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(Sorry for the really late post. I've been taking care of something recently.)


Alex's a tremendous kid. He listened to his parents, had perfect attendance and a decent amount of people he called friends. It was until one mid summer afternoon, during lunch people, that finally separated him from the rest of the boys and girls. Because Alex isn't like the rest of them. He was genetically created to become a super being, or in other words, a super soldier.

From birth Alex never met his parents. All he knew was that they were chosen from the government to make the perfect son or daughter. The gender didn't really matter. Alex just happened to be a boy. Ever since then all Alex remembered as 'parent figures' were the lab coats that decided everything in life for him. And like a good boy Alex listened. He had a schedule that made him practice at things like hand eye coordination and there was nothing holding him back. The genes that are him were chosen carefully. His diet became a heated topic among dietitians and nutritionist. Regardless whatever he ate was planned.

Because of this Alex soon became better than the other kids even when he barely puts in effort or if it was his first time and at first kids would enjoy it and call him some kind of superhero but soon their praise became insults when they started feeling lesser than he was.

"I am like everyone else..." Alex said, a blank expression on his face. He didn't understand the other kids anguish, instead, there was a hint of jealousy when he saw them interact with their parents. The love. It was something the other kids had in which he, for the first time, lacked.

"No you're not!" a girl exclaimed, she had a dark shade of pink across her face and tears wells at the side of her eyes.

This all occured after the teacher had a bright idea to pin student against student in a life or death coloring match. Of course, that exaggerating, instead the winner gets a star at the side of their name. What made it interesting was that Alex always gets the star. It was this time that he had to go against a girl notorious for her skills in coloring.

That and Alex never colored. However, because of what is happening now you can guess the outcome of this fateful duel.

"I guess it really was a stretch to have Alex lose at something..." one of the kids said, scratching the back of his head. "Yea, what monster couldn't give the spotlight to someone else for a while." Another whispered.

It didn't take long for the room to start filling with negative energy.

"Why are we in class with someone like him...he should be put down with himself."

"Mommy said I shouldn't consider him like us."

"He's not. He doesn't work on anything and he's still good on us. He's a monster."

The teacher tried to calm everyone down. But it was too late. Alex may have strong attributes and a lack of sense when it came to anything social but he was still just a kid. He never asked for any of this. He didn't know why he was good at something he never did. Whenever he went through test the doctors made sure to cease those kind of questionings. Even now, just thinking of giving her a chance to win reminded him of all those time they would painfully electrocute him.

He hid his face underneath the shadow of the long strands of his hair. Made a sharp turn and bolted.

"Alex! Wait!" The teacher called out. He tried to chase him but Alex was quick.

It didn't take long for Alex to dodge the light security this elementary school had. He crossed his teachers with ease and soon found himself outside of school but he didn't stop yet. He ran, and ran and ran until he came up to a huge wall that separated him from this world to the next.

He wiped the sweat from his brow, remembering what that girl said. Telling him he's not the same as her and that he was a monster. "Then I'll go somewhere that I'm not a monster..."

Alex said to himself before climbing into the wall to another world.

Alex landed on his feet cleanly. He brushed himself up and stared at the open nature in front of him. It was a very different world compared to the one he was just in. There wasn't much here but the air was cleaner, the people are more genuinely happy and there was a lot to do.

That was when Caprice, a young wolf girl, had peeked through the bushes and asked, "W-who are you?"

Alex had never seen someone like her. Her hair so long, it reached her lower back and her feet and tail resembled a wolf. Even her hands had sharp nails, probably used to cut down her prey.

"I'm Alex..." Alex said quietly. He saw as his voice echoed out of his mouth her ears perked so her hearing must be excellent, maybe more-so than he anticipates. There was a necklace that she wore around her neck that caught his attention, it was somehow familiar, maybe the lab? He didn't press any further. The lab was the last thing he wanted anyone to know about him now that he's here in the new world.

"What is your name?"

"I've found this little hole near the gate that no one knows about. I tend to spend some of my time here when I can." Alex replied. He sensed there was a shyness about her but he found it cute. "I left my school because of something someone said. Usually I wouldn't let things like that effect me."

The forest was a vast place with a lot of things he would do on his free time. Some of the things was to put his feet in the water and feel the fish swim around it, slowly nibbling away. The doctors made sure of his abilities but have yet to give him the knowledge of the world. So he didn't know of their name. "What are you doing around this parts?" As you can see, he was very oblivious that she was a demi-human and expected her to be part of the inner town in his world.

Alex didn't talk much back at school nor was he a talkative child to begin with. Because of this. Alex was very observant of his surroundings. He figured out people by their facial expressions or hand gestures. Caprice had wonderful hearing, one of the many perks in being a demi. When he saw her ears twitch ever-so-slightly, he saw her eyes dart at the corner just as fast.

He follow her intense sharp look which led just down the wall behind him. There was a crummy looking door which shot open and men from the city started hammering out like hornets out of a hive. There was a good distance from them but Alex felt his heart skip a beat.

