Atourse rising

Chapter four: I go crazier than all hell

We were now taking another vehicle that Samuel had made, that was also made out of a log. It was kind of like a ski lift but a lot more wobbly and the seat was a log. Samuel sat in the middle, Karlen on the other side of him. It had been a sort of struggle to get Karlen to come with us. Most of the time Samuel was just begging her until at one point when it seemed she wouldn't budge Samuel whispered something in her ear. Her eyes had widened and she looked at me, almost scared, but then she nodded and agreed to come. I looked down over the side of the log. I could see Stjarnaspire. The whole village was aflame. I could see people being marched out of the town by the soldiers. I don't know why I had gotten so angry at them before. Probably because of that little girl. She reminded me of Haven. I shook the thought out of my head. Haven was fine with Tarslen. I looked directly down. There were bags hanging off the log lift that were filled with food, water and some medical supplies. The bags were moving with the wobble of the log. I looked back towards our destination. We were going up towards the Island with the castle. Karlen decided to try and make conversation. "So, uh, Kan. You're born under the Wolverine, right?" I leaned in front of Samuel slightly to look at her. "Yeah. I don't really know what it means. I guess I'm just supposed to be really strong." Karlen smiled. "That's a pretty rare animal to be born under. Really rare. But anyway, I was born under the doe. So far it means I can just run really fast and jump pretty high." Karlen giggled. I didn't smile even though I might have wanted to. I guess I just didn't know how to do it on command. I had only smiled a couple times in my life and that was with Samuel when there was I didn't think there was something wrong with me at the time. I just kept my stone faced expression and leaned back. "That sounds neat I guess." Karlen frowned slightly and then laughed nervously. "Yeah. Neat." Samuel when we were riding the log down and when we were walking through Stjarnaspire. Samuel grinned. "Well at least you two got something useful. The only thing I got was sharp teeth, great hair and a domination complex." Samuel and Karlen laughed. I didn't. We sat in silence the rest of the way up. We stepped up to the island and began to walk towards the castle. Karlen started to talk "It's kind of funny, you know? Being so young in the world and already having so much responsibility. I mean we have all these things put on us that we didn't have to worry about in the human world. I guess if it had stayed the same we would have been outcasted by society. It's just a lot. Like the animals, our parents. I don't know. I'm just rambling. What do you guys think?" I replied. "I don't really have an opinion. I don't really know how to really. My opinion has always been the opinion of my dad's. Not like my Atourse super dad. My human dad. He... Well he wasn't I guess what normal human dad's were. He made me what he thought was the perfect person. I don't even really understand what I'm saying. It all feels pretty normal to me. I mean today was the first time I've ever smiled. Or laughed for that matter. So I don't know. I just know I need to protect Haven." "Oh. Wow. That's... Wow. My human dad was pretty nice. It doesn't seem like yours were. What about Haven? Is that your sister? Do both of you miss them?" I shrugged. "I don't know. It's kind of nice to be away from my dad. I kind of miss my mom. On nights when my dad would get drunk and pass out early, she would come into me and Haven's room and sing us to sleep. Yeah, Haven is my sister. I think she feels the same way except her relationship with my dad was different. My dad treated her like the rarest treasure in the world. He would always tell me that I don't matter. That only Haven matters. I remember the day Haven came into our lives. It was a day in spring, at six o'clock. There was a white basket on our doorstep and a baby girl. I guess, that was how I came into the human world too." Karlen was looking at her feet as we walked. "You know Kan, as you keep talking about your life, I start to see more and more about how you're the wolverine." I didn't know what to say to that. We kept walking for a while until we reached the castle. Some lanterns floated by it. I looked up at the stars. Some were starting to disappear. The river of light was fading. I looked behind me. The sun was starting to rise. I wasn't tired. I never really got tired. We walked into the castle. I saw Haven look up from a table she was drawing at and Tarslen chopping up some vegetables where Samuel was working before, still wrapped up in his black shroud. Haven got down from the chair and ran towards me. "Kan!" She yelled. 'Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan!" I smiled and knelt down, opening my arms for her hug. Haven jumped into my arms, wrapping her legs around my torso and her arms around my neck, clinging to me tightly. "Kan! I missed you! Where did you go?! Tarsy said you went to go see the stars with his brother! Is Tarsy's brother also a big ninja?! Oh! Kan! Come look at what a drew!" Haven got down from my hug and ran over to the table, turning occasionally to see if I was following. I walked over to the table to find a crudely drawn picture of Haven, me and our mom. "See, there's me, you and mommy!" Haven smiled wide. I talked in the same tone mother would have. "It's very good Haven. Do you miss mommy?" Haven nodded, her smile fading. "Yeah... We're gonna find mommy right?" I nodded. Yes Haven. We're gonna find mommy. But right now we have to leave." She looked up at me. "Are we gonna go look for mommy?" I didn't know how to respond to that. I leaned down and picked her up. "I don't know Haven. For now I just know we have to leave." Haven nodded and laid her head on my shoulder. "Okay." Tarslen, Samuel and Karlen were talking over at the work table. I walked over to them. "So Jörðinspire?" Asked Tarslen. "Yes." Replied Samuel and Karlen in usion. Samuel spoke "It has the best defense of any village in the Spire Valley. It will be the last town to be claimed as part of the battle field. We'll be treated good there. Especially Kan. His animal will be visible to officials and will gain us good treatment." Samuel turned to me. "Jörðinspire is a town of hierarchy. The officials will treat you like royalty, from your rare sign and your lineage. But only officials will be able to. They're trained to. So don't expect special treatment from citizens" I nodded. "So why does everyone think the wolverine is rare and special?" I asked. "Kan. There hasn't been a wolverine for years. When I say years I mean millions of years. Before the first great war. The beginning actually. He died at the beginning. Osborg killed him when Osborg was young. It was probably for the best. The old man had gotten crazy. Kept talking about the hunger. How he wasn't satisfied. He talked about the red. At least that's what my dad told me." I almost flinched at the mention of "the red". Samuel kept talking. "But Osborg got arrogant after that. Saying that since he had killed something so strong and almost unstoppable that he deserved the High Throne. It's law that if a Narlit or major Atourse, kills the strongest being in the world then he or she gets rights to the High Throne. But that was also the time of when you're father was supposed to get the High Throne since it was his birthright. The two laws clashed and war broke out. Although Osborg was young he had already proved his power by killing the wolverine. You see, Osborg is also born under a rare animal. The kraken. A rare and powerful sign to be born under. Both signs have been at odds since the beginning. Anyway, we should get going." The whole kraken and wolverine thing made my head hurt. I pushed the thought out of my mind and nodded. "So how do we get there?" "I have a friend who lives down below the islands. He has a pickup truck from the human days. I modified it for him so it ran on water." "Alright. I guess we should go then"