True Fiction

Chapter 8: Oakheart

"So what do you guys do for fun?" Ashen asked his face full of Ryan's food. It was another night of great cooking and enjoying each other's company. Kenneth, unsurprisingly, was asleep and Ryan was tending to the food.

"I like to run and swim," Wilfred said, mouth full of food.

"Don't talk to people with your mouth full." Ryan chided, whacking him on the head. Wilfred almost choked on the immense amount of food in his mouth but miraculously swallowed it down. Recovering from the shock, Wilfred continued.

"Yea so I like running and swimming a lot."

"Where do you usually do it."

"By the beach. Maybe twice a day."

"What if it rains?"

Wilfred shot him an incredulous look, saying "Who cares if it rains. I'll just do it anyway."

"Won't you fall sick if you did that?"

He cocked his head to the side, slightly confused, "Sick?"

Thankfully, Ryan interjected, "Wilfred has never fallen sick in his life. Not sure why. It's definitely a phenomenon."

Nodding along, Ashen changed the subject, "Do you do anything else?"

"I also train to be a swordsman," Wilfred replied.

This time, it was Ashen who almost choked on his food. "Swordsmanship?"

Wilfred nodded.

"Wow, that's really cool!

Wilfred's face broke into the huge grin. "Definitely is."

"But why do you do it," Ashen asked.

Wilfred lost his smile as he struggled to find the words to say. Trying to help him out, Ashen accidentally overstepped his boundaries.

"Are you trying to protect anything?"

Wilfred's fist collided with the ground as he glared heavily at Ashen, who whimpered in fear.

"Shut up, you don't know anything." He said voice laced with anger.

"Wilfred, stop. He didn't mean anything." Ryan cut in, placing his hand on Wilfred's shoulder. Wilfred breathed, squeezing his eyes shut. "I'm sorry Ashen. It wasn't your fault. It...it..." He opened his eyes and stood up. Without saying a word he sprinted out of the door leaving behind a very worried Ashen.

"Don't worry about it. He'll be fine and it's not your fault. Wilfred just needs some time." Kenneth said, apparently awake. Ashen looked down dejectedly into his food, wondering what he did wrong.

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Wilfred ran and ran and ran. Never running out of stamina, he reached the beach in a record-breaking half an hour. With his endless momentum, he threw himself onto the soft sand and laid down, listening to the waves crash against the shore beside him.

He closed his eyes and relaxed. The soothing night breeze blowing towards him. The rhythmic music that the waves and winds produced all the more making it a beautiful night by the sea. Yet, Wilfred was still agitated.

As he felt the coolness of the moonlight fall on his face, he slowly opened his eyes to watch the full moon in its full beauty. Taking deep breaths, he sat up and faced the sea. Eyes full of sadness, his fist clenched, he bit his lip so as to not cry out into the night.

Why? WHY?

If I could run faster, punch harder, not have been a stupid coward, they wouldn't have died.

It's all my fault.

Wilfred could feel the tears in his eyes, yet he held them back with ferocity. He'd thoughts these thoughts, heard these voices, cried these tears, but none of them would help. All they did was make him feel worse.

He turned his head to the right to see the speck in the distance, just making out the outline of a small house by the beach. Getting up and walking over, Wilfred felt the cool breeze on his neck. The scar still there from those damned years.

He had seen the worst side of humanity. To see humans treated like animals, slaves. The scars from his past haunted him still. Perhaps because he knew.

Why am I so weak?

He knew he couldn't protect anyone, couldn't fight for freedom, couldn't be strong. Yet, these never stopped him. Never stopped him from running faster, training harder. He couldn't stop.

There's no one left to protect. To avenge. I don't want to live my life defending against my past.

Reaching the house, he swung the door open, hearing it creak and moan. He threw himself on the floor and gripped his shark tooth necklace ever so tightly. His head buried in his other arm.

Like always, he let the tears fall down. The only one that he couldn't protect, was himself. After all, he was the weakest person he had known his entire life.

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"Wilfred had a rough life. That's a huge understatement by the way." Ryan explained briefly.

"Yep. That little feller has seen more things than we ever will." Kenneth added on.

Ashen lost his appetite. Placing down, the bowl of soup, he stood up and prepared to chase after Wilfred.

"Don't bother. He's long gone. You'll never catch up to him." Kenneth said.

"But I need to. He's my friend and I hurt him somehow." Ashen protested.

"If you go now, you'll only hurt him even more. He needs time to sort things" Ryan argued, standing up to pull Ashen back.

"I know you mean well, but Wilfred needs to fight his own battles, as friends, it's our job to not intervene at times like this."

"All of us have something we care about. A past, a problem, a person. We need to deal with it as we are. That's why people get stronger." Kenneth said, supporting Ryan.

"I know it doesn't seem like it, but Wilfred is the strongest person we know."

Ashen sat down and looked at the two of them.

"I'm guessing you have experience with this."

"Plenty."

"So what happened. Why did he just..."

"It's not our place to say for him. However, just know that to Wilfred, protecting his friends, his memories, is the single most important thing to him." Kenneth answered.

Ryan placed his hand on Ashen's, shocking him. Ashen looked up at the usually reserved boy.

"Don't worry Ashen, one day he'll tell you and you'll understand."

Ashen nodded, thinking even more about the mystery of Wilfred Oakheart.