His thoughts couldn't turn into words. The crippling anxiety choked him. Why was he apologizing? To who? That's right...

Alex couldn't move. There was a time Alex acted like a normal child and the doctors despised it. Why wouldn't they? Alex was created to be anything but an ordinary child. When he had his first temper tantrum, the doctors were swift to stop it. They called in the guards. Now, he was too young to be beaten up and bruises were unacceptable to an expensive project like Alex was. But Alex absolutely hated what they did to him. They restrained him.

The freedom of movement, stripped from him just like that. He valued nothing more than that freedom. For twenty three days, Alex stayed in a dark room, isolated from everything. He was fed three times a day though a tube they stuck in his stomach and he was positioned to relieve himself whenever he so pleased. It's was suffocating.

This was it. It was going to happen all over again.

Until he felt his hand held so gently, as if he touched a white cloud, as if he could, if there was a way this must be how it felt like. The hand that hunted the fearsome creatures of this land. He never felt more warmth.

"We have to get out of here. Come on!"

"This isn't like before." Alex thought.

He finally felt his head returning back to it's normal self. His anxiety mysteriously vanishing. He ran with her and the surroundings around him, the many tree's that stood tall and the secret trail they ran together didn't matter. To Alex, it was just them, not the vicious guards that pursued them, not their heated breaths as they race to survival, just a dark room with nothing in this massive world but them.

"I'm not alone this time!"

Finally, they arrived to her well hidden secret hiding spot. Alex was in a daze, but focused, it felt very weird to him. He felt her trying to push him in some sort of basement, beneath her floorboards. Alex knew they were chasing him but before she could leave and take care of the unwanted visitors Alex wanted her to know something.

He grabbed her hand before she turned away from him and looked deeply at her eyes, "Caprice..." He said, he never smiled but today he smiled so genuinely, "...Thank you." He then relieved her to do what needed to be done.

(I felt like writing so I wrote a lot, sorry.

Alex was fast asleep, his body still. The sunlight from outside seeped through the curtains he had made from the skins of the various animals he had killed. His new home's decor was game he was forced to understand if he were to survive in this world.

After Caprice left, Alex waited. Luckily, he had rations and water on him to last him for a few days. He could leave, use the supplies to get a better footing of this world but there was something that he wanted to see no matter what. He wanted nothing in the world but to see Caprice's face pop into view, telling him that it was okay to come out.

He owed his life to her and the last thing he wanted was her to do something that would hurt herself. But the days soon turn into weeks and the weeks turned into months. He separated the rations and water as evenly as possible. Little by little he started to hate himself. It was his fault for being too weak that things led to the way they were. If he had not let such words affect his heart in a way that made him run to the outside world he wouldn't have gotten her in this situation.

But mostly, he hated himself for what he had to do next. He had to leave. He started walking away, his face dull and his skin pale. He kept looking back at the entrance, hoping, to see that joyful, innocent face appear. But this wasn't a fairy tail. Things don't magically happen like that. He wanted her to forgive him that he was abandoning his only friend of this world, whether it was that half or this one. Tears ran down his cheeks, "Eh?" He touched his face.

He never felt this emotion before. This wetness was unknown to him. Caprice...she had gave him so many things, thankfulness, freedom, emotions he had never felt before...and...

He had to leave. He was dying. It's been days since he last ate or drank anything and starvation is a very cruel mistress. She does not care of friends, or companionship. She will drive you to madness. The only thing that kept him from it was what Caprice sacrificed herself for. He still didn't understand it completely but he knew one thing. He didn't want it to go to vain. He'll live, if not for him, than for her. He just hopes one day the gods will cross their paths again and he can properly thank her for it.

Alex abandoned the cave and ventured out to the wilderness. He was too tired to think, too hungry to sleep. He needed to survive. He found an easy prey, a squirrel, if he could muster the strength to catch it. He can live. He used his higher intelligence, despite it being weakened, and caught it using an intricate trap.

He didn't wait to cook it. The blood was enough to quench his thirst and he ate it raw. As much as he hated what his body caused him there were it's perks. If he could call it that. Death didn't sound so bad now. He gave it a quick death and devoured the animal as if he was one as well. It was easier after the first kill and as the years went by he became more adept to killing things and surviving in the wild. He found the lake near the abandoned cabin and decided to make his new home a mile away from it. Far enough, if he went to get water he could run away but close enough that he could always go and check if Caprice would show up.

He never gave up. He knew, somewhere, she's out there.

Each day became a new day and that day still was a lonely one. He kept heading there hoping, with bated breaths that she'll be there. Her image still fresh in his mind. He could recognize her no matter how long it's been.

Then one day...

Alex opened his eyes. His long lashes brushing against each other as he rubbed away what the sandman had left at night. He stretched. He was now around 6'2 a very healthy height for a young man. He was well built too, the forest was not kind to him but he made it through. He looked around him, it was another dream.

He couldn't stop dreaming of her. She had invaded his thoughts since the day she had left. But it was still another day and he still needed to live so he climbed out, got dressed, and grabbed the empty bucket near him. It was that time of the day to retrieve water.

