Sakamki Keith

“Kid, come on. Keep up the pace.”

Yoshack had turned his figure towards me in the busy crowd. I was just able to hear him over all the noise. Looking up I saw him tower over the people, but because of all the commotion he hasn’t spotted me.

“I’m here!” I called out while raising my hand. I wasn’t that far away from him, maybe 10 meters at most, but because he was so tall and me so small, he couldn’t see me.

“Get over here kid. I can’t find you in between all of these people.” He stood still and waited for me. As I made my way over to him I got pushed over and fell to the ground. Closing my eyes I braised for impact, but it never came. A big hand held me up by my stomach and kept me from falling any further.

Looking up to the hand’s owner I found my friend had moved to assist me. He quickly pulled me upright and hid the hand he had shown under his cloak.

“Be more careful kid” He said cleaning his throat. He turned back around and we continued our way through the market. Before we could get anywhere though he turned towards me and picked me up, carrying me on his arm.

A bright smile appeared upon my face as I wrapped my arms around his neck. Our trip had come to a close as we walked out of the city back to the cave we lived in. The cave has been our home for 5 years now. Yoshack picked me off the streets when I was younger and took me in without a second thought.

Yoshack isn’t human. I don’t know what he is, but even so he is my family. He looks like he’s been on fire and he is covered in one big scar, but apparently that isn’t the case. His skin is actually really soft. He has these bones extending out of his spine, shoulders and elbows. He uses his claws for hunting food for us which is really delicious.

He used to be scared about letting me close as he didn’t want to hurt me. After I myself stopped looking like a skeleton though he loosened up a bit and lets me close to him.

Even though we are worlds apart in many different ways, Yoshack is my only family. My only friend. He is the most important person to me, ever.

Lately though, we’ve had to be more careful with going out. Yoshack had been spotted not that long ago and guards all over the city had been keeping their eye out for him. Because of this we have switched to a different town to get supplies, but even here the guards knew of yoshack.

He had stopped taking me a while ago, but this time he did allow me to come along and get some stuff I wanted as well. The trip had exhausted me and I fell asleep almost instantly when I sat down. I woke up when Yoshack had moved me to his lap, but my eyes close soon after as this was the most comfortable place I could be in.

Yoshack is approximately 280cm tall and because of this I fit into his lap like a cat. The warmth he radiated dozed me off into a deep slumber.

As much as I wanted to keep sleeping I was rudely awakened by him. “Kid! Wake up!” Opening my eyes I looked at him and saw he was focused on something in front of him. Following his gaze my eyes landed on a group of guards at the entrance of the cave.

One of the guards took a step forward and spoke as he tried to separate us. “You better let go of that child, or you will have to face the consequences.”

The other guards also snapped into action at his words and pointed their weapons at us.

“Look we don’t mean to threaten or hurt anyone, I just need to go into town so this child can eat. I ask of you to let us alone, then I will do the same.” Yoshack said as he pulled me closer to him. His voice was purposely softened and it was clear as day he was desperate.

“You have to let go of the child. This is not an environment a child can live in. You are keeping her hostage!”

“No” I screamed before anyone could do or say anything else. “No I am not going anywhere! I’m staying right here! He’s the only one I have!”

The guards went silent and some of them shared a glance.

“That thing is a monster! It is keeping you hostage to plum you up and eat you!” Another guard shouted. “He is a dangerous being and can’t be doing as he wants.”

Another guard stepped forward. This one bigger then the others. “Let the child go. We will make sure that she is raised by a family and everything will be alright.”

Instead of complying Yoshack let a deep growl escape and got into a fighting stance. The next words that came out of the guards mouth that had spoken the first words, scared me to my bones.

“Inject the serum and confiscate the child.”

My eyes widened and my grip on Yoshack tightened. As I looked at him with tears in my eyes instead of attacking he let out a scream of agony. I was immediately pulled away from his arms and held by that big guard. As I tried to stibble and was taken away, the last thing I saw from Yoshack was him reaching out his hand and calling for me one last time.

A week later I am sitting at a dining table with some people who had taken me in. The had provided me with clothes and shoes that I refused to wear.

The supposed father of the house didn’t like me and only scoffed at me whenever I walked past him. The son paid no mind to me and the daughter was always looking, but always hiding. The mother figure treated me like an angel. She tried to get me to wear the clothes properly, but always failed. She really did try her best to get me involved with this family.

They taught me how society works, how to read and write and take care of myself. I had other plans though then what they wanted for me. I snuck out of the house many times and tried to get as much information as possible on where Yoshack would be.

One night after retiring to my chambers my plan was finally at its final stages. After 7 long years of waiting and planning I was finally almost done. Getting out in the middle of the night I snuck towards the barracks and stole the keys from the sleeping guards. I made my way down the stairs towards the dungeon and entered the cell room.

It took me a minute to find Yoshack’s cell, but after finding it I quickly opened it. He looked up at me and stayed silent for a bit. “Kid?” He asked. “Why are you here? You shouldn’t be here.”

“I’m here to get you out dummy.” I handed him his cloak and pulled him out of the cell and took him to the exit of the town. Dodging patrolling guards on the way we snuck through the sewers and ended up in the forest.

“So where are we going now?” Yoshack asked.