synchronized

2 - once upon a dream

character prospective ages; Damien 10, Silas 10

for curious readers, this is a dream/flashback damien is having, (and it's to inform yall ;v;)

My throat hurt. It felt like my entire body was on fire. I grasped my neck and I felt my body burning up. I can't fall asleep, not now, Damien! You finally got out of that hellhole, and the first thing you want to do is die? Useless.

But what could I do? I'm just 10, I can't possibly survive out here alone. First, where am I? God knows where. Trees surrounded me, and I could barely see light shining through the thick leaves. A few protruding leaves scratched me every other minute, but other than that, I withheld barely any injuries.

I touched my cheek, and my face went pale. I forgot the reason I ran away in the first place. Mother would always beat me, and this time, she went mental. I saw her yelling at Augustine and I couldn't bear to see her hurt.

So I went out of line, and jumped in front of Aggie. It didn't hurt much, really. Just a tiny sting. Nothing I couldn't handle to make sure she was okay.

Oh, who am I kidding, it hurt like hell. I don't know how I didn't let out a whimper.

But anyways, I ran the minute I saw her expression, she is my mother after all, and I couldn't bear to hear the curses and shouts she would spit out the minute she comprehended what I had just done.

My only choice was to run, and so I did exactly that.

My adrenaline finally ran out, and I could feel how overworked my legs were, and how much I needed to rest. I found a leafy spot somewhere and I sat down. The moment I got comfortable, I felt my eyelids drooping and the next thing I knew, I was asleep.

***

"Hey! Hey, wake up! Whatcha doing out here in the woods?"

"Huh..." I said drowsily.

Who was talking to me? I was clearly alone earlier. Someone must've found me sleeping. Ah, what if it was my mother? Surely I would be beaten half to death.

I looked up at the figure talking to me, and sighed so loud, you could hear it 10 meters away. It was a kid I've never seen before, which probably means that they didn't know me either. That was probably for the best.

I started standing up, ready to run, but then the boy suddenly cupped my cheeks and grabbed me close.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?" I screamed in a distressed but flustered manner, but I guess it came out as more of a whisper. Who was this kid to touch random strangers in this way?

"What happened to your cheek? Never mind, lets just fix you up, you fell didn't you? Oh how silly," The boy said, at first worriedly, but the words somehow ended up sounding sympathetic and it seemed like he was... laughing at me?

Whatever it was, I scowled and walked with him reluctantly, hand in hand through the thick woods.

"So what's your name? I mean we should introduce ourselves if we're gonna be best friends now yknow?"

This boy sure was talkative, was he not scared of his parents? Not every boy in our kingdom lived happily.

"Im Damien," I said reluctantly, fidgeting with my fingers on the hem of my dirt stained shirt.

"Woah, that's a pretty name! Im Silas Kaiser-Reine, Delighted to make your acquaintance," Said Silas, while he bowed in the most polite way. He couldn't keep it up though, he nearly bursted after like five seconds.

"THAT WAS COOL WASN'T IT? I practiced hours for that! Nanny didn't say anything but papa loved it!!"

Silas was grinning from head to toe, he looked like he was about to jump and propel himself to the moon. I couldn't help but smile as well.

"That was really cool, Silas, I'm excited to be great friends," I said to Silas, and reached out for a handshake.

He stared at me for a second, with a face I couldn't comprehend, but then giddily shook my hand with a huge grin, and screamed so loud the whole forest shook, "YESSS!!!"

I chuckled and relaxed my shoulders. This kid couldn't be bad right?

Silas Kaiser-Reine was an white swan. He glowed wherever he stood, and one couldn't help but stand in the background when he was in sight.

If he were to have fallen, people would swarm to make sure he was okay. I wanted to feel that light, to be able to linger just a bit longer and bask in the warmth of his glow and be able to stand by his side, to be his companion.

I stared at him, and thought to myself, Silas has a really pretty smile.