He Who Stand

Just a normal day.

Like any normal day.

But those are for normal person. And i can suppose that i am normal too. But currently, something abnormal is going on infront of me. A knight is fighting against a monster that have 5 hands. And in each hands, a sword is placed. With those abnormal amount of hands, it is also have a face which can't be described by words. It is beyond ugly and sinister for me. It's like there some kind of hatred is placed onto that face of the creature. Surely, this isn't normal at all. I mean, how can a normal human supposed to fight with it? Before they could land attack, the creature must have cut all of the limbs of their enemy, and then continue to cut them into something so there aren't any left of them. But despite that, a knight stand infront of me. He keep swinging his sword and continue to fight on with the creature.

When hearing the word "Knight", what is the first thing that come into your mind?

For me, it is a noble man who is willing to defend something he believe in and wearing a shining armor made of steel and holding a sword which can reflect the shine of the sun on it's surface.

But no. This knight is different from the image i have in mind.

His armor is so dirty, you can see the spatter of blood and mud in the surface, making it unable for it to reflect the image of it's surrounding. And his sword, is the same as his armor. It's either he didn't take care of his armor and sword, or he didn't have time to take care of them. I can't see what this knight look like, because his body and face is hidden by his dirty armor and helmet. But i known for sure, that his body is a sturdy and strong one befitting of a knight, because he's been swinging his sword all this time without stop.

When i'm lost in my thought, the knight look at my direction. I'm scared. He seems no different from the monster that he fighting with.

"Hey Kid! Go away!" He scream at me.

He's right. I should go away and run from here. But my legs... My legs refuse to move. I'm too scared. If i run, i will be alone in the forest again. My village is still far from here too. If i happen to encounter another monster again in the forest, i'm not sure if i can survive. It is lucky for me that this knight happen to pass here before i get stabbed by the monster, but if he didn't, maybe my head already on the ground, away from my body. By thinking that, i can only piss my pants.

The knight grunt, seeing me not moving from my spot. He seems to mutter something, but i can't hear it. Suddenly, he running towards me and start grabbing me.

"You fool, do you want to die that badly?" He asking me. I can't focus and didn't answer his question, because now i just want to run away from the monster and go back to my village. Seeing us running, the monster hiss and start chasing after us. Placing it's hand to the ground, it start using it's hands to running too. And after a few seconds, it start catching up with us.

I am scared, i am scared, i am scared! I don't want to die!

I can only tell him what is going on and ask for his help. I just want to survive!

"S-Sir!" I scream, hoping he will recognize the creature.

"You want to survive?" He asking me again without seeing back. Of course, of course, of course i want to survive! I nod, and he start grabbing my wrist with much more force than before. Before i can say anything, he throw me to the monster direction.

"Agh!!!" I scream. Fuck. He is no knight. A knight will surely protect people from the danger and fighting despite the fact he can't stand against the monster. But this man? He just throwing me to the monster. Fuck it, i don't want to die. I-I hope...

I hope this monster kill that knight.

Thinking so, i close my eyes and start crying before the impact. The monster is surprised by the action the knight took, and try to slow down. But it fail.

I want to look at the sky once more before i die.

When i open my eyes, the knight is in front of me, holding his sword. Suddenly, he thrust the sword right on my left side. This knight is surely confident or he don't care about me, because if that attack missed slighty it could pierce my head instead. But it didn't and it is going for the monster head. The monster having his hand busy on the ground trying to slow down, can' guard it. But it dodged it barely, and the sword can only pierce the place which i can only assume that it is the monster eye. The monster took that sword in the eye and the sword manage to penetrate to the point that the sword is coming out of the back of the monster head. It scream in pain, and start to raise one hand of it. The knight push my head down and took the attack himself. The monster which is filled with rage is putting it's whole strenght into that attack, and the blow even make the armor the knight wearing to be broken. The knight is sent flying and crashing into nearby tree. That attack must been strong, for the knight is struggling to get back up. But the monster manage to recover and looking at me. It's body start to let some sort of steam out, and is pointing at me while speaking in a language i didn't know.

"ዓሻ ሰብ፡ ንዓይ ከተጥቅዓኒ ስለ ዝፈተንካ ብዝተኻእለ መጠን ብዘሕምም መንገዲ ሞት ክህበካ እየ!" The monster scream before jumping towards me.

If you want to survive, move.

If you want to survive, move!

IF YOU WANT TO SURVIVE, MOVE!

Without thinking any longer, i rolled to the side at the last moment, making the monster stab the ground. The monster is confused, but ready to charge at me again the next moment. But before it can pull it sword out of the ground, the upper body and the lower body is being cut in half, by none other than the knight itself. "Nice one, kid." He say to me before falling to the ground. When i checked on him, he fainted. He must have felt a great amount of pain, but still decide to kill the monster. I carry him on my arm, and start to walking toward the direction of my village. I also didn't forget to collect his and that monster weapon, in case we encounter another monster again. We continue to walk until the sunset. When i decided we shouldn't continue for awhile because there's no light to guide us, i found a cave and start to camp there. I manage to catch a few rabbit and some wood to make fire. When i return to the cave, the knight is there, sitting with his eyes open.

"Hey." i said to him. "Thank you for earlier."

"For what?"

"Um, you know... For killing that monster for me."

"I didn't do it for you."

"What?"

"It's gonna kill me. It is normal for me kill something before it can kill me. I didn't do it for you."

