The Bonded: Lost And Gained

~ Chapter 1 ~

A red-haired boy placed one foot in front of the other, his eyes scanning the darkness surrounding him. His body glowed a faint gold colour, but he paid no heed to it. His attention was elsewhere, his ears trying to understand the faint voices he could hear but not audible for him to understand.

"Hello?" he called out.

He received a reply, but the voice was too quiet for him to hear. He couldn't understand their words, and only the sounds of their murmurs echoed in his head.

"I can't hear you!" he exclaimed.

He began to walk around in the darkness, searching for something, something that could serve as comfort to his loneliness.

"Call out for me. Call out my name," a voice boomed out.

That was all he could hear, but the rest of mysterious voice was zoned out once more by quiet whispers.

--- 

Arata woke up with a start, beads of sweat trailing down his face and his breathing abnormally heavy and uneven. He placed a hand on his chest, trying to calm himself down from the dream he just had. He shook his head, swinging his feet over the side of the bed and pushing himself onto his feet.

He glanced up, staring at the clock pinned to the wall that tick tock every second. It was only around five in the morning, a bit early for anything. However, instead of deciding to go back to sleep, he shook off that idea and decided to take a stroll in the garden to cool off his pained head. The redhead dressed himself, opening the door and snuck out of the castle to get some fresh air.

He treaded through the forest carefully, making his footsteps as light as possible as to not attract any unwanted attention to himself. His closed his eyes, his breathing becoming steady as the calmness washed over him. He was happy in the new atmosphere around him, it was something he definitely needed to calm down.

His mind now at peace, he began to think more clearly. He could remember clearly that his days always started off like this, a weird nightmare of sorts, followed by abnormal behaviour and ending up taking a stroll in the garden of the castle without any warning. He loved the feel of being outside, rather than being trapped behind walls that he lived in for most of his life.

A castle is beautiful, but once you see it a million times, it'll become dull like a blade that had never been clean but has been used many times.

The forest, however, was something still quite new to him. He only had began sneaking out of the castle, only knowing some parts of the forest. Not many, but some. The forest was different from his home, something always changing every time he visited. It didn't become old and dull like the castle, it changed and become something more beautiful as time passed. It was different from the seclusion of the castle, and he loved it.

However, that feeling didn't last for very long.

A high-pitched screech cut through the air, entering his thoughts and snapping his attention back to his surroundings. He turned his head to the noise immediately, his heterochromia eyes connecting with a pair of red ones. The face he saw was not of a human, not of a creature he had expected to see. 

He stepped back, fear and adrenaline shooting through his body as he tried to get a grasp on the situation. He stumbled over a rock that was planted behind his feet, causing him to fall onto his bottom and vulnerable in the eyes of the creature. He crawled back, the chimera stalking towards him with hungry eyes. It growled like the beast it was, his breath hitched in the back of his throat and sweat trailed down his face once more.