He started his walk, until he found himself near the lake that he was fatefully separated from her. And there...

He dropped his bucket...

It was that feeling again. From so long ago. Where the world around starts to matter less. He ran as swiftly as he could. His surroundings start to rip out of reality itself.

"CAPRICE!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. It was just a small image of her at a distance but he knew, somehow he did. He naturally dodged the trees, the booby traps he had placed just in case things got messy. He was so focused on her. He knelt besides her and placed her head on his lap. He pushed her hair from her face, the scars, the blood, she was hurt, badly hurt.

There was so many feelings. Again. Feelings he had never felt for anyone, never felt at all...the girl who forced these feelings from him. "Caprice." He felt thankful she was there with him again, he felt sad that she ended up like this he wanted to tell her of all his adventures he had with the freedom she gave him but most of all...he wanted to tell her...that he...

That doesn't matter right now. Alex's brows narrowed. Her enemies might be nearby, he doesn't know how she got here or if there looking for her right now. He just has to make sure she's safe, that's what needs to be done. So his feelings can wait. He has yet to thank her properly.

"Caprice..." He whispered, despite her being unconscious, "...you can rely on me now."

Her eyes told a tale far more miserable than his, of pain, anguish. For a moment. He had no sense of personal space and gently grabbed her hand just as she did years ago. "You were raped..." He let's go suddenly. "Caprice." He said silently. This was not a time to scold anyone but he really wanted to. She did not need to go that far for him. Especially for someone she just met. But today was a joyous day, a new beginning.

The past was yesterday, the future is tomorrow but today is today. He swallowed it down hard and looked at her solemnly, "I'm glad you're back." He embraced her. There must be so much pain in her heart but time heals all wounds. He soon releases her and says, "Names Alex. I never told you my name didn't I. That was rude of me."

He could tell she was hurting so he helped her limp back to his place. It wasn't much but for now it was safe and that's all that matters. He sat her down gently at one of his makeshift furniture, grabbed the softest pillow he could find and handed it to her. He brought up a chair and sat down beside her.

"I'm a free man."

Alex said to her. "And it's all thanks to you. Before that I was a subject at the lab, uh, subject 0043501." It was a number he won't soon forget. "I was created to become the perfect person...obviously, now, not so much." He motioned at his body. There were scars of many shapes and sizes. There was a long scar that traced from his back to his chest that he got when he wrestled a big, old grizzle bear. His hair was clean but mangled, the only way he was able to groom it in terms of an haircut was a knife he created through a sharp rock. He didn't like it too long since it could get caught up in a vine.

"It's still nothing the lab won't try and fix. There's surgery that can reform me back to the perso-" his voice was cut from a painful memory. That's right, he wasn't a person back then. He was just an empty shell of nothing. "thing I once was."

His voice then got real serious, "But I heard of a group. A mercenary group that picks up people like us. They can help us. I think it'll be a good starting point, a new beginning. They lay deep within the forest, near the town of Salem. They even have their own castle." He face brightened up just thinking about it but he snapped himself out of it quickly, "Of course, you should rest. How did you escape the guards?"

Alex motionlessly stared at her. Her body was still beaten up, after this important conversation, he should give her some room to clean up. Despite that she was healing at an amazing pace. If things carried on like this. They can hit the road in no time. "Don't feel bad." He told her as he got up and grabbed a bowl from one of the many holes he called cup boards. "I'm very thankful for what you did, so much, I'll make you a meal."

He smiled as he threw various ingredients into the crummy-looking, but clean, bowl. "It's all thanks to you that I'm the man I am today. You gave me that opportunity." He was soon finished, making his simple meal using food he made the night after. It was still good, heated, from the warm fire in the fireplace. It was curry. The many aroma's covered the room like a blanket, a soft, yet sharp tune for anyone's sense of smell and a pleasant delight for their taste buds as well.

He handed it to her. "I bet you're wondering how I got the spices." He explained. "I met a few people over the years, merchants that come and go and they would trade me my pelts for whatever was in their inventory. Of course, at the start all they gave me was salt but as time flew by they began to trust me a bit more. That I wasn't some bandit looking for an opportunity to pray on the weak." He brought out an intricate looking map with a lot of different notes. You see, Alex had something like this planned for a very long time already, as if he had foreseen that the two would meet one day.

"It's not that..." Alex said, mostly idle talk to himself. "I just knew one way or another we'll find each other again."

The notes were his, tad bits of information about certain locations he had heard from the sparse travelers he would meet. He opened the map, spread it across the table's rough surface and gleamed, like a young child showing his friend his favorite toy. "I think we should start here. The town is peaceful and they stay neutral. Most of the reason why they don't get bullied by bigger towns is because they house the notorious Gullwings, treasure hunters!"

"I think we should make do with them, at least for now. If we can save up enough money then we can finally live together without a single worry in the world." His body fell down to his bed, as if it was a soft cloud carrying him and his dreams. "Can you imagine. No guards, no this world, that world. Just our world. That freedom." He reached out in front him. "Is attainable.."