Bright Eyes

Chapter 6

Soup woke in his wooden cage to the cart bumping along, with the man from last night riding the wagon's buffalo through a stretch of forest. They were following a long train of semi armoured Red eyed men and women. As he took in his situation, the red eyed man glanced back and noticed him wake up. The man smirked. "Still alive back there my little Bright Eye?".

Soup gave him a death stare. "Why did you kill my Grandmother!? She wouldn't have hurt you! Just take your raided buffalo and go!"

The mans face went stone cold. "Boy this isn't just a raid. This is THE raid. You haven't noticed the direction we are going yet? We are using the tracks you made with your buffalo stream and following them back to your hidden village". The man smirked and turned back to the path ahead.

Soup grabbed the cage bars in rage, tears forming in his eyes until they started to sting. They really started to sting. He wiped away the tears and saw the wooden bars pouring off smoke where his hands just were. The man looked back and gasped at the same time as soup.

Soup looked at his hands in awe.

The man stared back as he rode. "You really aren't an Animus child are you?"

"Of course I am!" Soup snapped back.

"Don't bullshit me Boy, your eyes are brown, but there is fire in your heart." The man said almost quietly, as if he didn't want the cart in front to hear.

Soup deflated. The first man to know was a monster. He had always managed to hide his differences away in his remote village, he knew he could tame beasts as he had always kept small jungle pets and Caffer, so he never let his differences bother him. He was an Animus through and through, or so he thought. Vera always told him that the world would end if anyone saw him do something strange - he even used to pretend flinch if he touched something hot. She was very dramatic about it to keep him in line but the way she said it made him take her seriously.

"So as I asked last night, Who are you?" The man questioned Soup.

"I am Caseus Cuvier of the Animus Buffalo Villages!" He replied proudly.

The scarred man snarled. "I said don't bullshit me boy, who are you?"

"I don't really know" Soup seethed at the man "I never met my parents and I've always lived with my grandmother the village cook"

The man sighed. "So you are just a mystery to me as you are to yourself?"

Soup stared at the man solemnly.

The man went on "I've heard tales of Black and White Bright Eyes ancient techniques but those tales are as old as time itself and you don't fit the bill. But I still think the leaders of the capital will be very interested in you". A gleam passed through the mans eyes.

They rode silently with Soup staring daggers into the mans back until dusk when the train slowed. They had reached the Buffalo Villages.