❝Speak❞ - A Memoir (Book 1)

01 - Runaway

Chapter 1

***

Sighing, I walked through the village as I always did. But, there was something wrong… Just as I was looking around to figure out just what was off; I get pushed to the ground by a muttering passerby. I sigh again, wrapping my newly acquired wounds.

I get up and looking at the large gates of the village.

“It’s you!!” said a small male voice behind me. Not once thinking he could be talking to me, I continue staring at the large gates, that is, until a face blacks my view.

The little boy grins; “it is you!!”

Startled, I jump back a few feet. He looks at me curiously while she looks away to the big gates.

“Uh…” murmurs the boy. “Why do you keep looking at the gates??” he asks looking at the gates also.

I didn’t answer; I just take another step back as he takes a step forward. He looks at me curiously and takes another step forward; I respond by taking a step back. Realizing the pattern, he reaches for me; “I’m not going to hurt you”

I look at his outstretched hand before turning and running past him to the large gates.

“Hey, wait!!” he calls, watching as I run past the gates and into the thick forest followed instantly by guards.

After a few minutes of running, I slow to a stop, looking behind me only to see countless towering trees. Frightened, I turn around, but having lost my way, I could only see more trees towering overhead.

Turning around at the sound of footsteps, I stare, frightened, at the line of armed soldiers surrounding me.

My first instinct was to run, but where? I had no idea. Either way, I backed away slowly before taking off in a mad dash for the trees.

I heard their heavy footsteps as they followed me; I made a sharp right and started to climb a tree. I hid in the leaves till I could no longer hear them.

For a while I heard many orders for my capture before they grew silent. Taking deep breaths I decided that it was safe to come out and slowly climbed down from the tree.

“Found you!” I turned around to find a soldier sneering at me. I backed away but hit the tree behind me.

“No more running away, little girl” said the soldier glaring at me. He made a dash to catch me but I moved to the right and evaded his attack but for some reason I felt a sharp pain in my arm only to notice it bleeding.

I tried to scream but my voice wouldn’t work. Seeing the chance, he grabbed my bleeding arm, making more blood gush out. I gasped at the pain and tried to free myself but he was much stronger than me.

I was starting to feel faint and my vision was getting fuzzy. Thinking it was the end for me I felt the soldier’s grip loosen as he let go of my arm.

Seeing the chance, I took off at full speed away from the soldier; I had no idea where I was going, but I would go anywhere as long as it was away from the soldiers.

My escape didn’t last long for I soon felt a stabbing pain in both my legs and my back. I almost immediately collapsed due to the pain and tried to crawl on the ground but couldn’t.

I looked behind at the sound of loud thuds and found that the soldiers that were following me were on the ground not moving whatsoever. I didn’t know if they were dead or if they were just knocked out but that didn’t matter. All I knew was that I had to escape.

I try to stand but my legs wouldn’t move and they hurt badly. My vision became even fuzzier and I barely noticed four figures land from the trees and run toward me before everything went black.

***

I woke with a start, staring at the clouds. It wasn’t until I noticed the trees surrounding me that I gave any thought as to where I was. I looked around and saw four people sitting in a circle, most of their backs were to me.

Only one of them noticed I was awake. She looked different from the girls I was used to seeing. She had long dark hair and bright yellowish eyes. She wore a sash with a metal thing on her arm. Carved on the metal plate was a small sign, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think it looked a bit like a leaf.

Upon seeing me awake, she grinned the widest grin I had even seen and got up.

She was tall and very thin; “Look at that, she’s awake!” she exclaimed walking closer to me. As she grew closer, I became frightened, my eyes widened and I hurriedly tried to stand.

Almost immediately, my legs gave out and I sank to the ground. The others were now looking at me; three men. One of them looked older than the other two and didn’t look like he cared at all about what was going on. One of the others grinned and waved; he had spiky red hair and bright green eyes. The other younger male had long blonde hair and black eyes, thus looking the most dangerous. I quickly get up, and ran with all my might towards the fuzzy trees. The pain in my legs was dull and so I could hardly feel it, making it easier for me to escape.

“Please don’t run, you’ll open up your wounds!!” exclaimed the girl probably running after me.

I hear a laugh; “Ha! You scared her”

I turned around to see if she was still following me, but instead I found the red haired guy grinning at me. I turned back around just in time to see the girl in front of me with her hands on her hips and a surprised look on her face.

I suddenly stopped eyes wide and staring at her. “You know, you’re really fast for a kid” she said with a half smile.

I kept staring at her, waiting to see if she would move. Either way, I started to back away but bumped into something instead. “Hey, where’re you going??” asked the red haired guy.

I quickly jumped away from him just as the second guy appeared right by the girl. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was scared” he says taking one huge step to me.

I was surprised he knew, I thought he was the worst one. I was contemplating whether or not to run again, after all, even I knew I couldn’t escape, they could appear wherever they wanted!! I was no match for that. Maybe if I knew than that I’d be interrogated very soon, maybe I would’ve tried a bit harder to escape. Then again, things happen for a reason, right?

“Well then why don’t we take her to Konoha??” asked the guy behind me. What’s Konoha??

I started to back away to the trees while they were distracted but before I could reach them I felt a dull hit on the back of my head.

“What was that for, sensei?!” I think the red haired guy asked.

“Well, she wouldn’t have come with us freely…” was all I heard before everything went black.