Blackening Fortitude

Chapter 2 - The Attack

Akong did not realize how late it was when he finished digging up the last of the rigid plants on the final property line. His paws were severely beat up and slippery with sweat so that he could barely pull another plant. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand before sitting down from exhaustion right where he finished his work. He looked up into the sky to see that the sun was getting ready to set behind the evening clouds on the horizon. He knew that he should not waste any more time, knowing that his friends were waiting to spend the evening with him. He let out a soft exhale from fatigue before heaving his heavy body up to his feet. He took the lengthy walk back over to the area where he left his bag of leftover tools and his empty lunch bag and collected them up into his arms.
As he began to walk back, his legs felt incredibly heavy and at each weary step, he felt his knees shake from exhaustion. He figured he would go the longer way home, around the city borders to stay safe from any malicious attackers that may be hiding around his common route home. The heat of the day was dying down quickly as grey evening clouds hovered over the setting sun, but caused Akong's sweaty feathers to grow cold rather fast. He picked up his pace as quick as his heavy feet could take him as he disappeared behind a few scattered buildings that lead around the city boarders, which were considered to be the safest areas of the outskirts of the old city, at least to Akong and his friends, and he immediately felt safer when he entered the open field that lead to his home. This was Akong's favorite field to walk in because the bare and vast land was quiet and peaceful. Not a single pullulu came back here because there was simply nothing to look at except for endless, dry grass and an occassional wildflower. The breeze hit Akong's wet face which caused him to shudder from the cold. However, he thought to himself that it was better to be a chilly than to be suffocated by the extreme heat of his thick, grey feathers.
Akong enjoyed the walk across this long, and quiet field and he looked up where he could finally see the city buildings again. He wanted to smile in relief before he suddenly felt a massive blow to the back of his head as if something large slammed into him from behind, causing him ot fall forward and hit the ground hard, dropping both of his bags and hitting his shoulder on the gardening rake that fell in front of him, which stung painfully. He felt the back of his head throbbing as if whatever hit him had an immense amount of force. Akong attempted to get up onto his knees and rubbed the back of his head as he felt his vision blurring as if he was slowly starting to lose consciousness. He then heard some voices approach behind him and felt another tough blow to his back, causing him to shriek in pain and fall back to the ground. This time, Akong felt dizzy to the point that it was hard to move, so he laid on the ground so that he wouldn't risk getting hurt again. The voices that approached Akong from behind sounded rather muffled since his ears rung painfully as he listened carefully to them, "What a handsome target! Is he knocked out? Get 'em again!" Before he could make out any other words, he felt a sharp blow to the side of his head as if he was kicked roughly. Akong immediately knew that these were a handful of ruffians from they alleys he went through before heading into the field and it would be difficult, if not impossible to escape them at this point. He tried to lift himself up off the ground before being kicked once more so that he was pushed onto his back, which was a vulnerable position to be in. He opened his eyes to see the blurry figures in front of him. Akong could barely make out the figures of three giant pullulus hovering over him. He was too dizzy to notice if they had weapons but he tried to heave himself off the ground once more. As he rolled over and pulled himself onto his knees, the pullulu ruffians began to laugh at him struggling before kicking him off his knees once again. One of the bigger pullulus planted his foot onto Akong's head to prevent him from moving and spoke once again to his companions, "Check his bags! He may have something valuable." After hearing this remark, Akong prayed to Ulcus that they would not take his precious tools, but his head was being crushed so hard that he could barely hear what was happening above him. Akong felt the pressure in his skull getting tighter as if the cruel thug was crushing his head harder into the ground every second. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as he felt something sharp press against the back of his neck. To his horror, he could barely make out the blurry image of a dagger in the pullulu thug's hand that was ready to slice into his neck. Akong felt as if he may faint and could hear a loud whirring in his ears, almost sounding like screams. He felt his eye swelling shut from the second kick to the head before finally the thug let go of him.
Akong heard the shrieking in his ears getting louder and louder as he laid there on the ground, awaiting another blow or kick. Instead he felt heavy pounding on the ground behind him, where he did not dare to look. Akong was in such aggrivating pain that he could almost hear his beloved Datu yelling encouragingly at him to hang in there. He wished he could hear this for real. Akong felt the best option would be to escape. He planted his forearm on the ground and struggled to lift himself up off the ground, and barely made it onto one knee, but he felt an aggravating pain in his side, causing his knees to stumble, and he collapsed back onto the ground helplessly.
With all the strength he had left, he turned his head back at the thugs to predict their next move, but then to his surprise, he saw two smaller pullulus, about his size, attacking and warding off the bigger ruffians. He planted his elbows on the ground as if he wished to see what was happening but his arms gave out once again and left him laying back in the dirt. The shrieking in Akong's ears turned into ringing and it sounded as if the ruffians were finally chased away since the field grew very quiet. Almost immeidately, Akong felt himself being flipped over onto his back again, but this time with gentle hands. He barely opened his swollen eyes and could barely see the two pullulus tending to him.