What? Why is he so unpleasant to talk at? I thought all knight is kind and always happy to help the other, but this one? Instead of receiving my thanks, he goes to make me believe he didn't do it for me. Well, i guess i can't call him a knight because he is different from what i always think of a knight is. But still, he must be hungry, from all that fighting. If he didn't like the food, then i guess i'm ready to fight him. Even though it is obvious he can beat me in a few seconds.

"Why don't you take of your armor? it must been heavy, so..." I asking him. I'm curious of what kind of brute is hiding behind those steel.

It took a few moment before he place his hand on his helmet, intending to remove it first. When he take off his helmet, i couldn't believe my eyes. Black, short hair is placed on top of his head meanwhile his face is so beautiful that it can be mistake for a female if you only take a glimpse of his face. Expressive black eyes, set thightly within their sockets as he try to remove his armor one by one. But i'm confused. Inside that attractive face of his, it seems like something is being hidden, locked away for he didn't want other to see.

After that, he remove his armor. It's surprising, for his body and face didn't match at all. If his face is beautiful and clean, then his body is full of scars and despite looking slender, his body is consisted of those muscle that showing that he have the strength he needed when he going to fight.

I can't stop looking at him. Realizing my stare, he ask "What is it, kid? Never see a human beside me?" I'm starled and start to focus on preparing on the meat for us to eat. After he finish taking his armor off, he continue to sit down infront of the flames. He just continue to watch the flame, emotionless. It's like his eyes is void of any emotion that any normal human have.

Beaten by my curiosity, i went ahead and ask him, "Sir, are you... Are you a knight?"

He didn't look away from the flame. He did hear my question, but he didn't turn his attention away.

"What does i'm look like?" He asking me back. Well that ain't nice, i thought we were supposed to answer question first before asking it!

"You...Um..." I hesitated to ask. He didn't look like a knight, but more of a monster instead. I can't forget about how he deal with the monster before. He went ahead and throw me to confuse the monster. If i tell him that, i'm sure he will get mad and maybe he will kill me too.

Thinking that, i feel shiver on my body.

"Just say it. I will not get mad." He say.

"Um...I'm sorry but...You look like more of a monster than a knight..." I say hesistanly.

But my fear was for nothing, as he just nod to my statement and mutter "I see.".

Why does he look so sad when i mention it though?

Well, atleast he doesn't get mad and cut my neck... I truly believe he can do it if he wanted to.

"Well, let's just eat then. Look, a meat! It must been exhausting to fight that monster before, so i think a meat will refresh you up!" I say excitedly. He look at me and nod.

After that, we eat silenty and didn't talk at all until the morning.

~The Knight POV~

"I think you are a good guy!"

"But i wonder if my parents will acknowledged you..."

"Hehehe, then i will make sure you keep that promise of yours!"

"Until death do us apart."

"I only doing this because you are useful."

Keep on living,

For my sake.

I wake up.

Fuck. Why i remember it again? Damn it. Even thought i already decided that i want to forget it, it seems like i can't. I will always be haunted by the ghost of my past in my dreams. As i slowly getting up, i see the boy still sleeping. It must be nice, being so young and innocent. He doesn't even know i could kill him right now if i wanted to. But let's just let him have more sleep, he must be tired because of the fight yesterday. As i slowly walk into the entrance of the cave, i see there is 3 wolves waiting there.

For fuck sake, i just wake up here and i can't even breathe for a second? Well , doesn't matter anyway. I decide i can use these wolves as breakfast. As i think that, i grab my sword tightly around my hand, to make sure it doesn't drop when i swing it around. When i think the feel of the sword in my hand is right, i charge towards the wolves. But fuck, i forget about my injury from yesterday. Few of my ribs are broken, and they haven't been treated yet.

I can't fight normally.

As i feel the pain, the wolves start attacking me too. As a group, i can't really stand a chance against them. 3 vs 1. If i'm healthy, this will be a piece of cake, but now, it's imposibble. Shit, i can't just sit back and let them tear me off. i need to fight back. As i thinking about getting up, a sword is coming from the direction behind me and it's cut the wolves head. One of the wolves is dead, which leaving two more. As i turn, i see the kid is holding the weapon we get after killing the monster yesterday. The kid look at me and smile, "Not the monster i thought you would be after all, huh?" Then we start fighting against the leftover wolf. It's a fierce fight, but we managed to kill them. After that the kid start a fire and we roast the wolf meat. It is not exactly tasty, but still it will do.

As the kid eating, he trying to start a conversation because he can't stand the silence.

"Hey, why are you fighting the wolves alone? Don't tell me you seriously think you can win with those injuries."

"..."

"Well, i guess that didn't matter because you still breathing."

"..."

I don't want to talk too much so i let the kid keep talking. But suddenly, one of his question make me pay him attention.

"Why do you decided to be knight?" He ask innocently. Many people decided to become a knight to have a good life, make their family proud, or even have a chance to be noble themselves. But me, i think i have a weird reason to join the knight. "It's a long story." I tell him. I don't want to talk about it with a stranger, and i can't lie about it either. The boy seeing the serious expression on my face and sigh. I guess he must be giving up with that question of him.

"Alright then, i won't bother you much with that question if you don't want to talk about them. But atleast you can tell me your name, right?"

"My name?"

"Yeah, your name. My name is Clementine Duval, by the way. It's nice to meet you, err..."

Come to think of it, i haven't introduced myself to him since yesterday. Well, if it just name, then i guess it's okay.

"My name is Cristian.Cristian Navarro."