani shook his head before sitting down next to Akong,
"Nope. We have the next two days off before going back. What a relief!" he said excitedly. Akong immediately guessed that they snuck out of class to visit him ,as they all have done this before, but Akong didn't say anything since it was none of his business to discuss it. "We were also going to walk Buhawi back to Datu's house to grab a few things he needed," Bayani continued, "Buhawi needed to borrow a few of Datu's books that he forgot to grab from class last week." Akong listened carefully to Bayani talk and he slowly continued to eat his food as the rest of the group sat next to him. Datu spoke next, which made Akong's heart flutter,
"How long have you been out here, princess?" he asked, followed by a teasing smile. Akong was barely able to swallow some berries before responding to him.
"Only a few hours." Akong responded even more quietly, "It's almost too hot to work today." In response to this, Bayani scooted up closer to Akong and slapped his back heartily.
"You'll get out of here in no time, Akong! You have made it through every other day of work this summer! You can't give up now! Think of all the fun stuff we could do tonight after you get done!" This made Akong feel a bit better knowing that his friends look forward to spending time with him. He smiled assuringly at Bayani's kind remark,
"Thanks Bayani!" Akong replied, "Maybe you guys could come over to my place tonight after I get done with work! I could show you some of the books I've been reading and maybe we could play some games!" Akong spotted Datu smile with delight at this idea,
"That sounds splendid, Akong! You'll be home this evening at the usual time?" Akong smiled awkwardly at Datu and nodded. The four pullulus looked at each other, muttered their plans softly, and nodded in approval. Bayani spoke up next,
"We'll be there shortly after then! Want us to bring our oracle and tarot decks?" he asked. Akong nodded in approval. He didn't fully understand oracles and magic cards, but his friends always made it interesting and he wanted to learn more about it by watching them. Bayani knew Akong was feeling tired since he was so quiet, so he gave Akong a warm smile and another pat on the back, "Be safe coming home, Akong. We passed by a troublesome group coming from the west side," he warned Akong, while nodding his head in the direction they came from. Akong took this deep into consideration as he replied,
"Thanks for the warning. I'll go the longer way home," he responded, "Same to you." Akong worried about his friends consistently travelling everywhere, despite the dangerous atmosphere they were surrounded by. They all said their farewells and Datu wished Akong a safe journey home with a warm hug, which he really needed. After saying goodbye, Akong's friend group slowly left, but they occasionally turned back to make sure Akong was safe as if they had a hard time leaving him alone.
Akong was very grateful for this tenderhearted group of friends and for the fact that they always turned up to check on him at work, especially after they got out of school. The four of them did not work since they had the privilege of having caretakers who worked for them to put food on their tables. Akong was never envious of them, for he rather enjoyed being a independent young adult. Instead he felt very glad for them that they had more security at home, because he knew well that they deserved to feel comfortable. However, Akong did feel sorry for Buhawi, remembering what Bayani said about them needing to walk for poor fellow to Datu's house. Knowing the terrors the young Pullulu went through made Akong's protective instincts kick in whenever they were together. He gave himself a soft hug thinking about his friends, as if more than grateful to have them around.
Akong packed up his empty bag and put it next to his gardening tool carrier. He decided to not waste any more time in the shade and get back to work. His paws still ached from the sticker bush wounds on his palms, but he continued to dig in the soil for any roots he may have missed on his last row. He knew that it would at least take him until evening to get the rest of the hard work done, but he kept in mind that his friends were looking forward to spending the night with him so he smiled to himself until he forgot about the blistering heat and his aching paws.