Akong immediately recognized the first voice after the ringing in his ears diminished, "Hang in there buddy, we're right here! You're gonna be okay!" Akong recognized the voice of his friend Dakila. His aching heart was uplifted knowing that friends saw that he was in danger came to help him. Akong felt some water dripping down his face as if Dakila had poured some stream water on his facial wounds. Akong heard the second voice speak to him and his heart fluttered as he recognized it as Datu's voice, "Come on Akong, stay with us!" Akong could barely move his body, so he laid limp while his two friends rambled frantically. Akong opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, he felt Datu place a hand on his mouth, "You don't need to speak, Akong. Keep your head on the ground, we're here to help," Datu whispered, reassuringly. Akong closed his swollen eyes and he felt a harsh sting on his side. He felt Dakila pressing his hands into his side, which he found very odd. Akong looked over and saw Dakila pressing a blood-soaked robe onto the side of his abdomen. Dakila put a hand on Akong's face so that his eyes were covered which immeidately caused Akong's heart to pound hard in his chest. Before he could panic, he heard Dakila's reassuring voice,
"It's okay buddy! You're gonna be okay. Keep your eyes rested." At this, Akong gasped,
"W-What happened? What are you doing? That really h-hurts!" Dakila did not respond to these questions to keep Akong from speaking any more, but instead it caused him to panic and lose breath. Akong felt as if his throat would close up from hyperventilating. He felt Datu place a hand on his cheek and whisper,
"Baby, it's okay shhh. I'm right here. There's nothing to worry about!" Datu caressed Akong's jaw and watched as Dakila compressed his bleeding wound. Akong felt lightheaded as his breathing grew heavier and faster. Not being able to take in the terror much longer, he choked out fearfully,
"W-Was I stabbed? Please tell me, Datu!" At this, Datu, who knew of Akong's immense fear of sharp blades, looked over at Dakila who switched to the clean side of his robe to apply more pressure. When Dakila returned his gaze at Datu, who obviously did not want to worry Akong, replied softly,
"Akong, there is not as much blood as I thought there would be. We promise you will be okay." After Dakila spoke, Datu leaned in toward Akong's face and whispered,
"I'm right here, Akong," he murmured reassuringly to him. Through his intense dread, Akong felt soothed by Datu's comforting words.
"I wanna go home," Akong cried softly, as if he had nothing else to say in this moment.
"We will get you there, buddy, we promise," Datu responded. Akong briefly heard Dakila mutter some words to Datu, who looked back at Akong to say something, but was cut off by Dakila,
"Akong, just stay still, okay? I'm gonna try to carry you back." This statement from his friend made Akong nervous, but he trusted them with all of his heart. Akong then felt Dakila's hands grasp tightly onto his upper back and his thighs before being lifted up off the ground to Akong's surprise. He knew that Dakila was strong, but not enough to carry his incredibly heavy body. Dakila heaved as he lifted Akong off the ground and held him tight so that he wouldn't fall. He carefully began to walk in the direction they were headed, toward Akong's home. Datu followed closely beside them and carefully watched Dakila's steps so that he would not stumble.
After walking for a while, Akong finally brought up the courage to open his eyes. He looked down at his gory, injured side and saw the gruesome stab wound. He flinched at the sight of it and turned his head away as he felt the horrible throbbing in his side. The more he thought of the massive blade penetrating his tender flesh and the gushing blood, the more he felt as if he would faint. At this, he gently grabbed on to Dakila's shoulder for support.
Dakila carried Akong back over to his neighborhood where they finally caught sight of the small mud brick building he lived in. The property around it was government owned which made it a bit easier for Akong to reside in since he lived on his own as a young adult. The amount of time that Akong worked helped to keep him living in this house since his caretaker passed away. He was lucky that he did not live in a tenement block house where many homeless pullulus would room together in one building, so he always remembered to not take it for granted.
When Dakila carried Akong to his house, slipped through the ripped up doorway that lead into the small den that was his living room. The only articles in this room was a small cushion for Akong to sit on, a woven rug on the floor and some stacked bags of tools, a water canister and some magic cards that originally belonged to his friend, Bayani. Dakila heaved as he laid Akong down on the rough, straw-filled cushion. Akong winced painfully as he tried to sit back up into a more comfortable position, saving Dakila from moving him around more than he needed to. Datu sat beside Akong, as he laid down onto his back, and watched as more blood oozed from his side. Datu carefully took off his tunic and pressed it against Akong's wound to keep the bleeding down. The three pullulus stayed silent in the room for a while to keep Akong from talking too much. Akong didn't dare to open his eyes again so that he did not have to look at his wound once again. He felt his body begin to tense up again before he felt Datu's paw caress his shoulder affectionately, which eventually calmed him down again. Dakila watch Akong with a pitiful expression before speaking up softly, "Akong, this is the third time in four months that you have been attacked while walking alone. You need to let one of us walk you home every day." Akong said nothing as if feeling rather guilty. He did not want to make his friends feel bad for him by walking back home alone every day. He felt that walking by himself was better for the safety of his friends since they never took the perilous routes that he did. Akong felt his head growing heavy as if he could knock out at any second. He felt a paw caress his forehead and heard Datu whisper, "It's okay. Let him rest," before he finally drifted off to sleep.