Waking up

He was cold, the smell of many unwashed bodies and the coarse floor under him quite strange.

He blinked open his eyes, darkness above him and he looked around, there was week moonlight coming in from a high window.

The stone and religious tapestries, high up on the wall and far out of reach, the dirty rushes covering the floor and the thin, thread bare blanket reminded him of some sort of medieval setting.

He looked down at himself, he was a dirty child in a robe like shirt belted with a knotted rope that hung to half past his knees.

He looked around, the room was full of children. The littlest lay all cuddled up and close to the large, banked fireplace.

There was a clear space between him and the rest of the children, the older ones all cuddled up.

He wasn't the only one, three other boys slept alone, up against the cold stone wall.

He sat up and hugged his knees, resting his head on them.

A second chance at life? Was this the past? An alternative world perhaps? He didn't know, but he was pretty sure he was once again an orphan, though most likely in a church based orphanage rather than foster care.

He dozed using his knees as a pillow, blanket pulled around him, mind buzzing with questions, still cold.

A very loud gong rang out at dawn, waking everyone up. As the many children stretched and rose, he noticed everyone was a boy.

The three boys against the wall immediately started knocking around kids while shooting mean little smirks at him, Akira pegged them as bullies, and pretty blatant ones at that.

"Blessed morning, Kaidan!" a little boy said to him, all bright eyes and smiles as he walked past to stand beside an older boy who resembled him.

So, he was Kaidan, was he? Not a horrible name, but not one he really thought of as medieval.

"Blessed morning!" another boy exclaimed, before standing with others. It was reparative, and an odd sameness to them all at first.

Then the first and largest likely bully approached him and grabbed his robe, "you better not go thinking you're better then me, Kaidan," and he begin to draw his fist back.

The two other cronies were snickering, "you show him Marco!"

Akira sighed, he didn't know how Kaidan would have handled this, but he knew how he would.

Kaidan stomped on Marco's foot and then shoved him away, "we're in the same place, none of us are better."

Marco scowled as his cronies steadied him, but was interrupted by the door opening.

A clean shaven and bald monk entered, face tan and weathered, all the children formed into lines before him and Kaidan followed.

He was silent as he looked them over, before turning and exiting, everyone following in neat rows.

He led them to plain looking dining hall and waved them to take a seat before and empty bowl, cup and spoon.

It was silent, there were other monks waiting as well. It was a strange scene.

A young monk walked the tables, pouring what looked like milk into everyone's cup, followed by a monk with a pot, who filled bowls with porridge.

Kaidan tasted it, and found to his surprise it had chopped apple in it. Everyone, monk and boy had the same.

He ate the lot, head down and silent as a grave, and found himself waiting as everyone finished.

No one had moved, and it felt like there was a set routine. He was curious and a bit lost. No one had given him a guide after all.

The weathered monk returned as the final child finished and everyone assembled into rows to be led into a classroom.

The monk began a lesson on basic math, reading and writing. Completely dull for Kaidan, it was all in English? Okay, he could manage that.

After the lesson, there was a sermon, "we thank and praise Relos, they who welcome us into their household, share the fruits of their work and the safety and care of their home, let us pray."

Everyone bowed their heads in quiet before lining up, again, for some destination everyone else but him knew of.

And they were led to a great garden bracketed by apple orchids. He could hear a distant mooing as he gazed about, the monk spoke firmly, "water all the plants," he directed two rows, "come," to the other two which contained Kaidan and Marco.

And off they went again, to a large barn where they were handed buckets, "milk the cows."

Kaidan hesitated, milk a cow? He had pet one once. . . did it work like on T.V? Up and down in a firm motion?

One of the boys, suddenly clear and distinct, piped up trembling, "how?"

"And you are?"

"I'm Red." and something seemed to snap into place. He was a little boy with red hair and dark brown skin, gold eyes, small and clutching the bucket tight.

The monk nodded, and explained how to properly milk a cow before directing him to a free stall.

Kaidan paid close attention before putting this information to the test. He fumbled, was nearly kicked before he got the hang of it and the first squirt of milk landed in the bucket.

After they milked the cows they were ushered to butter churns, then to pressing the butter into blocks and wrapping them up in waxed paper.

This was all done with as little said as possible, Kaidan found the silence weird. They were next sent to listen to a sermon on the greatness of Relos, who seemed to be a farming god of some sorts.

Dinner, also in silence. A plate with a piece of farmers cheese, a boiled egg, coarse dark bread, mashed veggies and greens.

Tea this time for everyone, and then a prayer. At least they were all treated the same.

Then they were returned to the room.

The boys seemed to come alive, Red chatted with another child, though Kaidan could only really hear Red's voice.

"Why do the babies get the spots close to the fire?" A whiny voice spoke near the fireplace with it's low fire, Kaidan wished he knew who lit it.

"You're right, Twig, we should have that spot!" Marco exclaimed.

Marco, Red, Twig, Kaidan. . . these names.

"Hey Izzy, don't you agree?" Twig asked the other kid, who nodded.

Kaidan noticed they were all shooting him little glances as they talked. What even was this? He sighed heavily.

"The youngest sleep closest to the fire, if you're cold, just cuddle with your friends." He told them dully as he looked around and spotted two kids waving to him to join them.

The noises the three made were unique, but ultimately uninteresting as he walked over to the two wavers.

"Hey Kaidan, Miles was wanting to know. . ." started the younger one.

"Pebble, I can ask!" interrupted the older boy, they looked similar, brothers? "When we are free tomorrow, want to go to the river together?"

"Sure." A chance to explore with someone who knows the area? Sign him up.

Marco, Twig and Izzy were obviously trying to take over the fireplace, the little ones to scared to force the matter.

Kaidan scowled, strode over and grabbed Marco's hair, yuck, and dragged him away, him yelping as he was forced away.

"Hey!" Twig yelled, Izzy frowning as they followed Kaidan.

Kaidan let go of him near the wall, "stop it."

Marco say whimpering and clutching his head, his friends comforting him and making rude faces at Kaidan.

Kaidan walked away, only to find Pebble looking at him and patting the spot beside him and his brother. He grabbed a blanket, stacked by the fireplace and went to the offered spot.

He was warm, though still confused as he settled down to sleep.